The What's for Dinner Thread - August 2014 (recipe index in OP)

[franandaj]

....maybe in 'Down Under Land', but not here.... Right, Alison?

I'm not sure where to find the Tag Fairy, but I'm also not looking for her. I'm very plased with my tags.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Good morning my dear friends,

I am so sorry I just dropped off, but this week has been super busy. I needed to get the Monthly Reporter out, it was payroll and bill week, year end stats are due tomorrow, and the Directory is published. From here on out my days and weeks should be a whole lot easier. Then Lent starts!! YeeHaa!!

PIO ~ Love the idea for February. I love her show! I guess because it is a lot like the way I cook. She actually has things I have in my own cupboards. This I can do!!

Kimmar ~ Heck here you are complaining for the Tag Fairy to change your tags and I would like to just have one. I am the only one here without one.

Alison ~ I think what PIO is saying - for clarification - something not so fancy. I think Ree and Nancy also fix things we all can relate to. I love Farmhouse Rules also.

Brandi ~ I have been thinking of you and David and was hoping you dodged the brunt of this storm. I think a lot of people did. But I would rather plan for the worst and have it be mild instead of no planning/warning and be unprepared. Stay safe!

Like I said before I have just been swamped at work but truly after this week I should be back to normal. Thank the GOOD Lord!!

Stephanie and Harper are learning to get along. Actually things are going really good. Lilly even went to dance last night. It is just amazing what a week will do. I have stayed away - well as much as I can - to give them their space and for them to figure it all out. I did go up on Tuesday. They knew I was coming and I walked in and played with Lilly, we read a book and then I rocked Harper and sang to her. After about an hour I went back home. Marty and Stephanie were a bit taken aback when I left so soon. But I told them, I loved them, but I really did just come to see the girls for awhile. I needed some snuggle time. I can only go about 4 or 5 days without seeing Harper, as she changes so fast, but I do NOT want to be a bother either. Marty is still home but will be going back to work and out of town on Feb. 9 and Stephanie has asked me to be there with her at night for a few day. Of course I will go and help out.

WFDT ~ Lasagna, garlic bread sticks and a green salad.

Make it a great day!

I completely missed seeing this in my drive-by last night!


Sounds like the family is adjusting well all round. I think you're doing great by letting the family have more time together whilst Marty is still home. But I think nana is looking forward to Feb 9!!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

...hey, kiddo, you're on your own...

Better alone.....than with a cow themed avi, right?

 

[PrincessInOz]

....maybe in 'Down Under Land', but not here.... Right, Alison?

It's all Community B-o-r-e-d here.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Morning girlies,

You all just make me laugh You are good for my soul!!

We are headed to Kearney tonight as we need haircuts and I HAVE to shop for a new pair or 2 of shoes. We will of course pop in to see the kids. Ya know, it's been a whole 3 days since I have seen them.

WFDT ~ we will grab something after our shopping.

Make it a great day and have a wonderful weekend!

Did you get your shoes??


(And see the kids???? )

 

[franandaj]

Ellen, I missed responding to your post. I'm glad to hear the family is getting on better. It will take time but hopefully everyone will know they are all loved and the two kids will bond together and be great friends.

I've got my protein for my Asian dinner marinating for this evening's meal. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have something to post!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sunday morning and its grey and drizzly here.

I don't know if I shared some of my summer garden produce here....but these are some of what we've harvested over the last 4 weeks.














































Those little tomatoes are Principe Borghese variety. Seems that they are great as sundried tomatoes. So I've got a tray going in a low oven this morning. We'll see how they turn out in 8 hours time.

 

[dgbg100106]

For tonight Asian dinner, I have Broccoli, snap peas, onions, garlic, red bell pepper. Soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, 5spice, 1/2" nub of grated ginger, and some toasted sesame seeds.

Nice hot skillet and do the stir fry dance right now.

Oh David is getting some noodles with his, with a tad of sesame oil and red pepper flakes.

 

[PrincessInOz]

for tonight asian dinner, i have broccoli, snap peas, onions, garlic, red bell pepper. Soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, 5spice, 1/2" nub of grated ginger, and some toasted sesame seeds.

Nice hot skillet and do the stir fry dance right now.

Oh david is getting some noodles with his, with a tad of sesame oil and red pepper flakes.

yum!

 

[franandaj]

Szechwan Chicken


My starting ingredients:



And I forgot these in the first picture



Here’s the ingredient list:

1 boneless Chicken Breast
3 cloves garlic
1 tbl Cornstarch
1 tbl soy sauce

1 red pepper
1 head broccoli
1 celery stalk
½ medium onion

2 tbl dry sherry
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tbl sugar
2 tsp vinegar

Peanut oil (as necessary)
½ tsp crushed red pepper

Starting off slice Chicken in to bite sized chunks. Mince garlic. Add both to a bowl along with cornstarch and soy sauce and marinate for several hours.





Slice red pepper, broccoli, celery and onion into similar sized pieces so that they may cook evenly. Mix sherry, soy sauce, sugar and vinegar in a bowl For this recipe, I also added a tablespoon of cornstarch to help aid the thickening of the sauce. Make sure you have all your ingredients Mis en place before you start.



Fry vegetables one at a time, adding some oil as necessary for each batch.







When vegetables have been blanched, add 1 tbl oil add crushed red pepper. Fry until pepper is black.



Add chicken mixture, cook for two minutes.



Add vegetables



Add liquid and cook for another three minutes. I added a little bit of water (about ½ a cup) so that I could scrape all the crunchy bits off the bottom of the wok. Fran said it was a little too soupy.



I served it over rice. I thought it was a tasty dinner!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Alison - That meal looks delicious! I might try it for dinner one of these nights. That's the sort of thing that DS would LOVE!. And that's the perfect amount of sauce to me....but that's a pretty individual thing.

Is that a nice new wok I see??

 

[PrincessInOz]

It's the start of Feb and I'm starting to think about low carbs. That's the bad news.

The good news? It kinda means more protein.

So WFDT?

I got some steak that I'll pan fry and we'll have zucchini from the garden and corn to go with it.

 

[franandaj]

Alison - That meal looks delicious! I might try it for dinner one of these nights. That's the sort of thing that DS would LOVE!. And that's the perfect amount of sauce to me....but that's a pretty individual thing.

Is that a nice new wok I see??

You'll find the original recipe in that cookbook I sent you via email. This is the first recipe that I perfected in my very first wok. It was in the recipe book that came with the electric wok back in the 1980s. It was the first Chinese recipe I made that actually tasted like Chinese food. Everything else was Chung King in a can and it was awful. Over the years I have tweaked the recipe adding more veggies and sauce ingredients. I've made this often in hotel rooms with kitchens because it's really so easy.

Yes that is a new wok! I found it, of all places at the grocery store (the upscale one in Seal Beach with a full on kitchen shop inside). I seasoned it last night before using it to cook the dish. I had to explain to Fran that you're not supposed to use soap on it and the brown stains add to the non stick quality!

It holds heat really well and I think it is going to work out well. Once it finish this awful regimen that the doctor has me on and I lose 30 -50 pounds, I'll have to use it to make the Char Kay Teow recipe of yours.

 

[franandaj]

BTW, your veggies look awesome PIO! I can't wait to plant ours, except I don't want to have to take care of them. I just want to harvest them!

 

[PrincessInOz]

It holds heat really well and I think it is going to work out well. Once it finish this awful regimen that the doctor has me on and I lose 30 -50 pounds, I'll have to use it to make the Char Kay Teow recipe of yours.

WOW!

Good luck with it. I think I might join you. I need to lose about that much too!

 

[PrincessInOz]

BTW, your veggies look awesome PIO! I can't wait to plant ours, except I don't want to have to take care of them. I just want to harvest them!

Thanks!

The "looking after" was a bit more than usual this year. But then, it's summer and if I wanted vegetables, I need to weed and water.

 

[franandaj]

WOW!

Good luck with it. I think I might join you. I need to lose about that much too!

Well, you didn't get the scare tactic of "if you don't want to have Bypass surgery in 10 years, you'll do this" appointment this week. I'm having to cut out pretty much everything but meat. If I had to do that, I might as well kill myself now and just take the bypass surgery.

We'll see how I do because, this is worse than Atkins. I can't completely cut out sugar because I need at least my one glass of wine per night, but even that stinks.

The good news is if I do cut out everything, I should drop the pounds right? :

Thanks!

The "looking after" was a bit more than usual this year. But then, it's summer and if I wanted vegetables, I need to weed and water.

That's the part I don't want to deal with. But then if I can't enjoy the Motzarella with my tomatoes, I'm not sure how much I will really enjoy them. I need that weight to fall off before they start to be ready for harvest. We were planting them last year in about a week or two from now.

 

[franandaj]

I'm not sure where to find the Tag Fairy, but I'm also not looking for her. I'm very plased with my tags.

Well I was....

 

[PrincessInOz]

Looks like I need a new avatar. I will miss the smileys; but I guess we'll all live.

 

[PrincessInOz]

The first back to school Monday and the start of a new school year! Getting back into routine has been tougher than expected. I feel like I'm missing an hour today!

WFDT? I used Alison's Asian meal as inspiration. I stir fried the vegetables separately and then fried the chicken with some onion. I also cooked some white rice for the boys; but as I'm being good, I didn't eat the rice. No pictures; I just didn't have time and I suspect it will take me a week of getting back into routine before life gets back to a normal cadence.


Brandi - I'm adapting the live to eat concept. I'm reducing the amount of meat I eat rather than going vegetarian but reducing processed food and eating more vegetables; and raw. I did make a salad for lunch today. Even DH enjoyed it.

It's back to work for me tomorrow; so I think it will be my Thursday before I catch anyone on the boards again. Take care all!