Chicken, again (sigh) – 12/13/16

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Beebamom

Boneless, skinless chicken breast is about as boring as you can get. I need to get out of this rut of bland meals!

Chicken breast with root vegetable mash and broccoli

Chicken breast with root vegetable mash and broccoli

Do you recognize that root vegetable mash? It started out as mashed potatoes last week, then morphed into confetti mashed root vegetables, and tonight it makes its final appearance (I hope) with an additional potato. And look, there is my old friend, broccoli. John has no problem eating the same things over and over again but I am tired of it. I need to try harder.

Posted in leftovers, Poultry, Vegetables | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Not lentil soup -12/12/16

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Beebamom

Tonight’s dinner was supposed to be lentil soup. I gave away a bag of lentils to our local food drive thinking that I had another. I always have plenty of lentils on hand! But, no.

Switching gears I took the vegetables and leftover turkey sausage I was going to use in the soup added an egg and some Asian seasonings and the rest of the brown rice from last week, and, voila! A version of Pork Fried Rice!

Turkey sausage fried rice

Turkey sausage fried rice

 

Posted in Eggs, leftovers, Poultry, rice, Vegetables | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Orecchiette with white beans, turkey sausage, and vegetables – 12/10/16

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Beebamom
Orecchiette with vegetables

Orecchiette with vegetables

This was a clean out the refrigerator kind of dish. The sauce was basically a little olive oil and pasta water. This can easily be made vegan by omitting the turkey sausage.

Posted in leftovers, Legumes, Pasta, Poultry, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Grilled steak with confetti mashed potatoes and broccoli – 12/9/16

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Beebamom
Grilled ribeye steak with confetti mashed potatoes and broccoli

Grilled ribeye steak with confetti mashed potatoes and broccoli

John grilled a steak and we split it. John takes the eye part and I have the cap. It is yummy. I also made this mash which I call confetti mash. I had some leftover mashed potatoes and added parsnips, carrots, and parsley to them.  It came out looking pretty festive. And now that it is getting more wintery out I am thinking we will be seeing a lot of broccoli.

Posted in Beef, leftovers, Vegetables | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

December 8, 2016 – Birthday!

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Beebamom

Today I start out with coffee cake especially made for me by our daughter for my birthday. It replicates the ones that we used to get our house when I was growing up from the Dugan man with his expandable case of wares. It is delicious.  The recipe she uses is from the Simply Recipes site and is called Swedish Coffee Bread (Tea Ring.) You can also find it at http://www.braisinhussy.com/2016/12/08/dugan-ish-coffee-cake/

Swedish coffee bread (tea ring)

Swedish coffee bread (tea ring)

For dinner we dine out with our friends, George and Karen. George has a birthday the day after mine so we always celebrate together. This year is pretty low key since George is recovering from Achilles tendon surgery. We go to a local place called Piatti’s and I have penne with merguez sausage.  It is good but I take most of it home.

Penne with merguez sausage

Penne with merguez sausage

 

Posted in Baking, Desserts, Dining out, Lamb, Pasta, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Birthday Eve Dinner – 12/7/16

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Beebamom

This is not dining lite. It is my birthday eve and I get to pick what I want to eat for dinner and John will make it. So I choose fried scallops, tater tots (because our daughter is eating with us,) and spinach. Somewhere along the way the spinach got lost.

Fried scallops with tater tots

Fried scallops with tater tots

Fish Market tartar sauce for the scallops and ketchup for the tater tots. Boy howdy, do I love this dinner! It almost makes up for having to say that I am a year older.

Posted in Shellfish | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Leftover Lunch – 12/7/16

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Beebamom

It is chilly and gloomy in sunny California today. I need something warm for lunch! I look in the refrigerator (rummage, rummage) and I find some chicken from last night’s sous vide, a container of brown rice that I made on Monday, half of a carrot, half of a green onion, some wilting dark greens from a ready-to-eat salad mix, and a partial box of chicken stock. Sounds like soup to me! Two minutes of chopping, two and a half minutes of microwaving, and thirty seconds of picture taking and I am having my lunch soup in 5 minutes!

Leftover chicken, rice, and vegetable soup

Leftover chicken, rice, and vegetable soup

Posted in leftovers, Poultry, rice, Vegetables | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Chicken Tuesday – 12/6/16

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Beebamom
Sous vide chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans

Sous vide chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans

Still recovering from my upset so I was just looking for something soothing tonight.

Posted in Poultry, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Guilty pleasure – 12/6/16

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Beebamom

We made this cheesecake for my birthday celebration that was supposed to occur this past Sunday. We were going to take it over to share with the grandkids and family.

Cheesecake with sour cream topping

Cheesecake with sour cream topping

I am notorious for not liking desserts but this cheesecake recipe which I got from the Kraft site is very similar to the one my mom used to make and I like it a lot. Then I got sick and the party was cancelled. So a cheesecake that was supposed to be shared by 7 or 8 became a dessert for only 3! I have had two slivers so far now that I am feeling better but that is already 100% more than I intended to eat.

Posted in Desserts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Turkey loaf – 12/5/16

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Beebamom

After my happy return to cooking this past Friday, I promptly got sick with a bad bout of intestinal misery. Needless to say I did not do much eating. I am pretty much better now and back in the kitchen.

Turkey loaf, brown rice, and zucchini

Turkey loaf, brown rice, and zucchini

I think Santa approves of my foray back into eating. Although turkey loaf can never replace meatloaf, this is a pretty good try. The secret is to use plenty of mushrooms that you have whizzed up in your food processor and then cooked until all the water has steamed off. Turkey loaf also needs a lot of seasoning. In addition to salt, I also used Worcestershire sauce and my favorite flavor fixer, fish sauce. I made a couple of cups worth of brown rice using the oven method. There’s not much to say about the zucchini but John liked the results.

 

Posted in Poultry, rice, Vegetables | Tagged , , | Leave a comment