I actually think that Trader Joe's shelf stable gnocchi is pretty good.
I love the idea of asparagus pesto!

Thanks for the TJ's tip. Next time I'm there, I'll pick one up. I only have asparagus and bell peppers in my veg drawer until my grocery box is delivered on Friday. It was stuffed bell peppers I had planned for meals today, but those will have to be tomorrow.

Over the winter I’d pick up meat on discount and pop it into the freezer. There’s been a good rotation - meat goes in, meat comes out - except for the sausages. I don’t enjoy cooking them and there’s usually something else I’d prefer eating. Anyway, I took a package from the never diminishing stock of sausages and made myself make something of them. I think they do better when cooked slowly than in a pressure cooker.

I cut up the sausages into bite size pieces, fried gently in oil in an earthenware pot, once browned, added shredded carrot and celery, fried them a bit more, added sliced zucchini, sauerkraut and garlic, cooked a little longer, then a drop of sherry, a can of tomatoes and some sweet potato pieces as well as seasoning (soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt - sausages already had pepper) and let it simmer on a very low heat, undisturbed with a lid on, for over an hour before dropping in some frozen spinach for the final 10 minutes of cooking time. No onions because I’d run out.
Rest of my family had it with rice, I had it without. Good use of non-primo Cumberland sausages, will do this again at some point, next time with onions!

This week’s subscription vegetable box arrives today.

Bolded made me chuckle, that was my winter too!

This may not make a difference for you, but I recently discovered roasting natural casing sausages. Typically I'd grill, boil, saute, etc. But decided to throw some in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes a couple weeks ago as I was planning on roasting some vegetables already. We loved the way they turned out, with literally no work other than throwing them on a sheet pan and setting a timer. We did it a week later with a different sausage and same result. Much tastier than sauteeing or boiling. I'll probably now grill them outside in warm weather and roast the rest of the time.

We roast sausages a lot, especially during the winter. We aren't big on standing at the stove and cooking so being able to toss everything on a sheet pan and throw it in the oven is our go to.

Not the prettiest thing I’ve ever made, but they were tasty. Red bell peppers, ground beef, black beans, onion, canned corn, can diced tomatoes, chili powder blend, and salt. I wish I’d had some cilantro or green onions to garnish.


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I was so excited with the meat chatter in the Dinner thread.

steak (marinated with 1 tbsp Korean bbq sauce) grilled to medium rare but rested to the medium rare/medium border - semi ARGH!
white rice
sauted onions in red wine (surely corked by now)
spicy shredded cabbage (Safeway st Patrick’s day special - $0.39/lb) with hot sesame oil, rice vinegar, and dried round chili peppers

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It’s lemon season in AZ. Melissa Clark’s (NYT) lemon bars with olive oil and flakey sea salt. A little softer than the usual lemon bar so they must be kept refrigerated. I used Meyer lemons that my cousin got from her neighbor’s yard.

So fun. Gorgeous fiesta green plate. I feel tempted ...

Baked and consumed this delicious spiral I bought at Trader Joe's - flaky on the outside and cheesy soft on the inside. It tastes like a savory baklava - mild but delicious stuff.

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When I was little my mom did a great dish that I should try to recreate. Split open French bread, spread with a layer of refried bean, layer on sliced summer sausage or kielbasa and top with cheddar cheese then put under the broiler until all crispy toasty and melty.

Yes!

Reminds me of a little French restaurant a few blocks off the beaten path in Playa Del Carmen. Run by a French family that baked their own bread and pastries. They had a very nice breakfast menu with good coffee, and I loved the split French bread, broiled, with refried beans, scrambled eggs, and cheese.

I think I have to have this.

Ah an interesting spanakopita/burek/tiropita variant - without feta ;) TJ seems to have a lot of good "ethnic" frozen things -

I actually ate it with a piece of feta cheese :)

I get some ideas from here!