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Need inspiration, what ya cooking tonight


Thimble Hall

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My mom lost a ton of weight when my dad died, too. Of course, when I was back home, she'd act like it was something that happened because she's such a virtuous person, so me being fat, I was committing a mortal sin by lacking willpower and she was on my case morning, noon, and night. I'm afraid it would take lots more than a loved one dying for me to lose weight, though. In that case, I'd probably gain weight. I eat when I'm happy, I eat when I'm sad, I eat when I don't feel good, I eat when I don't feel like eating, I eat through horror movies and CSI. When I quit eating, you guys know I'll be dead but if you drop a few Cheetos on my grave, don't be surprised if a hand comes up out of the ground and grabs them.

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I cut up a bunch of garden veggies and a piece of turkey breast cutlet and made a stir fry, just hit the spot last night.  I used a hand full of green beans, carrots, a big onion, some garlic cloves, broccoli and peppers all from my garden.  And the salted caramel custard was desert!

i cooked from the time I was small, I think it is much like other activities, you either love it and all the fiddlly stuff or find it a waste of time.  Another thing is internet recipes are sometimes just a waste of time, many are posted and never even tried, so it can be a disaster or can come out excellent.  I use the King Arthur site when I want to try out new bread recipes, knowing they test every recipe.

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7 hours ago, rodentraiser said:

I don't know because I don't like tartar sauce so I've never had it.

The fish is much better in my opinion than at Ivar's, though. Although over here there's a place that makes fried fish that will blow away anything else around. It's the Airport Diner at the Bremerton Airport. Go figure. Ask your husband if he remembers Arthur Treacher's fish and chips and add 100. It's that good.

I'm surprised the mac and cheese didn't turn out that good. Maybe it needs the evaporated milk after all. I'm going to try it again without and see what it tastes like. I read in the comments that a few people had gummy mac and cheese, too, but mine was just liquidy until about the last half hour and then it all came together and thickened up into a nice cream sauce. I did use the same amount of ingredients as in the recipe, but only about 3/4s of the macaroni. Maybe that's the reason. You can also over cook this, too.

 

Yeah I'll ask him!

It looked perfect, then the boys decided to run an errand that took about 40 minutes. I turned it to WARM, but that was probably enough to send it over the edge. Adding more milk helped to un-clump it, but I bet starting out with less macaroni would be the trick.

Just making it spawned 10 more crock pot ideas, though, so it was worth the try. My gram used to make what she called goulash with whole tomatoes, onions, ground meat, elbow macaroni and Clamato. I remember digging it when I was little, so I might have to call my mom for more info and give it a try. She also made stuffed cabbage rolls and stuffed green peppers, so I need to get the scoop on those, too.

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Neither my DH nor I care for the elbow macaroni.  When our kids were small one day they asked why we didn't have macaroni & cheese like their friends, so I cooked some shell pasta and when I drained & rinsed it I tossed it with some petit peas and shredded sharp cheddar and a bit of caramelized Vidalia onion and popped it into a warm oven until all the cheese was melted and everyone raved.  I may use different shaped pasta and I have been known to use Swiss or Meunster cheese or add diced ham, but there it is.

Kelly, I make tartar sauce whenever we're having catfish; I add a teaspoon of sweet pickle relish and a teaspoon of horseradish to a cup of low fat mayonnaise.  For fresh salmon I make a simple dill sauce of Greek yogurt and dill weed.  I get fancy over very few things.

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Tonight it's going to be the last of the salmon I have in the freezer. I usually do it in my instant pot and probably will again tonight because it''s too late to try something else.  No-salt seasoning, some lemon juice over top and butter. Pressure cook 3 minutes and done. Easy-peasy. I'll do some rice and vegetables to go with.

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As the days get shorter I start to crave cheese - ooey-gooey cheese. Tostitos Cantina thin & crispy tortilla chips with Velveeta-Rotel queso - oh my! Grilled cheddar cheese with bacon and a slice of apple sandwiches, yum. In winter I start to crave Stouffers mac & cheese, but not yet. Funny thing, I only love it in winter, the rest of the year I don't care for Stouffers mac & cheese,

Today I gave in to my cheese craving. I figured I'd make something DH likes tonight, as I've just been making whatever I felt like having this week and he wasn't wild about any of it. I made him Mu Shu Pork without the little pancakes. I tried to make the pancakes once and made a huge mess and said the heck with the pancakes, he won't miss them. I, on the other hand, dislike pork. I hate the smell of it both raw and cooked, except for bacon. I like crisp bacon.

But I digress. I made a pot of the sauce I've been using lately for mac & cheese, and some toast. I'd been thinking of dunking toast soldiers in cheese sauce for the past 2 weeks - utterly delicious and decadent. So, this evening I dined on toast and cheese sauce. You can call it Welsh rarebit  if you like.

Macaroni and cheese was one of the first dishes I taught myself how to cook as a young bride because it was easy.

 

 

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I found a bag of humongous pork ribs in the freezer I must have put up whilst The Kid was still here, as it's making two meals for us.  I coated them with breadcrumbs and browned them, then poured tiny English peas and potato slices over them, sprinkled some dehydrated green onion and covered them with foil and they are in a slow oven until the national news comes on.

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9 hours ago, havanaholly said:

Kelly, I make tartar sauce whenever we're having catfish; I add a teaspoon of sweet pickle relish and a teaspoon of horseradish to a cup of low fat mayonnaise.  For fresh salmon I make a simple dill sauce of Greek yogurt and dill weed.  I get fancy over very few things.

Now see, I don't like horse radish. I"m not even that crazy over relish, although I add it to the tuna when I make a tuna melt.

 

Grashina, in winter I like to make my all time favorite: potato cheese soup with bacon. I do that in the crock pot, too, these days.

 

I have no idea what I'm going to eat tonight. I finally went to the store yesterday and was so tired, I finally just ended up heating two little cans of Beenie Weenies. So now I have all this food at home, but I don't know what to make with it. I can't remember if I posted these already, but here are some of the recipes I'm going to do this month:

Slow Cooker Beef on Rice

Smothered Bacon Asiago Wine Chicken

One Pan Brown Sugar Pork and Apples

Bakes Garlic Scalloped Potatoes (I don't doubt these will end up with some cheese, onion, and/or bacon)

One Pot Ground Beef Stroganoff

I usually try to check out at least 3 or 4 recipes a month that are new. I also like to make potato dishes:

Blue Cheese and Cheddar Stovie

Potatoes in (homemade) Alfredo Sauce (I add ham to this one)

Parmesan Crusted Chantilly Potatoes

Syracuse Salt Potatoes

Some of the Chef John videos are so easy and so good. Sometimes I get a half chicken breast with the skin still attached and cook it up in a pan. Then when it's done, I add butter and apple cider vinegar to the pan to make a sauce to pour over the chicken and oh, is that so good! So easy, too. Here's the recipe for that one:

http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2015/10/pan-roasted-chicken-breasts-less-time.html

 

But I'm stumped for tonight. I did get some new potatoes at the store, though, so maybe a meatloaf with the potatoes cooking around it....

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, grazhina said:

As the days get shorter I start to crave cheese - ooey-gooey cheese. Tostitos Cantina thin & crispy tortilla chips with Velveeta-Rotel queso - oh my! Grilled cheddar cheese with bacon and a slice of apple sandwiches, yum. In winter I start to crave Stouffers mac & cheese, but not yet. Funny thing, I only love it in winter, the rest of the year I don't care for Stouffers mac & cheese,

Today I gave in to my cheese craving. I figured I'd make something DH likes tonight, as I've just been making whatever I felt like having this week and he wasn't wild about any of it. I made him Mu Shu Pork without the little pancakes. I tried to make the pancakes once and made a huge mess and said the heck with the pancakes, he won't miss them. I, on the other hand, dislike pork. I hate the smell of it both raw and cooked, except for bacon. I like crisp bacon.

But I digress. I made a pot of the sauce I've been using lately for mac & cheese, and some toast. I'd been thinking of dunking toast soldiers in cheese sauce for the past 2 weeks - utterly delicious and decadent. So, this evening I dined on toast and cheese sauce. You can call it Welsh rarebit  if you like.

Macaroni and cheese was one of the first dishes I taught myself how to cook as a young bride because it was easy.

 

 

I had some macaroni and cheese with bacon and then threw in some jarred jalapenos.  Hit the spot.  That is what I call Tex Mex.

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Tonight I am doing homemade battered English fish and chips,. Along with the mushy peas. I know I will eat that, I always seem to eat the fish.

Talking of cheese, I love cauliflower in a strong cheese sauce. I often make it as a side dish with lamb but I can just eat the cauliflower cheese as a meal with toast.

I have a very large prime rib I need to use but holding off as the leftovers will be a lot for me. I wonder if I could saw it into pieces while it is frozen..ideas anyone. I have heard it said that meat can ne refrozen if there is still ice particles in which is basically partially thawed. I could cut in then but am a bit cautious of the partially thawed bit. Does anyone have any experience of that please.

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3 hours ago, Jeannine said:

Tonight I am doing homemade battered English fish and chips,. Along with the mushy peas. I know I will eat that, I always seem to eat the fish.

 

OK, what's your secret? I've tried making battered fish before and all that happens is the batter drips off the fish and then the fish disintegrate as soon as they hit the hot fat. It's very irritating.

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It is actually quite simple. Very hot oil, dry fish and ice cold  simple batter

Make sure your fish is dry, not dripping wet  pat it drt with paper towel and if in doubt very lightly flour it. The batter will fall off wet fish.  DON'T buy batter mix. Use self raising flour and ICE COLD  water, mix it to the consistency of a little bit thicker than whipping cream but not much, if it is too thick it will be hard when cooked and the fish will have too much batter on it. If too thin the batter will not hold the fish together. I don't use anything but the SR  flour  and water, you can add a little salt if you wish but I sprinkle salt on after. . It is very crisp like this with no soggy inside. I flip the fish a couple of times during cooking too.

Make sure oil is hot enough. If it is right it will immediately make the oustside hard enough to stop the fish breaking.. If too cool the fish will simmer in it and the batter could fall off or it will absorb tons of oil. Test the oil by dropping a few drops of batter in, it will sink and immediately float up to the surface, if it stays sunk wait  I do it from practice but I will look and find you an oil temp and post it.

Submerge your dry fish in the batter then using a fork pick it up by the tail if there is one let it and let the excess  drip back into the bowl then pop in the oil. Don't try doing a lot at a time, it will lower the temp of the oil

Actually I should have said this first. Cook your chips till half done, then put them on clean kitchen tissue,  cook your fish then put the chips back in the  oil and finish them , this way they will be very crisp when you serve them You can  use two pans of oil  so the fish smell doesn't transfer to the chips but it is me just being picky and isn't really necessary. Either wa still cook your chips twice.

You can make your batter ahead of time and keep it in the fridge the colder the better. I use a box of SR flour kept in the fridge and a bottle of water in there from the day before.

you can use chilled beer if you wish instead cold water, I do sometimes slightly different taste both good. , the fizziness help's make the batter light

 

Listen to your batter as it cooks, it gets quieter as it gets closer to being done.

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Tonight I'm making chicken Parmesan. I never thought it was all that great till I ordered veal Parmesan at a little old fashioned Italian restaurant in a nearby town. When I tasted theirs, I had an aha! moment. Now I make chicken parm just the same way they do. I never realized that to make it good, you have to let the cooked, sauced and be-cheesed cutlets sit in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or so till the cheese is all melted and the sauce flavor melds into the breading.

Also, for lunch I decided to try and make some Jimboys tacos. The other day was national taco day, and the guys on the California radio show I listen to in the morning all raved about Jimboys tacos. Jimboys is a chain in northern California. Wondering what made them so good I started googling and found a recipe to try. I mashed together some leftover taco meat with some leftover refried beans. I use Casa Fiesta spicy refried beans - tasty.  Next I warmed a corn tortilla to soften it, spread the meat & bean mixture on it and topped that with a slice of cheddar cheese. I patted the taco closed and gently placed it in a 1/4 inch or so of hot oil till one side was crisped, then turned it over to crisp the other side. When it was done I sprinkled both sides of the taco with Parmesan cheese, then pried one side of the taco open and slid in some lettuce and a little taco sauce. A dusting of Parmesan cheese is one of Jimboys trademarks. My was it good. After I finished it I went and made myself another one. 

Tonight I will also be indulging in dessert. the supermarket had pineapple pie. I'd never seen pineapple pie in a supermarket bakery before so I had to try it.

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Last night I chopped up three BBQ'd chicken leg quarters from the grocery store*, combined them with chopped celery. red grapes, freshly ground black pepper, and some mayo to bind for a very satisfactory chicken salad. There's enough left over for two or maybe three more meals, but I don't mind. It's that good. :) 

*Ingles separates some of their rotisserie chicken into parts, which is useful. To buy a whole chicken for one was a pain, as I had to remove the meat from the bones to freeze the excess. It's so much more efficient to be able to buy just the parts I know will be used right away. 

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On Wednesday, October 11, 2017 9:28:30, Jeannine said:

It is actually quite simple. Very hot oil, dry fish and ice cold  simple batter

Make sure your fish is dry, not dripping wet  pat it drt with paper towel and if in doubt very lightly flour it. The batter will fall off wet fish.  DON'T buy batter mix. Use self raising flour and ICE COLD  water, mix it to the consistency of a little bit thicker than whipping cream but not much, if it is too thick it will be hard when cooked and the fish will have too much batter on it. If too thin the batter will not hold the fish together. I don't use anything but the SR  flour  and water, you can add a little salt if you wish but I sprinkle salt on after. . It is very crisp like this with no soggy inside. I flip the fish a couple of times during cooking too.

Make sure oil is hot enough. If it is right it will immediately make the oustside hard enough to stop the fish breaking.. If too cool the fish will simmer in it and the batter could fall off or it will absorb tons of oil. Test the oil by dropping a few drops of batter in, it will sink and immediately float up to the surface, if it stays sunk wait  I do it from practice but I will look and find you an oil temp and post it.

Submerge your dry fish in the batter then using a fork pick it up by the tail if there is one let it and let the excess  drip back into the bowl then pop in the oil. Don't try doing a lot at a time, it will lower the temp of the oil

Actually I should have said this first. Cook your chips till half done, then put them on clean kitchen tissue,  cook your fish then put the chips back in the  oil and finish them , this way they will be very crisp when you serve them You can  use two pans of oil  so the fish smell doesn't transfer to the chips but it is me just being picky and isn't really necessary. Either wa still cook your chips twice.

You can make your batter ahead of time and keep it in the fridge the colder the better. I use a box of SR flour kept in the fridge and a bottle of water in there from the day before.

you can use chilled beer if you wish instead cold water, I do sometimes slightly different taste both good. , the fizziness help's make the batter light

 

Listen to your batter as it cooks, it gets quieter as it gets closer to being done.

Thank you! I'll give it another try. I think my problem was that I didn't have the oil hot enough. I just love batter fried fish, though, and it's either too expensive or too far from me to buy very often.

 

Anyway, last night I made meatloaf and chopped up some new potatoes and tossed them with salt, pepper, chives, garlic, and olive oil, then put them around the meatloaf to cook. That was an experiment - next time I'll wait about a half hour before putting the potatoes in. Mine were a little over crispy when they came out of the oven with the meatloaf. But they sure were good!

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I'm making unstuffed cabbage rolls tonight. Last week I needed a small head of cabbage, so of course, the store only had huge heads of cabbage, so I'm going to cut off a section of the leftover head and steam it a bit and just layer the leaves under and over the meatballs. 

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