December’s Dinners

[The Tickle Momster]

My family had to forage Christmas Eve! I was so busy prepping for Christmas Day that I completely forgot about making dinner.

I think tonight is pesto chicken with whipped feta.
Tomorrow might be forage or pasta. I’m hosting baking day with my girls. Making biscotti and challah.

Being more consistent with meal planning is one of my goals for next year. I have really gotten out of the habit and it would relieve so much stress and indecision if I would just do it. All meals, not just dinner.


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[Proverbs31]

Foraging works! They're fed! I'm with you in wanting to get back to meal planning to reduce stress.



Today I forgot to figure out dinner until about 1-1.5 hours before I wanted it ready. oopsie. Wound up doing a quick stovetop soup: ground beef and onion browned in bacon drippings, rice, can of diced tomatoes, pack of frozen mixed veg, stock, apple juice. Seasoned with just salt, CA red pepper, thyme, and a slight bit of apple cider vinegar. Thankfully the broth turned out very nicely, with the perfect amount of gentle heat from the CA red pepper.

[charla]

Last night I ended up making pasta with tomato juice olive oil, lemon, Greek seasoning, capers, pine nuts, and feta and it really hit the spot.

Tonight was pizza from the local pizza restaurant with friends.
Saturday-cacio e Pepe
Sunday-dinner at Texas de Brazil with ds and dil for our Christmas celebration with them
Monday- fettuccine Alfredo with mushrooms and broccoli, garlic bread, s’mores with ds and dil
Tuesday- cheese tortilla rollups with salsa for a snack to tide us over before our New Year’s Eve party we’re hosting
Wednesday- chili
Thursday-leftovers

So much pasta lately but I haven’t grocery shopped for awhile and it’s what I have in the house.

[Proverbs31]

But it's such a nice variety of pasta you're doing!


Picked up more bacon on sale, made a burger bar with bacon and sundry other toppings. When we have bacon burgers, I make burgers thinner, so only use about half the amount of ground beef I do for plain burgers. So though the deliciousness is indulgent, it actually winds up not costing much more at all as long as the bacon's on sale.

[heartofjoy]

I'm doing sheet pan chicken, red potatoes, and cauliflower tonight. I haven't decided on seasonings. Maybe Greek?

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[Proverbs31]

Sounds delicious! Did you go with Greek?


I indulged in the cookbook Dinner in One, which is recipes for sheet pan dinners. It's marketed as having tasty and easy recipes with minimal clean-up required. Here's hoping that promise bears fruit!

[heartofjoy]

Originally Posted by Proverbs31

Sounds delicious! Did you go with Greek?


I indulged in the cookbook Dinner in One, which is recipes for sheet pan dinners. It's marketed as having tasty and easy recipes with minimal clean-up required. Here's hoping that promise bears fruit!

I did! It was yummy.

I've never done many sheet pan dinners because 2 pans don't hold enough food for my family, but now that it's often just 3-4 of us or fewer, it's almost enough space. Usually I just roast the veggies and do the meat on the stove. I like to spread everything out so it roasts properly instead of steaming.

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[The Tickle Momster]

I usually do 2 pans. One with veggies, one with the meat. We are down to 3 during the school year so I probably need to explore this more. . .

No plans for dinners this week yet. Gulp. My sister and her family are coming Thursday. I'll probably do mexican/tacos one night and pasta or roast the other.

[heartofjoy]

We can eat a whole pan of potatoes and a whole pan of broccoli no room for the meat!

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[Proverbs31]

Thanks for the sheet pan tips!


I discovered that the package the butcher had labeled "pork chops", which I was going to make tomorrow, is actually a shoulder roast. I like roasts too, but cooking timing is entirely different for them. So I wound up immediately starting it slow cooking now, to stick in the fridge at bedtime (which will therefore be later than I'd hoped), then finish tomorrow for midday. I hope it works out well in the end.

[heartofjoy]

Oh I hope that works out!

I'm trying to make my menu now.

Turning leftover chili into chili mac for my dh and kids tonight. I'm planning to eat other leftovers.

Tomorrow, I'm making a stir fry for lunch and black-eyed peas and cornbread for dinner, which we will also eat on New Year's Day.

Then we're headed to the ranch Thursday-Sunday, so I need to plan ranch food. That's always a bit tricky.

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[mummy2boys]

Tonight is honey mustard chicken with rice. Am going to try out the rice on my new pressure cooker/slow cooker so hopefully it gives me nice fluffy rice that the family loves

[Proverbs31]

It did work out, thanks! I was so grateful that there was no burnt or bitter taste to the meat and juice. Last night I poured all the liquid through a strainer before refrigerating it; I think removing the garlic pieces that way helped.


But my favorite part was the roasted veg--for once they turned out perfectly done. Besides fresh cauliflower and broccoli, I included yellow bell pepper chunks. My intent was mostly to make it prettier, but they wound up being a perfect taste complement too. Will remember for future use!

[charla]

Here’s the new thread!