liamsaunt

@rotuts you really, really need to defrost your freezer! :-) Here are mine. (Posting these pictures reminds me of the old foodblogs where people would post pictures of their pantries and fridges at the start of their blog.) This is my commercial freezer. As I mentioned earlier, I defrosted it last week so it is pretty empty right now. It won't stay that way for long. The bags on the top are tomatoes that I processed over the summer. The foil wrapped pans are turkey pot pies. This is my "siberia freezer." It's where I put things that I don't have a specific use for. Those boxes you see are prepared hors d'oeuvres that I bought for some unknown reason. I don't usually buy stuff like that. I might try and offload them during the Super Bowl. The bag on the bottom is whey from making cheese. I'll think of something to do with it. Maybe. This is my main freezer. Yes that is a giant bag of parmesan rinds on the door. We eat a lot of parmesan cheese. I put them into soups or risottos. And finally, here is what I pulled out of the commercial freezer (before taking the picture), that I am using for dinner this evening. More of the sausages!

Here is my first freezer challenge dinner. I pulled out a package of Mango Habanero Chicken Sausage earlier this week and cooked it up last night. I was not sure which letter to go with, so decided to just cover as many as possible. I served the sausage on a bed of baby Spinach topped with a salad of brown rice, avocado, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, a jalepeno, a seeded Habanero, red onion, black beans, Mango, Corn, and Cilantro tossed with a Chili-lime vinaigrette that had Cumin and Cayenne in it.

Last night's dinner: a chickpea, kale, and spicy pomodoro stew with pecorino cheese, from the current issue of Food and Wine magazine. It was good, but I liked it better for lunch today. Most soups and stews taste better to me the next day.

@HungryChris I could go for some of that fish and chips! Yum. I made the rest of the pollock into New England style fish cakes and served them as sandwiches with some tots and Grillo's hot Italian pickles (my current pickle obsession). I poached the fish in milk and I don't know if that helped or if the fish was just really fresh, but it tasted sweet and clean. So, two successful pollock meals. I hope I get something else next week though.

So my weekly fish share finally cursed me with the dreaded pollock. I buy a 2 lb/week share and give half to my sister in exchange for her going to the share site and delivering it to my house. But she hates pollock too and her kids refuse to eat it and so she left the entire two pounds at my house! I made a fish cake with some of it tonight and it was actually pretty decent, probably because the fish cake included garlic, ginger, thai basil, kaffir lime, ginger, cilantro, fish sauce and chiles. I loosely based it on this recipe from New York Times Cooking: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014211-thai-style-sea-scallop-cakes

Oatmeal with blueberries, grated apple, cinnamon and nutmeg.

My husband is at the NFL AFC Championship game tonight (go Patriots!) I gave my ticket to his brother and stayed home to have a dinner I love and he hates: roasted mushroom sandwich. I put some sautéed kale and garlic in it along with an aged cheddar. I only host Super Bowl parties when the Patriots are in it. Looks like it's time to start planning the menu!

I will join in too. I have THREE freezers that could use some thinning out. Two on each of my refrigerators (my house has two full kitchens), and then a commercial freezer in the finished basement. I just defrosted my commercial freezer today and discovered, among other things, that I have 10 packages of different flavors of sausages! I took one out to thaw--it's a mango habanero chicken sausage. Once I figure out what I am doing with it, I'll post the results here. I also took out a capon, which I will cook next weekend.

It is very easy. I just toss the eggplant in seasoned flour, then beaten egg, then seasoned breadcrumbs, and bake on a silpat that's been slicked with a little olive oil for around 30 minutes at 375. You don't need to use very much oil at all. Some recent meals: braised short ribs with fried rice and braised bok choy Since I don't eat beef, I made myself a piece of yellowtail flounder with the same sides on that evening And then a couple of recipes from the most recent Fine Cooking magazine: Thai-style roasted napa cabbage and spicy chicken larb. The cabbage was excellent. The chicken was a little bland for my taste so I doctored it up with some extra samba oelek, palm sugar, and Thai basil.

This is a soup I made to take for lunch this week. It is from the most recent issue of Fine Cooking magazine. It has roasted jicama, carrots, and butternut squash, onions, roasted garlic, tomatoes, kale, quinoa, and cannellini beans.

A big salad Baked eggplant fries Fried chicken

Wednesday I made coconut curry fish stew with the rest of the hake from the fish share Last night I made roasted green bean panzanella and crispy chicken thighs

Another loaf of bread, this time the long rise no knead recipe. I liked the crust better on this one We had it with some tomato soup I made Tonight I made tempura hake.

husband's breakfast of eggs, toast made from homemade bread, hash brown, and some leftover New Year's ham that I vacuum sealed in small packages for future breakfasts

I am pretty sure I have mentioned it here before, but I am very much a novice baker and my biscuits are especially terrible. They come out like flat hockey pucks every time. These were the Whole Foods organic version of the Pillsbury biscuits in a can. My baking skills are pretty much limited to soft pretzels, bagels, cornbread, flatbreads like naan and pita, and muffins. I keep trying to bake bread but it's definitely a hit or miss thing with me. I'm lucky to have access to a couple of really good local bakeries so I don't suffer much. Gorgeous potatoes! Dinner last night was rigatoni with red peppers, tomatoes, and roasted garlic chicken sausage And a rather pathetic home-baked loaf of bread. It's the New York Times No-Knead bread, but the quick version. I have another loaf going now--the long rise version--that I am baking with dinner tonight. These types of breads are about the upper limit of my baking "skills."

A couple of recents. Chicken teriyaki with the Serious Eats recipe for fried rice with green beans And a chicken and biscuit stew. We are supposed to get 15 inches of snow here today and my husband has influenza as he neglected to get his flu shot this year (not me!) so I am thinking tonight's dinner will be more chicken, but in soup form with lots of ginger and garlic.

Tuna salad composee from the New York Times Coooking site. I really liked this.

Zuni Cafe roast chicken

Three different dinners last night. A salad with poached eggs for my niece A sandwich with leftover Christmas roast, parmesan, arugula and truffle butter for my husband And a roast chicken chili num pang sandwich for my sister and me

Bacon egg and cheese on sunflower toast

We also had dinner at the Flying Fish at Disney's Boardwalk Hotel. This was my favorite meal. Salad with figs and jamon iberico cheese plate Tuna with compressed watermelon Pork belly with quail egg Scallops with grits and romanesco sauce Grouper with baby vegetables

This post covers what I always refer to as "sad food day," or in other words, food from the Magic Kingdom. It is really hard for me to find anything to eat at the Magic Kingdom. I usually just pack a granola bar or some nuts in my bag. Junk food warning. Pretzel with fake cheese sauce Corn dog bites Funnel cakes Turkey sandwich on cranberry bread Cinnamon glazed almonds We took a break from the parks in the afternoon and headed over to the Polynesian resort for drinks at Trader Sam's Grog Grotto And an early dinner at the Kona Cafe. Disappointing sushi Potstickers Pork buns Noodles Togarashi spiced tuna Fruit and chocolate fondue Disappointing food day but the fireworks were nice

Snacking around EPCOT A bratwurst with paprika chips from the Germany pavilion A cheese plate from the Prost! booth A chicken schwarma plate from the Morocco pavilion A cheese toast from the France pavilion Various desserts all from the France pavilion. Bunche de Noel Chocolate tart Eclair Chocolate mousse Napoleon Kir royales A few things from that evening's Sparkling Dessert Party

Here are some things from the Animal Kingdom. From Harambe Market, chicken tikka masala with black eyed pea salad and rice Not great, but better than your typical burger and french fry theme park offering. I liked the salad. We also got a borewat sausage in curry batter with papaya salad Later that afternoon we stopped by Nomad Lounge for a cocktail. This is a quiet and peaceful oasis that I don't think many people know about. That won't last long, as it is on the walkway to Avatar Land which is scheduled to open this summer. That night we had dinner at Jiko at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Bread service (after it had already been attacked by my niece and nephew) Taste of Africa, with double hummus and no papaya sambal as it had shrimp paste in it. We ordered two of these for the table and they got devoured. Iguaday tibs in brik: filo parcels stuffed with mushroom and curry with curry flavors Flatbread with chicken and coconut A salad Scallops with pork belly Macaroni and cheese with truffles Elk Koki corn with mushrooms, avocado and greens Malva pudding Complimentary chocolate snow cookies

The day prior we were at EPCOT and went to my nephew's favorite restaurant on Disney property: The Rose and Crown Pub in the UK pavilion. It is one of the only places where he can eat fish and chips. His allergy is so severe that he can't even eat potatoes that have been fried in the same oil as any crustaceans. The menu at this place is crustacean free, so he can happily chow down on fish and chips here. Cheese plate smoked salmon scotch egg fish and chips and mushy peas sticky toffee pudding trifle.