What's for Dinner? Jan. 16

Personal pizzas tonight.

I have some of those whole wheat tortillas that I made the other day that will make tasty pizzas.

DH is off to Kansas...again! (At least now it's to train their guys on software and hardware that is working to suit them! Happy customers=happy DH!)
BIL is here so I won't get off completely cooking-free, but casual food is the theme for the week!

Blessings,
Lenora
"...if woman's work is never done, why bother about how much of it [isn't] getting done at any given moment?"
~ Claire Fraser in The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

Pizza sitcks (with whole-wheat crust shhhh.....)
Marinara dipping sauce
Green salad

The kids have requested brownies, but we'll see if I can get to making them.

-Jo

At my high school we always had hamburgers on Martin Luther King Day. But we're having meatloaf, which I figure is close enough.

was that while you were in Taiwan Becky?? I just imagine it being the most American thing they could come up with!!

I just noticed this is a new thread - duh... I've been heading to bed for about 90mins now, so bear with me!

bru-rice tonight. I'm sure I mentioned this on the old thread: chicken stock, chicken, leek, carrot, swede, celery, potato and rice. With multigrain bread - very tasty.

I have the whole of this week planned out except tomorrow for some reason. I did my grocery shopping today and now need to think of ways to use what I bought, which I suspect is backwards. Something with gravy since I bought a cute little Savoy cabbage again - Honey... you're quiet today... too quiet!

I need to start emptying my fridge from the weekend too because we leave on Thursday morning. Hate that. Gotta go see if my shorts still fit *shiver*

Kerri.

It was in Massachusetts. I think maybe they just wanted to serve "three-day-weekend" type food, which would be burgers and hot dogs.

here is macaroni cheese, carrots, mushrooms and spinach, and tomato sauce.

Better go and make white sauce.

Zillah

I am lurking along Kerri, and I did post somewhere yesterday what we had for dinner. Probably on the wrong thread

DS14's friend is staying for a few days and he's a pain to feed, very fussy. This time though, he arrived with a couple of bags of groceries, which was rather a nice thought by his Mum. I do have him here at least once a fortnight, often for three days or so, so it was thoughtful of her. Plus the added bonus that as his Mum has supplied it, it must be stuff he eats! There are a few boxes of cakes, some crisps, pizzas, frozen southern fried chicken, sausage rolls, minced beef pies, chocolate mousse, and tinned fruit. So that's what we're eating for the next three days!

Turkey Mignon, which is a thick slice of turkey breast wapped with a piece of bacon and grilled. I usually have honey mustard on mine, and the guys eat them as sandwiches on buns with wasabi mayo. We will also have garlic-asagio zuchini and fries for the guys. And lots of cranberry juice for me.

That sounds great Jo! You are using your grill in the winter?

We are having Crockpot Chuck Roast, garlic smashed potatoes, and a salad or veggie or both.

Oh that's funny! I can just picture it... ours is on the deck and we use it some in the winter, but not much. May have to copy your idea.

It's been chilly-ish. So we're having carrots and potatoes again, but this time with chicken rather than meatloaf. And this time I think I am going to put the carrots and potatoes in for half an hour before the chicken, because the chicken pieces cook faster than meatloaf and I like my root vegetables very cooked. In case anyone cared!

Chickpea soup with a fried egg in it. I know, it's another daft sounding soup, but it's really good. The egg yolk kind of enriches the soup. Probably some kind of salad to go with it. Depends what's in the veg bag that will arrive in a few hours time. . .

Zillah

Well, I start back to school tonight so I think oatmeal pancakes and scrambled eggs sounds nice and easy!

Tomorrow I think we will have Pork Tacos. They sound like a yummy way to use up the rest of the pork tenderloin. Then I will make Quick A Wink Soup for the rest of the leftover pork for this weekend. Can you tell a) I am trying to make good use of the leftovers and B) I have been researching recipes online!

Jana

Chily today...Chili tonight!

We're getting snow right now and forecast for most of the day so Chili should hit the spot! DH won't be home until late (from Kansas), and BIL is with their mom, so it's just the DDs and me.

I'm going to try my hand a making saltine crackers this afternoon! I'll let you know how they turn out!

Blessings,
Lenora
"...if woman's work is never done, why bother about how much of it [isn't] getting done at any given moment?"
~ Claire Fraser in The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

I am going to make mac & cheese with whole wheat elbows and extra-sharp cheddar. Recently I have thrown in a can of fire-roasted tomatoes and everyone seems to like that. I also have some beet greens that need cooking.

Tomorrow we will have soy-sesame-maple-garlic marinated London Broil, so I need to throw together that marinade and get in on the meat too.

What is Quick A Wink Soup? I love soup.

I searched google for what to do with leftover pork tenderloin and I loved this link

http://www.ncpork.org/consumers/recipes/archives.shtml

It is where I got the pork taco recipes too. We are low on funds this time around and these recipes worked because I have most of the ingredients!

Jana

Yesterday we ended up going out, so we're having the chicken and carrots and potatoes tonight instead.

It's just DMIL and I tonight, so we're treating ourselves to plaice with a roasted pepper sauce, saute potatoes and spinach. Yummmmmmm.

DD and I just had sardine pate on toast for lunch as part of my effort to get her to eat more calcium rich things (she's dairy intolerant.) Spinach will count to that as well.

Zillah

DH and I ended up far from home eating noodles and fried rice, while one of our offspring ate at the grandparents' and the other just threw up there instead.

Tonight's dinner, as per the ongoing planning, was pizza, salad and the mushrooms that didn't get eaten yesterday.

I need to get a few more simple meals planned for after we come back so that I don't let it slide.

Kerri.

jacket potatoes, bacon and sweetcorn or some variation on that.

not sure if this helps me to clear the fridge out though...

Kerri.

Nachos with:

black bean dip
ground beef for the boys-yuck!
black olives
fresh salsa
avacado
sour cream
fresh jalepeno

I bake the chips with cheese and everyone piles on top what they like to make their own personal concoction. Good for a raw, rainy Friday.

So dinner for the next week or so will be turkey and vegetable lasagna (hopefully with an extra lasagna to freeze); cauliflower, cheese, and tomato soup and a spinach salad; tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches (finally going to be brave and try some of those tomatoes I canned last summer); a quick rendition of sweet-and-sour chicken; and a vegetarian chili. I also need to make some chicken stock soon. I'm really liking having a freezer--besides freezing casseroles for later I now have room to drop chicken and/or turkey carcasses in and make stock later instead of immediately.

I like your nacho ideas. We have nachos pretty regularly and I am always making several dishes to get everyones tastes. I like your idea.

Kerri - what are jacket potatoes? I envision little potatoes with tuxedos on!

Jana

It just means baked potatoes. They call the skins "jackets." I guess because one usually peels potatoes for other potato preparations, so the presence of the skin is what makes baked potatoes distinctive.

We're having freezer chili and tortillas.

I realised afterwards that I couldn't remember any Americans saying 'jacket' potatoes!

tonight was gingered turkey with rice - one of Mum's recipes. Nice to have it in my head because we went shopping today and came back quite late. Normally I might have given in to DH wheedling about Indian restaurants but I knew what we were having and I was sticking to it! Good for me.

tomorrow this cook gets the day off because Mum called this morning and invited us over. Not sure what we're having since she said she needed to go shopping. I'd had roast lamb on my menu, but I can still do Tuesday's moussaka because I have plenty of lamb mince in the freezer. Need to get a few more meals listed down for our return so I get a few days' grace before I have to think much. Tuna casserole first off because it needs nothing that I haven't got in the cupboard, except cheese which will last far more than the week we're away!

Kerri.

I had some leftover soy-maple-sesame-garlic marinade, so I poured it in a bag with some chicken breasts for tonight. We will also have some kung-pao noodles (from a box mix) and sauteed snow peas. Tomorrow is ballet and then I have a meeting, so it will be stew int the crock-pot.

In the UK kung pao chicken is NOTHING like what I know (in Singapore and China) as kung pao chicken. What is it like in the US??

Tonight I proved to myself the importance of meal planning. Tonight's meal somehow got missed and we ended up with breaded chicken stuff, tinned baked beans and chips (fries - I'm not THAT bad!). I was supposed to be emptying the fridge before we go away for a week yet not one of those items contributed to that goal, and I realised that I couldn't be bothered to think AND cook all in the same hour or two. Lesson learned!

also forgot to buy the eggplant for tomorrow's moussaka. I was already planning to add some of our fresh spinach which needs using up, but now it might be a substitute!

Kerri.

Now's as good a time as any:

--potato-chip salmon (this has a fancier name, but that's what we call it. Broiled salmon with a mustard-dill-crushed chip crust)

--cheddar corn chowder

--bean lasagne

--cincinnati chili

-- something involving shredded chicken (tempted to try chicken and dumplings or chicken pot pie)

Hmm, I need to think more on this and examine the contents of the cupboards. We've had oven-fried catfish and zucchini quesadillas recently. Maybe shrimp scampi linguini (I am into Barefoot Contessa recipes lately.) Or a quiche? I bought a spinach-mushroom quiche as emergency dinner, and it was a hit. I could make an extra and freeze it. Hmmm . . .

I found a great Singapore recipe for it (I assume it's right for what I normally have anyway) but as they point out, cashew nuts aren't native to China - they are very weird and hang at the bottom of a fruit thing in places like Thailand (use your search engine because they really are surprising for 'nuts'!). I'm sure though that this is also what I had in Beijing. I think this link may take you to the main index and you'll need to click on the first poultry recipe.

http://www.makantime.com/cookbook/index.htm

lots of other recipes there that might be worth a try. Some are making me drool and long to get back in fact, amazingly! Anyway, what's familiar to me is dried chillis and cashew nuts with a sauce that is a little spicy but not too potent, a little sweet but not as much as sweet and sour, and a little salty. The dried chillis make most of the difference. Over here the kung pao sauce is like sweet and sour. Not a dried chilli in sight!

I guess I've been pampered and spoilt. My BIL has expensive taste and eating out in Singapore happens at least twice a week or more. Not measly fast food joints either.

Shaun, your oven-fried catfish sounds nice. I never thought I'd say this but I miss good quality seafood! I've always been hopeless at cooking fish myself so I've just relied on my wonderful MIL and lotsof extremely good restaurants for fabulous prawns and fish (still don't like lobster, crab, squid, cuttlefish, baby octopus, etc).

Nice to know there's something to go back to Singapore for, other than family! Food is a national obsession there though.

Kerri.

is on the menu tonight.

Jana

...we had a skate and chips take away tonight. Well, it was my Grandad's birthday

Yum, chimichangas!

Everything sounds good actually - the salmon and seafood and kung pao chicken. HNere is it chicken and onions and peppers? In a somewhat spicy sauce with peanuts. Never made it, just had it at Chinese places. I like it if it is FRESH!

I made Thai Chicken tonite - ok it was from a packet, but I have to share this! I have discovered Taste of Thai brands at the store - chicken coatings, seasoning, sauces. They are yummy and you can stil make a home cooked meal, just with a little help!

Andrea

aren't they a lot of fiddling though?? Are they the ones that need to be wrapped up and deep-fried?? I have a recipe along wit a delicious looking picture but I've never dared!

the fish and chips sounds wonderful too... we haven't got up the guts yet to try the nearby chip shop although everyone we've spoken to says it's quite reasonable. There's supposed to be an award-winning place on the other side of town, but my neighbour said she didn't like it because they fry in lard I think she said.

tonight is altered reality moussaka... no eggplant still. I came out of the health centre with NO time left on my parking and no money to put any more on, so the eggplant stayed in the grrengrocer's! The kids will probably be happy - they prefer spinach to eggplant anyway!

Kerri.

The skate and chips was fantastic Kerri, I haven't had it as nice for a good couple of years. The batter was nice, the skate really white and the chips were big fat ones. I also had a buttered roll and a wolly (which you probably call a gherkin,but where I come from it's a wolly).

The lard thing - they do that in different areas of the country. On holiday in Norfolk a few times I haven't been able to eat chips at all, they're revolting.

I've been grocery shopping today. Tonight's dinner is stir fried vegetables, sweet and sour chicken, prawn toast and egg fried rice.