What are your favorite meals to make?

[carollee]

I like making a chicken, spinach and sundried tomato risotto. We eat it as it's meant to be eaten the first day. Because it makes a truckload, the leftovers the next day are made into lovely big balls with a bit of cheese in the middle, dunked in egg and rolled in breadcrumbs and then in the fry pan to brown. We usuallly have this with salad, and I like sweet chilli sauce on mine.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by annaaspnes

I rarely use a recipe and just tend to throw stuff together.

We do a lot of GF English style fish and chips
Spaghetti Bolognaise
Rotisserie Chicken (from Costco)
Pork Chops with homemade Mango Salsa
Chicken Curry (Chicken + Curry paste + Coconut milk)
Chilli with homemade salsa, guacamole and corn chips.
Fried Rice (with the leftover Rotisserie chicken)
Steak, Greek Salad and baked Sweet Potato
Grilled Salmon with Lemon Oil (Lemon juice, rind + EVOO) green veggies and new potatoes.

Anna - could you share that GF English style fish and chips receipe. Fish and chips is the only way to get DS to eat fish and DD needs to eat GF food - so this would be a great combination

[Joey_M]

Ok, so I am reading all these recipes, and I am getting hungry. I reached for a peanutbutter cookie (why do I have these in the house?!) and couldn't stop at just one....I ate 3! And I wonder why my youngest asked me if I had a baby in my butt!

[shellb]

On no! LOL...my 8 year old cousin accused me of hiding a dog in my blouse...it was my boob. Kids, don't ya love 'em.

[readstoomuch]

I made this recipe for Beef & Barley soup from the King Arthur Flour website tonight. It was delicious! I added a couple of carrots, some salt & will add a bit more meat the next time I make it.

My husband and I had soup for supper tonight and I canned eight more quarts to have later and/or to take to friends. Lots of great recipes on this website! I love it.

[kathie02]

Thanks for this thread Joey....you are sabotaging my diet before I even get started!!! I ate way too much good food in KS...I can't wait to make your mom's soup...just need to figure out how to nix all that butter...lol!!!

[Elena]

Ummm... cereal?

[Joey_M]

Originally Posted by Elena

Ummm... cereal?

LOL! That's all we eat when my husband goes out of town! Too funny!

I sure appreciate all these recipes and sites, ladies! Thanks so much!

[lisa.hinrichs]

I have added this thread to my favorites for the next time I get the Housewife's version of writers block. :-)

We have a lot of taco's, spaghetti and meatloaf here. DH not much for trying anything new.

If you are looking for something quick, a basic ingredient at our house is flour taco shells, you can turn them into personal pizza's on the grill or toaster oven, or our favorite a cross between a calzone and Quesadilla (Cal-Dilla) by laying the shell on a flat skillet then filling with ham, cheese or your favorite fillings, fold in half and toast till filling is melted.

Thanks for the inspiration.

[Carol Elliott]

Originally Posted by readstoomuch

I made this recipe for Beef & Barley soup from the King Arthur Flour website tonight. It was delicious! I added a couple of carrots, some salt & will add a bit more meat the next time I make it.

My husband and I had soup for supper tonight and I canned eight more quarts to have later and/or to take to friends. Lots of great recipes on this website! I love it.

I love your book recommendations so I'm thinking your recipes will follow suit! We have soup throughout the fall and winter about once a week and this looks like a great one to try! I always make refrigerator french bread to go with ... perfect meal on a cold night!

[angie wags]

Michele, my hubby won't eat leftovers either. It drives me crazy!! I try to make just what we will eat, or I'll eat the leftovers for lunch.

I love the rotisserie chicken at Sam's Club. Their Members Mark mashed potatoes are awesome, too.

Have you tried the bags of fajita chicken at Sam's? It's fully cooked, but I saute to heat it with peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini and some olive oil. I serve with tortillas. My family loves this.

I also make homemade meatballs and just simmer them in Ragu sauce.

I love beef stew in the crockpot. I also make a yummy chicken dish in the crockpot that I serve over rice.

We grill burgers a lot, because Jake loves them. I love the Angus Beef patties at Walmart.

[LisaD]

Originally Posted by readstoomuch

I made this recipe for Beef & Barley soup from the King Arthur Flour website tonight. It was delicious! I added a couple of carrots, some salt & will add a bit more meat the next time I make it.

My husband and I had soup for supper tonight and I canned eight more quarts to have later and/or to take to friends. Lots of great recipes on this website! I love it.

How do you can the soup? Do you use a hot water bath? pressure cooker? It looks delish.

[Cindy B]

Here is a recipe posted here by one of the team members, that I have tried (with my own slight variation) that is delicious! And perfect for the winter months.
SLow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie - Digital Scrapbooking Ideas - DesignerDigitals

[suzanne]

Crockpot Chicken & Brown Rice Soup - we eat this every week (kids & hubby love it).

2 lb chicken (i use chicken thighs), diced
8-1/4 oz can sliced carrots, drained
1 large onion, diced
2 celery stalks, sliced
8-1/2 oz can peas, drained
4 oz can mushrooms, drained
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme
3 tsp. parsley
6 cups water
1-1/2 cups brown rice

Place all ingredients in crockpot except rice. Cover and cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours. Add rice and cook on high another 1/2-1 hour until rice is done.

[Myra]

Ok, these all sound outstanding. How about if you ladies make some layouts of your favorites? I have started collecting photos of my favorite meals to make a cookbook. I might include some of your recipes if they become family favorites.

[amymwitt]

Originally Posted by LisaD

How do you can the soup? Do you use a hot water bath? pressure cooker? It looks delish.

I wanted to ask this exact question - Please do tell!

[maureenreynolds]

Myra, taking photos of our dinners is how I eventually found myself on the scrapbooking path.

We renovated, I had a much more workable kitchen, and most of those on the on line forum that helped so much during the renovation THS Kitchens went over to the Cooking forum when they were done. I did too, and saw the marvelous food photos, and thought...I can do that, sort of. Learning how to photograph food and then add text etc to the photos led me to PSE. The rest is history. Unfortunately (or happily as Dick says), most of our dinners are ad hoc creations without recipes.

[suzanne]

Myra I've actually been thinking about doing that for a while but always forget to take the photos.

[bjwtville]

I have enjoyed reading all these. Having been married to a man that did 100% if the cooking, I am just now getting into planning and fixing meals again. We do it as a team...which is nice. (before-in my other life, if I made anything he had to change it and alter to the point that it was not what I had in mind or started with) Tim and I plan and do it all together. Some nights he cooks, some I do etc. We are fortunate to live near some really great stores, and tend to go daily...boy has life changed. So as time goes on I will have some good things to share. Thanks for all the ideas!!

[readstoomuch]

Originally Posted by LisaD

How do you can the soup? Do you use a hot water bath? pressure cooker? It looks delish.

We can in a hot water bath I suppose . . . never thought about the process! (you can google hot water bath for the process or find it lots of cookbooks too) It doesn't take too long and it is great to pull a quart out and have an instant dinner with cornbread or crackers and a salad . . . or to be able to take a quart of hot vegetable soup to a friend occassionally. We could live on soups through the winter months!

I do keep my "canned" soups in the refrigerator . . . and if you should open a jar and see any amount of mold, discard the contents. This usually means that the jar didn't seal properly . . . no "ping" sound!

Right now in my refrigerator in our garage I have:
- 2 qts. of chili
- 5 qts. of the beef - barley soup
- 4 pints of spaghetti sauce
- 2 qts. of wonderful vegetable soup given to me by my 96 year old Aunt Velma yesterday.

[Joey_M]

Originally Posted by readstoomuch

We can in a hot water bath I suppose . . . never thought about the process! (you can google hot water bath for the process or find it lots of cookbooks too) It doesn't take too long and it is great to pull a quart out and have an instant dinner with cornbread or crackers and a salad . . . or to be able to take a quart of hot vegetable soup to a friend occassionally. We could live on soups through the winter months!

I do keep my "canned" soups in the refrigerator . . . and if you should open a jar and see any amount of mold, discard the contents. This usually means that the jar didn't seal properly . . . no "ping" sound!

Right now in my refrigerator in our garage I have:
- 2 qts. of chili
- 5 qts. of the beef - barley soup
- 4 pints of spaghetti sauce
- 2 qts. of wonderful vegetable soup given to me by my 96 year old Aunt Velma yesterday.

I'm going to Mollie's house for supper!

[bluelemur01]

I also love turkey chili & turkey tacos, and I make them ALL THE TIME...like once a week! Here's my recipe, briefly: Chop up a whole green bell pepper and a whole medium onion into very small pieces, and begin to saute them in olive oil over medium heat.

Once the veggies are softened but NOT browned, add a package of extra-lean or lean ground turkey (about 1 lb or so.) Mix in well and add some spices: some shakes of garlic & onion powder, oregano, marjoram, thyme, black pepper, and whatever else you love.

Once the meat has started to cook, add in a few cloves of finely chopped garlic. Let everything cook over medium heat, stirring often to break up the turkey & make sure nothing burns.

After the meat is cooked through, add 3/4 can of tomato sauce and a tablespoon of chili powder and stir in well. You can use crushed tomatoes instead of sauce, and add water to make it the right consistency.

Cook on medium/low for about an hour, stirring often. Add more sauce if you like, or a bit of water. Then add in a can of beans, rinsed. I like black beans but will use all kinds.

Taste and add seasonings as needed: salt, a bit of sugar (if it's too tart), more garlic, more chili powder, etc. Keep cooking on low to let all the flavors blend, then serve.

Of course you can use the packets of spice from the store, but those often have MSG and way too much salt, so I don't use them too often. I like making my own spices mix!

And at the veggie stage, you can add jalapenos for more spice, chopped tomatoes for more texture, etc. Pretty much anything works!

[readstoomuch]

I've printed off Suzanne's Chicken and Rice Soup recipe and have the ingredients on my shopping list for tomorrow. It looks really good . . . I love chicken & rice soup . . . and love my crockpot (although I don't use it nearly as much as I did when all four kids were living at home)! Thanks for posting the recipe.

[rsowers]

I'm a little late on this, but I'm lucky to have a husband who likes to get creative with the cooking. His meals are gourmet; cooking actually relaxes him...me, not so much. Poor guy - he got the short end of the stick when it comes to meals in our house. I limit myself to casseroles and crock pot meals.

A couple favorite crock pot recipes -
BBQ BEEF Sandwiches - we call them 'cowboy sandwiches' in our house
Get a couple pounds of chuck roast
Stick it in a crock pot
Fill with BBQ sauce
Cook for 8 hours
Shred
Put on soft rolls with melted provolone cheese.
Serve with corn on the cob and baked beans

Salsa Chicken
Get a couple pounds of chicken breast
Put in crock pot
Fill with your favorite salsa
cook for 6 hours
cut up or shred
serve on tortillas a tacos with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, cheese
serve with rice and beans

The salsa chicken is also good served over white rice with grilled vegetables.

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese.

Paula Deen's French Toast Casserole for breakfast (oh, so yummy!) You can google the recipe.

Thank you so much for all of these ideas. My husband will be so excited. I'm going to make the chicken tortilla casserole next week.

So fun.
Renee

[Joey_M]

Thanks for the recipes, Renee! YUM!

[iluvduke]

Ahh, meal planning. So obnoxious, but so budget friendly! We love pigs in a blanket and mac and cheese here. Also big fans of fried chicken with some angel hair pasta. Homemade pizza is always a favorite too!

[rsowers]

I made this recipe for dinner tonight, and I have to say, it is DE-LIC-IOUS. Oh my! Loved every bite, and I can't wait for lunch tomorrow or dinner tomorrow night when I have it again. Thank you so much for sharing.

Originally Posted by janedee

Here's the recipe for the chicken casserole. I've had it for 20 years now so I have no idea where it came from originally!

Chicken Tortilla Casserole
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 boneless chicken breasts (cut into bite sized pieces
1 chopped onion
1 cup medium salsa
1 cup plain yoghurt
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 soft tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Saute the chicken pieces and onion until the onion is golden and the chicken cooked through. Add chili sauce, yoghurt and soup, and stir until heated.
Take spoonfuls of chicken (leave most of the sauce) and spread in center of tortillas. Roll up and place seam side down in a greased casserole. Pour remainder of sauce over top and sprinkle with grated cheddar. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

[janedee]

Glad you liked it Renee! My girls still request it when they come home from college - even though I've given them both the recipe!

[KerryMac]

My cooking style is soooo much like my life in general....one day complex and yummy, the next simple and spare, the following moment please don't make me do anything including cook!
But I have been addicted and I mean addicted, to Cook's Illustrated. I get their beautiful magazine in the mail and subscribe to their website, too. Cooks Illustrated: Home
Other than offering up a delivery meal, one can find anything you're craving or something you've never even thought of to cook. The explanations are easy to follow and they describe the whys of cooking, too, if you care to read it. They are a non-advertising site, so all the opinions, ratings, etc. don't leave you wondering who paid them to say that.
I've never made anything that I didn't love. Try their brownies. OMG.

[bluelemur01]

oh, I also love Cooks Illustrated! I have made so many of their recipes. The chicken piccata is AMAZING!