Houzz Logo Print
annie1992_gw

What's for Dinner #357

8 years ago

OK, we've reached the "magic" 100 posts and all the pictures are making the thread load slowly, so here we go again...

These are the chicken tacos I made a couple of nights ago, just finally got the picture on the computer. Those are low carb/low fat tortillas, although I never thought tortillas had all that much fat anyway. The chicken was baked with some of my home canned salsa for flavor and it helped the relatively bland/flavorless/dry chicken breast.

Last night I hacked up a big blue Hoikkado squash from storage. I was impressed with the fact that it's been there since September, nearly 6 months and it was still firm. So much so that I wished I had Grandma's old hatchet that she used to hack up big Hubbard squash.

Supper was baked pork chops with a cranberry/apple sauce, some roasted squash and one of Elery's concoctions. He starts with a recipe then just goes off in another direction, LOL. This was supposed to be a rolled eggplant, but became sliced eggplant with cauliflower rice, peas, lots of spicy chili flavorings and fire roasted tomatoes. It was interesting.

Tonight is still up for grabs, the pork chops were the only recipe I've made in the past three weeks that was worth repeating, so I'm still trying.

Annie

Comments (104)

  • 8 years ago

    sleevndog, I also like the Weck jars, but you're right, they are pricey!

    It must be pizza night here, between sleevendog and 2many, and they both look good, bubbles and all. I do love all the vegetables that you used, 2many.

    Neely, I love creme brulee and I have rhubarb in the freezer, now I'm going to have to think about that. Do you have a torch, or do you use the broiler?

    Jasdip, I do actuallylike celery root better than cauliflower. This last one was very mild, but some have a more definite celery flavor, so you have to like celery.

    Elery's son was here with his wife and their three kids, so Thursday night we had tacos. Friday we had a frittata with asparagus and red peppers for breakfast and more of those beef rolls for supper. Today we had shakshuka with low carb tortillas for breakfast and baked pork chops for supper. And I didn't get a picture of anything, go figure.

    They guys did go pick up our latest Auction "treasures", though. Look what I got!!

    Now, I need more pans like I need a hole in my head, but I couldn't pass these up. So, I'll sort out some of my old pans that aren't as good as these, and keep these instead. I just need to give them a good cleaning and they'll be ready for use.

    Annie


  • 8 years ago

    Hi Annie, regarding the brûlée, I just use the broiler, very hot. I covered the top sides of the dish with foil strips as I didn't want to get the dish top all blackened. Great Auction buys.

  • Related Discussions

    Idyll #357.5 - Still Marching to a New Beet

    Q

    Comments (101)
    What a busy place here this morning. Very enjoyable reading. This Idyll thread sometimes feels as though I am reading about ten books at once a little bit at a time. [g] Didn't want Jerri to feel lonely either..[g]. Woody...thanks for posting those pics of Misty and Copper. Misty is so cute! She reminds me of a dog in the movies, but I can't think of it's name. You know the first photo you showed of Copper, with nothing else in the photo, he didn't look that large. Next to the love seat and Misty...he looks huge! lol I always loved to see dogs play together. Especially a small dog with a larger dog. It is amazing that the large dog knows to be gentle most of the time and that the small dog is usually not too frightened. So when you say you foster, you have more than one dog in the house at one time. See when I heard of fostering, I thought you would take one dog at a time until they found a home and then another. It sounds like there are more dogs than foster homes and that they keep you busy! That is nice that you and Marie are near each other, but I can see it would take a special effort to get together. So GLAD you are feeling better! :-) Jerri...... flooring that is pet friendly...well...if accidents are expected, I am not really sure which is the best solution. Our last dog had epilepsy the last three years of his life and that caused a lot of accidents. I never had a lingering odor from dog accidents. I would get to them right away with lots of paper towels, blot as much as possible, then scrub with a mix of water, dish soap, and white vinegar, then rinse and then blot. Always took care of it. We have hardwood floors with area rugs here. The Living Room has a small 6x9 rug, even the kitchen is hardwood. I have been considering redoing the upstairs floors and if I had to choose, I was thinking of bamboo, just for it's environmental factors, and I really like the look of it too. I just bought a bamboo cutting board and I love it! It is so hard and smooth and pretty. denise...what a great shot of the bee swam. As a kid,I was not really afraid of bees, but not totally comfortable around them either. I have only been stung once or twice and no big deal. It has been over 30 years since I was stung and I am pretty comfortable around bees, although wasps still give me a little hesitation. A swarm or a hive, I would not be comfortable enough for though. Cute conversation with your DH about the cats. I could just picture it. I really got a kick out of him pointing at the cats that would all have their own shed. lol 'Returnable dogs'...I have to agree with Woody. Ideally, you hope that people think long and hard before taking home a pet, and knowing what lengths shelters go to, to assure a dog goes to a good home, I can't help but think that dogs that are returned are a minor occurence, would that be right? If a family can actually have a pet in their home for more than two weeks and not bond with it enough to want to keep it, then the dog is probably better off making the change. After a year? That seems like it must be really unusual and maybe something significant changed for that family? Hopefully he will be luckier the second time around. Cindy, why are you thinking of having more than one pair of muck shoes? Mary...so sorry you didn't finish the peeps dioramas in time. [g] Maybe next year?! I would suggest saving it for next year, but with ketchup? guess not..lol. Martie, sounds like you will also have a lot to move this year, but you already have help lined up?! How lucky are you! So, I keep reading little bits referring to a previous move. Someday when you have time, you could tell me the story of how long have you lived where you are, what were your gardens like in your last house and the story of the move..etc. :-) One of my computer order boxes came today. Just a few cables and one piece of software. The machine won't ship until Monday. Definitely will let you know how it goes Chelone...sounds like you are ready for a new one, if your memory is that low! Loved that garden you all are looking at in the old Idyll reunion pics! Ok...time to go...enjoy the rest of the weekend.. :-) pm2
    ...See More

    Craftsman Professional 357cc 30'' path Two-stage Snowblower

    Q

    Comments (2)
    From the specs tab of what I think is the Craftsman blower you have: Chute System: Directional Chute Control: Yes Chute Material: Polymer Chute Rotation: 190 degrees Maximum Chute Rotation: 190 deg.
    ...See More

    patti skipped out for dinner: what's for dinner

    Q

    Comments (18)
    I'm back from dinner. It was great visiting with our snowbird friends and we talked for over two hours. We were neighbors when we both lived in the boonies and they moved back to Ohio shortly after we moved. We went on a cruise together with others from the neighborhood and had so much fun with them once. So now we e-mail and get together once a year :-( Dinner--not so good. I ordered the fettucini alfredo with bacon-wrapped sea scallops. The salad that came with it was very good,the scallops cooked just right but the alfredo was disappointing, to say the least. It was a big plate of angel hair pasta with a huge glob of alfredo sauce out of a jar. Ick, ick, ick! What could be easier than alfredo sauce? It's just a little butter, cream, garlic and lots of parmesan. They had little rolls that came with the salad that looked a little like those biscuits at Red Lobster, but were floury and dry. Now I remember why we don't like to eat out. Harry had fried oysters, baked sweet potato and hush puppies. He said on the way home it wasn't very good, but if it's dinner time I swear that man would eat plastic! Guess we won't be eating there again any time soon!
    ...See More

    What’s for Dinner #408 Late Fall 2023

    Q

    Comments (97)
    No interesting cooking for people over here, but I’ve been cooking tasty food for dogs :-) We’re in Berkeley taking care of our friends’ very elderly and reportedly on his last legs little dog. I am, of course, determined that he will not expire on my watch, and when he eats enthusiastically I feel better. So, what to feed him? The base is a tasty homemade chicken stock, made from a roasted chicken, carrots, celery, onion - just like you’d make a chicken stock for yourself. We cook a batch of rice with that stock. Other chicken is browned then simmered, and minced up. His kibble is soaked in more stock. Then some more cooked chicken and carrots get pureed with stock into a sort of gravy-paste. Rice, kibble, and gravy are mixed, then briefly warmed in the microwave. Finally, crisp bacon is crumbled on top. I am pleased to say that Elderly Dog positively gobbles his food, cleaning his bowl reliably enough that I can give him his pills crushed in the food. I’d happily eat it myself, actually, except that there’s no salt or spice. Well, I don’t really like kibble. All the fixings are in stored in Tupperware so feeding doesn’t take long.
    ...See More
  • 8 years ago

    Crushed it! Brioche buns...whohooo. !

  • 8 years ago

    Pizza for breakfast ...last nights leftovers.... a couple eggs, broken yolk, to ooze beyond the veg....

  • 8 years ago

    split top buns for lobster rolls...and slaw fermented chopped with fresh...pissed I did not get a pic plated. Such a good recipe for brioche...HERE

  • 8 years ago

    Thanks, neely.

    Oh geez, sleevendog, you're killing me with all that bread/crust. (sigh) It looks amazing. And lobster rolls? Probably my favorite food....

    Annie

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Love your pizza for breakfast sleevendog, I could happily have that but DH not so much. I admire your brioche buns they look delicious.

    Spaghetti

    We had spaghetti bolognese two nights in a row after DH cooked up a large pot full.

    Lamb chop

    Lamb chop on the BBQ cooked on a perfect evening of our Indian Summer.

    2 many, you have got me onto the creme fraiche but bought not home made. The brown thing with the dollop of creme fraise is half a small braised radicchio.

  • 8 years ago

    Everyone’s been busy! So many wonderful dishes!

    Neely, love the
    idea to use pizza sauce for marina – I’m so stealing that! Your chicken parm looks amazing – and I’ll
    take 2 servings of your rhubarb brûlée, please. The Bolognese looks good to me
    right about now (thinking I’ve got some Bolognese mixed meats in the freezer
    calling my name!). Your grilled lamb chop have me envious… gotta learn that!
    Yours looks so tender. Laughed about the crème fraiche – I’m still
    making and using ours! I still can’t get past your tasty-looking quinoa and radicchio.
    The Korean chicken stir fry looks great Jasdip
    – that’s a favorite for us. Annie1992,
    I am so excited for you – and terribly envious!
    What a fantastic buy! Are those
    online auctions? Though no pics of your shakshuka,
    I want some now, but no way to really make it without a lot of work. Bet is was fantastic! Sleevendog, your first pizza looks really good, I love the bubbles
    in the crust… mine bubbles up at the par-bake, but they fall into thin layers
    during the primary bake… but your breakfast
    pizza with eggs.. O.M.G.!!!
    Divine-ness and I’d eat that 3 days in a row.
    Those brioche buns and lobster rolls take the cake! Awesome!!!!
    I’m PO’d that you didn’t get a pic, too.
    Good lobster is scarce here… never had a lobster roll but am positive it’d
    make it into my top 5. Thanks for posting your bottles – love the square ones
    and putting them on my wish list – what did
    you use to label them?
    I’m ‘over’ the swing-top jars for flours and sugars
    storage – too many parts to clean and reassemble! I still use them for items you mention as they
    seal well. Is that a pull-out spice rack you are putting together? Can’t wait to see it, especially filled with
    spices!

    Again, I’m last to know about: Starbucks sous vide egg ‘thingies’. Found various recipes for steaming in the IP, and fudged with the ingredients a bit using crème fraiche. Made some in 4 silicone molds, and re-heated Sat. and Sun. morning. Can’t wait for a sous vide… but the steamed were pretty good.

    Photos for uploading · More Info

    Filled with diced shiitakes, tomatoes, bacon, chives, Gruyere, parm, and spinach. Took maybe 2 minutes to put together. Over crispy hash browns with fresh thyme and hot sauce.

    Photos for uploading · More Info

    Friday night was Instant Pot Italian meat balls with marinara on whole wheat subs (store bought), steamed broccoli. Loving the rich flavors from pressure cooking with the IP. Not loving the ‘basic’ recipes I’m finding online, so using my own and/or adding ingredients. Oh, and a juniper berry infused dirty martini – in a plastic cup : )

    Photos for uploading · More Info


    Photos for uploading · More Info

    Saturday I threw together BLT’s – packed the last of the kitchen and too tired to make anything else. Sunday was leftover meatball subs and a veg after demo’ing half the kitchen. We were both sore and tired.


    DH, as resident bottle washer, has informed me it’s paper plates and plastic utensils when he dismantles the sink… But I still cook without a nearby water source? Hmph!


  • 8 years ago

    Annie, what a steal. You really hit the jackpot.

    Jasdip, I would be more than happy with your chicken stir fry.

    Some good looking pizzas from 2ManyDiversions and Sleevendog.

    Sleevendog, your Brioche Buns turned out great.

    2ManyDiversions, you seem to be mastering the temporary kitchen set up.

    I agree with you on the PC recipes found on line. It is one of the reasons it took me so long to get around to finally buying one. I wasn't interested in changing the way I cook or what I cooked. I just wanted the option of cooking something more quickly on a morning or evening of a work day. So I've been using the PC to cook a few of my favourites, like the lamb shanks, and the only thing different is the time it takes to cook. Not really much in the way of having to adapt anything at all. Or much of a learning curve either.

    Neely, I very seldom think of cooking lamb chops. I don't know why, because I love lamb. Your dinner reminds me that I have a jar of homemade creme fraiche in the fridge. I used some the other day in my tartar sauce.

    4:00 AM Early morning treat with a cappuccino.

    Made Callebaut White Chocolate and Walnut Scones. I had a block of Callebaut that I just chopped up into small chunks. Drizzled with a brown butter glaze.

    I make a lot of scones, but I think these might just be my favourite.

    Yesterday's breakfast. Roast beef with

    a Yorkshire Pudding.

    Last night's dinner. Rice noodles with pork.

  • 8 years ago

    ann_t, I'm frankly very unhappy with you just now {smiling hugely}. Another perfect rare roast beef, with yorkshire pudding. The drippings over the mashed potatoes, the bright peas, and what I know is horseradish isn't helping either. Darn you! Between sleevendog's breakfast pizza and that gorgeous photo, I'm feeling food deprived right now.

    Your scone looks delightfully decadent. The bowl of pad thai and pork with broth looks delish too (I'd pick out the peppers though!)

  • 8 years ago

    2many, that's an online auction. They don't mail anything, if I "win" something I have to drive to a neighboring town and pick it up. It's about 30 miles, but not really a problem, since my youngest daughter lives in that town. She picks stuff up and keeps it, or brings it out when she visits. Now Elery's middle son, the one who visited this weekend, has been having a great time on the auction site. He bought several items, including a "creepy baby" (porcelain doll) for a Halloween decoration, LOL.

    But it's a small community and they have a lot of "estate" items, things that family members just don't want or don't' want to deal with, and they take things in boxes to the auction. So I usually have to buy a whole box of junk, which I then throw away, to get the good items.

    As for the shakshuka, it really didn't take long at all and everyone loved it. It's a 20 minute sauce, then break the eggs in and cook until they're as done as you like them. I was amazed. I've seen a zillion recipes, using everything from white beans to mushrooms, so I kind of winged it. I sauteed two onions and 4 cloves of garlic, added some chopped carrot and zucchini because I had those left from supper. Dumped in a quart of home canned tomatoes and a small can of tomato paste. A tablespoon each of smoked paprika and cumin (you could use sweet paprika instead). Added a 4 ounce jar of home canned jalapenos for heat, some salt and pepper. Simmered for 20 minutes, cracked the eggs in, put on a lid and the eggs were done in about 5 minutes. I think it's more of a supper kind of dish, I'm not a big breakfast person, but Elery, Chris and Sorah all loved it. The kids wouldn't touch it, LOL.

    sleevendog, that breakfast pizza really does look good. Is that fresh fennel fronds or dill?

    Neely, I'm envious of your Indian Summer! Here it just snowed. Again. One of the coldest Aprils on record, otherwise I could maybe convince Elery to grill something. (sigh)

    AnnT, the scones look good as always, but it's the beef and Yorkshire pudding that's really calling my name.

    What's for dinner? I went to a baby shower yesterday, I had to bake the pink cake for my niece. She has a 6 year old son and wanted a girl badly, and she's 35, so this will probably be her last child. So she's giddy with excitement and wanted a pink cake. I made a sour cream cake, dyed it pink, frosted it pink, added gold edible glitter and a sparkly gold cake topper that said "It's a Girl" and was done. Not as fancy as some, but with company all weekend I didn't have a whole lot of time.

    Nothing there I could eat, of course, so I drank coffee and chatted with Mother and then came home and made venison tacos on low fat whole wheat tortillas. They weren't picture worthy, the tortillas fell apart and I had to eat them with a fork.

    Annie


  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Grilled tenderloin, mashed potato, steamed green beans with mushroom sauce, and yes we did have a fancy dinner with multiple wines . . . sometimes romance is in the air!

  • 8 years ago

    OOOH Susan, your grilled tenderloin makes my mouth water. Look at that rich sauce.

    We had fresh halibut again tonight with

    lemon garlic butter, roasted potatoes and steamed and buttered asparagus.

    Bought halibut steaks instead of fillets because the steaks were $2.99 a 100g ($13.63 lb) and the fillets were $4.99 a 100g. ($22.72 lb).



  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Trying to change our eating habits. Last three months our evening meals been light and very portion controlled and it is paying off finally. Coming by to visit WFD is not good for light eating, but still drop by everyday to see all your great cooking....keep up the good work.....and the pictures posted makes the plates so delicious looking. We have been having lots of fruit and veggie plates...this is tonights plate.

  • 8 years ago

    Susan, I second ann_t, that mushroom sauce looks so flavorful, as does the entire plate - wonderful for a romantic meal : )

    ann_t, once again, perfect halibut! I think I'll try a spatchcock chicken on the grill later this week and hoping it's somewhere close to the grilled chicken I've admired from you.. wish me luck! (I finally got out the new grill thermometer and read the instructions)

    shirl, agreed, hard to cut back and look at all this amazing food! Nevertheless, your meal looks quite appetizing to me. Lighter fare, healthier dinners are always appealing to me. I sure wish DH felt the same!

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Bought a baking stone for the Oster French Door Convection oven.

    Going to test it today.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Today's breakfast.


    Veal Oxtails cooked in the Breville PC and served with polenta.

  • 8 years ago

    Gorgeous sauces! Yum. Need to put polenta on the menu soon.

    Still going through Easter veg. Yes, that is dill and fennel. Good in salads. Rarely buy either but a nice addition to salad slaws.

    Brisket bbq sammies. Collards. Fresh slaw mixed with fermented kraut.

    Need some good weather before dealing with the spice rack...snow flurries this morning....should be nice this weekend.

    I have plenty of printable labels but they get ratty. I just use a paint marker and easily scrubbed off with BK as some spices I move up to larger jars if I find I use more of it.

    A dozen iced tea spoons in a drawer just under my prep zone fit into all the jars. That awful one with the arrow, a squat ball jar, grrr. Bad design. I love the wide top but they do not stack. (what?!)

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Used the Oster to bake baguettes.

    Still can't believe how much space there is in this oven.

    I was able to fit three large size baguettes on the stone.

    Just out of the oven.


    ETA: Today's crumb shot. 68% hydration.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Gosh I love polenta! Especially when it's served under a meat and sauce - looks delicious Ann! Just checked, I can cook polenta in the IP (hope I didn't pack my polenta). Those baguettes are gorgeous - the crust is perfect, and that is a huge toaster oven! I have bread dough in my fridge, but can't do a thing with it since it's drizzling and I melt (just kidding, but too rainy). Did you also fit your ice cube tray in, or go without?

    sleevendog, while your brisket with mustard looks lovely, it's another look at those beautiful brioche buns that has my mouth watering (sooo good-looking!). You know how I love your salads... It's always just dark greens, tomatoes, red onion, and homemade croutons on ours... wish DH was more adventurous. I'm trying. He boo-hoo'd the grilled bok choy and grilled squash. I loved it, I just don't like prepping for 2 different tastes right now. ETA: thank you for the DecoColor - I think I have one or two here, but want a thick one so I can actually read what I write!

    I find myself once again staring (gawking) at your spices, sleevendog. I hate it when they don't stack also (and soon you won't have to worry about it!). Broken bottles, spilled messes. Although the last item that broke was a full bottle of cinnamon - I vacuumed it up and since, every time I run my vacuum I want cinnamon rolls!

    Last night was poofed chicken and dumplings and a salad. Oh well. I'm clueless for tonight.

    Annie1992, are you eating? Don't wither away!

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Susan, that beef is perfectly cooked, it looks very good.

    AnnT, that IS a big oven. Like 2 many, I'm wondering if you had room for the pan of ice cubes or if that bread was baked without them. But that halibut, oh my.

    Sleevendog, I agree on those jars. I have a dozen or so of them and they are very "cool", but they don't stack and I find it hard to scrape the last bits out of the corners. I use them as a last resort, just before I start using the jars that are pre-WWII!

    Shirl, that looks like a perfect summer meal here, and that plate sets it off perfectly.

    2many, I dropped an entire large jar of very expensive Penzey's Vietnamese Cinnamon onto my ceramic tile kitchen floor. It smelled good for quite a while, but it was an expensive deodorizer!

    As for withering away, there's little chance of that, I seem to be losing my patience, mostly, and not much else. (sigh) The "experts" say I'm not eating enough and it causes the metabolism to slow down. OK, so eat more, but not bread or rice or potatoes or fat or sugar or nuts or cereal or grains or beef or pork or dairy. What can I eat? Fruit (nope, not happening, I'd rather be hungry), vegetables (OK, I do that), boneless, skinless chicken or turkey breast or baked fish or water packed tuna. Yeah....um.....no. Cooking is frustrating and I still come here to torture myself.

    Meanwhile, we had pork chops and salad one night. Pork is limited to 2 ounces unless it's tenderloin, which this definitely was not:

    Last night we had venison steak, a vegetable stew/mixture made of all the vegetables that would go bad if we didn't eat them, and some mushrooms and onions to go with the steak. A side of sleevendog's mustard seeds and yes, that is my Diet Coke.

    Tonight we had the ubiquitous chicken breast, spread with a teaspoon of Honeycup mustard, with some roasted asparagus and snow peas:

    Tomorrow Elery is planning to roast a turkey breast and make some kind of vegetable thing in the waffle iron.

    I did bake a sour cream cake for my niece's baby shower. I didn't get a picture of it when finished, but here it is in progress. It wasn't fancy because Elery's son, DIL and their three kids were here from Thursday through Saturday and the baby shower was Sunday!

    I added this topper:

    And no, I didn't eat it, but my Mother had two pieces, she says they can keep those cupcakes from the local supermarket, she'll eat the homemade stuff. See, she still is thinking clearly at 82, LOL.

    Annie

  • 8 years ago

    I have not learned how to post photos here but we had a very lovely dinner of herbed pan fried lamb chops, roasted asparagus and roasted baby potatoes with olive oil, salt, rosemary and pepper. I squeezed lemon juice on the asparagus and dusted it with parmesan.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Seagrass, at the bottom of the comment box there are a group of icons. One says "photo" and there's a picture of a camera. If you click that it will open a box that lets you choose a file/picture from your computer. When you select it, it loads and voila!! There's your picture.

    Annie

  • 8 years ago

    Annie - I don't know how to load a photo onto my laptop lol!! I'm a dinosaur.


  • 8 years ago

    Oh dear, I probably can't help you with that. Although mine came with a cord, I plugged one end into the camera and the other end into the computer port and it did pretty much everything itself. The only problem then was that I couldn't find where the pictures were, LOL.

    Annie

  • 8 years ago

    Such good healthy meals Annie, I know... a piece of your homemade bread would make it even better. And AnnT such great looking bread and the veal/ox tails with polenta looks so good.

    Hi Susan, lovely to see you posting your meal and sea grass I hope you do get to post photos but never mind if you don't because your meal sounds yummy.

    Sleevendog I am craving one of those brisket BBQ Sammis . And way back 2 many, if you're late to 'Starbucks Sous Vide egg thingies' then I'm even later and don't have a clue but it seems they turned out pretty good for you.

    It might seem a little weird but I do try to have DH and I have 'dry' meals such as grills, roast etc, alternately with 'wet' meals such as stir fry or spaghetti. Not terribly strictly but so that this 'kind of' happens regularly.

    Anyway tonight was a chicken stir fry with leek, onions and mandarin which was all we had. I couldn't be bothered going out to the store because I got stuck into the fall/ autumn gardening chores.

    The sauce was lemon grass and five star spice.

    Back to artificial lighting for the photos unless we eat early. Must get some sort of lamp arrangement.

  • 8 years ago

    I avoid grocery shopping especially with nicer weather and days are getting longer...

    Still lots of good stuff in the crisper from Easter. So taco night it is.

    Prepped and served on the plancha...

    while prepping I can warm the front half on a low burner.

  • 8 years ago

    neely, our spring is your fall, I guess. The days are getting longer and longer here. Your chicken stir fry looks good, and I just got an email that the leeks I ordered for planting have been shipped. A bit early, I can't plant for at least 6 weeks here, which is why I have two little fig trees in pots, sitting in the windowsill!

    Sleevendog, your meal looks nice and fresh, and it seems that you are "cleaning out" the produce drawers too. I've nearly gotten mine under control, I think, but there are still things in the fridge that I need to use up ASAP.

    So, dinner. Boneless, skinless turkey breast, a vegetable "waffle" and some "weight watchers" baked beans, which were actually not bad. Better than no baked beans at all, at least.

    I should have known better than to use the waffle iron, no matter what the recipe said. The only thing I've done well with a waffle iron is waffles, go figure. These would be better, I think, done as small latke type pancakes on a griddle. Using the waffle iron caused a couple of problems. The first problem is that they stayed mushy/gooey in the middle and never really crisped up, you can kind of see that in the picture. The second problem is that they took about 10 minutes to bake, and they had to be done in batches, so cooked "waffles" had to be held in a warm oven to stay serving temperature. Of course, they got even soggier.

    I also made some of the roasted chickpeas that are all the rage right now. They were horrible, crunchy and nearly burned on the outside, mushy in the middle. I asked my stepson if his were mushy and he said that his were completely crunchy, no nasty mush at all. The recipe I tried called for baking half an hour at 400F. He said his were baked at 350F for 45 minutes, so they crisped all the way through without burning them. I'll try again, probably.

    Annie

  • 8 years ago

    Annie, I like the colour of the icing on the cake.

    Neely, beautiful stir fry. Adding Mandarins is different. I bet it was really good.

    Sleevendog, what a great taco spread.

    Still putting the Oster counter top oven through its paces.

    Tonight I baked a large round in a Dutch Oven.

    Baked for 30 minutes with the lid on and another 25 with the lid off.

    Took a picture through the glass doors after the lid was removed.

  • 8 years ago

    Such great bread AnnT ... I am such a novice bread maker that what I don't understand is why didn't your large round loaf turn out with straight sides.?

    Lovely fresh taco dinner there Sleevendog.

    Annie, so admire you sticking to your and Elerys' eating plan. I saw this meme the other day and thought of you.. it said

    I'm just a girl

    Standing in front of a salad

    Asking it to be a donut


    Well I thought it was cute with shades of Julia Roberts in Nottinghill, a movie I can watch many times over.

    So I too have progressed a little with bread or dough. Thanks to encouragement from people here in WFD and all the other bread threads I now have bread dough in the freezer to make pizza effortlessly. I can just poof a ball of dough, shape, rise and get it in the oven quick smart.

    This is a new style of pizza (new to me anyway) that is popular for lunches. Fresh pizza, with the base, sauce, chicken, cheese and olives cooked, with fresh tomato and avocado added just before serving. A sprinkle of fine dice red onion would be good to add... next time.

  • 8 years ago

    "Such great bread AnnT ... I am such a novice bread maker that what I don't understand is why didn't your large round loaf turn out with straight sides.?"

    Neely, I'm not 100% sure I know what you mean, so this is a guess.

    The DO was not used as say you would a loaf pan, where the bread fills the pan and the sides support the loaf as it rises, which gives you flat sides, keeping the dough in the shape of the pan.

    The DO is more like an oven in side an oven. The DO does not touch the sides of the loaf. It just surrounds it with heat. So the round loaf rises as a round. It isn't supported by the sides of the pan.

    Does that help?

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Great looking meals!

    Annie, I think you are doing amazingly well! I truly admire you : ) I’m not sure if it’s the same, but I learned after years of trying and failing to put on much-needed weight that the slower it goes the more likely it is to stay put! Ignore my attempts at advice. I will be your cheerleader, though! The veg waffle thingie (lol!) actually looks great – I see crisp on the top.


    Neely, your chicken pizza with fresh toppings looks so good – I’ve never done that either but would like to.

    Sleevendog, your crisper is better than mine. Getting a new fridge with the reno, and hoping the crisper works better than our 20-year-old fridge. What a gorgeous spread for tacos!

    Ann, as per usual… as always, your bread is amazing. I also do (did) some of mine in the DO also, exactly as you described. Turns out beautifully that way and eliminates the “ice cube toss”!

    Last night we had chicken and dumplings again, which were leftover from poofing the other day, so that makes it poofed leftover leftovers! I found some homemade cheese bread which I poofed and served warm with butter, and I steamed broccoli. I can’t use the IP, microwave, and toaster oven all at once without tripping the circuit breaker. Which I keep forgetting and doing.

    Photos for uploading · More Info

    Sorry to belabor, but I remain exhausted and sore all the time, my hands are blistered and cut, and I’m finding meals a hardship (and thank you for letting me vent). Tonight will be burgers and corn on the grill seasoned with a dusting of clay dirt, top soil, and a very fine smattering of mulch dust. Work on the back yard continues, and this is a non-rainy day, so I’ve no choice : )

  • 8 years ago

    That looks yummy and healthy!

    Lovely and common in NYC to have a few fresh ingredients on pizza.

    The usual mid-week miso noodle bowl...previous sous vide pork from the freezer saute with roasted pepper ginger and garlic....mushrooms...still waiting for that avocado to ripen. (same ol' salad) DH made crispy salad/salsa tacos for breakfast.

  • 8 years ago

    sleevendog, your pork miso soup looks soooo good - your broth looks rich and delicious. Love the prep photo!

    That avocado will get there... just don't do as I do: buy the avocado, sit it out to ripen, feel it every day, forget it for a couple days, feel it again only to find it's over-ripened to a brown mush : )

  • 8 years ago

    annie1992 I would suggest you look at skinnytaste.com for some delicious low cal and fat recipes I have used her recipes for several years and don't think I have tried one I didn't love. She has a very large following including Weight Watchers.






  • 8 years ago

    Thank you, Alice, I'll check that out.

    AnnT, that bread looks perfect as always. The color on the cake was the choice of the Mother, she wanted a girl so badly and she wanted PINK. Everything PINK, LOL, but The Princess insisted that there had to be something sparkly and with glitter.

    neely, I was surprised to see avocado on your pizza, but I like avocado and fresh tomato is so much nicer than red sauce, so I think the fresh pizza is a good idea. Yes, I like the meme, but I want it to be AnnT's bread!

    2many, grilled food is like a picnic, there has to be some dirt or it isn't right. (grin) Hang in there, that reno will all be worth it in the end.

    sleevendog, do you use the golden beets raw? All those vegetables look fresh and nice, and I like the watermelon radishes too.

    Today we had chili and grilled cheese sandwiches. The chili was my own "usual", the sandwich was the light bread with fat free cheese, toasted and not actually grilled because there was no butter. It was OK, dunked into the chili...

    Elery had a salad with his, including this fresh jalapeno, which he eats like it's a green pepper while I cringe...

    There is a big ice storm predicted for this weekend, with 40 MPH winds and possible power outages, so tomorrow I'll cook enough for the dogs over the weekend, do all the laundry and fill the tub with water. We have gas for the generator and pellets for the stove, so I think we're nearly ready. We'll give the cows hay tomorrow and I walked fence today so if we can't fill water tanks, we'll let them out to the pond.

    What happened to April showers?

    Annie

  • 8 years ago

    Wow, just saw the storm on the news. Crazy. Laundry is on the top of my storm list...

    Chili looks great! I would pass on the pepper also. A few thin slices maybe.

    Watermelon radish is a nice Fall crop. Yup, all raw, sliced mandolin thin. The fennel has been a nice addition. Keep forgetting to pick up some celeriac.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    2MD, a good fridge is a game changer. I had a crapy one for years....

    Last night had the best . artichokes . ever. Finally seeing good ones in the market at a great price. A seasonal treat. I buy the frozen baby hearts for pizza but fresh is so good.

    Steak and shitake/mustard seed pickle w/shallots garlic tomatoes.

  • 8 years ago

    Sleevendog, would you mind sharing which Miso you use? There are a number of fresh miso varieties available at a grocer in Victoria that caters to the Asian community.

    Great looking artichokes.

    2ManyDiversions. Maybe you need to take today off. Sounds like you are really over doing it.

    Last night's dinner.

    Grilled Pork chops with three different mushrooms, roasted potatoes and fresh asparagus.

  • 8 years ago

    Pork chops look amazing.

    Ann, I use MisoMaster and have for years since all my local markets carry it. I think made in Tennessee. Naturally fermented and non-pasteurized is more available now but I just stick to what we like. Seems expensive at the get go, but it has marks into 8th's on the top...so that is eight meals for a small container. Needs refrigeration and mine have a use by date 2020. I used to date the top once opened, not that it really maters since we go through it rather quickly. We have made 'January soup month' for two years now to balance the Holidays...so noodle bowl has been the go-to weeknight meals, being so easy.

    I use my bistro jars since the top faceted area is exactly one cup. Hot water, 180º is a safe temp to not destroy the good ferment, then add lots of fresh ginger and green onion. We always have at least two in the fridge, then put it on the shopping list when one is used up. And 8th scoop is probably two tbsp. I'm now using one tbsp for some salmon glazes just adding a bit to some tamari and toasted sesame oil for a salmon glaze, etc. Summer months I use less.

  • 8 years ago

    sleevendog, Elery would be happy with those artichokes, he loves them. I hope you're all prepared, we had a pretty good hail storm here today, with pea sized hail. I hope tomorrow isn't as icy as they are projecting, happily the weather people seem to be wrong a lot more than they are right, maybe they will be again.

    2many, I think AnnT is right, you need a day off.

    AnnT, it must be a pork kind of day. We had pork here too, not as pretty as yours but pretty good. It was supposed to be moo shu pork and it wasn't, but it wasn't bad. The cauliflower rice is getting old fast, though:


    Annie

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Thanks for the positive feedback on the teriyaki tacos, and for the eggs and salad for breakfast I posted earlier.

    Recent meals:

    Chinese okra done with an Indonesian flair - contains scrambled eggs, Chinese chives, been sprouts and so forth. Chinese okra is not really okra, but in the curcubit family, and tastes very mildly of cucumber. Naturally slime-free.

    Chinese okra looks like regular okra on steroids - see the second photo.

    Mini lamb sliders on a bed of lettuce and watercress. I seasoned the sliders with salt, pepper, garlic, turmeric prior to shaping.

    True okra, done Paleo style: I used coconut flakes to batter them with. There are recipes that use ground almond, but I've developed a sensitivity to many tree nuts. To make them less fat-centric, I also baked them rather than deep frying. I also tested out a way to remove the slime: slice them in half lengthwise, and make sure they are dry when you go to batter and cook them. (Rinse them earlier and allow them to dry.)

    Here's my offal moment: lamb sweetbreads, with bell pepper, onion, and topped with capers and scallions. Seasoned with lemon, thyme, salt, pepper, garlic. I'm sure this one is not going to be on most people's priority list, but we grew up with offal long before it became "trendy", so I never developed the "ick" factor reaction. (Why I have that reaction to cottage cheese, I just don't know!)

    Sleevendog, those artichokes look wonderful! (one of my favorite veggies, up there with asparagus!) As well as the miso noodle bowl!

    Annie, I like a good chili... sounds like a hearty good meal.

    Innumerable great meals on this thread!

  • 8 years ago

    I've never had Chinese okra. My giant international market went Bankrupt : ( ........ They were more than twice the size of a normal grocery.

    What is your coconut binder?. I stock both flake and flour as well as chia and psylium husk for binders...

    My favorite paleo type take-out in the city is HU, MENU. Yet another place for recipe ideas.

    Annie, what about just roasting some veg and cauliflower florets for variety. Do you like nutritional yeast? That with some spices like za'atar (without the sesame seed) and some chia for a binder sauce is pretty amazing and O calories.

    When we did soup January and way low on the carbs I really had to amp up the spices.

    I suppose we are varietal-tarians. Rarely have meat two days in a row so it is going to be a seafood weekend...

    Burger Friday. Finally a ripe avocado, roasted chickpeas, fennel slaw and big raw veg salad...


  • 8 years ago

    Sleevendog, Thanks for the Miso advice.

    Your plating is beautiful on your burger. Is that one of your homemade buns?

    Annie, I tried a version of the cauliflower rice. Didn't want it as a substitute for rice, but just as a side. It had a lot of butter and Parmesan cheese in it. Not exactly a diet version.

    I baked the first rhubarb pie of the season yesterday morning.

    And I had pie for dinner.

  • 8 years ago

    Saturday’s lunch...another salad...I do wish they didn’t take so long to assemble


    Thursday’s lunch ...DD came in....salmon, apple salad,roasted cauliflower and onions, angel biscuit and carrot cake cupcake.

    Tuesday lunch after The Y.......we always eat fish of some sort the days we go to The Y. Tuna salad, roasted cauliflower, marinated green beans in an Italian dressing, sliced strawberries. We sure had our share of fish this week!


  • 8 years ago

    Shirl, your meals look so fresh and healthy.


    I made Moe Halibut Fish and Chips for dinner.

  • 8 years ago

    Sleevendog, for the okra, I rolled them in arrowroot flour, then egg, then the coconut flakes.

  • 8 years ago

    Thank you artemis. I stock arrowroot. I've been experimenting with various baked veg and protein.

    Yes, the same brioche roll recipe. They freeze better than most.

  • 8 years ago

    Oh my, everything looks so wonderful! -- except the hail, of course. We've been having freezing rain here and it's supposed to continue all day. :(

    I think I posted on a previous WFD thread about the General Tsao's chicken I made... I used the recipe from allrecipes.com called General Tsao's Chicken II. I twice-fried the chicken as they said and it was divine (I also add a lot of broccoli. lol!). Anyway, it was such a good recipe, but I wanted to try a quick (lower-fat, less mess :) version, using just sauteed chicken and it came out great!

  • 8 years ago

    Just wanted to say all the meals shown from party music, AnnT , Shirl , Sleevendog and Artemis looked delicious.