Anyone like to partake in a little cooking as a hobby?

DoingOK · Apr 20, 2021

I'm no Chef Boyardee, but I love to cook when I have a chance. Unfortunately, the chemo/radiation treatments I went through in February have killed my saliva glands and 80% of my taste buds. I can't eat much (have a feeding tube) but I still like to cook for the family. I'm dying to sit down and eat a real meal again but for now it is high calorie formula through a tube.

Tonight I made homemade Cavatappi Alfredo with shrimp and some garlic bread. My wife loves my food but hates the fact I usually whip stuff up on the fly. Dinner tonight and other examples:

My family loves my version of Zuppa Toscana. Heavy cream with Italian sausage, rotisserie chicken, red potatoes, onion and kale:

I make a pretty good steak chili with a cornbread island:

Simple beef tacos my kids like. I usually do a steak version since I like to grill:

Homemade Sheperd's Pie my family likes.....not my favorite, but not too bad:

And the one stew I get asked to make all the time is my version of Brunswick stew. Lots of pulled pork, sausage, rotisserie chicken, steak, corn, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. It's pretty good:

And my kids like the weird drink concoctions I whip up for them as well. Think of a tropical Orange Julius smoothie:

Curious of what others like to make.

Autoworker · Apr 20, 2021

All of that looks good! I especially like Zuppa! Major calories per serving. LOL

Muddydogs · Apr 20, 2021

I like to smoke and barbecue stuff, i also make my own burger, breakfast sausage, summer sausage, and numerous other things from wild game meat. Most winters I smoke about 30 lbs of cheese, 20 pounds of butter, a couple pounds of salt and a few variants of nuts.

DoingOK · Apr 20, 2021

Those look delicious. I've never smoked anything but would love to try it. I can grill the crap out of steaks and other meats though. Filet mignon medium rare please.

Blackssr · Apr 20, 2021

@DoingOK ... Be well my friend and you're in my thoughts.
A girl that I sponsor and mentor is a realtor and I showed her a picture of your house because she's living with me for a few weeks so we can catch up and spend quality time together. She said it looks like you photoshopped it on a parcel of land. She also said that house would be 10 million in LA.
Kudos to you and get better please.

I took Lexie for breakfast at The Original Pancake House this morning and we had french toast, home fries and a pot of fresh brewed coffee. Does that count as a good healthy meal? Lol

DoingOK · Apr 20, 2021

One of my kid's favorite lunch. Shrimp scampi pizza on Naan bread. I make a garlic sauce and then cover it all in shaved Parmesan, Romano and Asiago cheese.

This artery hardening concoction is probably one of my favorites. It a Mac & Cheese that uses bacon, Italian seasoned diced tomatoes, Velveeta and pasta. So rich and bad for you:

Kids and I love deviled eggs. I add blue crab meat into the mixture and dust them with Old Bay seasoning. They don't last long:

A very easy but great tasting meal. Corn on the cob, Andouille sausage, baby red potatoes, Vidalia onion, Cajun seasonings and butter. Mix everything into a foil wrap and put it on the grill:

I know we have a lot of pasta type dishes but I just like it a lot. I made lobster Mac & Cheese with a panko crust one night and it was decadent:

Daughter was on a pseudo-vegan diet for awhile. Challenging to make things she liked. This was one that worked.
Watermelon salad with feta cheese, red onion, mint and balsamic vinaigrette. Unique flavor that I actually liked as well:

I make some cool salads, etc. but I'm not really craving those right now. Sticking with the crazy high-calorie stuff for now. I just made some masticated strawberries in balsamic vinegar tonight and it's awesome served over ice cream.

Ciao'

Blackssr · Apr 20, 2021

@DoingOK ... You are killing me bro.lol.. Nat and I eat out every meal.. Your dishes look better than most of the dishes I get in a restaurant.

DoingOK · Apr 20, 2021

Blackssr said:

We used to eat out quite a bit, especially when the wife and I travel for IBM as consultants. It gets old after a while and that's when I like to cook. I'm a big steak and potatoes fan. My kids always ask for rosemary roasted potatoes and a port wine reduction sauce. I think I've spoiled them. ;-)

Blackssr · Apr 20, 2021

DoingOK said:

Natalie and I or Lexi and I depending on who's with me in Boca, frequent a restaurant in Miami called Oley Oley. He offers a 72 oz Tomahawk cooked to perfection for less than 100 bucks. Homemade oven roasted potatoes and a salad bar as well as a bread bar that's to die for. 4 hours in advance and he sears it when you arrive to put the finishing touches on it.
I hope your daughter outgrew that vegan phase did she? They're harder to feed than confused vegetarians and prescatarians. Lol. I'm Italian and quite a few of my friends are Jewish and kosher. Boy oh boy try going out to eat with them is a challenge in frustration. They're harder to feed then vegans.lol

DoingOK · Apr 20, 2021

Blackssr said:

Natalie and I or Lexi and I depending on who's with me in Boca, frequent a restaurant in Miami called Oley Oley. He offers a 72 oz Tomahawk cooked to perfection for less than 100 bucks. Homemade oven roasted potatoes and a salad bar as well as a bread bar that's to die for. 4 hours in advance and he sears it when you arrive to put the finishing touches on it.
I hope your daughter outgrew that vegan phase did she? They're harder to feed than confused vegetarians and prescatarians. Lol. I'm Italian and quite a few of my friends are Jewish and kosher. Boy oh boy try going out to eat with them is a challenge in frustration. They're harder to feed then vegans.lol

The college veganish phase didn't last long. She'll tear up a steak medium rare all day long. I think Chik-Fil-A also did her in.

Blackssr · Apr 20, 2021

DoingOK said:

Chick-Fil-A by us is a hour wait all day long and the lines are shorter at Disney Star Wars Land.. The founder hates everyone and people still flock to his place for his food, Go figure? I like it but not enough to wait more than 10 minutes. The fries are not better than Mickeys Ds. The Chicken blows away all others.

DoingOK · Apr 21, 2021

Dinner tonight: I put a dry rub on some pork tenderloin, grilled it and made a homemade chimichurri sauce. Sautéed some fresh green beans with a little olive oil and garlic and made a rice pilaf. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Cooking has kind of turned into my therapy as I recover.

Blackssr · Apr 21, 2021

DoingOK said:

You're killing me dude... We had Chinese take out tonight. LOL
You can recover 21 times a week for me any time.

UNBROKEN · Apr 21, 2021

I cook every night...not for a hobby but because my wife sucks at it and I gotta feed all these damn mooches that live here...or kids...whatever.

DoingOK · Apr 21, 2021

UNBROKEN said:

LOL.....I understand completely. My wife is a pretty good cook but with a different menu than I normally like.

GalenaST · Apr 21, 2021

UNBROKEN said:

Sounds familiar! I felt pretty fancy tonight although the kids wouldn't touch it haha, but I enjoyed it.

DoingOK · Apr 21, 2021

That looks fantastic! What sauce is that? And I love me some sarsaparilla. I'm surprised the kids won't eat that. My kids like most everything I've tried. Every once in a while I'll surprise them. I made teriyaki grilled shark steak one night to see if they could guess what it was. No clue, but they really liked it. I purposely strived to make sure they had a varied palate and would make them cook every Friday night (with my help to teach them skills).

GalenaST · Apr 21, 2021

DoingOK said:

That looks fantastic! What sauce is that? And I love me some sarsaparilla. I'm surprised the kids won't eat that. My kids like most everything I've tried. Every once in a while I'll surprise them. I made teriyaki grilled shark steak one night to see if they could guess what it was. No clue, but they really liked it. I purposely strived to make sure they had a varied palate and would make them cook every Friday night (with my help to teach them skills).

Thanks! It's cranberry jam sauce, it was delicious but not to a 3 and 4 year old!

DoingOK · Apr 21, 2021

GalenaST said:

At those ages.....totally understandable. Bring on the chicken nuggets and mac&cheese.

DoingOK · Apr 26, 2021

Easy night. Son's girlfriend likes my homemade chunky guacamole.....so I made her some along with a tuna melt with gouda and avocado. She's a trooper and likes everything I make.

Sign Up! To view all forums and unlock additional cool features

Anyone like to partake in a little cooking as a hobby?

Member

1000 Post Club

Member

Attachments

Member

Active Member

Member

Active Member

Member

Active Member

Member

Active Member

Member

Active Member

4000 Post Club

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member