We are fortunate to have a farm in town with a flour mill that mills non-GMO, ancient grains. Most people don’t know about his place yet, so no hoarding/shortage. I buy yeast 2 lbs at a time and just happened to purchase more in February, so I’m still in business for bread and pasta making. And our tomato, basil, and herb plants are thriving right now. We could live on fresh basil marinara over pasta (or pizza) and wine. We’re probably not going to lose any weight anytime soon.
@CardinalFang: That No-Knead is one of my favorites and I have shared it with several friends in our community who are attempting bread-making for the first time. It’s been fun sharing photos and tips. Add a tablespoon each of white vinegar and grated Parmesan cheese to that recipe for a sourdough-like flavor.
One thing that can work when there are more than three adults in the house is rotating dinner teams. A different team is responsible every night, for the whole meal: planning, cooking, cleaning. Teams can figure out duties internally however they want, so that one person isn’t always the main chef, or the sous chef or dishwasher - unless that person truly wants to be.
We use a modified version of this when we vacation with another family. It started when the kids were all small, and they got tasked with setting the table, etc., though now the “kids” plan and cook spectacular meals when it’s their turn. The nice thing about this, vacation-wise, is that each family gets complete nights off when it’s not their turn (or when we’re all going out, which obviously isn’t an option right now).
Right now our household is just two adults and one h.s. senior, and we haven’t truly figured out a way to work it, but it’s early days. The senior is a great baker and a decent cook but needs work on the meal-planning aspects. I guess this is a good opportunity for that.
We’re definitely doing the no-knead Bittman bread here, too, but with rosemary and extra salt.
Last night was a dump and push start instapot chicken stew using frozen chicken breasts. It was wonderful. The store had some fresh sour dough bread for a treat. https://www.currytrail.in/instant-pot-chicken-stew/ Tonight chicken tacos from a rotisserie chicken and tomorrow will be instapot beef stew or pot roast From frozen beef. https://www.budgetbytes.com/instant-pot-beef-stew/ Looks like Wednesday will be leftovers ?
I haven’t made my dried beans yet. I’m saving them for when I have little fresh food left.
I got a 4 lb bag of split red lentils from Amazon delivered on Saturday and I’m going to make something with them tonight.
I made blueberry muffins yesterday. I cleaned out my freezer last week and discovered a bag of Trader Joe’s wild blueberries. I like to sprinkle a mix of raw sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon on top before I bake them. Last week was a chocolate chip cookie recipe from the New York Times cooking subscription. I’m enjoying checking the email from them each morning to come up with new ideas.
I’ve never made bread unless you count the days of the bread machine. I’m interested in trying to make the no knead bread. I have yeast but not a lot of flour. I found some on Amazon to order but it’s not coming till first week of April.
I told my husband that while he may not love every meal I come up with he isn’t going to starve. We have done a decent amount of sailing trips and I’ve learned to make a meal from what is available.
My only real complaint and it’s my own fault is that I’m eating a lot more carbs. We rarely have potatoes or rice or even bread. I also don’t normally bake but times like these all for some comfort food.
Tonight I got takeout from a local restaurant. A huge pan of lasagna, salad, a loaf of multigrain sourdough bread and 6 assorted cookies. It looks delicious!
Wiped all the containers down and will serve on my own plates.
I have just started freezing milk - I read about it on CNN and decided to try. No cracked containers, however, I did put the jug in a trash bag ‘just in case’
I made banana blue berry muffins yesterday; 5 ingredients an I added chocolate chips and a dollop of fream for extra moisture given I decreased from 3 bananas to 1.5 and halved the amount of blueberries - I have to hoard my fresh fruit
Last night was our delayed St. Patrick’s Day meal - corned beef and cabbage and freshly baked Irish soda bread. Our food delivery was cancelled last minute, hence the delay.
Today, I threw a pork butt with a homemade bbq rub in the crockpot. Tonight it is pork tacos, black beans and rice. Tomorrow the rest will be used for pulled pork (without buns because the bread shelves were still empty on the Thursday shopping trip) and cole slaw.
^^^ Don’t forget your local bakery for bread. Our local bakery has much more than donuts, cakes and cookies - they made fabulous bread!
I’ve been following a meatless Monday menu for all of 2020 so far. Usually it’s an interesting dish - tonight was just a good plate of nachos with refried beans, diced peppers, a couple cheeses, sriracha , avocado, shredded kale, sour cream and cilantro! Husband had some ground beef on his!
My family may as well be Italian. DD will be making carbonara again today. We have everything at home to make it. She wants to walk to the country store a mile from our house to get fresh pasta but it’s a big NO from us. Just stay in, period.
Learning to “use what we have” - I needed to use up some marinara sauce I made last week. We have a large bag of homemade meatballs in the freezer that Dh made a month ago not realizing how that would come in handy. My kids get sick of pasta so I made them meatball subs made on hot dog buns ? Dh and I had spaghetti and meatballs. Dh lamented how good some sourdough bread would’ve been (he’s from San Francisco)so I told him I could toast some hot dog buns with his. He understandably declined. Interestingly, none of my kids even commented on the hot dog bun substitution, despite the obvious size and taste difference.
@abasket Here’s the “Real French Baguette” recipe. Unfortunately it came with my Emile Henry Baguette Baker, but I think if you put a shallow pan of water underneath your bread, you can achieve the same results.
14 oz. (3 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
1 t. fine sea salt
1 t. active dry yeast
8 fl. oz. (1 cup) water, 110*F
Combine the flour, salt and yeast in a mixing bowl. Add the warm water and knead for about 5 minutes until you get a smooth ball of dough (I cheat and use my KitchenAid).
Cover the bowl with a clean damp cloth and let the dough rise for about 40 minutes at room temperature and away from any drafts.
Knead again to release some of the gas bubbles that have formed then divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour.
Form each piece of dough into a tight ball and then roll out slightly longer than the length of the cavities in the mold (cavity in mold is 13 inches long).
Dust the cavities in the baguette baker with flour. Place the formed dough into the mold. Cover with the lid (or a damp towel) and let rise for 20 minutes at room temperature. Pre-heat the over to 475*.
Brush some water over the surface of each baguette and make deep slashes across the top.
Bake with lid for 25 minutes at 450* (note change in oven temp). Remove the lid and bake for another 4-5 minutes until the loaves are golden brown. If you don’t have a baguette baker, I would just keep an eye on the loaves and cover with a piece of tin foil or parchment paper if they’re getting too browned too early.
Yesterday I made up lasagna and we will have that tonight with a fresh green salad. I like my lasagna to sit over night before baking as I think it absorbs all the flavors and tastes better. Last night I made a Panang curry over rice with steamed broccoli on the side. Tomorrow night is the rest of the rotisserie chicken over arugula with cheese tortellini, shallots and shave parmesan cheese with a homemade lemon dressing. Thursday night will be burritos from a favorite take out and Friday night stuffed cheeseburgers (with sharp cheddar, garlic, jalapenos and onions). I am planning 7 days of dinners each week before hitting the grocery store and buying what I need.
Last week I made a blueberry pie and this week an apple pie. I am going to make some lemon poppy seed muffins later today after I finish working. I appreciate hearing what everyone else is cooking/baking so that I can get ideas from all of you.
I put in an order for wine at the tasting room my D’s got me a membership for on my birthday. D2 will pick up the wine later today to add to our wine rack which is not lacking during this time!
Tonight I’ll do a sheet pan bake - chicken thighs, small potatoes cut in half, broccoli for me and asparagus for H - all on the pan. I think I’ll make a chimichurri of sorts for the chicken.
Making meatloaf tonight with Ritz crackers. I’ve never made it that way and it may not be very healthy, but Kerry Washington’s character in Little Fires made it that way and I was inspired.
I guess this is a good opportunity for that.