Recipes and food ideas

1464

I’ve been working on using up the veggies that I got in the market surprise bag.

  • glass noodles, mint, nuac cham, pickled carrots, pickled red onion, shredded lettuce, boiled egg
  • hoisin baby broccoli, zucchini, baby bell peppers, and mushrooms finished with some leftover beef braise jus, over rice with peanuts and green onions
  • roast asparagus, fried eggs, salad, bacon, toast
  • mazeman (brothless) ramen, with leftover pork braise jus, rehydrated seaweed, cilantro, corn, green onions, egg
  • buttered miso roast tomatoes with spaghettini and ripped bocconcini

planning has been a struggle the past few weeks

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1465

I just did a pantry inventory Friday, before Hurricane Fiona came and the power went out. We’ve been eating storm food here. Power is back on, so it’s time to get to work menu planning. Thanks for the reminder!

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1466

Well, I was maybe a bit wrong. The Nigella recipe for lemon linguine was just OK. Kind of bland. We had to add salt and more lemon and more butter and Daughter even added some cream to hers. And we still have a bunch in the fridge. It’s not bad, it’s just not that good. I also made salmon with it but only three out of the five of us will eat fish so those two got stuck with just the bland pasta and some rolls.

The lentil soup went over better than I expected. It wasn’t amazing but it was good, and comforting as hoped. The kids liked it well enough so I guess they will tolerate red lentils even when they previously complained about green lentils.

This is neither a soup nor a pasta (although I’m thinking I’ll be generous with my definition of “pasta” for pasta nights) but it went over extremely well. Daughter liked the flavor but says she doesn’t love the texture of farro, but everyone else really loved it and asked that I make it again and double the recipe next time. I served it with sausage and that was good, too, because sausage isn’t something I ever serve but they liked it and yea for some variety. Plus, easy.

Thank you all for the recipes. I’m excited to try them, particularly that Alison Roman stew. @AllHat, I think I originally told you about that baked feta pasta! :grin: But thank you for the reminder of it because I remember it was easy and everyone liked it. The lemon artichoke chicken and rice dish looks so good, @Bracken_Joy, and I think my family will like it. Daughter loves rice and Son loves artichokes and we all love lemon. And super yea for one pot!

Do you think this recipe would be good if I used zucchini instead of eggplant? I don’t really like eggplant unless it’s in baba ganoush. baked orzo with eggplant and mozzarella – smitten kitchen

I made this cake yesterday. It’s almost gone. Very soft and spongy, nice buttery flavor, definitely would make again. But I’d use one more apple. French Apple Cake - Once Upon a Chef

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I think the biggest thing is that the zucchini would probably break down a lot more than the eggplant in the recipe? And maybe add more moisture. Since eggplant especially once you’ve salted it tends to hold its shape pretty well even as it softens, and zucchini kind of vaporizes a little bit more? So it might affect the texture and wetness a little bit, but I don’t think it would be a recipe ruiner.

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Yeah, that’s what I was worried about, the different moisture levels and the way zucchini can disappear if too cooked. I was thinking If I cut the zucchini into hearty chunks instead of slices it might help. I’m mostly tempted because both my kids love orzo and zucchini is like one of three vegetables that Daughter will eat. I’m always trying to figure out how to get vegetables in her. :flushed:

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1469

I think this would give you moisture pockets and would be worse is my hunch. I would probably shred it and wring it out in a towel and figure I just lose that textural component.

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I used to make this recipe all the time and it’s so, so tasty. I think zucchini is worth a try, maybe reduce the broth a little if you’re worried about the extra moisture? I do actually skip the carrots and celery because I don’t like celery at all and helps cut out a step while still being really good

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1471

Oh, that’s good to hear! Thanks! And yes, I’d skip the celery for sure. We’re all 100% certified celery haters in this house. NO thank you!

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1472

I have been in a meal planning rut too! Mostly making my usual standbys but then also getting bored of them and then wishing I had something else but not knowing what. I feel like it’s normal to get cook’s block, that’s what we call it lol, because I cook every household meal and have for 14 years, and before that was cooking just for myself for years it’s like yeah, anything you do that much you’re going to have some ruts. Especially since DH contributes precisely 0 to the process, lol, I learned after like 2 years to not even bother asking what he wants because it usually goes like this-

Me: What do you want for lunch/dinner this week?
Him: I don’t care, anything! I like everything you cook!
Me: Cool, I’ll do burritos.
Him: Ohhh…
Me: What?
Him: Nothing, nothing. I just wasn’t in the mood for burritos.
Me: Ok, is there anything else you’re not in the mood for?
Him: No, I like everything!
Me: Ok, I’ll do a stir fry.
Him: What kind of stir fry?
Me: The kind you always like, what kind do you think?
Him: I was just curious! I don’t know, I just wasn’t feeling in a stir fry mood I guess.
Me: Ok well what DO you want?
Him: I’m not sure…you decide!
Me: I’m going to poison you.

Also it’s like he doesn’t know his own tastes as well as I do? Like he’ll say he doesn’t like certain things, but I’ll be like, “SIR, you ate a ton of this literally a few weeks ago and proclaimed it incredible and asked me to make it again.” LOL. Anyway…

For me my need (it does feel like a need even if it’s not literally) for a huge array of variety in what I eat is what pulls me out. I have to get super super super bored and unsatisfied to be pushed into action! Perusing interesting food online helps, so this week I’m having:

Breakfast DH- Potato and Cheese Frittata
Breakfast Moi- Eggs and Avocado

Lunch DH- Pork Fried Rice
Lunch Moi- Sweet and Sour Chicken Soup (literally inspired by @greyweld who mentioned something about sweet and sour chicken)

Dinner 1-
Arancini w/ homemade tomato sauce

Dinner 2-
Cha Gio (fried springrolls) + Nuoc Cham (homemade sauce)

Dinner 3-
Will cross that bridge when I get to it.

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Hahaha, that’s entirely possible! Circle of life @noitsbecky

Unbreakable-Kimmy-Schmidt-Titus-does-the-Lion-King-600x310-1677701766

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Once upon a time Mr. Meer complained I made stir fry all the time so I deliberately didn’t make it for six months. The next time I made it he immediately said that I had “just” made stir fry. I said I hadn’t done it in six months and he was like “… oh.” I definitely was tempted to poison him at that point though, lol.

We at least split meal planning here but we each just pick whatever and don’t worry about who is in the “mood” for what, especially since we plan on Sunday and who knows what kind of mood you’ll be in on Friday?? On the flip side that’s how he did three different meatball based meals last week and three sausage based meals the week before that and I’m kind of over it all. He’s definitely more of a carnivore than I am. But overall we have an understanding at this point that there’s some meals we know the other person is meh about and those will come up sometimes but not often.

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Haha, that’s a lot of meatballs! I can’t imagine making that many meatballs in a week, lol. I like doing all of the cooking and always thought it was nicer to ask what he wanted because I cannot imagine giving someone else control over what I eat. Eventually I was just like, “do you just not want to have to ever make food decisions?” and he was like “OMG YES I HATE IT.” Apparently that was the source of our stupid back-and-forth. I was asking him what he wanted because I felt like I would want that kind of input, and he was being difficult because he is terrible at food things and also thought it was a form of showing he cared?

Now I just meal plan without asking and he knows he has an open door to make requests. So like maybe 4 times a year he asks for something specific and I make it but other than that I decide. It’s much easier but I just can’t imagine not caring! The only thing I seriously disliked about freshman year of college was living in a dorm because of campus food. By the third week I was using the common kitchen to make my own stuff, lol. I literally moved into an apartment the next year primarily so I could shop and cook. I never set foot in the cafeteria again, lol. But he genuinely doesn’t care that much what he eats. I do really like when he has a specific request! Because I love giving someone exactly what they want. It’s just not that often!

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Oh they were store bought and on sale, which didn’t help. I’ve realized I like my meatballs, not the ones from the freezer section at the store.

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Oooooof. Frozen meatballs are a special sort of hell IMO. My mother-in-law is super sweet but just a very different sort of person to me and when she found out I cooked years ago she started getting me “gourmet” type presents. So like, frozen meatballs from Omaha steaks, and stuff like that. I wanted to use them the first time she gifted them because we didn’t have a lot of money and it was food. I cooked one batch, took a bite, and couldn’t believe how gross they were. So sweet, too, like why is an Italian meatball sugary sweet? The texture too, like, spongy almost? Very strange. I’m pretty sure we threw them away. And every subsequent delivery too. I feel too bad to say anything because I know she thinks it’s like, really fancy food, and is trying so hard to do something that’s in the vein of what I enjoy. I totally just lie and tell her it’s great because that’s what I started after the first time at age 21 when I had zero assertiveness skills (and wanted to get along with my new mother in law) and now the con has gone on so long I can’t come clean. :laughing: She raves about how much I love those things, little spherical devils.

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Too bad that they changed the recipe or something and have been subpar the last year or so … wink wink nudge nudge.

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Is there an active Buy Nothing in your area? I’ve given away many “pumpkin spice artisan marshmallows” and other weird “foodie” shit on there :sweat_smile:

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1480

You’re a genius.

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1481

iceberg lettuce

I have a full head of iceberg and no ideas what to do.

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1482

Wedge salad :raised_hands:t2:

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Taco salad?

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