Not a typical meal however it met my dietary restrictions for the evening. Tasty since I like turkey burgers, especially with garlic. I added tumeric, garlic and ginger to the califlower which made it pretty good. 8 months ago

Rice, rice with coconut oil, more rice, and veggies. Yes eating a very restricted diet – even if only for 25 hours forces one to cook.

And the fun part is I am mixing up foods that I wouldn’t have put together preciously. Coconut oil goes in a lot of dishes, as do nuts. I like the teture that nuts fice to rice, veggies, and even hot cereal. 9 months ago

Simple, tasty and went well with the curried tuna from TJ’s. I love rice. I could eat it three times a day. So adding something to rice seems logical (though I really enjoy eating it plain too!)

I am trying to use up the foods in the cupboard because I want to buy new foods. That was the last o the rice. I still have barley to finish off. :) 10 months ago

There are so many great foods available during spring and summer that it’s easier to get excited about making lunch or dinner. Even better, there is now a weekly Farmer’s Market a few blocks from my house on Wednesdays! That rocks! 11 months ago

It is so easy to grill food in the summer without heating up the house. Before, I would eat cold food at night because there wasn’t any point heating up an already warm kitchen. Salads, leftovers, fruit, cereal, etc. were my main dinner items. Or I would grill outdoors. This simple little electric grill has changed that. And it cooks food fast! 11 months ago

I cooked fish with coconut oil, garlic, onions, and spices. It tasted great – kind of a mild curry sauce. I have been experimenting with different veggies mixed together, and spices. Also good. Today I grilled pork chops with herbs and had mashed potatoes with dill. Tasty.

Not being able to cook with butter or vinegar has forced me to use more and different spices. It’s fun, though a bit more difficult. Before I just put butter and garlic on most things and I was happy. Tomorrow I will make roasted cauliflower and broccoli with olive oil and garlic. :) 11 months ago

I am not a fan of offal, however my hemoglobin levels have been low so I need to eat liver once a week. I found a recipe that is easy and I like. It has onions and a lot of ginger, which goes really well with liver. I mix up the marinade, let it sit for a few hours and then toss everything into the frying pan! Easy and tasty. 11 months ago

What a great way to use up some of the limes from my tree. And the fish that was in the freezer. Fun to make and it taseted good. 14 months ago

Between juicing and some cooking, I spend a lot more time in my kitchen than I have for the past few years. I go shopping and buy fresh food. I visit the Farmer’s market. I am far more aware of what I am eating, so I am accomplishing what I wanted from this goal.

I want to purchase a new stove to replace my lovely, but old, stove. It needs to go to a good home since it’s a classic.

And if I actually have people over for dinner, snacks, whatever, then I will feel that this goal has provided me the incentive I was looking for. 15 months ago

I have an old juicer that I bought after a trip to Singapore where there are juice stands all over. I used it quite a bit then put it in the cupboard. I started juicing again several months ago and my old trusty juicer had trouble with greens. After a lot of internet research I purchased an Omega Vert 350 juicer. It’s fairly quiet, does well with greens, is easy to clean and will undoubtedly replace my old juicer.

Bed Bath and Beyond with a 20% off coupon gave me the best price I could find anywhere!! I try to have juice once a day. 15 months ago

A good English cheddar with red onion. I love toasted cheese and onion sammies. Quick, easy and very tasty. 16 months ago

I am steaming foods that I typically boil. Tonight I steamed some russet potatoes and they tasted great. A little quicker than boiling, and better texture. 16 months ago

I had half a head of cabbage left and wanted to use it up. I found a simple, simple recipe to fry it. Quick, tasty and no more leftovers!

Next time I will use purple cabbage because it is a bit healthier. 16 months ago

I bought a couple of artichokes at the store over the weekend. I love artichokes, but haven’t quite figured out how long they need to cook. Th internet turned up an easy recipe for steamed artichokes with bay, lemon and garlic added to the water. I tried it and bay really does make a difference in how artichokes taste.

Yum!!! 17 months ago

With cumin, oregano, onion, garlic and orange juice. It smelled wonderful while it was cooking. It was tasty, however next time I will add more spice.

This was a carnitas recipe. Today I will fry up some of the meat and see if that improves the flavor. 17 months ago

I like cooked cabbage. Funny thing is I do not particularly like cole slaw. But cooked cabbage with butter and pepper? Yum! So tonight it’s cold, and I wanted something hot. Cabbage! Why not? But why not make it differently? The first recipe I looked at on the internet was it – spicy cooked cabbage.

It’s on the stove, simmering for a few more minutes. Cumin, garlic, onions, cinnamon, sugar, red pepper, celery salt, and balsamic vinegar and a few others spices. I think this one is a keeper. A little sweet, with a nice bite. 17 months ago

For dinner I made some grilled turkey burgers that were tasty and very quick to make. I think the entire process took 15 minutes, from getting everything out to eating.

This is such a change from opening a can or heating something in the microwave. I may need to change my goal to cook once a day! :) 17 months ago

I needed to bring a dish to a party last night, which made this a perfect opportunity to cook something new. :) I found a recipe for crockpot chicken, with cranberries and orange juice. I decided to try it.

It was SUPER easy and very tasty. The perfect combination for cooking. I am going to make this again and then add some different ingredients to small portions to find the missing tang that I like in food.

This is a sweet dish if you make it as below:

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (you can use chicken breasts)
1 can cranberry sauce
1 cup orange juice
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick cinnamon (broken in 4 pieces)
1 small onion coursely chopped
3 tablespoons flour mixed with a little cold water (to thicken)

Add everything to the crockpot except the flour. Cook on high for 3.5 hours or low for 6 to 7 hours. 15 minutes prior to serving, add the flour water mix to thicken the sauce.

I am going to add fresh ground ginger, and diced green apples when I add the flour next time. I like sweet, savory foods and the apples will add some crunch. It was also very much like a stew and was great over rice.

The dish was all gone by the end of the party, and I got a lot of compliments on it, so I consider that a success.

Enjoy. 17 months ago

I decided to go on my hunt for English groceries today. Score! I found almost everything I wanted and more at Cost Plus’s World Market. Not only did I get Heinz beans, marmite, and Branston pickle, they carry a lot of the Aussie things I like – ginger! Ginger ale, ginger syrup, ginger chews and ginger jam. Oh my I am so happy I can hardly sit still.

I decided to only buy $60 worth of stuff. I stopped because I want to force myself to go shopping on a somewhat regular basis. And I didn’t want to overload my kitchen with items.

Even closer to home they carry many of the Hawaiian foods I like. :) But the BEST item I found was Bruce’s Sweet Potato Pancake mix!!! I had this 10 years ago in Louisiana and LOVED it. I have searched for it in Florida, Tennessee, and other places to no avail. Now I have a local place that carries it.
Pancakes for dinner. 17 months ago

I have been watching Jaime Oliver’s shows on netflix and I must admit that I really miss English food! I know that many people find English cooking rather bland, however there are actually a lot of very distinctive flavors in their cooking. For instance, I LOVE pickled onions – the malty ones that are so common. And Branston pickle and cheese sandwiches – heavenly! Horlicks – lovely. Beans on toast – one of my favorite foods. All the wonderful cheeses that we would eat. Bacon butties – nice thick bacon that is so different from what Americans eat. I miss exceptional fish and chips drowning in malt vinegar. I miss brown sauce, especially with eggs. And the main thing I miss is a perfect cup of tea.

Roast parsnips. Brussel sprouts (yes I know I can buy them in the U.S. but they were so inexpensive in England I would eat them daily in the winter). Roast potatoes. Paxo sage and onion stuffing! Smoked mackerel – I brought some on an airplane once and caused quite a stir. Treacle tarts. My mouth is watering now. Roast chestnuts. This is almost too much to think about.

And a quick check of the internet not only located a tea house that sells many of the foods I miss, but two pubs that do a full english breakfast AND fish and chips. Looks like I will be shopping and dining on some old favourites soon! 17 months ago

A roast dinner – chicken, cornish game hens or a pork roast.

Something I have never cooked before. The recipe can come from anywhere, something that sounds good.

Meatloaf. Yummy. And the leftovers make great sandwiches.

Make yogurt…

Something in the crock pot. Which is the perfect way to cook food in the winter because it is nice and hot by the time I get home.

Finally, something using my new frying pan – but something different. 17 months ago

Between cleaning up the kitchen, and going through the cupboards and fridge, I found some items that I could cook today. I made toasted cheese and onion sandwiches for lunch. Yum. Perhaps what is getting me most inspired to cook is watching cooking shows. And looking for new cookware online.

I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond which has a pretty good selection of cookware and good prices. I probably spent 1.5 hours looking at things and talking to the salesperson – who was very knowledgable about what they carried. In the end I bought an 8 inch frying pan. It’s aluminum but coated with a nonstick interior. It’s fairly heavy and the outside is red. :) My kitchen is red so that helped me decide.

I had to test it out so for dinner I made an omelette. The nonstick interior is REALLY nonstick. I could barely get the omelette to stay in the pan. Yippee! Cooking is super fun when you have good cookware. 17 months ago

I was looking through what I had at home that needed to be used up as I was making my shopping list. And I found enough items to make tortellini for lunch. It wasn’t gourmet but it was tasty! And it is a start.

I need to purchase a larger frying pan and perhaps a larger saucepan. Otherwise I just need to get stuck in and cook! 17 months ago

Calzones
Pasta with veggies
risotto with apples, walnuts and cheese
chili
posole
curry
warm salad

I have some of the recipes. I need to create my shopping list for tomorrow. And I need to make sure I have the proper frying pans. 17 months ago

and Alton Brown. I love watching their shows because they are interesting and it makes me want to cook.

I also decided that instead of taking a million supplements, I should focus on trying to get the vitamins and minerals I need from whole food. To do this I need to go shopping more frequently, plan meals, and cook. Simple, tasty and easy recipes are what I am searching for.

Tonight I am going to cook pasta puttanesca – I love olives, capers, and anchovies. YummY 17 months ago