Grilled Pork and Yellow Rice

I'm getting really tired of pasta. Luckily yellow rice packets have been on sale lately.

Chicken, Pasta, and Pumpkin Turtle Pie

There was a story in Good Housekeeping or on the Today Show about what you can stock in your pantry to make meals more adventurous. It inspired me to put those bottles of lemon juice and capers to use.

There was also an ad for Philly cream cheese and Jell-O pudding and other products that go into making Thanksgiving desserts. I had to make this pie. It's one of those Cool Whip creations that you simply refrigerate (and then decide to not take to your sister-in-law's dinner).

Pumpkin Turtle Pie

I don't remember making this pie on Thanksgiving... I believe I made it on the 25th or 24th, but added the caramel and pecan topping on the 26th. (And then decided I didn't want to share.)

Time to Eat

When LV saw this on the counter, he wanted to eat it that night. Luckily, he didn't. Thanksgiving morning, I fired up the oven to warm the coffee cake. The house didn't really fill with the scent of cinnamon, but that was some good cake.

Pumpkin Pie

The past two years, I think I've made the pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. This year I decided to make the pie when I had the time (as determined by the baby). I think it turned out well. The crust could have been flakier.

Lots To Do...

I used the letters on the refrigerator to help me keep track of what I planned to make.

No, not really. We have an odd assortment of letters left after so many years which makes spelling words a real challenge. The week before I tried to make a shopping list. That's difficult with one "r."

More Lamb

All the meats I bought were "family size." I was able to divide up each pack, freeze some right away, and not have to wonder how fresh things were when I cooked with them several days later. This lamb didn't get any better. Especially when there was no stuffing/breading or chutney to help counter it's cheapness. (And that's macaroni because we're down to the last box of pasta in the cabinet and that's what was there: elbows. I bought it this summer, thinking I would make pasta salad. Not so much...)

Coffee Cake

For some reason, there's one Thanksgiving that stands out in my memory as a really good Thanksgiving. (My guess is the economy was really good that year.) It was a Thanksgiving that started with the house smelling like cinnamon because my mom made the coffee cake that I think her mom used to make. I actually don't remember that coffee cake tasting so great, but it was a really great start to a fun day.

So, I was inspired (to say the least) to make the coffee cake I saw in Good Housekeeping. Of course, I changed it up a little, using almonds instead of pecans because that's what was in the cabinet, but the rest was all the same. Including sour cream, which I believe was the part of my mom's recipe that I thought was strange way back in the day.

Burgers

You know I'm not really thinking of ever updating my blog again when I take just one lousy picture of what I made... (I think I had also wanted McDonald's for dinner, but LV said he likes my burgers better. And for some reason I was bitter about that.)

Wings

Buffalo wings for Football Sunday. Who doesn't love a routine?

Adventures in Lamb

When I saw this picture, I couldn't remember what it was or what I had been thinking. Then I saw the finished picture.

Oh... Lamb. Because it was super cheap... All these weeks later, I have to say, this was a pretty gross dinner. Mostly because the meat tasted awful and had a really rough texture. My lazy way of creating a breading, my peach-ginger chutney? Those were really good. But not good enough to compensate for starting with icky-tasting meat.

Cheap Steak & Yellow Rice

The grocery store where I've been shopping recently has mega-cheap cuts of meat. Parts of the animal you've never heard of... And it looks just like the pack next to it that is a part you've heard before. But I take the mystery meat because that price is half as much. What I don't realize if that mega-cheap meat needs to be marinated and beaten--otherwise it really isn't very edible.

Oven Fried Chicken

Not only have I decided I have the hang of making large amounts of chicken, but I've also decided baked potatoes are a great side dish. Why keep choosing between pasta and rice?

Peppers and Steak

I don't actually know if this is steak. I am writing this blog in mid-January. But it seems like I would look at what I had available and decide that peppers would go best with steak. Ta-da...

Pumpkin Run-Through

At Thanksgiving time, I make pumpkin bread. And then use the leftover batter for muffins, more muffins, and (this year) squares (in the brownie tray). Basically, anything I can pour the batter into.

Crispy Wings

Either we ate the veggies before the wings were done or... I don't know. Why are these wings all alone?

Maybe I'm just not done plating. (Anyone here notice that I've separated each food item into its own post? I'm beefing up my blog numbers to keep well ahead of LV's blog.

Hurray for Hot Meals

The baby is starting to let me eat dinner with everyone else. But not really. Eating doesn't really describe the way LV and I shovel food into our mouths in the hopes that one of us will finish before there's a meltdown.

Chicken and Pasta

These were some meaty tenders--totally different than the usual thin slice I normally get. This might have been after I started shopping at a new grocery store... Again, total lack of interest in the blog as displayed in the camera shake.

Maple Walnut Chicken

I didn't have real maple syrup for this recipe. It looks really good, but I think it would have tasted much better with a real glaze rather than pancake syrup on top.

Fish Sticks & Lentils

All these weeks later, we still have plenty of fish sticks and chicken nuggets left in the refrigerator. We also have a bag of lentils that I haven't opened in almost a year. I decided to crack that open and cook it up with some rice. LV requested we never eat lentils again. (He hates beans...) I ate them for lunch. I even tried to make lentil burgers at one point (I was thinking of black bean burgers) with the rest of the bag.

Slow Cooked

Can you tell that at this point--after months of not updating the blog--I don't even see the point of making sure my hand is steady when I take the photo? Though, I don't share the same disinterest in what I'm cooking.

Wings...

It's Football Sunday.

More Pork

Bone-in pork chops were back in the meat department, so they were back in our oven...

Pork and Lima Beans

LV picked up the latest bag of frozen vegetables. He didn't notice that the blend he picked included lima beans. I thought this was great. I could finally get rid of all the other lima beans I've had in the freezer. (I went a bit nuts investing in beans at the beginning of the pregnancy...) He did not think this was so great, but he also didn't know just how many more lima beans I was throwing into the mix.

Wings!

Mmm... More gigantic wings.

Meatloaf & Salad

This is a picture of meatloaf on salad. I didn't have any potatoes or whatnot to serve with this besides salad. I didn't put LV's meatloaf on his salad. He wouldn't have liked that. While we were eating, we had the same thought: Good thing Scrappy's not here for this. We thought the extra seasoning was great, but she probably wouldn't have liked any of it. Especially considering I used 12 grain wheat bread for the loaf. That created an interesting texture.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

We waited until Halloween to carve a jack-o'-lantern. The last time I roasted the seeds, I didn't bother to look for a recipe. This year I did some research for what the temperature and time should be. They turned out much better. (That's cinnamon and salt on top.)

Oh, That's Right

I'm publishing all these posts months after the photos were taken. I forgot that Scrappy and LV didn't have the chicken until the day after I made it. They had McDonald's instead (and didn't bring me any (brats)). So, this ended up being the pre-trick-or-treating dinner.

Baked Friday

Trying to get away from cookies, I made muffins today. Oatmeal, raisins, walnuts and some other stuff that sounded like it would make for a good breakfast treat...

Oven Fried Chicken

I keep seeing big packs of fryer-ready chicken, so I decided to go ahead and get a pack. We don't have a fryer. Instead I used the last of the Ritz crackers to prepare all these pieces the way I usually prepare chicken strips. LV thought it was the tastiest thing ever.

Pork...

This is how I eat everything now. (And I wonder if this isn't how I should photograph everything, too, considering the great light I get from the microwave.) As soon as I finish making and plating dinner, the baby freaks and it's time to get him to bed. He falls asleep while I wonder how soon I'll be able to leave to go eat my dinner... and if that makes me a bad mom.

Cheesecake!

I didn't make this cheesecake. My friend and I bought it because, you know, cookies and candy aren't enough snacks... The cake was huge. Rather than simply send the leftovers to LV's office, I thought I would use some of the extra pounds of Wilton candy melts to coat squares of the cheesecake. But I set about doing so all wrong. I ended up spreading melted candy with a butter knife. No one cared. They were tasty. (I pulled them out of the refrigerator for this picture--that's why they look sweaty.)

Buffalo Wings

Football Sunday... More wings!

More Steak and Yellow Rice

Big Sunday dinners sound like such a nice idea to me. At the moment though, the only thing I can rely on to cook all day is cheap cuts of beef. At least they turn out well...

Baked Friday

In honor of our next out-of-town visitor (and because I ate all the chocolate chip cookies), I made Oatmeal Scotchies. Sooo good. And can I just say I have the best baby ever? He doesn't sleep, but he lets me bake cookies while he chills in his bouncer seat.

Chicken and Red Peppers

I thought the red peppers had a fun shape to them, so I didn't chop them up very much. I can't remember if these were battered chicken cutlets or if they are simply grilled. Either way, it tasted better than the stuff we were still pulling out of the freezer at this point.

Chili Rubbed Pork

The return of slow-baked bone-in pork chops. Tastiness...

Wings

While it's fun to have the return of our football routine from 2007, I still can't get my drink on for Football Sunday like I used to. Those glasses are from my parents' visit last night. Cleaning... Not such a priority compared to feeding and changing the newborn.

Chicken Parm

I wanted to try something that required a bit more skill than the pasta dishes I've been making lately (which haven been chicken nuggets and spaghetti I froze two months ago). The bowties might have been frozen two months ago...

Baked Friday

I've been eating Halloween candy non-stop for three weeks. It was time for something new. So I made chocolate chip cookies.

Grilled Pork

More spinach! It was a really big bag... And a baked potato. How different.

Steak Sandwiches

LV was hoping for French Dip sandwiches, but I didn't have any beef broth. Instead I had lots of spinach. I decided this would be better. With leftover macaroni and potato salads from when the family came to visit.

Buffalo Wings

The baby was born in time to see the first football games of the season, but it took until this week to make the first batch of wings. Mmm... Wings.

A Real Hot Meal

As the cabinets grow more and more bare, I have to get more creative with what I can combine. This isn't really creative at all. But it's good. The jar of pasta sauce and pound of ground beef.

Burgers!

Something fresh and tasty... with some tator-tots from the freezer...