Question of the Day, Sunday, November 29, 2015

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
Your meals all sound delicious! And now I'm starving to death!.

It's not that bad at all outside. No snow....yet. Some days we're really below normal temps; other days, we're higher, so I guess it all evens out. No complaints here.

I'm another oven-user during the fall and winter. After I pull the meal out and turn the oven off, I keep the door open to let the heat dissipate into the kitchen.

My favorite meals for colder months:

• Pretty much any kind of soup or stew: potato chowder is so warming, beef stew, chicken corn soup, etc. Always served with Vermont Corn Bread (made with maple syrup) or some kind of biscuits or muffins for dunking into the soup.
• Baked ziti or rigatoni, again with some hot homemade yeast rolls or slices of bread to clean the plates. A simple goulash works, too. Baked spaghetti.
• There's something about a roast chicken or Cornish hens for dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy. Or with wild rice and butternut squash.
• Cornish pasties filled with beef, onions, carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms and served with a red wine sauce. Yum. Just yum. One of my pastries fills a dinner plate. Rick loves them.
• Pot roast. I just love pot roast. If I'm working, I'll do one either in the crock pot and let it go all day, or in the pressure cooker when I come home.
• Chili, whether it's made with meat or vegetarian. I love both and keep containers in the freezer.
• Chicken fricassee with dumplings and peas (It's an old Bisquick recipe and has stood the test of time in our house)
• When I do need the taste of bbq, I throw a small pork loin in the crock pot and make pulled pork sandwiches
• Pot pie - I like beef or chicken pot pie, but Rick prefers beef and (we are fans of chuck roast for beef pot pie). The meat simmers for hours on the stove, then I roll out the dough and cut it into squares to drop into the simmering pot. There is nothing better than a good pot pie. But we also like a deep-dish chicken pie (and I saved some of our Thanksgiving turkey in the freezer just for a good turkey pie.)

We tend to eat more baked goods during the fall and winter, too, and I'm not quite sure why. I always have homemade breads and rolls in the freezer, but we have the fruit pies that I made during the summer and put in the freezer, and we'll always have some cookies or cupcakes. Maybe because of the holidays? I don't know. But Rick has always been a big fan of desserts and, while we don't have them that often in the summer (other than cookies), we do enjoy them in the winter.

those all sound like wonderful meals during winter! 

i think i read somewhere that people generally eat more during the winter months than during the warm weather months (at least in areas where you get cold winters), because our bodies burn more energy to keep us warm. i know i eat more hearty or heavier (like with pasta, rice, potatoes) meals during the winter months. maybe that's one reason why people will eat more baked goods during the fall and winter...?

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
All the food sounds delicious!

I want all of them!

Since I am cooking just for one, it is kind of daunting to find really good recipes. I mean, I have all my favorites, based on my mom's recipes and my own recipes; but cutting down the amounts is a daunting challenge. 

I mean, for example: it is hard to decrease a can of stewed tomatoes in half.

I rent so my freezer space is very limited. I only have the freezer which is the top of a refrigerator. Before my dad and I moved to this apartment; I used to cook a big amount, and freeze a lot in the upright freezer. I already halved the recipes to accommodate this freezer; but now that my dad is gone, I am just cooking for one. I do get tired of leftovers. I am also on a limited income...

so it gets challenging..

I am just venting...

You guys made me want meatloaf!!! 

i think i can understand that. i cook for one too. in my case, i don't mind eating the same dinner for a week or so and i have lots of freezer space.

it's been a while since i've made a meatloaf.........maybe i'll make one coming up soon! 

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

We haven't had extreme cold yet, but it will be coming.

In fall and winter, I like foods cooked in a pot or crockpot, soups, dried beans with ham, meat and gravy or stews like beef, venison, etc.

I also like to put things in the oven to cook. It helps to warm the house and gives off such good smells. I love the odor of sweet potatoes baking in the oven. I bake them and put them in zip lock bags. I eat at least one most every day.

i agree! the wonderful aroma of meals or desserts baking in the oven will fill the house.