Hey everyone-

My dh has invited some Chinese people for dinner. They don't care for cheese/dairy so all my standard menus are out.

I'm not going to attempt Chinese food because they're going back home in a couple months. I want to do something truely American but the more I think about it. Most foods we have are actually from somewhere else anyway.

And to make it worse I need to have several main dishes that sort of go together and several side dishes-it's a Chinese thing I've learned to accept it. Early in our marriage I invited some friends over just for a friendly dinner and had beef stew with bread and a salad and my dh just went crazy about how I had so liitle food and he was rushing around the kitchen trying to throw together some more main dishes, things that didn't even go together. So I just accepted it and try to work with it. It's tradition/culture and now that we've been married for 15 years I come to expect it when we go to visit other Asian families. (more culture/tradition-at first I was offended that people expected me take my shoes off when we visited, and now if someone doesn't take their shoes off at my front door I wonder if they were raised in a barn.)

It doesn't have to be SBD friendly. I need ideas! Please!

Sarah

When I'm having company for dinner and I'm not sure what to make, I always make one of those marinated pork loins. If you follow the directions on the vacuum sealed bag they come in, they are perfect every time.

Serve with whatever veggie side dishes you like. Our favorite salad with pork loin is one with
Spring Mix bagged salad
Mandarine Oranges
toasted walnuts
red onion
grape tomatoes
english cucumber (seedless cucumer) slices
gorgonzola cheese (you could serve it on the side)
I ususally serve this with lite sweet vidalia onion dressing (Kens brand)

They do come out ok? When I try baking a pork loin they tend to come out dry and not very tastey. I know it's an over cooking thing. So I've kind of given up. But that does sound interesting.

I was thinking some sort of pot roast but I don't do those very well either, they tend to come out tasting sort of dry, stringy and liver-y. I have come to conclusion that I'm not a very good cook. See, that's why I make lots of cheesy dishes because you can't mess up. The melted cheese hides it all.

One thing I made that DH like is the Indian Tomato soup and I also make the Pork and Pepper salad for the same dinner. I use Teriyaki marinated pork tenderloin it it tastes really good (it is served with Balsamic Vinagraitte dressing over it). I leave of the cheese from the salad. Without that neither recipe has cheese or dairy. They are from the South Beach cookbook and they are so quick and easy that it isn't hard to fix both at the same time.

You could also roast vegetables if you wanted to. That would go well with the rest, I would think and not involve too much extra work since you could chop the vegetables before you start the rest of the dinner.

The marinated ones in my store are not pork loin. They are pork tenderloin. Those come out tender and juicy. I can't get Brian to eat the pork loin but he does eat the tenderloin. I cook it for 30 minutes in the toaster oven just as the directions state (I think it is 425 degrees) and it is great. That's how I fix the pork for the pork and pepper salad instead of broiling it like the recipe calls for.

You are correct Barb, they are pork tenderloin, not pork loin, sorry for the confusion. When I follow the directions on the package based on weight, they are tender and juicy every time.

If I were you I would pick up a Rachael Ray book and flip through it for ideas because they are full of awesome recipes and they don't take too long and are often without tons and tons of ingrediants.
I think the book Get Real Meals might be helpful looking for recipes without lots of dairy because the book has recipes that are suppossed to be lower carb (not no carb) and healthier than the rest of her books. There are lots of meat and veggies recipes in there.
Good luck!

My first idea is to do a Thanksgiving-type dinner. Turkey and ham, and you could do shrimp cocktail, too. Green bean casserole, some yummy sweet potato thing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green salad, winter squash like acorn or butternut. Something with cold pasta, but not mac and cheese, I guess. Creamed onions. Cranberry sauce, apple sauce. Whatever your fam likes for Thanksgiving. And lots of desserts, you can buy some yummy pies and stuff.

OR-- I'm not sure how well any of these go together, but here are some of my favorite recipes--all sb and easy. Not in this order, I was just cutting and pasting.

1.
Phase: 1THAI crockpot chicken

4-5 boneless/skinless chicken breasts (I use frozen to avoid over cooking)
3/4 cup hot salsa
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 T. soy sauce
1 t. grated gingerroot
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

Place chicken in 3 1/2 to 6-quart slow cooker. Mix remaining ingredients except peanuts and cilantro; pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 9 hours or until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut. Remove chicken from cooker, using slotted spoon; place on serving platter.

Remove sauce from slow cooker; skim fat from sauce. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro

2.
Super Simple Black Bean Soup
Printable Version
Phase: 1

1 can black beans
1 bottle salsa
1 can chicken broth


Dump all ingredients into pot and cook.


3.
Summer Shrimp Salad

1 pound frozen cooked medium shrimp
5 onuces frozen peas
1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons minced green onion
1/4 cup minced celery
1/4 cup chopped roasted red bell pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon black peper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
satl to taste
8 tomato wedges

Thaw the shrimp and peas thoroughly. In a large bowl, mix the shrimp and peas with the mayonnaise, celery, green onion, red bell pepper and spices. Refrigerate for 1 hour and serve with the tomatoe wedges

Servings: 4
Nutrition: Calories: 188; Carb 16 g; Fiber 3 g; Protein 23g;


4.
Cabbage Salad Asian style

Cabbage (I use preshredded, packaged with carrots)
Daikon radish (about 1-1 1/2 cups chopped up)
Frozen peas, thawed, 1-1 1/2 cups
Green onions/scallions, one bunch, trimmed then chopped into small pieces
Cilantro, about 1/2 a bunch or so, chopped up
Dry roasted peanuts- lightly salted or not- chopped but not too small

Dressing: mixture of mayo, rice vinegar, toasted sesame seed oil, and soy sauce, or a bottled or homemade Asian or Chinese Chicken Salad dressing with a dollop of mayo mixed in (or not).

Put all in bowl except hold back peanuts until just before serving so that they stay crunchy.

Servings: 8-10
Submitted By: Gwenn

Added: 2006-01-22

Comments: If you want to make this P1, you could substitute endame beans for the peas and use plain cabbage without carrots. Enjoy

5.
Foil salmon
Preheat Oven: 350 F

1 whole side of wild salmon
lemon pepper
lemon
garlic powder
1 white onion
parsley

1. Skin the wild salmon if not already done, and cut the fillet into 3" wide pieces.

2. Tear off a piec of tinfoil 6-12" long and place the salmon on the tinfoil.

3. Lightly sprinkle the lemon pepper and garlic powder on the salmon.

4. Slice the lemon and onion into very thin slices and arrange on top of salmon then also place the parsley on the salmon for decoration.

5. Wrap the salmon with the tinfoil and seal the seams very well. Repeat for the remainder salmon.

6. Preheat oven to 350.

7, Place the Tinfoil wrapped salmon into the oven on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until the opaque color in the center is barely visible.

8, Serves 3-4

Servings: 3-4
Submitted By: Carolyn aka Empress White Thunder

Added: 2005-01-13

Comments: Yummmmmmmm!

6.
Microwave acorn squash
Preheat Oven: microwave

1 nice acorn squash
salt to taste
1 tsp. vanilla
cinnamon to taste
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray

This is for the microwave, you may have to adjust the times because mine seems to be pretty powerful!

Wash the outside of the squash and place into the microwave on a microwave safe plate. Nuke for about 3 minutes or until the outside skin starts to soften. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly so that you can handle it.

Slice in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds and strings.

Place in a dish, cut side up, and sprinkle with salt and put about 1/2 tsp. vanilla in each half. Sprinkle with cinnamon and spritz with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray. Add about 1/2 inch of water to the dish and cover with plastic wrap.

Nuke for about 12-15 minutes or until desired doneness is reached.

Servings: 2
Submitted By: Quilter


Plus some asparagus or green beans with almonds and a couple of desserts, maybe. Good luck, better you than me! JK

I agree - don't do Asian food; that'd be like us going to China and eating at McDonald's: what's the point?

I think the Thanksgiving-style dinner is a great idea. I'm not sure about China, but I seem to recall that in Japan, turkey is considered fairly exotic - not everyday food at all. I'd suggest making turkey and maybe a ham or roast beef, along with all the usual sides. I bet they'll love it - a real taste of American cooking!

Just be sure you have plenty of OP sides for you, too! Good luck - it sounds like fun!

So far this is what I'm thinking:

Appetizers:
Vegetable platter with dip
Chips with salsa
Deviled eggs
and maybe some Penguin olives with cream cheese I don't like olives but these are so cute, for the vegetable platter.

Roasted Turkey breast (Oven) sliced thinly served on a bed of cranberry stuffing
Low salt ham w/cloves and pineapple slices (oven) sliced thinly or pork loin (?) what’s on sale this weekend?
Smoked salmon (smoker-stove top)

Hearty Vegetable Soup w/ bread bowls

Mashed potatoes
Asparagus
Salad-lettuce and maybe that shrimp one Maureenn mentioned, that looked good.
Home made bread several types

Cinnamon rolls for dessert (maybe not, these a trigger for me and if they don't eat them all I'll eat the rest all by myself. )

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I hadn't thought about doing Thanksgiving type food.