Katya4me

Last night, my husband made mushroom lasagna.  We were a bit short on the amount of mushrooms called for, but it still came out really well. 

I made braised bean curd skin last night and had it over brown jasmine rice.  Based on previous experience with the bean curd skin I had in the pantry, I did not soak it and that was the correct decision.  However, I think the lengths were too long and needed to be cut in half.  I also oven roasted some Chinese broccoli and sprinkled it with coconut vinegar and sesame oil after it finished.  Made for a good dinner now I need to re-stock my star anise.

Dinner tonight was Thai basil chicken with leftover white rice. I wanted to use up all the Thai basil I had left, along with 2 shallots, so I doubled the recipe.  I used 6 little red peppers that came from my husband's coworker. They look similar to Thai birds, and it was the perfect amount. 

We had leftover rice noodles, cucumber, lettuce, Thai basil and rice paper wrappers.  And then I went fusion: for the protein, we had leftover smoked chicken breast from a BBQ restaurant so we shredded that for spring rolls.  Then dipped them in the leftover BBQ sauces.  The vinegar based sauce was the best with the rolls and made for a great repurposing of leftovers.

Dinner last night was rice udon noodles with bok choy and corn.  Diced watermelon for this and made a doubled batch of the sauce to go over the noodles as well.  

Tonight was grilled chicken thighs, seasoned with BBQ rub, and served on buns with lettuce and pickles.  Dessert was frozen custard. 

Dinner tonight was pineapple and fish spring rolls.  I was woefully out of practice on my spring roll wrapping, so that needs a lot of work but the elements of the recipe were delicious and only a bit messy. 

I liked the squid we had on Saturday, so I made another recipe on Sunday: Kung Pao Calamari.  I had a small zucchini in the fridge, so cut that up and added to the bell peppers.  Had to turn on the fan when I tossed in the dried hot peppers, but really good meal.  Just make sure everything is prepped and ready because it all cooks very quickly.  

Yesterday was more of a dump and bake day, so this recipe met that qualification very well.  No sides or additional carbs needed really liked the zingy flavor. 

A British friend gifted me 2 egg coddlers, so I gave coddled eggs a try this weekend.  I followed this recipe, and added a sprinkle of grated Cotija cheese and a squirt of Italian herbs paste.  I set them in boiling water for 9 min.  Added a slice of homemade toast, cut into dipping soldiers and breakfast was served.  Unfortunately, either they were in the water for too long, or they sat in the coddlers for too long before serving, as they were closer to hard-boiled than runny centers.  However, I liked the concept and taste, so will definitely try again another time.  

Dinner last night was inspired by this recipe for grilled squid wraps.  However, I ended up with a much more Asian twist on it.  For the marinade, I did lemon, olive oil, basil and chili garlic paste.  While it was marinating, I shucked an ear of corn, sliced up a red bell pepper and got out some shredded carrot.  For the sauce, I skipped the yogurt, but included the other ingredients.  I tossed the corn on the grill and then put the squid in a grill basket on the other side of the grill.  Probably about 12 min. for the corn and 7 min or so to cook the squid.  Had them on some small flour tortillas and having the leftovers for lunch today.

Last night was pan-fried wontons and cheeseburgers.  I have a package of wonton wrappers that have been hiding in the freezer for a very long time.  I chopped up some mushrooms finely and sauteed them to get rid of their moisture, added some diced ham, and shredded carrots.  Once that was all soft, tossed in a splash of hot sauce and took it off the heat.  Put a block of cream cheese in a bowl, and poured the hot mixture over it.  Stirred it up and added the last of some grated Parmesan I found in the drawer.  I portioned 12 generous tablespoons into 12 wrappers and shallow-fried them, 2 min. per side.  Had those with sweet chili sauce and soy sauce.   Still have lots of filling and more wrappers so will probably do it again tonight.   

Dinner tonight was a variation of tabbouleh, swapping watermelon for tomatoes and basil for mint.  It also featured seared halloumi.  We had a jar of pesto in the fridge, so I used that instead of making pesto and added some diced sweet red pepper.  Really easy and a nice chill dish for summertime. 

WashPost had an interesting looking recipe for dill pickle pizza, so we gave it a try last night.  Really good, I used a whole egg, rather than just the yolk, in the white sauce and I really liked how it turned out.  We used our usual pizza dough recipe, which makes a triple batch, and the white sauce is enough for 2 batches, so will have more pizza in our immediate future.

My husband's pick for dinner was surprisingly delicious: https://www.newsncr.com/lifestyle/silken-tofu-a-no-cook-dish-thats-perfect-for-warm-weather/

We did just basil for the herb on top and chopped up some salted mixed nuts we had.  I'm not a fan of plain tofu, so had been questioning this selection, but it was perfect yesterday after being outside in the heat all day long.

I had a pot of white rice languishing in the fridge, along with a variety of fresh veggies, so I decided to make fried rice for dinner.  Started with just under a 1 lb of sliced white mushrooms, tossed them in the wok to cook down while I cut up a red bell pepper.  Tossed that in the wok, along with some cut up flat chive leaves.  Once most of the moisture was gone, I added some snow peas and 2 slices of cut up leftover pork carne asada.  Scrambled 2 eggs w/ Sriracha, and added that to the wok.  Once the eggs were cooked, added the rice and a tossed together sauce.  Delicious dinner and much more empty fridge is a win for me.  

I've been in the mood to try some more vegan recipes, so made a delicious cashew curry, where the cashews were the protein and last night made this watermelon tuna to go in a poke bowl with white rice, cucumbers, red peppers and a tahini drizzle.  I made up another bowl to have for lunch today.  

Went to a party last night and we have some vegan and gluten-free folks, so these were my contributions:

I made mini gimbap and spicy watermelon sushi.  For the gimbap, I did cucumber and flat chive leaves, then half the rolls got pickled daikon while the other half got burdock.  I sliced the sushi once I got to the party and all of it went over very well with the group.  I was quite pleased to have no leftovers at the end of the night.

I was in the mood to grill but by the time I got to the store after work, I was feeling tired. So, I grabbed a container of the marinated pork bulgogi and and a bag of garlic scapes. While those cooked on the stove, I grilled some shishito peppers.  Reheated leftover rice and dinner was served.

I had some pesto frozen in cubes and I used it to flavor some cubed chicken breasts that I had with salad.  I had some extra chicken, so decided to try cacio e pepe for the first time.  I thought it might have been too cheesy, but my husband heartily disagreed and polished off the pan so I'd say it was a win.

I got it frozen in the fish area at my local Asian market.  It was already cleaned so just had to defrost and marinade.

10 hours ago, saf said:

Pizza night! Peach pizza. Modified the recipe a little - no prosciutto, peach balsamic rather than balsamic reduction. Also, salad. Then ice cream. All good!

That does sound good.  When we go racing, I typically grill lunch and if it's a 2 day event, I try to grill something on Saturday and repurpose the leftovers on Sunday.  One weekend, I did jerk marinated chicken and peach kabobs on Saturday and then used the leftovers for naan pizza on Sunday.  Worked remarkably well and need to make that again. 

For dinner the other night, I saw this recipe, but couldn't find baby squid.  I had 2 lbs of tubes, so I cut them into sections and marinated, then grilled and loved how it turned out.  Since I really liked the marinade, I made up another batch for a couscous salad the next day.  I cooked some whole wheat pearl couscous and added the marinade to it, cut up an English cucumber, halved some cherry tomatoes, tossed in some carrot shreds and added the remaining cooked squid for a very satisfying meal. 

Trying something different as my mom started doing collagen protein a year ago and swears by it.  I'm not a fan of protein powders in drinks, so decided to try this option: https://www.lifeslittlesweets.com/mocha-collagen-protein-drink-recipe/  I have reduced the protein powder amounts slightly, just because I don't drink my coffee fast enough, but I'm giving it a month or so to see if it makes a difference.  I made some biscuits from a tube and had with a slice of pepper jack cheese and an easy over egg for breakfast.  

Made a variant of this: https://www.skinnytaste.com/spicy-canned-salmon-rice-bowl/#recipe

I forgot the cucumber, so that was not included.  But I had grilled some green onions and a couple of pineapple slices, so I put those in the food processor, along with mayo, a bit of oil, soy sauce and Sriracha.  Once that was fairly smooth, I put it in a bowl and added the canned salmon and adjusted to taste.  I reheated the rice and added a couple of dabs of sesame oil and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.   Tasted somewhat like a deconstructed spicy salmon roll and really easy to make so I'll need to remember for the future.

Looking around in the fridge tonight, I found a bottle of spicy peach chutney with maybe 2 tablespoons left in it.  Had a small amount of coconut rum in the cabinet, so made jam cocktails tonight.  Shook them up with ice, divided in half and added some seltzer.  Tasty way to use up some dredges.  

I must have been channeling saf, as we had salad the past 2 nights for dinner.

Tuesday night was beautiful, so I grilled blackened white fish and 6 ears of corn.  For the salad, had mixed greens, grilled corn, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and radishes, topped with a sprinkle of pepitas and feta cheese.    

Yesterday was a wet mess, so did ribs inside: https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/instant-pot-spanish-ribs-with-pimenton-dry-rub/

For the salad, had the mixed greens, grilled corn, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, radishes, sweet peas, topped with a sprinkle of pepitas and the last of the feta cheese. 

Dinner tonight: https://tasty.co/recipe/carne-asada-fries

I mixed sour cream with a bit of aji Amarillo paste to have over my serving, along with a bit of salsa. Absolutely not healthy, but very easy and tasty.  Grilled the steak outside, then popped the fries into a cast iron skillet to go back in the oven.