DINNER THREAD, 4/17/17 - 4/23/17

[Gourmet_Mom]

PJ!  It's GREAT to see you posting!  I'm hoping you got a spring break recently?

Last night, we had ribs, and I grilled some sliced sweet potatoes and asparagus on the side.  We really liked the sweet potatoes, so we'll probably do that more often.

Tonight, we finally got back to Wine and Wings night at Loco Jo's.  They are having trouble keeping the Boom Boom Cauliflower on the menu these days, so we had Asian Dumplings instead.  William was so disappointed, but he ate his dumplings with a smile.

Funny aside, Brian is on a week long fishing trip in Costa Rico, so Joanne was "manning the store" tonight...thus reminding me why the name of the place is Loco Jo's!  She's CRAZY!  But so funny.  It was good to see her...its been a while.

[cjs]

PJ!! Great to see you  - must be just finishing up Spring Break, huh??
" a week long fishing trip in Costa Rico," - wouldn't that be nice.... sigh
I'll try this again - Photobucket is really acting up the last few days. You might remember the silly, weird loaf of ‘Cake Mix Bread’ I made a few weeks ago. Initially I thought forget it, I won’t make this again, but it ended up making the most amazing toast that I changed my mind. Made another batch yesterday and just mixed it in the bread machine and completed it the regular way for making bread by hand. What beautiful loaves  resulted and the wonderful flavors, of course are still there. Will be making this often.

First batch -


Yesterday's  - excuse the mess - PhotoBucket won't let me crop......................


P.S. After all this hullabaloo with Photobucket - Maryann, I forgot you're back on f.b. and saw the picture of the bread and how it turned out. I wasn't going to post it here....

[cjs]

Wednesday's Dinner, 4/19/17??

What's for dinner today??

Just an easy Pesto Pasta with broccoli - BUT, if I get my grill back together, Safeway has corn...so maybe the first grilled corn of the season!!  

[Trixxee]

Mmmm....bread!  Don't worry about posting pictures Jean - it may take me another year to lose the next 10 pounds.  

I am making C@H's chicken pomodoro, and while I'd rather have asparagus with it, I'm not going to pay $4 a lb anymore.  I still have 2 pieces of corn on the cob I don't want to go to waste or we can have steamed carrots.

[Mare749]

Your bread looks great, Jean! I can smell it from here!

Trixxee, I'm sure it's going to take me 6 months to a year to get where I want to be, too. But, that's okay, as long as I don't go back to my old eating habits.

I'm trying a new recipe that I found on the web for stuffed cabbage. Instead of using rice, it calls for cauliflower rice. So, I decided to try it and have it simmering slowly in the oven. I'll make a nice pile of mashed potatoes for Ron to have with it and extra tomato sauce to pour over it all, so hopefully he won't even notice.

Jean, I used the instant pot to cook the cabbage. Cut out the core as best as I could, then put the head in the pot with a cup of water and cooked on manual, high pressure, for 5 minutes. Took the cabbage out and peeled off several leaves, but it still needed a bit more time inside, so put the rest back in the IP for 2 more minutes. That worked perfectly.

[cjs]

O.K., I'm weakening...................

[Gourmet_Mom]

The bread looks great, Jean!  I'm glad we have never been big bread eaters.  I just like making it for the challenge.

Great idea for the cabbage, Maryann!  Glad it worked!  I'll be anxious to see if Ron catches onto your "rice".  William loves cauliflower, so he'd love it!  As a matter of fact, he just polished off the last of his cauliflower snack box!

We are having Peppered Pork Chops on the grill with the rest of the sweet potatoes and asparagus.  I'll probably throw on some corn on the cob as well.

[cjs]

What did you think of the Cabbage dish, Maryann? If you like it, can you post the recipe or the link to it??

For such an easy and fast dish, I sure love Pesto Pasta and added a few shrimp to it also. Enjoyed it very much.

[cjs]

Thursday's Dinner, 4/20/17??

What's for dinner today?? (can you believe we're almost wrapping up April?? - time is flying by...but winter is still taking its time.   )

Fed my sourdough yesterday and now I have waffles for dinner in my head. No ham to go with, but I do have bacon, so this may be our dinner.

[Mare749]

We both thought it was delicious, Jean, but did not have it for dinner because I wanted to let the flavors go through and we had an opportunity to grill in between all the rain. So, we just taste tested one for an appetizer before dinner.

Dinner last night ended up being grilled ribs. Ron used regular BBQ and I used a small amount of teriyaki on mine since I'm not suppose to be eating sugar and it's not as sweet as BBQ sauce.   We also had steamed broccoli.

Tonight, we will have the "lower" carb cabbage rolls (my own recipe) but adapted from one that I found on the web. My one concession is using brown sugar in the sauce.  I know it's not low carb, but I do not use any sugar substitutes for personal reasons. So, when we are having something with a sweetened sauce, I will just use the smallest possible amount. But, since I'm not having mashed potatoes with sauce over everything and bread on the side, this is definately a lower carb meal for me.

Lower Carb Cabbage Rolls

2 lbs. very lean ground beef
1 small onion, minced
2 cups cauliflower, riced in food processor
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp. Adobo seasoning (mix of salt, pepper, and garlic)
2 tsp. Italian seasoning  (no salt, just herbs)  or use fresh herbs if you have them
1 large head cabbage, cored and cooked until soft
2 cups tomato sauce with a bit of brown sugar and vinegar for a sweet and sour taste

1. Mix the meat, onion, cauliflower, egg, and seasonings. I use about a 1/4 cup of filling per cabbage leaf.  Fill, roll, and place in a 9x13 baking dish.  (I had three extra rolls that didn't fit)

2. Top with the sauce, cover with foil, and bake at 350° for 90 minutes.

Source: Adapted from a recipe by Steph of stupideasypaleo.com
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In my post yesterday, I said that I had used the IP for cooking the cabbage.  Although I did like the convenience of it, not sure that I will use it next time. Boiling the cabbage on the stove is more consistent and you can peel off a few leaves at a time as they cook and soften.

ETA: Jean, I hope you are saving all these recipes and pics for a 400 calorie or less cookbook.