Need inspiration, what ya cooking tonight

[shannonc60]

If you would like super simple and quick but with really interesting and impressive taste, I highly recommend Donna Hay books - she has recipes on her website, lots of cookbooks and also a magazine (strangely, also called Donna Hay). We almost exclusively use her cookbooks for main meals and only ever had one failure. She is my goddess and has given us many geat meals for when we have guests.

https://www.donnahay.com.au/

[Thimble Hall]

Thanks Shannon, I will take a look, usually my problem is deciding what type of something to cool as I always first and foremost cooked for John now I cook just for me and it has lost the magic.

I am working my way through my freezer cooking things I probably won't buy again, if I can use it for the community dinner I do but some things are not suitable, Today I have taken out a rack of pork spare ribs ..something with a rice maybe, not one of my favorite things but I have several choices on what to do with them.

[havanaholly]

I have a couple of big pork ribs in the oven in foil with BQ sauce; fixing mac & cheese and antipasto with them.

[grazhina]

My son not home for supper tonight, so I sauteed up some cabbage and onions with kielbassa for DH. I ate the leftover nachos fixings. I had a yen for Welsh Rarebit as the weather suddenly turned cooler the last 2 days, but was too lazy to make the sauce just for myself.

[blueirishmoon]

Haha! We had ribs tonight as well. Mac and cheese, and zucchini to round it out. After dinner my Dad and I played Scrabble. We're pretty evenly matched. Last time he won, tonight I did, by 5 points.

[rodentraiser]

On Saturday, September 30, 2017 12:39:47, Its_a_sm_world_after_all said:

I need that recipe, Kelly! The hubs and son would LOVE homemade Stouffer's!  And I would love the crockpot cooking method!

My gram always used evap milk in her mashed potatoes and macaroni salad, so I have always, too. I like the richness it adds, so I might give it a try. I think before she was in trouble for her bad cholesterol she used to put it in her coffee, too.

Here 'tis:

http://tiphero.com/slow-cooker-mac-cheese/

As I said, I'd replace the evaporated milk with half and half or with cream, but if you don't mind it, go for it. I'm a super taster, so lots of things taste funny to me. And as I said, the "off" taste seems to disappear after freezing.

One thing you do need to know is, it looks like a lot of liquid in the pot at about an hour in, but at about an hour and a quarter, the liquid starts thickening up and finally looks like a sauce. Remember, crock pots can have different temps and this has to be on low so the milk doesn't curdle and the cheese doesn't separate. In the comments, some of the newer crock pots have too high a temp on low, so that's something to keep in mind.

This also freezes really nice and when you heat it up, just dump it on some foil and leave the top open. It will heat up like Stouffer's mac and cheese and get a nice brown crust on top.

By the way, if you like mashed potatoes, try Ricotta cheese in them and add bacon bits. It sounds terrible, but it's absolutely yummy! And you can also add Boursin cheese to mashed potatoes. To die for.

On Saturday, September 30, 2017 9:33:49, Goldenrodfarm said:

Those all look good, I make a Caramel custard, but the Caramel  is on the bottom, I like the idea of the custard itself being Caramel.  I will try that, and I always love caramel sauce!

Thanks for the links!

 

You're very welcome! One thing with Chef John, he shows how to make his recipes in his videos, so you have to watch them for directions. Then you get the amounts in his blog. That's just the way he does stuff and while some people don't like that, for me it's a lifesaver. I couldn't cook anything if I didn't have anyone to watch.

 

I have a quick meal I make for myself sometimes. Well, it's not that quick, but it involves little to no effort.

If you've seen the McCormick (black) envelopes with different spices at the store, pick up the Mesquite one. You mix the envelope contents with one quarter cup of oil (I use olive oil) and one quarter cup of water. Then I slice about three small steaks (petite sirloin) or piece of pork and mix it in. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and spread the meat out on it. Bake in the oven at 200° for about an hour and a quarter or an hour and a half. When the meat slices are done, I take and put them on a tortilla with chopped onion and cheese, roll up and eat. The meat is usually so tender I don't bother to cut the slices down. And you could also add tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, anything you have on hand.

Be aware that your kitchen will smell like you're grilling mesquite BBQ. I love it, but others may find it a bit much, so you might want to put the fan on.

[grazhina]

15 minutes ago, rodentraiser said:

I have a quick meal I make for myself sometimes. Well, it's not that quick, but it involves little to no effort.

If you've seen the McCormick (black) envelopes with different spices at the store, pick up the Mesquite one. You mix the envelope contents with one quarter cup of oil (I use olive oil) and one quarter cup of water. Then I slice about three small steaks (petite sirloin) or piece of pork and mix it in. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and spread the meat out on it. Bake in the oven at 200° for about an hour and a quarter or an hour and a half. When the meat slices are done, I take and put them on a tortilla with chopped onion and cheese, roll up and eat. The meat is usually so tender I don't bother to cut the slices down. And you could also add tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, anything you have on hand.

Be aware that your kitchen will smell like you're grilling mesquite BBQ. I love it, but others may find it a bit much, so you might want to put the fan on.

Sounds interesting, I shall have to try that.

Today I made a ground beef and veggie stir fry with Chinese noodles. I'd wanted a new way to use ground beef so I adapted a beef stir fry recipe I liked. Last time I wound up with not enough sauce, so this time I doubled the sauce. Made a note to myself - "don't double the pepper, as a matter of fact, leave out the pepper." The chili garlic sauce and the ginger make it hot enough as it is, but I thought it was good anyway.

[havanaholly]

21 minutes ago, rodentraiser said:

...mashed potatoes, try Ricotta cheese in them and add bacon bits. It sounds terrible...

No, it doesn't.  I think I'd also add a bit of green onion or garlic, but that's just me.

[KathieB]

I finally made the stuffed bell peppers today. Yummmmm. Three of the four peppers are in the freezer, plus a mini meatloaf made from the leftover ground beef stuffing. And I've got the fixings for a boneless chuck roast and vegetables in the slow cooker tomorrow.

Curious: my sister was here today while I was making the stuffed peppers. She noticed that I didn't parboil them, said she always does. It never occurred to me to parboil them. I rather like the slight crunch as a complement to the softer filling. I don't suppose there's a right or wrong way, but it piqued my curiosity. So my question is: do y'all parboil or not?

[Thimble Hall]

Fried rice, with fine chopped ham, scrambled egg, fine diced onion , red pepper , and peas, along with a variety of stir fried veggies, I am  also making some Tempura battered mushroom and chicken breast cubed . I will make  a sweet and sour sauce to go with it

[grazhina]

4 hours ago, KathieB said:

I finally made the stuffed bell peppers today. Yummmmm. Three of the four peppers are in the freezer, plus a mini meatloaf made from the leftover ground beef stuffing. And I've got the fixings for a boneless chuck roast and vegetables in the slow cooker tomorrow.

Curious: my sister was here today while I was making the stuffed peppers. She noticed that I didn't parboil them, said she always does. It never occurred to me to parboil them. I rather like the slight crunch as a complement to the softer filling. I don't suppose there's a right or wrong way, but it piqued my curiosity. So my question is: do y'all parboil or not?

No, I don't parboil the peppers.

[My Miniature Madness]

6 hours ago, rodentraiser said:

Here 'tis:

http://tiphero.com/slow-cooker-mac-cheese/

As I said, I'd replace the evaporated milk with half and half or with cream, but if you don't mind it, go for it. I'm a super taster, so lots of things taste funny to me. And as I said, the "off" taste seems to disappear after freezing.

One thing you do need to know is, it looks like a lot of liquid in the pot at about an hour in, but at about an hour and a quarter, the liquid starts thickening up and finally looks like a sauce. Remember, crock pots can have different temps and this has to be on low so the milk doesn't curdle and the cheese doesn't separate. In the comments, some of the newer crock pots have too high a temp on low, so that's something to keep in mind.

This also freezes really nice and when you heat it up, just dump it on some foil and leave the top open. It will heat up like Stouffer's mac and cheese and get a nice brown crust on top.

By the way, if you like mashed potatoes, try Ricotta cheese in them and add bacon bits. It sounds terrible, but it's absolutely yummy! And you can also add Boursin cheese to mashed potatoes. To die for.

You're very welcome! One thing with Chef John, he shows how to make his recipes in his videos, so you have to watch them for directions. Then you get the amounts in his blog. That's just the way he does stuff and while some people don't like that, for me it's a lifesaver. I couldn't cook anything if I didn't have anyone to watch.

 

I have a quick meal I make for myself sometimes. Well, it's not that quick, but it involves little to no effort.

If you've seen the McCormick (black) envelopes with different spices at the store, pick up the Mesquite one. You mix the envelope contents with one quarter cup of oil (I use olive oil) and one quarter cup of water. Then I slice about three small steaks (petite sirloin) or piece of pork and mix it in. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and spread the meat out on it. Bake in the oven at 200° for about an hour and a quarter or an hour and a half. When the meat slices are done, I take and put them on a tortilla with chopped onion and cheese, roll up and eat. The meat is usually so tender I don't bother to cut the slices down. And you could also add tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, anything you have on hand.

Be aware that your kitchen will smell like you're grilling mesquite BBQ. I love it, but others may find it a bit much, so you might want to put the fan on.

Thanks for the recipe! I am going to give it a shot and see what the guys think! My crockpot is at least nine years old and has a High, Low and warm setting so we'll see how it goes. 

The potatoes sound yummy! I bet they come out nice & creamy!

My favorite mashed potatoes are the ones I make at Christmas with prime rib. I boil them in the morning white roasting garlic in the oven. Then I mash them with butter, garlic, good Parmesan cheese, the evap milk and dried Italian seasoning. Then I , put them into a greased baking dish, sprinkle the top with more parm, cover and leave on the counter. When the prime rib has been in the oven for an hour, I throw them in. When they come out, OMG delicious and they need no gravy whatsoever!!! Why don't I make these more often? I want them now!

I love the mesquite marinade, but usually save it for marinading tri-tip overnight. This method sounds like a must try, too! If you are ever in McKenna, Stewart's Meats are amazing. All locally grown everything, including elk and deer. I get all the good stuff there, and the prices and quality put the grocery store stuff to shame!

[Goldenrodfarm]

Ricotta also makes scrambled eggs divine!  I used to make a lot of ricotta when I was milking all those jerseys, ricotta is a pleasant byproduct of any cheese making, it uses the whey!  I had my spinning ( the wool kind not the bike thing) Guild here for a meeting and set up a cheese making lesson on their request, I did a lot of prep work, so they could learn how to start it, then pulled out the already started so they could finish it, everybody took home a lb each of cottage cheese, rocotta, feta, mozzarella   and we made cheddar that was put in the press and 6 months later we had it at our Christmas meeting.

[My Miniature Madness]

9 minutes ago, Goldenrodfarm said:

Ricotta also makes scrambled eggs divine!  I used to make a lot of ricotta when I was milking all those jerseys, ricotta is a pleasant byproduct of any cheese making, it uses the whey!  I had my spinning ( the wool kind not the bike thing) Guild here for a meeting and set up a cheese making lesson on their request, I did a lot of prep work, so they could learn how to start it, then pulled out the already started so they could finish it, everybody took home a lb each of cottage cheese, rocotta, feta, mozzarella   and we made cheddar that was put in the press and 6 months later we had it at our Christmas meeting.

Now that sounds like fun in a "totally geeking out on cheese" kinda way!

[chapchap73]

Beef stew in my Instant Pot. Love that kitchen tool so much; it may get it's own dedicated space on the counter soon.

 

Kathie, I don't parboil the peppers either, I find they get too mushy.

[havanaholly]

I absolutely don't parboil my peppers.  I do put a little foil "tent" over them to keep the rice in my rice & ground turkey mixture from getting too dry.  I love to make Greek omelets with feta, chopped olives & fresh spinach filling.

[KathieB]

37 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

I absolutely don't parboil my peppers.  I do put a little foil "tent" over them to keep the rice in my rice & ground turkey mixture from getting too dry.  I love to make Greek omelets with feta, chopped olives & fresh spinach filling.

I don't put rice into the pepper's stuffing mix. I stuff with ground meat, a dollop of ketchup, chopped onion and the cut-off tops of the peppers, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and a couple eggs. I think putting the rice into the mix contributes to drying it out. I also put a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top. They remain nice and juicy. In fact, I let them sit on the counter for several minutes to reabsorb some of the juices that run out during baking.

Love me a Greek omelet. <slurp>

[grazhina]

I bake stuffed peppers with seasoned tomato sauce. Ladle some sauce into the bottom of the baking dish, arrange the stuffed peppers, then ladle more sauce over the peppers. I'll check them during baking to see if they need to be basted with the sauce.

[havanaholly]

I used to make stuffed peppers similar to Grazhe; now the only thing DH & I like tomatoes in is cabbage rolls.

[rodentraiser]

16 hours ago, Its_a_sm_world_after_all said:

Thanks for the recipe! I am going to give it a shot and see what the guys think! My crockpot is at least nine years old and has a High, Low and warm setting so we'll see how it goes. 

The potatoes sound yummy! I bet they come out nice & creamy!

My favorite mashed potatoes are the ones I make at Christmas with prime rib. I boil them in the morning white roasting garlic in the oven. Then I mash them with butter, garlic, good Parmesan cheese, the evap milk and dried Italian seasoning. Then I , put them into a greased baking dish, sprinkle the top with more parm, cover and leave on the counter. When the prime rib has been in the oven for an hour, I throw them in. When they come out, OMG delicious and they need no gravy whatsoever!!! Why don't I make these more often? I want them now!

I love the mesquite marinade, but usually save it for marinading tri-tip overnight. This method sounds like a must try, too! If you are ever in McKenna, Stewart's Meats are amazing. All locally grown everything, including elk and deer. I get all the good stuff there, and the prices and quality put the grocery store stuff to shame!

Mine is probably as old. I paid $10 for it and it's paid for itself over and over. I'll have to go in there and see if they have deer jerky. I had some once and it was so good!

I put ribs in my crock pot. I just throw in the ribs, toss a bottle of BBQ sauce over them, and the bones just fall out of the meat. I know some people like to chew the meat off their ribs, but I prefer not to. Sometimes there'll be a sale on the precooked ribs, like Lloyd's. I tried them in the crock pot once and it was a disaster. So now I just wrap them up in foil with a couple tablespoons of water and stick them in the oven for 90 minutes at 325°, and I get the same result - ribs just sliding out of the meat.

 

Barbara, I've never tried Ricotta in scrambled eggs, but that sounds like something I should do some day. I'm getting Ricotta to do shells this month and one container will exactly make a box of shells, so I usually don't have any left over.
 

[My Miniature Madness]

10 minutes ago, rodentraiser said:

Mine is probably as old. I paid $10 for it and it's paid for itself over and over. I'll have to go in there and see if they have deer jerky. I had some once and it was so good!

I put ribs in my crock pot. I just throw in the ribs, toss a bottle of BBQ sauce over them, and the bones just fall out of the meat. I know some people like to chew the meat off their ribs, but I prefer not to. Sometimes there'll be a sale on the precooked ribs, like Lloyd's. I tried them in the crock pot once and it was a disaster. So now I just wrap them up in foil with a couple tablespoons of water and stick them in the oven for 90 minutes at 325°, and I get the same result - ribs just sliding out of the meat.

 

Barbara, I've never tried Ricotta in scrambled eggs, but that sounds like something I should do some day. I'm getting Ricotta to do shells this month and one container will exactly make a box of shells, so I usually don't have any left over.
 

They do have deer jerky, and elk and bison, too! They make their own and have won many awards for it. I get it for my dad for his b-day and Christmas every year! Stewart's also has pre-seasoned baby back ribs. I made a heap of them for Tasha's college graduation party and was told by several people that they were the best ribs they's ever had. I think so, too! They have weekly steak specials for $4.99 - $5.99/lb, in 8oz cuts, and I have never had more tender steaks. I won't even order them at restaurants anymore because it's disappointing compared to the ones you can eat at home. Kind of a fun country drive to get out there, too!

[havanaholly]

I'm being bone-lazy tonight and making pigs-in-blankets with the last link of andouille sausage and a can of crescent roll dough.

[My Miniature Madness]

1 hour ago, havanaholly said:

I'm being bone-lazy tonight and making pigs-in-blankets with the last link of andouille sausage and a can of crescent roll dough.

Oh Holly you and I have completely different definitions of Bone-Lazy!  For me, that means "somebody bring home take out tonight, okay!"

[KathieB]

I did the chuck roast in the crock pot today and took it to my sister's to share for supper. I'd purchased a packet of vegetables for the crockpot put together by the fine folks at Ingles grocery that included a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary and a few cloves of garlic as well as the usual potatoes (red), carrots, celery, and onions. That combination tasted mighty fine.  

[havanaholly]

Jodi, I cook for fun.  Going out to eat is a big deal.  Even if we were the sort of people who ordered out, we live too far out in the boonies for anyone to deliver.