Random Thoughts...Food, Firearms, and Fun

We happened to be right in the path of Hurricane Sandy yesterday and last night, so I started dinner a little early, figuring that I'd rather have an early dinner, given our other choice, if we lost power, was to eat cold food! The Mediterranean Pasta with Chicken was prepared at Dream Dinners in a pan, and Mac and I joke that those are my favorites, as cleanup, once leftovers are packed away, is simple--fold the pan together and throw it in the garbage! It baked in 45 minutes, and once it was ready, I removed it from the oven and made homemade garlic bread, since that was one of the few things I failed to pick up at the grocery store last weekend. It was warm and comforting, and I loved the feta cheese. It had a bit of a bitter, citric acid-like taste, but when I prepared this, I added extra artichokes and omitted the Kalamata olives, so I think that's what gave it the hint of a bitter taste. The next time, I think I'll stick to the normal allotment of artichokes, ...

We're fostering Bonnie, a Walker Coonhound, this week. We picked her up on Saturday evening. She's a bit uncertain, as apparently, she was kept chained outside before she was picked up and taken to the shelter. She seems to be housebroken, or at least has picked up on that. She kept trying to paw at the door yesterday, and Mac said, "I bet she was an outside only dog." I received confirmation from her foster mom yesterday that she was. She did seem to realize today that she can stay in the house, and that the house is just fine. We're in the middle of Hurricane Sandy's path, and she was quite eager to bound up the stairs after doing her thing outside, when I said, "Let's go inside." She devours her food, so I'm feeding her 3 smaller meals, rather than 2 large ones, hoping she'll figure out that food appears regularly. Cobaka and Geno seem to be getting along with her quite well, although while we're out, she's crated, just i...

On Thursday, I cooked the Dream Dinners Chicken Yakitori meal. I'd substituted extra carrots and corn for water chestnuts when preparing it at the store. I wasn't feeling well, so Mac ate it, while I ate an English muffin for dinner. It was easy to prepare, as I simply stir-fried the veggies and chicken, then added the sauce, while the rice was cooking. I'm not a huge fan of Chinese food, so the taste I had just was a little odd. Although, as I was suffering from sinus issues, perhaps that has something to do with it as well. Mac enjoyed it, although he wasn't thrilled, probably because I didn't want to eat it as well. I don't know that I'll order this the next time it appears on the menu, unless I order a 3-serving and Mac cooks it when I'm out of town.

I was feeling pretty lousy on Friday, and after giving me a pass most of the day, Mac inquired about dinner around 4 or so, and I capitulated to cooking the Baked Potato Chicken from Dream Dinners. It was in the fridge, and I needed to cook it anyway. Very easy to prepare, yet again. I simply added the chicken, baby bakers, and mushrooms to a 9X13 pan, baked for a while, and then while it was baking, heated the sauce on the stove. I then added the sauce and the cheese and bacon mix to the chicken, then baked it another 10 minutes. I broiled it for a few minutes so it was bubbly, but that's just my preference! When preparing this at the store, we were given the choice of using bleu cheese or what I think was a cheddar mix. I opted for the bleu cheese, but the next time it is on the menu, I'll order 2 orders, and try one of each! It was very, very yummy, and was comfort food.

With Mac home now and back to work, I'm back to cooking. We had leftovers last night, because we both were so exhausted that heating up leftovers was about as much energy as we cared to expend! Dream Dinners for the week are: Thursday--Chicken Yakitori Friday--Baked Potato Chicken Sunday--Antelope Chili, made in the crock pot Sunday's dinner is pending Mac's approval. We're going to end up eating out on Saturday. I have a wedding, plus then I have to pick up a boxer and move her to Lebanon, then pick up a foster dog in Mechanicsburg. Bonnie is the foster dog, and she's staying with us for about a week. So, since my Saturday is crazy, I have no idea what we're going to do for food, other than I know I'm not cooking! I do know that I need to make room in the freezer by our November 3 Dream Dinners session, because right now, I barely have room! I have one 6-serving that's Tiffany's in my freezer. It ended up with my meals at our October session,...

I stumbled upon a similar recipe not long ago, but tweaked it a bit to better reflect some of the issues I typically have with some of the "once-a-month cooking" type meals, where while I do the prep work on one day, I then still have to do a lot of cooking when I want to cook the meal. So, I changed this to do most of the cooking in advance. :) I've not tried it yet, and probably won't until I have a bit of room in the freezer. Right now, the freezer is so packed with antelope and mule deer, plus elk from last year, that I think if Mac or I get a deer during hunting season, we're either donating it or buying a freezer! I am pondering making 3 versions of it, when I do prepare it. Version 1 will be antelope, Version 2 elk, and Version 3, mule deer. You will need: ¾ Cup Salsa 1 Cup Tomato Sauce 3 T Taco Seasoning 1 ¾ Cup Cottage Cheese 2 Eggs ¾ tsp Oregano 1 Cup Shredded Cheese 1 lb Ground Beef 6 flour tortillas Brown ground meat and drain. Combi...

Before Mac left for Wyoming, one of our dinners was Dream Dinners Outlaw Chicken Marinara, which was prepared at their location in a pan, and then baked at home. I broiled it for a few minutes in addition to baking it, so it had a nice bubbly look to it. I loved that it was easy to prepare (bake, and that's it), and that cleanup was easy as well, since all I had to do was toss the pan in the garbage, once leftovers were packed away. Mac was not sold on it, and said it had a bit of a similar taste to the Maple Valley Pork Chops and the Normandy Pork Roast. I didn't taste that, but did taste a hint of an odd flavor to the ricotta cheese. Nothing too serious, and it was enjoyable. I served it over mini farfalle pasta, since it needed pasta of some sort. It wasn't bad, and I'd probably try it again, although probably just a 3 serving portion, because the 6 serving portion was HUGE! Outlaw Chicken Marinara