What's for dinner?

Ash Wednesday is March 5th , so lets all slide down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, throw some beads around, eat some Jambalaya and Kings Cake. I plan to give up caregiving for Lent (Mar 5-April19). LOL.

I made a very yummy chicken soup from the carcass of a rotisserie chicken, some frozen stir fry veggies and a handful of dried onion, dash of pepper and salt and those tiny pastas that look like rice. OMG.... so good.

edna usedta be a h*** of a homemaker. when visitors came she would produce a meal in a matter of an hour and youd never notice shed left the living room. just effortlessly. interestingly, in hindsight , it wasnt a feast for pigs because she understood proportion. the amounts of each dish was adequate to go around but sparse enough that everyone understood " sharing " . i s'pect shes where my love for cooking came from.
her seasoning was mostly natural , ie ; somewhere in the potatos and green beans youd find a strip of bacon. later in cooking for my diabetic mom i learned that in the absense of too much salt and seasonings you actually tasted the flavor of the food. dont be trying to toss out my crushed red pepper tho -- we'll rumble..

kazzaa, your tea room sounds lovely. Beef and dumplings? I'll be first in line! I love your sense of humor. I can just picture all of your animal helpers. :)

jeanne, thanks for the tip on TJ's basil. I'm going to start some from seed soon, when I get a spare minute. That will be a looong way until harvest though. Trying to remain optimistic with the Monster Storm approaching. The media sure knows how to hype these things. I hope they're wrong.

emjo, love the low carb cauliflower green bean soup idea. And the ratatouille and Thai coconut chicken sounds fabulous - even together - hee! Could you imagine the potluck dinner we would all put together? Even captain's chicken livers, just keep your eyes off my dog, captain. :)

Tonight I made my dear departed aunt's recipe for Italian meat gravy. She wasn't Italian, but a friend of her's was and she made the best sauce. My aunt charmed the recipe from her. It involves 3 pounds of pork spareribs, 2 pounds of homemade meatballs, lots of sauteed veggies and a long slow simmer in the sauce. My boys weren't home tonight, so the dog and I shared a grilled cheese. But tomorrow, spaghetti! That sauce will be so good after resting a day and I'll need the carbs with the anticipated shoveling.

home made tomato chicken soup, spaghetti squash (I dumped some in the soup), a banana, a raspberry shortbread-type GD DF cookie, coffee and one square of dark chocolate - wasn't planned - just what I had available that I wanted to eat. When G is away I eat a lot of soup.

Made some cauliflower green bean soup this morning. With a bit of ham in it, it is much like split green pea soup, but lower cal and carb. Will make ratatouille tomorrow and Thai coconut chicken - not to eat at the same meal though. Asparagus and brown rice go with the chicken.

Want to make the impossible coconut pie. Has anyone tried it?

pstegman, I freeze pesto in a plastic ice cube tray, then dump the cubes into a plastic bag. Same idea, but the batch is already pre-portioned. Love it on pizza!

id throw the dogs in a smoker just as quickly. im old, i dont even make the effort to be civil anymore. and i dont need a wife i need a mortar ho..
he ----phooo

Jeannegibbs, I do make pesto in the summer when basil is in my garden, with fresh garlic, good pine nuts and of course virgin olive oil. Then I put it in a quart Ziploc bag, flatten it out and freeze it. I break a piece off to make my spaghetti sauce. Yum.

Kazzaa just keep that piggy away from Captain or I have a feeling he'll chuck it in the smoker right quick.

Lobster bisque. Three-cheese ravioli with freshly made pesto.

(Trader Joe's is a good source of fresh basil this time of year.)

Tonights menu is roast chicken, hassleback potatoes, brussel sprouts and white wine gravy!! i know mums a spoilt cow!!

I said "mum" i meant "bum". Then i had a thought if i could train my cat to pick up her "nappies" that would be alot off my work!!! NAH even the cat wont go into her room!!

Windytown! I want to open a "traditional irish Tea room" here like my mum im a pretty good cook but the good healthy irish food has been taken over by prosessed "crap".
We were healthy growing up as we had no mcdonalds,pizzas etc.... we ate well on meat and veg and potatoes real food.
I have some great old irish recipes handed down from my grandma and im hoping it will be a huge sucess?
My star dish will be "beef stew and dumplings"!! AND no captain i will not marry you!!!!!!!!
Gosh youre grilling outside? WOW!
I cant give you anymore of my recipes as i would then have to kill you!! But everyone must come and visit Ireland when im up and running as my main customers will be "american". Yep youre still the tourists with the money!!!!! LOL I can see Captain "drooling" now i know he wants to marry me so ill cook for him!! AH he needs a wifey hes a good guy he just needs to find the right woman who appreciates him and can cook!!
It wouldnt work Captain i intend to have alot of animals around in fact I want " 2 donkeys,2 dogs my cat and am thinking of a pet pig they are supposed to be great pets! Yes its too late for children for me so I will have my little family one day!! Dosnt look like ill have anyone to care for me when im older so had better train these animals to wipe my mum early!!

Who needs tv cooking shows? I just ate, then read this ... and now I'm hungry.

i usedta blow the family away every now and then with esterhazy steak. just steak, vegs, gravy, baked till they melt essentially.
lol. i can hold my own on this mostly female cooking thread -- but-- i aint eatin no ebelskivers or grass carp. aint gonna happen..

Tonight was a hurry-up dinner. Had tilapia with parsley butter, fresh fruit on shredded lettuce with poppy seed dressing, garlic mashed potatoes made with buttermilk, and orange/cranberry quick bread. I've got to make menus for the rest of the week and go shopping!

Finally warm enough to grill outside today - 40 degrees - woohoo.

Made boneless pork loin chops in a maple smokehouse spice rub, foil wrapped potatoes with garlic and onions, sharp cheddar and diced fresh jalapenos and olive oil. Fresh asparagus is finally arriving at the stores, the good thin stalks and on sale! Served the steamed spears on the side with a simple squeeze of lemon and melted butter.

We use a charcoal starter tunnel thingie with paper in the bottom, lit, to ignite the coals. After I dump the coals in the summer, it's always a challenge to find a spot for the red hot starter container. Today it was no problem. Set it in the five foot snowbank next to me. Man, did that sizzle! Have to appreciate the winter advantages...

i dont know about apricots and chicket but apricots make the best flavored brandy you can get ( or make ) imo.
i like it when pork chops get too close to apple stuffing myself.
i have jowel bacon and 15 bean soup going on here. probly make cornbread too.

APRICOT CHICKEN

4 skinless breasts Catalina salad dressing
1 envelope Onion soup Apricot preserves

lay breasts in square corning ware, coat evenly with preserves, drizzle enough to coat with dressing, shake and empty soup envelope to coat. In a 350 oven cook uncovered for 45-50 min. Time white rice and cook to taste. Spread rice on plates, lay breasts over rice and smother with pan sauces. Serve with vegetable of choice and ENJOY.

kazzaa, Almost all of the food shows make me hungry. They ARE dangerous! How exciting to think of having your own place someday. What are your favorite dishes to cook?

Here in the Twin Cities, food trucks are all the rage, though quite a few are transitioning to bricks and mortar places.

PS I will be watching "drive ins,diners and dives later" i really have to stop watching this i always have to eat something after i am only watching it for research as im hoping to open up my own place one day! this programme is bad for your health!!

I made mum a steak,potaoes and mushrooms. i dont eat beef ( it dosnt like me!) I made myself tuna fried rice with chilli flakes i will have seconds later! Yep comfort food am having a cup of tea now and 2 biscuits and hope i dont eat the whole packet. Mums watching "hoarding" so i guess i will eat the whole pack!

one dish meals --preseasoned, with no scorch -- handleless stirpan sitting inside the pressure canner.
youre welcome. ( grimmace )

@ alison,
" dont really cook " my god. can you make mortar? im negotiable..

I don't really cook.

But I've discovered the massive amount of variety of seasoned veggies that every brand is now sticking in the microwavable steamer pouches or bags. I just had roasted potatoes, sugar snap peas, red peppers in garden herb/garlic sauce for lunch… aka Green Giant "Garden Vegetable Medley."

It was yummy.

But the stuff you guys cook up is way more impressive to me. I don't know if I'll ever become the creative cooks you guys are. So thank goodness for some advances in frozen prepared foods. :D

Thank you jeanne, I will be trying that out this coming weekend. It's something I haven't had in years and it sounds so good right now. :)

Captain, you may now remove Danes from the list of people you haven't gotten around to insulting yet. :)

windytown, I actually used a pan meant for individual pineapple cakes -- you can see it at the nordicware website if you are curious. But I have also seen them done in muffin pans. I used fresh pineapple and put a slice in each pan, along with a maraschino cherry. Make just as you would any pineapple upside down cake recipe. To me, the cake itself is never the most interesting part, and I used a butter-recipe yellow cake mix, with a little cinnamon added.

amazing Jeanne!

@ jeanne,
i dont know what an ebelskiver is but so far everytime ive encountered the word on here it never ceases to give me a shudder and i grab for the flyswatter. ill look the definition up at some point out of curiosity but right now i have to go swat me some IRISHMEN and ITALIANS..
gosh, im barely even cooking or eating well right now. had instant mashed potatoes mixed with sweet peas tonight. this post carer thing is working on me. i never lost my identity but lost my " self " . self is back home with all the tooling freshened up and ready but the brain is rebooting and has never worked harder. its feverish and aches a little bit. trying to process the recent past and the near future and until that gets farther along it doesnt even want to sleep. i wouldnt call this grieving because its all exiting -- but -- my domestic partner is gone, so ill call it loss..
hope its ok to just share ones thought on here..

JG, please do not tell me you made all of that! My gosh, my mom, the retired home ec teacher used to do tons of cooking for entertaining! But your menu sounds even more extensive than what she used to do! And it sounds wonderful.