What's on your plate?

[lylysa]

Hello there, ladies and gents!

Keeping in line with all the fun and interactive threads asking about your most recent halls, items you have your eyes on, what you're currently wearing, what's your hair routine, and more, I've decide to branch out and ask:

"What's on your plate?"

The beauty world doesn't just stop at skin care and cosmetics, it also goes hand in hand with your overall health and well-being, so with that, I'm curious to see what we're all chowing down and snacking on be it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or inbetween!

For those with apps that help count calories or to those who just want to keep a log, here's a place to share, possibly find and share some recipes, and even tips on maintaining a balanced diet.

Don't just share food items, but even drinks! I'm a huge fan of tea and at least have a cup of green tea a day (anti-oxidants) and drink plenty of water.

For lunch today, I had:

-Brown rice

-Steamed egg

-Steamed red snapper with green onion, sesame oil, and black pepper

-Gai lan (it's a type of Chinese vegetable/greens)

Now, tell me, Beauty Talk world, what do you have? 😄

[Ispend2much6]

@blackkitty2014   Oh my!  Well, hopefully you'll have leftovers for a good while.  We ate at 10 a.m. one year because we cooked an heritage turkey on low heat through the night.  It was a good turkey, but nothing else was really ready by the time the turkey was!

Good job succeeding on your first Thanksgiving meal; it's not easy to do.

[blackkitty2014]

Thx you @Ispend2much6 🌹 Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family 

[Ispend2much6]

@blackkitty2014   You too!!

[SportyGirly125]

@blackkitty2014 @It looks so yummy 🤤 

[blackkitty2014]

Thx you @SportyGirly125 🌹

[Ispend2much6]

Happy Cooking Day!! 😂

I just started making our pumpkin pies, and I thought I'd share the two best tips I've learned about making them.

When making the pie crusts, I've learned that there is no need to cut the shortening and/or butter into the flour to make the dough.

The recipe I use (below) uses some shortening and a lot of butter- Dorie Greenspan's recipe.

I put the dry ingredients into my Kitchenaid mixer, and mix on low speed until combined.

I use a butter knife to flick chunks of shortening into the dry ingredients.

Next I cut the cold butter into 2 TB chunks, then those chunks into quarters, then add that to the mixer bowl.

I mix on the lowest speed until the the shortening forms sandy particles, and the butter chunks are much smaller.

I end up with some slightly larger butter chunks, but it doesn't matter.

Then I add water, which usually ends up being half of what the recipe requires. 

I have used the crust immediately and also refrigerated it.  It's up to you, but sometimes using the crust immediately will make the fats weep out of the crust and into the oven, making a mess.

Ready for the fridge

Recipe

Spoiler

Ruth Reichl's tip for pumpkin pie:  roast the pumpkin at 400 degrees before making the pie filling.

I add the sugar and spices to the pumpkin before I roast it; it gives a much richer flavor that way.  I also decided to use turbinado sugar this time. I use the traditional recipe on the back of the Libby's canned pumpkin.  Add the milk and eggs once you're ready to make the pies.

It doesn't look appetizing, but here's the finished product.  When the pumpkin and spice filling is spread onto the baking sheet, there will be puddles of liquid on the sides of it.  I roast it until those puddles are gone, or have turned into a syrupy liquid.

No more chalky taste from the pumpkin!

[tsavorite]

Great tips, @Ispend2much6 !  Thanks!

[Ispend2much6]

@tsavorite   You're welcome!  I need to give you a warning though.  I used turbinado sugar for the first time this Thanksgiving, and it gave the filling an unappetizing grayish color.  Also, because turbinado's sugar crystals are large, I ended up using less sugar than usual even though I used the same measured amount, which was okay by me but the rest of my family noticed the difference.  So, I'll probably try mostly white with a little light brown sugar next time.

[BaseballJen]

I can't believe I just found this thread! Totally love it & will be contributing but just wanted to say how fun! And thanks! ❤ 

[Ispend2much6]

@BaseballJen  Looking forward to seeing what you share!

[AznAngelLiz]

Salmon sushi bake for dinner tonight. Turned out pretty good for my first time and not using sushi rice (I only have jasmine rice in the house). 

 

 

[quspork]

Love this idea, @AznAngelLiz! It looks delish!

[CookieGirl1]

Looks delicious, @AznAngelLiz!

[eshoe]

That looks soooooo good, @AznAngelLiz! What kind of salmon did you use? I haven’t tried making home made sushi with salmon (yet!).

[blackkitty2014]

Oh looks so yummy @AznAngelLiz 😋. Whenever I bake salmon, my 6 yr old would eat it with rice and seaweed and he calls it Sushi 🤣😂

[Ispend2much6]

I feel like I already posted about this, but I can't find any pictures of it, but please excuse me if I did.  I made blueberry sauce for the freezer (which can double as pie filling with a little more cornstarch or other thickener,) so my family can have a semi-healthy pancake topping (plus they like it.)

Yep, those Peruvian blueberries are the best of the year.

Basic recipe is:  1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, 1 TB cornstarch, cinnamon, and 2 cups of berries.  I added more berries and water.

[eshoe]

Are those lemon ricotta pancakes, @Ispend2much6?

[Ispend2much6]

@eshoeNo, they're from a King Arthur Flour mix. 🙂  I made ricotta pancakes once and they were a gloppy mess so I never tried again.  But they would taste good with blueberries!

[blackkitty2014]

Oh my goodness @Ispend2much6. What kind of black magic you casting on us 😂🤣 looks so yummy 😋 

[Ispend2much6]

@blackkitty2014   Awww...the peruvian blueberries are so good I can't stop buying them!  The way it is over here, I can willingly make things like this or it will be "suggested" that I do that. 😂  If I didn't cook, no one would eat.

[Ispend2much6]

Does anyone else have an Instant Pot?  I was curious how my slow cooker spaghetti and meat sauce would work out in it, and the answer is pretty well.  It is missing a little of that slow-cooked taste, and a little bit of the meat slipped to the bottom of the pot and burned a little (I can't seem to figure out how to prevent that from happening,) but it was so much quicker to make.

One batch in the Instant Pot made a ton too- this was the largest of the Tupperware bowls with the ridged lids: (recipe in spoiler)

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

½ lb. ground beef
½ lb. ground pork
½ green pepper
2 T. dried onion
2 lbs. chopped Italian tomatoes
8 oz. tomato sauce
12 oz. tomato paste w/ roasted garlic
1 c. beef broth- or, I used 1 can Campbell's beef consomme
2 T. parsley
1 T. brown sugar
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
¼ tsp. hot pepper flakes
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper