What's for dinner: First Family Dinner!

We had our first family dinner!

Last weekend I decided to make Potato and Leak Soup(without a recipe. :) ).  As I was cooking it, I thought, this is going to look a lot like baby food when I'm done.  So I decided to see what Gavin thought about letting baby try a bit of the soup.  After some discussion, we decided to try it!

Colin's didn't have the accessories

This was a bit of a magical moment for me.  As I lit our family candle for our first 'family meal,' my eyes filled with tears and realized it was one of those moments that drew my mind back over the last few difficult years.

Our family candle sits on our table and whenever we are all home for dinner together, I light it.  I first bought it in November of 2010 when I made our advent wreath.  At the time I was pregnant with Taylor.  As we ate our soup, I was overwhelmed with how easily I can be overcome with both joy and sadness, fulfillment and longing. It was a beautiful meal.  The first of many...
 

Cooking with Sister

My sister is in town.  She's a fantastic housemate and we've been having a great time.  Last week we made a delicious dinner together.

(Okay to be honest, she made everything.  I just cooked the shrimp because she'd never worked with raw shrimp before)

Grilled Cabbage Wedge Salad

Shrimp Pasta in a Creamy Mushroom Sauce

I would love to share the recipe with you, but I don't understand pinterest.  I mean, I really really don't get it.  So you'll have to get a hold of Cheryl if you want to know!

Thanksgiving

Mid December and I just now get around to posting about Thanksgiving?  

I've lost my umph as it was SO long ago, so just a few pictures and a quick summary:

Table, should have used a brighter table cloth, there's always next year!

Dinner, which I now realize you can't even see in the photo...

Bread Pudding

Dinner:

Butternut Squash Soup

Homemade Wheat Bread

Gavin's family stuffing ( a meal in itself, really)

Sauteed Baby Carrots

Cheryl's Green Bean Casserole

Deviled Eggs by my mom

Fresh Turkey from El Toro Meats

Mom's Apple Cider

Bread Pudding with Canadian Maple Syrup Glaze

Everything came out great and it was a nice day at home cooking with my husband and enjoying my family.  The never frozen turkey turned out fantastic.  I'd certainly recommend it over a frozen turkey any day.

What's for dinner? Raw Fish!

Yep, I finally I did it.  I finally worked up the nerve to prepare uncooked fish in my kitchen!  We don't do cooked fish because I don't eat cooked fish, so it's actually my first time using our 'fish' cutting board as well! (Okay, Okay, I've used it before when the others were dirty.)

Edamame Ahi Towers

There's a place we eat near our house that has an ahi nacho dish that's usually delicious and sometimes atrocious.  I decided to steal some elements from their dish and combine in with some of my own.  The hardest part was finding a meat market with sashimi grade fish.  I eventually found one, and the fish was fine, but I probably need to find a different place for next time.

The elements I chose for my tower were edamame, guacamole, salmon, chives.  I made the sauce out of wasabi, wasabi mayonnaise, dijon mustard, line juice, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, sweet onion, fresh basil, salt and pepper.   

   
I started with a layer of mashed avocado.  I don't know if that's standard, but the engineer in my couldn't build my tower on the non-cohesive foundation of edamame beans!

I was pretty impressed with the results.  I surprised Gavin with a tranquil date night mood dinner in the middle of the week (although this has kinda been my thing lately, so not sure it's actually a surprise anymore!)  

What's for dinner? Vagabond Edition

This is a special "what to cook when you have no electricity edition".

Last night, all of San Diego County, as well Southern Orange County (aka here); lost power as a result of what is reported to be a switching error in Arizona that knocked the San Onofre Nuclear plant off line.

Interestingly enough, I didn't even know the power was out.  I was home from work cleaning the bathroom, watching a show on my iPad while my robovac vacuumed away without a concern in the world.  I heard a beeping downstairs and figured it was the fire alarm.  I got a battery and a ladder and climbed up to find out... it wasn't.  After some investigation, I figured out it was my house alarm notifying me that it had 'no ac.'  I guess I'm more girl than engineer after all was "Why the hell does my alarm need air conditioning??"  I figured it out pretty quickly and tested a few light switches.  I went outside to confirm it wasn't just my house that had tripped and quickly figured out it was at least a local outage.

You don't realize how helpless you are without electricity.  And I'm still much less helpless than people were even a few years ago.  I had my cell phone and could still do things like follow SDGE on twitter for the latest news.

Still... a coworker advised me to stay off the roads and my house was pretty devoid of any non frozen food.  In fact, in my refrigerator, I had only the following perishable items: happy cow cheese, 2 chicken sausages, sour cream, an onion and orange juice (does orange juice even count?)  I know you are suppose to leave the fridge closed, but I knew I had essentially nothing in there.

I decided it was enough to work with and created this

Vagabond Delight!

I singed a few arm hairs manually lighting the stove burners, but otherwise my potato/sausage/onion feast was pretty impressive.

After dinner, I light a million candles, grabbed my iHome and curled up to wait out the black out.

What's for dinner? Home Grown.

I grew stuff and now I can eat it!  My tomato plants are well on their way to becoming infamous tomato monsters.  My aerogarden is an overgrown jungle.  So... tomato and basil salad:

Home grown goodies, salt and pepper and a little olive oil makes a great light lunch.

I'm proud.

What's for dinner? Guest Chef

I have a few fantastic friends.  This week I had a rough week and Jen made the LA to OC trek to cook me lunch.  She arrived with all ingredients ready to go.  

Jen did a fantastic job of describing our delicious meal here so I won't subject you to a less informative description.  I'll just add my "OMG it was delicious!" Commentary.

I haven't been eating nearly enough vegetables (I probably haven't been eating enough in general, but veggies are certainly a huge missing element)  so this meal was perfect.  I'll post one picture, but go check out Jen's blog for the REAL ones! :)

Very yummy food

And I'm kinda proud of myself, because I think I'm at least partially responsible for this:

Thank you so much, Jen.  You are fantastic. 

What's for dinner? Raw.

Last week, I decided to investigate eating raw.  I first heard of raw from some blog hopping a few months ago and had discussed it with Alyssa, my token vegetarian. 

I can't claim that my understanding is entirely accurate, but from what I read, the general principle behind a raw diet is to eat things as close as possible to when they were growing, and in a state as close as possible to when they were growing.

The first day I had fresh fruit for lunch, sushi for lunch, and lettuce for dinner.

 
The lettuce was a weird craving and actually what caused me to decide to try the raw day.

I think the principles are great, but I'd need to be a whole lot more creative before I could actually stick to this type of diet.  Still, I think it's worth trying to incorporate into our eating on a regular basis. 

What's for dinner? Easter Edition

For Easter, my sister came to visit and we cooked!

I was primarily responsible for the eggs (which came out lovely, although I failed to get a picture.  No idea how that happened!)

My sister made green bean casserole.  Gavin made the mashed potatoes and ham.  We didn't want a whole ham so we just bought already cooked sliced ham and fried it.  It was good and saved us having to suffer through weeks of ham sandwiches or the guilt of throwing them away.

My favorite part of our Easter dinner was our egg surprises. 

Last year, Gavin and I made these when we colored eggs.  We both put things inside for each other.  Both of us put things representing our wedding planning.  I wish I had the material to do it again this year, but there's always next year.  I suspect traditions aren't going to really survive this year, but maybe they'll come around again next year.

What's for dinner? Dinner 1-Amy 0

This week Gavin and I ventured back into the kitchen in full force.  Today, I retreated.

If you haven't noticed, cooking/eating/everything has been a bit of a struggle for me lately.  We started off strong enough with a meal plan and a list.  Getting to the store was a challenge, but no pain no gain, right?

Last night, we made bacon wrapped meatloaf and mashed potatoes from Rachel Ray 365.

We laughed, drank wine and enjoyed the end result.  We even cleaned up cheerfully (sorta). 

Today, the kitchen taught me that it is impossible to work a 12 hour day and come home and cook dinner.  Even if that dinner is a '30 minute meal'. 

In reality, today's dinner wasn't much different than yesterday, as shown below.

Lemon and Thyme Chicken and Gnocchi.  But my was it problematic.  Chicken wouldn't cook all the way (I cooked it 2 times the recommended time and STILL had to butterfly them... )  I was missing one of the ingredients (an onion).  I DESTROYED my kitchen (mostly thanks to the frying of the chicken).  And I ended up with a mediocre meal that made me wish I had just gone through a drive-thru.

As I sat down to write this post, I immediately realized that the kitchen challenges were likely directly linked to a very busy work day, but still, I realize that I have been defeated by my kitchen.

What's for dinner?

Dinner, which was once an approximately regular part of my day, has become quite a bit more difficult this year.

Lately, what's for dinner has tended more towards Monsoon Indian in Palm Springs (at least a few days a week!) or the TV dinner our office manager makes for me because I haven't left the office for hours. 

Still, there have been a few nights of cooking.  Last week, I made some lamb on white means and rice for Gavin.

And last night, Jen made me an awesome pasta dish. 

What I'm going to try to figure out tomorrow is how to eat remotely healthy when you're spending 3+ nights away from home and 60+ hours at work.  Any suggestions are welcome!

What's for dinner?

A blog about what we had for dinner!  If you want to see our cookbooks, check out the cookbook shelf link at the top my the blog.

Monday:   Steak Sandwiches and rosemary potatoes, Our own Creation

We decided to abandon are seldom used extra refrigerator so we had to make room for our wedding cake in our primary freezer. We decided to defrost some steak and make sandwiches!  They came out great!  I made a quick gravy after Gavin cooked the meat.  Delicious!

Tuesday:Trader Joe's Tacos & Buffalo Wild Wings

My sister came up Tuesday and had to have Buffalo Wild Wings, but I had already defrosted some ground turkey so made the taco's anyway.  I used Trader Joe seasonings which I had never had before.  They were good, but it suggested half the packet, I used the entire packet and still felt it could use a little bit more.

Wednesday: Hunger Strike 

I actually wrote an entire post about this, but don't know what happened to it.  I think my Droid Blogger App ate it.  Anyway.  40 hour fast meant no dinner Wednesday and Thursday.



Thursday:  Hunger Strike 2.0

Friday: Take Out Sushi from Wasabi, Palm Springs Ca


Gavin came to visit me and since we had dog face with us, we couldn't really go anywhere.  Plus, I had a ton of work so Gavin just brought this meat-free dinner to me!  I probably wouldn't go back to this place, but the food was fine.

Saturday:Outback Steakhouse

Somehow, my project was running on time enough that I was able to sneak home Saturday night so my animals wouldn't forget who I was!  Gavin and I went to Outback. It brought back memories.  We used to go to outback all the time after ceramics class covered in clay and craving a blooming onion.  No clay covered clothing or deep friend onions this trip, though!

Sunday: Not Sure

I'm back in Palm Springs, so no idea what, if anything, I'll eat for dinner.  I have a short lull in work, but things are going to get hectic tonight.  Wish me luck.

What's for dinner?

A blog about what we had for dinner!  If you want to see our cookbooks, check out the cookbook shelf link at the top my the blog.

As I warned last week, I wasn't thinking I had a chance at any culinary awards this week... I mean, look at my groceries for the week:

Not exactly stellar, right?  Not to mention I drove over 1000 miles this week!  Well, won't you be surprised when you get to Friday, then!  Still... overall, not an impressive week. 

Monday:   KFC

Hey!  Stop making that face, I'm the one who had to eat it!

Tuesday: Skipped Dinner

You would have to if you ate KFC the previous night!

Wednesday: Bratwurst with wasabi mayonnaise 

 My Chicago born and raised husband was more than a little disdainful of my use of mayonnaise, but it's my dinner, I'll add calories if I want too!  Apparently it is correct to drink bear with brats, so that is a Pete's Wicked Ale and by far the darkest beer I've ever drank.  Not bad.  Overall, a good meal.  Mostly because it was the first of the week I spent with my husband.




Thursday:  Meatball Sub

Gavin was working and all I had was leftover meatballs defrosted from a few weeks ago, then I realized I had hot dog buns!  I was really impressed with my little concoction!  Of course, it was the meatballs in red pepper sauce recipe which is pretty much the best to being with.

Friday: Date Night!  Cheese Fondue, edamame and orange salad with soy vinaigrette, William Sonoma Healthful Cooking


And then Friday, I cooked! Like I really cooked!  Gavin had a softball game so I decided to surprise him with a romantic meal.

Pretty romantic if you ask me...

The salad was relatively easy (for a William Sonoma recipe at least!) and very refreshing.  The cheese fondue was relatively simple: milk, flour, Jarlsberg Cheese and dry white wine (Cupcake Chardonnay)  I decided to keep it simple and serve with fresh french bread and sliced apples.

I was pretty proud of my impromptu salad presentation:

I love romantic nights at home.


Saturday: Japanese Grill with Lisa and Chris

Saturday we braved LA traffic to check out the travel show with Jen and meet up with Lisa and Chris in Sherman Oaks after.  It was a cute little Japanese Grill whose name escapes me at the moment.  It was Korean BBQ style cooking which was new to me in a Japanese restaurant but reasonably priced and good. Between traffic and the general populous, I still contend that I dislike LA.

Sunday: Selma's Chicago Pizza

Today, something about the rain made Gavin and I really want deep dish Chicago Style Pizza.  So Selma's!  Love their pizza and had a Orange Wheat and Framboise beer.  Not a bad way to end a rough week.

Next week is looking to be a tough week as well, especially with this weather. 

What's for dinner?

A blog about what we had for dinner!  If you want to see our cookbooks, check out the cookbook shelf link at the top my the blog.

Monday:   Chipotle

I used to hate Chipotle.  Mostly because I hated their meat, so I switched to veggie bowls and all was well.  Then I discovered barbacoa.  Meat is back in at Chipotle!!

Tuesday: Take Away Sushi from Sushi Plantation!


Driving a few hundred miles a day really makes you want to stay home.  Normally I don't like sushi at home at all, but alas, tired body insisted.  Gavin was so sweet to go pick up all of our favorites!  Not as good as in person, but so nice to have some time at home.

Wednesday: Worst Meal Ever: Tomato and cheese sandwich in Palm Springs.

All I wanted was some Ash Wednesday friendly meat free fare.  I gps'ed it and figured Italian would be safe: cheese pizza?  Nope... this place didn't have much to offer.  I should have just left, but instead I stayed for the most awkward meal ever surrounded by a less friend version of cheers who were all already blasted, at 3:15 in the afternoon...  I only got one meal on Wednesday and it wasn't pleasant. 


Thursday:  Veggie Nachos with Alyssa at Taco Mesa

Thursday I was exhausted again, so I made a baked potato.

Luckily, Alyssa was kind enough to invite me over to Taco Mesa to pick on some veggie nachos later in the evening!

Friday: Pre-softball Carbs- Spaghetti

Gavin joined a softball league, so to get him ready for his game, I made some carbs!

That basil leaf is the first yield from this seasons AeroGarden!  Expect more fresh herbs in my cooking starting in the next few weeks!



Saturday: Mexican Food at the JSerra Knights Poker Tournament. 


Gavin and I spent last night at a charity poker tournament through our church.  More on that later.

In the spirit of Movie Date #1, we had some wine and cheese on the balcony before we went.  Only instead of the 24th floor overlooking Melbourne, it was the 2nd floor overlooking Amberly Lane.  And it couldn't have been more beautiful.

Sunday: Sorta homemade butter chicken

I have been craving Indian food pretty much all the time lately.  So when I came across a butter chicken sauce at World Market, I was quite excited! It was easy.  I just stir-fried the chicken then simmered in the sauce for a while.  I would certainly make it again.

Next week is shaping up to be a doozy if my grocery shopping is any indication....

What's for dinner?

A blog about what we had for dinner!  If you want to see our cookbooks, check out the cookbook shelf link at the top my the blog

This week is painfully short on pictures (it was a difficult week in the Griffin household) so I've here's a picture of our current 'spring' table!

The centerpiece is filled with these little balls Alyssa and I bought at the dollar store.  You soak them in water and they grow something like 50x their original size.  I couldn't think of anything to do with them, so they've just saw in our kitchen since we made them until I thought of this!  I'm quite happy with how it came out although the candle doesn't like to sit straight.


Monday:   Portillo's with my parents and Gavin

The only location in California is located not too far away in Buena Park.  Worth the drive, even in traffic.


Tuesday: Cheesecake Factory


I had the salmon carpaccio and a steak.  And no cheesecake. 

Wednesday:Mom's Potato Soup

My mom cooked us some food and left it in the freezer so I thawed it out.  I forgot to take a picture, but don't think it would have photographed well anyway.


Thursday:  Spaghetti-O's

Thursday I had a terribly crap day.  I didn't want to spoil my 'no missed dinners' streak so this is what I came up with.  For your sake, no photo.

Friday: Del Taco

Gavin and I drove out to Vegas Friday so stopped at the World's Best Del Taco in Lenwood, CA.  Love that place.  Need to remember NOT to buy taco's there.  I hate the meat at Del Taco and that's typically not a problem since they put less than a tablespoon in each Taco.  Not so here...


Saturday: Rosemary's, Las Vegas, NV


A math house favorite!  We took Gavin's sister and brother-in-law as a Christmas gift.  I had the twice baked souffle, tar-tare, and lamb.  I forgot to photograph it.  I"m a little off my game at the moment!

Sunday: Whatever I can find in the kitchen  

No set plans for dinner, probably some cheese and crackers and whatever else I can find around our kitchen!  (Don't worry, I ate a ton of other food today, the last few days my appetite has been surprisingly strong) 

What's for Dinner?

A blog about what we had for dinner!  If you want to see our cookbooks, check out the cookbook shelf link at the top my the blog

Monday:   Eggplant and Pepper Stoup with Indian Spices (Rachel Ray 365)

I love Indian food.  My husband does not.  Hence I rarely get to eat it.  I never cook Indian both because my husband dislikes it and it smells so strong.  I chose this because it was mild but I thought it might be good enough to hold me over.  Eh... it was okay.

Tuesday: Paprika Chicken From Cori's Kitchen.

Tuesday I did the round trip Palm Springs commute (ick) so I was exhausted when I got home.  Gavin helped me make paprika chicken recipe his sister gave us last year at our wedding shower.  It was pretty good and smelled amazing.  The sauce didn't thicken up how we wanted, but it was still good.

Wednesday: Sushi Date with Gavin at Sushi Plantation in Mission Viejo

I've written about Sushi plantation many times before.  No disappointment here!  (I also had Indian for lunch to make up for Monday, Gandhi Palace in Anaheim, pretty good.)


Thursday:  Olive Garden, Palm Springs.

The think about traveling for business is that I'm all about doing as much business as possible.  That means 10, 12, 14 hour days if I have any energy for it.  So when it's time to pack up and sleep I usually just pick a logo I recognize (and an easy to get into driveway) and eat.  Hence, Olive Garden.

Friday: Javier's, Newport Coast

I met up with some friends at Javier's.  I had a shrimp salad.  The dressing was good, but it wasn't really my type of place.  I also drank my first Corona Light.  Beer is weird.



Saturday: Sushi on Fire, Huntington Beach with  Jen.


I had a super weird Saturday that involved photographing clouds, several shopping spree, glow in the dark bracelets, throwing sand, and having dinner with Jen.  Can't really beat delicious food with an insightful, sympathetic, understanding friend.  And free sake, too. 

Sunday: Rosemary Chicken and sweet potatoes and baby broccoli aka, whatever was left over from last week  

I think it's a sign of my culinary growth that I'm no longer completely daunted by the idea of cooking something with out set ingredients and a cookbook.  (To be fair, I used to always cook like that, which is why I was then terrified to attempt it!)  I didn't hear any complaints about today's results.

Last weeks goal was to not skip any dinners.  Mission accomplish.  Lunch and breakfast didn't fare so well, but hey, you gotta start somewhere.  This is gonna be a tough week, so no promises.  But I'll try.

What's for Dinner?

I am beginning to miss my routines.  This is an easy enough routine to recapture, so last Sunday, I sat down with my cookbooks, my whiteboard, and my mom (so it wasn't that easy, I may have needed some help).

Sunday: (should probably have gone in last weeks, but fits better with this week) Meatballs in Red Pepper Sauce

We love this dish.  I make it somewhat often and wanted to make it for my mommy.  

Monday: Saint Valentine's Day Dinner:  Winter Chicory Salad with Roquefort Cheese Dressing and Leek and Potato soup from Crate and Barrel Newlywed's Cookbook.

As I wrote about in Movie Date #2, this dinner was quite good.

Tuesday: Easiest Chicken and Biscuits from Slow Cooker Recipes

We've made this recipe lots of time as well. My mom and I had along drive, so Gavin got this ready for us. It photographs so terribly that I skipped it.

Wednesday:  Rooms service club sandwich from Doral Princess Resort, Palm Springs, CA

Club sandwiches are my go to room service order.  They seem to be most likely to be edible.  This one was nothing special, but certainly edible.  And hey! I remembered to eat dinner without anyone reminding me.


Thursday:  Forgot to eat

Okay, so maybe I shouldn't celebrate my Wednesday victory too much.

Friday: Bok Choy and noodle Soup, veggie version, Rachel Ray 365

Friday we made one of our favorite soups, but since our favorite vegetarian was here, we omitted the shrimp and seafood stock.  It's still an awesome soup.  I probably prefer it with shrimp, but I'd make it veggie again.

Saturday:Commerce Casino all you can eat crab legs.


Bad. Choice.

Sunday: French Fries and Wasabi Mayonnaise 

One of the places we ate at in the crown had amazing wasabi mayonnaise, so when I saw it at Trader Joe's while grocery shopping, I excited bought some fries for dinner!  Very good.  Although not very good for me I think.

Next week I'm aiming to skip zero dinners.  Wish me luck.

What's for Dinner? I dunno we'll figure it out as we go edition.

Last week I was jet-lagged, overwhelmed and exhausted.  Life is heavy sometimes.

So almost every night, dinner went something like this:

Open fridge, sigh at lack of food, close fridge.  Open pantry, sigh at lack of food options close pantry.  Decide I wasn't actually that hungry and wander away.

But on Monday Jen came over and that night, we cooked!

Jen wrote a beautiful description of the dish here.  So I'll just say: it was yummy.  And greatly appreciated as my only real meal of the week.

One night, I had top ramen.  Don't hate, without ramen I would have starved to death during college.

Pretty sure I forgot to eat dinner a few times when Gavin wasn't here.  Friday night I had dinner with some new friends in Santa Ana and then my mom came to visit Saturday (and made sure I didn't forget any more meals).  Next week will be basically back to my regularly scheduled programming, although my new work schedule will mean a little less cooking.

What's for Dinner? Aussie Edition

I'm out of practice, so I failed at photographing many of our dinners.  Most disappointingly is I that I forgot to bring my HD card when Gavin ordered kangaroo.  It was pretty good, not much different than beef to me.  I expected it to be much much gamier and was pleasantly surprised.

Chicken from Nando's Apparently this is a UK/Canada/Australia chicken chain.  I wasn't hungry, so I picked off the boys' plates.  Overall very good.

  

 Steak Tartare from Rockpool at the Crown This is better than it looked in the picture.  In fact I'm pretty glad it was dark in the restaurant or I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much as I did.

Lobster Omelet from Rockpool  This was pretty good.  Overall, I wasn't impressed with the restaurant.  The service was pretty terrible (standard for most of Australia actually).  They also stole my glass of champagne and accosted me in the hall about it.  I still may write them and tell them about it.

Spaghetti and Pasta Terrence was hungry so I decided to make him spaghetti.  It's difficult cooking in a kitchen that is not your own. Still, the sauce came out pretty good.  I used Australia sausage which I wasn't very impressed in but it was really good in the sauce.  Terrence seemed to like it.

Chicken and Avocado Risotto at a little Cafe off of Little Burke Street I've been on a bit of a risotto kick.  Probably because I had the best Risotto I've ever eaten a few days ago at St Kilda's beach (Vegetable Risotto).  This one wasn't as good, but still alright.  I mostly picked around the chicken.

Wine and Cheese with Gavin Doesn't count as dinner, but a more accurate representation of how I've been consuming calories lately.

Maybe next week I'll do better.