Hi everyone – I’m going to try and keep this up for the summer. I thought it was time to get back to some fun, everyday things. Hit the comments with any questions, share your weekend menu and anything else that makes you happy. The menus and shopping lists are PDFs, so you’ll have to click on them to see – and they should be easy to print out. Let’s keep it a politics/apocalypse free thread.
From the cooking blog:
Wednesday’s recipe: Shrimp and Pasta
So a long time ago, before I started my blog, I ran a little business creating weekly menus for subscribers, called…you guessed it…What’s 4 Dinner Solutions. It included simple 30-minute recipes and complete shopping lists for weekday dinners. I found the past few months, as life got busier, I began relying on my library of menus and recipes.
With that in mind, I decided that I should begin sharing them with you.
Click here for the menu and recipes for the the first week: June Menu Week One
Jeffrey W makes the most delicious looking sandwiches.
Friday’s recipe: Spicy Club Sandwiches
I’ll post on Fridays so if you want to use them, you’ll have them for the weekend shopping excursions. The shopping lists are actually color coordinated with the menus so if you don’t use a menu, just cross out anything that is the same color.
Click here for the shopping lists: June Week One Shopping List
Both the menus and shopping lists are PDFs you should be able to print out easily.
The shopping lists do not include pantry staples, those are here:
I hope you enjoy! – TaMara
Writing Group Note: I will be posting an open writing thread at our usual time on Sunday. We’ll keep it simple for the summer and get back to it in late August/early Sept.
Omnes Omnibus
Your list includes mayo as a staple. I am now skeptical of the whole project.
p.a.
Anyone having trouble finding Thai basil at garden centers? I usually plant Thai and sweet, Thai seeming more robust against invertebrates, but 4 of my usual outlets don’t have it this year.
Mark
Those are some fine looking samwiches.
Badgetoon
Just want to say Whats 4 Dinner got me started cooking with a 4 year old and got me thru a couple of those tough years when time seemed non-existent.
thank you so much!
Mike J
@Omnes Omnibus: Creamy vinaigrette? Delicious!
raven
We’re in the 4th week of South Beach and have both lost significant weight. We’re having a “dinner party” (grumble grumble) tomorrow and I’m making smoked Mahi-Mahi, cuban black beans, grilled pineapple and avocado. The boss is making some kind of low glycemic pie.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mike J: It’s like I don’t even know you anymore.
stinger
I want to know how to cut through something juicy and not have the latter part of the cut smeared with stuff from the first part of the cut. Even though his sandwiches are oozing delectable-looking condiments, Jeffrey W’s cuts are so clean!
Omnes Omnibus
@stinger: Sharp knife. Very sharp.
MomSense
I made halibut with roasted red pepper risotto and wilted spinach for dinner.
The shrimp and pasta looks delicious.
Omnes Omnibus
I had Lao takeout.
raven
@Omnes Omnibus: Maybe serrated.
amygdala
@p.a.: One of my local farmers markets also sells actual plants–tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, etc., and many herbs, including lots of different kinds of basil. I’m not sure where you are, but maybe there’s something similar near you?
TaMara (HFG)
@Badgetoon: Well that made my day…no make that week. Thank you
Jeffro
I’m VERY EXCITED about summer menus…heck, I’m feeling more interested in cooking in general these past couple of weeks…lead on, TaMara!
Having said that…I picked up some Korean chicken tenders and steamed pork buns from Bonchon tonight and I never want anything but Asian takeout ever again. So never mind about the cooking.
Mike J
Just put the first Copper River king of the year (for me anyway) on the cedar plank. Pinot Noir is breathing, caprese salad resting in the fridge.
Shana
Last night I made salmon with thinned Wegmans Brown Sugar BBQ sauce, fresh pasta with butter and salad, and a couple of freshly made chocolate chip cookies. Tonight was take out chinese with older daughter while we caught up on Victorian Slum House episodes. Wednesday I made duck sauce chicken thighs, home made rice-a-roni, green beans with Salonica seasoning and chocolate chip cookies for a friend who was just diagnosed with cancer. And this afternoon I found out that a neighbor’s wife dropped dead a couple of weeks ago. Sigh.
Hubby’s out of town visiting his mom for the weekend, so I may go to a movie he’d hate and have popcorn for dinner.
Omnes Omnibus
@Shana:
You’ll pair it with a good single malt, right?
RandomMonster
The other day for reasons inexplicable I remembered my mom making a ’70s classic, zucchini pancakes. (Every summer there would be more zucchini from the garden than anyone knew what to do with, so the family got inventive with ways to use it up.) Strangely, RandomMrs had never tasted these delectable treats. I decided I had to share this with her, and as luck would have them we had every ingredient in the fridge/pantry. They are awesome any time of the day, hot or cold!
NotMax
Tastes vary (duh!). Several items I would scratch off the staples list or move to a secondary listing.
More important, several which would add:
Bay Leaves
Butter
Caraway Seeds
Cayenne Pepper
Cooking Spray
Garlic Powder
Hot Sauce
Kosher Salt
Poultry Seasoning
Saffron
Vanilla Extract
White Pepper
White Vinegar
Worcestershire Sauce
Not necessarily staples but mighty handy to have on hand:
Allspice
Brandy
Chives
Dry Vermouth
Duck Sauce
Horseradish (red and white)
Orange-flavored Liqueur
Oyster Sauce
Parmesan
Peanut Butter
Soy Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Wasabi (ground and either paste or creamy)
debbie
@stinger:
A serrated knife works well for that.
NotMax
Super duper, extra fancy schmancy Zojirushi bread making machine which have been drooling over and saving up for for a long time arrived this week!
Haven’t read the manual yet; spent nearly a half day rearranging stuff throughout the tiny kitchen to create a space for it where it would be accessible yet not take up valuable, limited counter space nor require an extension cord.
Arthritis and kneading do not play well together. :)
Felonius Monk
@NotMax:
Nice. Some friends of ours have one of those and they turn out wonderful bread. One of the things we always look forward to when we visit them.
Sab
@RandomMonster: Our local organic grocery has these things called veggie noodles. I just tried the zucchini ones and they are awesome. They were julienned so that they were shaped like spaghetti noodles. My spouse even loved them in his salad, and he hates cooked zucchinis and was very wary after last summers attempt at feeding him spaghetti squash instead of real spaghetti noodles.
RandomMonster
@Sab: We bought a spiraiizer just to make vegetable pastas. It can totally work!
RandomMonster
@NotMax: Love your additions. To all of the above I would add:
Fish sauce
Bragg’s Amino Acid (another handy umami flavoring agent that can be added liberally to all sorts of things)
Sab
@RandomMonster: Thanks! He is supposed to go low carb. This could work.
trollhattan
@Mike J:
I can be there in tnirty.
TaMara (HFG)
@NotMax: Kinda missed the point – it was a list of staples for the actual recipes in the menus.
Singing Truth to Power
@NotMax: NotMax, I have had the Zojirushi Home Bakery Mini for a couple of years, and love it excessively. Lately I use it mostly on the dough cycle for sourdough breads. It is such a smart machine. Also, after resisting a rice cooker for years, I finally got a small Zojirushi model that does amazing things with brown rice, steel cut oats, risotto. Love that too –
RandomMonster
@TaMara (HFG): Oops for all of us. But I still love to hear people share their staple ingredients generally.
NotMax
@TaMara (HFG)
Au contraire. It was unclear, and read it as providing a list of basic pantry staples for general cookery.
“The shopping lists do not include pantry staples needed” would have made the point.
AMinNC
Just wanted to say thanks for the recipes and shopping lists! I am at the “complete rut” stage with cooking that comes from time to time, and, as I am planing on having my two sons increase their contributions to family dinners this summer, this comes at a perfect time.
Laura
I fried chicken and made my late mother’s macaroni salad to take to my dad’s today. We’ll be doing some paperwork for next week’s appointment to establish a trust.
He’s been smoking in the house and it will be difficult and a race to see how much information I can shake out of him before the sick feeling from the tobacco smoke.
I may get to see an old friend who bought the Russian River Canoe Company. So, you know, bitter sweet Symphony of life.
Juju
I’d rather use smoked paprika.
Julie W in AR
Just wanted to say thank you.
Made the shrimp & linguine and Greek chicken wraps this week. Super easy. Pretty delicious.