Tasty Food Recipes

[Kenngo1969]

10 minutes ago, Calm said:

I just don’t like the taste of raisins for some reason. Love grapes. 
 

Dried pineapple is a great substitute as well. 

Dried pineapple is an interesting idea.  I'll have to keep that in mind, thanks.

[Calm]

21 minutes ago, Kenngo1969 said:

Dried pineapple is an interesting idea.  I'll have to keep that in mind, thanks.

It is like candy for me.  The kind that is chewy, but still soft, no sulfites is heavenly.  We got ours last time at Costco.  The taste is intensified, kind of like grilling.

[Kenngo1969]

Actually, I see I didn't pay close enough attention to the label of the sweetener I bought when I made this: Rather than being the generic for Splenda, instead, it is made from sucralose.  (I just bought the same thing to make cranberries for my family's Thanksgiving dinner.)  I don't know what impact that has on making this vis-a-vis hewing to anyone's dietary needs, but I apologize for the confusion.

[Calm]

2 hours ago, Kenngo1969 said:

Actually, I see I didn't pay close enough attention to the label of the sweetener I bought when I made this: Rather than being the generic for Splenda, instead, it is made from sucralose.  (I just bought the same thing to make cranberries for my family's Thanksgiving dinner.)  I don't know what impact that has on making this vis-a-vis hewing to anyone's dietary needs, but I apologize for the confusion.

I am pretty sure sucralose is the generic for Splenda?  But I don’t use either so maybe not?

[Kenngo1969]

40 minutes ago, Calm said:

I am pretty sure sucralose is the generic for Splenda?  But I don’t use either so maybe not?

I'll be danged: You're  right.  Apologies for continuing confusion.  ("But, Ken, 'continuing' suggests that it is episodic or occasional: In your case, when does it ever stop?")  Touche!

[Kenngo1969]

As is my wont, I prepared the cranberries for Thanksgiving again this year.  Three cheers for shrinkflation: Packages of cranberries that used to be 1 lb./16 oz. now have shrunk to 12 oz. for the same price.  I guess I could've altered my ratio and used 3/4 of a cup of sugar/substitute instead, but I didn't bother.  I didn't notice a difference, but I'm sure my palate isn't sensitive enough or refined enough.  I'm sure I dodged a deadly bullet there!

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.

[Tacenda]

On 11/24/2013 at 3:05 PM, urroner said:

I took a bunch of these this morning to the teenage Sunday School class in our ward, we have very few teenagers in the ward, and the bishop insisted upon visiting the class.  When the first and second counselors tried sitting in on the class also, he pulled rank and "cast them out."

 

These are easy peezy to make.  Kids would love making and eating them.

 

Fresh Strawberry Muffins

Servings: 12
Yield: 12 muffins

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix well.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
3. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to butter mixture. Add vanilla.
4. Gently stir in strawberries.
5. Spoon batter into muffin pans.
6. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over muffins.
7. Bake at 400º for 20-25 minutes.

Looks so yummy, I wonder if it'd work with blueberries.

[Tacenda]

Tending my granddaughter and came across recipe, so easy peasy. Hopefully it turns out, it's baking in the oven. I had no idea you could make it with stuffing and I had it leftover from donating Turkey meals.  

https://www.thelazydish.com/the-best-quick-easy-meatloaf-made-with-stove-top-stuffing/

[Tacenda]

Any super bowl recipes out there that are tried and true? 

Thanks in advance!

[Tacenda]

On 5/5/2016 at 5:45 PM, Jeanne said:

An idea that works well..just a thought.

In any cookie recipe that calls for oatmeal..use leftover cereal crumbs.  Crumble up some  Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, and Cheeriosr is great!  I love using Frosted Flakes and Honey Nut anything for a little sweetness.

Old post Jeanne, but I had to say something. I am a strange person now and because sometimes the cereal runs out and there's just a little, I now combine several cereals together on a routine basis, not just because cereal is running out. 

That's such a good idea for cookies!! 

[Tacenda]

On 3/27/2019 at 8:01 AM, MustardSeed said:

My family has a new favorite snack. I don’t know what it’s called. It’s beautiful and tasty

Stack: 

French baguette circles  with olive oil

1 basil leaf

1 slice of “fresh soft” mozzarella 

i fresh fragrant tomato slice

a drizzle of balsamic glaze

 

 

Wow, I might try this for the super bowl!

[Calm]

11 hours ago, Tacenda said:

Wow, I might try this for the super bowl!

Make sure to get ripe tomatoes.  It isn’t appealing imo if they aren’t.

If you find out too late they are a bit on the green side, roasting this in the oven (before the glaze goes on) so the tomatoes soften and the cheese melts at least a bit (fresh mozzarella doesn’t spread out too much in my experience) and releases a bit more flavour can be a good alternative imo.  You can also use pesto if you don’t have fresh basil, but I vastly prefer the fresh leaf 

Fresh basil and fresh mozzarella alone is great.

Edited February 11 by Calm

[Tacenda]

1 hour ago, Calm said:

Make sure to get ripe tomatoes.  It isn’t appealing imo if they aren’t.

If you find out too late they are a bit on the green side, roasting this in the oven (before the glaze goes on) so the tomatoes soften and the cheese melts at least a bit (fresh mozzarella doesn’t spread out too much in my experience) and releases a bit more flavour can be a good alternative imo.  You can also use pesto if you don’t have fresh basil, but I vastly prefer the fresh leaf 

Fresh basil and fresh mozzarella alone is great.

This might be beyond my scope in my old age, scared to try things unlike when younger.

[Calm]

1 hour ago, Tacenda said:

This might be beyond my scope in my old age, scared to try things unlike when younger.

It is really easy.  Hardest part is slicing the baguette the right size.     It’s almost like spaghetti…tomato, basil, mozzarella and a starch.

Edited February 11 by Calm

[Rain]

2 hours ago, Calm said:

Make sure to get ripe tomatoes.  It isn’t appealing imo if they aren’t.

If you find out too late they are a bit on the green side, roasting this in the oven (before the glaze goes on) so the tomatoes soften and the cheese melts at least a bit (fresh mozzarella doesn’t spread out too much in my experience) and releases a bit more flavour can be a good alternative imo.  You can also use pesto if you don’t have fresh basil, but I vastly prefer the fresh leaf 

Fresh basil and fresh mozzarella alone is great.

Found out you can freeze costco pesto (I haven't tried other brands). We get it when it's on sale and throw a bunch in the freezer and then just pull out a jar occasionally.

[Calm]

57 minutes ago, Rain said:

Found out you can freeze costco pesto (I haven't tried other brands). We get it when it's on sale and throw a bunch in the freezer and then just pull out a jar occasionally.

I would put it in ice cube trays as we don’t use it much, so in single serving.  Is there an Alfredo sauce that freezes well, my daughter doesn’t care for marinara  

Good to know about Costco, thank you. Way too much usually for 3 people, but if O can freeze some of the portions.  

Now husband is retired, we want to start cooking together instead of everyone just eating whenever (he was always having to stay late for a class or grading papers or something, so we three got in a habit of just fixing food for ourselves and eating in our own). I had tried to cook meals ahead of time they could just heat the food up etc, but I would be the only one eating them, so it kind of killed any desire on me to work at cooking.

I need to clean out the freezers and set up one with meal prep foods, like ice cubes of pancake batter and cubes of soup, stacks of hamburgers, etc. The packaged stuff is so full of salt and sugar. 
 

Now if I could just figure out a healthy and easy way to make corn dogs/pancake sausage on a stick, my daughter’s comfort food.

[Calm]

This is no brainer stuff, but am putting up more to push the idea of cutting up veggies and putting them in mason jars once or twice a week to save on time and make lunch and snacking much healthier and cheaper and dinner too if you make it just for one or two people like I do.  Fruit last tons longer in glass as well.  If I plan on keeping stuff longer than a few days, I may put a paper towel on the bottom.  This page says bell peppers don’t last longer than a day or two…but if they are fresh, they last longer…and we eat them fast anyway, lol.  Also keep your knives sharp, less damage to veggies mean they will last longer.  If your eyes are tearing up when cutting onions, it’s a dull knife.

Btw, veggies in mason jars are so pretty to look up they cheer me up every time I open the refrigerator.  So much nicer than staring at labels and tupperwareish containers.  I am completely converted to glass now.  They last so much longer than the plastic and in great shape.  The only plastic containers we have now are the ones large enough for a cut up watermelon or to hold rolls in.  If you buy mason jars at Walmart they are cheap.  One thing I never buy online.  Be sure to get wide mouth and if you won’t use a full flat, find someone to split one with or give away to a thrift store or use them to put gifts in (go online and look up brownie, cookie, or soup mix “in a jar”).  They are cheap enough a flat to do that in comparison to other containers.  They also take up less space because they go up rather than spread out, though can’t stack.

https://www.veggiesdontbite.com/how-to-meal-prep-vegetables-for-easy-meals/

Great, quickie sandwich for leftovers….probably would work for chicken or pork, but we had steak.  Sliced mushrooms and diced onions (we ‘meal prep’ them so speeds up cooking, they keep well in glass containers, some onions can last for a week or more diced depending on the type) nicely sautéed, add a tablespoon or two cream cheese depending on amount and sliced up meat. Season with fresh ground pepper, garlic of some sort (I like the garlic paste you can find in tubes in the produce section, but plan on making up some frozen garlic cubes in mini ice cube trays one of these more organized days to have a purer flavour), steak sauce or other preferred flavouring (I used no salt Worcestershire powder from my low salt days). Stir until cream cheese is throughout mix and meat is hot.  Toast up naan bread (it just tastes and feels better than regular rolls) and dump meat mixture on top with diced red peppers (these can last 5 days in glass, maybe more if you don’t open it much).  With everything already cut up except the steak, it took 5 minutes because I don’t caramelized my onions that much, would take longer if you are a perfectionist.  I could get addicted to these.  I doubled the amount needed for the cream cheese/onion mix, so will see if good tomorrow too.  It should be.

I can’t remember if I put my naan bread mini pizzas on this, so will add.

Toast naan bread (the sandwich size ones).  Spray at least one side with olive oil (I just started using this oil dispenser and I love it:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MT673U6/ ).  Sauté onions (mushrooms and red pepper too if desired).  Coat one side with tomato paste (much more intense flavour and tons less messy that sauce).  Place any cooked meat or large pieces of veggie (cooked if needed) and then put onion mix on top.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese or dot with ricotta or fresh mozzarella pieces. Spray top with olive oil.  Sprinkle with Parmesan or Romano and Italian seasoning or herbs of one’s choices.  Can be microwave in a hurry until cheese melts enough, but best if broiled or toasted in a small oven until cheese melts.  Use good quality olive oil, it’s worth it (I use https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B5KJQ4Y/ ), doesn’t take much and using a sprayer cuts down easily on amount while making sure the taste is everywhere.  Takes maybe ten minutes depending on how caramelized you like your onions.

Rice power bowls, dressed up ramen (toss veggies in the broth to cook), fancy omelets…so many quick healthy meals taking 5 or 10 minutes at most if veggies are cut up.  You don’t even have to meal prep all at once, but just cut up two or three times as much when making one meal so you don’t have to the next two times.  There is a lot of repetition of ingredients that way, but avoid the rut by using different seasoning mixes which can also be made up ahead of time.  And btw, nothing wrong with leaving out the salt and adding to taste instead later.  There are some dishes it is tons better to add salt first (I do prefer pasta cooked in salted water, but if you have a flavorful sauce that coats the pasta, even that isn’t necessary.***

https://www.thespruceeats.com/homemade-spice-blend-recipes-4148371
 

****I no longer have to do low salt now I know it wasn’t Meniere’s but something else, but I still can’t handle some nutrition labels without oxygen nearby….a tablespoon of high quality dark soy sauce can be 60% of the RDA for salt.  No more dipping in soy sauce for me.  I see some cooks adding salt at every step and just shake my head.

Edited February 18 by Calm

[Tacenda]

6 hours ago, Calm said:

This is no brainer stuff, but am putting up more to push the idea of cutting up veggies and putting them in mason jars once or twice a week to save on time and make lunch and snacking much healthier and cheaper and dinner too if you make it just for one or two people like I do.  Fruit last tons longer in glass as well.  If I plan on keeping stuff longer than a few days, I may put a paper towel on the bottom.  This page says bell peppers don’t last longer than a day or two…but if they are fresh, they last longer…and we eat them fast anyway, lol.  Also keep your knives sharp, less damage to veggies mean they will last longer.  If your eyes are tearing up when cutting onions, it’s a dull knife.

Btw, veggies in mason jars are so pretty to look up they cheer me up every time I open the refrigerator.  So much nicer than staring at labels and tupperwareish containers.  I am completely converted to glass now.  They last so much longer than the plastic and in great shape.  The only plastic containers we have now are the ones large enough for a cut up watermelon or to hold rolls in.  If you buy mason jars at Walmart they are cheap.  One thing I never buy online.  Be sure to get wide mouth and if you won’t use a full flat, find someone to split one with or give away to a thrift store or use them to put gifts in (go online and look up brownie, cookie, or soup mix “in a jar”).  They are cheap enough a flat to do that in comparison to other containers.  They also take up less space because they go up rather than spread out, though can’t stack.

https://www.veggiesdontbite.com/how-to-meal-prep-vegetables-for-easy-meals/

Great, quickie sandwich for leftovers….probably would work for chicken or pork, but we had steak.  Sliced mushrooms and diced onions (we ‘meal prep’ them so speeds up cooking, they keep well in glass containers, some onions can last for a week or more diced depending on the type) nicely sautéed, add a tablespoon or two cream cheese depending on amount and sliced up meat. Season with fresh ground pepper, garlic of some sort (I like the garlic paste you can find in tubes in the produce section, but plan on making up some frozen garlic cubes in mini ice cube trays one of these more organized days to have a purer flavour), steak sauce or other preferred flavouring (I used no salt Worcestershire powder from my low salt days). Stir until cream cheese is throughout mix and meat is hot.  Toast up naan bread (it just tastes and feels better than regular rolls) and dump meat mixture on top with diced red peppers (these can last 5 days in glass, maybe more if you don’t open it much).  With everything already cut up except the steak, it took 5 minutes because I don’t caramelized my onions that much, would take longer if you are a perfectionist.  I could get addicted to these.  I doubled the amount needed for the cream cheese/onion mix, so will see if good tomorrow too.  It should be.

I can’t remember if I put my naan bread mini pizzas on this, so will add.

Toast naan bread (the sandwich size ones).  Spray at least one side with olive oil (I just started using this oil dispenser and I love it:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MT673U6/ ).  Sauté onions (mushrooms and red pepper too if desired).  Coat one side with tomato paste (much more intense flavour and tons less messy that sauce).  Place any cooked meat or large pieces of veggie (cooked if needed) and then put onion mix on top.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese or dot with ricotta or fresh mozzarella pieces. Spray top with olive oil.  Sprinkle with Parmesan or Romano and Italian seasoning or herbs of one’s choices.  Can be microwave in a hurry until cheese melts enough, but best if broiled or toasted in a small oven until cheese melts.  Use good quality olive oil, it’s worth it (I use https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B5KJQ4Y/ ), doesn’t take much and using a sprayer cuts down easily on amount while making sure the taste is everywhere.  Takes maybe ten minutes depending on how caramelized you like your onions.

Rice power bowls, dressed up ramen (toss veggies in the broth to cook), fancy omelets…so many quick healthy meals taking 5 or 10 minutes at most if veggies are cut up.  You don’t even have to meal prep all at once, but just cut up two or three times as much when making one meal so you don’t have to the next two times.  There is a lot of repetition of ingredients that way, but avoid the rut by using different seasoning mixes which can also be made up ahead of time.  And btw, nothing wrong with leaving out the salt and adding to taste instead later.  There are some dishes it is tons better to add salt first (I do prefer pasta cooked in salted water, but if you have a flavorful sauce that coats the pasta, even that isn’t necessary.***

https://www.thespruceeats.com/homemade-spice-blend-recipes-4148371
 

****I no longer have to do low salt now I know it wasn’t Meniere’s but something else, but I still can’t handle some nutrition labels without oxygen nearby….a tablespoon of high quality dark soy sauce can be 60% of the RDA for salt.  No more dipping in soy sauce for me.  I see some cooks adding salt at every step and just shake my head.

I can't tell you how much this helps me! I have canning jars galore, but my garden is in containers ever since we moved from a 1/2 acre lot to a small lot now, so I don't use the jars except when I now buy peaches to put up.

I've seen tik toks with people doing this with jars. I was curious how well that works with saving fruit and vegis. Now that I see it works for someone I know, better than tik tok, it's something I want to do. Also, I need an olive oil dispenser, it's messy just pouring from the bottle, so I will look at the link you shared!

Thanks for giving me something useful to do with my time, too much time that I waste.  ETA: Glad this is pinned!

Edited February 18 by Tacenda

[Calm]

1 hour ago, Tacenda said:

Now that I see it works for someone I know, better than tik tok, it's something I want to do

Definitely try it, it is so worth the effort if you don’t have large blocks of time for cooking or neglect yourself for lunches and even breakfast (omelet with lots of veggies is a great way to start the day).  Something you can do with the grandkids as soon as you trust them with a knife (remember sharper is safer because less likely to slip or snag or ‘bounce’ than a dull knife) if they live close enough. Great way to give them money or gifts without spoiling them if you get the urge to splurge on them. 

I think veggies cut up at home have more flavor than the precut or shredded ones you can buy and they last so much longer than the store bought precut.

If you don’t know how to cut veggies up fast and evenly, watch some videos, but I expect most adults have figured it out by now…I am just mentioning it because when the young ladies help me with meal prep, they didn’t know they can cut a bunch up at once.  Their mom does all the cooking at their house (it is fun feeling like I am teaching them something worthwhile).  Though there are some useful tricks that chefs use to make everything look good as well as get processed quickly.  You can even use a food processor, but I think they damage the sides a bit more with ‘tugging’ plus I have never been able to get them to cut evenly.  Mandolins are a bit better and I love using them for thin slicing, they clean up faster for me than processors.  Knives are fastest cleaning and I find it faster to use a knife to fill a jar because of the cleaning time.  Plus the noise level is better  

I love the glass spray bottle. Feels like it cleans better. The nozzle itself feels more substantial and it hasn’t clogged like the ones that send out a fine mist do (have had it for two months now, which is twice as long as any oil mister worked for me).  Plus the fine mist never puts enough oil for me on salads, so I just end up pouring the oil on anyway. I am probably using a half to maybe 1/4 of oil on my salads now (I just spray oil and vinegar on top and toss with some dried herbs) which helps with calories.  There is also something about putting six sprays of oil on where I feel I am indulging when I need it, but it’s still less than what comes out when pouring. 

 I also find spraying it on sourdough or French baguettes is sufficient as well as much as I love cold butter on a good sourdough. 

Let me know if you want me to point you to a good video or page on meal prepping. The biggest issue is how dry you should leave them. I am lazy and don’t dry them much before cutting up.

I don’t do much full meal prep as the stuff I eat usually just gets assembled right before eating (lots of stir fry, not much oven).  Plus my husband and daughter are hooked on convenience food and fill up the freezer.  Plus my husband is addicted to bulk shopping, again loading up the freezer too much. One of these days I am going to have to get territorial and claim a couple of shelves and see if I can convince them to abandon tv dinners and corn dogs. 

[Stargazer]

On 2/11/2024 at 4:58 AM, Tacenda said:

This might be beyond my scope in my old age, scared to try things unlike when younger.

That's the best time to try new things, Tacenda! After all, if it kills you, you hadn't had much time left in any case!

So now ask me why, at age 72, I haven't yet tried sky-diving. Or scuba diving.

Edited February 24 by Stargazer

[Tacenda]

2 hours ago, Stargazer said:

That's the best time to try new things, Tacenda! After all, if it kills you, you hadn't had much time left in any case!

So now ask me why, at age 72, I haven't yet tried sky-diving. Or scuba diving.

Well, maybe they aren't for you. Maybe the next rocket to got into space for tourists!

[Calm]

4 hours ago, Tacenda said:

Well, maybe they aren't for you. Maybe the next rocket to got into space for tourists!

Go gaze at stars….