What's for Dinner?

[blessedw2]

Interesting d Harriet! It sounds very good

I will have to look up Joel Furhman!

I never thought I would like vegetarian as much as I do- esp the antiflammatory foods - but these recipes have lots of flavor -

I didn't like the recent dish bc I am not a big sesame oil fan - everything else was good w/o the dressing - we can't use nut milks here bc of allergies but dd is using rice milk instead -

W nut allergies here -dd younger- we have leaned how to adjust recipes - ie we make pesto w/o nuts etc

Happy cooking d Harriet

[Harriet]

Dr. Fuhrman is a medical doctor whose books and speeches (youtube) I like. He's not really experienced as a cook or cookbook author (although he has a few cooking videos), but gives good advice as far as what we should eat. HRH especially appreciates him, since HRH eats less meat than I do. He makes "ices" of frozen fruits the same way HRH does, so those ideas/recipes are interesting.

Today is a pot of dry pintos from Earth Fare, where I have found the bulk beans are already pre-sorted (no flaws, no tiny pebbles as you often find in bags of beans). They will soak a few more hours. A cake of cornbread with only half the dairy. So, a "poor-man's supper", with tomatoes and cucumber.

I'm sure your homemade pesto is delish! I was so surprised at the store to read ingredients and see such a difference. I assumed all would be made with olive oil, but not the cheap ones - made with soybean, which to me would not be very traditional at all.

[CathyS]

Tonight we are having home made Indian food. I have chicken thighs defrosting in the fridge and a cauliflower and some potatoes to make Aloo Gobi. I have never made it before, so I hope I have all the spices I need.

[Harriet]

Cathy, that sounds good - I enjoy Indian food.

HRH was in charge of a stir-fry last evening and went with bottled additions for sauce. We weren't thinking we'd need rice, but it was so spicy-hot that he did make some after all and it needed it. Sigh. We need to find a middle ground. I'm sure we will.

He made vegetarian tacos the other day, as well. As a general rule, vegetarian "meat" products are high in sodium, though. So the meals are a novelty, not really good staples. Because I love refried beans, I enjoy bean burritos as a "Mexican" meal, but he really doesn't care for refried. I was thinking if I could get him to like black beans, which are also "Mexican", I could come up with a homemade alternative of fresh or frozen ingredients with bright yellow corn, too, he might like. (I put quotation marks because I know dishes we expect in U.S. are probably not very authentic.)

[Harriet]

Have not found HRH's "Morning Star" brand vegan hot dogs in a good while and even tried another vegan brand once. They were awful. He was really disappointed because being able to enjoy an ordinary guy-type of snacky meal sometimes can be a treat. Finally found the MStar ones. He was so happy making his tonight and cutting up his onions for them. He was singing, "My hot dog has a first name! It's M-O-R-N-I-N-Geeeee! My hot dog has a second name, it's S-T-A-R-D-O-Geeeee...."

Found Cranberry Beans in the dry beans bulk section of Whole Foods and remembered hearing a lady on a video about cooking, who was just gushing about how if you ever tried them you would love them, so I'll be soaking those tomorrow. I didn't know they existed until she said it.

Here's a table of comparison of beans that is interesting (scroll down). It tells me the Cranberry is going to have the fat and fiber of the Great Northern and therefore probably taste heavier than the Pinto, as the GN does. So I'm also considering a pot of half-cranberry and half-pinto to make sure HRH likes them at first. He judges all beans by the Pinto and is not interested in change, but he's going to get a little variety when I have the chance!

[Harmony]

Harriet, that's the best website! Somebody with a sense of humor must have written that content, it had me chuckling as I read around in there. Anything anybody wanted to know about diets or beans is right there. What are pink beans? How did the Cranberry beans taste? Are they just like the dried cranberries we buy? I had light and dark navy beans, 1 can of the spicy ones, and black beans in my chili. I guess they are all navy, right? I did put a container of mushrooms in after they were cooked up in a little olive oil but they were the old standard type, all I could find.

[Harriet]

The cranberry beans were very nice, and tasted really good to me. I will have to say that HRH shrugged and asked if I was sure they were different, since they just seemed like a quality pinto to him. Visually, these were only "cranberry" looking (little red streaks and dots) before they were cooked. They looked pretty much like lighter colored pintos after cooking. I think I could tell they were more substantial than pintos, and maybe had thinner skins for better overall texture. Faced with both in a store, I think I'd pick cranberry beans again.

Gee, I'm going to have to look around that site - I may have missed a lot! Enjoyed the Jack and the Beanstalk tale on that page, though. I think black beans are different, just the same size as navy.

I made a much more acceptable homemade vegetarian stir-fry sauce. Reduced the dates to 3 - they gave too much texture that was sticky. Good taste in a stir-fry, just don't need a lot of it! This time I chopped the veggies the day before and put the longer-cooking broccoli in one baggie and the celery and bell pepper in another, to be added in at different times.

btw, not using any oils in this meal, and HRH doesn't even notice anything's missing. Water sauteing, which everyone else may know well, but I never understood until Dr. Fuhrman. Much less calories and we don't need the oil if we can do without it. Here's one guy's method for veggies that all take about the same amount of time to cook. For broccoli/cauliflower, Dr. Fuhrman says just cover it in the frying pan with 1/4 cup water and let it steam, then uncover and stir-fry with everything else.

[blessedw2]

yay on you all being here!!! Well done on your cooking.

dd younger has gone back to working the summer - so my chef in residence is no longer and I have to be responsible again.
I love to cook but it was sooooo nice having someone with dd's skill and vegetarian tendencies cooking for us!

So I should be back with you all
HAPPY COOKING

dd younger uses dates (too) in her energy bars which are delicious. I never would have known their were dates.
She uses a lot of lentils and beans which i never knew I would like - I am still not a big fan of curry - a little once in awhile is okay.
she likes making Dahl.

I am trying not to waste money - as I live close to a grocery store I will try my grandmothers method when she lived in France - get the food the day you cook or the day before. I dislike shopping. I know most french peasant cooking is delicious.

Tonight: instead of ribs... dd younger is going out tomorrow night and wants simple instead - so oat flour blueberry lemon pancakes (she wants bananas in hers)

[blessedw2]

with everyone being gone I will make myself a lentil salad with carrots turnip and onion with a french vinaigrette
fruit with yogurt

[blessedw2]

with dd younger not cooking and d mom being in town - we have been eating out A LOT!!! not healthy or cheap.
I went grocery shopping and it was 173$ eek mostly vegetables

tonight I am making a greek salad with toasted rustic bread cubed with salt/pepper garlic toasted in olive oil
and has feta, red and yellow pepper, tomatoes, cucumber, kalamata olives, and olive oil and red vinegar w dried oregano dressing then tossed with bread cubes from above

I may keep everything separate so that dd younger can take it for work and share it tomorrow