What's For Dinner?

[aa6660]

Originally Posted by aa6660

Plan A is meatloaf, garlic and cream cheese mashed potatoes, and fresh corn on the cob. Been about 5 years since the one time I have ever made meat loaf, but I have a craving for it. Will just do the simple McCormick Seasoning Mix and the basic recipe - the small loaves instead of the large one to make it cook faster. Don't know if I will go all beef or if I will try to sneak some turkey in there. May add in a small onion.

Plan B is chicken spaghetti and garlic bread.

DH was too busy to give me any input earlier, so it is still a tossup.

Went with the meat loaf. Made 8 mini loaves out of about 2 lbs of meat. I had 1 and DH had 4, so I think he liked it! That was a good thing since the first thing he asked when he walked in the door was if I had ever made meat loaf. And the answer was yes... once before... and with a completely different recipe!

I've been trying to figure out what to do with a Ninja Master Prep that I was given and I am slowly figuring out how to incorporate it more into my cooking. I let it do most of the work with the meat loaf - chopped up saltines for bread crumbs, minced my onion, diced my cubanelle peppers, and then blended my milk, egg, and seasoning mixture. All I had to do at the end was add in the meat and do the final mixing and loaf forming by hand.

[aa6660]

TOO much meat over the weekend, so it has been a vegetarian day for me.

Tonight I will do up some burritos. Both versions will have the basic filling of refried beans, salsa, and cheese. Mine will also have black olives. Instead, DH's will have some seasoned ground beef and onions. Top with more cheese and bake. Then add some tomatoes and sour cream.

Probably serve with a small side salad - just greens, tomato, cucumber, and cubanelle peppers.

[aa6660]

The burritos turned out good last night and made a great lunch to bring with me to work today.

Tonight I will do up a chicken stir-fry with rice.

[twohearts]

The ultimate summer meal for me: anything with fresh vegetables. Fresh black eyed peas, fresh salad with tomatoes from the garden , fried squash or okra and cornbread. A meal with just vegetables or add a slow cooked ham YUM YUM

[aa6660]

Originally Posted by twohearts

The ultimate summer meal for me: anything with fresh vegetables. Fresh black eyed peas, fresh salad with tomatoes from the garden , fried squash or okra and cornbread. A meal with just vegetables or add a slow cooked ham YUM YUM

Took advantage of those this weekend at my parent's house. Made stuffed peppers. Used cubanelles and chilis (veins removed) instead of bell peppers. Cut them into about 1/2 rings and lined the bottom of a casserole dish. (I cut the chilis smaller and try to spread them out evenly.) Sprinkled a bit of salt on them. Then made up a meat mixture of ground beef, onion picked earlier in the year, 1 jar of tomatoes that she had canned from last year plus a nice fresh plump one from the garden, rice, water. salt & pepper, and some worsteshire sauce. Simmered that and added some cheese and then poured over the peppers to bake for about 20 minutes.

Served it with some fresh squash and okra from the garden that she breaded and fried. I skipped that as I prefer mine raw as to fried, so I nibbled earlier. Corn bread as a side also. Bread pudding for dessert.

***********************
Tonight, I am making Ritz Chicken Casserole

chicken (in a hurry, so I am using 3 large cans of white meat chicken instead of cooking my own)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
16 oz sour cream
Mix those up together. Can do earlier and let sit in the fridge and is even better. I have cheated today and mixed this up during my lunch break at work.

Spread mix in a baking dish and top with crushed ritz crackers that have been moistened with melted butter. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Yum, Yum, Yum!

[twohearts]

I love stuffed peppers, thanks for the new idea.
My stuffed pepper recipe: 4 green peppers or one for each serving
ground hamburger or turkey
beef Rice a Roni family size box
mozerella cheese slices or any kind of cheese you prefer (Pepper cheeses also great)
Steam peppers until tender. Brown hamburger or turkey until brown. In separate pan cook Rice a Roni according to package directions. When rice and meat are done stir together and stuff peppers. Top each with cheese of choice and cook in oven until cheese is melted. about 375 degrees. A family pleaser: served with mashed potatoes. fresh salad and fresh rolls

[aa6660]

Sounds good.
How much meat to match the box of rice a roni? 1lb?

I love stuffed peppers, too, but my husband was normally not interested. So, I normally bought the Stouffer's stuffed peppers that are frozen and just ate them myself while he had something else. Pretty decent for frozen. They have a tomato sauce topping which my mothers does not have. While looking the other day, I found this recipe on allrecipes.com that basically matched the recipe she had, but used tomato soup as a sauce topping. (And we used a different kind of pepper and did not boil it. Probably more important on a bell pepper.)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Stuffed-Green-Peppers-I/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 6 green bell peppers
• salt to taste
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup uncooked rice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed tomato soup
• water as needed

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the tops off the peppers, and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain. Sprinkle salt inside each pepper, and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, saute beef and onions for 5 minutes, or until beef is browned. Drain off excess fat, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes, rice, 1/2 cup water and Worcestershire sauce. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender. Remove from heat, and stir in the cheese.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C). Stuff each pepper with the beef and rice mixture, and place peppers open side up in a baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine tomato soup with just enough water to make the soup a gravy consistency. Pour over the peppers.
4. Bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.

[twohearts]

For a serving of 4--1 lb of meat

[sportacus]

Made wonderful stuffed pork loin chops tonight with an apply brown sugar glaze, super low fat, about 6pts ww.

[aa6660]

I like pork chops, but DH is not too fond of them. About all I can do that he will tolerate is shake and bake. (Actually, he might like them fried, but I don't fry foods at home normally.)

The Ritz chicken turned out wonderful. Served it with some corn on the cob. Having some of the leftoevers today for lunch.

Tonight I am going to make stuffed peppers. DH requested them. Since we had them last week, and again on Sunday, I can tell he really likes them. We went out and picked some cubanelles and a few chilis last night. This first time that I am making them by myself, I am going to stick close to my mother's recipe. After that, I may try some twists such as using the beef rice a roni instead of plain rice.

[damionsshiva]

Salad Supper for me tonight! Just TOO HOT to cook full meal!

[aa6660]

I agree. I want something quick, easy, and light tonight. Got a craving for mandarin oranges, but DH doesn't like them, so I don't know if I can slip them in or not.

*******
Oh, the not quick and nowhere near light side, I did make a fabulous dessert this week. We had the pie first at a reunion and DH requested that I try to recreate it. Went with the Freezer Caramel Drizzle Pie recipe off of allrecipes.com. If not exact, it was extremely close to the pie we had. But it is so rich, so you only need a tiny sliver!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Freezer-Caramel-Drizzle-Pie/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 2 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crusts
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 (7 ounce) package shredded coconut
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (16 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (12 ounce) jar caramel ice cream topping

Directions
1. Place butter in a medium skillet and melt over medium heat. Add coconut and pecans, stirring to coat. Saute until coconut and pecans are lightly toasted, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whip together condensed milk and cream cheese until fluffy. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon 1/4 of cream cheese mixture into each graham cracker crust. Drizzle each with 1/4 of caramel topping. Repeat layers with remaining cream cheese mixture and caramel. Top each pie with coconut and pecan mixture. Freeze overnight.

[damionsshiva]

Sounds Sinful... might have to try that one!

[aa6660]

Well, it's been about 10 weeks since I made the meatloaf. We had 3 mini loaves left. Got those out last night to thaw. DH said that wasn't going to be enough (and since we don't know how well they will thaw and reheat), I picked up stuff for baked potatoes this morning. Probably just do them in the microwave while the meatloaf is reheating in the oven since I don't want it turned up very high. Had some nice large ones at HEB this morning.

[flutterby7506]

I'm going to make smothered pork chops, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese..and I even made a banana pudding! Talk about a comfort dinner! LOL!!

[aa6660]

I've never made smothered pork chops before. Care to share you recipe??

DH liked the meatloaf better than I did after being frozen, thawed, and then warmed back up in the oven. I thought the onion was really strong this time. I don't like onion, he loves onion; therefore, he loved it and I didn't. Next time I may have to pull out some of the mix before I add the onion...

[flutterby7506]

Sure! They turned out really good and could easily be modified to suit your family's taste! I stole it from Sandra Lee, but added fresh minced garlic and dijon instead of spicy brown mustard.

4 pork chops (any cut you like)
<LI class=ingredient>Salt and freshly ground black pepper <LI class=ingredient>2 tablespoons canola oil, divided <LI class=ingredient>1 medium onion, chopped <LI class=ingredient>1 cup sliced mushrooms <LI class=ingredient>1/4 cup all-purpose flour <LI class=ingredient>1 teaspoon ground cumin <LI class=ingredient>1 (14.5-ounce) can chicken broth <LI class=ingredient>2 tablespoons spicy mustard <LI class=ingredient>2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
In a large skillet, heat a thin layer of oil. Season chops with s & p on both sides and sear on both sides (make sure you don't cook them all the way through). Remove from pan. Add a little more oil if needed to skillet and add chopped onions, mushrooms and garlic (optional) and brown for a few minutes. Then add cumin and flour and cook about one minute more. Then, add mustard and chicken broth to deglaze the pan. Let gravy thicken for a few minutes and add chops back into pan and spoon gravy over chops, let them cook through. Add parsley and serve!

We really enjoyed them!

[aa6660]

Doing a brunch casserole tonight.

1 doz eggs
16 oz sour cream
1 lb sausage
16 oz cheddar cheese
1 can diced green chilies

Butter a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle cheese and chilies to cover bottom, add fried sausage. Mix eggs and sour cream together and pour over sausage. Top with rest of the cheese. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Serve with salsa.

Got the precooked sausage patties that we really like, so that should shave a few minutes off the prep. Will just pulse them a few times in the ninja.

[damionsshiva]

Eastland Football Concession Stand! Its my Night off! Whose with me???

[aa6660]

Tired, and with a hurt back. Can't stand for very long right now, so even though it is a bit warn, I'll be doing up some chili and serving with fritos, cheese, and sour cream.

[flutterby7506]

I'm going to attempt to roast a chicken...I filled the cavity w/ lemon, rosemary, thyme, parsley, fresh garlic..covered inside and outside of the skin w/ butter and olive oil, rosemary and parsley and threw some veggies in the pan with it. Hopefully it turns out good and gets done before 10 tonight! LOL!!!

[aa6660]

Sounds good. I have never roasted a chicken before. DH used to like to cook them on the grill or in the smoker, but I just mentally can't eat a pink chicken and they get that way from the smoke! Plus, I always worry about how long they are in the danger zone, especially if our temp in the smoker gets low and we don't notice it. I'm just scared of chicken - I could almost eat a steak rare, but chicken and ground beef scare me!

I don't think I could wait until 10pm to eat! Unless we have gone out for drinks or something, if I haven't eaten by 6:30, I get pretty cranky!

*****************************
Chili turned out good last night. DH ended up having to work a bit late, so it was the perfect meal in that I could just let it sit there and simmer. May do some hot dogs tonight to try to use up the leftovers.

[flutterby7506]

I understand that completely! I'm always second-guessing whether it's done or not if I see any pink.

It got done about 8, which is a little later than I'd hoped it would've been done..and it turned out really good. It had great flavor and was really moist!

I love chili and I love to make it! One recipe that I make won the chili cook-off last year! LOL!

[aa6660]

Good deal on your chicken. I use either canned or the rotisserie chicken for almost all of my recipes except for all day crockpot ones. I know they would be better if I grilled/poached/roasted my own.

Congrats on winning a chili cookoff. Tried a few recipes over the year. I prefered some while DH prefered others. The Williams brand chili seasoing seemed to be one of the only ones that we both liked. And, with it being already made up, no room for me to mess up or have to keep up with a lot of spices. I really like to make it in the crockpot when we are camping. I guess my beans are about the only thing I do where there is no recipe but it takes quite a few spices to get it just right.