Food for Thought (and Discussion) - The Spare Oom https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/ NarniaWeb Forum Discussion Board en-US Sun, 10 May 2026 02:38:20 +0000 wpForo 60 RE: Food for Thought (and Discussion) https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/63/#post-366817 Mon, 06 Apr 2026 20:47:17 +0000 Baking question... Does a stand mixer really make this big of a difference?

 I'm making chocolate chip cookies with a recipe I've made before. They typically look like standard homemade cookies. This time, they puffed up a bit and they didn't spread out like crazy. I used a stand mixer for the first time. Or could this be a more slightly too dry recipe? When they cooked, they crisped on the outside and are soft on the inside instead of one or the other. 

]]> The Spare Oom starkat https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/63/#post-366817 RE: Food for Thought (and Discussion) https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/63/#post-366139 Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:53:54 +0000 And the adventures in cooking continue...

I added a jalepeno and raw onions to the salsa and that's probably pretty much spot on for tex-mex in my area. 

Then I made beef fajitas:

I made a marinade tonight for fajitas...
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup Braggs amino or worchestershire sauce
about 1 tsp Salt
about 1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 and 1/2 tbsp garlic
1 tsp beef fajita seasoning from HEB
Marinade for 6-8 hrs in the fridge. Then cook
 
If it wasn't for the meat cut, the fajitas would have been spot on. It was a tougher cut than we knew when we ordered it. That's literally all I need to fix. 

Tex-mex is a popular restaurant type in my area. Like as in you can throw a rock and hit one just about. Fajitas are one of the most expensive dishes they serve. I've been trying to master them so I can reduce the amount of money we spend at restaurants. lol
]]> The Spare Oom starkat https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/63/#post-366139 RE: Food for Thought (and Discussion) https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-365974 Mon, 23 Feb 2026 22:26:40 +0000 So fantasia sent me her salsa recipe and I'm on my third attempt. This is the closest I've come to Tex-mex restaurant quality. 

 

Tomatoes (4-5 small. Depends on the size of the tomatoes and I just use whatever we have so they don't go bad)
1 jalapeno
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1/3rd cup onion
1 tsp garlic
2-3 tsp hatch chilies (mild)
1 tbsp lime juice
buzzed up in the food processor and left to set on the shelf for about 90 min occasionally mixing it up. Then reduced on the stove top on low simmer for about 15 minutes.
 
 
 
I don't do nut butters because of a peanut and sunflower allergy. So I decided to attempt a protein cheese ball. This one is still a work in progress. Any suggestions on perfecting the shaping process?
 
1.5 scoops vanilla whey protein powder
8oz cream cheese
4 oz cheddar cheese
1 packet of ranch seasoning
bread crumbs
 
 
 
 
This is what I made for dinner tonight. 
 
2 jars of spaghetti sauce
3/4 cup half and half
1lb hamburger meat and 1lb turkey meat browned and cooked in taco seasoning before adding anything else.
additional salt and pepper
4 oz of shredded chedder cheese
all over penne pasta
 
]]> The Spare Oom starkat https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-365974 RE: Food for Thought (and Discussion) https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-365884 Thu, 19 Feb 2026 02:23:06 +0000 I haven't been in here in too long. This weekend is a close family member's birthday, so we are gathering together for a day of delicious food, good conversation, and table games.

But to the food ... our menu is:

Beef Stroganoff (the birthday person's choice) with whole grain rice

Broccoli Cauliflower casserole, which is almost like a meal on its own {ym}:giggle:  

Homemade biscuits

Condiments: Queen olives and sliced cucumbers

For dessert I will be making a lemon meringue pie and a blueberry pie, plus buying delicious mocha brownies from our local Dutch bakery.

We had scrumptious food the week our kids were all home at Christmas—extended even longer for various reasons (best Christmas ever!). I can't begin to list everything I made because it would take a long time, ha, but a few fun treats were Nuts 'n Bolts; caramel popcorn; a Yule log; meringue cookies; two varieties of muffins; ginger snaps. Plus lots of homemade soups (veggie-beef; split pea & ham from our Thanksgiving BBQed ham) and hearty chili, yum! And of course our big turkey dinner on the 25th, whose carcass yielded more soup (turkey-noodle). And more: I spent weeks in preparation, loving every minute! {ym}:smile:  

]]> The Spare Oom johobbit https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-365884 RE: Food for Thought (and Discussion) https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-365882 Wed, 18 Feb 2026 23:59:46 +0000 I'm trying to be more domesticated this year. Have just made a batch of the easiest biscuits (cookies) in my recipe book. I really need to do more baking,  if only to use the ingredients! 

]]> The Spare Oom coracle https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-365882 RE: Food for Thought (and Discussion) https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-365410 Wed, 21 Jan 2026 16:01:05 +0000 Does anyone here make sourdough? I have some questions 

]]> The Spare Oom starkat https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-365410 RE: Food for Thought (and Discussion) https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-365034 Sun, 04 Jan 2026 01:30:57 +0000 So today ended up being my somewhat once in a blue moon reorganizing of our pantry and dry goods area because my parents have been randomly going into the grocery store and coming home and just shoving things into the pantry. 

I also decided to make salsa from scratch (thank you @fantasia for the recipe). We had a tomato plant that decided to hang on and give us like 9 small tomatoes last week. So I only used two roma tomatoes. They were starting to show their age so I wanted to do something with them. I forgot the hatch chilies and it was a bit runny at first, so I reduced it by simmering for a few minutes and it came out good. Dad is picky in his salsa and he didn't like one spice. Mom and I liked it.

Then I got to use the new to me KitchenAid mixer I got for Christmas and made a cake. 

My goal for this year is to learn to cook gluten free bread and desserts as I've got family who are supposed to be gluten free and I may get told to go that way too because of an under active thyroid. 

 

]]> The Spare Oom starkat https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-365034 RE: Food for Thought (and Discussion) https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-364979 Thu, 01 Jan 2026 15:24:41 +0000 Ah, interesting about the cream cheese spritz cookies, @SnowAngel! But that makes sense that they would come out more sugar cookie than butter cookie. I hope you're able to make some more regular spritz cookies soon!
Cheesy potatoes in the future sounds like a good thing. {ym}:giggle: Hope it works out for Sunday. {ym}:smile:
Good question about the "only us" baking. I don't have any solid must-bakes (which might be part of the problem {ym}:blush: ) but I have vague ideas of it being far too long since we've had balloon buns (cinnamon-type rolls with marshmallow centers), peanut butter twisters (kind of like cinnamon rolls but with a peanut butter filling and chocolate icing), pull-apart, and cardamom rolls. All of those tend to be rather involved, so the odds of making more than one at a time are low.

]]> The Spare Oom ValiantArcher https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-364979 RE: Food for Thought (and Discussion) https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-364969 Wed, 31 Dec 2025 19:16:31 +0000 @valiantarcher, I did make the cream cheese spritz cookie recipe with whole wheat flour for Christmas Day, and while I liked the flavor it didn't really seem like a spritz cookie. The texture was more like a sugar cookie, tasty, but not the butter cookie I was hoping it would be. So I would like to make the regular spritz recipe again soonish. We completely ran out of butter from all the cookie baking before it was butter pickup day again. {ym}:giggle: And now I'm waiting for it to be my turn to bake again. {ym}:smile:  

Cheesy potatoes are still in the future somewhere. {ym}:giggle: We had to change the Christmas Day menu, so now we have to get schedules to align again. We're thinking we might have brisket and cheesy potatoes next Sunday if we can get everyone together, we were trying for New Year's Day, but that didn't work out.

What's on your "us-only baking" list?

]]> The Spare Oom SnowAngel https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-364969 RE: Food for Thought (and Discussion) https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-364873 Sat, 27 Dec 2025 00:51:36 +0000 @SnowAngel, did you end up trying the spritz cookies again for Christmas? And the scalloped potatoes, or did you decide to push that off until later?

 I did indeed make some more pizzelles, as well as the cookies I committed to. Still have not got to that us-only baking, and I'm guessing it won't end up happening for a little while at this rate.

]]> The Spare Oom ValiantArcher https://community.narniaweb.com/community/the-spare-oom/food-for-thought-and-discussion/paged/62/#post-364873