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

[dgbg100106]

So I finally caught up and am here to wish all of you a belated Merry Christmas! I am so sorry to have been remiss but it has been a hectic several days here and I am swimming. Suffice it to say that the first time in years I felt like I was on top of things and we got a huge bombshell about Buddy's Mom. I will chat about it another day because this is Holiday season!

I loved all of the food porn and magical Christmas stories! You are all in my thoughts as you were all week long.

Dinner is more leftovres from Christmas Day and like Janice I am still in a drunken cookie frenzie so who knows how much I will really eat.....cookies call! BBL!

Eat cookies and stay on top of everything! Life is good!!!

We are here for you, anytime you need it.

 

[dgbg100106]

Hope the DRIVE and the house building went well; and that you're safely in Maryland now after the flight.


I think it's Wednesday here. Not really sure...am in wind-down and holiday mode. The house beckons today. Gonna go empty out cupboards and do a big clean-out. At least that's what I think I'll be doing today....the day is still early and my lazy bone is threatening to show.

Have a great day all.


And Becky - I'm definitely also going on a diet in the new year. I need to lose 15 - 20 lbs.

Well we are back home, built a small house for a very nice family, young couple with two kids. They were very thankful and the man helped with the building.



As far as Diet.... I need one so bad. I am hoping this recovery time does not impede that too much on my part.
There were about 50 people there and we just started hammering and putting together. It went so fast, it was hard to believe. They had 2 windows and a door. It was a single room about 16 x 14, but they had a box before... Can you believe it.

Anyway, their house cost $1200 to build.

The group my father belongs to build a house a week for a needy family. And they have enough money right now to build 6 more....

All of these people my father volunteers with is amazing and giving, one of the wives sews all the curtains for the family, and one family buys a broom and dustpan, another makes a beautiful cross and hangs in the room. They get food and pots and pans from another family.

One of the men makes a table and another family donates some chairs. It is just a sight to see, it really helped me understand the Christmas Spirit while I was there.

 

[dgbg100106]

Tomorrow, I'm taking Big C and J to Walmart in the town over to spend the gift cards they received for Christmas. We'll see if it's too early to try to brave the crowds!!!

I decided to go tomorrow so that I can have the rest of the week/weekend to relax before going back to work on Monday!

all around.

Sounds like a wonderful plan.!!!!

 

[dgbg100106]

OMG, PIO.

I think I licked the screen.

Me three!!!!

 

[dgbg100106]

Brandi - I hope you had fun in Mexico and have a safe trip home!

Lindsay - I had Greek for dinner last night, hope you enjoy it!

PIO - enjoy your leftovers!

Jen - so glad you are enjoying your time off!

Marilyn - I'm glad you have a "normal" in your life! There is no such thing in mine!

Ellen - I have a hard time with change too, but with how crazy my life ended up turning out, I just live with it!

Nancy - glad you had a nice albeit hectic holiday. Take some time to relax!

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

We had such a long drive and day yesterday, I want to make something simple and easy for dinner. I've been going through all the mail and paying bills, so I haven't had any time to figure out what that will be. I need to go to the grocery store and maybe it will hit me while I'm there!

Alison,

Had a great time, and glad you made it back safely!

 

[dgbg100106]

Folks....I've been considering signing up to Pinterest. What do I need to know about it; aside from it being seriously addictive?
From what I can see, I need to sign up with my 3D name....

I am on there and I am slow at getting involved, I just have so many things going on....

If you get on there let me know and I will follow you too...

 

[Goofyluver]

Well we are back home, built a small house for a very nice family, young couple with two kids. They were very thankful and the man helped with the building.



As far as Diet.... I need one so bad. I am hoping this recovery time does not impede that too much on my part.
There were about 50 people there and we just started hammering and putting together. It went so fast, it was hard to believe. They had 2 windows and a door. It was a single room about 16 x 14, but they had a box before... Can you believe it.

Anyway, their house cost $1200 to build.

The group my father belongs to build a house a week for a needy family. And they have enough money right now to build 6 more....

All of these people my father volunteers with is amazing and giving, one of the wives sews all the curtains for the family, and one family buys a broom and dustpan, another makes a beautiful cross and hangs in the room. They get food and pots and pans from another family.

One of the men makes a table and another family donates some chairs. It is just a sight to see, it really helped me understand the Christmas Spirit while I was there.

I think that's amazing, Brandi.

 

[dgbg100106]

For Christmas, UncleR surprised me with a gift that absolutely blew me away. She got me the entire set of pasta making attachments for our KitchenAid.

And now, I am dern-right determined to learn to make homemade pasta. I'm so excited.

Sooo, I thought I'd ask you ladies for some specific ideas and opinions.

First, have you ever made homemade pasta? What recommendations do you have? Or tried and true recipes that you promise won't fail? Any tips?

Also, my one specific want is to learn to make lo mein noodles. Not lo mein (I can do that), but the noodles themselves. Does anyone have a recipe for the lo mein noodle? When I search, all I'm finding is more recipes for chicken lo mein or veggie lo mein. I want to make the noodles.

Any help would be extremely appreciated.

I am also interested in this.... I got the Pasta attachment two years ago for Christmas and have yet to use them...

 

[dgbg100106]

I think that's amazing, Brandi.

I was touched... I have so much and these people have so little, I almost felt ashamed... I was so glad we could help them and give them a place to spend a dry and warm winter.

 

[Goofyluver]

I am also interested in this.... I got the Pasta attachment two years ago for Christmas and have yet to use them...

Maybe we can learn together.

I've made pasta exactly one time before. When I boiled it, it turned into a huge dumpling.

I got the entire set of attachments, including the ravioli attachment!

Does anyone have a great ravioli?

I was touched... I have so much and these people have so little, I almost felt ashamed... I was so glad we could help them and give them a place to spend a dry and warm winter.

I can't even begin to imagine how good this must have felt.

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

Well, we're back from Walmart. All shopping and food is planned for the next few weeks.

Big C and J both spent their gift cards on CD's.

We didn't know what we wanted for dinner, we decided to hold off on the burgers, so I turned to Pinterest and made the baked creamy spaghetti that someone else on the thread (Glynis???) has also made.

OH MY WORD. Sinfully delicious!

I'm sure the recipe is printed here somewhere, but just in case:

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti Pasta

12 oz spaghetti
1 (28 ounce) jars prepared spaghetti sauce
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated




Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.


In a skillet, brown the ground beef until cooked through; drain fat and stir in spaghetti sauce. Set aside.


Cook spaghetti according to directions on packet. Drain and place cooked spaghetti in bowl. Add cream cheese, Italian Seasoning and minced garlic. Stir until cream cheese is melted and the spaghetti is thoroughly coated.


Lightly grease a 9x13" pan. Spread a small amount of meat sauce in the bottom of the dish. Put spaghetti on top of sauce and top with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.


Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.

 

[dgbg100106]

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

Well, we're back from Walmart. All shopping and food is planned for the next few weeks.

Big C and J both spent their gift cards on CD's.

We didn't know what we wanted for dinner, we decided to hold off on the burgers, so I turned to Pinterest and made the baked creamy spaghetti that someone else on the thread (Glynis???) has also made.

OH MY WORD. Sinfully delicious!

hmmm that sounds really good...

 

[Goofyluver]

hmmm that sounds really good...

We have leftovers...how soon can ya' be here?

 

[franandaj]

Becky - Again your picture of dinner looks wonderful!

Brandi - Wow! on building that house. I think about everything that I have and often forget how many people there are that have so little, it really puts things into perspective.

Jen - that baked spaghetti sounds pretty good! I need to get my act back together and get planning meals!

WFD? I DID think about that last night, I picked up a pork tenderloin at the store last night and some red potatoes. I hope some of my veggies are still good from before the trip, otherwise we're having frozen. I'm going to try Glynis's Cajun Pork Tenderloin if it's not too spicy.

 

[dgbg100106]

We have leftovers...how soon can ya' be here?

Jen... that is not fair. I would so love to be there...

 

[dgbg100106]

Becky - Again your picture of dinner looks wonderful!

Brandi - Wow! on building that house. I think about everything that I have and often forget how many people there are that have so little, it really puts things into perspective.

Jen - that baked spaghetti sounds pretty good! I need to get my act back together and get planning meals!

WFD? I DID think about that last night, I picked up a pork tenderloin at the store last night and some red potatoes. I hope some of my veggies are still good from before the trip, otherwise we're having frozen. I'm going to try Glynis's Cajun Pork Tenderloin if it's not too spicy.

WFD here.... canned soup, we just did not leave the house and nothing was thawed for dinner.... I will do better the rest of the week....

 

[PrincessInOz]

Jen - Hope the shopping went well. I've been avoiding the malls. I'm still thinking about pinterest. Not sure if I can cope with another addiction. The Dis is bad enough.
And I've never made noodles...I've seen them make the hand-drawn type and it just seems like too much hard work to me.!
I'm not showing my DS that baked cream cheese spaghetti recipe. I already have enough trouble getting him to have a little pasta with his cheese!

Lindsay - Spaghetti two nights in a row with different sauces is something that happens a fair bit in my home. It is just such a quick and simple meal to make!

Marilyn - hope this are well. Thinking of you and wondering how your quilting turned out.

Becky - great looking plate of food. You know...it made me think about cooking risotto, which I haven't done for a while.

Brandi - thanks for that link. The best thing is that it looks like they ship to Oz. Shipping will cost a fortune!
Glad the housebuilding went well. It sounds fantastic! I have a friend that goes to the Phillipines and builds houses, schools and digs wells there. Whenever he goes, he does a fundraiser. At last count, I have donated 4 goats. I believe he named one of them after me.



WFDT? I'm hoping to get some vegetables at the local Chinese grocer. They are expecting to have a delivery later today....will be making soup with all the leftovers!

 

[dgbg100106]

Update.....

I just got the bakers and found a coupon code for free shipping and it worked. Just put FSCOOKS in the code area. Free shipping.

 

[franandaj]

WFD here.... canned soup, we just did not leave the house and nothing was thawed for dinner.... I will do better the rest of the week....

Don't feel bad, Fran's tummy wasn't up to Pork Tenderloin so she had soup and a turkey sandwich (from all that meat I cooked back in October, I thawed a few packets yesterday), Arline and I had Buitoni Ravioli. I can't help but keep packaged frozen dinners in the freezer because sometimes Fran just tires me out so much I can't make dinner, so just boiling, stir frying or baking a frozen meal can be appealing. I buy those easy meals when the are on sale for like $5.99 and keep them on hand for times like this when she throws a curve ball at me.

Hopefully tomorrow she will be up to the tenderloin (since I already made the spice rub) and I'll need to come up with a Friday dinner. I'm thinking pounded chicken Florentine (deconstructed for Fran). Saturday we have a wonderful night out and I'm making a Strata for NYE day breakfast that we will set in the oven to bake up when we come home after our NYE celebration. We're at the Grand Californian Villas NYE and I love it that we have an oven so I can set it to delay bake and have breakfast ready for us in the morning!

 

[LindsayDunn228]

It's leftover spaghetti for us today.

My mom and I are planning a baby shower for my stepsister and are going shopping after taking my grandmother to the doctor this morning. We are throwing the shower because she's not local and her husband has some family nearby and we are good halfway point to come see them and attend a shower. I'm trying to help out as much as I can because my mother is really stressed out these days. (shower, my grandmother lives next door, my other stepsister just gave birth and is very sick, etc.)

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy day today!

 

[Nancyg56]

Good Morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brandi- I was also moved by your good works. It is easy to realize what others need but another thing to do what you did. Ellen volunteers like this and so she knows what you felt True Spirit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alison- we are still eating leftovers and as much as Bud likes them he was thrilled to see that I roasted a small pork loin for sandwiches He had that last night

Lindsay-

Jen- I make a baked pasta that is something like the one you made. It has cream cheese and sour cream in it and I can tell you that my family loves it!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a 5* recipe on allrecipes but after reading the reviews the recipe itself was horrible! The stars came when people tweaked it. Thank goodness I read the reviews before making any of the recipes on those sites

Dinner tonight is out Buddy got Jeff Dunham tix for Christmas so we are joining our neighbors for dinner and then to the show!

Buddy's Mom is in the hospital. I have shared that his sister is in charge of her care as well as all of her life. Cathy is one nasty woman and let's just say does nto play well with others.............that means us as well as everyone else in the entire World. No exageration. Anyway, she refused to return calls from the Dr's and when his mom needed surgical intervention for a massive wound it went to court. We found out this way. The judge placed her person in the hands of the attorney who drew her will and papers up but asked that we request conservator-ship of all of her affairs. He will decide what happens next. Cathy never showed up for the hearing. I will say that the SW for the hospital said she was shocked that teh attorney seemed to be representing Cathy. His Mom told us that the last time she talked to him about placing Buddy in charge of her proxy of healthcare he talked her out of it. We explained to the probate judge that he has stepped in three times but each time his Mom changed her mind and each time it did not go well with his sister.

Attorney is now having the pleasure of trying to get Florence Nightingale to return his calls. Appears that all of her stories of talking to Dr's, visiting her Mom, well...............let's say he was bamboozled and Bud's Mom is paying the price.