About an hour ago the kids started asking what's for dinner, "there's nothing to eat in here!" they whined....
Nothing to eat? Granted, it rained all day today and I am due for a store run and didn't feel like it today, but.... nothing to eat?
I'm from Minnesota, and there's never "nothing to eat"! Give me an empty kitchen and in 45 minutes you'll have HOTDISH!
To the uninformed, hotdish is anything on hand thrown into a casserole, put something else in there to keep things moist, LOL, and something else on top, voila, dinner! Among one of the MN favorites would be tater-tot hotdish, but I didn't have any of those - but I didn't have to resort to rocks, either...
So what's in it tonight? Chicken, Cheese, Broccoli, a few biscuits, fried onions for crunch and all was thrown on top a bed of rice, although a true hotdish stands on its own without being thrown on top of anything (and especially not rice), my son has mastered the use of the rice cooker and is obsessed!
Tonight also marked another first for Loch, broccoli! I'm SO happy about that!
When it was all over, Loch said "hmmm, hotdish, huh?"
I promptly corrected him by stating the proper phrase "hotdish, eh?"
Yay for hotdish! My husband and I were at a church picnic today that featured a hotdish with pasta wheels, pizza sauce, cheese, cheese, ground beef and more cheese. Yummy too!
ReplyDeleteHA! I've always called those throw together meals "garbage plates." Actually, my favorite garbage plate meal was left over spaghetti noodles, potatoes from a can, cut up hot dogs and scrambled eggs all fried together with some ketchup on the side.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why I ate it or why I crave it on occasion still. I haven't had it since I was a kid and my parents were scrounging for dinner for me before they left to go to the theater, but I remember it fondly.
Hi Ali! Still shaking the sand out of your new snow boots LOL? Last time I checked in your new house was looking pretty good, congrats!
ReplyDeleteRibbit, ohmigosh GARBAGE PLATES! If it wasn't for "Minnesota Nice" being a famous trait of ours, I'd have something to say about that! :)
That looks so yummy! Gotta love hotdish.
ReplyDeleteI totally need to get on the "hot dish wagon! So tired of feeling uninspired to make dinner after a long day at work. I forget that cheese makes everything tastes good!
ReplyDeleteYa, sure, you betcha. You really can make a great dinner out of nothing! That looks positively wonderful. Just shows to go ya that if you cover broccoli with enough cheese, anybody will eat it.
ReplyDeleteP.S. There was even a quilt pattern out a couple of years ago called "Minnesota Hotdish." It was very popular.
Mmm... Hotdish. And I'm not even from Minnesota!
ReplyDeleteI think my mom tried to make it fancy and gave it a French name and it was "(whatever it was) melange". So, you would have had a broccoli/cheese melange. See how nice it sounds?
Judy
That looks incredible! My 3 year old calls her broc "trees". She will eat them raw but not cooked. And congrats on your son mastering the rice cooker. I came to a realization that my 11 year old doesn't even know the difference between a cup and a 1/2 cup. I think he was switched at birth. I have no idea how my son, with a mother that cooks from scratch all the time, has no idea what the basic utensils are. So again congrats!
ReplyDeleteErin, thanks for introducing me to the phrase "hotdish"! I suppose everyone has their version of hotdish (it sounds so much more civilized than Ribbit's garbage plate - sorry Ribbit!), but I've never heard it referred to as such. It looks like you made pretty delicious dinner!
ReplyDeleteJust clicked over to your blog from "A Growing Tradition." I'm from VA (not from VA beach although my parents live there now) but now I live in Denver. I am really enjoying seeing which varieties of which veggies you've been growing in VA since we're hoping to move back soon to the East Coast! I'm very impressed with your garden and your preserving, too.
ReplyDeleteLoving your blog! Adding you to my Google Reader!
Hehehe, hot dish sounds like my "kitchen sink". When we are low on groceries, I like to throw everything edible in the fridge into one pot and "surprise" dinner. LOL. That's awesome that the kids like broccoli. Did you grow those?
ReplyDeleteIt's the mother's secret weapon. I need to make some soon to empty the kitchen a bit.
ReplyDeleteYUM!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMama Pea, love the name of that quilt pattern LOL!
ReplyDeleteJudy, we don't even try to come up with a new name, Hotdish is amazing and it's a GOOD name! :)
Thomas & Thyme, give it a whirl! There are tons of Minnesota Hotdish cookbooks, and they make for pretty fun reading too!
Carter, welcome and thank you for the compliment!
Meemsnyc, I didn't grow the broccoli, all mine from last year had so many worms I didn't freeze any - I just started seedlings again, so I'll give it one more chance...
Stefaneener, my thoughts exactly - seems like we spend too much on groceries when the cupboards are stocked - I just need to get in there and start cooking
I love that he's obsessed with the rice maker! hehehe. :)
ReplyDeleteYou and the hubs have such wonderful little boys. Great job you two!
Yum, wish you were cooking in my kitchen.
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to empty out the freezers and pantry shelves for months on end. I must remember the 'hotdish', though the veggies and cheese is something I eat first, so there is never any left when truly searching for a meal's ingredients. This week we will have a huge pot of lentils, rice, and random meats on the side. I like the lentils, the kids like the rice, and my husband likes the meat. It will interesting to see if any of us eat all 3 ingredients, lol. Thanks for the new fancy term "hotdish" I think we will be utilizing that one quite frequently this winter!! :)
ReplyDeleteDani, it is nice to have him take an interest in making food, I hope it doesn't backfire LOL
ReplyDeleteLorie, no, you do not.... there would definitely be mac & cheese nights in your future - out of a box - it's not pretty :)
Kelly, you could go really "old skool" and put Velveeta in there like my grandma - just what IS that stuff LOL?
Jo, what's your favorite hotdish? I love seeing if it's different in different parts of the state! I think my town was definitely TaterTot or some type of Goulash-thing :)
ReplyDeleteFrugal, that's funny! Mine are the opposite and have yet to try them raw, even with yummy dip!
ReplyDeleteJudy, it's okay you're not from MN, I'll forgive you since you are in Iowa, see now that I've moved away I don't play those silly MN vs IA games, I'm just happy to talk to other Midwesterners - I'm homesick! And my BFF is from IA so she's changed my opinion of y'all (heehee just kidding!)