What's for dinner?

cwille,

Are they good? Have never bought one. Yes, I could do that. I am used to cooking everything from scratch.

Just buy frozen pie crusts, they may not be as good as grandma used to make but then neither are the ones I make from scratch. And if you take them out of the foil and put them into your own pie plates nobody need ever know 😉

EB,

Yum! I like quiche, all kinds, broccoli/cheese, spinach, Lorraine, seafood, etc.

Have you made one? I have only done a frittata, crustless quiche because I don’t know how to make a pie crust. I am intimidated by pie crust. I should learn how to do it.

The only crust that I have ever made was a graham cracker one and that won’t work for quiche! Hahaha

It is great for cheesecake though, which is my youngest daughter’s favorite dessert. New York cheesecake is the best!

Dinner: Treated myself after doctors appointment.
Broccoli cheddar quiche, coconut pecan chocolate chip cookie, Italian coffee. all from a fine café /tea room. I was the only person in the café.

cwille,

Oooooh, one of my favorite Shark Tank shows was with the two young college grads that were excellent entrepreneurs in launching their ‘cricket’ chips!

These young women had traveled extensively and appreciated their diverse cultural experiences. One being, eating crickets for protein.

They ‘Americanized’ their consumption of crickets by coming up with a ‘cricket’ chip recipe! The panel claimed that they were tasty.

So let’s all crunch on some cricket chips, right? Well, it’s a normal food source for other parts of the world.

My husband says during his travels to China for work that they eat bizarre foods that we would never try. When they took him out for dinner he tried it. Some he liked, some he felt was disgusting!

There are various bean flours too, besan or gram flours are usually pretty cheap if you shop the ethnic aisles of your supermarket.
And then there's cricket flour.... (no thanks) 🤣

cwille is correct in saying tofu is extremely versatile. It can be added to many foods. It will pick up the flavors of what it is served in.

It is a wonderful source of protein. Protein doesn’t always have to come from meat.

Thx cw. I should try tofu. I can't handle soy milk but I think I am OK with tofu. I could add chunks of it to soups, veggie stews or stir fries and have great protein. The veggie burgers I have are soy based. I have had the plant based protein powders but am limited by gluten allergies and the pea protein powders aren't very palatable and don't mix well but they worth looking at again. I know there are new products out all the time. I did a check and I am getting about 40 gms protein eating as I am so another 40 gms should be quite enough. I'm hoping I can handle some eggs and fish. Chicken breast is about the best "bang for the buck" calorie and protein wise and I may be Ok with bone broth. That's healing to the gut.

What about tofu Golden, or plant based protein powder? If you're not keen on tofu silken varieties can be used in smoothies or whizzed into other dishes and you won't even know it's there.

Chili again, using Gladimhere's recipe with a twist.
" Always just use cumin, garlic powder, chili powder (of course) a bit of sugar to reduce the acidity of the stewed Mexican style tomatoes, ranch style beans and ground beef.

Chopped some leftover stew meat which was browned yesterday; opened a can of pinto beans; threw in the spices, (lots); only 1/4 cup of chopped tomatoes; no sugar. (Did not need onion). Put it in a loaf pan to bake in the toaster oven 30 min.

Felt like it was cowboy chili out on the open range, it was simple and good.
Chili for two, all gone now.

beatty - not kidney soup definitey not kidney soup!!! After this I am making a black bean soup. I made one last year and it was awesome, but I don't remember what I did so I'll just experiment

eb I bet you use fresh herbs

Soup is one of my favorite foods. I love making different kinds of soup. I like to experiment with different herbs.

Gershwin: Dtto sad solo meals.. my travel 'soup' is organic vegetable baby food pouch (sweet potato, carrot, corn or similar) then add hot water from a kettle or coffee shop. I may add raw veggies (mushrooms/tomato if staying somewhere to store them). And dark chocolate! Slab of fudge 🤣🤣🤣

Golden: I read your soup as *kidney soup* & thought hmm that sounds interesting, although a bit weird 🙃 maybe an old european recipe... Put glasses on now.. kidney BEANS 😁 I love them & eat for iron too!

I love soup too. If you add a piece of toast or a bun of some kind it can be a good meal. Even without the bread if it's a protein rich soup.

I'm not a real whiz in the kitchen but I buy Amy's lentil and black bean soup which is really good. They sell it mostly in the health aisle. I'm ashamed to say that when hubs is away working my meals are pretty sad. Soup, oatmeal, salads, the odd slab of fudge. LOL

Yay for soup. I am another soup fan. I am making a vegetable kidney bean soup in the electric pressure cooker. I've gone off meat and my IBS has disappeared. Now I have to figure out how to get enough protein without triggering it off again. I'll start with eggs, then a little fish, and then chicken and see what happens. And I'll try veggie burgers. I ate a little canned tuna yesterday and it didn't sit well. I can't eat dairy so that's out If I eat enough beans to get enough protein I'll put on weight which I don't need. The joys of getting older!!!!

Pam,

I like soup anytime!

Pork and saurkraut! OMG the best fall food ever!! I put my roast in the roaster ( or crockpot) and cover it with canned saurkraut.. then a few hours later it is so tender and flavorful. Its also our NY day meal. And mashed potatoes are a must! Today I made a pot of veggie soup with some tiny pastas in it. One way to get Mom to eat some veggies! It's rainy and warm here, a perfect soup day!

Baked salmon, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and peas.

Send,

Trader Joe’s does have a lot of goodies.

Thanks for suggestions. I feel like I get in such a rut at times. I look at recipes but I don’t always have all of the ingredients. I hate to go to the store for one item!

NHWM,
Any kind of meat is so good, and my dH does not eat a lot of meat. There are times, when I just eat a roast without fixing anything with it. I am bad.

One reason I like Trader Joes are the smaller packages of dried fruits available.
Or Trek mixes, great snacks away from home.

With sauerkraut.

I put a shoulder pork roast in the crockpot last night.

I usually divide it into portions. I shred some of it and make BBQ sandwiches with my favorite brioche rolls.

Sometimes I make pork tacos with Mexican spices. I like the wheat or corn tortillas.

I make a brown gravy and serve the pork with rice or mashed potatoes.

Any other suggestions for pork roasts? How do you serve it?

Real,

I had no idea it could be done in an oven. Good to know. May have to try it.

Alva,

My grandparents and parents were always very frugal. You’re right, absolutely no waste! They survived the depression.

I am amazed how much food is wasted from the grocery. Once the butcher said he was giving me a bit extra meat because he would have to throw it away because it was the end of the day and that was the last of it.

I was shocked and asked him why couldn’t he donate to the food bank? His response was, “The store will not allow any perishable food to be donated due to potential lawsuits,” Sad, isn’t it?

CWillie, growing up no one wasted any food. In Illinois the garden harvest was preserved one way or another. As well as canning everything my parents had, in their cellar, a barrel with apples wrapped in some kind of paper. I can still remember the wonderful smell going down there in winters. The shelves were things of beauty, wonderful jewel like colors for a kid to see. My Mom always claimed that my father's habit of taking EVERYONE down to the cellar to show them her hard work ended with them coming up the stairs with a jar of pickled something or other, peaches, pears, apples. She says she lost half her stores that way.

NHWM, you can dehydrate in your oven.

Single layer fruit on slotted pan, set oven at 175° and check for dryness about every 2 hours. Depending on what you are drying this can be achieved in a day or wetter items may need a bit longer. All kinds of instructions on the internet for drying foods in a regular oven.

cwille,

Okay, that does rule us out. We have very high humidity. It’s great that you are able to dry apples in your kitchen. Have you done other fruits too?

I've never dried more than a few apples at a time NHWM so finding an out of the way spot in the kitchen hasn't been too difficult, plus my indoor humidity levels tend to be fairly low once heating season starts so maybe that wouldn't work as well for you in New Orleans. Apples here are so ridiculously expensive now that IMO it's not worth attempting unless you can find a cheap or free source like Alva.

What a great idea cwillie!
I'm gonna hang apples all over the house and see if my dH notices.
I wonder what other fruits I could hang and if the holes hold....