The What's For Dinner Thread - October'11 (recipe index in OP)

[denisem]

Usually don't post here, but stumbled on this weird but addicting pasta dish. (DH calls it "Italian Sausage Crack"). Not healthy, but incredibly fast & easy, and we delude ourselves it's ok once in awhile with a fresh salad.

Bowties w/Sausage, Tomatoes & Cream:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bow-ties-with-sausage-tomatoes-and-cream/detail.aspx

 

[PrincessInOz]

Well, this is a use up what we have week (due to buying Christmas tickets, we're cash poor till next payday). Some meals may seem incomplete or odd, but that's just what we have.

Sat: Salmon cakes and peas (they were DELICIOUS!) I used the America's test kitchen recipe, and it uses raw salmon rather than canned. Best salmon cakes I ever had.

Sun: Ginger Chicken stir fry with bok choy and peppers, rice

Mon: Cheeseburgers and apple slices

Tues: Brats, beans, and potatoes

Wed: leftovers

Thurs: Spagetti

Fri: We'll hit the store

I'm fairly new to the WFDT myself so I don't know if you're an oldie diner returning. In any case, hello...and welcome?

Usually don't post here, but stumbled on this weird but addicting pasta dish. (DH calls it "Italian Sausage Crack"). Not healthy, but incredibly fast & easy, and we delude ourselves it's ok once in awhile with a fresh salad.

Bowties w/Sausage, Tomatoes & Cream:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bow-ties-with-sausage-tomatoes-and-cream/detail.aspx

Welcome! Thanks for sharing.


I hope you'll both stick around and post recipes.

 

[PrincessInOz]

This weekend, I headed to the Collingwood Children's Farm.

This farm is located within 3 - 5 km of the CBD. You wouldn't know it to look at pictures of the paddocks like this...

The Yarra River, which runs through the Melbourne CBD is where the trees are.



They have a kitchen garden at the farm.

Why did I head there? Well.....on the first Sunday of each month, it is Family Day at the CCF. And that means.....tractor Hay Rides! Yes, its a category for the Photography Scavenger Hunt and I'd been waiting patiently for the first Sunday to come round (couldn't make it last month and when next month comes round, the hunt will be over).

I got there early to look around the farm.

Kids were encouraged to help milk this cow...I couldn't get in the barn! But noticed this window on the side.

And I did get my hay ride shots!

I got into the second ride of the day....

 

[PrincessInOz]

The CCF is located next to a-no-longer-used convent. You may have spotted the building in the background in the hay ride we went on.
The convent is now home to a variety of establishments and unbeknownst to me, I'd picked the prime day to visit the area.


It's spring in Melbourne....and lots of festivals and fairs are on. This one is at the neighbourhood Steiner school Spring Fair.

The classrooms were all beautifully displayed with the children's works....like this.

They even had a wood-fired pizza there!

 

[Goofyluver]

I could so eat that... my DH just does not like corn, for him it is just on the COB or nothing...

While I was there I saw her write up on the Carnitas....Has anyone tried it?

I have been hankering for pork Carnitas for awhile....

No, but it's on the list for the next 2 weeks of cooking.

Hi Everyone!

We're still hanging in there...crazy day but I'm surviving! Tonight for dinner we're having homemade burgers. I haven't had one commercially prepared or otherwise since this whole ordeal started.

How's Fran? And how are you holding up?

Well, this is a use up what we have week (due to buying Christmas tickets, we're cash poor till next payday). Some meals may seem incomplete or odd, but that's just what we have.

Sat: Salmon cakes and peas (they were DELICIOUS!) I used the America's test kitchen recipe, and it uses raw salmon rather than canned. Best salmon cakes I ever had.

Sun: Ginger Chicken stir fry with bok choy and peppers, rice

Mon: Cheeseburgers and apple slices

Tues: Brats, beans, and potatoes

Wed: leftovers

Thurs: Spagetti

Fri: We'll hit the store

We have use up weeks all of the time!

Usually don't post here, but stumbled on this weird but addicting pasta dish. (DH calls it "Italian Sausage Crack"). Not healthy, but incredibly fast & easy, and we delude ourselves it's ok once in awhile with a fresh salad.

Bowties w/Sausage, Tomatoes & Cream:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bow-ties-with-sausage-tomatoes-and-cream/detail.aspx

Mmmmmmm! Looks yummy! And right up my family's alley!



And PIO...once again...your pictures are beautiful. That peacock shot is amazing!! Thank you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, last night we shut off the computers and had movie night in. We finally watched the last POTC. It was good, but not my favorite. We also started watching a documentary called, "Stephen Fry in America", which we got off of Netflix. He's an English comedian who is traveling the 50 states. He comments on the differences between all 50 states, and shows something special about each state. It was pretty good!

Today we'll maybe watch some more movies and relax. The next two weeks will be jam-packed because we'll be getting ready for my dad coming for Thanksgiving week. We have to clean the house and pretend like it always looks this great!

Tonight's dinner is eggplant parmesan (homemade by me) and to accompany it, Pioneer Woman's olive cheese bread. I can't wait for dinner!

Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

 

[TigerKat]

Hey y'all, I'm hopelessly behind here. I'm having one of those weekends from hell. Yesterday morning I threw my back out simply bending over to pick something up. This has happened to me before but it's never been quite this severe. I was able to get in touch with my doc who sent me out a steroid dosepak which normally works but it takes a few days to kick in. I am able to get up on my own this morning and take a few steps but that's about it.

Kyle is pitching his first scrimmage game of the season this morning and it's breaking my heart that I'm not there.

Sorry to be so depressing.

 

[Goofyluver]

Hey y'all, I'm hopelessly behind here. I'm having one of those weekends from hell. Yesterday morning I threw my back out simply bending over to pick something up. This has happened to me before but it's never been quite this severe. I was able to get in touch with my doc who sent me out a steroid dosepak which normally works but it takes a few days to kick in. I am able to get up on my own this morning and take a few steps but that's about it.

Kyle is pitching his first scrimmage game of the season this morning and it's breaking my heart that I'm not there.

Sorry to be so depressing.

Been there, sweetheart.

for healing quickly. Please take it easy!

 

[Goofyluver]

OMG. Dinner was soooo fabulously fantastic that I want a rewind button so I can do it again.

We had eggplant parmesan and the Pioneer Woman's olive cheese bread.

I made the eggplant parmesan myself. I peel and slice 2 good sized eggplants and then salt the slices and press them between books and layers of paper towels. I find it makes the eggplant much more tender.

I use italian bread crumbs to bread the slices of eggplant after dipping them in an eggwash. I coat cookie sheets in a nice layer of olive oil and oven "fry" them on 400. I turn them after the bottoms brown, cook for another 7-10 minutes, and then top with tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella slices. Bake until the cheese is melted.

This was my first time to make the Pioneer Woman's olive cheese bread and dear lord, I think it's good enough to eat all by itself without anything else on the side.

Olive Cheese Bread

Ingredients:

■One 14.5 oz can Black Olives, drained
■One 6 oz. jar Pimiento-Stuffed Green Olives, drained
■2 Green onions
■1/2 lb. {1 stick} Butter, softened
■1/2 cup Mayonnaise {real mayo ~ no substitutions}
■1 pound Monterey Jack Cheese, grated
■1 loaf crusty French Bread

Directions:

Chop the black olives, green olives, and green onions. Add them to a bowl with the butter, mayo, and jack cheese. Mix well. Spread over both halves of the french bread and bake on 325 for approximately 20-25 minutes.

I am freezing one half of the loaf to be made later, because this made a lot of bread. But it was soooo wonderful!

 

[dgbg100106]

Tonight was Spaghetti alla Carbonara, it was quick and easy, so it fit right in.

I have a whole chicken cooked for Chicken and Dumplings, I have a pork butt rendering down for Carnitas, and vension burgers ready in the freezer to be taken out later in the week.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Hey y'all, I'm hopelessly behind here. I'm having one of those weekends from hell. Yesterday morning I threw my back out simply bending over to pick something up. This has happened to me before but it's never been quite this severe. I was able to get in touch with my doc who sent me out a steroid dosepak which normally works but it takes a few days to kick in. I am able to get up on my own this morning and take a few steps but that's about it.

Kyle is pitching his first scrimmage game of the season this morning and it's breaking my heart that I'm not there.

Sorry to be so depressing.

Kat


That olive bread looks good!

DH ate leftovers, I stopped at Panda Express

 

[Aimeedyan]

This was very good! I made it to go with our cheese enchiladas...

Crockpot Refried Beans
3 cups of dry pinto beans (rinsed)
1 onion, diced
9 cups of water
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Put all the ingredients in a crockpot and cook on high for about 8 hours. (I put mine on low - my crockpot runs hot)

When they are done cooking, drain all of the liquid and set aside. Using a potato masher, mash the beans until they reach your desired consistency. Or, run them through your food processor. (Using a slotted spoon, I just transferred the beans from the crockpot right into my food processor in batches - took less than 5 minutes to do the entire pot) Add the reserved liquid until you reach your desired consistency.

Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. I ended up putting quite a bit more cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in ours.

This is also freezer friendly - which is great since it makes a large batch!

 

[dgbg100106]

This was very good! I made it to go with our cheese enchiladas...

Crockpot Refried Beans
3 cups of dry pinto beans (rinsed)
1 onion, diced
9 cups of water
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Put all the ingredients in a crockpot and cook on high for about 8 hours. (I put mine on low - my crockpot runs hot)

When they are done cooking, drain all of the liquid and set aside. Using a potato masher, mash the beans until they reach your desired consistency. Or, run them through your food processor. (Using a slotted spoon, I just transferred the beans from the crockpot right into my food processor in batches - took less than 5 minutes to do the entire pot) Add the reserved liquid until you reach your desired consistency.

Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. I ended up putting quite a bit more cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in ours.

This is also freezer friendly - which is great since it makes a large batch!

I have tried several times to make these and they never turn out. The texture is usually off. I have not made them the way you have here so I will try again.

 

[franandaj]

Thai-style Tuna Puffs

Those look pretty good! How big are they? About the size of your palm or larger?

I'm behind on blogging recipes - I made these a few nights ago and they were DELISH. From our new fave blogger, The Homesick Texan. Truly restaurant quality cheese enchiladas - Tex Mex style. So good.

Those look really tasty!

tasha99 - an eclectic menu, but it sounds pretty good!

denisem - Hope to see you back again!

How's Fran? And how are you holding up?

Thanks! We had a problem with the IV this morning, and couldn't get it to drip. The nurse came by in the afternoon and put in a new line and tomorrow he will take it out after she does her last treatment. We've emailed the Doctor photos of the wound and she says it's definitely healing. The nurse also said that it was healing well. He'll discharge her tomorrow and another nurse will take over the wound care.

I could be doing better, but we slept in way past the time we were supposed to get up, so I'm fairly rested. The kitties have been very cute and sleeping all over me. It was rainy today so it's colder here than we're used to.

Kat - Sorry your back is hurting, hope it gets better soon.

Brandi - I'd be intereted in your Chicken & Dumplings recipe. I got mine off the back of a Bisquick box!

Aimee - interesting recipe for refried beans. I made them once and the recipe included diced green chilies. I liked them but found it was easier to get them can of refried beans and season them!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hello all! It's Monday night and I'm just about to head off to bed. Weather is warm, with temperatures well into the mid 70's. But I've been sneezing and eyes itching like crazy! Springtime is nice but because of my Hayfever, I don't enjoy it much.


Aimee - that cheese enchilada looks great! But DH's tummy reacts to too much cheese...so I can't take any inspiration from it!

Jen - I love Stephen Fry. He was recently in Oz and flew out less than a week ago. His (Qantas) plane was stuck on the tarmac for over 2 hours and he tweeted about it! He asked for a replacement plane in his tweet and it made headlines. Qantas has been headline news for a couple of weeks....and not in a good way.
Love your recipes; again...it's the cheesy-ness factor for DH.

Kat - I hope you get some help and relief for the back. Is it the back or do you put a rib out?

Alison - The Thai Tuna Puffs are a little bit smaller than the palm of a hand. But you can make them any size you like...just use more tuna stuffing and cut the puffs accordingly.

 

[Goofyluver]

Thanks! We had a problem with the IV this morning, and couldn't get it to drip. The nurse came by in the afternoon and put in a new line and tomorrow he will take it out after she does her last treatment. We've emailed the Doctor photos of the wound and she says it's definitely healing. The nurse also said that it was healing well. He'll discharge her tomorrow and another nurse will take over the wound care.

I could be doing better, but we slept in way past the time we were supposed to get up, so I'm fairly rested. The kitties have been very cute and sleeping all over me. It was rainy today so it's colder here than we're used to.

I'm glad Fran is healing. It's difficult when things don't happen quickly.

Still thinking of ya'.

Those kitties probably know you need some snuggles!

Jen - I love Stephen Fry. He was recently in Oz and flew out less than a week ago. His (Qantas) plane was stuck on the tarmac for over 2 hours and he tweeted about it! He asked for a replacement plane in his tweet and it made headlines. Qantas has been headline news for a couple of weeks....and not in a good way.
Love your recipes; again...it's the cheesy-ness factor for DH.

We finished watching some more episodes with Stephen Fry yesterday. I absolutely love him! He's hilarious!

J used to have some allergies (which he's outgrown) when he was younger. Any tomato products, eggs, as well as citrus and all nuts. Excluding products from cooking is difficult, so I sympathize.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good Monday morning y'all.

10 more work days till Thanksgiving vacation!

Today is shopping day, we're loading up for the next few weeks!

Tonight's dinner is the recipe that I posted a few pages back...UncleR's junk/potato sausage bake. I can't wait.

I hope you all have a great day!

 

[HERSEY]

Good morning peeps

Yesterday got away from me. I did go to Bonefish grill last night. I fell in love with the Bang Bang shrimp and the Winter white cosmo

I have to find a recipe for the Cosmo. Lauren I could use your help here


I think salad is going to be my dinner tonight. I ate way to much last night.

Have a good day everyone

 

[HERSEY]

Look what google found for me

Winter white Cosmopolitan

1 1/2 ounces cranberry vodka
1/2 ounce Cointreau liqueur
1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce white cranberry juice
3 -4 frozen cranberries

Directions:


Combine ingredients over ice in a shaker tin. Shake and strain into chilled martini glass. Float 3 or 4 frozen cranberries on top for garnish.

 

[Glynis]

Hi, everyone! The weekend got away from me, and I didn't have a chance to stop in.

Friday was such an awful day! DH had to be at a local ski resort for filming by 3:30 in the morning, so I had to make sure he was awake at 2:30. Guess when he went to bed? 12:30! Later in the day, he had the nerve to complain about being tired! I got unusually angry with him, and told him that if he would have put his laptop away at 10:00 and had gone to bed at a decent hour (like I told him to), he would be feeling much better! Oh well! Hopefully, he'll live and learn. I think he felt badly, because he took me out for Chinese food later on!

Saturday was a really relaxing day! We all slept in, picked up our bountiful basket, and spent the remainder of the day puttering around the house, doing odd jobs. It wasn't what I wanted to get done, but we needed a relaxing day! Saturday night, Alan and I took Jacob out for his birthday dinner. He's really in to Greek mythology, so he asked to go to a Greek restaurant. I was thrilled! I love Greek food! We ordered some spanikopita, dolmathes, souvlaki and loukamades for dessert. I thought it was all great! Jacob enjoyed the souvlaki, but really didn't like the dolmathes (I guess stuffed grape leaves aren't for everyone). He pronounced the spanikopita "ok", but he polished off all the loukamades. After the meal, he told us he was glad he'd tried it, but Greek food really isn't his thing. Next year, he'll choose a seafood restaurant!

Sunday we went to church, then just relaxed around the house until we went to Jacob's Court of Honor. He received 2 Scout rank advancements, and 4 merit badges!!! He was so proud of himself. He really wants to make Eagle Scout before he turns 14! After that, we came home and played Mille Bournes with the kids. It was a lot of fun! Once they got the hang of the game, they had a ball! Alan made us dinner of turkey, fried potatoes and steamed broccoli. Not bad!

Nothing much on tap today. We're just sending the kids off to school, then Timmy and I will do some cleaning and laundry. Dinner tonight will be quesadillas.

 

[dgbg100106]

Look what google found for me

Winter white Cosmopolitan

1 1/2 ounces cranberry vodka
1/2 ounce Cointreau liqueur
1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce white cranberry juice
3 -4 frozen cranberries

Directions:


Combine ingredients over ice in a shaker tin. Shake and strain into chilled martini glass. Float 3 or 4 frozen cranberries on top for garnish.

This sounds like one we make here, but we use the Ruby Red Grapefruit vodka
So good...

 

[dgbg100106]

Thanks! We had a problem with the IV this morning, and couldn't get it to drip. The nurse came by in the afternoon and put in a new line and tomorrow he will take it out after she does her last treatment. We've emailed the Doctor photos of the wound and she says it's definitely healing. The nurse also said that it was healing well. He'll discharge her tomorrow and another nurse will take over the wound care.

I could be doing better, but we slept in way past the time we were supposed to get up, so I'm fairly rested. The kitties have been very cute and sleeping all over me. It was rainy today so it's colder here than we're used to.

I am so glad to hear that Fran is healing well.
and that both of you are getting the much needed rest.

Brandi - I'd be intereted in your Chicken & Dumplings recipe. I got mine off the back of a Bisquick box!

Alison,

I don't really have a recipe...

I just make them same way my Meme used to make them.

take a whole fryer, and rinse it off, pull everything from the inside, out of the bird.

Put the whole chicken in a stock pot, cover with water, add a whole onion quartered, a couple of stalks of celery chopped, add a couple of bay leaves, throw in some thyme, and add two bullion cubes.

bring to a boil, then down to medium and let cook for 1/2 an hour.

I take the chicken out and let it cool overnight, covered in the fridge.

David picks all the chicken off the bones, and scoops the fat off the broth. Then discard the solids from the broth.

Then the dumplings are 2 cups all purpose flour, and a little less than 1/4 cup of shortening ( must be shortening) and a pinch of salt, you have to cut the shortening into the flour until it looks like sand, then slowly add cold water until it makes a dough and I roll it out on my counter, take a pizza cutter and cut it into strips first then I cut it into smaller strips about 1" by 2".

I bring the broth back up to a boil, add the chicken back in, and then I drop the dumplings in the boiling broth, the excess flour on the dumplings usually thickens the broth but if it does not I add a little slurry mixture to tighten it up.