I had a baked potato about a week ago and it was so good. I don't eat taters near enough either. Your dinner sounds good!
@Maggie Rose The only cooking thing that's still on my list is a larger baking stone that will fill up an entire rack in my oven. I have one that's great for making pizza and Italian bread, but when I make rolls, it's not large enough. I'm just not certain I want to mess with storage. Oh, I would also like to get one of these wok burners for doing stir-fry: Hooks up to a gas grill propane tank. I used to do a lot of stir-fry, but not so much lately. I once played around with setting my wok in a small charcoal grill like this: I just used the bottom to get the coals red-hot and set my steel wok on it. It instantly got screaming hot! I've never made better stir-fry. But the wok tends to suffocate the coals. I've not messed with configuring a ring or a shim to suspend the wok just above the coals. That propane ring looks like a better solution.
@Maggie Rose ..we also ate stewed potatoes with corn bread. Do you know what that is? Dived potatoes cooked with very little water...then add milk butter and seasonings. Comes out like a potatoe soup light substance.
Hi Gloria, No, I've never heard of it or tried it. My momma used to make a creamy potato soup that my whole family loved (except me). I would eat the corn bread though.
Goes good with the beans. I was being fed pinto bean liquid from the beans before I could set up. Child abuse by today's standards. I have a bean fetish...but as long as as there are beans and taters. I will never g hungary
Make yourself comfortable...... The supplies are way cheaper when you buy 3rd party...I mean way less than half of what Food Saver will charge you. My main benefits are: -I have an infinite variety of meats, seafood, side dishes, and ingredients on hand. --I can make just about anything I feel like on a moment's notice, with no planning. -I can defrost things rapidly, which fits in with that "no planning" thing. --Air-tight bags are also water-tight. I have a large stainless steel bowl I submerge the bagged frozen food in to defrost, and use a round cooling rack to keep them submerged. Fish and seafood defrost in 1/2 hour or less. Steaks and burgers may take a little longer than that. Chicken parts seem to take the longest...approaching an hour. --I have quantities of stuff that is bulk-frozen in a large vacuum bag (shrimp, scallops), and I'll take out a serving portion and seal it in a smaller bag solely to defrost it. -I have lots of stuff pre-made and portioned out. --I roast a whole chicken, make gravy, bone the chicken, and freeze individual serving portions. --I have maybe 10 servings of homemade marinara sauce frozen. --I have lots of sides done (3 types of rices, different styles of potatoes, etc) so making a decent meal is a snap. --I grill burgers and hot dogs in batches and freeze them, so having one is just a microwave-minute away. --I have parsley, cilantro, minced shallots, fresh lemon & lime juice (frozen into ice cubes), lemon & lime zest, and all sorts of ingredients frozen and on hand. It likely does save me money (as you see on TV) because I try to keep my freezer organized with each item in its own labeled plastic grocery bag. I can thus see when I'm running low on any given item, so I keep my eye open for sales and then stock up. But honestly, the larger benefit is when dinner time is approaching I know I have the ingredients on hand to make whatever I want, and I can defrost them rapidly. I eat cheap and well because of the convenience and availability factors, and rarely worry that I might not have a specific ingredient on hand (excepting the occasional bell pepper or something like that.) The other night I had a Mexican meal: -chicken & rice burrito filling already made -refries already made -cheese sauce already made -guac already made -salsa that had been frozen in ice cube trays and sealed in a bag. I threw together a salad, and a pretty good meal was done in a snap. I prep a week's worth of salad and keep the lettuce fresh in a vacuum container like this one: It stays good for over a week. I keep fruits, berries and snacks in these: These are my staples, Mexican chilis, Asian shrooms & chilis, etc, all in vacuum canisters: I tell ya, they're missing out on a large market by selling these things as the "Buy Bulk" machines.
This is crazy cool! It sounds like you got it going on in the kitchen! Good for you. I'm taking baby steps learning to cook small scale. I make myself a huge batch of some homemade soup or chilli once a month and freeze individual-sized bowls for the month. I also make my pup a batch of her homemade pup stew once a month and freeze that up in smaller portions for her. Then I make other things like my Asian food, grilled chicken etc as the mood strikes. I'm eating a lot more veggies and beans these days and less meat & pre-packaged foods. Over-all I like it this way but every now and then I enjoy a good burger or pizza as well. I really want to find some good and affordable sources of high protein foods (besides meat). I need more studying and research. Everything in your post sounds like you have put so much effort and time into it. I'm zausted just reading everything you've done to set it up. Yes, it is too a word, it's my word. Really, you've done well.
@John Brunner I must be lazy, that sounds like way too much work for one person. I do freeze things that I can use later. Like last night took out small chicken and dressing for his dinner.. I ate tomatoe soup. As winter approaches its chili ,stew ,chicken ,pot pies Shepard our and etc I will make for dinners. But hey you like it and sounds great.
But you enjoy it don't you? I think it's kind of neat you learning to make your own pasta and experimenting with different appliances. If you have time and enjoy it, why not? It probably saves time when you are actually getting ready to make your daily/nightly meals and you already have so much you've prepared in the freezer. So, you spend more time on some days to spend less time on others. It all works out in the end. But if you have a system, which it sounds like you do, then it should get easier and easier as you perfect what works for you. I do get what Gloria is saying too though. I had chilli tonight Gloria!
I'm loving beans. You're right about not going hungry too. They can go a long way for a little cost. I'm learning more and more things to create with beans too. I like the health benefits of beans as well.
I started that because: lost one pup to cancer that I couldn't do anything about. My current pup Bella (born 9 years ago) was brought home from the breeder at 3 months old and weighed only 13 ounces. She fit in the palm of my hand like a mouse. The breeder could not get her to eat dog foods at all and was instead shooting puppy milk formula and baby food into her mouth with one of those medicine syringes. She wouldn't drink water either. The situation was really quite serious even though the breeder did not seem to take it as such. I took her to the vet on day 1. The vet said she will not live. Take her back and get your money. It was too late, I'd been visiting her a few times while at the breeders and was already in love with her. So....how to save her and get her to eat?? This is when I started experimenting with making her food. It only took a couple of trial and errors in a huge roasting pan. It took her a year and a half to reach a pound and a half in weight. She's still little. She just had her 9th birthday and she loves her homemade food. It's all meat and veggies. Otherwise, she snacks on fruits, veggies, and sometimes an occasional egg. So far, she's been a very healthy lil pup. I've been extremely lucky and happy with her. But I can tell you this, animals can't live without eating! So, once a month, I make puppy stew and keep her well-stocked.