TrussedUp's Profile
cooking with a newborn
The first thing I thought of was the Mark Bittman 101 simple summer meals article that turned me on to cooking in the first place! Maybe take this time to stock up the pantry for the meals that look good?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/dining/18mini.html?pagewanted=all
What is the oldest family recipe you still use?
The oldest I regularly make is my grandfather's Swedish nanny's recipe for cardamom bread-- so, 1920s?. It was the first thing I learned to bake on my own, thanks to great instructions like "dough should be firm but springy, like a baby's bottom."
Easiest meals for the challenged and others...
-Can of black beans, can of corn, can of diced tomatos, and a diced red onion with italian dressing. Put it in a tortilla or add it to chicken.
-open-faced sandwiches in the oven or broiler. Current favorite: multigrain bread, slice of tomato, some deli turkey, slice of cheese.
-Cottage cheese with canned beats
-Scrambled eggs with anything.
-lots and lots of salads- dump a bag of prewashed lettuce in a big bowl and add whatever is on hand. Even a crumbled granola bar!
-Green Apples and peanut butter
-Red apples and cheddar
-hardboiled eggs with some mayo and mustard
-roasted veggies are really easy, and filling if you top them with a fried egg.
-Fried egg on cornmeal mush (I don't spent enough time on it to call it polenta! Boil water, pour in cornmeal slowly while stirring, and you're done in 5 minutes. maybe add some butter or milk). If I feel like I need greens I stir in some wilted spinach.
-Doctored can of soup. Open, add veggies or some chicken, sprinkle of hot sauce/soy sauce/etc
-chili over pasta. I try to make big batches and freeze in individual portions
-Roasted chickpeas with cumin, etc as a great snack to keep in the fridge
-deli ham wrapped around asparagus
-BLTs
-Tostadas. Torilla, cheese, chicken, salsa
-Sriracha on lentils! Gotta love lentils for weeknights. Or dressed with some good vinegar.
-Mini-quiches, heavy on veggies
-Sliced bell peppers with dip.
-Huge dutch oven of black beans made on the weekend, use as a base like I would pasta (homemade beans really do taste much better!) all week.
That's all I can think of! Thanks so much for starting this thread. I'm in school for advanced nursing and this isn't something I've thought of to talk about with my disabled clients. These ideas are great!
POLL: Can you walk to an actual grocery store?
10 minutes to a small trader traders joe's or and a whole foods, just around the corner from a small immigrant grocery store. Between the two chains, I'm pretty set, but there are certain things I need to get on the metro for. TJs is limited and I can't afford to buy all the staples at whole foods! I'm in DC
Need ideas for lunches-- no fridge, no microwave
These ideas are AMAZING! I knew there was stuff my poor, start-of-the-semester-fried brain wasn't thinking of.
Serious Thanks to all of you-- it's a small thing, but knowing that I've got some really good lunch options to look forward to makes everything seem a brighter. Grad school is freaking me out, and thinking about subsisting on trail mix made it seem that much more depressing and unbearable! Knowing a brie and pear sandwich/falafal/cold fried chicken/great olives in a nicoise await me at the end of three hours of patho is going to make this whole thing a lot more pleasant.
(Plus, I'm thinking one good meal (even if it IS fried chicken) is going to be a whole healthier than all the things I'd be munching on or "treating myself to" because nothing was satisfying. Funny how that works)
I'm off to buy a thermos and some freezable water bottles this weekend, and stock up. Please keep these ideas coming!!!!!
in response to Duchess: no, sadly, no fridge/microwave access for us ANYWHERE on campus. Undergrads can use their dorms or their cafeterias, but for grad students, we're either in our academic building with some funny code preventing them (they claim...), in the library, or in the hospital running around. We DO get lockers, though, so I can stash condiments and some emergency snacks.
also, I'd save it for dinner, too, but I'm thinking dinner is really going to be whatever I have pre-made and defrosted in the fridge when I get in at night. so, lunch is the biggie, and the time I'll need the boost most!
Need ideas for lunches-- no fridge, no microwave
I'm in a situation where I'm going to be on a campus for 10-12 hour days for a while, with no access to a microwave or refrigerator. Eating out more than 1x week is out for financial and health reasons.
So, any suggestions on what to bring? I'm going to get sick of granola bars, trail mix, and peanut butter sandwiches really fast. I don't want stuff that will risk leaking all over my laptop, take up too much space in my bag, or be totally unhealthy (it might get me frowned upon! And I don't handle refined carbs super well, and will need some protein to power through). I can do a small cooler with an icepack, but that has it's limits. It doesn't need to be super-foody, but it would be nice to have something yummy to look forward to mid-day, that feels different from a snack.
All I can think of that's an actual "meal" is cold peanut noodles and quinoa salad. Anything else? Ideally, it would all be stuff that 1) could be made with ingredients that could be bought over the weekend and kept 5-6 days and 2) take no more than 10-15 minutes to throw together at night or else be made 3-5 days in advance. No dietary restrictions, if that helps. I don't eat a ton of meat, but only because I find it spoils or gets freezer burn before I cook it!
I know that's a tall order. Thanks v. much in advance.
Bakers-- need your kind help with a recipe question
I saw that, but the reviews were mixed about the dough. I'm going to use his frosting, though :)
Bakers-- need your kind help with a recipe question
I'm embarrassed I need to ask this, but I'm not a baker. I'm throwing a brunch next weekend, and want to make cinnamon rolls. Only.....since I can't do much prep in the a.m., I want to make them the night before and simply bake them in the morning. I know this is possible, but I don't know what step I stop at! The first rise? The second? does it rise in the fridge or on my counter like bittman bread? Can I make the rolls all filled and have them sit and wait for me?
Here's the recipe (unless you all have a better one!)
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Yukon-Gold-Cinnamon-Rolls-351531
thanks so much!!!
Rasika Reviews?
My Pops is coming to DC on his way to a business trip for a one-night visit (and general parental check in).
He LOVES Indian food (spent a lot of time in that country for work and has some close Indian-American friends), and has a birthday coming up, so I was thinking it was the perfect excuse to finally go to Rasika. Is it worth it? It's certainly a special-occasion place for me!
If it is worth the trip, what should I make sure to order?
thanks in advance!
-----
Rasika Restaurant
633 D Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004
Wedding Brunch for 60-- please help me!
That's a good suggestion-- I don't really like sweets, so I don't think about them. Do you have any easy recipes I can make at home? We have either really upscale bakeries I can't afford in the budget or very bad grocery store stuff, so I'd need to make something.
Wedding Brunch for 60-- please help me!
Maybe I will have an empanada stuffing party the weekend before and fill some freezers. That makes it seem a lot more reasonable. 80? 100?
We have some vegetarians in the mix, and since the filling of empanadas isn't easily identifiable, I thought I'd keep them all veggie to avoid potential mistakes. If you have any veggie recipes I'd love to hear them. I do a black bean/plantain one I like, but I'd like one more.
Wedding Brunch for 60-- please help me!
I love the rick bayless idea! and those recipes look surprisingly do-able. They are on such a small scale, though, and things like fresh tomatoes add up. But bookmarked for another time! I hadn't considered a sweet empanada, but I love the idea.
It's on September 18, and assuming we make it through, I will report back!
Wish we could afford help, but with food, serveware, drinks, and perhaps renting some table and chairs, we'll already be cutting it tight. (crazy at that price!). Luckily, we have an army of young, strong friends willing and able to help out. That's why I want a strong plan to direct my awesome "troops"!
Wedding Brunch for 60-- please help me!
Bagels only because i know some people can't/won't bother to wrap a tortilla, and we've got an age range from 8-80, so I want something bland and easy (heck, some people still think of Tex-Mex as "ethnic"!). I agree that it's not exactly on theme.....
Wedding Brunch for 60-- please help me!
We have the City Paper "best of" peruvian chicken place right up the street! Great idea! Thanks. Bloody marys are also a good idea. Even if no one else wants a drink, I certainly will after the last guest leaves.
Wedding Brunch for 60-- please help me!
Hi 'Hounds,
My wedding gift to my best friend is going to be a post-wedding brunch held in our back yard in urban DC. I'm thrilled to be doing it-- she and her fiance met here as neighbors-- but as the RSVPs come in, I'm getting a little nervous about pulling it off.
Luckily, my friend has stressed that she wants it to be super-casual and home-made, so we've decided on a breakfast burrito buffet.
The menu:
-Scrambled eggs
-Chorizo
-Grilled/roasted peppers and onions
-homemade salsa (2 or 3 kinds)
-black beans
-purchased flour tortillas
-maybe some spanish tortillas?
-maybe homemade veggie empanadas?
-Fruit salad
-Bagels
-coffee, juice, etc.
The wedding will be on Saturday, and I'll be gone all day for it, and spending the night in a hotel 45 minutes from where I live that night. I'm driving back the next morning and people will begin to arrive around 11. Obviously, things are going to be done mostly before.
I'm taking Friday off of work. I'm going to roast lots of veggies in the oven, make a couple of pots of slow cooker black beans, and tackle the salsas. Perhaps empanadas, which are time consuming but very easy. Perhaps a few spanish tortillas. The eggs I'll scramble in the morning-- I've seen some recipes for doing that in the oven. The coffee, bagels, and fruit salad we'll pick up that morning.
Here are my questions:
-How much food? We're estimating 60-70 people right now, over the course of 3 hours.
-Does the menu look ok?
-Any foolproof recipes to add? For salsas, especially.
-Does this plan seem doable? strategy make sense? Our other best friend, who is throwing it with me, keeps saying maybe we should just have cosi cater. He also likes his steak baked gray.....
Any advice is appreciated! I'm a decent cook, and ambitious, but this is certainly the biggest project so far! Luckily, it is going to be very casual and the food is VERY simple. But, because it is so simple, I want it taste really good. The budget is about $400 (we can go over, but I'd love not to-- weddings are REALLY expensive to take part in these days!), but I think that is doable without alcohol and with what we are serving, even in pricey DC.
thank you so much in advance! I'm looking forward to what you have to say!
Simple recipes for baked goods?
Hi everybody,
I was hoping some of you would share some easy recipes for baked goods. I don't really have much of a sweet tooth (unfortunately, my savory tooth more than makes up for it), and I've never really enjoyed baking, though I love to cook. Sadly, I'm now dating a guy who loves nothing more than brownies, cookies, and cupcakes. He'll appreciate my delicious dinner, but what he'll talk about for days are the leftover betty crocker mix brownies my roommate made. Obviously, I need to learn some new tricks!
My mom didn't bake, so I don't know many techniques, and don't have a ton of equipment or scale or anything like that. I make good bread, but as far as sweets go, I'm at a loss.
IF you have anything simple, screw up proof, and delicious, I'd love to hear them!
help! keller roast chicken for 10 tomorrow?
My housemates and I usually host 8-10 people every sunday for dinner. This week is my turn, and after a long week at work, I've scaled back my ambitions significantly, so no big indian feast.
What I would love to do is roast a chicken or two and have an old fashioned supper. I've only ever used the Thomas Keller recipe, and I love it; but can i do this for a crowd-- especially if i want to use organic chicken, which i've found tend to be smaller? There will be sides, of course, but this would be the main event, and it would have to feed anywhere from 7-10 people.
I'm thinking 2 five pound chickens, if I can find them. Would that be enough? and how will that change the suggested time, if at all?
Thanks!
Need a restaurant near the harbor in baltimore!
I'm being taken for a long weekend....and he's amazing, so I want to be impressive.
I gamely (stupidly) said I'd figure out dinner saturday, never have been to baltimore before. I need somewhere great. We'll have a car, so getting there isn't the issue...
Fun
Delicious
Cozy
Quirky
Good.
Help!
Spicy Recipes
I'm dying for something good and spicy. Take-your-tongue off spicy preferable. Any ideas?
ISO No-fail Chicken Slow Cooker Recipe - Help!
could you adopt this with breasts? I'm the only person in the family who will eat dark meat
Lunches for Work?
What are you all bringing for lunch these days? I'm trying to stay away from simple carbs, and anything that's smelly, messy, or hard to transport.
Best Bakery for an Office Birthday?
Hello All--
I'm in midtown and need to order a cheesecake and something else for an office bday. I need it to be delicious, not obscenely priced, and most importantly, they need to delivery. any recommendations?
Your Favorite Store-Bought Sauces?
On weeknights, I usually throw together a stir-fry, cook up some lentil, or do something equally cheap, fast, and uninspired. The only thing that keeps my tastebuds from shutting down entirely is having a decent sauce to cook with/dump over/use as a dip. However, my usual standbys are getting a bit old. Any suggestions?
