What's cooking, MAG?

DH has guys over for poker which requires a meal. I chose from a Cuban cookbook that I happen to have,
Arroz con Pollo (chicken and rice, onions, peppers, garlic, wine, tomatos) and Marinated Black Beans (beans, red onion, OO and balsamic, bit of Dijon) and cut up huge bowl of cantalope and watermelon. Nobody's complaining!

The other night was a hunk of pork shoulder cooked in the slow cooker then shredded. DS has looked up some sort o 'burger seasoning mix" but forgets whats in it, We know paprika and garlic powder- anyway it made a good seasoning for the pork. Sadly, with all three big kids around it does not last long! Side dish big pot of grits with green chiles and cheese stirred in.

Ya hungry yet? Whatcha cooking?

Sounds yummy.

I'm doing the pork shoulder thing for Father's Day community time at church tomorrow night

The picking out of fat is gross, but the end result is soooo yummy and economical!

Oh you're supposed to pick out the fat??? LOL

HAHAH-
So's you can et it all and not share MMM!

We had "on sale" pre-cooked and pre-seasoned shrimp from Whole Foods -- how pitiful is that! I'm trying to watch what I eat a little better. I'm dutifully cleaning my basement desk (ugh) and wish I were eating chocolates.

We found a really good slow-roasted pork recipe somewhere -- I'll have to find it....

So hard to find wild caught shrimp from the USA....found some yesterday at our local grocery store...so happy!!!!.... bought 2 huge packages

Have you ever done it in a crock pot with some sort of cola and onions, then after that, shred it and mix in BBQ sauce of choice.

Breakfast buffet today at Hershey Farms restaurant in Strasburg, PA with grandydaughter, then a graduation party this afternoon and another one tomorrow. Then our VBS starts Sunday evening so I'll do something earlier. Don't know what yet.

Those sound great, Sally!

What brand, Jen?

This message was edited Jun 15, 2012 9:23 PM

I hate to think too much about our food sources, it makes me depressed. Its either too $$ or too iffy on source.

Now farm raised COCOA, I'm all for that. Just a little of the good stuff....happy, work for a bit then get a reward!
No idea what dinner is tomorrow LOL-- prolly burgers

How long were in Strasburg???

I saw that recipe but we don't drink soda so didn't want to do that one

Acme but says packed by Best Sea Pack of Texas

as long as it's non gmo cocoa

gmo?

Genetically modified organism
http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/what-is-gmo/

ouch

yeah, you got that right

Did you know that the chemical used to treat the majority of the seeds is Round Up???? YEAH, nice huh? and we're injesting that!

Just took beef rump roast - threw it into the crock pot with various hot peppers, sweet onions, diced garlic, adobe seasoning...and let it sit all day....
Shredded and put into corn tortillas - rolled...fried....whaa laa taquitos YUM

ohhhhhhh, that's sounds YUMMY!!!!

MMM
I don't slow cook chicken much but last year did find a recipe to slow cook chicken breasts for mexican flavored chicken.
I'm working three evenings a week and need things I can pre assemble partway, that they finish off whenever they show up for dinner. Or that sit in a pot well, that I can eat at 4 and they can eat at 6 ...and usually still sits in the pot till I come home at 9 15 and put away. lol.

I have a slow cooker and must admit that the very few times I used it, the food was always excellent. I don't have counter space to keep it out all the time and guess it is too much of a chore to pull it out and use it too often. Also may be that I have been cooking basically one way all of my long life and forget to try new things. I do know that I have been disappointed when looking at slow cook recipes that ground beef and pasta have to both be prepared on the stove first, and that to me sort of negates the principle of throwing it in a pot and be done. Heck, that just makes for more dishes as far as I am concerned. We eat lots of beef and pasta types of dishes. Tonights fare is spaghetti. Love it or leave it.

Ruby

Hey, Ruby, I share those thoughts with you. I don't use the slow cooker a whole lot.

Had burgers tonight, potato salad, leftover bean salad, store bought apple pie for dessert.

I use the slow cooker a lot and NEVER pre cook anything, the ONLY way to make outstanding chili

Took hubby and fil out for late lunch.... sirloin and shrimp...YUMMY

You just put the raw ground beef and everything in and set it and forget it, Jen?

Yep

So easy!
Oh, I have used it for sausage and pepper sauce. (italian sausage, peppers, onions, tomato sauce)

We had sliced tomatoes and hamburgers -- not the freshest (sad to say) so I added chopped onions and Worcestershire sauce. But the tomatoes were wonderful, so they much up for it.

Sally -- I didn't know you were working evenings. What are you doing?

I'm a library page- the people who put books away. Great re entry for when I still helped Mom a lot. Pitiful pay. I thought it would put me in prime position for a better PT or FT job, but the job market is so awful, there were 200+ applications for the last full time position. I didn't even get to interview.. .Interview selection is at headquarters so even though my branch adores me, they couldn't say I get to interview. At least this is extremely flexible, I can pretty much take off anytime I want. LikeTuesday- we are having a belated Fathers Day dinner out- ribs. I looked at precooked ribs in the grocery and they are still very pricey. Lloyd's full rack $17. Might as well go out and feel special (sometimes!)

Hooray for going out! Ray!

We haven't gone for ribs in ages.

Spag and meatballs. Salad and bread. Meatballs were homemade and from the freezer. Gosh I love having something homemade to pull out of the freezer. That requires making about 3-4 pounds of meatballs in a batch, then have some that night and put some in freezer. It seems like so much food- I have this mental inability to realize that five semi adult people can eat a lot of food!

I hear you. I do like to get meat on sale and then packaging it in meal -size portions and putting in freezer. Love having meatballs ready to go. Note to self-get some ground turkey for meatballs.

Sally--or anyone with kids that have bottomless appetites---This dish is for you.
It is inexpensive. it makes a large amount of food. it is easy to make....What else can you ask for??
This recipe makes a full, half-foil pan of a casserole. Enough for a good crowd---unless you have teenagers...


MACARONI, HAM, AND CHEESE CASSEROLE
From: Gita

6-8oz. (dry) elbow, bowknot, or any other small macaroni
(cooked per directions and drained)
4-6 Tbsp. Butter or Margarine
4 eggs
1 ¾ cup light cream or 1/2 and ½
½ tsp. Salt and ¼ tsp. Pepper—or to taste for both
1 tsp. Dry Mustard
½ tsp. Paprika
3 cups good, cooked ham in ¼” dice (One lg. ham steak will do)
1 ½ cups shredded, sharp Cheddar Cheese (more is yummy)
1 med. onion—minced
1—10oz. Pkg. Frozen peas (optional) for color

Cheese Crumb topping (recipe at the end)

DIRECTIONS:
***Have all dicing done ahead of time!***
In a 9x11x3 casserole dish (or similar)—(half a disposable foil pan works great):

--Put drained, hot macaroni into the casserole pan.
--Toss cooked macaroni with the butter/margarine.
--Lightly beat eggs with a small amt. of the cream. Add all seasonings and whisk
until well incorporated. Add remaining cream.
--Mix the ham, onion and cheese into the macaroni and pour cream mixture over
the top.

--Sprinkle top with cheese crumb topping. (Can be frozen at this stage).

--Bake in a 375degree oven for 45min.-1 hour until firm and bubbly.
--Serves 8-10.

CHEESE CRUMB TOPPING:
Combine ½ cup shredded, sharp Cheddar Cheese with 2-3 Tbsp. Of fine, dry bread crumbs and 2-3 Tbsp. of melted butter/margarine. Sprinkle over casserole.

Note: Do not fill pan to the top. This may bubble over as it bakes.

***This freezes VERY well. To use, thaw out in the fridge and bake as usual.

I picked up a head of cauliflower at the farmers market and decided to bake it. Just washed it and wrapped it in foil for 45 min in a 375 oven. Bet this would work on the grill also. Brings out the natural sweetness.

YUMMM!!! To both the casserole and the cauliflower. This week is VBS at church in the evening, so it has been hard to do a real dinner. Will try very hard tomorrow-pork and sweet potatoes and ?

cole slaw!!

Perfect!! That will be it thank ye kindly.

For some reason no one in my family likes casseroles...I do but since no one else does I never make them(and usually so easy too)
we have VBS this week too

Made shrimp scampi, the thing that took the longest was deveining all those stinkin' shrimp!

Thanks Gita- a good hearty mac and cheese will work well for us

Yum coleup! I'm glad 'we've' all moved beyond "boil the veg" whatever veg it was.

Jen, my crew would never want casserole either for the longest time. No saucey stuff. And I hate that shrimp cleaning routine too.

We had the oven on the other night while the AC was still off, I hate knowing how much heat the oven puts out. The AC will be on by tomorrow.

Yes, the heat is coming. No oven for a couple of days. I find I do a lot of stir-frys.

I have to come back and post my Spicy Turky Meatballs.
Basically though it is turkey meatballs in a sweet tomatoey sauce (ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, water) and served on rice. All of us have liked this for ages.
I've never mastered stir fry. They say its OK but I know it isn't like the restaurant quality.

I am, at the moment, baking a huge Pork Tenderloin. Maybe--5lbs.
Had to unload most of the freezer yesterday so I could remove the inside, back panel and deal with the
freezing up of that little drain. When that freezes shut--ice starts collecting on the lowest floor
in the freezer. A big job and I hate it! Have to do this about once a year--or more.

SO--I get to see just what is in there--and hopefully cook something up.
I won't tell you how long the tenderloin has been in my freezer----------NOPE!---
It was still vacuum-packed and wrapped tightly in freezer paper. Just as good as the day I bought it......

Got it all seasoned up with all good things and with chunks of onions and carrots on the side.
Will do oven baked red potatoes and share it with my daughter.
She gets off at 3:30PM at IKEA--so, if I have something to give her--I just drive down and
catch her as she is leaving. Only 5 min. from my house...

I am having new gutters put on (regular ones) and downspouts re-positioned so nothing
will drain near the foundation. That should help with all the mold and mildew in the lower level.

SO! I am not out there gardening.....cooking instead.

OK! Gotta go peel taters.....just bough them today...
Gita