So what's for dinner?

[Hankleton]

Living in the middle of nowhere and not planning my weekly shop very well means for the third night it's homemade vegie land lamb soup with homemade Turkish garlic bread.

[MaryMumsy]

Last night was chicken enchiladas. Tonight, who knows? I have to figure out lunch first.

MM

[Sarita]

My Nanny walked in the door with a crockpot of Chicken and rice today. Goodness, I love her and her chicken and rice. Can't wait to get home to the kids and the crockpot

[Haggis]

Originally Posted by Sarita

My Nanny walked in the door with a crockpot of Chicken and rice today. Goodness, I love her and her chicken and rice. Can't wait to get home to the kids and the crockpot

Still needing a Nanny at your age?

[Sarita]

Originally Posted by Haggis

Still needing a Nanny at your age?

Yes, well... the governess got sick of my shenanigans.

[Haggis]

Originally Posted by Sarita

Yes, well... the governess got sick of my shenanigans.

[French Maiden]

Marinated chicken thich fillets.
So good and easy too.

[Sarita]

Originally Posted by French Maiden

Marinated chicken thich fillets.
So good and easy too.

I'm making lemon caper chicken thighs tonight! Side salad with lemon-garlic vinaigrette and brown rice.

[L M Ashton]

For breakfast, we had caramelized bananas on paratha. SO yummy and so, no, not something we can have very frequently. Unfortunately. Massive sugar attack.

[BenPanced]

Breakfast mug scrambler.

1/2 cup egg substitute
3 pre-cooked turkey sausages
2 pounds tablespoons shredded low-fat cheese

Spray inside of 15-16 oz. microwave safe mug with cooking spray. Mix the rest of the ingredients in mug, using only 1 pound tablespoon of cheese. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir then microwave 30 seconds.

Here's where the recipe and I disagree. It says it'll be ready after this 1.5 minutes but I had to microwave it again for 1 more minute. YMMV, obviously.

Remove from microwave. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Not bad.

[Stacia Kane]

Tonight we're having a beef-and-rice dish I adapted from a stew meat recipe.

1 - 1.5 lbs ground sirloin (or other good ground beef)
2.5 C beef stock
1/2 C red wine
1 - 2 Tbsp Worcestershire
1 - 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 - 2 sprigs fresh thyme
salt & pepper

1.5 C rice

Brown the beef in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven with a good tight-fitting lid (you can use a little olive oil, or butter, or bacon fat; you can add chopped bacon to this if you like, which is very good). Don't use a skillet. Add the stock, wine, Worcestershire, and fresh herbs, and season. Let simmer for half an hour or so.

Add the rice and stir. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

It's a nice gloopy comfort dish. The rice will absorb all of most of the liquid, so it's almost like a risotto, but much faster and easier, really. Makes great leftovers.

(To make it with stew beef, which is my preference but the hubs prefers ground, use 2 - 3 lbs of stew beef. Brown in batches, and scrape up the fond when you add the liquids. Simmer for 2.5 - 3 hours before adding the rice [but cut the rice to 1 1/4 cup]; the rice still cooks for 30 minutes.)

[ap123]

Spicy noodles with peanut sauce. Sauce is done, just need to cook the spaghetti at dinnertime

[Sarita]

I am trying out crockpot mac and cheese. I'm skeptical.

[Windcutter]

My own version of risotto which has no business being called that. But it's easy and light, and I actually prefer it.

Long grain rice. Good rice. Everything here depends on rice being good.
Tomatoes. A lot.
Bell pepper.
Dry red wine.
Soy sauce.
Basil.
Salt, pepper or chili powder or tabasco.
Garlic is optional, and so is jalapeño.
Cheese.

Cook: rice. Just basic steamed rice. Al dente.
Chop: tomatoes, bell pepper, garlic, jalapeño. Really small pieces.
Mix: wine, soy sauce, spices, herbs.
Put: the sauce mix and the veggie mix into the rice.
Cover: with lid.
Wait: 5-15 minutes.
Grate: cheese.
Sprinkle: cheese on top when serving.

[Myrealana]

My son wanted to make buffalo chicken quesadillas for dinner tonight - so I'm letting him.

Why not?

[Jehhillenberg]

I had a beefsteak & cheese sandwich and a side baked potato. I was very satisfied

[L M Ashton]

I'm making fried chicken today. I have a couple of different versions. What I've found, though, is that it tastes *so* much better if I marinate the chicken in chilli powder and salt at least overnight before I do the rest of it. It's become almost magical.

I'm also thinking of making naan today. They might even be ready for lunch if I get moving on that...

As for vegetables? Haven't figured that out yet.

[stormie]

My husband is making pasta with pancetta and leeks. (I think he's tossing it with extra virgin olive oil.)

[Hip-Hop-a-potamus]

I went back to Weight Watchers yesterday after gaining back a bunch of the weight I lost in 2011. I made a WW variation on a French-flavored dish last night. It's in a cookbook called "In Season" for the winter section.

Mustard-Spiced Cabbage with White Beans and Sausages.

Exactly what it sounds like. I used 2 turkey kielbasa sausages, and you cut them lengthwise.

Cook the sausages in a non-stick skillet for a few minutes, add about a cup and a half of chopped onion. Then add 1 t. fennel seeds, 1 t. ground cardamom and 2 cloves garlic.

After that's cooked a few minutes, add 5 cups chopped cabbage and 1/2 cup chicken broth. Cook covered for about 10 minutes till cabbage wilts.

Drain and rinse the can of white beans and add to the pan along with 1 t. dried thyme.

Not bad, and nice and filling for a winter night.

[Bebop]

Italian! Meatballs, good ragu, and gonna try bracciole! Have only done it once before, years ago. Gonna give it a shot but my go-to sources are no longer available. Any good Italian cooks on here who can help? Stormie?

[amy--amy]

Tandori chicken.

The powder for the sauce comes from the supermarket, and the rice has already been tossed with spices at the factory: how easy can life be?!

[Stacia Kane]

Originally Posted by Bebop

Italian! Meatballs, good ragu, and gonna try bracciole! Have only done it once before, years ago. Gonna give it a shot but my go-to sources are no longer available. Any good Italian cooks on here who can help? Stormie?

I've made braciole a couple of times, and have a couple of recipes; I wouldn't say I'm any kind of expert, but what sort of help are you looking for?


(ETA: Funnily enough, I am also making Italian tonight, with a shortcut bolognese [no soffreto].)

[Bebop]

Originally Posted by Stacia Kane

I've made braciole a couple of times, and have a couple of recipes; I wouldn't say I'm any kind of expert, but what sort of help are you looking for?


(ETA: Funnily enough, I am also making Italian tonight, with a shortcut bolognese [no soffreto].)

Sorry I missed your response last night. I was first going to ask if it was okay to use a real thin cut of sirloin steak instead of round or flank. Also, there are a lot of different ideas on what goes inside. I improvised- used hard boiled eggs, parsley, romano, chopped garlic and onions, and I saw where one recipe asked for something like croutons. I had some two day old Italian bread and fried cubes in olive oil and garlic, figuring the harder they were the less likely they'd get soggy while cooking in the sauce. Well, it didn't work- that part didn't anyway. They were soggy after the braciole cooked in my tomato sauce for almost two hours. Long story short, the sirloin was fine- the rolls stayed in tact and the meat was tender. Still, if I would have gotten this in a good Italian restaurant I would have sent it back.
(Not really. I'm told that's when they spit on your braciole)

[stormie]

Originally Posted by Bebop

Italian! Meatballs, good ragu, and gonna try bracciole! Have only done it once before, years ago. Gonna give it a shot but my go-to sources are no longer available. Any good Italian cooks on here who can help? Stormie?

Just saw this and wish I could've helped, but I've never made bracciole nor did my mother, and it's not in her favorite Italian cookbook from the 1950s. (The Talisman Italian Cookbook)

[Stacia Kane]

Originally Posted by Bebop

Sorry I missed your response last night. I was first going to ask if it was okay to use a real thin cut of sirloin steak instead of round or flank. Also, there are a lot of different ideas on what goes inside. I improvised- used hard boiled eggs, parsley, romano, chopped garlic and onions, and I saw where one recipe asked for something like croutons. I had some two day old Italian bread and fried cubes in olive oil and garlic, figuring the harder they were the less likely they'd get soggy while cooking in the sauce. Well, it didn't work- that part didn't anyway. They were soggy after the braciole cooked in my tomato sauce for almost two hours. Long story short, the sirloin was fine- the rolls stayed in tact and the meat was tender. Still, if I would have gotten this in a good Italian restaurant I would have sent it back.
(Not really. I'm told that's when they spit on your braciole)

Ah, sorry. I didn't look at the timestamp on your post, so my bad, not yours.

The recipe I had used a mixture of minced garlic, parsley, and ricotta, if memory serves, with a little parmesan and nutmeg; rather similar, actually, to the filling I use for manicotti, which is one reason I chose it. I actually thought both the filling and the sauce in the recipe as written seemed bland, but it worked when it was cooked, so I stuck with it.

I use flank for mine, but if the sirloin works, hey, sounds good to me!