What's for dinner, Wednesday, July 23, 2014.

[cbayer]

If there isn't any objection, I'm going to start these from time to time. I've almost completed my dinner prep, but I realize that some of you are just crawling out of bed.

I went to a big grocery store yesterday, so I am fully stocked for a week or two, which means I can spend a lot of time at home just thinking about and fixing my next meal, lol.

Tonight it is Pork Chops Saltimbocca, sautéed spinach and garlic and creamy chive potatoes. I have done nothing today to deserve this meal, but will try to work it off tomorrow, lol.

What's happening in your kitchen?

[fizzgig]

1. i'm looking no further than the bottom of my coffee cup right now

but there's not much around to cook and i won't get to the store today, so maybe delivery or takeout to celebrate payday.

[Galileo126]

2. It's still early here in SoCal, but...

I pulled a rib eye steak out of the freezer just now. So, it's grilled rib eye with a cucumber, tomato and Vidalia salad. I'll probably put some seasoned potato wedges on the flame, too.

It's a mid-week day off... and after grocery shopping this afternoon ... I plan on doing, well, nothing!

[bif]

3. Ground turkey & bean burritos.

[locks]

4. chicken curry salad

I love chicken or turkey salad (chicken, celery, hard cooked eggs, mayo and pickle relish) From Epicurious: added chopped mango, red seedless grapes, green onions, and cashews. To the mayonnaise I added yogurt, curry powder, honey, ginger, and lime juice. And served it in a scooped-out tomato.

[cbayer]

5. This must be where I got my love of chicken salad.

It is one of my most favorite foods in the world. Except for the hard boiled eggs, I like it just as your describe.

[greatauntoftriplets]

6. Rib steak and a baked potato.

The last of the corn from the other night.

How are you making the garlic and creamy chive potatoes?

[cbayer]

7. I found an italian recipe that was new to me.

I cut the potatoes into ½ inch pieces, then boiled them in a mixture of cream and milk, with some salt and pepper.

They cooked in that and the sauce thickened.

Then the chives were added at the end.

They came out really well, but I think they need something extra to add some taste.

Any suggestions?

[greatauntoftriplets]

8. Those sound good, I'll have to try it sometime.

As for the something extra, maybe parmesan or some other cheese?

[cbayer]

9. Yes, I think cheese would have improved it.

I have some leftover and I think I may bake it with cheese and maybe some breadcrumbs on top.

[greatauntoftriplets]

10. Breadcrumbs on top would be good as well!

I'll have to remember that.

[pinto]

12. Something savory?

Or some clams and more coarse black pepper?

[cbayer]

17. Agree. Even a dose of red pepper flakes might help.

I'm going to give it a little attention tonight and see if I can't improve it.

[hobbit709]

11. BBQ Beef Ribs, potato salad and in honor of National Vanilla Ice Cream Day.

Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.

[pinto]

13. I had the rest of my Mediterranean small plate stuff for lunch, so tonight a quesadilla of sorts.

Corn tortilla topped with refried beans, shredded Monterey Jack, pico de gallo, extra green chilies, a fried egg, cilantro, more shredded cheese. Fruit.

[noamnety]

14. I'm on month four of eating on two dollars a day.

I've got the house to myself this week and I've mostly been riding my bike around town and making smoothies for every meal to rehydrate. But tonight I made a real dinner for myself. Corn tortillas roasted on the oven burners, filled with sauteed green beans and peas from the garden and homemade white bean hummus, all with a splash of hot sauce.

Everything was free except the tortillas. They were marked down 30% to $1.50 for a pack of 30 because of the expiration date, but then the sale price was $1.39. I wonder how many people scanned the clearance price and paid more than the sale price. I talked them into giving me a couple packs at $1 per package (sale price with the markdown). I had 4 tortillas for dinner, so I spent about 13 cents.

In my smoothie adventures I learned that if you don't have yogurt or bananas to thicken the smoothie, you can cook up some dried beans and use those. My hummus was part of a pot of beans I made, half for the hummus, half for the smoothies. Today was the first bean smoothie, and it actually works just fine - there was no bean taste at all, it was a great protein base for a pineapple raspberry kale smoothie.

Grocery bill this month: $53.28 so far, for two adults (4 days with the husband being out of town this week.)
Bicycle miles this month, all for grocery trips: 301.

[cbayer]

18. Are you doing this out of necessity or as a challenge.

Sounds like you are doing a great job. I love the combination of physical exercise and thoughtful eating.

Good luck!

[noamnety]

20. It's the challenge plus a bit of OCD

In my 20s with a kid and no job, it was necessity. Now it's the challenge.

Thank god I get addicted to weird habits like this instead of drugs!

[cbayer]

21. Much better than drugs, but it can be just as addictive in my experience!

I live very simply and take pride in cooking great meals and spending very little on food.

Wine, on the other hand, is a bit of an issue, lol.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

15. baked spuds.

with broccoli, bacon bits, and, erm, fake processed cheese sauce.

yesterday was much nicer - one of the local farmer's markets had enormous bell peppers, easily twice the size of what we can normally get in the grocery store, so we did the orzo/ground beef/spaghetti sauce/mozzarella stuffed peppers in the crock pot.

We're still wondering what the heck the volunteer in the raised bed out back is. The 'fruit' it's producing are elongated like watermelon with green and yellowish green striping, again like some watermelon, but a small one was gnawed open by a squirrel, and the flesh inside was yellowish white and looked very squash like. One of them is already as big as my head, but I don't know how big it will get when ripe, since I still haven't figured out what it is.

[cbayer]

19. Maybe some kind of hybrid?

Have you tasted it at all?

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

22. I imagine so, but no, I don't think it's even ripe yet.

I'll be shocked if it actually turns out to be a watermelon, even if it sort of looks like one. I think squash/pumpkin is far more likely. I'll be keeping an eye on it, and once it looks like it hasn't changed in size for a period of a couple of weeks, I'll cut it off and see what's in there.

[cbayer]

23. Well, let us know.

[laundry_queen]

16. beef tacos and grilled corn salsa...

I finally used the handmade corn tortillas I bought from a local Mexican grocery. Unfortunately, my kids hated them! They found the corn taste without the crunch disconcerting. I know there has to be someone out there laughing that we've never tried corn tortillas before...but when your grocery store's Mexican section is nothing more than Old El Paso, it's hard to find the authentic stuff! I'm glad I found that Mexican grocery store, they have so many cool things.

Anyway.

The beef was prepared with a sauce made with soaked ancho chilies, onions, garlic, some spices and tomatoes. mmm! And homemade corn salsa. I have to say, I have had the hardest time finding corn ON a cob lately. When I was a kid, you could get corn anywhere, and for cheap. Now, the only corn I could find was a package of 4 cobs for $5. And they were the crappiest cobs of corn I have EVER bought in my life. They were dry and mealy and the kernels were SO tiny. Let's just say it's a good thing the corn was only for the salsa, because if we would've had that corn to eat, it would've been the biggest disappointment of my culinary life. I really hate that it's so hard to find good eatin' corn now that corn is used for everything else under the sun.

/corn rant

[cbayer]

24. It's real easy to crunch up those corn tortillas.

Just dip them in some really hot oil, turn them over and drain on paper towels. It will take a little practice to get them done just right, but they don't need very long at all.

And much better than Old El Paso. The kids can make their own "mexican pizza" and put whatever they want on it.

Not sure where you live, but the corn I have gotten in Mexico this year i would only give to livestock. Inedible, imo.

[laundry_queen]

25. I'll have to try that.

Mexican pizza - sounds yummy!

I live in Canada. The corn I bought at Costco today looks much better. Why I didn't just go there in the first place, I don't know (actually, I do, it's because I don't usually walk out of there with less than $400 worth of stuff, LOL) We'll bring those cobs camping to roast over the fire. mmm.

When I was growing up, we used to get corn stands everywhere starting in mid-august. There was a town a few hours south of where I live that was famous for its corn, and stands of 'Taber corn' were everywhere, and a lot of corn for CHEAP. Now, I haven't seen any stands like that in many years. I miss good corn on the cob

[cbayer]

26. They are really just tostadas, but kids might like the pizza reference.

I was recently in Georgia and had some really good corn. It's so hard to tell when you buy it, though.

I remember those roadside stands also. We need more of those for everything, imo!

[laundry_queen]

27. I agree we need more of those roadside stands

We still occasionally get the "BC cherries!" ones.

And yeah, you never can tell with corn.

[cbayer]

28. They were really great in Mexico.

We drove across the country and there were stands everywhere, each selling something different. Whatever they were selling, you could bet it would be the freshest thing available at that moment.

I learned a lot about Mexican cooking while there, so if you have any questions about what to buy at your local Mexican market, let me know. I can also make some great e-book cookbook suggestions if you are interested.