Dinner - What Are You Having? - Page 6

[Imakcerka]

How do you do the Baked potatoes in the crock pot?  TELL ME!!! 

I think tomorrow its turkey breast in the crockpot, but I have another crockpot... just sitting there.  Needing some baked potatoes! 

Oh and spinach salad.

Tonight we had fried potatoes and onions.  We went to a late lunch at Jasons Deli.   DH wanted their broc and cheese, so did DD2. 

[Imakcerka]

Actually, I think we're having salmon instead.  I have a lot of it in the freezer just begging for use.  Also we have too many groceries right now.  Lots of pasta and veggies.  I think I can forgo the grocery store til next week.  We're out of milk but the DD's have been avoiding milk lately and I only drink milk when I'm eating mashed potatoes.  This Costco shopping paid off big time.  Two hundred is lasting us 3 weeks.  NICE!  Doesn't help I love eating out twice a month or so...

[Chicky2]

Well, we ended up having a rabbit/barley/veggie soup w/rabbit and spinach and mozz cheese (all I had) quesadillas. 

Rabbit salad sandwiches w/spinach and a big salad for supper tonight.  Dh and I may eat out because we have a bee meeting tonight.

I'm buying groceries every chance I get to stock up.  I figure they are NOT going to get cheaper so I should buy what I can, even if we don't need it.  Better than $ in the bank if you ask me.

[Ragana]

Wow, $200 for 3 wks. sounds awesome. I am trying for $200/wk. right now, then hopefully lower, but not sure if I can do it. That's for me (WAH), DH (who takes lunch to work every day), and DDs (who take lunch to school every day) - one DD started playing a sport & is basically eating like an adult and we do buy wine/beer and entertain friends and family sometimes. I recently got a Costco membership, so maybe I'll have to make that trek for proteins and lunch snacks, then combine with my cheap ethnic stores for veggies and fruit.

Potatoes in the crockpot :

Wash potatoes & dry well

Wrap in foil

Place in crockpot - NO WATER, just the foil-wrapped potatoes

Cook

I can't tell you a heat level and cooking time, because I crank them on high and just check on them until they're done - 4-5 hrs.? I am making these tomorrow, so I can check that.

[Imakcerka]

Thanks Ragana.  I'm going to try that.

We had salmon and spinach tonight.  MMMMMM!  I do a lot of costco shopping and buy exactly what will be eatin.  That can be hard sometimes but I try to switch things up.  We do buy school lunch so I didn't factor that in.  And I work 15 days a month and usually bring stuff in due to my location.  Can be annoying due to parking and how far we are from good food. 

[kitchensqueen]

That's about how I do my crockpot baked potatoes - if you start them in the morning, you can just put your crockpot on low and let them go 8-9 hours,  but if you start them in the afternoon, high for 5-6 hours usually does it. 

[kitchensqueen]

Originally Posted by MommyofNRM 

I've got a roast chicken in the oven with potatoes! Definitely one of my favorite meals. I'll do some other veggies on the side and probably a salad and biscuits. (Only problem is that it's a warm day and I heated up my whole house and had to turn the AC on! Whoops)

Have you tried doing roast chicken in the crockpot? It comes out just like a rotisserie roasted chicken, without heating up the house with the oven. You just need to put the chicken in the crockpot, elevated on a tin foil ring so it doesn't touch the bottom. Do NOT add water or any liquid. Season the chicken as you like (I usually do them plain, but sometimes I add lemon slices and fresh herbs). Let it go on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8. It will be so moist and tender the meat will literally fall off the bones. Best trick I ever learned with the crockpot. 

[Ragana]

I am definitely going to try that crockpot rotisserie chicken! I usually do a recipe from Allrecipes called Spicy Rapid-Roast Chicken. Sounds like it would turn out about the same.

[Imakcerka]

I'm thinking... that chicken and the potatoes... heaven!  I'll have to try it.  Yes I have more than one large crockpot.  I love using them.  I used to do turkey breast in the crockpot with a stick of butter... I know I know too much fat.  However thats when I ran 5 miles a day.  When I work out I tend to start looking like Kelly Ripa... as my husband says... I married a woman!  Damn you put on some meat! 

[kitchensqueen]

We're having crockpot baked potatoes for dinner tonight since I've been down for the count for a few days with a nasty case of mastitis. (Insert string of expletives here). Thank god my MIL has been able to come over and help me take care of the baby and the house for the last couple days. A few giant baked potatoes slathered with butter, crumbled bacon and fresh thyme sounds like a meal fit for a queen to me. And no effort! 

[Ragana]

My potatoes were done in about 3 hours on high today, but they were on the small side. I am eating early, since I have school. Yummy with lentil soup!

[Chicky2]

OMG.  So supper was going to be some sort of lamb soup w/the lamb bones I've had in the freezer for awhile.  I had a lovely, lovely stock going, had added my veggie scraps, and had my son debone the meat so I could put the bones back in....He put the bones in the top of my compost bowl, and when I went to look for the bones to put back in the pot, I accidentally dumped the whole compost bowl in my stock pot!  Argh!!!!  Lovely egg shells and coffee grinds and some slightly moldy mac and cheese....

So, we're having lamb shepherd's pie.  I fixed my oven last night and now I can bake, too!  I made granola bars w/choc. chips and dried cherries and coconut and some brownies.  I also thawed a huge package (the last one) of my peaches from 2 years ago, and will toss together a nice crisp or cobbler.  We'll be set for several days for snacks now.  Yay!

[MommyofNRM]

I went out for a late lunch with my parents and ds sooo we weren't hungry for dinner. my dh is grilling up some sausages for himself. i'm going to have some apples with caramel dip for dessert later- my new favorite snack. 

[kitchensqueen]

Originally Posted by MommyofNRM 

i'm going to have some apples with caramel dip for dessert later- my new favorite snack. 

I've been wanting to eat these so bad, but I can't find a dairy-free recipe to make caramel sauce. Anyone know of one? And have you seen these cute apple snacks? Found them via Pinterest. :-)

[kitchensqueen]

Tonight is spaghetti with marinara sauce and meatballs from my freezer stash. I also did up a batch of roasted garlic in the crockpot, but we don't have any bread currently so we can have garlic bread. :-(

[MommyofNRM]

We had cajun chicken pasta for dinner tonight with garlic bread. So delicious- even my 20month old ate it!  Tomorrow will be pork tenderloin! and grocery shopping on Sunday. yippeeee 

[kitchensqueen]

Originally Posted by MommyofNRM 

We had cajun chicken pasta for dinner tonight with garlic bread. So delicious- even my 20month old ate it!  Tomorrow will be pork tenderloin! and grocery shopping on Sunday. yippeeee 

How do you make that? I'm always looking for new pasta dishes to try! 

[Ragana]

Kitchensqueen - How do you make roasted garlic in the crockpot? Sounds like a must-try!! That would be great for making garlic bread.

We also had pasta, tomato sauce and meatballs last night. The tomato sauce I make is my friend's "recipe" - best and easiest ever:

Take a box of Pomi crushed tomatoes (or lg. can, but I don't buy canned anymore), simmer with 1 onion for about 10-15 min., finish with S&P and a pat of butter. Delicious & you would never imagine it from the simple ingredients.

I think tonight will have to be some kind of leftover surprise, since I have some leftover lentil soup and plain black beans in the fridge. I think I'll saute up whatever vegetables I have and put some rice in the rice cooker & everyone can mix up their own combos with the sauces we have on hand.

[kitchensqueen]

Originally Posted by Ragana 

Kitchensqueen - How do you make roasted garlic in the crockpot? Sounds like a must-try!! That would be great for making garlic bread.

I just tried it for the first time yesterday. Slice the tops off as many bulbs of garlic as you want to use and wrap each individually in aluminum foil and put them in - no liquid in the pot. The recipe I used said to cook them on low for 3-4 hours, but I think that was overkill - they are really caramelized. Probably 1-2 hours would be sufficient. I did five heads and got about a quarter cup I think. 

And here's where my OCD frugality kicked in - instead of pitching the garlic tops, I painstakingly peeled all the little garlic pieces I cut off. I netted a tablespoon of garlic, used in last night's pasta sauce. Waste not, want not. :-) 

[MommyofNRM]

Originally Posted by kitchensqueen 

How do you make that? I'm always looking for new pasta dishes to try! 

It's easy! I got the recipe from a friend. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheet or pan with non-stick spray.

Rinse chicken tenders to remove slime. Pat dry so the spices coat well. Place on baking sheet. Sprinkle with cajun seasoning and pat or rub in. Bake in oven 12 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, place oil in very large skillet or wok. Heat up over medium heat then add garlic. Lightly carmelize. Add chopped sun dried tomatoes and sliced yellow peppers. (If you don't think it's going to be spicy enough, add crushed red pepper to the oil at this point to draw out the heat.) Saute until the chicken is done. 

When the chicken is done baking, give it a rough shred by pulling it apart with knife and fork.  Toss into skillet and add the wine to deglaze the pan.  As it cooks, the liquid will reduce. 

Add heavy cream and stir constantly. Reduce heat to a simmer and reduce cream sauce by about half. 

Once the sauce is at the consistency you prefer, add parm cheese and stir. It thickens it up. I usually add more cajun seasoning at this point and am quite generous with it. 

Traditionally, it's served with fettuccine but I found that using rigatoni or shells catches and holds the sauce quite nicely. 

I copied and pasted this from my friend. If you try it- let me know how it turns out for you 

Serve with a salad and cheesy garlic bread