11-22-12 to 12-2-12

Thanksgiving and the Next Week

I thought I would cover a few more things besides just dinner this entry.

Thanksgiving Day - the boys were with Jenny so I accepted an invitation for dinner at a friends house.  I offered to make a sweet potato casserole with pecans.  I had one in mind that was sweeter or more dessert like, but ended up with one that was healthier and still pretty good.

 Black Friday - the boys were sleeping in even after getting back from my run.  I made them pancakes which were from an Ihop style recipe.   Sometime later that weekend my youngest told me that he liked that I "just started randomly making pancakes".  Glad I made them!

For dinner I grilled some chicken which I picked up at Target.  We stopped by there for some other things and I didn't feel like making separate stop at the grocery store.  I threw it into a bag with some random marinade from a bottle and it came out really good.  Can't remember what else I had that night, probably corn and mashed potatoes.

Saturday - out to eat at Carraba's

Sunday - Ok, it was supposed to be grill night but due to various errands and already being out, we stopped at Westshore Pizza - 2 slices and a drink for $6.00.  Hadn't been there for a long time

Monday - Back to cooking!  Well, sort of.  Since it was supposed to be Tae Kwon Do night, planned something simple: soup and grilled cheese.

Tuesday - Ok, real cooking today.  Beef barley stew.  I didn't have beef stock like the recipe called for so I just used a couple of vegetable bouillon cubes.  As added carrots (I actually had a vegetable peeler this time), can of tomatoes, and a can of corn.  I love this stew and I've like using the slow cooker a lot each time I've used it (it's also the rice cooker too).

Wednesday - Enchilada night.  Used the Old El Paso kit again which has the tortillas, meat seasoning and ranchero sauce.  Add chicken and shredded cheese.  Served with refried beans on the side.  The boys and I love this dinner.  I think I might try non-kit version next time!

Thursday - Spaghetti night with meatballs, fresh parmesan cheese and garlic bread.

Friday - I promised younger son salmon for dinner but I knew older son didn't care for salmon.  Store was taking longer than planned and I ended up getting more salmon than I usually do as well as a prepared piece of Chicken Cordon Blue.   Turned out we were having an extra dinner guest, glad I had extra salmon.  The chicken had been baking when I put the salmon on.  Checked on it a few minutes later to find the grill cold - out of gas.  So, cooked the salmon in the oven.  Mashed potatoes on the side and random freezer vegetable (creamed spinach).

Saturday - Older son went to a friends house, so I took younger son to the local Chinese/Japanese restaurant.

(12/2) Sunday - Worked on several things during the day including putting up Christmas lights.  I'm not sure where the time went.  By the time I finished with the lights it was already 6:00.  So, we went out again.  Went to a good local Thai restaurant - Thai Samurai.

11-4-12 to 11-11-12

Another successful week of dinners, although I did feel a little less organized this week as well as a little less imaginative.  However, the plan came together at least.

11-4 : The kids came over late enough that it was after dinner

11-5 : It was my oldest son's birthday just recently, so my parents took us all out to one of his favorite places - Sweet Tomatoes.  I didn't used to care for it when I first started going, but it ended up growing on me, now I really enjoy it.  Birthday cake at home afterward.

11-6 : Curried lentils and rice.  This time I actually had everything that the recipe called for including the tomato puree (turns out that substituting just about any tomato product seems to work).  For efficiency, I boiled the dry lentils before I went to work, then left them in the fridge.  Really helped speed things up.

11-7 : Roast Beef Au Jus.  The kids really love this one and making it makes me feel like a "real" cook since I'm using shallots (sounds fancy!).  Sides were shredded cabbage (didn't have time to make it into cole slaw) and a bowl of red grapes to pick at.

11-8 : Spaghetti and Meatballs w/ fresh grated Parmesan cheese and garlic bread.  When I was at the deli the night before I grabbed a small container of meatballs (7 good sized ones).  They were better than the frozen ones I had been buying.  Soon I will make my own.

11-9 : Friday Bite Night! - shrimp cocktail (arranged myself instead of buying one of those pre-made rings since I had some cocktail sauce left over), rice, piece of salmon for youngest son, edamame in the shell, taquitos, Friday's jalepeno poppers, and bagel bites.  Everyone loves bite night!  (and with the rice, shrimp and edamame it is at least a semi-healthy meal).

11-10 : we went to Busch Gardens and at the Desert Grill (other big favorite there is Zambia Smokehouse), or a theme park, they have pretty good food.

11-11: Grilled sirloin steak, grilled asparagus and mashed potatoes (pre-made, they were buy-one, get-one at Publix so a pretty good deal, and a huge hit).  Boys had "Ice" (flavored fizzy water, 0 cal), and I enjoyed a glass of wine :)


So, no new recipes this week, but 7 nights of providing decent meals.

10-21-12 to 10-28-12

Week 2 of writing down what is for dinner.  Again I started out with a plan and things have gone pretty close.

On Sunday, 10/21 I cooked Turkey Burgers on the grill for the kids and my parents.  We had toppings for the burgers (lettuce, tomato, onion), there was cold shrimp to snack on before dinner as well as chips and salsa.

10/22 - Easy night with Soup (Progresso Clam Chowder), and grilled cheese sandwiches.  The kids had off from school and I offered to take them to Busch Gardens but they wanted to relax at home.

10/23 - Madras Lentils (on sale at Costco) served on top of rice. (I had a recipe for curried sweet potato and cauliflower but due to being short on time and the boys wanting to taste the costco lentils we tried these).  They verdict was they liked my homemade curried lentils MUCH better (I do too).

10/24 - Chicken Enchiladas and side salad (shredded iceberg and grape tomatoes),  yes, these were based on the Old El Paso enchilada kit which contained two types of sauce and tortillas.  I browned some cut up chicken breast and topped with two kinds of cheese.  These were a big hit!

10/25 - My first ever slow cooker stew.  Beef barley with carrots, onions, tomatoes and corn.  I based this on a recipe I found but added some of my own touches.  Unfortunately I added a bit too much rosemary, but other than that it was a success.  Lots of leftovers which I froze and will eat next week.

10/26 - Friday is Pizza Night.  They had these really good pizzas at Costco.  Four of them in a box, just plain cheese, so I'll add some extra toppings before baking (probably sliced onions and pepperoni)

10/27 - Going out night.  This night should be easy, but due to circumstances such as going out to restaurants too often in the past, it's not so easy.  Sometimes, one of the kids does not want to go out, and sometimes they just can't agree on where.  So, tonight ended up being Outback Steakhouse which happens to be just 1 mile away, practically on the edge of the neighborhood.  We are blessed to have so many choices that we could walk to (something perhaps that "city folk" might take for granted, lol).   Besides Outback, there is a Tijuana Flats, Bonefish, a Sushi Place, a Beer and Wings type place, Subway, a local type steak/sushi/Italian nightlife kind of place, IHOP, and a small local pizza place (to name most of them).

10/28 - Sunday.  On the weekly menu, I call this "Grillmaster" night, which is another name for I'm planning on cooking something on the grill but I'm not sure what.  Tonight's grill was hamburgers, 93% lean beef (almost tried the 96% lean organic but was afraid they'd be dry), served on bakery french style rolls (at least that's what they are called), along with standard toppings of lettuce, sliced tomatoes, onions, and banana peppers.  Grilled corn for the vegetable (tasted buttery even though no butter was used).  For dessert - pumpkin pie.  I bought it at the store, and often don't like them as much but the sample I had while shopping convinced me.   But, now I have about half a pie left for the week by myself.

First Post 10-7-12 to 10-14-12

A long time ago I was in the Navy and received food service officer training.  I spent some time helping to run the mess decks and some time running the Officer's Mess (Wardroom).  I didn't get a lot of hands on with actual cooking but I did learn a lot.

I spent a short time in college flipping burgers in the dining hall.

I've learned a little bit of cooking here and there.

But after years of being married to an excellent cook my cooking confidence went into decline.  So now, with necessity dictating that I become good at it or at least better, I have no choice.

The main point of this blog is just to write down what I've cooked for the kids, maybe I'll throw in some background information here and there, but this is mainly just going to be a way to log meals.

10-7-12 To 10-14-12 Meals

Monday -  Curried lentils and rice
Tuesday -  Chicken Fajitas
Wednesday - Creamy Tomato Basil Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Thursday - Spaghetti and Meatballs
Friday - "Bite Night" - mishmash of things - white rice, shrimp cocktail ring*, Friday's BBQ sliders, buffalo popcorn chicken, steamed edamame
Saturday - Eating out night - we went to Crispers which is a restaurant chain owned by Publix.  The nearby location had been closed for a while but just opened back up.
Sunday - Grilled Quail**, steamed baby carrots and snow pea pods, jasmine rice and fresh pineapple

* - the shrimp cocktail ring was free!  I wanted a smaller one ($9.99), but they only had larger ones which were marked $13.99 - however it rang up at $14.99.  I pointed out the difference, thinking she would just credit back $1.00 but instead canceled it out to $0.00 since it is store policy to not charge for an item which does not scan.

** - two weeks ago I bought a 3 lb package of quail, which contained 3 - 1lb. packages, so one more package left.  Already marinaded and easy to do on the grill (just 15 minutes), very fancy dinner