What's For Dinner? - 2018

[1 bruce 1]

I'm vegetarian, so wouldn't eat the salmon, but that plate of food definitely looks delicious!



I have the same problem with salads, and never being able to use it all in the 2 or 3 day freshness window.

Sometimes I buy baby spinach, instead of romaine or mixed lettuces, as spinach works for salads, but then can be added to a pasta dish to use it up when I get tired of spinach salad.

BTW, beans and rice recipes freeze well for leftovers too.

Leafy greens keep really well if you wash them, pat dry with a towel (or leave air out), chopped up, and stored in a container or ziplock with a 2-3 sheet thickness paper towel under the whole collection. We've done this for a long time and greens stay nice and crisp for 5-6 days vs. 2-3. =) The paper towel seems to absorb any moisture that leads to wilting/getting soggy.

 

[rubysmama]

Leafy greens keep really well if you wash them, pat dry with a towel (or leave air out), chopped up, and stored in a container or ziplock with a 2-3 sheet thickness paper towel under the whole collection. We've done this for a long time and greens stay nice and crisp for 5-6 days vs. 2-3. =) The paper towel seems to absorb any moisture that leads to wilting/getting soggy.

Thanks for the tip. I must try that and see if it'll work for me, and my fridge.

 

[orange&white]

BTW, beans and rice recipes freeze well for leftovers too.

Yes, I always have frozen vegetables on hand, like frozen jars of beans. Beans and rice are a real staple here.

It's just the fresh raw tender veggies I tend to crave, but then don't buy because they spoil so quickly. The ones that don't survive the deep freeze.

I do buy a few packages of organic baby spinach per year, and do the same as you: eat salads, then cook and freeze the rest before it goes south.

 

[orange&white]

Leafy greens keep really well if you wash them, pat dry with a towel (or leave air out), chopped up, and stored in a container or ziplock with a 2-3 sheet thickness paper towel under the whole collection. We've done this for a long time and greens stay nice and crisp for 5-6 days vs. 2-3. =) The paper towel seems to absorb any moisture that leads to wilting/getting soggy.

I have found lettuce can last a bit longer washed in vinegar/water, spun out in a salad spinner (love my salad spinner), and stored in the spinner with a paper towel underneath.

I usually just want 2-3 salads a week, not salad every single day. If I worked on my own eating habits, I might get through some of the leafy greens faster.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I have found lettuce can last a bit longer washed in vinegar/water, spun out in a salad spinner (love my salad spinner), and stored in the spinner with a paper towel underneath.

I usually just want 2-3 salads a week, not salad every single day. If I worked on my own eating habits, I might get through some of the leafy greens faster.

Do you have a juicer? That's a good way to get rid of produce about to turn without wasting much, plus, it's really good!

 

[1 bruce 1]

I'm on my own tonight and sitting here remembering those childhood Sunday dinners with whole chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy from scratch, vegetables, dinner rolls, and home made pie for dessert.
I had a late lunch today so I'm not even really all that hungry, and somehow the idea of beer and cheese crackers as a meal is looking worse when I remember those dinners =P
I rarely keep frozen "in one" meals around, but I do have a really nice looking frozen pizza that's getting a really hard side-eye from me...

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

a slice of pepperoni pizza, a little tomato and lettuce salad with salad dressing, and a slice of carob cake with carob buttercream for dessert.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I should eat more fresh raw salad produce. I love it, but being single, it usually wilts before I can use it up.

I have that problem, too, and I can only shop once a month. Unless I want to spend two days doing nothing but cooking and freezing, I'm kinda shot-down so far as fresh produce goes.

I'm on my own tonight and sitting here remembering those childhood Sunday dinners with whole chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy from scratch, vegetables, dinner rolls, and home made pie for dessert.

It was roast beef at our house, but BOY was it good! I still remember Mom making the gravy in that dark-blue speckled roasting pan!

Tonight...not too sure. I failed to cook the three pounds of spaghetti (although all the sauce got done), so I may do that and have spaghetti tonight. I wish I had thought to buy a can of tomato juice. I LOVE spaghetti cooked in tomato juice and served with freshly grated parm. Even more than with sauce!

 

[1 bruce 1]

I have that problem, too, and I can only shop once a month. Unless I want to spend two days doing nothing but cooking and freezing, I'm kinda shot-down so far as fresh produce goes.



It was roast beef at our house, but BOY was it good! I still remember Mom making the gravy in that dark-blue speckled roasting pan!

Tonight...not too sure. I failed to cook the three pounds of spaghetti (although all the sauce got done), so I may do that and have spaghetti tonight. I wish I had thought to buy a can of tomato juice. I LOVE spaghetti cooked in tomato juice and served with freshly grated parm. Even more than with sauce!

And parsley!!!!!! *Drooling all over the place until a flood watch is issued*

I love me some pasta but we just don't eat/offer it all that much. IDK why. We can get some really great "fresh" kind of pasta (no idea how fresh it is) that's super delicious but I just rarely think to order it or get any. =/

No testing out today but I do have some really great looking chicken thigh filet thawing that I remember as being super tender and lean, yet fatty enough to be good, but not so fatty that it's a turn off.
(Sorry vegetarians, hope this isn't grossing you out.) =(

Cats had bison, which is always a hit, as well as ground lamb lung. Dogs had the same in small portions and then were turned loose with large strips of tripe. I never think this through. If I had two brain cells left I would offer tripe strips in the morning on days I'm around and not expected to do much and can bath/spot bath because tripe smells like the east end of a horse with dysentery going west, yet I always do this in the evening and then wonder "where will these dogs want to sleep? Oh yeah, on our bed. On MY pillow. On my head. Snuggled up in all their tripe-y nasty smelling glory, while happily breathing "HHHHHHHHHI I LOVE YOU" with their icky breath and spotted around the room so by morning the bedroom smells like a barn full of cows with IBD."


whats weird is this disgusting smelling crap actually does a heck of a nice job cleaning their teeth up

 

[1 bruce 1]

Well, the thigh filet were scrumptious!!!!!!! As was the side salad. Superb.
It would have been much nicer without the supposedly starving tortie screaming in protest/starvation and hanging off my leg the entire meal... met with extremely indignant, noiseless "MEEP!!!!!!!'s" if I shoo'ed her away.

 

[Azazel]

Chicken teriyaki noodles with Sriracha

 

[Mamanyt1953]

yum...

Tonight is dirty rice and something. Probably a baked pork chop and maybe something that started out green before it went into the can...

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

i'll have a slice of pepperoni pizza (cold, as it's upper 70's F here today), and a lettuce/tomato/sliced baby zucchini salad with a little organic caesar vinaigrette drizzled over it. the last slice (that's not frozen) of carob cake with carob buttercream for dessert.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

a slice of pepperoni pizza, lettuce and tomato salad with a little caesar vinaigrette drizzled over it, and a slice of carob cake.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

My neighbor, who works at Bo Jangles brought me a container of Cajun Rice (known in Louisiana as "dirty rice") last night. She does that 3-4 times a week now, bless her, since they throw food out at the end of the night. SO...I shall bake a chicken breast and heat the rice in the microwave (does very well there). And something green. Beans, maybe.

 

[1 bruce 1]

My neighbor, who works at Bo Jangles brought me a container of Cajun Rice (known in Louisiana as "dirty rice") last night. She does that 3-4 times a week now, bless her, since they throw food out at the end of the night. SO...I shall bake a chicken breast and heat the rice in the microwave (does very well there). And something green. Beans, maybe.

Your neighbor rocks!! What a shame these places throw so much food out. One of our restaurants locally has been known to give day-old baked goods away rather than throwing them out, and they routinely visit the homeless shelter with soups, breads, cookies, and other goodies. IDK why places would rather throw stuff out than sell it super cheap or give it to someone who could use it. Probably some stupid law.

 

[1 bruce 1]

This is the second week we've missed Rib-eye night. =(

Oh well, tonight will be a plain comfort meal of super slow baked chicken, rice, and green onions.

 

[orange&white]

I made some "mixillas" today: tortillas which are neither pure corn masa tortillas nor flour tortillas, but a mix of corn masa and wheat flour for the dough.

Pulled out ground turkey and found a recipe for sausage seasoning mix. Recipe said let the raw meat sit in the sausage seasonings overnight. That's not happening. I'm hungry now! So I just cooked up 1/4 pound of turkey sausage (the rest can sit and "stew" overnight.

Turkey sausage patty, lettuce, tomato, sharp cheese, ranch dressing - served open-faced on a mixilla tortilla.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I made some "mixillas" today: tortillas which are neither pure corn masa tortillas nor flour tortillas, but a mix of corn masa and wheat flour for the dough.

Pulled out ground turkey and found a recipe for sausage seasoning mix. Recipe said let the raw meat sit in the sausage seasonings overnight. That's not happening. I'm hungry now! So I just cooked up 1/4 pound of turkey sausage (the rest can sit and "stew" overnight.

Turkey sausage patty, lettuce, tomato, sharp cheese, ranch dressing - served open-faced on a mixilla tortilla.

That not only SOUNDS great, but LOOKS awesome. Very nice dish presentation!!!!!!
I've done similar but with a ground meat and done as a wrap. This looks outstanding and I must try it. My list of "must try" foods to cook is growing. I hate this time of year. Too busy to enjoy it =(

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

the last slice of pepperoni pizza (might heat it up in the toaster oven), some carrot/celery pieces with salad dressing as dip, and a slice of carob cake for dessert.

tomorrow i'll be baking a batch of english muffin pepperoni pizzas. i want to get my pizza making done before it starts getting too warm/hot for usng the oven.