What are you having for dinner? (wanna share your recipe?)

[nursenurse]

Can't find cans of Salsa Ranchera aquí, I was all set to make this today….so I decided tomorrow to get the fresh tomatoes and make my own. Serranos are hard to find but thinking that a few Kaboom jalapeńos and some chipotles in adobo will work.

 

[nursenurse]

@Friday , making your salsa soup right now! It is delish so far, simmering for now. I went to an obscure grocery store that has a bunch of international stuff, but no serrano peppers. And found a different brand of ranchera. That type of salsa is next to impossible to find in a can/bottle here. I will add a squeeze or three of lime juice, some fresh cilantro when done. I was going to make it vegetarian, but spied a lovely chunk of bacon in my fridge, so that just had to go in there, and a can of black beans for protein. This is one I can easily make in the north, I will freeze portions of the salsa. And it is. So. Damned. Good! I know there is some Mexican cheese lurking about, Cotija maybe? And some sour cream begging to be used up, and oh look! A ripe avocado! Thanks for the inspiration for something so simple and so tasty.

 

[Friday]

I was attempting to stuff some poblanos with rice, beef, ‘n other stuff… because it’s the simplest / fastest thing I could think of, with what’s on hand… and I’m ‘zauhsted … until I realized that the filling? Is essentially Mexican fried rice, if I just tipped it into a hot pan and stirred it about. I like fried rice. I don’t see a particular reason to keep going with …effort. Nope. Nope. Nope. Done & Done.

Sadly, I didn’t even have the energy to shake my ass as I stir fried the rice’n’stuff. And that’s half the fun. Too tired for fun.

Do a little dance! Make a little love! Get down tonight!
Shake shake shake
Shake shake shake
Shake your booty

Nope.

Don’t set the kitchen on fire
Don’t just glare and walk away
Don’t fall on your faaaaaace
No-ho-ho-ho
La puta ama.

2 birds 1 stone..l before I added the rice I took a handful of the n’stuff, and made a badass quesadilla for my kid. Way easier still… if your can eat cheese.

 

[Friday]

The power is more off than on, right now… we weren’t supposed to be restored until Tuesday night, maybe Wednesday… so I’d taken my frozen meat and stuck it in the fridge to keep the more delicate -and expensive- things from going off.

Which means a few big cooking days are coming, to cook the defrosted raw things, to refreeze as tamales & dumplings & pies, oh my. Also probably a couple soups, and depending on the state of the veggies, I may jar some pasta sauces. Shifts are thin on the ground at work, right now, so I suppose it’s as good a time for the wind to be knocking down trees into substations, as any.

Also means I want something EASY and warmly satisfying. Voila. Hong Kong style Tomato Beef it is. I loooooooove this stuff.

Also, I know me… by the time I’m done saving my grocery budget from being tipped into the bin? IE 3-4 days of cooking nonstop? I’m going to be on a “I HATE food.” kick, living off meal replacement shakes & V8 with hot sauce for the better part of a couple weeks. So if I want to be happy about food? I need to make happy-warm-homey-food NOW. Before I’m all burnt out.

Cantonese Tomato Beef — Cinnamon Society

Cantonese tomato beef, a Hong Kong classic, is great for nights when you need a fast dinner.

cinnamonsociety.com

 

[Friday]

Yep. I’m on a “f*ck food” thing, alright!

But I’m also soooo excited! Because I now have about 10kg of frozen meatballs of various kinds… which means two of my FAVE easy-easy dinners are back on the menu! The hard part is that I’ve yet to find dairy-free frozen meatballs… and making the suckers is tedious and annoying. But for the first time in years? I’m stocked up.


Grape Jelly Meatballs
- Frozen Fully Cooked Beef Meatballs
- Grape Jelly
- Heinz Chili Sauce

Ratio is roughly 1kg/2Lb meatballs : 1 jar grape jelly : 1 12oz bottle of Heinz chili sauce. // or in a meal for 1, equal parts jelly/chili sauce, enough to cover meatballs.

Put all 3 things in a slow cooker for 4-8 hours, or simmer over stove for about 45 minutes. Done. Eat with toothpicks or get all fancy with a fork

Strawberry Jalepeno Meatballs
- Frozen Fully Cooked Chicken &/or Pork Meatballs
- Strawberry Jam
- Jalepeno Pepper Jelly

Same deal. Simmer in slow cooker whilst at work, or pour into sauce pan when I get home, and it’s ready by the time I’m halfway human again, after showering and other coming home rituals.

 

[nursenurse]

I remember my charge nurse making the grape jelly ones for pot lucks when I was still working in a hospital…they were so delish. Totally surprised about the dairy in meatballs, never thought to look. My homers of course have none, it just isn’t the way I was taught to make them. However my pre made alternatives, which are fresh from Whole Paycheque, have cheese in them. Now you will have me checking out the frozen ones that I buy on occasion as well, just out of curiosity. Can’t somehow wrap my head around the strawberry jam ones though. Maybe worth the try just for the jalapeño jelly though. Plus any recipe you have recommended and that I have tried, has turned out well.

 

[Friday]

Can’t somehow wrap my head around the strawberry jam ones though.

The end result is a lot like Thai sweet chili sauce?

I didn’t come across the bliss that is fresh cracked black pepper on strawberries until a few years back, and this result is nothing like that, but the principle -I think- is roughly the same; sweet balancing out acid, each accentuating the other.

Now you will have me checking out the frozen ones that I buy on occasion as well, just out of curiosity.

A lot of the Canadian ones don’t… but Stateside even Heinz ketchup has dairy in it (Canadian Heinz doesnt) for the tax break on using subsidized farm products IE dairy/corn/soy. Dairy/corn/soy is in everything down here. It’s just easier for me to pick up a bunch of condiments in Victoria and schlep them down south along with effective infant/children meds a couple times a year, than to bring back perishables. Everyone groks Yankee meds suck, as long as we’re paying full price / receipt attached, rather than being a drain on the system, no one minds when they unzip the bags. But fresh fruit?!? The horrors!

I had a job in Vancouver a few years back that meant commuting on weekends, and a cooler full of fridge/freezer items cleared customs just fine, lotsa people comments across the border with half their closets & kitchens in their back seats. But it’s just a BIT suspicious wheeling a cooler onto the Clipper, and up/down the streets of Victoria!

 

[Friday]

Fancified Ramen - BBQ Beef Style

My sister is making this, and it smells almost good enough to break my “food is evil” snit I’m having.

- Beef Ramen
- Leftover -really dry horrible WTF happened to you???- pot roast or similar
- BBQ sauce
- Green peppers / Mushrooms / Onions
- Tinned beans (I’m not so sure about this one? But hey. Still smells awesome. Even if I’m not a beans and noodles kind of chick, it’s not so far off from chili.)

Cut up the super dry leftovers, and simmer with the beans & veg in the [sauce packet + extra water + BBQ sauce] until the meat actually looks/tastes good, again. Seemed to take apx 15 min, here. I’m guessing the time varies rather a lot. Add noodles, cook for 3 minutes more, serve.

Mad props to SisterFriday.

 

[blackemerald1]

I made pizza for dinner. Slapped on some hot salami, no sugar tomato paste and lots of melty cheese. Very nice and low carb too.

Pizza crust Keto style

2 cups Mozzarella cheese (the shredded variety)

2 tablespoons room temp cream cheese

2 large eggs

1 cup of Almond Flour

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Italian herb/garlic powder/onion powder

Melt the Moz and cream cheese in the microwave in 10 second increments till it is melted.

Add the eggs and combine well.

Add in the remainder of the ingredients and stir well.

Wrap mixture in some glad wrap and let sit for 10 minutes.

Roll out to required size between two sheets of baking paper.

Roll up edges a little so they are slightly thicker.

Cook for 10 minutes in a hot oven - till just brown.

Load on toppings and return to oven until the toppings are cooked/melted.Eat immediately.

 

[Friday]

Stuffed Pepper Lovers—My Cheesesteak Version Is The Easy & Affordable Upgrade You Need

A Philly favorite with a veggie twist!

www.delish.com

^^^ This… Except I only ever use flank steak, or leftover, or “the more the merrier! Quick! Change of plans. Make 2 steaks feed 12 people. Check!” steak-steak

(Tacos, Burritos, & Mini-Wellingtons are my other go to steak-stretchers. Depending on mood, time, & tortillas v puff pastry.)

Most of my stuffed peppers recipes are either whole Bell-Pepper, or slit “hot” peppers, like chili rellenos. One of the things I love about THIS recipe is that it quarters or thirds (depending on the bell pepper size) to create little pepper “plates” or petals. Which makes it stupid easy when I’m just nipping leftover presliced steak out of the freezer to meal-for-1 it. Meanwhile when I’m cooking for a crowd? Hello cookie sheets with up to dozens of pepper plates & side dishes galore to make up the shortfall!!! So whether people are having a “whole” pepper of 3-4 meaty cheesy petals, or 1-2 petals on a plate filled with a helluva lot of other things? How many people can eat isn’t limited by how many pepper I have already stuffed & baked.

It ALSO works to stuff mushrooms, brilliantly. Whether bite sized crimini /button mushrooms, or ginormous portobello.

Spoiler: Leftover or Change of Plans =

Rib-eye, by personal preference… although it always tickles me how wide and varied fave steak cuts are.

(Flank & Skirt “steak” don’t count / I them just as much as ribeyes, I just use them for wildly different things. Skirt = Latin, Flank = Chinese & Misc American.)

There are 8 people in the house at the moment, and we have 6 different fave steaks.
- Sadly, my dad and I both go after the bone in rib-eye (he wins coin tosses by default, if there’s ever a shortage)
- TheMother pounces on NewYorkStrips,
- TheSister loves bacon wrapped filet mingon
- TheKiddo hearts T-Bones (not a big tenderloin fan)
- TheBrothers’ are all about the Porterhouse
- SIL is a Hanger gal <<< This is my 2nd fave. Wicked good & wildly different from my 1st choice, so I’m never left feeling like it’s 2nd best, just a different best!

 

[LuckiLee]

Those look delicious @Friday. J would eat steak/beef every day if we could afford it. We're ribeye fans. Although I haven't met a steak I didn't like. (Once I moved out of my parents home, mom cooked everything well done lol)

I usually try to freeze a variety of stuffed peppers for winter. Pablanos are a favorite.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[nursenurse]

Having my daughter and fam for dins this weekend. Since it is the grand daughter’s birthday, I asked what she wanted for dinner. Crickets, lol. So I think a tamale pie made with fake meat will be on tap, since my daughter is a veg. Trying to work myself into the mood to make Christina Tosi’s birthday cake, that gets rave reviews here, but for my personal self, I really want to try a cake from “Baketart”. I am sure it would go down well. Settled. Going to do what I want to do if I don’t hear from them by tonight. A gal has to prepare….and the steak recipe above sounds delish, @Friday, I usually have all that stuff around, and is an easy fix for the north.