February 2011 Whatcha cookin' thread

blue gecko · 02-01-2011, 10:14 AM

Welcome to February! It's raining cats and dogs here. I know alot of you are expecting a wintry mess today. We're predicted to get 3"-6" starting this evening. Hope everyone stays warm and toasty and has a pot-o-comfort on the stove.

Coyote · 02-01-2011, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Welcome to February!

Well thank ya darlin'.

The snow has already started here. It's going to be a combination of two or three different fronts. The "big" storm will be getting here tomorrow.

I just set an eight pound shoulder roast of moose to braise on the back of the stove. It's what I'll be picking on for days to come along with a pot of baked beans I have in the oven.

I'm hunkerin' down and into my hermit mode.

lilly · 02-01-2011, 01:39 PM

pancakes with apple sauce and confectioners sugar. Hot coffee with loads of cream.

Eggs, eggs and more eggs. with crispy hash browns.

Feather · 02-02-2011, 12:20 AM

We had eggs to Lilly. DH cooked dinner again tonight and I told him to make what ever he wanted. We had scrambled eggs and toast. A little bit ago he brought me a salad, he said it makes a good desert

blue gecko · 02-02-2011, 09:11 AM

Yesterday before we left I put on a big pot of spaghetti sauce. It was loaded with all kinds of goodies including sundried tomatoes. By the supper time it made a dark rich sauce. We added homemade (not by us) Italian sausage pinched out of its casings into meatballs and served it over spagetti with warm foccia bread.

Susan4 · 02-02-2011, 01:05 PM

Thai green curry with turkey over jasmine rice. Fresh cilantro and some water chestnuts on top. I thought some Thai food would be good fuel for snow removal

kaneohegirl · 02-02-2011, 10:02 PM

we had spaghetti squash baked then shredded, then sauted with butter onions, spices and some sausage added a little chicken broth and parm cheese.... yummmmmmy

Feather · 02-03-2011, 01:41 AM

I bought some pasta and moz cheese so that I could use one of the packages of Italian sausage and make some thing like lasagne. I woke up to find out DH had already cooked it and had eaten part of it. We had tacos out of it.

Greta · 02-06-2011, 10:37 AM

Here lately, I cook mostly on Sunday. Then eat leftovers part of the week. Today I am making pinto beans in the crock pot and will make some rice to go with it. And I made a chicken casserole. I usually make it with tuna but today added chicken. I am not a big meat eater, mostly fish. Honestly, I like the tuna better. I am going to freeze part of that and see how it tastes to take out of the freezer at the end of the week or in a week or so.

Also, I am trying to figure out how to make a homemade frozen pizza. I have made homemade pizzas in the past but have never frozen one. I am trying to figure out whether to make the entire pizza and freeze it before cooked, or bake the pizza then freeze it, or just make the dough and put in pizza pan, then freeze it that way. It is all one big experiment, and that is the way I like to cook.

I don't have time to cook during the week, and I hate eating fast food.

blue gecko · 02-06-2011, 11:04 AM

I've made homemade frozen pizzas before and they turned out very well. I make up the entire pizza just like you would before baking it. Put it on a cookie sheet then into the freezer. Once frozen wrap it well with plastic wrap or press and seal. To cook put it on a pizza pan and pop it into the oven just like the ones you buy in the store.

Last night we had pork cutlet Rumaladen: cutlets spread with a thin layer of mustard then a filling of minced and sauteed bacon, onions, mushrooms and garlic along with minced dill pickles. Roll them up, wrap in bacon strips, secure with toothpicks, dust with flour then sautee till brown. Add white wine, the filling that fell out of them while rolling them and a package of instant onion soup mix, cover with a tight lid and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes to an hour turning once during the cooking time. Serve over noodles or with mashed potatoes. We had mashed potatoes and english peas as sides.

Tonight is roasted chicken and vegies that I haven't decided on yet

Greta · 02-06-2011, 11:21 AM

Quote:

I've made homemade frozen pizzas before and they turned out very well. I make up the entire pizza just like you would before baking it. Put it on a cookie sheet then into the freezer. Once frozen wrap it well with plastic wrap or press and seal. To cook put it on a pizza pan and pop it into the oven just like the ones you buy in the store.

OK, thanks blue gecko! That was very helpful.

Coyote · 02-10-2011, 09:22 AM

I normally shy away from ice fishing. After all, I don't have a wife I'm trying to get away from. But yesterday I let those who do talk me into it. To my surprise I did fairly well. Nine white perch and a big lake trout.

Sooo...last night I fried up the perch and made a sandwich with kraut and chipotle mayo on whole wheat bread. A couple of long trail ales to wash it down.

Ought Six · 02-10-2011, 10:32 PM

I am going to reheat the remainder of the butternut squash ravioli I made earlier in the week. I made a sauce by sautéing leek, shallot, dried roma tomatoes, basil and artichoke hearts in olive oil, with a shot of dry white wine. Next time I will leave out the dried tomatoes. It would have been better without them. But it was still quite good.

Feather · 02-10-2011, 11:04 PM

I put a beef roast in the crock pot late last night and by dinner time it was so tender. I used Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt and Adobo on it.

Twoolf · 02-10-2011, 11:57 PM

Let me preface this with the statement that I'm a pretty good cook, for making family meals, and have some pretty good skills overall. BUt, since my Son has moved on, I'm finding it a bit of a challenge to cook for one. I have to admit I'm a good "technical " cook, but I have no imagination when it comes to cooking for one. Any suggestions? (I've got a very small freezer)

Ought Six · 02-11-2011, 02:04 AM

There are plenty of good websites and books. Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals might be a good place to start. Easy, quick and tasty. Just adjust the quantities.

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes...0-minute-meals

EDIT:

Okay, Tw, you got me thinking, and I start a 'Cooking for One' thread.

http://thisbluemarble.com/showthread.php?t=34993

lilly · 02-11-2011, 09:53 AM

Eating a lot of keffer (type of probiotic curdled milk) Somehow I prefer it to yoghurt and have some coupons off, so am stocking up. Going for fish and chips and a glass of wine for lunch-supper, so don't want too much. Had a sausage egg and kaiser roll and mexican hash browns for breakfast yesterday at a restaurant, but was being stared at as I ate, so had most of it put into a box. I won't sit at that table again. I prefer looking at others, but hate being stared at.

I don't stare, I glance..

I asked them to put the roll on the sausage grill to give it oomph and they didn't. Then they undercharged me. I paid the full amount anyway. If they take the extra dollar in addition to their tip its their business. Such little things, but they can make or break a meals pleasure. The waitress was hugely pregnant, and was down and a bit sulkey.

Drinking a lot of hot chocolate mixed with coffee since the weather is very raw. Loads of soups, very hearty and filled with vegetables of all sorts.

lilly · 02-11-2011, 04:37 PM

Went to a lecture about chocolates benefits by a hospital nutritionist. She passed out various dark chocolates with the highest percentages of cacoa, gave all the reasons to eat some of it daily, though not to excess.

Handed out brownies made by her son. Very moist and very good. Secret, brownie mix, with black beans and the juice from a can mixed in. I will say they were excellent Everyone liked them.

preppiechick · 02-11-2011, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilly

Handed out brownies made by her son. Very moist and very good. Secret, brownie mix, with black beans and the juice from a can mixed in. I will say they were excellent Everyone liked them.

Strange coincidence- I was just looking at recipes earlier and ran across this one and thought it might be interesting (and certainly better for my waistline!)

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/rocco...fruit-nut-bars

Ought Six · 02-11-2011, 06:12 PM

I am working from home today. For lunch, I had sandwiches made from biscuits and sliced roast leg of lamb.

Feather · 02-12-2011, 01:39 AM

We cleaned out what few leftovers were in the fridge. DH had the last of the pasta with sauce and I had rice with little meatballs cut up in it and then sweet and sour sauce mixed in.

MaxTheKnife · 02-12-2011, 09:00 AM

Last night we had Tandori chicken with a nice (I wanted to call it a stew but BG wouldn't let me) chick pea, lentil, tomato, onion and roasted chili (stew type dish

) over rice. As a side dish, there was also an onion salad with roasted chilis as well. It was amazing and my first time to have Tandori chicken. It was a fairly complicated meal that started the day before on the back of the woodstove. The chicken was marinated in a greek yogurt base with lots of herbs and spices in it. Then the chicken, along with some of the marinade was baked in a cast iron skillet in the convection\toaster oven. That's the best I can do. Maybe BG will come in and clean up my mess and make it all clearer. I sure am glad there are leftovers!

blue gecko · 02-12-2011, 09:12 AM

I'm going to be a good sport and ignore the "stew" thing. The house still smells like sesame, ginger, corriander, nutmeg and cinnamon with with hints of garlic, chilis and onions.......much like some Motel 6's I've been to in my travels LOL.

MaxTheKnife · 02-12-2011, 09:18 AM

I'll have you know that I meant that in the highest complimenterary manner.

Feather · 02-12-2011, 11:11 PM

DH had canned ravioli and I had a grilled cheese sandwich.