What's For Dinner?

I could not decide on dinner I was thinking Burgers but wasn't sure I was feeling the ground beef so decided to make Chicken Burgers instead.

Which is just a Chicken Breast we sliced in half lengthwise and will bake in the oven, will put it on a burger bun with lettuce, mayo and pickles and a slice of cheese on Mom's (no cheese on mine). On the side we are having Homemade Potato Wedges.

No Salad as I ate a whole bowl of cucumbers with lunch with Caesar Dressing and that is the only dressing I have right now as I used the last of the Greek Dressing for my lunches for the week.

My very very late first meal of the day did not happen until 4 p.m. Should have been closer to noon but I had the brilliant ides of trying to make California rolls using my Konjac rice.
After 1 bad test run in the rolling it was clear the " rice mixture " had to be really dry before it went onto the Nori sheet. Most of the rolls were made for me because I LOVE fresh leaf Cilantro and fresh Dill. The fillings were cooked shrimp, smoked salmon and thin strips of veggies ( carrot, Daikon, Cucumber and red pepper ).
My son's had everything except the fresh herbs in his rolls.

Attachment 382923

Mmmm, I made up a batch of chili. ( just for me ) Used 454 grams lean ground chx, lots of fresh cut up basil, dill and cilantro, diced yellow pepper,
tomatoes, mushrooms, onion and freshly minced garlic. Added salsa, Classico pasta sauce, and about 650 grams of a mixture of dried beans I had
presoaked and pressure cooked. Used my own homemade blend of chili seasoning with no added salt. Should give me about 8 servings.

I had no plan for dinner last night as Mom was having some dental work done so I was not sure what she would want to eat, she was fine but I still had no plan for dinner.

I ended up making Baked Sausage with Garlic Parmesan Orzo and Roasted Carrots and Brussel Sprouts.

I am on a quest to find more side options, I feel like we always eat the same things. We used to eat SideKicks like 10+ years ago but we decided to cut those types of foods out. Now I am on a mission to find Homemade versions. The Orzo was okay, it was a touch dry and needed more seasoning next time but I will try again.

Shepherd's pie, 2 versions. meat mixture almost identical except I added green peas to the guys pan and they get mashed potato on top. My ceramic dish has no peas in the mixture but has minced basil/cilantro and dill and mashed cauliflower on top. Both equally as delicious!

@walkonby , those Shepherd's pie sound amazing, think I might need to make one soon.

Last night I was freezing and had a meeting that ran late, so I made Baked Potato Soup. Love this soup so simple throw everything in the pot let it go, a little mashing add a few more ingredients and dinner is ready.

Just placed 1/4 c. of 6 different kinds of dried beans into a bowl of cold water to soak. The chili I made for myself last week was a HIT! A jury of 1 voted on
that :rolleyes: and the judge , ( also me ) ordered that more be made. This time the ground meat will be a mixture of veal and lean pork. :hahaha: All the usual fresh herbs and spices will attend.

I wasn't too hungry so just had a bowl of oatmeal with banana. My husband tried out my new rectangular Japanese omelette pan-I will have to try it tomorrow.

I cut up a small butternut squash and a kabocha squash. Added some olive oil and roasted them until they were almost tender, then i added 1 large onion and garlics. Roasted until they were all soft. Removed the flesh into a pot of chicken stock. Heated everything through, then blended them. Now i have soup for the rest of the week.
For dinner, i cooked the frozen hamburger patties, broke them into small pieces, then added a jar of classico sauce, and simmer until it reduced a bit. Then i cook a batch of mini shell pastas. I got lots of compliments from my young girls who are real picky eaters.

Ever have a craving for something that is part of a meal but not a whole meal, yep that was me last night, I really wanted a Baked Potato so I ended up making a new to us recipe Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes and half a Kale Salad kit.

The recipe for the pork chops was good but needs some tweaking, you cook them in a frying pan and finish them in the oven but once I put them in the oven I lost the beautiful crust I had on the bottom of the pork chop. Also they were a tad salty, I think next time I would skip the salt since it has the parmesan in the breading and I might have added too much Italian seasoning. It called for seasoned bread crumbs but I only had plain so added my own Italian Seasoning and might have been a little too generous. But we both agree 100% we will make again.

Now on to that daily question, what's for dinner tonight?????

lol^^^ I hear ya @SassyAshley , no matter what we make for dinner one night the question looms, what the heck will I make for tomorrow? My best laid plans to make myself another batch of chili got sidelined this morning because " I wasn't feeling it " anymore.
So I rinsed the beans that had soaked since yesterday, pressure cooked them for 6 minutes, spread them out on a parchment lined pan.
Into the freezer and they'll be bagged for when I get the hankering for chili again.
I was sent a hilarious video of a sardine fast! A good friend knows I've been on a plateau with weight loss and she knows we both LOVE the little fishes, but I'm unsure if I love them enough eat only them for 72 hours. :shrug:

Tonight is masala Mac and cheese made with sweet potatoes, garlic, onions, soaked cashews and spices with veg stock to thin. I added a block of soft tofu to make it extra creamy and protein packed. I’ll have to serve a simple American salad as I desperately NEED to use up the small iceberg lettuce I have left.

As per a previous post @walkonby I too love making my own spice mixes. It’s cheaper, I can customize the spice level and I too restrict my salt (and in turn Dh’s too :rolleyes:).

Sardine fast ended :hahaha:never to be repeated ever again. Live and learn. Was losing 3.8 pounds in 72 hours worth it ? Jury is still out.
Today I'm excitedly making a few new recipes. In the oven atm is a casserole with diced lamb meat, onions, carrots, chx broth, spices,
a fresh sprig of rosemary, 2 giant bay leaves and a handful of fresh dill.
instead of their suggested topping of mashed sweet potato, I laid " steaks of cauliflower " over it instead.

Fresh out of the oven

Attachment 382949


Later on I'll be making Sweet Potato and Lentil Shepherd's Pie. I've tweaked that recipe too, using ground veal and lean pork instead
the soy veggie stuff. Swapped out the peas/corn they have and will add my lovely fresh green beans instead. For the traditional S.Pie
topping I will use " some " of the sweet potato they have listed BUT I'm really enjoying the mashed cauliflower version, so some of the
2 will be mashed together.

Maybe tomorrow I'll start in on the Sweet Potato Coconut Cream Soup.

Taking my brother and SIL out to try a new to us Indian restaurant that was recommended by a friend.

I did up a liver, onions and mushroom dinner last night. No veg or carb sides. Flavoured water.