Yes! Good point.
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Cooked beans (not canned) freeze pretty well along with enchiladas, guacamole, many types of cheese.
Good point about pancakes and waffles. I love making extra to have on hand in the freezer.
Hello all. This could be great. But we are two, and he likes carbs, and I like fat
Jack Spratt could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean.
I’m “his wife”.
We are both happy, but I throw away too much , trying to make this happen.
It occurs to me that lots of posts on “what’s for dinner” are " small cooking". Still, I would love to keep this going.
I’ve been “small cooking” for MANY years , but still give in to “deals” at the grocery that leave me scratching my head. It’s further complicated by some pretty big differences between what husband and I want to eat.
This week I bought a BOGO pork loin, hoping to turn it into something both of us like. Too lean for me, but it’s pork, so there’s that.
I have gotten suggestions for pork, and posted results elsewhere, but this is a pretty good example of what I’d like some help with.
Also, every once in a while, the hubs is away for a few days, and I experiment with blaclkisted foods a bit (my idea of an affair!), but need to eat leftovers within a week of lunches, or they languish in the freezer. Doing chicken thighs tonight, and added some ideas from here to my Paparika app!
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So I found some favorite dark meat chicken recipes, and I have about 8 thighs, just me eating, and I’m wondering if I can try cooking the batch of thighs, and finishing differently.
They all include something like “Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with ground black pepper. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook without moving until well browned”, but one starts with bacon, one adds bacon after, and one has no bacon, but has chocolate! I have some pancetta and guiancale I need to use! Not remembering which ones are smoked. Would one of these mess it up?
Seriouseats-Crispy Braised Chicken Thighs With Cabbage and Bacon Recipe
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I didn’t have time to look at the recipes but I do this sort of thing often. As long as they all cook at around the same temperature you are good to go! I often have several small baking dishes cooking at once. Helps provide a lot of variety without having to devote a ton of time!
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About picada;
https://food52.com/blog/20740-picada-is-the-catalan-style-pesto-you-can-use-on-everything
Messy mommy!
shrinkrap: you have some interesting ingredients and recipes. Took me quite a while to find guanciale in northern Indiana (worth it). That was for Perciatelli all’Amatriciana.
I’d never heard of picada before–thanks!
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I freeze cooked rice in snack-size ziploc bags, single serving portions. No vacuum packing required. It heats up very fast and very evenly in the microwave and then acts as the base for whatever I feel like dumping on top of it (red beans, gumbo, stews, curries, etc., which I also cook in batches and store in single-serving portions in the freezer). Pint-size Chinese takeout containers are like gold in my house.
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I’d never heard of picada either!
After having to resist buying guinciale it at the airport in Rome,
I just HAD to have it, and now I haven’t used it!
I got it from Corti Brothers in Sacramento. Not sure if they mail order meat.
Corti Brothers
That’s very helpful; thanks. I’ve been buying Uncle Ben’s in microwave bags for husband who needs rice at every meal.
I do not cook rice often now. However, I stil use the same technique. Cook Kokuho red rice ( now it is available at Costco , cheaper than from Asian store.) in my electric jap. rice cooker, usually 6 cups at at time, then after it cools down, wrap whatever is not used in individual portion in stretch tight, refrigerate it and when needed, just pop it in microwave for 1-1.5 minute. It comes out as though it had been freshly cooked.
Kokuho red rice is a gourmet Japanese medium grain rice. We love its tender, moist texture and slightly sweet afternote. It is slightly sticky. The is what we use for serving rice with most food , esp stir fry etc. However, since it is slightly sticky, I do not use this for fried rice.
http://www.kodafarms.com/heirloom-kokuho-rose-preparation-serving-suggestions/
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I concur with the freezer endorsements and suggest something that helps me. I bought three deep, wire grid baskets meant as office organizers. Side by side, they fill most of my freezer space. Meats for one, produce another, and containers of leftovers, sorbet, and miscellaneous ingredients like parmesan rinds in the other. This helps me assess what I have on hand, and access it without avalanches.
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Ha! I do exactly the same. I usually do something with tofu, peanut sauces, usually eat lots and lots of veggies. My husband eats basically anything I make but I know these aren’t favorites.
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I do this too. And now trying it in these reusable silicone ones my mom gave me at Christmas. I have also found it helpful to be able to chip off a portion when I am scrounging around for a side in my toddlers lunch!
Argh!
I did a BOGO pork loin. Two, 3.5 pound loins with a 1/19/2019 use by. We are a family of two.
I cut it up, dry brined some, smoked some, reverse seared (Kenji of Seriouseats) some, but haven’t eaten much.
This was good.
INTO 9 FULL MEALS & SAVE A TON OF MONEY
I prefer a fatty shoulder thing, but husband doesn’t like “fatty meat”.
I’m sure you’ve all given me much help already.
Just whining.
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