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CoffeeQuestionMark

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I wasnt happy with any of the cooking thread search results so starting a new one 🙂

I love cooking when I have the time. I was super picky when I was younger, even when I went vegetarian at the age of 13. I took a cooking class when I was 21 because I had no idea what I was doing and now it is really exciting for me to make something I've never tried before and have it turn out 🙂

I had been wanting to try ratatouille for a while and this weekend finally went for it. I put it over some spinach fusili and topped it with fresh mozzarella. It was pretty good d1, but even better reheated. Very happy with the experiment 😀

What have you been making lately??
 
I've posted quite a few of the recent menu items over in the food porn thread (lounge), but this week is pretty boring. Steak fajitas, BBQ bacon cheeseburger, sausage and zucchini penne bake. If I do qnythanyin the future I'll post them over here 🙂

A couple of our meals this week are premade from the specialty grocery store because we just don't have a ton of cooking time. Premade soups, mac and cheese (you bake, not frozen) and brisket (though we are making slow cooked collard greens with that!), and crab stuffed salmon.
 
If anyone has recommendations for gluten free vegetarian/pescatarian things, send them my way! I want to get better at cooking, especially meal prep or making frozen meals for vet school lunches.
 
ziggyandjazzy said:
If anyone has recommendations for gluten free vegetarian/pescatarian things, send them my way! I want to get better at cooking, especially meal prep or making frozen meals for vet school lunches.
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Ratatouille is totally gluten free and you can pair it with whatever you want. I also read that some people enjoy it cold-I'm a hot food person so not really my thing but I could see it being refreshing for some

Panang curry or any Thai curry is also, really, really good and imo super easy!
 
CoffeeQuestionMark said:
Ratatouille is totally gluten free and you can pair it with whatever you want. I also read that some people enjoy it cold-I'm a hot food person so not really my thing but I could see it being refreshing for some

Panang curry or any Thai curry is also, really, really good and imo super easy!
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Ooh thank you for the suggestions. I like hot food also. I love curry but have never been able to make it. Maybe I will try it one of these days.
 
Count me in on the "looking for suggestions" bandwagon. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but my stock menu last school year consisted mostly of a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the deli section that I could part out, bagged salad, and the flavoured rice pouches that you microwave. There were other things, but that was honestly the majority of my dinner plans along with a breakfast smoothie and lean cuisine frozen lunches. I'm a reasonable cook but I don't enjoy it, and then you add on the lack of time, fighting for time and space in a shared kitchen, and a tight grocery budget and that's where I wound up. Hoping to work on that this year....
 
ziggyandjazzy said:
If anyone has recommendations for gluten free vegetarian/pescatarian things, send them my way! I want to get better at cooking, especially meal prep or making frozen meals for vet school lunches.
Click to expand...
Costco has a gluten free ramen noodle, the package has like 6-8 bricks in it. We usually make three for the two of us. Meijer has a premade broth, not sure if GF. Then we mix in mushrooms of several varieties, chopped up baby bok choy, a red pepper and some sort of spicy pepper. We add meat but you could do tofu. Also add scallions and a soft boiled egg if you eat those. Very fast and easy.
IMG_20180607_193552698.jpg
 
StayingPositive2017 said:
Would love the recipe if you are willing to share?
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Easy Indian Butter Chicken Recipe

That recipe is my base! I thicken the sauce a little with some constarch water so use whipping cream instead of heavy. I might also use a heavier hand with the spices this time compared to the exact recipe here. I like to take highly reviewed online recipes and tinker with them haha
 
Squeaksmom said:
Count me in on the "looking for suggestions" bandwagon. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but my stock menu last school year consisted mostly of a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the deli section that I could part out, bagged salad, and the flavoured rice pouches that you microwave. There were other things, but that was honestly the majority of my dinner plans along with a breakfast smoothie and lean cuisine frozen lunches. I'm a reasonable cook but I don't enjoy it, and then you add on the lack of time, fighting for time and space in a shared kitchen, and a tight grocery budget and that's where I wound up. Hoping to work on that this year....
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I’m a fan of crockpot meals. You can toss meat in with whatever seasonings you want or like Italian dressing (I do chicken with Italian dressing a lot) and vegetables if you want (lol I hate the majority of vegetables so I don’t so idk if they go in later or at the beginning???) and it makes food.
I’m a fan of this crockpot meal as well. Looks kinda gross but is real yummy. I usually serve it over rice but sometimes just eat it as a chip dip for dinner :laugh:
You could even do chicken in a crockpot and cook it until it’s shreddable and then use that instead of your precooked rotisserie chicken? If it’s more economical? (I also am a fan of the deli section rotisserie chicken, specifically the already shredded chicken breast in tubs bc lazy)
 
StayingPositive2017 said:
Costco has a gluten free ramen noodle, the package has like 6-8 bricks in it. We usually make three for the two of us. Meijer has a premade broth, not sure if GF. Then we mix in mushrooms of several varieties, chopped up baby bok choy, a red pepper and some sort of spicy pepper. We add meat but you could do tofu. Also add scallions and a soft boiled egg if you eat those. Very fast and easy.View attachment 237782
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That looks awesome! I'm always down for quick and tasty but delicious meals. I tend to get these a lot: Amazon product ASIN B000GZUFCM and adding veggies, tofu or shrimp, and an egg sounds like a great way to actually make it a meal
 
SkiOtter said:
I’m a fan of crockpot meals. You can toss meat in with whatever seasonings you want or like Italian dressing (I do chicken with Italian dressing a lot) and vegetables if you want (lol I hate the majority of vegetables so I don’t so idk if they go in later or at the beginning???) and it makes food.
I’m a fan of this crockpot meal as well. Looks kinda gross but is real yummy. I usually serve it over rice but sometimes just eat it as a chip dip for dinner :laugh:
You could even do chicken in a crockpot and cook it until it’s shreddable and then use that instead of your precooked rotisserie chicken? If it’s more economical? (I also am a fan of the deli section rotisserie chicken, specifically the already shredded chicken breast in tubs bc lazy)
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We are also huge on meat in a Crock-Pot. Beef, chicken or pork til shreddable. Top nachos, enchilada filling, add BBQ, with mushrooms and onions on rolls (dipped in the au ju left over in the crock) so many easy options.

If you do a whole chicken or roast on the weekend, you can shred it and freeze portions as your meat for meals later in the week
 
ziggyandjazzy said:
If anyone has recommendations for gluten free vegetarian/pescatarian things, send them my way! I want to get better at cooking, especially meal prep or making frozen meals for vet school lunches.
Click to expand...
Hey there. I’ve been vegetarian for about 11 years (but I guess I’m actually pescatarian since I’ll eat salmon and tuna. No other fish, I’m picky)

I’m not gluten free but I like to limit my flour intake so often times my meals will turn out that way on accident. Last night I made pho using this recipe: Vegetarian Pho Recipe (Vietnamese Noodle Soup) - Cookie and Kate

The recipe called for rice noodles which are gluten free but I used spiraled butter nut squash instead. I also added a hard boiled egg like traditional pho has.

My boyfriend is not a vegetarian so we make lots of things that are easy for me to just add the meat in the end for him. Like spaghetti, tacos, (I’ll make black beans for myself), stir fry, and that sort of thing. If you have no idea where to even start try getting a vegetarian cook book to give you some basic ideas. There is even a magazine called vegetarian times (I know, that’s kind of weird) that usually has really good recipes as well.
 
RedLauren said:
Hey there. I’ve been vegetarian for about 11 years (but I guess I’m actually pescatarian since I’ll eat salmon and tuna. No other fish, I’m picky)

I’m not gluten free but I like to limit my flour intake so often times my meals will turn out that way on accident. Last night I made pho using this recipe: Vegetarian Pho Recipe (Vietnamese Noodle Soup) - Cookie and Kate

The recipe called for rice noodles which are gluten free but I used spiraled butter nut squash instead. I also added a hard boiled egg like traditional pho has.

My boyfriend is not a vegetarian so we make lots of things that are easy for me to just add the meat in the end for him. Like spaghetti, tacos, (I’ll make black beans for myself), stir fry, and that sort of thing. If you have no idea where to even start try getting a vegetarian cook book to give you some basic ideas. There is even a magazine called vegetarian times (I know, that’s kind of weird) that usually has really good recipes as well.
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I love pho and so does my partner who is also a vegetarian. I feel you on the picky about seafood thing, I pretty much only eat salmon, shrimp, and halibut in terms of seafood.

We made a lot of fried rice, stir fry, gf pasta, and such last year. But I definitely want to expand my horizons into new things like curry.
 
I have a love / hate relationship with cooking.
I love cooking. But I hate figuring out what to cook and actually going to toe grocery store and having planned ingredients.

In the summers I mostly live out of the garden though. Squash (5 types), tomatoes (6 types), peppers (4 types) beans, peas, cauliflower, corn, watermelon, canteloupe, pumpkins, herbs, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, onions, garlic, carrots, radishes, artichokes, sweet potatoes and herbs are all featured in this years garden. I refuse to turn the oven on on hot days 🙂
 
Squeaksmom said:
Count me in on the "looking for suggestions" bandwagon. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but my stock menu last school year consisted mostly of a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the deli section that I could part out, bagged salad, and the flavoured rice pouches that you microwave. There were other things, but that was honestly the majority of my dinner plans along with a breakfast smoothie and lean cuisine frozen lunches. I'm a reasonable cook but I don't enjoy it, and then you add on the lack of time, fighting for time and space in a shared kitchen, and a tight grocery budget and that's where I wound up. Hoping to work on that this year....
Click to expand...

I think pasta dishes are the easiest things to get in to. Homemade sauces alone blow store-bought out of the park. And they're super easy to add veggies to.

Literally all I do for my usual sauce are a couple big cans of fire roasted crushed tomatoes, diced onions, minced garlic, fresh basil, salt, pepper, and my go-to Italian seasoning blend. Cheap and quick.

cowgirla said:
I have a love / hate relationship with cooking.
I love cooking. But I hate figuring out what to cook and actually going to toe grocery store and having planned ingredients.

In the summers I mostly live out of the garden though. Squash (5 types), tomatoes (6 types), peppers (4 types) beans, peas, cauliflower, corn, watermelon, canteloupe, pumpkins, herbs, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, onions, garlic, carrots, radishes, artichokes, sweet potatoes and herbs are all featured in this years garden. I refuse to turn the oven on on hot days 🙂
Click to expand...
Your garden is muy impressive.

Now see me, I hate gardening. Remembering to take care of plants is tricky because they cant tell you they need water. I kill basil usually within a week.
 
I made a macro friendly (for anyone who tracks) pulled buffalo chicken in my new Instapot the other day. It was delicious.

My quick go to is also homemade burrito bowls -- ground turkey or beef with spicy taco season, some beans, cauliflower/broccoli rice and a single serve quac cup.
 
Improving on my previous post, today I made grilled cheese for dinner. One was with a processed American "cheese" single (I never buy those but I'm at my parents and saw them so I figured I'd try the old childhood standby) and the other was "fancy"...I made it with Colby Jack.
 
JaynaAli said:
Improving on my previous post, today I made grilled cheese for dinner. One was with a processed American "cheese" single (I never buy those but I'm at my parents and saw them so I figured I'd try the old childhood standby) and the other was fancy...I made it with Colby Jack.
Click to expand...

Mmmmmm sounds good. I make grilled cheese with two slices of havarti and dried basil between the slices. Sooooo good.
 
SARdoghandler said:
Easy Indian Butter Chicken Recipe

That recipe is my base! I thicken the sauce a little with some constarch water so use whipping cream instead of heavy. I might also use a heavier hand with the spices this time compared to the exact recipe here. I like to take highly reviewed online recipes and tinker with them haha
Click to expand...
Update on this recipe: I made it a bit bigger (2.25 lbs chicken, 1L whipping cream etc) this time but completely doubled the spices. Even better than the first time! Anyone wanting to make butter chicken, highly recommend giving that one a go
 
JaynaAli said:
Improving on my previous post, today I made grilled cheese for dinner. One was with a processed American "cheese" single (I never buy those but I'm at my parents and saw them so I figured I'd try the old childhood standby) and the other was "fancy"...I made it with Colby Jack.
Click to expand...
Oooo I am a huuuuge fan of shredded cheddar and shredded mozzarella together. Or one of those shredded three cheese mixes plus mozz. So good so gooey so melty so nommy
 
Thanks to those giving suggestions!

I have the opportunity to buy lamb cheap from one of the vets I'm working with this summer. It's her kid's 4H lamb. I love lamb, but would also love suggestions of things I can do with it that I may not have thought of. TIA!
 
Squeaksmom said:
Thanks to those giving suggestions!

I have the opportunity to buy lamb cheap from one of the vets I'm working with this summer. It's her kid's 4H lamb. I love lamb, but would also love suggestions of things I can do with it that I may not have thought of. TIA!
Click to expand...
When I showed livestock we were more likely to have goat around than lamb, but besides lamb chops, you can sub ground lamb for hamburger in a lot of recipes. I really like lamb mixed into shepherd's pie. Gyros. We even made stuff like tacos and meat sauce for spaghetti with goat. (Funny story, a vegetarian came to dinner the night we made goat spaghetti. I didn't know she was vegetarian beforehand. Luckily I hadn't mixed the meat in yt when she got there and told us she didn't want to eat my sister's goat.)
 
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Squeaksmom said:
Thanks to those giving suggestions!

I have the opportunity to buy lamb cheap from one of the vets I'm working with this summer. It's her kid's 4H lamb. I love lamb, but would also love suggestions of things I can do with it that I may not have thought of. TIA!
Click to expand...
Shanks! Way better than you would guess.

I'll pull out my cookbook tomorrow and see if I can find my favorite recipes.
 
Squeaksmom said:
Thanks to those giving suggestions!

I have the opportunity to buy lamb cheap from one of the vets I'm working with this summer. It's her kid's 4H lamb. I love lamb, but would also love suggestions of things I can do with it that I may not have thought of. TIA!
Click to expand...
We are making lamb tonight. I'll let you know how it goes
 
I made some pretty banging spinach, cauliflower and kale enchiladas yesterday; was cleaning my fridge out and those were all the ingredients that were starting to look a bit iffy. I offered to bring them over to a friend's place and they ended up gone, so I think that means they were good. :laugh:

Also got some beets in my weekly produce box and made borscht, which is always a favourite in my household. Super low cal/vegetarian/gluten free and people really underestimate how good it is in my experience.
 
I think I'm going to make taco salad tonight. I don't have any tortillas, but I have ground beef, bell peppers, and some lettuce I need to use.

Also @SkiOtter I'm impressed by the even-ness of your toast on that. Mine are always a little patchy in places where some areas are perfect and others are over or under done.
 
JaynaAli said:
Also @SkiOtter I'm impressed by the even-ness of your toast on that. Mine are always a little patchy in places where some areas are perfect and others are over or under done.
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Low and sloooow
Had it on medium heat and once it released from the pan (I shake the pan to see if it’s released, I don’t pull a corner up with a spatula) I flipped.
 
JaynaAli said:
When I showed livestock we were more likely to have goat around than lamb, but besides lamb chops, you can sub ground lamb for hamburger in a lot of recipes. I really like lamb mixed into shepherd's pie. Gyros. We even made stuff like tacos and meat sauce for spaghetti with goat. (Funny story, a vegetarian came to dinner the night we made goat spaghetti. I didn't know she was vegetarian beforehand. Luckily I hadn't mixed the meat in yt when she got there and told us she didn't want to eat my sister's goat.)
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I love goat as well! Wish I could find a good source with slaughter practices that I agree with.
 
JaynaAli said:
I think I'm going to make taco salad tonight. I don't have any tortillas, but I have ground beef, bell peppers, and some lettuce I need to use.

Also @SkiOtter I'm impressed by the even-ness of your toast on that. Mine are always a little patchy in places where some areas are perfect and others are over or under done.
Click to expand...
Making your own tortillas is surprisingly easy.
 
Squeaksmom said:
I love goat as well! Wish I could find a good source with slaughter practices that I agree with.
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Where do you live? Sometimes you can find good meat sources via the milk finder on the Weston A Price website. (I think I butchered the name, but my mind was blanking.)
 
LadyOtheFarm said:
Shanks! Way better than you would guess.

I'll pull out my cookbook tomorrow and see if I can find my favorite recipes.
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The book I was looking for just had a bunch of sausage recipes and boring stuff.

Roasts use mint and rosemary (not too much or it tastes like soap).

Tougher muscle has more flavor and needs just salt and pepper and time (or thyme)

I'll keep looking for my other book.
 
I made veggie fajitas this week with seasoned seitan (which I like to pronounce as satan personally). I used onions, bell peppers, zucchini and yellow squash.

Omg so healthy and delicious in a matter of minutes.
 
I just made mac and cheese and a cheese pizza and then put the mac and cheese on the pizza because I was craving mac and cheese pizza and apparently that fad ended and its impossible to find anywhere. This was about 400% more effort than I usually put into a meal. I then proceeded to eat too much of it.
 

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kcoughli said:
I just made mac and cheese and a cheese pizza and then put the mac and cheese on the pizza because I was craving mac and cheese pizza and apparently that fad ended and its impossible to find anywhere. This was about 400% more effort than I usually put into a meal. I then proceeded to eat too much of it.
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Yesssss
Only reason I’m sad the cicis near me closed HAHAHA
 
kcoughli said:
I just made mac and cheese and a cheese pizza and then put the mac and cheese on the pizza because I was craving mac and cheese pizza and apparently that fad ended and its impossible to find anywhere. This was about 400% more effort than I usually put into a meal. I then proceeded to eat too much of it.
Click to expand...
When I was in Vegas the first time, I got an omelet at a buffet, then saw mac and cheese, but had no more room on my plate... So I put it on the omelet. Best idea ever.
 
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