What's for dinner?

I wish I was a better cook so I didn't eat out so often. I hate eating out and spending the money but I can only cook so many things and I get bored of eating the same stuff. 

I am marinating chicken and going to bbq it today as long as the weather is ok. It's going to be HOT today and I don't want to turn the oven on. It already feels like 35C (95F) out and it's not even 10 am yet.

catlover19 said:

 
I wish I was a better cook so I didn't eat out so often. I hate eating out and spending the money but I can only cook so many things and I get bored of eating the same stuff. 

I am marinating chicken and going to bbq it today as long as the weather is ok. It's going to be HOT today and I don't want to turn the oven on. It already feels like 35C (95F) out and it's not even 10 am yet.

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Time to get a cook book, even a microwave cook book will do. It seems every good cook has a trove of these given by others, I don't know why they seem to think we need another one. You don't need a big fat one, those just look intimidating. The skinny one that comes with just about every kitchen appliance will do. You'll be surprised to find that it really is not that hard to find many different easy dishes to make. You'll save a ton of money and with microwaves and even toaster ovens you won't heat up the kitchen so much. Good luck. 

Start out with a simple Betty Crocker cookbook. I swear by them. It's how I started cooking back when I was 16. My MIL taught me about yeast doughs and rolling our pie dough, things like that. But for basic cooking, you cannot go wrong with a Betty Crocker cookbook. Honest.

Even the internet is handy now. I have a cook book, my boyfriend has a few as well, but we seldom use them. We usually don't have the forethought to find recipes prior to going grocery shopping though, so sometimes we're limited or we substitute with what we do have. I mostly check these sites for special occasions like potlucks, picnics, and get togethers which I tend to put more effort into than a normal day-to-day dinner. Some websites I like are:

http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/recipes

http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/reci...rep_time=15&total_time=0&calories_operation=1

http://ohmyveggies.com/

http://www.skinnytaste.com/

http://myfridgefood.com/ - you check off what you have available, and they show you recipes you can make with what you have, give or take a few things

And the last one is profane, so I won't post a direct link, but it's called "what the f* should I make for dinner" and it generates random recipes and lets you choose vegetarian or not and cocktails.

Tonight I might end up making some sort of broccoli and cauliflower rice-based casserole.

I have cookbooks and I've tried to learn to cook, but I honestly just can't cook. Things never turn out right when I try to cook, even following a recipe. I can bake though, I love baking.

I love reading cookbooks. Had to give the shelves in my kitchen a cull recently. Donated 3 boxes of cookbooks. Not that I'm a great cook ...

We are having a huge bowl of made-from-scratch strawberry shortcake for dinner. Got fed up years ago of eating dinner and then not having enough room for a decent sized strawberry shortcake. Now we have dessert for dinner and everyone is much happier.

Winchester said:

 
Start out with a simple Betty Crocker cookbook. I swear by them. It's how I started cooking back when I was 16. My MIL taught me about yeast doughs and rolling our pie dough, things like that. But for basic cooking, you cannot go wrong with a Betty Crocker cookbook. Honest.

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Yes!!!  One that I have is for picnics, and when I make the ultra simple pineapple banana slaw, people think I brought something super fancy.  I've made lots of stuff from these books and they are so easy, seriously!  If you can measure a cup of this and a tablespoon of that and mix, you can make food from these books.

Sometimes, much like the green beans I'm making tonight, fresh and simple is all that's needed.  I put about 2 tablespoons butter in a pot, let it melt, added some soy sauce (1-2 tablespoon) and some minced garlic.  I buy garlic already minced to save money and time.  I let that simmer for a second, then threw in the fresh green beans.  You could substitute the garlic for just a pinch of sugar and have it taste a little more like terriyaki.  Or, melt butter and add a teaspoon of lemon juice.  I keep lemon juice around to add to my water anyway.  Or, my old stand by trick, cooking sherry.  No joke, it makes a fancy side out of anything.  Seriously, even old onions with too much bite don't go to waste when sauteed in a pan with some sherry. 

cocheezie said:

 
We are having a huge bowl of made-from-scratch strawberry shortcake for dinner. Got fed up years ago of eating dinner and then not having enough room for a decent sized strawberry shortcake. Now we have dessert for dinner and everyone is much happier.

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What a great way to cope!

My favourite. Grilled chicken bottom quarter potatoes in their jackets either tons of butter and coleslaw. Yum.

I think it's spaghetti bolognaise for us tonight.

chicken runzas.

For us, it was steamed shrimp and fried catfish with sweet potato fries,  This was a splurge.  It is our 26th wedding anniversary......

cocheezie said:

 
I love reading cookbooks. Had to give the shelves in my kitchen a cull recently. Donated 3 boxes of cookbooks. Not that I'm a great cook ...

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3 boxes? Oh, I wish I would have known that! My name is Pam and I am a cookbook addict! I'm not this fantastic cook either, but boy, I just love to sit and read cookbooks.

Happy Anniversary, AngelinaCat!

Pinkdagger, my Mom used to make dessert for dinner. My Grandma would come down to our house for the day and she'd make peach dumplings. And we'd have peach dumplings for supper. Nothing else, just the peach dumplings. In the fall, she'd make apple dumplings and we'd have those for supper. 

Peaches, pineapple and banana slaw? I'd love the recipe, if you don't mind. I'm looking for something a little different to take to my sister's for our July 4th picnic....that might hit the spot (esp if there's no coconut in it).

We're thinking of hot sausages tonight. I have a hair appt after work and hot sausage sandwiches is a quick dinner after Rick and I get back home. Usually I do them in the crock pot, but I didn't have time this morning. 

Winchester said:

3 boxes? Oh, I wish I would have known that! My name is Pam and I am a cookbook addict! I'm not this fantastic cook either, but boy, I just love to sit and read cookbooks.

Happy Anniversary, AngelinaCat!

Pinkdagger, my Mom used to make dessert for dinner. My Grandma would come down to our house for the day and she'd make peach dumplings. And we'd have peach dumplings for supper. Nothing else, just the peach dumplings. In the fall, she'd make apple dumplings and we'd have those for supper. 

We're thinking of hot sausages tonight. I have a hair appt after work and hot sausage sandwiches is a quick dinner. Not doing them in the crock pot this time.

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I think you would be a fantastic cook Pam. You are always making yummy sounding meals and goodies.

We had scotch beef fillet tonight with asparagus, broccolit, pumpkin and carrots.

Thanks, Tammat.   I just like to cook. Your dinner sounds decadently good!

I like to cook too, but now that I'm old (well, not that old, 70 is the new 50!) I don't have a family to cook for anymore.They are scattered all over. So I invite a neighbor over on the spur of the moment who is not a good cook and who does not like to cook (can you imagine she eats a bologna sandwich almost every night? UGH!)

Hmm, maybe I should cull my bookcase full of cookbooks too. Some of those I have not opened for years. I also have two 3-ring binders full of recipes cut out from newspapers and magazines, one for main meals, the other for sweet stuff, plus  a bunch of cooking magazines from when somebody sent me a subscription (as if I needed that).

Heh..this thread could easily get hijacked!  When I married, one of my mother's gifts to me was a small 3 ring binder filled with family recipes including some from my future mother-in-law.

Since then, I've begun two more binder cookbooks and they have grown to be HUGE.  I have one with recipes to try, one with tried and will use recipes that fit my diet for a non-carb meal, and have expanded the family cookbook to include recipes I've created during the marriage, or favorites we feel are now our family recipes.

It's a lot of fun to do

Tonight, dinner will be a big salad of homegrown lettuce and basil, with  scallion, radish and celery.  Chili Turkey Burgers (George Stella's recipe), maybe zucchini noodles with a basil vinaigrette. Probably dark chocolate coconut almond bark for my carb/dessert.  Might add in a slice of gluten free deli bread (schar's deli bread - soooooooo good).

Winchester said:

 Peaches, pineapple and banana slaw? I'd love the recipe, if you don't mind. I'm looking for something a little different to take to my sister's for our July 4th picnic....that might hit the spot (esp if there's no coconut in it).

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Of course!  It does call for sour cream, but I bet you could sub it with something else.  I don't taste the sour cream in it, but I love sour cream so...?

Pineapple Banana Slaw

3 cups purchased coleslaw blend

1 (8 oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained, reserving 3 tablespoons liquid

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 small banana, sliced

1.  In a medium bowl, combine coleslaw blend and pineapple, mix well.

2.  In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, honey, and 3 tablespoons reserved pineapple liquid; blend well.  Add dressing to salad, mix gently to coat.  Sprinkle with pecans.  Refrigerate at least one hour or until serving time to blend flavors.

3.  Just before serving, add sliced banana; toss gently.

Makes 6 (1/2 cup) servings.  I've doubled this recipe before with no problems.

Well, cookbooks have to do with food, which also has to do with dinner, so.......

At last count I had over 1,000 cookbooks. My main ones are in the bookcase in the computer room. The healthy (low-cal, low fat, light) cookbooks are on the hutch in the kitchen. I have cookbooks in boxes in closets and under the bed. I won't get rid of them; I just can't. There are single-subject cookbooks (cookbooks on just mushrooms, on pizza, on cookies, breakfasts, appetizers, ice cream), tons of cookbooks from Taste of Home, from America's Test Kitchen, from some of the cooks on the Food Network (Alton Brown, Ina Garten, Sara Moulton, for example). Tons of baking books. Ton of books on just cookies. Add in all the church cookbooks, hospital cookbooks, Grange cookbooks, Amish and Mennonite cookbooks,  cookbooks from B & Bs, cookbooks from restaurants and eateries, and well, I love them all.

My first cookbook was given to me by Rick's sister and it was an old, circa very early 70s McCalls. Followed by lots and lots of Betty Crocker cookbooks (cookies, pies, Working Woman, you name it) given to me by Rick's mom. I swear she was scared to death that he would starve and I think she made it her personal mission in life to make sure her son would be OK.    Since then, when I see a cookbook that I just have to have, I buy it. Or Rick will be somewhere, see a cookbook, check it out, and if there's a neat cookie recipe in it, he'll buy it for me. Everybody buys me cookbooks.

I also have several 3-ring binders for recipes that I find online, on my food board, in the newspaper, in magazines, and such. Some are printed, but some are simply cut out and tucked in the binder. I just found a recipe in our local newspaper for a Bourbon Maple BBQ Sauce......am I really going to pass that by? Nope. I cut it out and stored it away. Whenever I go to Penzey, I pick up a bunch of recipe cards with ideas that I may want to try. It's very addicting, if you like to cook.

I'll take a good cookbook to bed and read it from cover to cover.

Peaches, thank you for the recipe! Yeah, I have a definite problem with sour cream, but I might be able to swing it, mixing it with the mayo. Or use more more mayo and less sour cream. Thanks!

peaches08 said:

 
Of course!  It does call for sour cream, but I bet you could sub it with something else.  I don't taste the sour cream in it, but I love sour cream so...?

Pineapple Banana Slaw

3 cups purchased coleslaw blend

1 (8 oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained, reserving 3 tablespoons liquid

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 small banana, sliced

1.  In a medium bowl, combine coleslaw blend and pineapple, mix well.

2.  In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, honey, and 3 tablespoons reserved pineapple liquid; blend well.  Add dressing to salad, mix gently to coat.  Sprinkle with pecans.  Refrigerate at least one hour or until serving time to blend flavors.

3.  Just before serving, add sliced banana; toss gently.

Makes 6 (1/2 cup) servings.  I've doubled this recipe before with no problems.

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oooooo! that's sounds very very good!

i always substitute plain yogurt for the sour cream in any recipe i make. i always have some plain yogurt, and it can be used for other things too (like on a baked potato and eaten with jam/jelly or fruit).