The What's For Dinner Tonight Chat

[freeatlast]

thanks--and I LOVE the quote in your sig line. So true!!! (and I was a teacher and I am a gardener as well.)

Off topic, I know....okay back to the food discussion!!!!!

Tonight we are having grilled chicken Caesar salad.

No obnoxiously rich cake left--I gave it to the neighbors

I'm so glad you like it! Was just thinking my sig line was too long and maybe I should delete that part. Won't now. Absolutely LOVE your quotes, too.

Tonight? Will cook gluten-free pasta with thawed out frozen herbs from my herb garden last summer in sauce.

[love2travel]

We are dog/housesitting in the country so I am restricted with the ingredients I brought along. Simply this:

James Beard Old Fashioned Meatloaf with a Blueberry Ketchup I will be making

Hasselback Potatoes with Garlic, Thyme and Bay Leaves

Roasted Cauliflower with Mustard Seeds and Cumin

Might throw something together for dessert. If not, fruit it will be!

[Valery101]

I think I'll eat simple tonight, just salmon and rice.

[IrishHeart]

Yes, you are! But after being so terribly ill for so long, you deserve to pig out. Your dinner sounds magnificant!!!

I really don't want to come and live with you because you are farther north than I am. And I hate winter here!!!

No snow in sight thus far . ..shhhh!!!!

[Marilyn R]

We had grilled sirloin burgers (with minced onion mixed in there) on toasted chebe sandwich buns and grainy mustard with left over black eyed peas and rice. Cold front is comnig in tonight, so I'll finally be able to re-seasaon my cast iron pans.

[pricklypear1971]

Leftover turducken, mashed potatoes and green beans.

And it's in the 70's here and I'm in shorts!

[mushroom]

Pork loin roast with red currant glaze and Christmas Chutney; roasted squash, sweet potato and parsnip, and broccoli.

[Lisa]

Uggg...I'm so tired of cooking over the holidays. But, made some chicken salad, as promised for a family friend who is the local bartender and he "hooks me up".

My chicken salad has cranraisins, toasted almonds and lots of celery with fresh tarragon from the garden.

[YoloGx]

Brown rice, green beans and trout. Mmmm!

Seems of late I am going more macrobiotic due to gall bladder issues. Am giving my black beans a two day soak. Will have them with digestive enzymes.

Since I have gone off all other meat than fish (and only have it once or twice a week), plus am off lemons (which I still seem to be sensitive to) and taking basic detox herbs, my gall bladder symptoms have basically gone away--though I still can't tolerate eating chicken etc.

[mushroom]

Brown rice, green beans and trout. Mmmm!

Seems of late I am going more macrobiotic due to gall bladder issues. Am giving my black beans a two day soak. Will have them with digestive enzymes.

Since I have gone off all other meat than fish (and only have it once or twice a week), plus am off lemons (which I still seem to be sensitive to) and taking basic detox herbs, my gall bladder symptoms have basically gone away--though I still can't tolerate eating chicken etc.

Isn't being off lemons a bummer?? I am waiting until June to challenge When you take lemons, wine (Hubs) and tomato out of sauces, it becomes very limiting

[Lisa]

Isn't being off lemons a bummer?? I am waiting until June to challenge When you take lemons, wine (Hubs) and tomato out of sauces, it becomes very limiting

Lemons? Is it the acid?

[mushroom]

Lemons? Is it the acid?

Nope, I think I just overdid them with a leaky gut. I think it's the lectins. I was craving flavour after losing tomatoes (well, there you go... acid, strong flavour) and put lemons on and in everything (limes too - think margaritas, mojitos ) and then they just became a "thing" for me.

[Lisa]

Nope, I think I just overdid them with a leaky gut. I think it's the lectins. I was craving flavour after losing tomatoes (well, there you go... acid, strong flavour) and put lemons on and in everything (limes too - think margaritas, mojitos ) and then they just became a "thing" for me.

Learn sumfin ever day

[burdee]

Glad it turned out so well for you, burdee. What flours/starches are in the recipe? When I was first diagnosed, I avoided pizza as I was never able to find Daiya cheese around here. Luckily I am now able to use regular mozzarella without issue.

Last night I did make two smaller crusts and stuck one prebaked in the freezer when I want a quick pizza in a week or two.

The pizza crust recipe was from "the Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook". It used a basic gluten free bread flour mix with: 1-1/2 cup millet flour, 1-1/2 cup sorghum flour, 2 cups tapioca starch and 1 cup potato starch. I was supposed to add only 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the dough and save 2 tablespoons to brush onto the dough after it rose. However, I misread the recipe and threw the whole 3 tablespoons into the dough and then brushed even more olive oil on the risen dough before adding all our toppings. LOL Nevertheless, my very thin crust turned out very crisp but moist, maybe thanks to that extra olive oil.

I love that cookbook. I made a bundt cake, pumpkin/date bread, and Christmas cookies (spritz) from recipes in that book. It was soooo nice to not have to figure out substitutions for my dairy, soy, egg, cane sugar allergies, because all the recipes have substituted for those ingredients.

[YoloGx]

Learn sumfin ever day

Actually for me its the salicylates in the lemons that give me problems. I can handle a bit now and then, but then overdid them since they are supposed to be good for cleaning out the liver and gallbladder.

It is limiting without the lemons since I have very few spices I can use. Just parsley, fennel, leeks and garlic. That is it. Nevertheless, now I can eat some things I couldn't before so I am now crying over it. Maybe later on I will try using some limes now and then: they are lower in salicylates than lemons I hear. I am also thinking of cutting up some cabbage and fermenting it using some probiotics, for both the sour taste as well as the health benefits. I do still ferment yogurt for 24 hours and enjoy adding it to dishes.

Meanwhile about the lectins, I am soaking some black beans for two days before cooking (at the suggestion from a friend); have changed the water 3 times so far. And then plan to overcook them (if that is possible) so they will be more digestible. Will use some enzymes when I eat them. Any other suggestions?

[mushroom]

Meanwhile about the lectins, I am soaking some black beans for two days before cooking (at the suggestion from a friend); have changed the water 3 times so far. And then plan to overcook them (if that is possible) so they will be more digestible. Will use some enzymes when I eat them. Any other suggestions?

If you have not already done so, get some Lectin Lock. When you know (or when you go out to a restaurant and suspect) that you might be ingesting some of your culpable lectins, I have found they help a lot because they contain the sugars that bind to the reeptive sites for lectins and fill them up so that the lectins can't get in (there - that's a pretty simple explanation )

[freeatlast]

I think I'll eat simple tonight, just salmon and rice.

That sounds great! And, welcome Valery!

Tonight I will have Spicy Potato Curry and flatbread with olive oil/herb dip

[sa1937]

The pizza crust recipe was from "the Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook". It used a basic gluten free bread flour mix with: 1-1/2 cup millet flour, 1-1/2 cup sorghum flour, 2 cups tapioca starch and 1 cup potato starch. I was supposed to add only 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the dough and save 2 tablespoons to brush onto the dough after it rose. However, I misread the recipe and threw the whole 3 tablespoons into the dough and then brushed even more olive oil on the risen dough before adding all our toppings. LOL Nevertheless, my very thin crust turned out very crisp but moist, maybe thanks to that extra olive oil.

I love that cookbook. I made a bundt cake, pumpkin/date bread, and Christmas cookies (spritz) from recipes in that book. It was soooo nice to not have to figure out substitutions for my dairy, soy, egg, cane sugar allergies, because all the recipes have substituted for those ingredients.

Sounds yummy...and if 1 Tbsp. olive oil is good, how can 3 Tbsp. not be even better!

I just pulled up that book on Amazon and it has gotten really good reviews. I've heard about Cybele Pascal's cookbooks before but don't have any of them (yet).

[spryng]

Tonight I had leftover Spaghetti Pie, reheats really nicely! I'm in the process of losing weight so it was just a small portion. 32 lbs down, 25 to go!

[alex11602]

I made a pot roast in the crock pot with baby carrots tonight and served it over smashed potatoes...simple comfort food

[CarolinaKip]

It was alittle bit of everything here tonight. For me, yukon potatos, marinated chicken, avocado, and raw veggies.

[Marilyn R]

We had steamed garlic mussles and roasted stuffed peppers.

This time I stuffed red and pablano peppers with sauted onion, ground pork, rice, tomato paste, a couple of cheeses, and seasonings and baked them at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes. They were delish, to coin a phrase from Rachel Ray.

I'm happy because 1 lb. of pork, an onion and several peppers cut in half (or not, depending on size), some seasonings and a glob of frozen tomatoe paste turned out good, and I have seven more servings. (Froze some, refrigerated some.)

I have lunch food or appetizers on hand. (Feeling armed and not necessarilly dangerous is GREAT!)

[Lisa]

We had steamed garlic mussles and roasted stuffed peppers.

This time I stuffed red and pablano peppers with sauted onion, ground pork, rice, tomato paste, a couple of cheeses, and seasonings and baked them at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes. They were delish, to coin a phrase from Rachel Ray.

I'm happy because 1 lb. of pork, an onion and several peppers cut in half (or not, depending on size), some seasonings and a glob of frozen tomatoe paste turned out good, and I have seven more servings. (Froze some, refrigerated some.)

I have lunch food or appetizers on hand. (Feeling armed and not necessarilly dangerous is GREAT!)

Marilyn, I made your Arabic Stew and it was great and I have found a wonderful new adventure.....turmeric!

I put some in the stew as well, with some smoked paprika. It was wonderful and made for a great presentation too. Thank you for teaching me about this new seasoning.

[YoloGx]

I made black bean vegetable soup with a largish chopped yam to replace the carrots and an addition of brown rice added in my bowl at the end. The soup had a large chopped thoroughly washed leek, around 7 chopped celery stalks and a fair amount of green beans, chopped fennel, an entire bunch of chopped parsley, and about 6 or 7 chopped garlic cloves.

I have had difficulty digesting beans up til now. However this seems to have worked out. It was worth the extra trouble. I read online after doing a bunch of research that African women soak and bring their changed bean water to boil several times. So I soaked the beans for 48 hours, during which changed the water 4 times, removing the foam and the skins that floated to the top. I then put in new water and brought the beans to a boil, and changed the water again etc. altogether 3 times. I changed the water again and put it in my slow cooker for 12 hours. I then put the vegetables into a large pot, added the beans and more water and cooked it on my stove until the vegetables were soft. I added in the parsley and the garlic at the very end after I turned off the stove.

I am also using a porcine pancreatic enzyme mix from Jarro with alpha galactosidase to help digest the beans. However it wasn't as necessary as usual. In fact I can hardly notice any adverse gaseous effects even before I took the enzymes. True I also am drinking dandelion/barberry tea for my gallbladder/liver etc. But even with that I took it after the soup, not before. Amazing given my sensitive gut.

All in all I am very happy since this means my new semi macrobiotic diet to help out my liver and gall bladder will likely work for me after all despite all my allergies and sensitivities (even to most spices and many veggies and all nuts and seeds due to salicylate sensitivity), this from the previous big meat and veggie eater who is allergic to just about everything---though thankfully not brown rice or home made 24 hour (and thus lactose free) yogurt--of which I am about to have with a chopped, peeled golden delicious apple!!

[Marilyn R]

Marilyn, I made your Arabic Stew and it was great and I have found a wonderful new adventure.....turmeric!

I put some in the stew as well, with some smoked paprika. It was wonderful and made for a great presentation too. Thank you for teaching me about this new seasoning.

Thanks so much Lisa. That stew is really good with a dollup of yogurt or a bit of sour cream on top (if you can by gosh handle that).