Thursday, January 24, 2013

Boring domestic duties

I find that the planning of meals is harder than actually making them.   Not that I have a lot of recipes but I prefer to improvise depending on what is in the fridge.   Food planning is an art that I am trying to learn the hard way.   The problem with grocery shopping is that if you plan too far ahead you tend to buy too much then you have to cook it up so it won't spoil.  This was the case today when I rushed home and scrambled to cook up my lean ground pork before it goes bad


I bought a pound of this last Saturday when I made a steamed egg dish.   I prefer pork over ground beef as I have also been making Won Tuns.  Today I made an oriental dish which I don't know the name in English but I added some Lop Cheung (chinese sausage) and put this in the steamer for about half an hour.

Last week Mrs Skoot bought a tray of boneless chicken breast so we are chickened out.  It was just too much meat for us and I ended up simmering a couple for home-made soup and then using the chicken for home made pizzas.  If you take chicken broth and then boil and simmer a couple of chicken breasts in it, the resultant soup is delicious .

We had so much chicken still left over from this tray that I managed to cube some and throw it into our rice cooker.   I marinated the cubes in soya sauce first and it ended up being steamed/cooked with our rice


My original plan was to make a Kraft Dinner casserole with broccoli, and topped with white cheddar cheese.  I cooked up the macaroni first, added the cheese packets.  On another burner I steamed up a head of broccoli and cut it up into smaller pieces.   I spread the broccoli over the top and then sprinkled with cheese and put back into the oven @ 300°f for about 20 minutes to melt the cheese


Here it is before I put it into the oven


It was nearly perfect timing as when Mrs Skoot arrived home it was all ready to be served.  Obviously we had too much food but that's okay.    We can heat some up for tomorrow's dinner, and we can portion some  to bring to work for lunch


We hardly put a dent into this casserole and I over ate, again . . .


15 comments:

  1. The Chinese sausages are unavailable around here and I normally pick some up whenever I'm anywhere near an Asian market. I use them almost like a seasoning in things like fried rice.

    Rice and pasta in one meal seems like a lot of carbs....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard:

      Re: Chinese Sausage, anytime you need any, I could send some up. Am I allowed to "mail" them over the border? They are great for fried rice. Actually Fried Rice, shrimp and Chinese Sausage is great, or perhaps sub BBQ pork instead.

      the meal was mismatched but the plan was to make the pork dish with rice to bring to work for lunch. The kraft dinner casserole was for dinner and guess what's for dinner again tonight ?

      Delete
    2. Thank you for the offer. I just picked some up the last time I was in Oregon. I wasn't sure what to make for dinner, now I know, And by BBQ pork, I'm assuming you mean the Chinese version instead of the southern U.S. version. They have that in the grocery stores but it isn't anywhere near as good as the sausages. In our house, Chinese sausage is way better than bacon...

      Delete
  2. Meal planning and grocery shopping are such a big part of our lives aren't they? There's no getting away from it, and if I didn't do it, I would have a very crabby family...life is just better if you arrive home from work and know what you're making with the groceries already in the house. You're right...it is definitely an art that we don't give people enough credit for...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suzu:

      you're right. We all have to Eat, sleep, breath . . . It's a necessary chore but I keep thinking about cats and dogs. They are content to eat the same thing every day for their whole life and they always look forward to it. We, on the other hand need variety. Our meals are simple, not too spicy or exotic. I would rather have a shepard's pie than a steak

      As I mentioned, the challenge is WHAT to make, not so much the mechanics of cooking it

      Delete
  3. I find it is easier to make up a one week menu and write down what you need to buy for those specific meals. Add in extra for lunches and snacks and you have a weeks worth of groceries in one trip (usually bought at 2-3 stores though).

    We find we throw away less that goes bad that way and it is always nice not to figure out last minute what to make and if you have enough ingredients for it.

    We tend to spend less money at the store that way too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trobairitz:

      we try to plan meals and buy a few days at a time but our plans always gets changed. Sometimes we are "given" dinner by our "Outlaws" whom used to be a chef at a hotel. He knows what we like and makes meals for us once in a while. Often these meals can be stretched out for two days. Then our daughter bought us a BBQ chicken when she was at Costco+ so we had to have that.

      Plus I have been experimenting with soups, and other chinese type dishes lately which changes our menu. In the meantime the food that we bought are being kept too long so we have to cook it up. In the old days we would have just eaten up that whole tray of chicken that Mrs Skoot bought, but we are trying to eat less meat so we still have pieces left over. I may have to turn it into chicken/rice soup, or cook it up to make pizza on the weekend.

      Lately I have been going to the grocery store just to look at all the products on the shelf, so I am ending up spending much more these days, and on an empty stomach too, so you know this isn't good

      Delete
  4. Another thing you can do is to cook some things in advance and simply freeze them it will keep that way. I just made another huge pot of soup for my daughter that I dropped a whole package of chicken wings into along with some cabbage, kale, spinach, baby carrots, onions, fresh garlic cooked in chicken stock and broken down into several containers for freezing. That looks like a fairly easy recipe, Bob that you made. Since our frig is empty in BC, I will have to do something like that when we get back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pat/Chris:

      Forget about cooking. Let's go to Tugboat Annie's for a cheap Sunday Brunch when you get back. We used to go there all the time but for the past few months we have been making brunch at home and saving the money, I mean it's not hard to make bacon & Eggs, or an omelette, or even Eggs Benedict from scratch as that way the hollandaise sauce doesn't run out before the eggs are gone

      Delete
  5. Since Rich has been feeling better, he has been making dinner. He's not quit as advanced as you are but it is very welcoming to come home to a meal that I don't have to make. Last night he made Hamburger Helper and added a can of peas to it. Not bad at all for a box cook. When I have left overs from the weekend, he will reheat dinner for me during the week.
    We had left over chili and he cooked up some spaghetti then heated the chili and we had chili over spaghetti.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BB:

      I'm not that advanced. It's all smoke and mirrors but I'm learning and thankful for the chance. I am comfortable in the kitchen and I don't mind trying new things

      I think that was nice of Rich to have dinner ready for you after a hard day at work

      Delete
  6. Wow! I can't wait until you get out here! We may never go riding…. We may never leave the kitchen!
    Love cooking, so, I could hardly get through your post. Oh, My! And Tigers and Bears…..

    Got a date set yet?

    Ciao.
    Mike.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mike:

      I would love to learn some Italian recipes, I know you are a great cook. I would rather make OUR OWN meals than to go out, or light up your BBQ. I may not want to move out, at least until the snow arrives . . .

      Delete
  7. Bob, you are making me hungry ... and making me think what kind of beans should I cook on my new little portable cooker ... decisions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karen:

      I am wondering which is better. Heating that same can of beans daily on your exhaust countless times, or putting that can in your bag until it is time to heat.

      Delete