This is an all inclusive meal preparing thread, so anything meal related is welcome! What are planning to make this week? What did you make last week? Any particular successes, how about disastrous failures? Are you going to try something new, or an old favorite? Want to share a recipe or request one? Have a special event, but you need help deciding what to make? It is all welcome!
lilak22 5y ago
I've recently given up pork for sentimental reasons, but I still eat all other meats and animal products (go figure). I'm finding it quite inconvenient as a lot of recipes throw in bacon or chorizo for flavour, so I wonder if any of you guys have any recommendations for alternatives. I have found a source of vegan chorizo, but as you can imagine it's pretty expensive.
[deleted] 5y ago
Quinoa, shrimp, and veggies.
SZONom 5y ago
This week is a mock chipotle steak bowl. Steak, lime rice, corn, salsa, black beans, avocado, lettuce and tortilla strips. Light but filling meal and great for leftovers.
Zegiknie 5y ago
Cauliflower risotto (with an onion, sour cream, lemon peel, parmesan cheese) and salmon tonight.
Than sourkraut stew with mustard, onion, apple and sausages and oven baked potatoes.
Then wild hog roast with green beans, bread and garlic butter
Then roasted tomato soup with this onion-pastry thing (like a quiche without the cheese and eggs and cream)
Then broccoli-leek soup with grilled cheese sandwiches (sp?) (Simple light meal after poetry teatime gluttony in the afternoon)
Then a stew with beef, pumpkin, tomatoes, bell peppers, red wine, herbs and spices and oven baked potatoes
Then we need more groceries. I wouldn't normally follow soup with soup, but my mealplan got scrambled because circumstance.
Can I post here? Or do I need to wait X amount of time? (Long time lurker just made a reddit account)
zionbeers 5y ago
Wow, this all sounds amazing. I make something similar to your cauliflower risotto all the time and I love it.
Zegiknie 5y ago
Thanks :-) I love autumn cooking! I was really surprised the cauliflower risotto tasted good, expected it to be too veggy-ish (first tried it when my husband was avoiding carbs).
[deleted]
videlachkadua 5y ago
I made spinach cheese stuffed tortellini with bechamel sauce last week. I make easy dinners (i learned how to cook later) because I'm still limited. I started learning as an adult.
1 box of spinach/cheese tortellini
3 tbsp of butter
3 tbsp of flour
Salt
Pepper
1 cup of milk
Parsley (optional)
In a pot, boil water. Add tortellini. Cook it for 12 minutes. Set aside.
In a skillet, melt butter on medium (my stove melts slow, medium high), add flour to make a rue paste. Add milk. Whisk till it thickens of your choice. Add salt and pepper.
Mix ingredients together, garnish with a little parsley.
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zionbeers 5y ago
My fiancee has a job that feeds him for almost every meal. I cook on weekend sometimes, but it often doesn't make sense (we'll go out, etc.). So a lot of my "cooking" comes down to baking cookies (which he loves) or dips, etc. if we're having people over.
I'm kind of running out of ideas re: cookies, bars (granola bars), healthy bakeable snacks, etc. Any input?
Zegiknie 5y ago
Quickbreads, flatbreads, focaccia. Quiches for lunch?
zionbeers 5y ago
Actually just made flatbread with Italian sausage, onions, brussel sprouts, ricotta, mozzarella etc. this weekend! Pretty good but dough could've been thinner. We generally try to reduce our bread intake so we can "splurge" on the cookies, french toast, etc. that I make on the weekends, but I love the idea of experimenting with sourdough bread. So maybe that will be my next project.
curious__kitty 5y ago
Have you seen the blog Sally’s Baking Addiction? This is one of my faves, even though I have plenty of books on baking. Her stuff is accessible and delish!
KittenLoves_ 5y ago
My boyfriend and I have been trying to cut down our meat consumption for ecological reasons, so we've been having a lot of vegetarian meals lately. With the weather getting cooler, soups are becoming the norm!
A few days ago I made a huge batch of Chinese dumplings that are now sitting in the freezer. We're going to be steaming them for when his family comes to visit this weekend -- it will be their first time eating my dumplings and I'm excited to impress them. ;)
I also made quite the batch of sauerkraut recently, and am waiting for it to be ready so we can have that on the rare occasions we eat meat.
Otherwise, I'm planning on making torrone and a double-layer chocolate cake with a chestnut cream centre tomorrow. If any of you are fans of chestnuts I highly recommend making chestnut cream. It's a bit time-consuming but I think it's fantastic and I normally don't even like chestnuts, so I'm sure chestnut lovers would be over the moon for it. Here's a recipe.
[deleted] 5y ago
Thanks for all the ideas, ladies!
hottytoddy887 5y ago
FH had a work dinner tonight, so I got to tag along. I usually meal prep for the week, since we are both trying to lose weight and it's easier.
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I made a pork shoulder last week and mimicked the BBQ sauce from our favorite restaurant back home. He's been eating leftovers this week and has been crazy happy about it. He brags about my cooking, which makes me happy. One of his coworkers we saw tonight missed our dinner party last weekend and said he was sorry he missed my cooking. I'll bake cookies this weekend for him to take to work Monday. Pretty excited about that! I'm currently staying home and am LOVING being able to take care of him.
hsmotterfour 5y ago
I have a large family of six; DH, myself, two teens and two elementary aged kids. It is starting to get chilly here and soup just feels so good.
This week we are eating homemade broccoli cheddar soup with salad and bakery baguettes; Slowcooker pork carnitas and chunky fillings such as avocado, pico de gallo and salsa; Vietnamese beef on rice, making a huge batch of rice and use leftover rice for chicken fried rice another night; potato soup and cheddar biscuits; and finally, we will likely do a homemade ramen night with rice noodles made in a rich soy broth and ala carte veggies tableside to go in the broth.
We eat fairly simply, and my oldest daughter cooks as much as I do. I’m very proud of her.
lilak22 5y ago
Ooh, do you have a recipe you follow for Vietnamese beef? It already sounds tasty!
hsmotterfour 5y ago
I do! It works with ground beef as well if you’re in for a more frugal meal. I’ll use ground beef if I have to feed all my teenagers’ friends! ????
https://noblepig.com/2011/05/vietnamese-style-beef-with-garlic-black-pepper-and-lime/
cocodecoca 5y ago
I'm making a stew once a week over autumn/winter. I don't know why but the men in my life really love stews.
videlachkadua 5y ago
Stew is delicious. Soups are also a winter favorite. I make chicken and rice bake every fall winter. It's french onion and cream of mushroom soup mixed together with water, rice, and whole chicken.
cassalas 5y ago
My hubby LOVES stir fry so I make that about once a week. I throw random veggies together along with some cubed boneless and skinless chicken thighs or some ground pork in my huge dutch oven and cook until done but still a little crispy. I typically add some soy sauce, garlic, sriracha, ginger, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, fish sauce, and a little honey towards the end. I serve it with rice or those calorie free noodles. I like to make something protein dense in the Crock-Pot on Sunday's that will tide us over for a couple dinners during the week since we are both tired from work don't have the energy to cook anything intense. Beef stew was the pick this week. Pulled pork in the Crock-Pot is another go-to. I like to have the protein ready to go so all we have to do is throw a couple potatoes in the microwave and steam some broccoli or throw a salad together. Other regular dinners are coconut curries, roasted chicken drumsticks, oven baked salmon, hamburgers, sausage and kale soup, chicken corn chowder, chili, bean soup, bratwurst with sauerkraut, or eggs and sausage with sauteed kale and onions.
sparkledragon45 5y ago
I fiannly subscribed to Cooks Illustrated magazine for their recipe database. It's so worth $4 a month!
I made their Chicken Picatta (https://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/10318-chicken-piccata?incode=MCSCM00L0&ref=new_search_experience_1) and served it with noodles and broccoli. It was super yummy, though fiancbae thought it was a bit too lemony for him. Also I dropped almost all of the chicken on the floor :(
Tonight I'm making Chicken Vesuvio (https://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/11170-chicken-vesuvio) and an apple crisp for dessert! Vesuvio is basically chicken, garlic, potatoes, and wine so I figured that should be a slam dunk dinner :)
curious__kitty 5y ago
What things do you like best about the database? I have been eying it for a few months.
sparkledragon45 5y ago
You can search specific recipes like chili, or searching recipes by categories lime "soups", then refining the search by cuisine and main ingredient. And they let you save/download the recipes
curious__kitty 5y ago
That sounds really good! Thanks very much for the explanation :)
norahlady 5y ago
Big win in this department -- a few weeks ago my grocery store rolled out an online shopping program where you build your cart and place your order through their website, then you drive by the store and they bring the groceries out to your car. It's saving me so much time and even money (no more impulse snack purchases). I've been meal planning and placing the grocery order weekly and my fiance loves seeing how consistent the grocery bills are (he's a budgeting nerd).
Here are some favorite meals from the past couple weeks (for context, we're vegetarian):
- Veggie fried rice. Search https://cookieandkate.com/ for fried rice and you'll see ideas. Basically I cook a huge batch of brown rice at the beginning of the week and stash it in the fridge. Then for the fried rice, I scramble a few eggs, saute some onions and garlic, then add a bunch of veggies (edamame, bell peppers, peas, corn, whatever) and toasted cashews or peanuts. I throw in some of the rice along with some soy sauce and sriracha and cook it until it's toasty. It's a super quick and satisfying meal.
- Pizzas/flatbreads. I use this easy crust recipe (https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/257199/thin-crust-pizza-dough/) and top it with all kinds of cheeses, veggies, etc. One of our favorite combos is pesto + ricotta + roasted brussels sprouts (inspo: https://lexiscleankitchen.com/brussels-sprout-flatbread-pizza/) and zucchini + tomato + ricotta + chives + arugula + balsamic (inspo here: https://lexiscleankitchen.com/garden-veggie-pizza/). I also made a "taco flatbread" with TVP taco "meat" + beans + corn + salsa + cilantro + cheese. I usually serve the pizza/flatbread with a big fresh salad.
- Soups! I've been using my instant pot a lot to make 15-bean soup, lentil tortilla soup, spicy miso cabbage soup, potato chowder, etc. I usually pair soup with some homemade rolls -- this is my favorite recipe lately, and it's quick too: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/13827/quick-yeast-rolls/
Honestly, October has been the first month in a long time that I've been consistent with meal planning and cooking, and it makes me feel so good to be able to contribute to our household this way. My fiance appreciates it so much and I love when he gets excited for dinner and tells me how much he appreciates me. <3
I feel like I have a good handle on dinners (and the leftovers are great for lunch), but now I'm on the hunt for breakfast ideas. I'd love to prep some grab-and-go healthy breakfast foods. If anyone has had success there (oatmeal/egg cups? breakfast burritos?), I'd love some suggestions :)