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

[dgbg100106]

Another day of no sun............but lots and lots of rain.

Brandi ~ I am SO jealous!! Say hi to Mickey for me.

Alison ~ I hope all is well with you and Fran and you are just recouping from the weekend. I can't wait to hear how it all went.

PIO & Kimmar ~ Hi {waves}

Well I somehow completely forgot about Cinco de Mayo yesterday. But Doug didn't - so we had homemade taco salads last night. We made our own tortilla shells. Man they came out great.

It is raining again today. We are even forecasted for sever storms tonight. Oh joy!! We have had over 4 1/2 inches of rain in the last 5 days. We really really needed it as the fields, roads and lawns is taking it. But gee I need to see the sun soon. This is to last till next Tuesday.

WFDT ~ since I swamped the taco salads last night - tonight will be the ham and scalloped potatoes.

Make it a great day!

Mickey said HI back

 

[dgbg100106]

Ellen - YAY for winning tickets. That's fantastic luck. I hope you enjoy the concert. Thanks for the pizza crust recipe. I'm going to have to work out a cheese substitute if DH is to enjoy it.

Brandi - Say hello to Mickey from me too. Tell him he's allowed to cheat on me with you.

Alison - Looks like you had a great birthday celebration. Looking forward to watching it unfold through the TR.




It's Thursday here and I'm just exhausted. I think I had a bit of food poisoning on Tuesday and what with work and everything, I come home and then just crash in bed.
I didn't eat dinner on Tuesday and picked at mum's food last night.
About all I've managed to eat is toast and vegemite.

The good news is I'm starting to feel a bit better today. Hopefully, I'll feel like eating something substantial at dinner.

I am glad to hear you are feeling better, that is good news.

 

[dgbg100106]

I also need to post my leftover recipe, which coincidentally is a soup.

I could definitely do soup for May. It's cold enough and I've been making chicken broth from scratch, so it would be a good one for me.

I make veggie soup every week.

 

[dgbg100106]

That is the most unique recipe for Hot and Sour Soup I have ever seen. What are tamarind skins?

We went out for dinner last night for German Night at Rick and Brian's cafe. I had Rouladen while Fran had Pork Schnitzel. We both got the hash browns and split a side of spaetzle..

Tonight I'm making a recipe that Fran found, its pork chops braised in a raspberry vinegar broth. We'll have a salad and zucchini with it.

I so love good German Spaetzle - I can still remember the one I had this past Christmas.... Yummmy

 

[dgbg100106]

Afternoon ladies,

I had a dentist appointment this morning - just a cleaning. No problems - YEA!!

OH.MY.GOODNESS last night was just plain scary. Really scary. There were over 25 tornadoes in the state. It was just a boiling mess. We got minimal damage but nothing to bad. Thank goodness. I HATE tornadoes, they scare the beegeebers out of me. At least they hit last night when it was still light out so we could at least see them coming. Parts of the state just to the East of us got substantial damage. Bless them!!

PIO ~ I have to agree that is a very different Hot and Sour soup. But man it looks delicious. Hope you get to feeling better real soon.

Alison ~ I can't wait to hear/read about your party.

Soup sounds good to me. I could do this one.

I have a massage right after work. Then home to eat dinner real quick as Ethan has his last elementary Band concert tonight. Then I have to come home and pack as Doug and I are leaving at noon tomorrow for Omaha. The concert starts at 7pm. Busy day.

WFDT ~ Grilled hamburgers, sweet potato fries and peach salad.

Make it a great day!

Oh I am glad to hear that you guys are alright. Hugs my friend..

 

[dgbg100106]

Ellen - Hope you stay safe! I've seem some pictures of the the tornadoes. I didn't realise you were that close to them. YIKES!

Alison - Tamarind? Do you not know that produce??? They sell them as a paste or dried with the skins on. If you don't know, then next time I'm in LB, we can head to that chinese grocery store again. I can cook a sour Indian curry with the paste for you.

I used to get Tamarind candy as a kid, and loved the sour taste so much, it was also salt, sweet and sour candy

I even had a tamarind Margarita at La Cava last week, so yummy..

 

[dgbg100106]

Happy Mother's Day




Hope everyone that celebrated had a great mother's day!

We ended up hosting both mothers for a afternoon high tea. As we had less guests attending this year than last, we significantly cut back on the food.
My table setting was a lot less formal this year as well. I went with a sea of blue and green grass colour theme (because that's what I have in my cupboards!!! ) and added the splash of cyclamen pink to the table.






But it's all about the food, right?







Homemade egg sandwiches and some savoury pastries at the bottom. I grated some hardboiled eggs, added some mayonnaise and salt and pepper. I would normally also add a dab of butter to the warm grated eggs; but with DH being lactose intolerant, I left that out. The pastries were store-bought from a place that we used to love. Standards have slipped a lot at this place so I think I'm going back to making my own next year.







Homemade scones for the middle layer. We served these warm from the oven with jam and cream. Perfect with English Breakfast Tea!






I did try to get some sweet petit fours for the top layer. But I left my run too late as I had severely underestimated the Mother's Day factor. The shop I normally frequent was completely sold out by the time 11 am came round! So, I got some fresh strawberries and some mini meringues. I think I might stick to this selection next year as well. It worked well and was a lighter sweet layer than the lemon tarts or chocolate eclairs I was going to get.







Everyone had a great time and we all voted for a re-do next year!

This look amazing. Jealous!

 

[franandaj]

Alison ~ Your croquettes look amazing!! That is something Doug would love. I am saving those!! Have you and Fran recouped from the party yet?

We are on the mend. I'm back to normal home wise, but still a little weary.

OH.MY.GOODNESS girls Garth Brooks was the BEST concert I have ever gone to. And I have been to some very big name artists. Doug and I are kind of concert junkies. We love going to them and probably have seen 150+. But Garth Brooks was the best!!! He played for 2 1/2 hours. Trisha Yearwood came out for 2 songs and then they sang together. It was amazing. We thoroughly enjoyed it!!

I'm not familiar with Garth Brooks, but I'm glad you had a great time. I haven't been to that kind of a concert in years.

We did some shopping on Saturday. Finally was able to get some new clothes. I have lost almost 20 pounds, so I really really needed some new things that actually fit.

Congratulations! I am down about 11-12 pounds from where I was in February, but nothing that I need any new clothes for. I seem to have hit a plateau again. I was down really good before my birthday but then I got that lovely visitor and I always gain about 5 lbs at that time, so now I'm trying to work that back off to get back down to where I was before the party.

 

[EJ4Disney]

Wonderful Wednesday everyone!!

Brandi ~ Welcome home. That was a very quick trip, but wow, you packed some real fun into it. I loved all of your pictures. Made me really want to be there with you!

Alison ~ Glad to know you are getting back to normal. Congrats on the weight loss. I am so proud of you!!
We got our DL DVD over the weekend and we watched it last night and Doug was actually intrigued by a few things. I am thrilled. We shall see but it looks as a trip to DL might be in the future.

Cloudy and windy again today. We are to get some serious storms tonight and more rain. If and when it ever clears up and the sun shines the lawns, crops and weeds are going to grow so fast we will be able to watch them.

WFDT ~ lasagna, green salad and cheddar biscuits.

Make it a great day!

 

[dgbg100106]

Ellen,

I miss being there already.
last night we had Broccoli, brown rice, and david had chicken. So not fun!

tonight is Cauliflower, Butternut squash, and David is having another Chicken Breast.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Ellen - Sounds like a fantastic concert. Glad you enjoyed Garth.

Brandi - Welcome back. Did you have a good trip?

Alison - Well done on the weight loss! I soooo need to get on that bandwagon.

 

[franandaj]

I need to lose the two pounds that will get me back to my goal weight. then I can set a new goal. It's really annoying that I only saw that weight one day and now I'm back up taunting myself.

Tonight for dinner we had "cloppities". This is a dish from Fran's childhood. It's basically a pan fried meatloaf with a creamy gravy. I think it got the name cloppity because that's the sound that it makes when you are forming the patties in your hands. I hadn't made these in a while and I think I got the recipe right. They were good and my gravy was excellent. We had roasted asparagus on the side. I'm ready to feed the cats and go to bed now.

 

[PrincessInOz]

May is a bad month for me where diets are concerned. Aside from Mother's Day, we also have a birthday celebration to enjoy.

This year, we went out for dinner. So....here's what we ate last night for dinner.

We went to a small Thai restaurant. It's been opened for over 5 years and it always seems busy. Admittedly, with only seating for about 30 - 35 people, it's easy to fill up. But it does have a Yelp rating of 92%. Even with 'editting', that's a very high percentage indeed. We were lucky that they were happy to accept our mid-week booking. It took us a while to work out our order and get to consensus.
With 15 people attending, it seemed easier to order the set menu.



We had 3 Appetizers included. One each of the following:

1. Spring Rolls.






2. Meat parcels.






3. Thai Fish cakes.






Main dishes, served with jasmine rice.

1. Green Chicken Curry, lovely flavours and spicy.






2. Pad Thai noodles, beautifully decorated with a lacy egg pancake on top.






3. Beef Massamam Curry. Easily my favourite of the night. The beef was tender and just flaked apart. The curry was deep and intense, but not too spicy.






4. BBQ Chicken. I think they had marinated this with some lemongrass, tumeric, chilli, onion and something sweet. We had previously eaten here before and this was the dish that pulled me back to this place for dinner last night. It was wonderful....and if it weren't for the massamam curry, this would have been my favourite dish.






5. Seasonal vegetables stirfry. The vegetables were cooked al dente, just how I like them.







Dessert.

Coconut icecream was all it said. It totally did not describe how wonderful the coconut icecream was or the eye-catching presentation that came with it.















After this month, I'm going to be rolling about everywhere for the rest of the year!




So....those of you wondering what my pesky vegetarian ate....we did ask. They do cater for vegetarians but it was a little difficult for them to put up a complete vegetarian alternative to the set menu we ordered.

DH ordered a salad to start. This was called the 'son in law' salad. Apparently it's a Thai thing.







For mains, he got a shrimp and calamari tumeric dish.






Both dishes were great!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I need to lose the two pounds that will get me back to my goal weight. then I can set a new goal. It's really annoying that I only saw that weight one day and now I'm back up taunting myself.

Tonight for dinner we had "cloppities". This is a dish from Fran's childhood. It's basically a pan fried meatloaf with a creamy gravy. I think it got the name cloppity because that's the sound that it makes when you are forming the patties in your hands. I hadn't made these in a while and I think I got the recipe right. They were good and my gravy was excellent. We had roasted asparagus on the side. I'm ready to feed the cats and go to bed now.

Sounds fantastic!

I've made some chicken soup for dinner tonight. I'm practising for our Diner's end of month virtual meal......even made some kneidlach to go with it!

 

[EJ4Disney]

The lull before the storm - literally!

We are in store for strong storms beginning tonight and all day tomorrow. They are predicting large hail, strong wind, torrential rain and tornados. I am going home tonight and putting my new car in the barn and it won't be coming out until Saturday. If a tornado gets it oh well, that will be the least of my worries at that point. At least we are being warned. We will have the cellar open and ready!! Cooper will be my problem as he HATES going down there. I will put my kitties in their crate and they will be fine. We did buy a weather radio last weekend, so I feel a bit better with it. Oh the Joy!!

PIO ~ Happy Birthday my friend. I am so sorry I missed it.
No wonder you wanted to go back to this restaurant. Oh.my.goodness what a beautiful presentation it was. I had to be careful of my drooling. It all looked just wonderful. You are so lucky to be able to go to such amazing places. When I see things like this, is the only time I wish I didn't live on a farm out in the middle of no where. You are very lucky.

Brandi ~ I saw your CSA on facebook. Looks like you got some great things. I looked into anything like that here and no. But we do have the Farmer's markets and road stands. I can't wait for them to start up.

Alison ~ Those 2 pesky pounds will be gone before you know it. Drink your water! After a weekend of not following plan so good, I will notice on Monday that I really need to up the water and by Wednesday I am back to normal. Your dinner sounds amazing - I love meatloaf!

WFDT ~ chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice and a green salad.

Make it a great day.

 

[dgbg100106]

Ellen - Sounds like a fantastic concert. Glad you enjoyed Garth.

Brandi - Welcome back. Did you have a good trip?

Alison - Well done on the weight loss! I soooo need to get on that bandwagon.

oh I had a great time. I really enjoyed my first Flower and Garden festival.

I would do it again, it was a scaled down version of Food and Wine and no where near as busy.

 

[dgbg100106]

I need to lose the two pounds that will get me back to my goal weight. then I can set a new goal. It's really annoying that I only saw that weight one day and now I'm back up taunting myself.

Tonight for dinner we had "cloppities". This is a dish from Fran's childhood. It's basically a pan fried meatloaf with a creamy gravy. I think it got the name cloppity because that's the sound that it makes when you are forming the patties in your hands. I hadn't made these in a while and I think I got the recipe right. They were good and my gravy was excellent. We had roasted asparagus on the side. I'm ready to feed the cats and go to bed now.

You can do it! I am so proud of you for getting there. I am up and down these same 5 pounds all the time. I have put about 15 back on from last July.

My Dr wants to do an AC1 test on me to see how my sugars are.

 

[dgbg100106]

The lull before the storm - literally!

We are in store for strong storms beginning tonight and all day tomorrow. They are predicting large hail, strong wind, torrential rain and tornados. I am going home tonight and putting my new car in the barn and it won't be coming out until Saturday. If a tornado gets it oh well, that will be the least of my worries at that point. At least we are being warned. We will have the cellar open and ready!! Cooper will be my problem as he HATES going down there. I will put my kitties in their crate and they will be fine. We did buy a weather radio last weekend, so I feel a bit better with it. Oh the Joy!!

PIO ~ Happy Birthday my friend. I am so sorry I missed it.
No wonder you wanted to go back to this restaurant. Oh.my.goodness what a beautiful presentation it was. I had to be careful of my drooling. It all looked just wonderful. You are so lucky to be able to go to such amazing places. When I see things like this, is the only time I wish I didn't live on a farm out in the middle of no where. You are very lucky.

Brandi ~ I saw your CSA on facebook. Looks like you got some great things. I looked into anything like that here and no. But we do have the Farmer's markets and road stands. I can't wait for them to start up.

Alison ~ Those 2 pesky pounds will be gone before you know it. Drink your water! After a weekend of not following plan so good, I will notice on Monday that I really need to up the water and by Wednesday I am back to normal. Your dinner sounds amazing - I love meatloaf!

WFDT ~ chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice and a green salad.

Make it a great day.

lots and lots of greens, but the radishes look great and those Baby Bok Choy

 

[franandaj]

PIO - that dinner looks fantastic! I would have really enjoyed all those things!

We are in store for strong storms beginning tonight and all day tomorrow. They are predicting large hail, strong wind, torrential rain and tornados. I am going home tonight and putting my new car in the barn and it won't be coming out until Saturday. If a tornado gets it oh well, that will be the least of my worries at that point. At least we are being warned. We will have the cellar open and ready!! Cooper will be my problem as he HATES going down there. I will put my kitties in their crate and they will be fine. We did buy a weather radio last weekend, so I feel a bit better with it. Oh the Joy!!

This sounds absolutely horrific. I know you enjoy where you live, but I couldn't take this. It's raining outside right now and that's driving me batty. I can't imagine giant hail stones and tornadoes.

You can do it! I am so proud of you for getting there. I am up and down these same 5 pounds all the time. I have put about 15 back on from last July.

My Dr wants to do an AC1 test on me to see how my sugars are.

I've done one of those in the last couple weeks and wish my Dr. would give me the stupid results.

We're having Chicken Enchiladas for dinner tonight too!

 

[dgbg100106]

PIO - that dinner looks fantastic! I would have really enjoyed all those things!



This sounds absolutely horrific. I know you enjoy where you live, but I couldn't take this. It's raining outside right now and that's driving me batty. I can't imagine giant hail stones and tornadoes.



I've done one of those in the last couple weeks and wish my Dr. would give me the stupid results.

We're having Chicken Enchiladas for dinner tonight too!

Enchiladas sound very nice to me. I could do bean or tofu...