Dinner chez Dharma

from JoeUser Forums

Like many mothers and wives, I'm always on the lookout for new recipes and different meal ideas to feed my family for supper.  I have a rotating menu of things - tacos, spaghetti, lasagne, pork chops, stir fry chicken, different varieties of Hamburger Helper (Cheesy Hashbrowns are our favorite), shepherd's pie, steak and onion pie, roast beef....those are but a few of the things that are served for dinner chez Dharma.

But they're old.  We've had them over and over and over again for the past couple of months, and we're getting tired of them.  When someone asks "what's for dinner?" and I say "spaghetti", the response has been "oh"...rather than the usual "cool, I'm starving!".

So, I've been racking my brains, trying to come up with something that everyone will like, that's nutritious and that's FUN.  The 'everyone will like' part is the most important; we can be a picky bunch.  I often end up making 2 pans of lasagne and 2 different kinds of marinara sauce because we like different things.

It came to me this morning as I was tossing the stale garlic bread that I had made on Sunday: french bread pizzas.  I can make the french bread at home, and we can each have half a loaf.  We've got all the fixings in the fridge - the tomato pizza sauce, onions, bell peppers, pepperoni, mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, even canadian bacon and pineapple should one of us get wild and want a 'Hawaian' pizza.  Each person can have what THEY want on their pizza - they can even build it themselves. 

I spent all afternoon making baguettes - the last one is going in the oven in as soon as I finish writing this article - and my house smells wonderful.  There's something about the smell of freshly baked bread that I find to be very comforting.  I've thin sliced the onions and the peppers, I've got the pepperoni and canadian bacon all ready to go, the pineapple is drained, the cheese is sliced and shredded....

...as soon as everyone comes home from school and work, dinner will be served!

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7,175 views 18 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Looking for different ideas is good.  However, I am reminded of the time my mother decided to fix sweet and sour liver!  It is not good all the time!
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
Wow! Good idea, Dharma! You've come up with a winner this time.

You sound like a great mother/wife.
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
I am reminded of the time my mother decided to fix sweet and sour liver! It is not good all the time!


I'm afraid, as a son, I'd definitely have to boycott that meal . . .
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top

I'm afraid, as a son, I'd definitely have to boycott that meal . . .

I was 16, and that was the first time she said "ok, you dont want to eat it, eat a sandwich".  A sandwich never tasted so gooooooooooood!

Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top

Awwwwww...Ah wanna come on to your house and have Pizza too,  sounds soooooooooo gooooood!

Can i have pineapple and some cheese please??

good stuff there Dharma!

Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
Sounds good. You could also look at pizzas made on a flour tortilla for that extra thin, extra crispy crust. Just about as easy as a frozen pizza, more satisfying (since you put some actual effort into it), and cheaper too.

I need to try different things out for myself, as the prepared/frozen food is getting a little worn on me, too. I need a wok...
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
#5 by Trudygolightly
Tuesday, April 18, 2006


Can i have pineapple and some cheese please??
good stuff there Dharma!


heresy! sacrilege!! repeat after me, the only pizza is covered with cheese, peperoni or Italian sausage or mushrooms are acceptable.
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
I remember my mom making bagel pizzas. Can't go wrong with pizza! I don't really know what we're doing for dinner tonight. I think I might throw some chicken on the grill with some KC Masterpiece. Yesterday was steaks on the grill. I love grilling! Thankfully Spring is here and I'm not freezing my butt off as I grill.

Happy pizza eating!
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top

heresy! sacrilege!! repeat after me, the only pizza is covered with cheese, peperoni or Italian sausage or mushrooms are acceptable.

And anchovies!

Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
oWWW! Yummma!!!

Cant wait for lunchtime, except i wont be having pizza, maybe some stirfry chicken with lots of veggies *drool*
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
9 by Dr. Guy
Tuesday, April 18, 2006


in your case I would say "cat" is acceptable.... bahahahazhahahah
Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top

in your case I would say "cat" is acceptable.... bahahahazhahahah

You are vicious!  Ouch!

Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
my house smells wonderful. There's something about the smell of freshly baked bread that I find to be very comforting.


T and I bake our own bread. Well, okay, we have a breadmaker and the procedure is so simple. But walking through the house with the smell of baking bread and taking a great-looking loaf out of the machine is wonderful. And you're right, we find it very comforting too.
Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top
Dharma this sounds so good! Just eat enough for me too! I so love the smell of fresh baked bread. Brings me back to my childhood running to the bakery to buy a break we called Grotto and get it served with butter, fresh out of the oven, yummy!
Reply #15 from JoeUser Forums Top
My goodness. She takes and teaches yoga, she reads the classics, she's learning to belly dance, she volunteers for hospice, she's a key spouse for the air force (charged with "keeping an eye on everybody.") She knits, and....my GOD ALMIGHTY, SHE BAKES HER OWN BREAD!

I bows down before her superiority as woman.

But what I really want to know is this; does she swallow?
Reply #16 from JoeUser Forums Top

I make pizza dough in my bread machine then divide it to make individual pizzas then allow each family member to top their own.  Then I let my husband eat half of mine because he always ends up liking what I created better. 

Preparing things that everyone likes and still keeping it healthy is really tough.  My husband will eat just about anything I cook, but my daughter is a different story- she is amazingly picky.

But what I really want to know is this; does she swallow?

Your first name is so appropriate.....

 

Reply #17 from JoeUser Forums Top

She takes and teaches yoga,

Nope, I don't.  I USED to sub for the regular teacher, but that was many moons and a couple of surgeries ago.

I bows down before her superiority as woman.

But what I really want to know is this; does she swallow?

I want nobody to bow down before me; I'm not all that.

And as for your question....I'll never tell.  Neither will my husband.

I make pizza dough in my bread machine then divide it to make individual pizzas then allow each family member to top their own. Then I let my husband eat half of mine because he always ends up liking what I created better.

We've decided that we're going to try that too.  I have a question, though: do you cook those on pizza pans, or on a stone?  We've got a stone and it's really well seasoned, but I'm worried about the crust sticking to it. 

It IS hard to find healthy meals that everyone will eat.  We've recently made the switch to organic produce and dairy stuff - well, I have, anyway - and we're finding them to be much tastier than the regular stuff.  I figure that I have enough chemicals going into my body daily in the form of medications as it is - so, I'm trying to limit the amount of chemicals in my food.

Your first name is so appropriate.....

Yes, it is.  I wonder if I know you......

Reply #18 from JoeUser Forums Top

We've decided that we're going to try that too. I have a question, though: do you cook those on pizza pans, or on a stone? We've got a stone and it's really well seasoned, but I'm worried about the crust sticking to it.

On pans.  It will stick to the stone unless you put cornmeal on the stone.  I don't like the texture that the cornmeal adds, so I just cook them on the pan, and they turn out quite yummy.

It IS hard to find healthy meals that everyone will eat. We've recently made the switch to organic produce and dairy stuff - well, I have, anyway - and we're finding them to be much tastier than the regular stuff. I figure that I have enough chemicals going into my body daily in the form of medications as it is - so, I'm trying to limit the amount of chemicals in my food.

Hehe...you sound like me.  We switched over to organic (as much as I can get) a little over a year ago.  I also grow an organic garden and can what I can.  We have a composter and compost our veggie scraps to fertilize the garden.  It works out pretty well.  Do you have a Whole Foods by you?  I have one about 30 miles away, but I still shop there about twice a month.  You can find organic versions of just about anything there, and they carry tons of veggie/vegan friendly foods.

After a week of a business trip followed by a week of vacation, I am paying for it with one of the worst flares I have ever had.  I can barely even type (argh).  However, it has reaffirmed by belief that diet and exercise are key to health.  In my case, a diet containing no meat and little to no animal products is needed.  So, I am back to my strict diet, and plan to jump back into my exercise routine as soon as I can move again.  The trip was fun, though.  Once I remember to get my pics off the camera I'll write a blog about it.