Food and Recipes while under Coronavirus quarantine #2

[PayrollNerd]

Got my fridge cleaned out and have chicken thawing for Shake n Bake tonight. My oldest will be here tonight thru Thursday to be my helper. Trying to decide what to have with the chicken based on what I have on hand, other than fried corn. I am not in the mood for potatoes. Maybe I'll doctor up some canned green beans.

I found 2 cans of pumpkin in my cabinet! I have 3 pie crusts and cool whip in the freezer. Time to go check to see what else I have and what I need. Kiddo is going to take me shopping this afternoon.

 

[PayrollNerd]

The food bank has inundated me with dry goods. I found a solid wood bookcase on Facebook Marketplace for $30. I wiped it down and set up a “store” for the kids & friends. This isn’t even all of it. There’s more in the garage.

Normally you only get dry goods when you go to the food pick up. But lately, they’re handing them out at the produce pick ups. I’m guessing they have too many.

 

[PayrollNerd]

I’m thru both my cataract surgeries and I can read street signs! LOL! I’m still struggling with close vision but it is improving daily. Now I feel better about safely cooking. The reader glasses I have are old but they’ll do until my eyes heal a bit more. I’m cleared to drive!

I made cheese grits again for breakfast. What I really want is biscuits and gravy. I normally buy the frozen Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits. They bake up fluffy. Probably have a ton of fat and sodium but whatever. Ha!

I’m going to peruse recipes for sausage gravy to see if I can come up with something.

 

[Yesiamapirate]

I’m thru both my cataract surgeries and I can read street signs! LOL! I’m still struggling with close vision but it is improving daily. Now I feel better about safely cooking. The reader glasses I have are old but they’ll do until my eyes heal a bit more. I’m cleared to drive!

I made cheese grits again for breakfast. What I really want is biscuits and gravy. I normally buy the frozen Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits. They bake up fluffy. Probably have a ton of fat and sodium but whatever. Ha!

I’m going to peruse recipes for sausage gravy to see if I can come up with something.

Glad to hear your peepers are getting better. I hope you get to make your biscuits!

 

[mickey2942]

My husband still cooks a bit, even with macular degeneration. And he loves to make salsa...which is a good thing, since all of our tomatoes and peppers are coming in...

 

[Shamrock1]

Pickled turnips with a side of baba ghanoush.

Surprisingly, it took me a week to find a turnip…we do grocery delivery & farmers’ markets and I finally just went to Mom’s Organic, where I had to identify the vegetable to the sweet cashier. It’s my newest obsession and I’m addicted. The neon pinkness (from beets) is a bonus.
Pickled Turnips

 

[mickey2942]

Baba ghanoush? Perhaps I should make that. I have two beautiful eggplants right now. Freshly picked from my garden.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Baba ghanoush? Perhaps I should make that. I have two beautiful eggplants right now. Freshly picked from my garden.

Eggplants, in Montana? [Farms, in Berkeley?]

Did you grow them in a greenhouse? Or pick a short-season or cold-tolerant variety? I need to reassess my limitations on what I can grow here if you are growing eggplant in Montana!

 

[mickey2942]

Eggplants, in Montana? [Farms, in Berkeley?]

Did you grow them in a greenhouse? Or pick a short-season or cold-tolerant variety? I need to reassess my limitations on what I can grow here if you are growing eggplant in Montana!

Yep, I have em. They are small, globe type. Not huge ones.

Maybe it is "global warming". This summer was so hot here. It has been crazy. And our garden isn't that big. I have so much produce I need to give stuff away.

 

[155etta]

My husband still cooks a bit, even with macular degeneration. And he loves to make salsa...which is a good thing, since all of our tomatoes and peppers are coming in...

I'm making salsa this weekend with all of my tomatoes. I didn't grow any peppers though. Haven't figured out how to grow those successfully yet.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Today’s cooking: Pasta Primavera is what I think it’s called. Not sure.

I used a pint of my homemade marina. Added some black olives, a leftover tomato, cooked squash & zucchini. Dash of dry seasonings, salt pepper onion powder and garlic powder. Added a can of spaghetti sauce and simmered it. It’s a bit thin but it’s fine. Poured it over angel hair pasta and topped with grated Parmesan cheese. It’s pretty good.

 

[neesaki]

Today’s cooking: Pasta Primavera is what I think it’s called. Not sure.

I used a pint of my homemade marina. Added some black olives, a leftover tomato, cooked squash & zucchini. Dash of dry seasonings, salt pepper onion powder and garlic powder. Added a can of spaghetti sauce and simmered it. It’s a bit thin but it’s fine. Poured it over angel hair pasta and topped with grated Parmesan cheese. It’s pretty good.

Looks yummy to me! So you used a jar of marinara plus a can of spaghetti sauce? I’ve never used squash and zucchini in sauce like that but I know it would be good. I do make ratatouille with squash and zucchini once in a while. I don’t use eggplant because it’s too hard to find good eggplant. For some reason it’s always weird and spongy. S9 I just use extra of the other two.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Looks yummy to me! So you used a jar of marinara plus a can of spaghetti sauce? I’ve never used squash and zucchini in sauce like that but I know it would be good. I do make ratatouille with squash and zucchini once in a while. I don’t use eggplant because it’s too hard to find good eggplant. For some reason it’s always weird and spongy. S9 I just use extra of the other two.

Yeah I knew my little pint of marinara wasn’t enough. The can of spaghetti sauce was 24 oz and it was thicker. I only had one little squash and zucchini. I wish I had more. I cut about 12 black olives in half.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Baba ghanoush? Perhaps I should make that. I have two beautiful eggplants right now. Freshly picked from my garden.

Funny your mentioning Baba Ghanoush. We've been talking about where DH might like to go to dinner for his birthday October 1. He mentioned Phoenicia - a Lebanese restaurant in downtown Birmingham. We used to go there occasionally when we lived in Troy but haven't been for years. Baba Ghanoush was always my favorite appetizer. I love hummus, too. We both like lamb and remember that Phoenicia always had fabulous lamb dishes. Dinner Menu — Phoenicia (phoeniciabirmingham.com)

DH is going to make chicken pot pie for dinner tonight. He got a bone-in chicken breast, onion, and puff pastry when he went to Nino's today. We have celery, carrots, a cooked ear of corn, frozen peas. I will talk him through the roux and gravy, but I am staying out of the kitchen during the preparation process. I've made Shepherd's Pie numerous times but have never made a chicken pot pie from scratch.

My sister mentioned that she planned to bake zucchini bread this week, so DH got zucchini today. I added canned pumpkin to the Nino's list because I like to bake pumpkin bread, too. Nino's had no canned pumpkin - very odd. Hopefully, Meijer will have some next time one of us is there.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Funny your mentioning Baba Ghanoush. We've been talking about where DH might like to go to dinner for his birthday October 1. He mentioned Phoenicia - a Lebanese restaurant in downtown Birmingham. We used to go there occasionally when we lived in Troy but haven't been for years. Baba Ghanoush was always my favorite appetizer. I love hummus, too. We both like lamb and remember that Phoenicia always had fabulous lamb dishes. Dinner Menu — Phoenicia (phoeniciabirmingham.com)

DH is going to make chicken pot pie for dinner tonight. He got a bone-in chicken breast, onion, and puff pastry when he went to Nino's today. We have celery, carrots, a cooked ear of corn, frozen peas. I will talk him through the roux and gravy, but I am staying out of the kitchen during the preparation process. I've made Shepherd's Pie numerous times but have never made a chicken pot pie from scratch.

My sister mentioned that she planned to bake zucchini bread this week, so DH got zucchini today. I added canned pumpkin to the Nino's list because I like to bake pumpkin bread, too. Nino's had no canned pumpkin - very odd. Hopefully, Meijer will have some next time one of us is there.

The only pumpkin bread recipe I have used Pumpkin Pie Mix. Does yours use plain canned pumpkin? If I’m making it just for me I just use the boxed Pillsbury Quick Bread mix. But I need a recipe so I can make a gluten free version. Any suggestions?

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

The only pumpkin bread recipe I have used Pumpkin Pie Mix. Does yours use plain canned pumpkin? If I’m making it just for me I just use the boxed Pillsbury Quick Bread mix. But I need a recipe so I can make a gluten free version. Any suggestions?

15 oz. can of pure pumpkin - not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin Bread | Better Homes & Gardens (bhg.com)

This is my go-to Zucchini Bread recipe. I've also made carrot bread or a combination of zucchini and shredded carrots. Zucchini Bread | Better Homes & Gardens (bhg.com)

 

[SeattleStew]

I’m thru both my cataract surgeries and I can read street signs! LOL! I’m still struggling with close vision but it is improving daily. Now I feel better about safely cooking. The reader glasses I have are old but they’ll do until my eyes heal a bit more. I’m cleared to drive!

I made cheese grits again for breakfast. What I really want is biscuits and gravy. I normally buy the frozen Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits. They bake up fluffy. Probably have a ton of fat and sodium but whatever. Ha!

I’m going to peruse recipes for sausage gravy to see if I can come up with something.

@PayrollNerd Good to read that your vision is improving since your surgeries. I'm just catching up with this forum as the cases I follow have really been lit-up and it's hard enough to keep up with those sometimes!

I hope you were able to get your biscuits and sausage gravy fix. We like it around here every now and then. It's funny how neither DH or I ever had them as kids or even young adults, but we discovered them at a restaurant maybe twenty years ago, and now we treat ourselves a couple times a year. Anyway, I've come up with a sausage gravy recipe you might like to try.

Sausage Gravy

1 tube of Jimmy Dean Sausage - whatever flavor you like
2-3 tablespoons of butter
2-3 tablespoons of flour
2 teaspoons of poultry seasoning
2-3 cups of milk - I've only ever used dairy milk in this recipe, not sure how others would work
Tabasco

I use a smaller dutch-oven for this. Heat up your pan and put in the sausage. Cook sausage into the size chunks you like in your gravy until no longer pink. Keep your heat at med-med high and add butter, let it coat the sausage and melt in the pan. Add your flour by sprinkling it on top of the sausage and butter mix, then stir and cook for a few minutes until the flour looks like it has disappeared. Sprinkle the poultry seasoning on top and stir it in. Keep your heat up. Add milk a cup at a time, stirring constantly. Add Tabasco to taste. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Especially good with White Lily Flour biscuits from the recipe on their bag.

Continued good health to you and yours!

 

[PayrollNerd]

15 oz. can of pure pumpkin - not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin Bread | Better Homes & Gardens (bhg.com)

This is my go-to Zucchini Bread recipe. I've also made carrot bread or a combination of zucchini and shredded carrots. Zucchini Bread | Better Homes & Gardens (bhg.com)

Thank you!! That is perfect! It doesn’t even call for ginger.

 

[mickey2942]

I practiced restraint today at Costco, and did not buy four packages of Ghirardelli Brownies.

Now, I want some brownies.

 

[Shamrock1]

Speaking of ginger, NYT had a great recipe for sticky cranberry gingerbread. I believe it was from 2019 - I seem to recall making it the last Christmas we actually got together with others due to covid. I cut all the sweeteners by at least a third (may have been half), added a little extra ginger, and topped it with homemade whipped cream spiked with bourbon. I hate ginger, but love gingerbread!

Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread Recipe