What's for dinner, DL?

[Luther Lansfeld]

Made au gratin potatoes last night. They were too creamy and had uneven taste distribution. I think I'll stick with mashed potatoes. >_>

[VySaika]

So it's that time of year again, where Gate makes cookies and sends them to the entire family since it's easier then shopping for presents.

This year's offering, Black Forest Cake Cookies!

Since you all might care for them as well, here's the recipie:

1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate fudge cake mix (Devil's food will work in a pinch too, or if you like slightly drier cookies)
1/4 cup butter or margerine(I prefer the latter, makes moister cookies), softened
1/4 cup vegitable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips(mini chips work better, but standards aren't bad)
1 (6 oz) package dried cherries.

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees(no idea what that is in C, sorry for the folks who use that)
Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in butter, oil, eggs, vanilla until well blended. Electric mixer can work for this part, though be warned the batter is thick and does not like to cooperate.
Stir in chips and cherries. See that warning about the batter being thick? It's worse in this step. Only part of the whole mess I'd call "difficult" at all.
Drop by rounded spoonfulls onto cookie sheet(preferably a greased one).
Bake for 11-15 minutes. Give cookies a minute to cool before prying them off the sheet and moving them somewhere to cool.

Either eat while still warm(delicious!) or wait for them to cool and mail off to your family(or maybe that step's just me~).

[Cmdr_King]

If my memory of conversions is right, around 180 C.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Well, for what it's worth, a lot of Celsius-users, who would never use Farenheit for day-to-day or personal temperature, still use F for cooking. Dunno if that's how it is in Australia or Finland or Brazil or [other DL country] but that's definitely the norm here, for instance.

[Lady Door]

Have been eating slow carbs lately, in an effort to kill the ridiculous Christmastime cravings I have for all things SUGAR.

My diet has been a really lame set of staples:

2 eggs, 1/2 cup beans (black, pinto, or a combination) for breakfast
1/2 chicken breast cooked in olive oil and Italian herbs, 1 box Green Giant vegetables, 1/2 cup beans for lunch
Some combination of chicken + beans + salsa/guacamole/pasta sauce + veggies for dinner

Boring as hell, but it's kept me feeling ridiculously full while also keeping me good on calories for the day.

That said, I need new recipes and things with a bit of verve.

Anyone got some good recipes that don't involve:

• potatoes
• rice
• pasta
• bread
• sugar
• fruit

or too much milk/milk products (ie, yoghurt, cheese, etc.)?

ETA: WTF, guys. Conversions are easy on Google. 1. google.com 2. "<x> <measurement type A> = ? <measurement B>" 3. click search, or see your automatic answer

[Cmdr_King]

Yes, but it's faster to pull up my calculator and hope I remember the conversion right!

[Grefter]

Well, for what it's worth, a lot of Celsius-users, who would never use Farenheit for day-to-day or personal temperature, still use F for cooking. Dunno if that's how it is in Australia or Finland or Brazil or [other DL country] but that's definitely the norm here, for instance.

Sure as shit don't cook with F down here, but our television and cook books are also less likely to be chock full of that due to proximity.  Measuring cups and shit on the other hand are chock full of imperial.

[Idun]

O M G

These white chocolate cranberry cheesecake bars I made are SO good.

Edit* Took a pic to tease my future mother-in-law:




Mmmm. I'm glad I made my own set, and sampled the ones I gave to my friend. Mmmm.

[Cmdr_King]

Christmas cookies!  I'd have liked to make more of Gate's cookies, but a few relatives are allergic to chocolate.  So winging it.

This was a double batch, made ~38 huge cookies.

2 packages yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup egg nog
2 tablespoons vanilla (I don't think what I have is proper extract, so.)
1/2 cup rum
1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips (I wanted peanut butter, couldn't find any on short notice)
8 oz dried cherries.

350, 20-25 minutes.  Cookies are actually very cakey, but meh, still tasty.

[VySaika]

Try raisins instead of cherries if you're mixing with butterscotch and rum. Generally a better flavor combination there.

[Lady Door]

Black eyed pea masala

This stuff is FANTASTIC! I made it for a New Year's Eve potluck party I went to, recipe chosen because a) I like Southern traditions, and black eyed peas for New Year's is one of them; b) one of the guests is vegan. I took it to the party, it got eaten, and I STILL had enough left for three huge heaping bowls to bring to work for lunch.

It was relatively easy. The only bitchy part was soaking the beans; I fast-soaked them by boiling and then letting them sit an hour. But after that, it was pretty much chop an onion, toss in a bunch of spices and a few cans of things, cook, voila!

And it made like 1.75L of the stuff.

And it's vegan.

And 99.9% fat free.

And less than 1600 calories for the whole goddamn batch.

<3

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2010/01/black-eyed-pea-masala.html

(BTW, I used pre-made garam masala and it worked just fine. I'm sure it's better with fresh spices, but no worries here if you don't have them! Also subbed out the asafetida for regular ol' garlic and onion powder.)

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

I'm scared of your healthy dishes. =(

[Cmdr_King]

Mac and Cheese (mk.V)

1 lb elbow pasta
1/2 lb bacon (cut to bits, partially drain)
4 tbs butter (melt in with bacon once crisp)
8 oz heavy cream
12 oz evaporated milk
2 eggs
4 tsp salt
2 tsp mustard powder
black pepper
red hot
16 oz pepperjack cheese
5 oz parmesan

This is a stovetop recipe, so nothing too complicated.  Just remember to reduce to low heat once the bacon and butter are ready and incorporate the eggs while the cream is still cool-ish.  Stir the sauce into the pasta once it's more or less consistent; it'll thicken quite a bit as it sets, so no need to reduce.

This is the recipe as I made it.  It could probably stand to have a bit less mustard powder.  If it wasn't obvious, this'll have some kick, though not that much.

[NotMiki]

Wow, until a few seconds ago I didn't think I could get fat just by reading.  Sounds delicious!

[Cmdr_King]

Hey, I bet it's no worse for you than kraft man.

[NotMiki]

No need to be so defensive!  I made a Dutch apple pancake for breakfast Sunday morning.  I'll post a picture of it later but for now just take my word for it: it ain't diet food.

[Cmdr_King]

Just sayin'.

[Shale]

No need to be so defensive!  I made a Dutch apple pancake for breakfast Sunday morning.  I'll post a picture of it later but for now just take my word for it: it ain't diet food.

I almost had one of those on Sunday but two of the people at breakfast are dogmatically anti-fruit. I was very sad.

[NotMiki]

Seriously.



They're delicious.  Also, they have no redeeming nutritional value.  They're traditionally served with powdered sugar on top.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I've started my first attempt at a BREAKFAST FORTRESS.

I'm about to get drunk off pancakes.

[superaielman]

You're living the dream, Rob.

[Clear Tranquil]

Mostly been living off my own cooking the last three or so weeks. I've really cut back a lot. Again. We'll see how long it lasts this time. I've lost almost a stone in weight. Here's a typical daily spread for me -

Breakfast- Banana, tangerine, two small pots of petit fromage frais yoghurt, Snack O Jack cookie or 2 x Weightwatcher's mini cookies, cup of coffee

Lunch- Home made soup (carrot and coriander, tomato and red pepper or thai green curry) with two small pieces of Irish soda bread or just the Irish soda bread on it's own with Philadelphia Light spread or a matchbox size piece of cheese.

Evening Meal- Home made diet cola chicken, spaghetti bolognese, beef stew, chicken curry, a stirfry or a pasta dish with low fat/good for you/homemade sauce served with rice, pasta, potatoes and veggies as required.

Snacks as needed- Snack O Jacks cookies (caramel, chocolate chip yummies), Snack a Jack potato chips (chili, barbecue yummies), fruit smoothie, two pieces of high cocoa dark chocolate with a cup of coffee (I only do the two bits of chocolate with coffee thing once a day >.>)


My one vice is the chocolate and two cups of coffee a day but yeah.

Ciato has given me advice on how to spice up my bolognese. I'm going to try it with basil or chili powder next time I make it =-) I'm also going to try making chili con carne later this week.

I've done some baking in the past but not lately since it's too tempting. However Easter coming up gives me an excuse to try out some Gate cookies so I can give them to other people to eat too (and hopefully not have them use the diet excuse either >.>) \0/

In the mean time for treats I've been thinking of making some fruit smoothies. I really like them but they are quite expensive for the small bottles they come in.  Might work out more economical and even healthier if I make my own. Did anybody post stuff for smoothies before? Any recommendations? Knowing my memory I might have already asked this before too <.<

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I think tonight I'm making jambalaya.

Also, meat salad.

[Clear Tranquil]

* Clear Tranquil finishes off the last of the Caribbean Chicken

Well that was good and lasted me a few days =-)

Chicken breasts or thighs
**
Cornflower
Pineapple juice
**
Curry Powder
Pineapple rings
Tomato Ketchup
Green Pepper x 2
Large Onion
Chicken Stock

Brown the chicken in a deep frying pan or a skillet then transfer to a deep oven/casserole dish, mix the cornflower and three measuring spoons of pineapple juice in a separate cup, set aside while you soften up sliced onion and green peppers in your frying pan/skillet, add the Chicken Stock (one stock cube, 1/2 to 3/4 of a pint of hot water), a measure spoon of tomato ketchup and a measure spoon of curry powder to taste (add more if preferred). Add the cornflower/pineapple juice mix to this to thicken the sauce and garnish with some pineapple rings. Wait until the whole thing is bubbling away nicely then add to your chicken in the oven dish. Put in the oven at a medium heat and cook for at least an hour and a half, make sure the chicken is cooked through before serving =-)

[Luther Lansfeld]

So I've decided to try my hand at making Indian food since I enjoy eating it so much. I've made two dishes - daal lentils with split peas and then a potato and cauliflower dish. Both turned out quite good, so I am fairly enthused about trying newer, meatier stuff. ^_^ Maybe a spinach chicken or a chicken tikka masala~