D1 is driving home for a couple day visit tonight. Her BF can’t come and he is vegetarian so she requested we feed her “a lot of meat” this weekend - haha.
Tonight we’re doing stuffed burgers (blue cheese), sweet potato fries and a wedge salad. If I have time (they don’t take much time) I’ll make some biscuits for strawberry shortcake.
Enjoy your visit!
Give me your best easy to make, pack and eat picnic ideas. Thinking of bringing one to the beach for dinner tonight.
@abasket last night I made chocolate biscuits for strawberry shortcakes. Just as fast and it is Chocolate! I even pretended we were being healthier by using Heartsmart Bisquick ?
^^Interesting about the chocolate - did you just add chocolate to the Bisquick biscuit recipe???
Beach picnic:
I would be SO happy with…
A couple of cheeses - one hard, one soft (pack small cutting board and knife)
Loaf of good bread - french or otherwise
Butter - because BUTTER on bread even if there is cheese
A salty meat? Like a peppered salami. Or even cold cooked chicken or turkey
Cut up raw veggies with a dip
Cut up watermelon or bing cherries or good grapes
Chocolate chip cookies for dessert
Here is the chocolate strawberry shortcake recipe. https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/chocolate-strawberry-shortcakes/02284644-04d0-4bc5-93d2-55799178b9ee. It was fine with the Hearhealthy Bisquick and skim milk.
Hmmm can’t decide which biscuit sounds better - chocolate or plain! Thanks for the recipe.
The air fryer arrives today! Any suggestions? Recipes? Tips? Pointers?
@jym626 - no suggestions, but please do post your review. Our toaster just got thrown out and I am looking to get a new toaster oven/air fryer combo.
Will do, but if things don’t come out well, it will be hard to know if it’s the fryer or my mediocre cooking skills!
@jym626 My first attempt was Sweet Potato Fries. They were delicious…but we all felt they must be eaten very soon after cooking. Cutting the fries took time.
Here’s a recipe to try both your new toys (air fryer and Mandoline):
Sweet Potato Chips! https://www.thekitchn.com/air-fryer-sweet-potato-chips-22987536
One of our go to easy beach meals is tri tip burritos. I grill a Santa Maria style tri tip. Make a batch of easy Mexican rice (white rice, half enchilada sauce and half broth), canned pinto beans and shredded cheese. Cube the meat and make in large flour tortillas and wrap in foil. They stay pretty hot. No worries about sand in the food, easy to clean up.
Homemade hoagie rolls are formed and on their last rise. Tonight will be brat hoagies with grilled peppers and onions…for the family that is. I’ll be having a quinoa salad - gotta drop some tonnage!
Making stir fry with chicken and broccoli, sugar snap peas, garlic scapes and spring onion, all from my CSA. I’ve got a few tomatoes I have to use up, so I’ll throw those and some carrots in, along with frozen green & red pepper strips. Will be served over brown rice. Haven’t had a drink since Monday night, so pouring a glass of sangria to drink while I cook.
Dinner tonight was take-out Chinese from a restaurant we went to often. I was really looking forward to it. The food was awful. The scallion pancakes were overcooked. Same with the crab rangoong. The eggplant dish was fine–it’s usually spectacular. In normal times, I’d complain but right now, it seems like it is too much trouble.
I made steak tacos tonight using a variation of The NY Times steak taco recipe that Bromfield2 posted earlier in the thread. I didn’t make the salsa using instead a local green salsa. I made flour tortillas using the King Arthur Flour Simple tortilla recipe. First time making them and I was pretty impressed with myself.
Tomorrow we are going to try pick up from a vegan place my Son and DIL love. Their favorite is a vegan version of a crunchwrap supreme. It should be interesting.
Cut up some veggies and made a veggie/cheese/salami plate. We nibbled on it while enjoying unseasonably warm evening on The deck.
@Singersmom07 i made the chocolate shortcake biscuits and they were a big hit - strawberries and chocolate do go together!
Well, tonight was a yummy takeout birthday dinner (steak and lobster, salad and flowerless chocolate cake with raspberries and whipped cream. Yum!! BUT, DH also made asparagus in the air fryer which was very yummy (on the bake setting). Put shaved parmesan on it too. Was very good!
Last night we made crab cakes in the air fryer (also on the bake setting) but it was easy and good.
Today I used the slicer dicer gizmo (mandoline) to slice a zucchini (that was fun!) but I haven’t air fried it yet. Stay tuned.
Had a late lunch so keeping a small plate dinner - pesto pasta! PIcked all my garlic scapes today so made kale garlic scape pesto and am just having it blended into a simple pasta.