Jump to content

Need inspiration, what ya cooking tonight


Thimble Hall

Recommended Posts

4 hours ago, Jeannine said:

I am finding it very difficult to cook for one

Me, too, but I'm learning. I've found that the packages of frozen tilapia and other fish, the ones where the fillets are individually sealed, are helpful. I can cook just one without thawing the entire package. Teamed with steamed frozen vegetables (that's where I get my greens) and brown rice, and maybe some fruit for dessert, it makes a no waste meal. A small steak or single chop also works with the frozen vegetables and rice. Sometimes I'll do a baked potato in the microwave instead of rice.  I always have grapes on hand and bananas for morning cereal or to eat with egg and toast. Lunch is usually a sandwich with more fruit (clementines keep for a long time in the refrigerator), or sometimes just a dish of Greek yogurt with fruit. 

I do use the crock pot and freeze the excess. Right now I have containers of homemade chili, shrimp etouffe and beef stew in the freezer. Somehow eating frozen food isn't quite the same in my mind as eating leftovers. I miss the fresh seafood available in New Orleans, but I'm learning to live with flash frozen. 

I was relying on convenience foods, but even the ones touted as being "healthy alternatives" are minefields of hidden sugar and/or salt. If it's advertised as low salt, look for excessive sugar; if sugar free, look for chemical sweeteners or added salt. I now avoid them entirely. When I do the grocery shopping, I keep in mind a general rule to shop the perimeter of the store and avoid the inner aisles except for staples like flour and sugar. The perimeter is where the fresh produce, meat, and dairy can be found. 

Sometimes, when I do something in the crock pot, I'll carry it to my sister's and eat with her and her husband. Other times she'll call me to come share what she has cooked. Have you thought about sharing the extra food with your daughter? 

Learning to live single again is a challenge on so many levels. Keep on plugging, dear heart, and you'll find your path.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tonight we are having what I call a French inspired dinner in the beach. The food won’t be French but the setting  will be. I’m going to set up a table and chairs on the beach and we will have a sit down dinner of charcuterie, lobster tails, shrimp, crab cakes and wine. The Super moon will be rising at 5:58 and hopefully will be glorious. I’ve wanted to do this since I saw some French Canadians do this last year.  Our two sons are with us so it should be a nice family dining experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/30/2017, 6:39:32, Its_a_sm_world_after_all said:

I like the stroganoff one. Which one's your favorite?

Well, I got the Potato Stroganoff, but I after I made it, I decided I didn't really like it all that much. I've had their regular hamburger stroganoff with noodles and that wasn't bad, but usually the only one I get is the cheeseburger macaroni. I really like that one.

Now tonight I was going to try something new. I picked up the fried rice Chicken Helper, but I don't have any peanut oil. So since I have two small chicken breasts thawing, I think I'll make the Four Cheese Rice-a-Roni with them.

It's the start of a new month and I have to think about shopping again. I still have 3 steaks and 7 pounds of hamburger (bought a 10lb roll last month), bacon and a dozen eggs, but I'm out of cheese, milk, and bread. So it's time to start looking through the recipes and seeing what I want to try this month.

I have recipes for slow cooker applesauce and slow cooker bacon cheddar potatoes, new potatoes in a garlic cream sauce, baked chicken legs with garlic and dijon, slow cooker beef on rice, and one pot ground beef stroganoff. I meant to make that stroganoff last month and I already have the noodles for it. And I really want to make chocolate cheesecake. I couldn't find any chocolate crusts (all they had was graham cracker and oreo), so what I may do is bake the cheesecake in parchment paper without a crust. I don't like crusts anyway. I'll let you all know how that turns out.

Anyway, all those are on the agenda this month and maybe a few more.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

KathieB.  I don't like frozen veggies other than peas and I hate frozen stew . I am Ok with  fish, I can buy fresh tilapia here and I can freeze it myself and use in within 3 weeks and I am Ok with that but I don't like the store frozen , it always tastes old to me but I guess that depends on the area. I do have frozen meat of course that is OK for a long time

My daughter rarely cooks, they eat out a lot and when in she eats mostly convenience foods or home delivery stuff  which I don't eat. I used to cook a lot for them but that has sort of stopped since I lost my appetite and I don't want to restart it again. often I would cook and they would decide to go out at the last minute so it was leftover in their fridge which is sort of silly. I guess it just takes time to adjust. A few  days ago  she was craving clam chowder and chocolate cake so I made it and phoned, she said she had ordered Chinese but would have the soup the next day but she didn't want the chocolate cake as she had stood on the scale that morning. Last night I threw away the chowder and the cake. I used to always cook Sunday dinner  British style ,but they started to go out on Sundays and asked me not to cook it for them as they felt obliged to come home early to eat it so I stopped. I used to love to cook  but the joy has gone now.

I just bought a new electric steamer as my last one died a few months ago it only arrived on Wednesday so that may make a difference I had forgotten about that when I wrote the above.

I don't eat breakfast or lunch I haven't for years, evening meal and  maybe a fruit snack later on  and I am eating fruit a bit.

I am working on it, and thank you , I won't buy the convenience food.

Sorry this sounds like a tale of woe and actually it isn't. I have given myself a talking too and told my Chihuahuas I shall be cooking for them tonight so we will have steak and potatoes, frozen peas and I do have some emergency canned carrots and canned lima beans

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Jeannine said:

canned carrots and canned lima beans

It's interesting how tastes vary. I much prefer the frozen vegetables over canned. Other than diced tomatoes and unsweetened pineapple, you won't find any canned fruits or vegetables in my cupboard. :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't eat them either that are just emergencies which I keep in the pantry, every so often they get chucked into soup for the homeless dinner I cook for . I was kind of joking when I said that LOL

 

Actually I just told a fib. I do have canned butter beans which I like as I make them into a Greek  Plaki bean dish when I don't have time to soak and cook the homegrown dried

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh change of choice, I have a small prime rib roast  I found in the freezer and thawed it quick in the microwave and I found the last two fresh carrots, so in the oven it goes, I will do the frozen peas as planned   will add Yorkshire pudding and some potatoes half mash with Philly in and half roast round the meat. I am going to check the greenhouse to see if I missed anthing

 

Yep found enough tiny Sungold tomatoes to make 2 salads and a tub of carrots that where forgotten and not watered .They are only 2 inches at the most but there is a lot of them. All my kale died off due to no water but my perennial  cabbages   that are in  a huge tub have survived and are sprouting so in a few weeks I will have those too

Edited by Jeannine
added inf
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/3/2017, 1:06:58, Jeannine said:

I am finding it very difficult to cook for one and as I don't like reheated food except chili and spaghetti sauce it is becoming a problem for me

I find this still a problem, I don't like a lot of things reheated, soup is ok, meat is not, things like spaghetti sauce or chili are ok since they don't taste different.  I can't stand the strong metallic taste to warmed up chicken or turkey, it ruins a dish to put cooked turkey or chicken in it for me because the whole dish tastes of that strong metallic taste.  Sometimes left over steak is ok in hash, but I don't often do that. My chickens eat good! The trouble is that so many ingredients are in such large packages it is hard to make it smaller.  I often take out meat and just use part of it for a dish, leaving the rest raw so I can cook a different dish with the rest further in the week.  

Tonight I took out lamb chops and will have delicata squash stuffed with some chopped apple and maybe either baked or mashed potato.    I will only cook half the squash, leaving the rest for another day.  I tend to use my toaster oven for a lot of cooking, it is big enough to make a 7" pie or a 12" pizza I bake and boil in it frequently, only using the big oven if making several things.  I invested in several smaller pans a few years ago, The 7" pie pan is exactly half of a 9" recipe, and I also have a 7" bundt cake pan and 7" angel food cake pan, they take half a mix or half a standard recipe, that way the chickens aren't eating as much as I do!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Tonight I'm making chicken enchiladas. Using already prepared rotisserie chickens from the grocery store for convenience. 

This weekend I'm attempting some gingerbread cookies made using a mold press. Hoping I can find a recipe that doesn't allow the dough to expand too much so it keeps the shape of the cookie mold. It's a really cool old world Santa image, about 5 inches tall. Then a sugar glaze goes over the top. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did a grocery shop yesterday, I usually shop once a month apart from perishables but I missed last month so my usual well stocked cupboards were getting a bit sparse. How one person can spend  over $500 on groceries beats me but I did it and there was only 2 meat items in there. I was good though I did but fresh veggies and lots of fruit. I bought a new steamer a couple of weeks ago as my last one had died and I should be able to get back to eating more  veggies now, it certainly isn't worth putting pans on the stove for one. and two babies.

Lamb curry tonight

Barb I thought it was iffy to eat bear ..

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Roast beef, baked potato, mushrooms, crunchy onions, and cream of carrot soup tonight. The soup is mostly done, just waiting for it to cool a little so I can blend the veggies smooth. It's a super easy recipe: take 2lbs. veggies chopped, simmer until tender in a carton of chicken broth, blend smooth. Add half a stick of butter, 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp cayenne, and stir until butter is melted and flour is well blended. Heat gently, add 1 pt. half-and-half, stirring gently to heat and blend in. Serve hot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...