So...whats for dinner?

susan_02143

For tonight's dinner, I used the turkey stock from last week's smoked turkey and made a soup stocked with veggies. Oh yea, and I made some biscuits to eat with the soup. This morning I pulled out a piece of beef that has been in the freezer for longer than I care to admit. I decided that it was only good for stock. So off to the market to buy some 7-bone for a braised beef dish for Wednesday night's dinner. So, made the stock to use for the braised beef dish and the beef is AMAZING. So, I 'harvested' the beef. Tonight the kid used this beef for quesadillas, and I will take it to my client office with some leftover rice for lunch tomorrow. So one day, three meals, only one of which we ate today.

No boxes arrived today.

*susan*

Moonflwr912

Susan, I hope the boxes come tomorrow with exactly the right dress. It is very hard to find a dress that will work. I lucked out and got mine on sale because my daughter chose brown for the girls dresses so I could get a brown "Winter" dress on clearance for the May wedding.

Carole and Lacey welcome back home. 

Dinner was Mickey Ds. LOL

Much love

eric95us

Hi everyone. 

I've been reading, but not posting.  Every time I would sit down to write something, the phone would ring, Sharon would need me, DD would need homework help or........

Tazz, I'm glad your ankle is to the point where you can cook.  I remember putting two chairs in the front of the stove, sitting in one and using the other to keep my foot up in the air....cooking..  I had been roller skating and..oops.  I was sober too.

Special, your daughter's dates sound like mine.  I would never do the "dinner, movie, dancing" date.  It's hard to talk a lot while eating, rude to talk during a movie, and almost impossible to talk with the loud music.  Hiking, a 4-wheel drive trip, a tour of a mine, a cave trip...stuff like that was what I preferred for first dates.

I don't know much about dress shopping, I don't wear them myself, but I've been irritated when store clerks made "did you really just say that?" comments to Mickey and Sharon.  I don't know why they "decide" it's OK to do that.

Lacey, I hope you get some time to post some pictures.

Hi Mo and MOmmyof2

Cooking.

I roasted a chicken at 375F degrees, basting it with grape just as I started and every 10 minutes.  At 30 minutes, I basted one more time, lowered the oven temperature to about 300F degrees, covered the leg ends with aluminum foil and continued roasting until it was fully cooked.. The chicken skin was dark and crispy from the caramelized grape juice sugar. The idea came from a note of mine that I had made in the margin of a cookbook, "Next time try grape or apple juice".  I used white grape juice because that is what I had in the refrigerator.  I would guess that the "purple stuff" would work just as well.

Oh, a pasta joke.  A fake noodle.....is an impasta...........  Sorry. :-)

Eric

M0mmyof3

love the joke Eric!

Last night was little steaks I bought last weekend, rice and green beans

Haven't figured out tonight's yet.

Redheaded1

I have never tried lamb.  I am single and live alone---what would be the best way for me to try this meat?  I need a recipe.

auntienance

RH1, Susan is the lamb expert, but for those of us who don't grow our own,  Costco has awesome lamb chops at a reasonable price.  Grill ed wIth some rosemary butter, they are superb.

SpecialK

red - I like to make pitas with ground lamb that I cook like ground beef, tomatoes, lettuce, green pepper strips, Kalamata olives and tzatziki sauce - served like a Greek taco.  I also recently had Greek lamb meatballs with much of the same toppings in a restaurant locally.  They were delish!

auntienance

Here is the recipe that I use for gyros that uses ground lamb. It is really good.

HTTP://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/06/greek-american-lamb-gyros-recipe.html

When I was shopping yesterday, I came across a couple of rare birds (literally) -- two chickens each under 3 pounds!  I snatched those puppies right up!  I also snagged some ground lamb and veal slices at Kroger in what we call the "tainted meat" section (near sell by date at greatly reduced price.)  So tonight is veal piccata with some angel hair pasta and an Italian salad.  Yesterday I also made a first for me, a slab pie.  For those of  you who haven't tried it, it's basically a pie made in a sheet pan. I used a quarter sheet but a half sheet would certainly feed a crowd. I made apple because that's what I had but by the time the crust was done, the apples had cooked down too much and were on the mushy side.  I don't think it will ever take the place of a regular pie for me, but it was an interesting experiment. DH, of course, loved it.  I need to find an eighth sheet pan that would be more suited to two people. I'll try it again with cherry next time.

 Good to hear from you Eric (funny man) and Gumby!  

Today I've been making Greek yogurt and boiling cider. Does anybody know anything about boiling cider? It took forever and never really got syrupy. Wondering if I missed something.

M0mmyof3

Hubby decided what dinner was going to be tonight. We are having the last of the chicken pot pie I made earlier this week. Shocked we got three days out of it!

eric95us

I will likely have a collection of similar jokes.  One of the 4th graders on "my" school bus likes jokes like that.

Eric

gardengumby

tonight is rack of lamb with either a ragout or smashed turnips (or both)... But probably the ragout as that suits lamb better IMHO.  We both love lamb so when we are craving red meat usually go in that direction.  Last week I made a mulligatawny soup with some leftover lamb chops.  It was really good and has been officially added to my best winter soups list.  

susan_02143

what is this phrase "leftover lamb chops?"
*susan*

carolehalston

Susan, I got a chuckle at myself when I looked up Sur la Table.  It didn't sound like a clothing store but I'm gullible!  There's one in New Orleans.  I'll have to find out where it's located.  I love kitchen ware stores.  There was a nice one in Holland, MI.  I found a  salt mill there with different settings for the grind size.  I thought it was expensive at $38 but I splurged.  The brand is Cole & Mason.  I plan to look for another one on Amazon.  I bought two packages of crystal salt in Australia and recently discovered them in the pantry. 

I'm thawing out a package of brats for dh's dinner.  I had a large lunch with my golf friends after playing this morning.  We bought the brats in MN.  One of the ingredients is cranberries.  I'll make him a salad and heat up some Bush's baked beans, if he wants them.  He's playing golf this afternoon.  We're both happy to get back to playing "gender" golf! 

GG, congrats on the new food processor.  I was keeping my ancient Cuisinart in a cabinet until I decided to leave it out on the counter  I have a smaller Cuisinart, too, that I find handy for smaller chopping jobs.  I puree my raw onions since I don't like to see chunks of onion in a cooked dish.   

Lamb meatloaf sounds really good.  I was an adult before I ever tasted lamb.  It's not popular in the south.  The lamb we ate in Australia and New Zealand was very tasty, but I prefer the American lamb over the NZ lamb that is sold here in the US.  Maybe NZ keeps its best lamb for New Zealanders! 

carolehalston

I forgot to say to Tazzy that I'm glad she's recovering from her injury.  Tazzy, sounds like your dh is a big help when the primary cook is off duty. 

Tazzy

DH tries to be   As I do pretty much all the cooking (because I enjoy it) he really has lost his imagination when it comes to cooking.   Didn't help that when his parents were here his Mum didn't have much more imagination where cooking is concerned either.  Still least I got fed.  But its nice to be able to venture into the kitchen and at least direct him on what to do. 

Tonight he is off with a buddy to the hockey game.... I have chicken wings and a salad.... easy peasy.

Eric:  cant wait to hear more of those jokes

 

susan_02143

Tonight was Family Meal. I started the 7-bone braise last night. Husband followed my directions today and threw it back into the oven at 4:30. When I got home from my client office, I prepped some veggies to roast. It was a really tasty dinner on a cold, wet night. I held some back in the kitchen so we will have enough leftovers for at least one more dinner, and maybe a lunch.

No dresses arrived today. Thank goodness I have three older dresses that would work in a pinch.

*susan*

Moonflwr912

Susan hoping the delivery truck. 

brings you what you need!

Eric cute joke. 

Tazzy glad you're better.

Everyone dinner sounds so good. I made my leftover Sloppy Joe into my version of Shepard  pie. I had some leftover peas, carrots. Added cabbage. Topped with mashed potatos. Nuked. Dinner in 15 min. Tasty though. 

Much love to all

carolehalston

Susan, do you have a link for 7-bone braise?  Years ago we used to have 7-bone beef chops available at the meat market. 

Moon, you always seem to eat well with the minimum of effort! 

I have three leftover brats from dh's dinner last night.  Trying to think of a way to incorporate them into a meal for tonight.  They were cooked in beer on the stovetop and allowed to brown when the beer had evaporated.  I'm considering slicing them into coins and adding them to a tomato sauce to serve over pasta.  Pretty weird, huh?  Dh liked the idea but he perks up at any mention of pasta!  LOL!

I renigged on my intention to skip eating last night.  We had leftover deep-fried shrimp and oysters from a restaurant meal on Tues. night.  I heated them in the toaster oven and ate them with some leftover romaine and blue cheese dressing, also from the restaurant meal.  DH chose mac and cheese for his side on Tues. night and the serving was big enough for 3 reasonable portions.  It was undoubtedly off the scale for calories and fat but also much better than any mac and cheese I've ever made.  Creamy and cheesy.  Dh finished it up last night with his brat and baked beans out of a can.  He was happy! 

Grocery shopping for my mother today.  She's 91 and recited quite a list over the phone this morning.  She still does some cooking for herself even though she's in an electric wheelchair and has difficulty standing.  It's quite a feat to stir a pot on the stove sitting in a wheelchair.

auntienance

Carole this is s really good recipe that calls for grilled brat so you're already aheadf of the game.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/bratwurst-with-mustardy-fried-potatoes-and-braised-cabbage

M0mmyof3

Decided on Hamburger Helper! Too bad if hubby don't like it!

susan_02143

Dresses arrived. They range from mediocre to acceptable. The one I like the most in terms of cut is the one with the print that I like the least. Husband thinks it is the best choice without seeing any of them on me. Will let the kid weigh in as well. Assuming this is the dress, I need some shoes, and maybe a belt of some kind, oh, and a sweater or shrug.

I finally got in touch with the restaurant and we have a menu! The cost inched up just a little, and then I asked him to calculate a higher tip percentage. Taxis are all arranged. What is left? Making the "snacks," finding and buying prosecco and sparkly juice, and cleaning the house.

I have caught some kind of something and can't focus on this tonight. Re-heated the 7bone roast and served over polenta. I did a riff on this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/braised-short-...  Only used about 1 3/4 cups wine, and 10 oz of tomato paste. The extra liquid was a homemade beef broth mixed with water. I think Anne uses too much wine and tomato for my tastes.

*susan*

SpecialK

susan - glad you have a workable dress option, now it sounds like you will do an accessories search - good luck!  I hope you are not overdoing it with everything that is left - especially if you are not feeling the best.  I should fly up and help you!  To cheer you up I will post a pic from the DD at work.  She takes at least one kangaroo picture a day - we are now calling it "The Daily Roo" and they are hilarious!

 

carolehalston

Nancy, the mustardy potatoes really sound good.  I have more brats in the freezer. 

Susan, I like watching Anne Burrell's cooking shows.  I have the dvr set to record her shows.  I'm glad you have a dress for the wedding and a menu.  It sounds like plans are coming together. 

One of my brothers is friends with a big commercial farmer in the area who gives my brother boxes of veggies.  Today there was one such box at my mother's house when I arrived there to take her to her hair apptment.  So I came home with yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, green bell peppers, and purple eggplant. 

Dinner turned out to be a squash and zucchini medley with diced tomatoes and seasonings and the sliced brats.  It was good with grated parm.  Our side was a tossed salad. 

We had a thunderstorm just about the time I was dicing the veggies and the electricity went off for an hour. 

 

susan_02143

The Roo is great!

*susan*

MinusTwo

My son flew in from CA to finish a previous roofer job and tackle some other honey'dos for me.  I made a WONDERFUL dinner, even if I do say so myself - Laurie's Salsa Chicken.  I made it w/Hatch Chili salsa from Central Market & served in over a quinoa & brown rice mixture.  It was a hit with him too.  Thanks Laurie!!!

Lacey12

Special, love the roo, too!

Minus, nice homecoming meal, for sure!

Carole, I guess I need to find out who Anne Burrell is.....a bit in foodie left field here.

Redheaded, lamburgers are an easy, tasty way to begin eating lamb. I mix fresh garlic and rosemary powder and s. and p. in the lamb, then form the patty, grill it, then put it on h- burg bun with romaine, sliced  tomato, red onion and sliced feta. I use ketchup on mine, too.  Lamb does tend to be one of those foods that people are rarely neutral about. I know several friends who just can't stand it's specific gamey (?) taste. And others who adore lamb!

Eric, keep the jokes coming....love 4th grade humor!

I have returned to the land of the living and will try to organize some thoughts about our meals and travels in Italy and post them tomorrow. Glad I did one post already from Rome since I can hardly recall those meals. 

Will try to post from my computer (which fusses since I rarely use it) tomorrow, so I can include pix....if I even know how to do that on this site. Michelle used to be my sweet picture poster. .

M0mmyof3

Love the Roo!

MinusTwo

I gave my son a choice of steaks or pork loin tonight.  It will be pork loin marinated in Apricot Chipotle sauce.  Fun to have someone to cook for, but he's not pleased w/the choc chip cookies in the cookie jar.  Oh he likes the cookies, but says they're too tempting.  He's noticing body fat redistribution at age 44.  Hmmm - we all know about that.

M0mmyof3

Yeah, we do. Have no clue what i am making for dinner!

eric95us

Sharon "hates" me when I make cookies...and at the same time says how good they taste.  :-)

DD just says how good they taste.