What Are You Eating Today?

[Treedbear]

Baked a loaf of bread. Made a half gallon of yogurt. Tried a new recipe from tv today. Ikarian Braised Pork from Milk Street and credited to Diane Kochilas who does her own show that airs on PBS called My Greek Table. Came out really nice. I've given up on the Chili Verde con Cerdo. I've tried other pork stews without coming up with anything that didn't leave me thinking I should have just pan seared a chop. This recipe calls for pork shoulder but I opt for the leaner pork loin cut. I just add extra olive oil. Cut it up into 2 inch cubes, browned each in a Dutch oven. Removed and cooked down some red onions plus white wine. Added fennel seeds, dry rosemary, dry oregano, a bay leaf, some buckwheat honey and some water. Into a 325F oven for 2 hours. Remove pork and added the juice and zest from one orange, a little more olive oil, and more buckwheat honey. Reduced over low heat to thicken a bit. Added a little more dry oregano and a dash of apple cider vinegar and then mix in the pork until coated. There wasn't much sauce even though I lowered the ratio of pork to the other ingredients. But it was tasty. I got 3 servings out of 2 pounds of pork loin. The pork flavor came through nicely and the orange/buckwheat honey made a nice contrast similar to a Chinese sweet and sour sauce. Best part it was easy and more interesting than a plain pork chop.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Against all natural law, I extended the high calorie holiday eatin' season and baked Norwegian Christmas Bread (Julekake) yesterday. I fear that my workouts at the Y will not cover it.

 

[ZiprHead]

I made tuna macaroni salad. Tuna (water packed), farfalle pasta, yellow bell peppers, onion, celery and boiled eggs. But instead of drowning it in mayo, I used a fat-free balsamic vinaigrette. Came out quite tasty.

 

[rousseau]

Nothing too extravagant but we've started blanching our vegetables lately (boiling in water). I mentioned it before, but lately it's turning out well as we've figured out we can cook them in our larger, stock pot, rather than being confined to our steamer or a small pot. So now we'll buy 2-3 heads of broccoli per week (or other vegetables), and cook a massive amount of it all at once, stem included. Takes ten minutes and we have broccoli for three or four meals.

 

[Angry Floof]

African Chicken Peanut soup leftovers, but also thinking of making some broccoli and rice mushroom casserole later.

I like Rhea's idea of steaming a ton of vegetables at once to eat over several days. I love keeping food preparation to a minimum while still having real food available.

 

[southernhybrid]

Nothing too extravagant but we've started blanching our vegetables lately (boiling in water). I mentioned it before, but lately it's turning out well as we've figured out we can cook them in our larger, stock pot, rather than being confined to our steamer or a small pot. So now we'll buy 2-3 heads of broccoli per week (or other vegetables), and cook a massive amount of it all at once, stem included. Takes ten minutes and we have broccoli for three or four meals.

I just cook most of my fresh vegetables in the microwave. It's quick, easy and you lose less of the water soluble vitamins that way. If we don't finish eating all of our fresh microwaved vegetables, we give them to our dogs, who love all vegetables as much as we do.

I do make asparagus with butter and lemon juice in a pan. It takes all of 5 minutes and they are delicious that way.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/microwave-cooking-and-nutrition#:~:text=Using%20the%20microwave%20with%20a%20small%20amount%20of,let%27s%20not%20get%20too%20lost%20in%20the%20details.

Some nutrients break down when they're exposed to heat, whether it is from a microwave or a regular oven. Vitamin C is perhaps the clearest example. But because microwave cooking times are shorter, cooking with a microwave does a better job of preserving vitamin C and other nutrients that break down when heated.

As far as vegetables go, cooking them in water robs them of some of their nutritional value because the nutrients leach out into the cooking water. For example, boiled broccoli loses glucosinolate, the sulfur-containing compound that may give the vegetable its cancer-fighting properties (as well as the taste that many find distinctive and some find disgusting). Is steaming vegetables — even microwave steaming — better? In some respects, yes. For example, steamed broccoli holds on to more glucosinolate than boiled or fried broccoli.

Make it easy on yourself. Cut up what you plan to eat for any given meal, pop them into the microwave for 4 or 5 minutes and enjoy.

 

[crazyfingers]

I have never liked Mac n cheese. It's what the boys make for themselves when my wife and I don't feel like cooking. Usually it comes after I've made something on the grill or oven and there may only be enough leftovers for me and my wife.

Or it's also true that the boys have something stuck up their butts about leftovers. They love the breaded chicken my wife makes but we can't get them to eat the leftovers the next night. So if they aren't going to eat the leftovers we aren't making them anything. It's up to them.

It seems that the only leftovers that they are willing to eat are white rice, plain pasta and cheesy tacos.

Gone are the days when I was a kid. I ate what my mom made for my dad whether I liked it or not. The option was to go hungry.

 

[crazyfingers]

So what's for dinner tonight? I have no idea. If I had my way I'd cook some of those pre-cooked, ready to warm up BBQ ribs and the boys will make mac n cheese cuz they don't like the ribs.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Yesterday I splurged on a fish sandwich and a loaf of Italian bread. Just finished the bread today, enjoying it with olive oil and some salt. I never before tried microwaving day-old bread to moisten it up but it really works.

 

[southernhybrid]

Yesterday I splurged on a fish sandwich and a loaf of Italian bread. Just finished the bread today, enjoying it with olive oil and some salt. I never before tried microwaving day-old bread to moisten it up but it really works.

It works for stale cake or muffins as well.

I keep my bakery bread in the freezer and just take out a piece or two when I need it. Last night we had sirloin burgers for dinner and the rolls in the freezer from January were as fresh as they were when I bought them.

 

[Angry Floof]

African chicken peanut soup is even better heated up as leftovers. I wish I had some naan bread to go with it. I guess I'm mixing cuisines with that idea, but naan would be so perfect with this soup.

 

[rousseau]

Nothing too extravagant but we've started blanching our vegetables lately (boiling in water). I mentioned it before, but lately it's turning out well as we've figured out we can cook them in our larger, stock pot, rather than being confined to our steamer or a small pot. So now we'll buy 2-3 heads of broccoli per week (or other vegetables), and cook a massive amount of it all at once, stem included. Takes ten minutes and we have broccoli for three or four meals.

I just cook most of my fresh vegetables in the microwave. It's quick, easy and you lose less of the water soluble vitamins that way. If we don't finish eating all of our fresh microwaved vegetables, we give them to our dogs, who love all vegetables as much as we do.

I do make asparagus with butter and lemon juice in a pan. It takes all of 5 minutes and they are delicious that way.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/microwave-cooking-and-nutrition#:~:text=Using%20the%20microwave%20with%20a%20small%20amount%20of,let%27s%20not%20get%20too%20lost%20in%20the%20details.

Some nutrients break down when they're exposed to heat, whether it is from a microwave or a regular oven. Vitamin C is perhaps the clearest example. But because microwave cooking times are shorter, cooking with a microwave does a better job of preserving vitamin C and other nutrients that break down when heated.

As far as vegetables go, cooking them in water robs them of some of their nutritional value because the nutrients leach out into the cooking water. For example, boiled broccoli loses glucosinolate, the sulfur-containing compound that may give the vegetable its cancer-fighting properties (as well as the taste that many find distinctive and some find disgusting). Is steaming vegetables — even microwave steaming — better? In some respects, yes. For example, steamed broccoli holds on to more glucosinolate than boiled or fried broccoli.

Make it easy on yourself. Cut up what you plan to eat for any given meal, pop them into the microwave for 4 or 5 minutes and enjoy.

Thanks for the tip, I didn't realize that (re: boiling water). We used to steam which is apparently ok, blanching is a new thing. We'll have to look into this a little further.

 

[Rhea]

We are all about leftovers. I cook leftovers on purpose.

Tonight we did red lentil koftas with tzatziki sauce served over dressed romaine, a side of cucumber tomato pepper dice in pomegranate dressing.

And leftovers for lunch tomorrow! We love leftover lunches.



Koftas from here
https://www.mediterrasian.com/delicious_recipes_red_lentil_kofta.htm


Salad from here - we substituted pomegranate vinegar for pomegranate molasses
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/red-lentil-kofte-tomato-cucumber-salad

And we made the tzatziki from some recipe, too.

 

[gmbteach]

Speaking of leftovers, I did a roast pork a couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday, which is unusual. So I froze the rest of the cooked meat after we had the crackling and some of the meat. I defrosted it and blitzed it into a ‘mince’, added capsicum that had wilted, canned mix veg, canned sliced champignons, canned four bean mix, tinned tomatoes, some tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, herbs and spices, and voila!

I then out most in an oven proof dish with mash potato on top, (grated cheese between sauce and potato) and presto - cottage/shepherds pie!

There was enough mince for the pie (which fed three adults last night and Bilby and I tonight) and three small serves for my lunches this week. And, as I said, dinner is prepped for tonight - just gotta chuck it in an oven until heated!

 

[Angry Floof]

I make leftovers on purpose, too. It's now I can have a yummy homecooked hot meal every day for 4-5 days without having to cook all those days. I don't like cooking on a daily basis. I only enjoy cooking once in a while especially when trying new recipes. Everyday cooking is a chore to me. And I know myself - I need food to be easy and quick most of the time so I have to keep healthy quick foods available or else I'll eat junk.

Speaking of leftovers, I did a roast pork a couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday, which is unusual. So I froze the rest of the cooked meat after we had the crackling and some of the meat. I defrosted it and blitzed it into a ‘mince’, added capsicum that had wilted, canned mix veg, canned sliced champignons, canned four bean mix, tinned tomatoes, some tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, herbs and spices, and voila!

I then out most in an oven proof dish with mash potato on top, (grated cheese between sauce and potato) and presto - cottage/shepherds pie!

There was enough mince for the pie (which fed three adults last night and Bilby and I tonight) and three small serves for my lunches this week. And, as I said, dinner is prepped for tonight - just gotta chuck it in an oven until heated!

Brilliant!

 

[Treedbear]

...
I like Rhea's idea of steaming a ton of vegetables at once to eat over several days. I love keeping food preparation to a minimum while still having real food available.

I steam green beans, broccoli, okra, corn, asparagus. But it's so easy that the loss of texture and taste from making extra and reheating it isn't worth it to me. I do extra baked potatoes because they normally take and hour, and they're almost as good reheated in the microwave if you put enough fixings on top. But over-cooked broccoli is so sad.

 

[crazyfingers]

Between me, my wife and two boys we are having frozen vegies along with: Leftover lasagna, leftover pizza and leftover steak tips. I get the steak.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Between me, my wife and two boys we are having frozen vegies along with: Leftover lasagna, leftover pizza and leftover steak tips. I get the steak.

If it wasn't for leftovers and frozen veggies I'd starve. Cooking everyday is only for people who enjoy cooking everyday. If you're going Blue Apron for two that counts as dinner and a date.

Microwaved eggs are pretty sweet, had some today, they are one of the few things I cook as needed. If you add a bit of almond milk to the recipe, maybe a quarter cup of almond milk to four eggs, it doesn't explode in the microwave between stirrings. Then you can enjoy them right out of the same bowl.

 

[crazyfingers]

Between me, my wife and two boys we are having frozen vegies along with: Leftover lasagna, leftover pizza and leftover steak tips. I get the steak.

If it wasn't for leftovers and frozen veggies I'd starve. Cooking everyday is only for people who enjoy cooking everyday. If you're going Blue Apron for two that counts as dinner and a date.

Microwaved eggs are pretty sweet, had some today, they are one of the few things I cook as needed. If you add a bit of almond milk to the recipe, maybe a quarter cup of almond milk to four eggs, it doesn't explode in the microwave between stirrings. Then you can enjoy them right out of the same bowl.

Microwave scrambled eggs, cheese and summer squash all in one glass bowl is excellent

 

[Rhea]

Tonight was pierogies with red onions and fake bacon sauteed in butter. Not healthy but so yummy! And for “dessert,” it is several spoonsful of maple syrup as I boil down sap from our trees. Cannot tell you how good homemade maple syrup is. It beggars belief.