Ethiopian lunch. 11/28/18

Posted on November 29, 2018 by Beebamom

I do not cook a new dinner because this is the fabulous food I had for lunch!

Ethiopian veggie combo and yebeg tips (crispy lamb)

My daughter and I took a break from outlet mall shopping (where we bought nothing) for a fine Ethiopian lunch at Zeni’s in San Jose. The piles of assorted vegetables, lentils, yellow split peas, salad, and lamb are served upon a large spongy bread called injera. A basket of injera is also served and used as your utensil. You tear off a small piece and use it to pick up a small scoop of vegetables or lamb. The food is exotically spiced and delicious. We had plenty leftover to take home.

While our daughter ate our lunch leftovers for dinner, John and I scrounged around in the refrigerator and ate up the remnants of our turkey casserole with toast.

If you have not tried Ethiopian or Eritrean food, I heartily suggest giving it a go. It is delicious and fun to eat!

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Sweet Italian sausage and polenta. 11/27/18

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Beebamom

Here is a nice change if you are tired of the turkey routine, sweet Italian sausage with plenty of sautéed onions, bell pepper, and garlic over a bed of creamy polenta. In order to make things go faster, John starts the sausages in a pan with some olive oil and about a quarter inch of water, while I cut up and sauté the veg in another. The sausages steam while the water evaporates and then they brown. This keeps you from getting too hard a crust on them. We combine the veg and the sausages in my pan at the end of cooking.

John makes the polenta in a 5 to 1 ration to insure it stays creamy. He adds a few sprigs of thyme while it’s simmering and a little butter and Parmesan near the end of cooking.

Sweet Italian sausages with onions, peppers, and garlic over a bed of polenta

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Dinner in a Dish. 11/26/18

Posted on November 27, 2018 by Beebamom

When John and I were married we received this cookbook as a gift –

Betty Crocker’s Dinner in a Dish

As far as I can tell I have made two dishes from it in the last 46 years, Tuna with Calico Corn Muffins and Wild Rice-Chicken Casserole. Yesterday John made the casserole with the last of our turkey and all we need to do is heat a piece up for dinner.

Wild rice and turkey casserole

I am including a picture of the recipe which looks like it has gone through the wars. We only made 1/3 of the original recipe because the original recipe is a “crowd pleaser.”

Wild Rice-Chicken Casserole recipe

I have updated the recipe somewhat. We use a box of  Near East’s Wild Rice and Long Grain Rice so it is not 100% wild rice. We also use fresh mushrooms, not canned and omit the green bell pepper. I usually serve it with a spicy peri peri sauce because it is kind of rich and bland. Today I make a vinegary cole slaw to go with it.

Last of the Thanksgiving turkey

Tomorrow, Italian sausages with peppers and onions! I am finished with Thanksgiving!!!

 

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Planning ahead. 11/25/18

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Beebamom

Yesterday I thought to myself, if I do not start planning and cooking ahead my whole house of cards is going to fall down.   I am not sleeping well and I need occasional little naps. Often I need a little lie down late in the afternoon when I should be thinking of making dinner, not sleeping. I have plenty of time during the early part of the day. John does too. So between the two of us we concocted two meals right after lunch to last for today and tomorrow. I am hoping that we can continue to do some prep work earlier in the day that will make dinner easier.

Here is what we prepared for tonight –

Fresh tomato sauce with olives, capers, and garlic

And Monday’s dinner –

Wild rice and turkey casserole

And here is tonight’s dinner which with our advance prep took about 20 minutes. It is topped with breadcrumbs and garlic chips.

Spaghetti with fresh tomatoes, capers, olives and garlic topped with breadcrumbs and garlic chips

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More leftovers. 11/24/18

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Beebamom

On Friday we had Thanksgiving redo. In order to not have the turkey get over cooked in the reheating process or the creamed onions sauce to break, we sealed them in some bags and used the immersion circulator to heat them up. It worked really well set at 135F.

Now it is Saturday and we are supposed to be preparing spaghetti with olives, capers, tomatoes, and garlic breadcrumbs. But guess what? It is much easier to pull out some more turkey and gravy and serve it over English muffins with some broccoli! I am not proud of this but it seems to be the way I roll these days. Tomorrow I am making the spaghetti sauce first thing in the morning so we do not end up with Chinese take-out!

Turkey breast and gravy over English muffin with broccoli

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Thanksgiving 11/22/18

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Beebamom

Happy Thanksgiving! We have finally finished cleaning up and have had our first day of leftovers. Our daughter is taking the remnants of our meal to a Friendsgiving today so all we will have left is some turkey that I plan on making into a turkey and wild rice  casserole in the next few days.

John went piecemeal with the turkey this year buying a whole bone-in turkey breast and four thighs. He de-boned the thighs and stuffed them with cornbread stuffing. The thighs were then rolled, tied, and roasted. It came out great!

Roasted turkey breast and stuffed thighs

Next here are my Brussels sprouts cooking down in a little sugar, salt, butter, water, and dry sherry. Once the liquid is gone they will brown. The 120 B. Sprout halves took two big pans to lay out flat. This was cooked at the last minute.

Brussels sprouts cooking

Our daughter made oven-roasted creamed onions and our son made a Mexican style corn dish. No frozen onions here! She peeled all 60 onions herself. Frozen onions lack texture.

Roasted creamed onions and corn

Here are some mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. Our grandkids made the cranberry sauce and crescent rolls. Those are the only two things they eat at Thanksgiving. John also made a great turkey gravy to have with the meat, potatoes, and stuffing.

Cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes

In addition we also had hors d’ouevres, a broccoli dish, stimparata (Italian marinated olives), additional stuffing, gravy, red and white wine, three kinds of pie, and ice cream. We serve our dinner buffet style so the food stays hot and there is no passing around.

Daughter at the buffet table

And with this rendition of Thanksgiving I am passing my apron strings on to the next generation and will be a guest next year instead of the host. We shall see what happens!

 

 

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Chickpea stew with turkey sausage. 11/20/18

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Beebamom

I finish up the chickpea stew that I made this morning with ditalini, a package of dark greens (no Romaine), and a little turkey sausage to make it hardier. It is actually fine without the meat but I am trying to use up extraneous bits in my refrigerator. It is pretty crowded at the moment what with all the Thanksgiving preparations. After ladling the stew into bowls, we finish the dish with parmesan cheese and some really good olive oil. I am so glad I made this in the morning because by the time it is dinner time I do not feel like making anything!

Chickpea stew with turkey sausage

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Two days before Thanksgiving. 11/20/18

Posted on November 20, 2018 by Beebamom

 It is now T-2 and we are busy. I have made a list of everything that needs to be done. John is outside cleaning the gutters. That job is not on my list but since it is supposed to be raining tomorrow, he says it needs to be done.

I have started setting the table. As usual I have to wash all the frickin’ glasses since they have water spots.  I got these stemless glasses so I could fit them in the dishwasher but they come out spotted. Spots are okay for John and me but when we are having company, I need crystal clear glasses. Even my daughter put them on the to-do list. As I am writing this I am having a little sit-down having just finished washing and drying 16 glasses.

Thanksgiving table

Uh-oh, trouble! Daughter has finished the peeling of the onions and put them in a small roasting pan. They definitely do not look like enough onions for our party of ten.

Onions ready for roasting

Both she and John go to separate grocery stores to try to find more onions and more stuffing mix. On his way to Raleys I text John to pick up another 20 Brussels sprouts since I think the Brussels sprouts are looking meager too.

Brussels sprouts

I cannot cook the Brussels sprouts until the last minute before we eat. They were such a big hit last year that sadly there were none leftover. I have 60 sprouts now and they will be cut in half so it should be enough.

This morning I made up a pot of chickpea stew that I figure we can eat today and tomorrow. This hopefully puts an end to the reign of pretzels, cheese, and peanut butter we have been eating lately. I will finish this stew with some ditalini and dark greens.

Chickpea stew

Still left for today is getting the Brussels sprouts prepped and putting the stuffing together so John can stuff the thighs tomorrow. Then we need to vacuum, dust, wash the kitchen floor, and clean the bathroom. Thanksgiving is not all about cooking!

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Finally cooked something. 11/17/18

Posted on November 18, 2018 by Beebamom

Let’s see, Tuesday pretzels, Wednesday egg, Thursday pizza, Friday leftover pizza, and Saturday, I finally make something. I am still needing comfort food and with John spurring me on, we make beef stew in the Instant Pot. John browns the meat and I cut up potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, and fresh tomatoes. We set the Instant Pot for 18 minutes and then thicken up the gravy with a little corn starch slurry. It is great!

Beef stew made in the Instant Pot

This morning our air is rated “unhealthy.” That is an improvement over “very unhealthy” and “apocalypse” and on Wednesday the air should improve due to RAIN!!!!! It hasn’t rained since May so this is an exciting event.

Happy Thanksgiving Week!! We are having the big do at our house. After this year I have told the younger family generation that it is up to them. They have to learn at some point.

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In a funk. 11/14/18

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Beebamom

What is the matter with me?! Usually I am looking forward to making dinner but this week I am just not feeling it. I have been shut inside all week because the smoke in the air is terrible. And since I have asthma I cannot risk going outside. Plus my knee is hurting a lot and it is hard to walk. I am going to have to make a decision about getting it replaced which terrifies me. So I am stuck in my pity party and doing nothing.

On Tuesday I ate pretzel sticks and cheese and on Wednesday I had an egg on an English muffin. Hopefully today I can rouse myself enough to make something.

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