What's For Dinner? January 2007

Wow! You sure do eat a lot healthier than we have LOL...

New Years Day- Kid's ate at my grandmother's, DF found something in the cabinet I'm assuming cuz he hasn't starved yet lol, and I had a Lean Cuisine meal I picked up at the grocery store on the way to work.

Tuesday- Leftover roast from sunday, mashed potatoes (also leftover), and green beans (I had healthy choice pizza at work)

Wednesday- Cleaned out the rest of last week's leftovers (I ate at work again lol)

Thursday- Tonight we're having chicken on the foreman grill, and whatever I can scrounge together in the cabinets to go with it. It might be kinda difficult though since Mother Hubbard's cupboards are just about bare and she doesn't get paid til tomorrow. I'm trying very very hard to not have to use my credit card but I'm thinking I might have to at least a little unless I can dig up enough change for a gallon of milk.

We haven't been this broke in a LONG time... I forgot what it felt like. Not that I missed that feeling at all! Well I'm off to work on next week's budget and grocery list. Hopefully I can find a few extra $$ in the budget to get some extra stuff and restock my cupboards.

LOL I just looked at my post and the title it gave... Maybe I shoulda worded that first sentence a little different

Honey.

how much you crave simple foods after the Christmas mayhem? I certainly do. A few days away and time at the office and with my SIL meant we've eaten out far too much, and although it has been good food (in most cases, not all) it means that when I'm cooking at home we end up with some very unusual combinations. DH and I got back our enthusiasm for caesar salad while we were away but I think that much salad in the depths of winter was too much of a shock to my system really.

Tuesday - we got home after 3 days and I threw together the gammon I'd cooked on Christmas Eve, cheeses, olives, cheese biscuits, a caesar salad and various other odds and ends and everyone had as much or as little as they wanted.

Wednesday - my SIL's last night with us and she wanted to treat my parents to dinner so we went out again.

Thursday - very strange. All I could think of consuming was chicken noodle soup. DS suggested scrambled eggs on toast to follow since the chicken noodle soup is just chicken stock and vermicelli noodles. The soup evolved a little with some cocunut milk and Thai flavourings but that's exactly what we had for dinner for just DH and myself and DS. DD is staying with my parents for a couple of nights but DS chose not to.

I've got a couple of large lumps of broccoli which I bought specifically to turn into soup, and I'm hoping the Shropshire Blue cheese I bought will work as well in that as the more common Stilton usually does. I can't quite see any of us eating anything normal for a few days yet, at least not until the kids go back to school on Monday.

Kerri.

I think tonight we're having roast chicken, carrots, and potatoes, but DH will probably insist on putting barbecue sauce on the chicken. He basically won't eat meat without barbecue sauce or ketchup!

Thursday I opted out of cooking altogether and had lentil and three bean soup(canned). Friday was Moon Carrot Pie - recipe on this thread at www.moneysavingexpert.com Saturday was hard boiled egg sandwiches - not much of a dinner, but it was what I fancied Today is so far a mystery, but might be chilli with nachos.

the night before last... ummm... Friday... we were late in the office so we thought we'd treat DS who'd opted to stay with us instead of visit my parents and we went to Pizza Hut. And promptly drove away again because the queue was too long. We grabbed fish and chips on the way home instead. Last night I collected DD quite late so we predictably (my father predicted we'd out or at least have pasta) had pasta. I like to call it a creamy pork and spinach ragu with flavoured pasta, but really it was a slightly altered version of the spag bol DD had the night before. And tonight hit an all-time low with a few crispy duck pancakes (like spring rolls, from the freezer) and an ancient piece of garlic bread, also from the freezer.

I started to make the soup, but the cheese smelled so bad I gave up and chucked the whole lot away. Better go dig out some sausages for tomorrow's dinner or we might just starve!

Kerri.

Sunday I had an upset stomach so didn't eat much at all. I don't fancy that chilli today either, so I might make shepherd's pie. Actually, strictly speaking that would be cottage pie, as I will be using beef mince.

Honey.

noodles, packet of ready shredded stir-fry veg (those things are great, as long as you use them the same day or the next), bacon and a couple of eggs.

yesterday... sausage, potato slices and baked beans because I was trying to hustle myself and the kids out for shopping.

I picked up some runner beans and asparagus yesterday and declined to check where they came from for once. Must do something nice with them before I forget and let them go icky again.

Kerri.

And actually stick to it!

So, for this week:

Monday: Chicken Divan and egg noodles

Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan (baked), fettuchini alfreado and salad

Wednesday: roast beef and mushrooms in gravy on roast garlic mashed potatoes, green beans

Thursday: Crockpot Chili and nachos

Friday: Take out pizza

In the end I cooked the mince with onions, peas and mushrooms and made some carrot moon pie to go with
Monday I had a baked potato with cheese and DS had a meat pie with broccoli.
Today I had a big plateful of curry for lunch in a lovely little tearoom, and I am still very full. If I have anything at all this evening, it will probably be just fruit or something.

Honey.

Good old roasted veg again - it's our favourite at the moment, could you tell?

This time it was carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes. We had it with chickpea curry and brown rice.

Again! But this tme with lumps of chicken in and a dash of coriander and stuff. It keeps getting better. Except I've now run out of decent chicken stock.

I remembered to take something out of the freezer to roast tomorrow. In this case it's a corn fed chicken - I'm hoping I can taste the difference, and maybe get some decent stock out of it if I don't get too lazy. I've got frozen leftover roast potatoes from Christmas dinner, so that makes it easier!

not sure about today. Corn on the cob at lucnh if I haven't left it too long like I normally do. Runner beans with dinner.

Kerri.

This evening we had pasta with mushrooms in sauce, peas and broccoli. I used the last of some ordinary pasta that was lurking in the cupboard (we changed to wholewheat some time ago) - and I actually didn't like it as much!! Whatever is happening to me?

Ham, cheese, bread, salad, pickles. Quick, easy, yummy and used up various leftovers

chicken soup with lots of veg, home-made stock from Sunday's roast chicken, potatoes and rice... and it should be just about done now!

I'm thinking of making chicken kiev my regular Monday meal since I seem to run out of brainpower and revert to it most Mondays. So chicken at least tree days in a row, but at least I can't remember what we had on Saturday! - oh yes... chicken noodle soup. The joys of being able to scroll back through my life!

Kerri.

Frozen Hawaiian pizza from Asda with oven chips. How's that for lazy?

Monday: Roast Pork, mashed potatoes, green beans

Tuesday: Baked Potato Soup

Wednesday: Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches

Thursday: Chicken Cordon Bleu, cheater style, beet greens, parmesan noodles

Friday: Turkey Mignon, steamed sugar snap peas, whole grain pilaf

it's really impressive to see what someone's eating for the whole week!

We had an unexpected extra mouth to feed today. Well we had an extra body from school - he'd checked with his mother but they hadn't done anything in advance or agreed food or not, so when we got back I made him call home and give contact numbers, and also check food requirements. His mother didn't mind either way so I fed him, and since he nearl sat up and begged when DD casually suggested spag bol the cook took the easy route. He wasn't fazed by the frozen chopped spinach floating in it either, and he accidentally reminded me about the garlic bread I had in the fridge so that worked quite nicely. I can be flexible when DH isn't around but somehow I wouldn't offer that when he's home.

that was decided 2hrs before we ate, which is at least double the planning I normally have!

Kerri.

What is spag bowl exactly Kerri? Sounds interesting -

Jo, your menus always sound great and appeal to my taste and also the way I cook. When you turkey mignon - what piece of turkey do you use? I've decided to keep maple syrup on hand after hearing about so many of your sesame-maple-soy or whatever marinades - yum!

Tonite we had homemade meatloaf that had been frozen. I made a double recipe before. It was a different one that was very saucy - good. Also spinach and romaine salad, penne with parmesan, and frozen mixed veggies. Not bad for a quick meal.

Tomorrow I am not sure b/c our nite is crazy with DS10's basketball and DH has a dinner out for work so not sure what we will do.
Andrea

spag bol - short for spaghetti bolognese

I was having another lazy day today. Ham and cheese toasties, and soup (canned ! )

Gotcha - thanks Honey!

Well, we ended up getting takeout from our local pizza place - chicken parm sub, portabella wrap, and mozzarella sticks. Yum! Their food is always great so no surprise there. But now the dilemma is what will we do tomorrow b/c Friday is usually takeout nite? Hmmmmm. Fish fry sounds good but that would mean eating out again - we try to limit it to once a week. Maybe it would be ok though. Love a good fish fry. Can you see I'm trying to talk myself into it?

See ya!

last night we ended up on tuna and cucumber sandwiches after judo (about 8pm) and I dragged out some other odds and ends so we had crisps with houmous, cherry tomatoes, fruit smoothie (DD included, to my shock, though she had half milk), small lumps of feta, followed by an apple for me and a banana for DS. DD just finished the crisps (potato chips).

tonight we had Thai green chicken curry with fresh baby spinach followed by apple and raspberry crumble. If you're wondering why that sounds unusually involved for me, we ate at my mother's!! We even managed to squeeze lunch out of her and got treated to soup. Everyone but everyone loves all my mother's soups - at the kids' christenings when we had our various Singaporean and Malaysian (and one Mauritian) over for the ride Mum had to make two different soups, including one in a massive stockpot because she knew it would disappear. And that was just lunch - the buffet looked like it got attacked by vultures, but nobody ever accused my mother of being stingy with food, and it's all lovely.

Actually I have to tell you this... the kids in DD's class (all 10 and 11 yr olds) were asked what their favourite food were and no less than 3 said something to the effect of "Stephanie's mum's food" or "anything Stephanie's mum cooks!" I'm deeply flattered, particularly since I once had them making their own pizzas for DS' birthday, and another occasion included a very simply BBQ with salads, and an introduction to feta. It reminds me of my own childhood with all my friends raving about my mother's cooking, so it really does give me a nice feeling.

don't think they'd be impressed with some of the things I've served recently in the name of dinner though!

Kerri.

We had sausage casserole this evening, in yorkshire pudding - with mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, parsnips and sweet potatoes.

Well yesterday I tried my hand at homemade Maine Baked Beans and Homemade Steamed Brown Bread. Considering we live in Maine and on the coast, I thought now this is something I should know how to do! Well I suppose it took less work than I thought. I did the Beans in the Crock Pot and they were that best beans I have ever tasted. (my hubby too!) The steamed brown bread was not hard to mix up, it just took 2 hours in the oven, with the pans placed in another pan of hot water and covered. But I just went off and finished that good book I was meaning to read and bingo it was done! Even the lovely old gentleman who lives across the street, said to me, after tasting them... AHHH Yahhh....seems as though ya got this one right...ahh yup....Clearly a compliment....

today was lamb steaks with mashed potato, broccoli and minted gravy.

yesterday (Sun) was... oh yes, an attempt at recreating a lovely pork rib soup we regularly ate in Singapore. Except that these ribs were clearly meant for grilling not souping, so we had pork rib soup, cabbage and rice, with not a lot of meat! I shall keep looking for suitable cuts of pork.

The day before we were shopping all day and dropped by my parents for spag bol. My mother's always prepared!!

can't remember back further than that!

Those beans sound good - we only ever eat them out of a tin, but I often doctor them with things to taste different. Have you posted your recipe in the recipe box yet?? I'd love to try them, if they're not too labour-intensive.

Kerri.

We had jacket potatoes with tuna, sweetcorn, peppers, onion and mayonnaise. I did the trick I have been meaning to try for a while - The Perfect Potato (scroll down to the second post)

She's right: it makes all the difference to the texture. Yum.