WHAT'S FOR DINNER - SEPTEMBER 2013

[HeatherFeather]

I am glad that your meal was OK, Felix. I could go for some fried okra right now. Mmm I haven't had that since I lived in NC.

I made the Fettucine Alfredo last night along with the grilled chicken & broccoli rabe sausages I bought, sliced up and tossed into the sauce. The flavor of the sausages was good, if a bit dry. Not sure I'd buy them again, but it was a change of pace. No complaints from my chicken loving BF.

Tonight the plan is the sauce (using my DD's great grandmother's recipe that I learned to make at her side back when she was still cooking) along with meatballs & sweet Italian sausage (the meatballs are also from Great Nana). It makes a lot. I have to make sure I have enough freezer containers handy to store some sauce.

[Kchurchill5]

Morning Everyone,

HF, do you ever freeze your sauce in freezer bags. I have been doing that for a while now, and it really holds up nice. I freeze them flat, that put 4 or 5 in a gallon bag, and label just the one bag. I do that most of the things I freeze now.

Not much today; just got home from work about 30 minutes ago; and have a cuppa coffee to try to wake up. Short night at work, but boring; so, I'm dead tired this morning.

Ladies #1 and #2 have a church function, so it's just me to cook for.

Dinner, my cheese ravioli (freezer stash); served with a pea and red bell pepper sauce. On the side, http://www.recipezazz.com/recipe/simple ... alad-10562; but, I may add cucumbers to it. I have one to use up.
I thought I posted the ravioli recipe, but haven't. I'll try to post it today.

It's a low fat sauce, with the peas and chicken broth pureed to create the sauce and onions and red pepper to give it extra flavor.

I guess this is going to be a Xmas Dinner, White ravioli, red and green sauce; and red and green salad,

[Deepster]

I'm doing freezer stash tonight.....beef stew. I'll do some cornbread, and as usual will probably end everything with some fruit.

Felix, I feel for you!!!! I really don't want to see Winter coming on. I have to order some wood for the fireplace, and have just put it off, and put it off. We are probably about a month away from our first frost, but the trees are all turning early this year.....and snow is not unheard of here in October. Brrrrrr

Kc, I just cannot even imagine warm weather all the time. I love the change of seasons I must say though, that one of the coldest days I have ever spent in my life was in Key West .....one of those Sunset Cruises...I had brought NO winter clothes and the temp there was in the 60s on January 1....some years back.....dreadful

[Kchurchill5]

Deepster,

FL, can get really really cold. When it is COLD, it is a damp cold. 40 has a wind chill of in the 20's. It is bone chilling. Cold down here, is way worse than cold up north. It's the humidity we have in the air most of the time.

My dinner ended up being a semi bust. We had light rains today, which ruined my plans. Took the ravioli out; but, we lost power at 5 and didn't come on until 6:30. Also, it has rained, on and off, lightly since 3. Doesn't make planting much fun. The power is still on and off, and the power co, still out front.

Ended up using some of my diced tomatoes I put up this summer in the freezer along with my ravioli. Done on the grill. Couldn't do the pea puree without the immersion/blender; then, a romaine wedge and bottled dressing for a salad - by candles. It isn't sunset, but still dark out.
Power is on now, but wanted to eat earlier. Dinner was OK, just not what I wanted.
It was just out, but now back on ... I guess it will be that way for a while.

Pea sauce will have to wait ... just half the recipe tonight.

[Felix4067]

Nope, don't know anything about cold winter humidity here in the state surrounded on three sides by water...not a thing. It's gotta be way worse down in Florida where the record low temperature is still 20 degrees above what it is here, when our wind chills are below zero. ;)

[Dissie]

lol Felix. And me from the state that has 10,000 + lakes!

Kim, we know what you mean about bone chilling weather. I am sure its cold for you guys too however, not trying to minimize your cold.


We had chili. Leftovers. Well the guys did. I didn't feel much like eating.

[Kchurchill5]

OK guys, point well taken.
You guys you have lower humidity, during the winter, we have 70%+ humidity, so; it is a WET cold.
But understand.

[Kchurchill5]

Morning ...

Easy day. Yesterday with on and off showers, and NO power, really screwed the day up.
Lots of catch up today. Yard work, actual paid work, and errands. Unfortunately, something has got to give ... can't do it all.

Dinner, easy. Using leftovers again.
Using the remaining slices of pork from my tenderloin.

It is already heated in BBQ. So, going to make a sandwich, with the pork. Use the remaining cabbage I cooked, but add red onions, and cider vinegar, with sugar to pickle it.
Then, top with a mango chutney, and a little mayo, to make it creamy.
On the side, classic chips and a pickle.

[HeatherFeather]

The sauce & meatballs turned out really well. I was happy that my bf liked the recipe as well. I hadn't made that version in a while, but really wanted to return to it because I want to be able to teach my daughter her great grandmother's recipe one day (she has little interest in cooking so far, just baking). I don't want to forget how to make it the way she did - so glad I took many notes when she taught me, and that I had cooked it enough in the past to remember it well enough. It is of course a recipe with measures like "a handful of this" so of course hard to share online.

I have most of the sauce frozen now- I do usually love to use the freezer bags squashed flat, although I was out of those. I have some plastic freezer tubs and just had to find them. My house still feels like a big pile of clutter right now, still sorting where to put certain things. I literally have some of my kitchen items tossed into big plastic tubs to sort them. I am trying to only put away items as I use them, and anything still left in the tubs after a while is going to get labeled inside a special kitchen tub to store in the garage. I have such a small kitchen here, it is very hard to cut down on my kitchen things, let me tell you!

Tonight I might make meatball subs or something with chicken.

[Felix4067]

You're right, Kim. The average winter humidity in Florida is 3% higher than Michigan during the morning and 15% lower in the afternoon. That's gotta make a huge difference. ;)

http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/U ... winter.php

Dinner tonight will be something I cobble together. I start the circus at 5:30pm, which means a late lunch and a late dinner to accommodate my schedule. Probably end up being a fried egg sandwich, cottage cheese and yogurt.