★What are you having for dinner?

I always want to know what people are eating – I love food!

What’s cooking in your kitchen, who are you eating with, what are you dreaming about eating, having trouble deciding, or have you a month a dinners planned out already?

Me & the family are taking Chinese takeaway over to my Mum’s tonight, no cooking it’s Friday yeehaa. But before that going to the gym to get work out of my system & start the weekend off fresh, and sweaty.

I think it is so cool that you said “Mum”! I had steak with my brother. He and I live together, couple of ol’ bachelors. I enjoy cooking. Actually, I used to own a really cool little Italian/American restaurant called The Mast, but I lost it in a fire a few years ago. It was really cool, we used to have live music every weekend. I was the first one to bring live music to our little downtown area. People still comment on how much they miss the place.

This is interesting, could turn into a recipe exchange. I had some vegie burgers yesterday, made with mashed sweet potato, peas, rice, breadcrumbs cummin, egg etc and they were delicious served with a dollop of sour cream. There is a fantastic website called taste.com, where there are lots of wonderful things to make. I go there when I want something different to eat

Like the idea, love eating.
went to the gym (using my affirmations :-)) and then salad with all sorts of different green (no idea what they are called) red beet and roasted pumpkin seeds. Very healthy very delicious.

Going to have an apple, some salad and pecan nuts. Maybe an egg if I feel hungry after that.

Dinner was several hours ago, but it consisted of a cup of soup and a cheese sandwitch with a glass of water with lemon in it.

In response to goddess’s post:
Sounds like nice vege burgers – I often check out taste.com.au too.

Everytime I visit the library I come home with a couple of recipe books.

I’m reading “Byron – Cooking & Eating” right now. It’s full of seafood and nice pictures around Byron Bay, Aust for all those who enjoy that part of the world. On the weekend I cooked Fijian lentil soup and Pizza Tocadero which was the best pizza dough recipe I’ve tried (and now I secretly think I’m the best home pizza maker in the world).

polenta, cauliflower fry up, tomato sauce (not ketchup eek!), sundried tomatoes with parmesan cheese on top.

Hungry today, I am starving myself because well, just because I’m distracted.

Mel’s making wraps :)

Corn flour tortillas with mushrooms (button and shitake) carrot, asparagus, kidney beans, onion and tomatoes, chili and garlic, salt, pepper and parsley.

I’m so lucky she looks after me :) I did provide the Little Creatures Bright Ale though! (One of our favorite beers)

In response to Lee Nutter’s post:
Sounds delicious!

Last night I went traditional and had corned beef, veges & white sauce. Very delicious. Today for lunch I’m having a corned beef roll with mushed up veges & white sauce, and tonight, well… maybe some corned beef fritters!! Our grandmothers knew how to be frugal. Happy eating everyone!

I made a large organic salad which had chard,spinach, kale, mustard, turnip, collard,and beet greens. Because the greens are bitter, I added fresh clementine tangerine pieces and blueberries. The combo may sound awkward, but it came out nice in flavor and color.

We also added sunflower seeds and tomatoes.

And in smaller quantity than the salad, we had pinto beans mixed into chicken. I’m cutting back on animal products, so the chicken was more like a side dish.

I saute and bake the chicken in stages with a variation of seasonings.

(baked with dab of salsa and a tinch of Curry-blend to the chicken (which consists of tumeric, coriander, lemon peel, black pepper, whole lemon,cardemon,cinnamon,garlic and red pepper)

Also after chicken was almost finished I added atinch of seasoning that had: fresh garlic, basil, rosemary, pepper and sea salt. We enjoyed it and had just enough, and saved a lot for meals tomorrow.

My husband – who is the most fabulous cook I know – is making Moroccan Couscous. It is traditional to be served with seven vegetables (considered full of blessings that way). In the winter, we usually use sweet potatoes, butternut squash, zucchini, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, onions. These vegetables are cooked in his special sauce and served over a bed of couscous. YUMM!!! My kids and I cannot get enough of it!!

Ok people, I’m going to really beg for this thread to get moving. My husband will be travelling soon and I’m going to be stuck cooking. Any fun ideas are going to be greatly appreciated!! Oh yes, simple is key!! I’m not the cook my hubby is!!

Lean Cuisine, Skillet Sensations & Roasted store bought chicken. Yum!

In response to meditatingmama’s post:
Pasta is the easiest and fastest for me.

One of my favorites: saute onions and spinach in olive oil (pieces of chicken go also well with it). Add a little bit of sour cream or cream cheese at the end, only so that its not too dry.
Mix in with linguine and grate some fresh parmesan on top of it.

Something fun: Pink mash potato :-)
Mash potatos with less milk as usual, but red beet joice instead.

This was for lunch, I call it “Stuff I had lying about in the fridge” or antipasto platter for the fancy folk : Grilled asparagus (with lemon) and grilled capsicum (left over from my fab asparagus & capsicum pizza last night), a chunk of feta cheese, a few olives, 1 tomoto, a sprig of basil from my garden and a few crackers. Bon appetite !

Soup – asian style but just with whatever was in the fridge.
Mushroom – 3 types I forget their names
Kale
Cabbage
Carrot
Snow Peas
Garlic, ginger, spring onions, chilli
Fennel, cumin, tumeric.
Vege stock
Noodles mmmmm

It smells so good!

Yummm! :) That sounds good… I am going to take an inventory of my pantry. If I don’t know what it is for, I’m donating it to the food bank. If I don’t want to cook it, it’s gone. I want the thing empty except for something I can readily see and use!! When my husband gets back, he can fix what I’ve done!

Well, BB, I think you like to yank my chain a little bit, huh? :) It’s ok – all good! ;) I have a son with major allergies and as much as I want to cook the prepackaged food stuff, I can’t feed it to the little bugger without a breathing treatment or hospital run. He’s outgrowing a lot of it, though, so maybe a little test wouldn’t hurt.

I’m sorry your son is suffering from food allergies, i didn’t know.
I know the feeling.. Im allergic to wheat.
I’m often too tired to cook. There are great resources online for allergen free recipes.

It’s all good! :) I think that people are getting more allergies to food because of all the crap our corporate farmers (and some naive family farmers) are putting into the soil & plants, not to mention all of the Genetically Modified seeds we have out there. Oh, and the hormones in the flippin’ animals!! Yikes!!

I have five children. The first three have no problems whatsoever. My “late life” babies are allergic to dairy, peanuts, soy, fish, tomatoes, … That leaves very little left – so I make sure it is all organic. Thank goodness I have an experimental cook in my husband because they would be very limited with me!! Oh, and pizza is a treat I have to sneak in private!! :) hehehe…

I’m allergic to tomatoes too and was allergic to soy and most fish. Soy is almost in everything, including gum! Try pesto pizza and pm me for more savory tries.

Wow! That interesting – and what a great idea. I love pesto. I’ll definitely do that!!

Mmmm pesto

Last night we had corn cobs, pototo salad (sauce contained capers, anchovies, fresh oregano, garlic, olive oil, mayonnaise as well because I ran out of oil and didn’t want it too dry, and dressed with fresh basil leaves), a little baked fish and some roasted capsicum.

I also a couple of eggplants to use and tried a recipe which involved many steps which I don’t normally do: salt & drain bitter juices from eggplant slices, dry, dip in flour, egg, breadcrumbs, fry. Then add to a dish with passata and cover in more passata & basil and shave parmesan on top and bake just until cheese melts. After all that it tasted very good and my husband thought it was wonderful, so I will do it again with a larger quantity. Didn’t take as long as it sounded either!

Happy cooking and happy eating to you all.

My hubby and I just did a spur of the moment dinner out. A friend told us of a new Mexican restaurant. We were spoiled by the ones in California, though this one was really quite good.

Recently, and for awhile, I kept picturing in my “minds-eye”, an affordable, tasty place, with beautiful candle on the table & great atmosphere, so we could have a wonderful-date night. Everything was great! I know I haven’t told you what we ate; because the best part was probably not the food;it was the company(:

Ah that’s nice Laurie – you’ve summed up the true meaning of eating!

Why I love to read books about food because it’s entwined with stories about life, love, being human and alive, it’s rarely about a shopping list. Memorable meals, I’ll remember to visulise this and experience more often.

In response to Vivi is focused’s post:
In response to laurie’s post:

You know, I agree so heartily! Our family had lost the true meaning of family dinner before the birth of my two allergy prone children. We would very mindlessly eat whatever – whenever.

When we were forced to cook at home to control what we were feeding the children, we discovered something amazing. Food made with love tastes so much better. My family & friends love to eat my husband’s cooking. His secret ingredient? It isn’t the exotic spices he uses. It is the love and effort he puts in to creating not only the dish, but the atmosphere to dine in. Whenever people try to recreate his dishes & complain that they don’t taste the same as his, he always jokes that they forgot to put in the the most important ingredient – THE LOVE!

In response to meditatingmama’s post:
ABSOLUTELY true.
Once a very good friend of mine spread butter on a piece of bread. It was one of the most delicious bread and butter I had ever had.
I once watched my cousin (his dishes are the most delicious) cook chicken, he stood next to the pot from the begining to the end and watched it cook with love and admiration.

In response to aftab’s post:
I wait by the stove most of the time because i keep on forgetting how to cook. Ever eaten food with passion in it?

I was thinking we haven’t been talking about food lately – I AM HUNGRY!

What’s cookin’ good lookin’? Or are you being spoilt by someone else tonight? Or are you indulging in some good food porn on TV (Jaimie, Nigella anyone?) or drooling over a glossy food magazine?

I was home late last night and cooked just for myself – scrambled eggs & avocado on toast – mmmm – and of course the kids sneaked out of bed and wanted to eat my dinner and proclaimed it the ‘best thing ever’ (they are so easy to please).

I was thinking about food made with love, specifically when I ordered a coffee today I was going to ask the lady to make it with love, but knew she was sometimes a bit grouchy and didn’t want to offend, so I just thought it “please make it with love”. And guess what – my coffee came out with a loveheart pattern and tasted perfect!

I too love food, just at this minute I have iced my baked goodies of Afghan Biscuits and a Chocolate Coconut Slice, the recipe for the slice turned out a treat than what I made the other day, I was busy talking and baking at the same time which I normally dont do as majority of my recipes turn out as flops when I talk. Baking gets my full divided attention, anyways I reached for plain flour instead of self-raising and my slice turn out flat as a pan cake. Hence to say the kids ate it thou I wasnt impressed with myself for making a silly mistake.

Tonight for dinner we had Vegetarian Mince Spagetti Bolognise with fresh vegs, slices of garlic bread with grated cheese/and on mine savoury yeast. Very tasty!

I too love food, just at this minute I have iced my baked goodies of Afghan Biscuits and a Chocolate Coconut Slice, the recipe for the slice turned out a treat than what I made the other day, I was busy talking and baking at the same time which I normally dont do as majority of my recipes turn out as flops when I talk. Baking gets my full divided attention, anyways I reached for plain flour instead of self-raising and my slice turn out flat as a pan cake. Hence to say the kids ate it thou I wasnt impressed with myself for making a silly mistake.

Tonight for dinner we had Vegetarian Mince Spagetti Bolognise with fresh vegs, slices of garlic bread with grated cheese/and on mine savoury yeast. Very tasty!

I wish I knew..

I’m glad to see this thread revisited again! I could use some ideas. Its up to me to cook for the next few weeks and my ideas lack the creativity (and good flavor/aroma) of my husbands!! Anyone have any good recipes for salmon?

Is it pieces of salmon? I keep it simple and put on a foil lined tray and grill (broil?) for not too long, depending on thickness. Splash some olive oil over before grilling and some cracked pepper. When done some lemon juice & some finely chopped parsley &/or chopped capers. I would have this with some grilled asparagus, again with lemon & oil drizzled over. Some sauted potatoes perhaps? Don’t forget the love!

Or you could poach it in milk, onion, white wine kind of thing?

My 8yo adores salmon (and prawns, oysters, etc she has expensive taste!)

Any leftovers – make salmon cakes and eat them at midnight when no one is around! Good luck.

Your grilled salmon sounds delicious Vivi. My husband loves salmon but I can’t seem to finish a piece happily. Salmon and liver are items he must order from a restaurant. Living in Wisconsin, we enjoy friday fish fries quite often and it’s usually cod or haddock. Anyway, what we had for dinner last night was leftover soup. FABULOUS! I had leftover broth and vegs. from the corned beef and cabbage meal, leftover chunk of pot roast in the freezer, leftover dab of gravy, dab of pasta sauce a bit of linguine and finally some frozen, Italian mixed vegs. I added some red wine and a variety of seasonings and Voila! I now have some light in the frig and it was yum. I do however, now have leftover leftover soup…

When you find good bread it’s a wonderful thing. I miss my 2 chooks who used to give me lovely eggs. They had a wonderful varied diet and particularly liked watermelon! Husband won’t let me get anymore as they used to cluck very loudly and wake him up :(

In response to jancydat’s post:
I want what you just described!

I have soup left! I have been guilty of creating “the soup that wouldn’t die” by adding different things each time, like beans, barley, tomatoes or peppers. Anyway, you see I Love to cook and (ironically) detest leftovers. I have chickens on my vision board — maybe soon I’ll be a coop keeper.:)

In response to Vivi is focused’s post:

Thanks Vivi! Sounds easy and I think I can handle it. My kids are begging for some “real food”. …and you remembered the LOVE!! :)

Regarding chickens, my dad has raised them for years. There is nothing comparable to a free range hen egg!! You can tell just by cracking one open.
When I purchase my farm, along will come the chickens for sure!! (for the eggs)

We just have a little suburban backyard, and ‘the girls’ were so free-range they would come inside if the kids left the door open and eat crumbs off the floor. Best kind of pets to have, no walking involved, and eggs of course. And they would get out and dig in the neighbour’s garden he he he. OK I’m going a little overboard with my reminiscing, can you tell I miss them?

MM & Jancydat hope you get some soon and tell me all about it!

In response to meditatingmama’s post:
Went to visit some inlaws in Ca. awhile back, and they had lots of free range chickens. I’m a weird one I guess, but I think if I lived on a farm I’d become a vegan. I’d probably feel a connection to anything, I fed.

I would love to grow my own fruit and vegetables though!!! I’d love it!!

When I was younger we had free range chickens also, they were ever so friendly, we used to take them to school on Pet Days, one of them took off and chased after a dog, that was funny to watch. The chickens used to sit in the feigoe tree at night, one slipped and drowned in the pool over night, that was very sad.

And we had one mean ol’rooster, he didnt like me very much, he always used to corner me up by the chicken coop, at one stage there he had me stuck up on coop. He wouldnt let me down. Nice to be reminiscing, those days bring me comfort. Thankyou for stirring up memories.

Life’s been a bit crazy hectic lately and food & exercise has slipped. My ‘ideal’ is writing a menu plan for the upcoming week & shopping accordingly, of course we all know I’m a slacker and that’s not going to happen.

But sometimes must start with baby steps here’s what I wrote on Sunday & made it to the shops to buy ingrediants for:

Sunday – Tuna nicoise spagetti
Monday – Homemade pizza & salad
Tuesday – Penne with pumpkin, proscuitto, ricotta & salad (this is tonight)

See I’m not so bad afterall. Now if I can just keep this up for 14 days…

In response to Vivi used to be focused but now she’s ????‘s post:

Great Vivi !!! used to be focused but now she’s ??? (:

Menu plans, you’re talkin’ my language. I find that is the only way to keep the grocery bill within reason, have exactly what we want to eat when we want it and keep my family’s health (hubby and self) where we want it(: I’m so grateful for food choices. We rather make meals at home than go out to eat. Not that we don’t like to get out, but we truly love what we prepare for one another.

Our grocery-runs are a big deal in our home. We love good food, and eat small meals often to keep blood sugar nice and balanced. It is such a routine, that it has become something we look forward to and actually enjoy. It’s a night out to shop(: It’s great conversation when we plan it together(: Ever heard of the saying that basically says Make everyone a part of the project and they will care more about everything that goes
into it? That’s our thing here(: It works(:

Hubby just made a delicious meal:
cod and salmon in a pan w/brocolli, cauliflower, butternut squash ->delcious!

Last night I cooked Chicken & Leek casserole; http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/1/chicken+and+leek+casserole
It was yum with quinoa with fresh parsley & grated lemon rind; the recipe was huge so plenty for another round tonight, might turn it into a pie. Love winter cooking.

Forgotten how to link!

In response to Vivi exercises daily!‘s post:
Sounds yummi, can I come over? Although I am more into summer food right now :-)
How do you cook quinoa, does it take long? Is it comparable to lintels or more to red beans and such?

In response to aftab’s post:
I just boil it like rice in a little stock, but doesn’t take long. But last time I was talking to my neighbour & forgot about it on the stove, so it cooked for much longer and was kinda mushy but I liked it alot. Maybe I’ve been undercooking it usually. No expert, first time I ever bought it. I wouldn’t compare it to lentils, maybe closer to porridge or couscous or rice, it’s a mystery ingredient.

Fall is in the air and my kitchen takes on a new revitalized energy. My dad’s garden is overflowing with pumpkins, squash, sweet potatoes, & tons of apples. So, my husband prepared a traditional Moroccan Meal – Couscous.

Here in the US – when someone mentions “couscous”, they usually are referring to the grain. In Morocco, it is a dish. It is considered good luck to serve at least seven vegetables in this dish. My kids gobbled up this entire dish in one meal. (the photo is the actual dish we ate yesterday).

In response to meditatingmama’s post:
Hey MM – You always have such wonderful foodie treats to share with us.
I like the ‘plug’ to the zamouri spice website too.

Hey, you know its a great website people. You should visit it. Full of exotic delicacies and flavours….and as for the lady who runs it….she’s so full of love and inspiration!!!! ;o)

Oh P.S MM – I am using baharat a lot these days as an alternative/change from Ras el hanout. It got a wonderful paprika note to it. Cant get enough inspiration from you!!

In response to meditatingmama’s post:
Looks delicious! How do you cook pumpkin? What were the 7 vegetables?

In response to laurie- worksout-daily&w/everything she’s got~ ~‘s post:
I think the whole point of the couscousier (the dish itself) is that you can steam all the veg over the cous cous (grain). Thats what make it so nutritious – no nutrients wasted to cooking water elsewhere. All in one pot!

Correct me if I’m wrong MM!

No plug intended. :) I just used my hubby’s picture – little lazy girl that I am!! :)

Here is the recipe – but you can use whatever vegetables you like:

Ingredients:

• 2 tb olive or vegetable oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 Sweet red pepper
• 1 Garlic clove, minced
• 1 Tomatoe, chopped
• 1 Zucchini, diced
• 1 butter squash, diced
• 1 sweet potato, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced.
• 1 c Chick peas, cooked
• 2 TBSP Couscous Spice
• 1 Pound of your favorite meat – cubed
• 3 cups Couscous grains

Preparation:
In a medium-size skillet; heat the oil. Add onions, spice and meat. Sauté 5 min, stirring. Add the remaining vegetables and enough water to be 1“1/2 above the ingredients. Mix, cover and let cook over medium heat for 30 minutes or until carrots and squash are soft.
Steam the couscous separately in a couscousiere. Pour veggies and sauce on top of couscous. Et voila! Bon appetite!

You can cook the couscous from the recipe on the box – if you use instant couscous – but you will get a mushy couscous grain instead of a light, fluffy couscous – each grain distinctive… Mmmmmm…. :)

If you don’t have couscous spice, you could use

• ¼ ts Sea Salt or to taste
• ¼ ts Pepper (black or white)
• ½ ts Curry powder
• 1 ts Ground cumin
• 1/8 ts Ground cinnamon
• 1 ts Ginger
• 1 ts Ras el hanout
• ¼ ts Cayenne

My hubby and I went out to dinner and had Mediterranean Talapia Fish, sweet potato, corn on the cob and soup.

I wasn’t all that happy w/the fish,though filled up nicely. When I got home with lots of left overs, I recooked it the way I like it. Now I feel better about spending the money to go out to eat.

We don’t do a lot of meals out because we enjoy our own meals a lot. Though we were tired and hungry, and needed a place away from home to be with each other (for a change). We did good(:

Hey we haven’t been talking about food enough lately!
OK my excuse is I’ve been too busy with exams, and haven’t been making any inspired meals, cupboard is bare, the last few weeks are a kind of blur and I don’t even know what we’ve been eating.

But… I was home earlier on in the week studying, and remembered how I’ve been neglecting my family, so made a beautiful comforting lamb stew that cooked for 2 hours and was so tender and yummy, and the family were happy with this.

Do you ever cook something, maybe out of guilt (though I try not to voice that word – there should be no such thing as guilt), or love, or forgiveness, or just to make things right again…

In response to Vivi exercises daily!‘s post:
Thats exactly what I was thinking.

Now, lets see. I have been a little over indulgent over the last few weeks….perhaps since I got married 3 weeks ago, plus my father in law came from Mauritius to visit with lots of yummy cakes – which didnt help matters!!

So tonight in order to side step all the sweet temptations and rich food I have been consuming, I am going back to basics.

Salmon fillet steamed with ginger, garlic and soy.
With lots of steamed fresh veg
and a few new potatoes.

Season with a little fresh chilli for a bit of attitude and that should settle me right down to simpler living.

If I really cant side step a little sweet indulgence, I will have a small piece of my favorite dark chocolate.

Have been so bad with sweets recently….and been having the odd biscuit with my cuppa in the evening too – all these calories add up though as I am beginning to see and feel!!
I wont beat myself up too much though. Life is meant for living and enjoying!! (thats not an excuse guys…honest!)

In response to anoushka’s post:
I am getting to like ginger more and more. Will try your combination this weekend.

I have noticed how my taste buds have changed over the years, things I used to not like at all, I love now.

Tonights dinner is pizza – best one in town – approved by the Italians in town.

1

I had a very sexy salad, mix of Red chard, red mustard, tatsoi, beetroot, steamed brussel sprouts, cherry tomatos, celery dressed with salt and pepper, olive oil and a sprinkle of lemon juice.
With a small slice of Kassler(smoked and salted cut of pork) with mustard.

Having a very late dinner:
spicy broccoli and chicken drumettes (wings and planks) (tastes kind of like thai food, only less heavy)