MNLisaB's Profile
Thanksgiving 2011 Disaster Stories
No total meltdown moments, just little things that are laughable.Was prepping roast veggies, including red onions, and totally forgot to clean cutting board. My daughter used the same cutting board a few moments later to slice kiwis for her lovely sugar cookie fruit pizzas...we found that out later, of course, the kiwis had a subtle hint of onion. Bleccch.
On the dessert theme, daughter's wonderful BF asked if he could bring anything over-I had forgotten to buy ice cream for the apple crisp, and he offered to bring some over. NO problem, Walgreen's is open on Thanksgiving, right? Later on, we were ready for dessert and I opened up the carton he had purchased...only to discover about 1/4 of the top was already eaten. I called him in and teased him about it- but he swore that he had NOT opened it, and none of my other guests had touched it. Which meant that he brought it home like that, and probably one of the Walgreen's employees had eaten from that container. He did bring it back there later on, and the mortified manager gave him his $$ back and offerred a free container.
Last event-day after Thanksgiving-made a wonderful rib roast my popovers did not POP. GRRRR. Note to self- buy those popover tins!!
Friendly Bagel Competition...I need some pointers!
savory- sliced fresh mozzarella, pesto, fresh tomato slice-nice if you have fresh basil leaves, as well
softened cream cheese with roasted garlic, fresh herbs
sweet- softened cream cheese with berries
Main for side = roasted cauliflower
Roasted cauli goes with anything-pork, chicken, fish. I am a purist, and like mine with just coated with o/o and a shake of montreal seasoning. Roast for 35 minutes at 400*- when I remove the pan from the oven, I give them a few generous grates of fresh parm or other hard Italian cheese.
roughage
I eat a lot of cabbage (dis crambe thanatos)- loosely translated: from cabbage comes destruction...
Also if you need to get things moving- ground flax seed is a wonderful addition to things like yogurt, or home made breads or muffins. Just be sure to drink lots of water before during and after.
No/Low Carb Meals
Long time low carber here. Some of my fave go to's- roasted cauli- florets noodled around with olive oil, s & p- roast in pan -400* for about 30 minutes
*best mashed cauli- use either frozen or fresh- but drain very well. Add softened cream cheese and a bit of butter and a touch of heavy cream.
*I use a chipotle mustard and mayo mix on chicken and pork- spread on meat 5 minutes before done
*lunch is either leftovers or diced chicken or tuna, mixed with mayo and chipotle mustard, green onions and cole slaw cabbage mix, sometimes diced HB egg
*quick "Thai" sauce- can of coconut milk mixed with Siracha, fish sauce and lime- add cooked protein and veggies
I do Dreamfield's pasta once a week, try to be good about portion control- the taste and texture is great!
Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers -- Huh?
Three years later and I just tried Cane's for the very first time, a friend brought a pan over with fries. The fries were very forgettable -not a big frozen fry fan- but the fingers were tasty,moist and very tender, not in the least bit greasy. For fast food, this was pretty good, not sure I would go out of my way for these.
Stir Fry Sauce for Beef & Peppers
So simple-this is not cornstarchy or goopy, but if you like it thicker, you could add cornstarch slurry. You will need:
can of coconut milk
Siracha hot sauce
brown sugar
fish sauce
green onions
finely sliced garlic
Noodle around your protein - any kind will do, even ground beef, add finely sliced garlic, onions and peppers, cook until crisp tender. Add sliced green onions for the last minute. Empty skillet and set meat and veggie mixture aside.
In same skillet, add 1/4 cup of the coconut milk, add 1-2 TBS Siracha sauce (to taste) and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, until thickened slightly. You can even use the can to mix in 1 TBS fish sauce and 1- 2 tsp (to taste) of brown sugar, mix well and add to skillet mixture. Noodle around for another 3 minutes, add meat and veggie mixture back in the skillet. You can add chopped peanuts, or cilantro to top if you like.
My Favorite Bagel Sandwich
Sadly, my bagel eating days are long over...
asiago or sun dried tomato bagel, shmear of pesto, thick slice fresh mozzarella, topped with another dab of pesto, fresh basil leaf, topped with fresh tomato slice, drizzled with o/o and fresh cracked black pepper
garlic or everything bagel, shmear of veggie or plain cream cheese, lots of smoked salmon
Recipezaar.com is now Food.com
They've been warning the Zaarites for months about the new and improved site. Not impressed at all. There was a time I was always plugged into it, now not so much.
Semi Semi-Homemade
I do use jarred pasta sauce, usually Barilla, but I add fresh basil and fresh chopped garlic, noodled around in a splash of o/o.
I also do a cheat and eat pho, really not too bad, specially if you have fresh mint and cilantro to go with it.
Sausage and Peppers - any suggestions?
We prefer our Italian sausage grilled. While these are grilling, I pan fry the onions and peppers until caramelized. Beer braised and sauerkraut with Italian sausage- that's an infamnia.- IMHO.
Beer to drink with sausages=OK
Is it possible to diet and...
Yes, have been successful in losing 60++ lbs and keeping off with lc "diet"- now a way of life for me. I eat lots of non starchy veggies, fresh berries, nuts, protein, cheese, and am not afraid of mayo, butter or heavy cream. For a treat I will have a tiny piece of dark chocolate or full fat Greek yogurt with berries.
What could be more satisfying or decadent than a steak with mushrooms and onions, salad with blue cheese dressing- no croutons!! And creamed spinach as a side. Yeah, it's tough, but someone has to do this.
Dressed up brownie mix, maybe with Heath Bars?
When i want to cheat and make a nice brownie treat, I place mini p-butter cups into the batter before I put it in the oven. No need to chop, just be sure to peel the foil off, easy peasy.
I'm joining in the packed lunch crew. Need some ideas.
Have been brown bagging forever, and am gluten free and sugar free, so no sandwiches, unless you can count cold cuts wrapped in romaine leaves. I cook up a batch of HB eggs on the weekend, nice to have these on hand. You can whip up devilled eggs on no time, reminds me of summer pot lucks.
Fave salad uses the bagged cole slaw mix, tuna or cooked chicken or any protein. Mix in snipped green onions or chives, any dressing or mayo and chipotle mustard. I usually top with pumpkin or sunflower seeds. The cole slaw mix is more nutritious and keeps longer than bagged lettuce.
Of course, leftover home made soup is my fave, but come summer months I don't generally make soups. Any leftovers also nice.
Stupid easy recipes you really love
Quickie "Thai" sauce, goes great with any cooked protein.
Can of coconut milk, Siracha hot sauce, brown sugar, fish sauce. I start with 1/4 cup of coconut milk, with generous squirt of Siracha, let cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Right in the can, mix in tsp brown sugar, 1 TBS fish sauce, then add this mixture to the "thickened" mixture. Add more hot sauce or brown sugar if desired.
Favorite summer salads (beyond trad. pasta)
Have also done this one- roasted potato salad, with roasted garlic and red bell peppers,no mayo!! Tossed with olive oil and a bit of balsamic.Serve at room temp. You could also add goat cheese and roasted pine nuts for a more hearty salad.
Favorite summer salads (beyond trad. pasta)
We do a different spin on the fresh mozzie and tomato slice stacks:
Bottom layer, sliced fresh mozzie, spread with a bit of pesto, then basil leaf, then your fresh tomato slice. Drizzle with olive oil, top with ground black pepper.
We don't eat bread, but you could stack all this on rounds of crusty french or italian bread.
Side dish ideas for summer menu?
How about a tabouleh salad- chopped tomatoes, red onions, chopped seeded cukes, S & P, lemon juice, chopped Italian flat leaf parsley, olive oil. You can either use cooked bulgar wheat or quinoa for the grain.
Love roasting veggies, so pretty on a platter. Try asparagus, as well, roasts in 10 minutes in 400* oven.
What else is your go to breakfast besides eggs?
I follow a g-f and sugar free diet, so eggs and breakfast meats are a staple for me. When I get tired of those, I do a one minute muffin ( micro) in a bowl, made with almond meal and flax meal instead of flour. Plus several other ingredients, including fresh berries and chopped nuts.
What do you love to serve for brunch?
So many great ideas here. I like to make a nice smoked salmon/cream cheese fritatta, with green onions, garlic and chopped spinach. You could probably do a larger version of this in a glass baking dish, and cut them into perfect serving sizes.
Have never tried it, but am sure you could find a make ahead version of stuffed french toast.
Popcorn.
Alton Brown has a good method for no fuss micro popcorn. Take a new, small paper lunch sack, pour unpopped kernels to cover most of the bottom (2-3 TBS???)
Fold the very top of the bag over, and staple. Yes, its safe for your microwave, the staples will not cause arcing.Pour into a bowl and flavor with salt, melted butter or cocount oil, or whatever. Way cheaper and better for you than the pre packaged stuff. Don't want to alarm you, but that fake butter and flavoring in the micropacks are not your friends.
Shelf life of boxed pasta?
Pasta keeps forever.A little OT- I always keep dried bay leaves sprinkled where I keep my pasta/rice/cereals, keeps the little evil weevils away.
Done with Pasta
Never had gluten free pasta, but do the low carb thing. Have a serious addiction to all things carby, there was a time we would eat pasta 3 times a week!!!
Dreamfield's pasta is wondeful, great taste and texture- not gluten free, but it has a coating on it that prevents the body from getting a sudden blast of sugar spike.
Canned salmon: Bones & Skin
We low carbers know that fat is not the enemy, so the skin is a good addition. The bones add extra calcium, but I am fairly squeamish about the crunch that's still left behind, so I do pick out the little round ones when mixing the batter.
I make these and use a jumbo muffin pan- use 1 large can of salmon, 3 eggs, reconstituted dried onions or sliced green onion, and for a binder, a bit of ground flax meal or coconut flour. OK, am pretty hard core- will also use extra virgin bacon grease in the mixture as well, and to grease the pan.
Quinoa in rice cooker??
No rice cooker, but have recently gotten into cooking quinoa. Must be rinsed several times to remove the bitter coating (sapponin). I then toast it in a nonstick pan on medium heat for about 10 minutes. I use a two to one liquid to grain ratio, and instead of just plain water, I add bullion powder instead of salt. Simmer on low for 15 minutes, fluff and done.
Season a pizza stone?
From a site called "Recipe Pizza", lots of good info. I can tell you from experience, do not immerse you stone in water, be careful not to wash, best to "scrape" off stuff with plastic spatula.
"The pizza stone has to be preheated to a certain temperature to work and that often means leaving the oven on for quite a while before you begin to cook. Always place your stone in a cold oven and then turn the oven on. The purpose of this is to allow the stone to absorb the heat evenly. Once the stone has reached the required temperature then it is far too hot to handle with a conventional oven glove. Remember that you are working with a fire brick! If you place your cold pizza stone (no matter how expensive it was) into a hot oven it will very probably not withstand the thermal shock and it will shatter.
The best tool to get a pizza stone out of the oven is a pizza paddle which is a large wooden handle that looks like a paddle which slides underneath the pizza and can bring the stone out. The biggest drawback in familiarizing yourself with your stone and your oven will be how much cornmeal to dust on the stone before cooking. Too little and you will never get the pizza off the stone.
Part of the trick of using a pizza stone successfully is to season it properly. In this context seasoning a pizza stone means ensuring that when the oil seeps into it, it is cleaned so that it encourages a non stick patina which can only be acquired over time. When you take it out of the oven, place it on a heat resistant surface. I use another cold tile and let it cool down naturally. Never let your hot stone come into contact with cold water, that can make it crack.
Cleaning your pizza stone
Use a knife or a fork to take off the obvious pieces of pizza stuck to your stone and wash it in warm water without soap. Any form of detergent or soap will seep into the material and it will make an unwelcome addition to your next pizza, like not rinsing a glass properly and then drinking from it. When you want to store your pizza stone put it back in the oven, it helps to season it when it is new.
