What's for dinner?

[MountainDon]

Ling Ling® Potstickers:
delicate pasta shells filled with a blend of the highest quality meats, freshest vegetables and special seasonings. For almost 20 years, Ling Ling Potstickers have been available at supermarkets and club stores across America and Canada. Flavors: Chicken & Vegetable, Pork & Vegetable

http://www.ling-ling.com/home.html

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Fried salt pork, gravy, steamed broccoli (hey had to balance out the fried salt pork and gravy with something), and cornbread.  I made the gravy really bland, too since the meat was salty enough to salt everything else.  I feel fatter already.

[Redoverfarm]

Never tried them Don. Look a little like perogie's.  Will have to give them a try when I get to a market that has them . Not here I guarantee you.  Too late to eat now it 11:30 bed time(past).

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Fried catfish, homemade bread (this time I used roughly 1/3 freshly ground WW flour, and it turned out way better than the white bread version), smashed skin-on taters, salsa and chips, brownies with walnuts... yep, I know, terrible meal for us, but did taste pretty good.

[Sassy]

We had a great dinner over at Whitlock's & Flutterby's house last night - baked salmon filets, rice medley, brownies with walnuts (served hot with whipped cream - ummm, yummy  &  freshly salad that I picked right before going over there (lettuce, carrots, celery, broccoli, & cherokee purple tomato sprinkled with grated romano cheese).  I hadn't had salmon for a long time & it really tasted good.

Tonite we are having lasagna (Costco of course  can't really make it any better or cheaper than they make it); broiled French bread & another fresh salad - I found some little cauliflowers & also picked some "miner's lettuce" that grows wild around here.  Made some "cowboy" cookies - I kind of change the recipe a bit - use organic coconut oil, wholewheat flour, brown sugar, eggs, oatmeal bran, organic oatmeal, coconut, ground up almonds from our farm(couldn't find the walnuts), ground fresh cranberries (I'd frozen them) & a high fiber organic flax cereal I get from Trader Joe's (shhh, don't tell Glenn that there is anything healthy in the cookies  )  Anyway, we're about to eat now.  DH had to work down in the valley today... 

[Sassy]

MtnDon, I've had Lingling potstickers - they're really good!

[MountainDon]

Yes they are!! 

Fresh bakery whole wheat bread, baked salmon (again... we love it) and a salad tonight.

[Sassy]

Forgot, we had bakery fresh whole wheat French bread with the salmon & French with tonite's meal (the specialty breads from Costco's bakery...)  hmmm, seems like we get a lot of stuff from there.... 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Well, it is COLD here today and we're in the midst of an ice storm today, so I think we'll have some warm comfort food tonight.  Maybe goulash and homemade bread....I need to bake something just to help warm the house up.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Leftovers tonight.  I'm tired of cooking... actually I'm just tired.  We've all had a cold and been up a lot at nights with kids.

[Sassy]

Making split pea & ham soup on the wood stove today.  Yesterday I made up a batch of the Artisan Free Form Bread that considerations posted a ways back.  It turned out pretty good (only cooked one loaf - the rest of the dough is in the fridge), I'm going to bake another loaf tonight.  (still have 1/2 loaf from last night's) 

HG, can you post your recipe again?  Or let me know where it was posted.  Thanks.  Hope you & your family are feeling better real soon. 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

You mean the peasant bread or the refrigerator one?  If it is the refrigerator one, it is basically the same as the one Considerations posted, only I didn't copy it verbatim and I put my two cents in on what I did differently since I don't own a pizza peel or a baking stone... and since my oven in the rent house is a piece of junk.  The one Considerations posted is actually a much better representative of the original recipe; I was just too lazy to retype it all.  FWIW, I fiddled with the recipe a little more this week and replaced 2.5 cups of all purpose flour with 2.5 cups of freshly ground whole wheat and the bread came out way better than before.  So, when I baked the last of it today, I mixed up the new batch with 4 cups regular flour, 2.5 cups freshly ground rye, and I added dill and flax.  Wanted to add some caraway, but was out of it.  Will post the results if I bake any of it tomorrow.  My last loaf of the part whole wheat/part white flour bread that I baked today was even better than the first ones.  I haven't been washing the dough container between batches, just scraping down the sides, so now it has a really nice sourdough taste.  Bought some goat's milk cheese tonight and am looking forward to trying it with the dilly-rye.  I like having the sourdough taste without the maintainence of a starter... I used to keep a gallon jar of sourdough starter and it would occasionally come alive and get wild. More than once I had those "I love Lucy" moments where I came into the kitchen and found the sourdough taking over everything, so it is nice to have the flavor without the hassle.     Besides, when the weather would get warm, I would slow down on baking, and then I'd have more than I'd know what to do with... have to call a baking day in the middle of the week just to use some up.

[muldoon]

had to show off some pics from a superbowl experiment, smokin a fattie. 

mule deer breakfast sausage we made up in the fall with sage and garlic.  added cream cheese and jalapenos inside, then rolled up and wrapped in bacon.  Left it on smoke (pecan and hickory) for 3 1/2 hours and obliterated it in 20 minutes. Dear Lord Baby Jesus-- It was goooooood!!!

[glenn kangiser]

Dang - that makes me hungry.  Hey muldoon, a new micro-brewery opened here by the fairgrounds.  I'll drink one for ya.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Darn, Muldoon, that looks awfully good!  We are kind of eating light these days.  For one, we're trying to clear out the pantry and fridge before moving at the end of the month, and for two, the stupid garbage disposal in our rent house died and won't allow it or the dishwasher to drain, thus flooding the kitchen, so I'm having to wash dishes for five by hand for three meals a day, so whenever possible, I'm limiting it to one-pan meals, and even then wishing I had some paper plates (yes, I'm a wuss...I love my dishwasher.)   Tonight it will be pork roast with whatever veggies can cook with it! 

Anyway, just spent the morning packing.  I wish we could move tomorrow.  I have about filled half of the guest room with boxes, and already the house is starting to look pretty empty.  That's a good sign.  The house we offered on is about 1400 sq. ft., so it is good to know that there really is room enough for us there.  Our stuff has expanded to fill this 2000+ sq. ft. house, but it is because it is far less organized than we were in our 1400 sq. ft. house in WI.  Glenn, did Sassy ever say which of the bread recipes she meant? 

[glenn kangiser]

Not sure on the bread but she will be here tonight so she can check it - she made one already.

[Sassy]

Muldoon, you sure make some interesting & yummy looking food!  I was working during the superbowl - wasn't paying attention anyway...  one of the health techs had his radio on.  I thought it was going to be a slow day on Sunday because of the bowl - and also it was really busy on Saturday, but noooo, we were hopping all day!

HG, I think it was the recipe that you refrigerated all night.  I had copied the recipe to the front of my computer but since that one stopped working, I don't have it anymore.  I made the recipe considerations posted - the artisan bread.  It turned out much better the next day when I baked another loaf - seemed like the sitting overnight made the bread texture better.  That recipe was soooo easy - just wish I could put more whole wheat in it...  I used to make homemade bread & would add oatmeal, bran, raisins dates, walnuts, cinnamon, sunflower seeds - I was always experimenting.   Just don't feel like kneading the bread...  too much work. 

BTW, HG, why doesn't the landlord fix anything there?  I'm sure you're paying plenty of rent!  Well, I don't have a disposal or dishwasher at either place...  actually there is bot at the house in the valley but the dishwasher quit working & Glenn told me I didn't need one...  & we've never been able to use the disposal really due to the grease trap of something - don't know why, for sure.   

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Sassy, the bread recipes that Considerations and I posted are the same, from the same source, only I just was too lazy to type it verbatim.  Also, I've experimented with it and it has been good.  I subbed about 1/3 of the flour with fresh ground WW flour, and that turned out far better htan the original bread.  Then I tried it with rye, dill, and flax... would've been better with caraway seed, but I was out, but all in all not bad.  Considerations posted a much more accurate version of the recipe than I did.  Oh, and I had to lower the oven temp to 425 or it was the texture of hardtack, but that is probably just this lousy oven.

Oh, and as for the landlords, no, they don't fix a dang thing.  This is the most rotten lease and management company I've ever seen... they are far worse than the slumlords for the old apartments I lived in in college.  Shower's been leaking into the master bedroom closet since the third month we lived here, and they have yet to even come look at it even though we have complained IN WRITING at least 4 times.  Then there's the dangerous falling cabinets in the kitchen, the dead disposal that renders half the sink useless, and the dishwasher that floods the floor when someone accidentally uses that side of the sink.   There is the scary wiring in the master closet that causes the light to blow out once a week or more... we finally gave up and just keep a flashlight in there so we can see our clothes.  Oh, and the mouse and  dangerous spider infestation.  NOPE, won't miss this place one bit.  Oh, and did I mention that they are going to raise the rent March 1st???  Oh, and the heating bill alone last month was nearly $300, and yet we have to wear additional sweaters and/or coats in the house all the time because it is so cold, and this has been a really mild winter so far.  Only 24 more days!!!

[Sassy]

Thanks, HG - your recipes sound like mine - I rarely ever go by the official recipe - the bread is good & soooo easy...  thanks, considerations for posting it again & the directions are very easy to follow.

Can't believe how terrible that rental is!  And supposedly it's one of the nicer houses?  When we 1st rented out my house I had before we got married, Glenn put in a new stove, dishwasher & garbage disposal.  Something went wrong with the dishwasher within the 1st couple months & we had to replace it.  Whenever something needs to be fixed, if the renters know how to do it, they just send the bill along with the rent (minus what it cost to get fixed), ahem, that is, when they actually pay the rent...  they're good for awhile & then don't pay for awhile - then we end up having the husband put a new roof on a house (he's a roofing contractor) or paint a house or whatever - pretty irritating, though, because he'll keep promising to send the rent & then doesn't - they're nice people & keep the place real nice & don't bug us much, but not real consistent with paying... 

I sure hope you get your place before the end of the month.  It's been a long time...

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

You and me both!  The son of the lady that lives there is afraid he can't get her out by the end of the month, but his realtor is kind of pushing for him to because she knows we need a place to move to.  I suggested that maybe she could store some of her stuff in the garage until they could pick it all up so that we would have a place to move to, but not sure that would work either because he's going to have to make several trips back and forth, and he lives a couple of hours away.  As for me, I'd be so glad just to have a place that is really ours.  Our lease here is the most restrictive lease I've ever seen (we are basically not supposed to touch anything) and it is expensive.  I am sure this house was an expensive house when it was built, but it was built on the cheap and has not been maintained worth a flip.  Yesterday I was packing stuff, and I opened up the bottom cabinet of the built-in bookshelf next to the fireplace, and there was a mouse's nest in amongst my photo albums.   As I've said before, there is a mouse super-highway in at the threshold of the backdoor, but it's been a month or so since we caught one, so I had hoped we were getting rid of them, but I guess they are just getting smarter.  Yesterday I packed most of the "homeschool room" (we think it is supposed to be the "formal" dining room, but it is too nice of a sunny spot only to use it for formal occasions, so it has been our school room and sewing room, etc.)  Also packed most of the living room.  Haven't ever unpacked many clothes since we've been living here, though I did pack up the maternity clothes when I was done with them... have been rotating the same four long-sleeve shirts and the same 4 t-shirts ever since we moved.    Also, one long sleeve dress and one sleeveless, ha ha. 

  Now begins the month where the "what's for dinner?" becomes a challenge of using up everything in fridge and freezer and pantry. Tonight will be leftover pork roast, potatoes, broccoli.

 

[MountainDon]

Grilled boneless chicken breasts, marinated in an oil & balsamic vinegar marinade. Twice baked potatoes; potao mixed with sour cream, sharp cheddar, some finely minced green onion and paprika. Tossed salad with snow peas and tomatoes. Beer and /or Pinot Grigio wine. 4 guests. Followed by a decadent double chocolate layer cake with darl chocolate icing and french vanilla ice cream.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Grilled chops marinated in spicy-sweet mustard, corn on the cob, sliced Asian pear.  Simple and satisfying.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Tonight was samgyetang (Korean style chicken stew with ginseng, bellflower root, sweet rice, garlic, chesnuts, and usually jujubes and green onions.)  YUM!

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Still trying to eat up stuff before moving.  Tonight I'm making grilled tilapia with lime and cilantro and red chilies... my kids LOVE it.  We'll have some grain (I don't know yet if it will be wheat, rice, barley, or millet) to go with it, and some sort of coleslaw. 

Tomorrow is my birthday, so I may bake myself a spice cake and make cream cheese icing, if for no other reason than to use the stuff up.  We have a little ham left, so we'll have it, some steamed broccoli, and if there is leftover slaw, some of that.

Valentine's Day will not be anything fancy.  Most likely some sort of egg casserole and whatever veggies we can scrape up.  Larder will definitely be getting low by then.

By Sunday, we'll have to get into some of the canned stuff to put a meal together... maybe salmon patties and rice, and canned corn?

[Terry]

HG, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope you have a great day.