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December 19, 2024 at 7:27 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of December 15, 2024? #45014
Before Thanksgiving, an email from Stonyfield Yogurt had a recipe for Turkey Casserole that I thought showed promise. I needed to use the rest of the turkey we had frozen after Thanksgiving before we left for our trip, so on Thursday, I used it as a basis to make what I am calling Turkey, Spinach, and Rice Casserole. My ingredient changes were using whole wheat flour and replacing the dried basil with celery salt. I also used Fage non-fat Greek yogurt because that is what I have. I replaced the fresh spinach with cooked frozen spinach. I added 8 oz. of sliced mushrooms. I used brown basmati rice, which I cooked in turkey broth from the freezer, and I added the broth not used in the rice cooker, to the sauce. I also did not layer it but mixed it all together, put it in a 9 x 13" Emile Henry casserole dish and warmed for 20 minutes. It is slightly bland, but my husband likes bland. It made enough for three nights, so I will get a break from cooking tomorrow and can focus on other kitchen projects.
On Thursday, I finally had time to use the spaghetti squash that I had roasted last week to bake my adaptation of Ken Haedrich's Spaghetti Squash and Parmesan Cheese Quiche for lunch today and for the next five days. I have adapted it to replace butter with olive oil, heavy cream with low-fat evaporated milk, and an oil crust. For my crust recipe, I replaced the whole wheat pastry flour with fine cornmeal (by weight). I used 1/3 cup of canola with enough olive oil for half a cup, because I did not know how the cornmeal would work with the oil. I like the flavor. Back when I was making butter crusts, I used a cornmeal butter crust recipe, so it was great to know that I can adapt my oil recipe to make a cornmeal crust.
We went and got our Christmas tree on Wednesday at a Christmas tree farm about 30 minutes from us. They did not have many left, but we found a lovely white fir. That inspired me to bake a double recipe of my soft sugar cookies that use avocado oil instead of butter. I decorated a little over half with red and green sugar, and the rest with some red, green, and white sprinkles. I hope to bake more Christmas cookies tomorrow.
December 18, 2024 at 6:41 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of December 15, 2024? #45009We had the rest of the stir-fry tonight.
Joan--Thank you, again, for the sweets!
Sending positive thoughts that she will be on that list!
December 17, 2024 at 6:24 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of December 15, 2024? #45002That would be so fun, Chocomouse. Sigh.
On Tuesday, I made stir-fry for dinner, using soba noodles, leftover pork, deglazing, carrots, celery, red bell pepper, green onion, mushrooms, and broccoli. We have enough for tomorrow night as well, which should give us time to go buy a Christmas tree.
For dessert, we each had a slice of Joan's pound cake from the freezer. It's delicious!
December 16, 2024 at 10:18 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of December 15, 2024? #44994Happy Birthday, Diane!
Navlys--When we remodeled, we found that we had to use different bathroom tile because it was not made any more. When we remodeled the small kitchen in the Annex, we discovered that its flooring was not made any more. As that is a guest space, we found something as close as we could and went with it.
What we have learned is that flooring is available for a year or two, then the company moves on to other designs and colors. Unless you stock up--and who among us has the room?--then it is replace the entire floor.
I'm not a fan of recessed refrigerators, but that is what we also ended up with due to the cabinets. I like being able to clean the coils in back.
Here's wishing speedy repairs to Mike and to Navlys!
I've been racing to get the Christmas decorations up, since we came back with just two weeks until Christmas. The halls have now been decked, and I will be turning my attention to cookie baking this week.
On our way home from Florida, I convinced my husband to stop at Ellis Brothers for pecans. He was skeptical, since most of the places along the highway are tourist traps, but Ellis Brothers is a family business that alternates between selling pecans and peaches--and lots of other goodies as well. I bought three pounds of pecan pieces for baking, so that should have me set for a while. I also bought a 3 lb. bag of pecan meal, which I haven't been able to find since King Arthur stopped carrying it. I like it in biscotti and plan to try it in a crumb crust. The cashier told me that some people like to use it as a coating on pork chops, so that is on my list to try.
I baked an apple pie on Friday, or perhaps I should say that I baked an apple pile. I was making my usual pie with the crumb topping, and I ignored the little voice in my head that told me not to use the last two apples. The result was a very big, high pie, but the apples were still crunchy! However, it was still good, and we are slowing finishing it.
On Friday, I made dough for Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers. My starter was happy to be fed! I will bake the crackers sometime next week.
Lovely cake, CWCdesign!. And of course, Joan's pound cake is always photogenic, and so good to eat as well, as my husband and I can now say from experience!
December 16, 2024 at 2:30 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of December 15, 2024? #44984Sunday's dinner was noodles cooked in turkey broth from the freezer, which I mixed with some of the turkey that we had frozen before we left, sauteed mushrooms, and frozen peas. I seasoned it with dried sage, thyme, and some freshly ground black pepper. We grated Parmesan over it. There is enough for Monday's dinner as well.
When we arrived home on Wednesday, I pulled out from the freezer the soup I had made before we left. We ate it on Thursday as well, along with the last of the rolls.
On Friday, my husband pan-cooked some boneless pork, and I roasted sweet potato chunks. We had them with frozen peas.
For Saturday's dinner, I pulled out two frozen buns from the freezer and we had pork sandwiches.
I'm chiming in a little late. We arrived home to freezing temperatures on Wednesday. I was going to post on Friday, and the internet company took down our internet to work on it. We were without it until about 15 minutes ago when it was finally fixed.
Scott and I enjoyed our time with Joan! She sent us home with two loaves of banana bread and half a pound cake. We will finish the banana bread tonight. We each had a slice of the pound cake the next day at a rest area. (We needed it, because the traffic was surprisingly heavy all day.) After we arrived home, I sliced the rest into six pieces, wrapped each well and popped them into the freezer for emergency desserts!
Joan also sent a bag of treats for Annie May, who is appreciative!
Joan is the second member of the group that I have met in person. Joan and I calculated that we have been talking online for about ten years, first in the Baking Circle and now at Nebraska Kitchen. When Scott and I were still in Lubbock, we were able to meet Mrs. Cindy and her husband, The Saint (her name for him) when they came through on a trip to New Mexico. It is always special to meet another member!
On Sunday, I baked my adaptation of Ellen's bus as 15 rolls for our trip home. I baked them on the small, heavy sheet pan that I brought as part of my cooking/baking gear.
Sunday is our last night here. I made chicken salad with the remaining chicken from the bone-in breasts I roasted last week. I used chopped celery, mayonnaise, and some of Penzey's Justice blend seasoning, as we like it on the roasted chicken. We ate the chicken salad as open-faced sandwiches with cherry tomatoes on the side.
We plan to visit a special person on the way home. More on that later.
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