What are you Cooking the Week of July 20, 2025?

[Mike Nolan]

Not sure about supper again tonight, Diane had a crown come off Friday afternoon (and our dentist's office is closed until Tuesday for some computer upgrades) so she's being careful about what she's eating, too. (I won't get a new crown on the implant until October.)

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[RiversideLen]

I bought a new toaster oven, it claims to have 7 functions but I think some of them are the same function with a different name. For instance, what is the difference between the convection and air fry, or bake and roast? Anyway, one of the things I want to do is be able to make pizza without heating up the entire kitchen as would happen with the regular oven. So I debated between a pizza stone or pizza pan sized for the toaster oven. Since a stone would require pre heating I opted for an 11 inch pizza pan. The pan has holes in it so I know I can't just put raw pizza dough on it as it would imbed into the holes. So, I cut out a parchment circle and par baked the crust for 5 minutes. Then I removed it, took out the parchment, returned the crust to the pan and topped it.

in the oven

Baked for about 12 minutes at 450 (the maximum temp) and then switched it to convection to speed up the browning of the cheese. It came out pretty good; the bottom of the crust came out a little north of golden brown and was crispy but just a tad dry. Next time I will switch to convention at the 10 minute mark so I can remove it just a little sooner.

This was a test pizza so I kept it plain

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[BakerAunt]

That is a great idea, Len, to use the parchment initially with the "crisper" pan. I've greased them in the past, but the grease tends to drip down into the oven and make a mess. Countertop ovens are great for hot weather.

Our dinner tonight was the rest of the stir-fry.

[Joan Simpson]

Nice looking pizza Len, I have thought about a small toaster oven but haven't gotten one yet.Tonight I had another cold plate.

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[cwcdesign]

I got a Cuisinart toaster oven last year and I have found it to be really useful with just me in the house. I also have a plan with GA Power that lowers my rate if I don't use major appliances such as oven, washing machine, etc between the hours of 2-7 Monday through Friday (June-October) which is peak time for power usage in the summer. I also need to keep my AC at 78 or above during those hours as well, but I set it that high when I leave for work every day. So the oven is great for dinners.

I made a big batch of chicken stock today with the rotisserie chicken carcasses I'd saved. And, I made a batch of steel cut oatmeal for breakfasts this week.

[Joan Simpson]

I had steak, slice tomatoes, and sautéed onions and strawberry Greek yogurt for dessert.

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[BakerAunt]

So yummy looking, Joan!

I made yogurt on Monday, but I started it late, so I will be up well past 11 when it will be done.

Dinner tonight was the last of the coleslaw and the last of the salmon patties. I let Scot have the last Deli Rye roll and I ate mine on a slice of bread with a thin slice of onion. With all the leftovers gone, I will need to cook tomorrow, just when the heat is returning.

[RiversideLen]

That's a yummy looking steak and onions, Joan!

Yesterday I made steak, mushrooms and sugar snap peas and a simple salad.

[Joan Simpson]

Thanks on the steak & onions, I was gifted about 8 onions and needed to use them .I really wanted to bake one but wasn't going to use the oven for one onion. Tonight I had a grilled cheese with some cream cheese on crackers with Cowboy candy jalapenos.

[BakerAunt]

I found a package of eight boneless pork chops at a good price at the market on Tuesday, so for dinner, we and pecan crusted baked pork chops. I added ¼ tsp. of paprika and some freshly ground pepper to the egg and 1 Tbs. of Dijon mustard mixture into which I dip them before "breading" them in the pecans. That was just enough to coat all eight. I also roasted some red potatoes cut into cubes and tossed in olive oil in the little oven. These came from Saturday's farmers market. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli.

[cwcdesign]

I finished off the chicken salad tonight with a mixed greens and avocado salad.

I was off today and had my mammogram which came back normal. I stopped by Harris Teeter and got tortelloni (I meant to get tortellini), spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and salami so I could make a pasta salad today for tomorrow night. I was able to find the sun-dried tomatoes in a bag instead of packed in oil - I think they were less expensive and I prefer them.

This hot and humid weather sucks 😜

[RiversideLen]

Tonight I made pizza in the toaster oven, I par baked the crust on parchment for 3 minutes and then topped it (sauce and cheese only) and baked it for 10 minutes and then switched it to convection for a couple of minutes to brown the cheese. It came out perfect. Had it with a side of mushrooms and sugar snap peas.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Wednesday, I made White Wine-Braised Chicken with Artichokes, a recipe from the "Eat Voraciously" column in The Washington Post. I used the other can of artichoke hearts from the pantry and will not buy more, as Scott resolutely refuses even to try them. I also left out the olives, as I do not think they added much to the recipe. I had 8 oz. of mushrooms that needed to be used, so I sauteed them in olive oil, then set them aside while I browned the chicken, skinned and coated in a flour mixture with paprika and onion powder (omitting the oregano, which bothers Scott's digestive system). I added the mushroom with the artichoke hearts and made sure to dish those onto my husband's plate. The recipe made very little sauce, so I might increase the white wine from five to six ounces next time. I used my Staub 11-inch skillet this time and was pleased at how well the coated chicken browned and the whole recipe cooked.

We had the chicken with mixed brown and wild rice cooked in my new Green Pan 4-qt. rice cooker. It is the second time I used it, and it really does a nice job and cleaning is easy. (Note: I bought the simple one not the complex electronic one.) We had microwaved frozen peas for an added vegetable.

We also picked another 10 lbs. of blueberries at our favorite place in the early morning before the heat and humidity settled in. I washed them this evening and spread them on baking sheets lined with paper towels to dry overnight. I will freeze them tomorrow.

[Joan Simpson]

I had bacon and tomato sandwich with pickles.

[BakerAunt]

I made pasta salad on Thursday afternoon, using a Greek cucumber and basket of colored tomatoes from the farmers market, along with green onion and assorted colors of mini-bell peppers from the grocery. I also used a multi-colored pasta, so it was a bright salad. I included Greek olives, and Scott actually ate some of them. We went to an environmental coalition talk at 6:45, so when we got home at 7:45, the pasta salad was waiting to be eaten with warmed leftover pecan crusted pork chops.

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