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Friday night was chicken, bacon, L,T, M sandwiches.

Last night I took a copycat of Zoe's Kitchen coleslaw to that I doctored up to a bbq.

Tonight was pizza with the leftover smoked chicken, homemade tomato sauce, roasted peppers, onions and tomatoes with marinated mozz.

I am a little tired of the smoked chicken, and we had a good bit left and we are hosting people for dinner this weekend where I will need a vegetarian entree and a meat one, so I made some penne, threw in the red extra sauce, spinach, leftover roasted veggies, the chicken and the driblings from the bottom of the marinated mozz container (I will use the mozz and top it with that before baking and finish off the tub) tossed in the freezer for later this week.  I also cooked some marinated chicken breasts for this weeks lunches/dinners (I know I just said I was tired of chicken, but I marinated them and needed to cook them and they are a different flavor).

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Monday: hush puppy fried chicken legs; leftover roasted potatoes fried in bacon fat plus leftover spinach, mushrooms, garlic, and bacon
Last night: leftover fried chicken, salad platter: (red leaf lettuce, sliced turkey, sliced tomatoes, bacon, basil; balsamic vinaigrette); and summer squash au gratin

 

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Beans (red and pinto beans, done in a crock pot) and rice (done in a rice cooker), warmed-up Hawaiian pork rescued from the freezer, grilled corn cut off the cob, cucumbers, grape tomatoes sauteed until they popped, and purple cabbage peanut-sesame slaw made for some pretty awesome not-burrito bowls.  More importantly, none of this prep made the kitchen hot and we'll have lots of leftovers.  Unfortunately, baby ate only pork, big kid basically ate only rice. Sigh. 

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"Hot smoked" salmon, cream cheese, capers, and Italian rosemary crackers
Cold poached sockeye salmon
Cold Asian noodles

With the exception of the cream cheese (Giant) and the salt-brined capers (???), everything was from TJ's (smoked salmon and crackers)  or Whole Foods.  I have really gotten to like the cold Asian noodles from the prepared foods case at WF. The container is expensive ($7.99) but is 24 oz., and it goes a pretty long way. 

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Well we just got under contract for a townhouse- so the empty the cupboards for realz- is officially on.  Last night I emptied the box of grits and made a cheese grits (according to the package instructions) and topped with shrimp sauteed with bacon, tomato, green pepper, onion, zucchini and a little tomato paste and Worcestershire.

IMG_1335.JPG

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4 hours ago, ktmoomau said:

Well we just got under contract for a townhouse

Congratulations!  Have fun packing:P.

Since I'm here and I've pre-made dinner:

Brown rice and salmon salad with corn, peas, and red onions; lemon vinaigrette
Pork and beef kofta
Tzatziki

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18 hours ago, Pat said:

Congratulations!  Have fun packing:P.

 

Thanks, I am excited we will be able to have a grill, and I have a hood vent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I am not sure there are enough exclamation points for a hood vent in existence for this.)  I will be able to make much better flatbreads and steaks and so much more.

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20 hours ago, ktmoomau said:

Thanks, I am excited we will be able to have a grill, and I have a hood vent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I am not sure there are enough exclamation points for a hood vent in existence for this.)  I will be able to make much better flatbreads and steaks and so much more.

Exciting times!

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Hoping for better times (or nostalgic for them), I made this last night: http://www.dinneralovestory.com/potuss-lucky-pasta/  It and the background story are reprinted from Sam Kass's cookbook Eat a Little Better. I made the chicken for it early in the day and toasted the nuts for the pesto. It's simple and satisfying. (After being so organized  ahead of time, I ran late actually starting dinner and it still came together fairly quickly. I did not use all the spinach called for, about half of that.)

I toasted some slices of Asiago pesto bread from Spring Mill Breads to go with it. It was a good match.

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Last night I used the last of the Asiago pesto bread. I hadn't wanted to keep it around long because it was day old when I bought it and bread doesn't keep well in this weather. (And, no, Spring Mill doesn't discount its day-old bread. On the other hand, they only have it several days a week and if the previous day's had sold out, I couldn't have bought it at all.)  Some of it went into a batch of gazpacho and the rest was toasted for Chicken Avocado BLTs.  I think having the pesto and cheese in the bread contributed something extra to the gazpacho, which wasn't really a recipe. I used about 2 lbs. of tomatoes, a cucumber, half of a huge green bell pepper, half a medium red onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, a glug or two of Worcestershire, the juice of a lemon, kosher salt, black pepper, and some red wine vinegar.

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20 hours ago, Pat said:

Last night I used the last of the Asiago pesto bread. I hadn't wanted to keep it around long because it was day old when I bought it and bread doesn't keep well in this weather. (And, no, Spring Mill doesn't discount its day-old bread. On the other hand, they only have it several days a week and if the previous day's had sold out, I couldn't have bought it at all.)  Some of it went into a batch of gazpacho and the rest was toasted for Chicken Avocado BLTs.  I think having the pesto and cheese in the bread contributed something extra to the gazpacho, which wasn't really a recipe. 

Do you blend the bread in with the rest of the vegetables and seasonings?  And do you toast at first, or not?

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I added the bread, torn into smallish pieces, after I'd broken the tomatoes down in the blender and then added everything else. I didn't toast it.

Last night was salad (red leaf lettuce, baby spinach, tomato, bacon, avocado, corn, and basil) and leftover "lucky pasta."

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Last night we finished the gazpacho (topped with some feta) and the WF cold noodles. I had made a frittata (mushrooms, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, garlic, parsley, basil, feta) earlier in the day and we had wedges of that as well, with the last of the tzatziki.

The gazpacho had thickened in the fridge, so I thinned it out with some of the water I rehydrated the tomatoes in.

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Iceberg lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and sesame-soy-ginger vinaigrette
Spaghetti with meat sauce and shredded Parmesan

The vinaigrette is a bottled standby from Trader Joe's. I keep it on hand for marinades, for which it is excellent, but sometimes deploy it as a salad dressing. The pasta sauce was pretty bare bones: canned diced tomatoes, about half a small can of tomato paste, the remaining cup or so of tomato-soaking water, the dregs of some boxed red wine, onion, garlic, s+p. hot pepper flakes, dried basil/thyme/oregano, and about 1/4 tsp. of superfine sugar..  I had pre-made the sauce earlier and refrigerated it. Late in the day I picked up 1/2 lb. of butcher's blend from Union Meats. While I boiled the pasta, I cooked the meat in the pan the sauce had been made in, added back in the sauce, and a little pasta cooking water. Dinner was ready quickly.

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Last night was leftovers from eating out and etc.  But Monday night I made steak with Adam's seasoning, chicken tenders with a rub from penzey's called mural of flavor, capresse salad with some amazing heirloom tomatoes from the farmer's market and roasted zucchini with peppers and onion as my Mom was with us and she eats Keto.

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 I love finding new things at Trader Joe’s, and today it was frozen cauliflower gnocchi.  While the gnocchi were boiling I made a quick skillet sauté of chopped fresh tomatoes,  Kalamata olives, garlic, chili flakes.  When the gnocchi were almost cooked, I put them in the skillet with the tomatoes.  After they had cooked in the sauce a bit, I put it in a bowl and topped it with a lot of grated Parmesan Reggiano.  It was really tasty, but I think next time I am going to start the gnocchi in a skillet with a little bit of water, and then add some butter to brown and crisp them a bit.

These gnocchi  are pretty good if you are looking for something low in fat and calories. They are quite filling. 

 In my opinion, the TJ cauliflower gnocchi are far more successful than the TJ cauliflower pizza crust,  for those of you who are into substituting vegetables for less healthy alternatives.  

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Friday: BBQ chicken sandwiches with cole slaw; baked beans; corn on the cob; and, macaroni and cheese

Saturday: skirt steak fajitas (mojo marinade; flour tortillas; grilled yellow peppers, onions, and yellow tomatoes; guacamole; sour cream; cilantro). 

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Last night we had the last of the chicken I had cooked sous vide a few days earlier. I fanned the slices out over more cold Asian noodles from Whole Foods, surrounded the arrangement with cucumber slices, sprinkled over some chopped toasted cashews and drizzled the last bit of a bottle of TJ's sesame soy ginger vinaigrette.  I also put out a plate of sliced tomatoes topped with leftover guacamole.

This was the piece of chicken I had cooked in a bag with some of that same salad dressing, and the flavor did not penetrate enough to come through in the final product. The other two skinless boneless breasts I had cooked (one with bbq sauce and the other with salt, pepper, and onion and garlic powders) were more flavorful.  You could tell I'd actually seasoned them before cooking. I've never gotten the hang of seasoning food properly for cooking this way, so it was interesting which flavors came through and what didn't.

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Garlic-shallot marinated pork tenderloin
Porcini and truffle ravioli with sautéed button mushrooms and brown butter-sage sauce

The ravioli were from TJ's. For serving, I topped each portion with some grated Hatch chile cheddar cheese.

The pork tenderloin is an old recipe I first found in WaPo's "Dinner Tonight" feature in 1996. I hadn't made it in quite a while but it's an old favorite. The marinade also has soy sauce, bourbon, grated ginger, salt, and sugar. The directions say to marinate overnight, but I typically only marinate 5 - 8 hours, since the one I time I marinated it literally overnight for the next night's dinner, the bourbon flavor was wayyyyy too strong. That really soaks in given enough time.

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Saturday night we had simple dinner of hot dogs, slaw and popcorn after a huge lunch out and lots of packing.  But I did make homemade hot dog bun for them.  

Last night I made a baked pasta that I had frozen with penne, smoked chicken, veggies, some red sauce topped with mozz while baking then grated some parm on after I pulled it out.  The freezer is looking emptier and emptier, so is the dry good cabinet.  I need to work on the canned goods and beans.

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Breakfast for dinner.  Potato omelette.  I sautéed diced potatoes until they were really brown.  Beat two eggs with a little milk, S&P, garlic, and Italian seasoning.  Right before the omelette was set, I sprinkled the top with grated Parmesan cheese. Served it with a little slice of store-bought chocolate chip brioche.

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Last night was a kind-of stir-fry with tofu and cole slaw mix (hey, it's shredded cabbage and carrots^_^). I prepared the tofu first (in planks) and set on a rack in a warm oven while I finished. The last of the skirt steak and grilled vegetables got mixed in with the slaw and soy/mirin/hot pepper sesame oil at the end to warm everything up.  I also heated some small flour tortillas in the oven while the tofu rested in there, and we made up some fusion-y tacos. I forgot the cilantro, but otherwise this came out quite well.

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Last night was turkey bacon cheeseburgers on homemade buns.

Tuesday night, maybe, I made a whole spread of quasi Indian food- a spicy tomato chickpea curry from Food and Wine mag, curried cauliflower and peas, tandoori pork and homemade flatbread, with some raita.  

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This weekend was a big packing weekend (yes, we still have a month to go- but this coming weekend is my birthday, then I am going to the beach for a long week, so we likely won't pack for the next 3 weekends) so we mostly ate leftovers- we ordered some butter chicken to go with the bits of Indian food leftover.

Last night was leftover ciabatta bread I made for the picnic, with melon and prosciutto for me.  Hubby snacked on pretzels, peanut butter and a pear.

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The cookbook I was using called the dish "Baked Risotto"  It ends up being like a creamy pilaf.  Regardless, delicious and easy meal. While the rice is baking in the oven you have time to cook off the toppings.  Topped with mushrooms, goat cheese, toasted pecans, herbs and a poached egg. 

Baked Risotto Egg.jpg

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16 minutes ago, Tweaked said:

The cookbook I was using called the dish "Baked Risotto"  It ends up being like a creamy pilaf.  Regardless, delicious and easy meal. While the rice is baking in the oven you have time to cook off the toppings.  Topped with mushrooms, goat cheese, toasted pecans, herbs and a poached egg. 

What cookbook is this from?  It looks delicious.

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11 minutes ago, ktmoomau said:

What cookbook is this from?  It looks delicious.

Sarah Copeland's Feast  The recipe in the cookbook is for the rice and then she lists suggested topping combos, but obviously you can make up your own.  The book has several really good recipes in it, the buckwheat crepes also very tasty.  She is a former recipe developer for the Food Network and Food Director for Real Simple magazine, and pretty much everything works out as written in the cookbook.  Very little trial and error. Now she is one of these social media lifestyle tastemaker types.

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Sunday:
Spinach salad (bacon, mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs) with warm bacon dressing
Roasted cauliflower with dates and tahini
Roasted chicken (with sage butter under the skin)

I carved the chicken and served pieces of it on  top of the platter of cauliflower. The chicken was super moist. The drippings were especially good and I served them alongside. I upped the amount of herbs (cilantro and mint) called for in the cauliflower recipe, and the sage added to that burst of flavor. 

Last night:
Chicken, tofu, and spinach soup with hot pepper
Leftover spinach salad
Poached salmon with lemon

 

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Slumming it last night with a frozen pizza from TJ's. The instructions said to cook on a baking sheet. Well, I haven't finished rounding out my inventory of kitchen equipment so I tried to make do with a stove top grill pan I have. I should have preheated the pan first-- middle wouldn't cook.

Saddest pizza ever.

20180730_211111.jpg.ccf71a7924b120b31867e396d866cc7a.jpg

It was actually quite good.

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Last night I made a ragu out of the lovely little cut up pieces of tomatoes from the picnic.  (A salsa would have been great too, or a salad, but I was totally out of pasta sauce and canned tomatoes from the weekend, and Hubby wanted spaghetti and meatballs with the few meatballs we had left.)  It was one of the best pasta sauces I have ever made, I think the variety of tomatoes gave it a great taste, I didn't have to do hardly anything to it, a little salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, olive oil.  We also had leftover ciabatta.

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Salmon baked and topped with yogurt mixed with coriander chutney.

Roasted beets*

Tomato and cucumber salad 

* I love beets but roasting and peeling makes such a mess in my all-white kitchen.  I refuse to eat canned beets. I took a chance and tried Stahlbush Island Farms frozen sliced beets that I saw at Lucky’s Market.  They are just plain, blanched , frozen beets.  They are very high-quality, and I am glad that I tried them because I would even serve them to company.

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