What's for Dinner ~ Monday ~ January 27th

[Lucinda]

Not sure here yet!

You?

[livetohike]

1. Collards/black eyed pea soup, Cornmeal biscuits, and a peach pie

Feeling Southern today....wish I was down south and not freezing to death .

[B2G]

2. Nothing

My idiot husband ate my hibachi leftovers around midnight last night, after consuming a meal of roast beef, mashed pototaoes, gravy and peas, and then proceeded to freeze solid the leftover roast beef.

I have nothing to eat during my 30 minute lunch break, so he'll have nothing for dinner.

Jackhole.

[cbayer]

4. Grrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too many times I have savored the thoughts of eating some delicious leftover only to find it completely gone.

I think the key is to wrap it in some very unappetizing way, then hide it.

And don't get me started on the Ben and Jerry's Heath Bar Ice Cream story.

[B2G]

6. I LABELED it with my NAME!

Had I done this to him, all hell would have broken loose.

I. am. done.

[cbayer]

8. Ok, that's really bad.

Your name should make it sacred.

Now, what can he do to make it up to you?

[grasswire]

39. I used to put leftover lemon angel pie in a paper bag and label it "dog food"

That was the only way to hide it.

[japple]

40. You guys need to get some of these food bags.

Tired of having your food stolen by sticky-fingered coworkers or roommates? Bullies taking your kids lunch? Well if so worry no more! Anti-theft Lunch Bags are sandwich bags that have green splotches printed on both sides, making your freshly prepared lunch look spoiled. Don't suffer the injustice of having your sandwich stolen again! Protect your lunch with Anti-Theft Lunch Bags!

Edit to add: Sorry, I just discovered these are no longer available.

[rdharma]

3. Something using a 3/4" thick piece of round steak with mild freezer burn......

...... or maybe not. I'm tempted to just toss it, but I hate to waste food.

Any suggestions? I'm thinking of pressure cooked beef stew.

This is what happens when a freezer gets full and you forget what's in there.

[cbayer]

5. Stir Fry?

If the meat isn't that tasty, you can just stick with the vegetables.

[rdharma]

7. That's an idea. Thanks.

I've also been searching the interwebs and some posters suggest using freezer burned meat in dishes that cook slowly and are covered with liquids. They claim that it helps to rehydrate the dried out freezer burn damage.

This should be interesting....... in a bad sort of way.

[cbayer]

9. Slow and low cooking might work, but I'm not sure it will "rehydrate".

At any rate, it's worth a try.

I also hate to throw food out and unless it smells off, I will try to do something with it.

Best of luck!

[rdharma]

13. Not sure if it will rehydrate? I have my doubts too......

.... but it MUST be true. After all, it was posted on the internet.

BTW - I now remember having "tinga" in the past. But pork tinga instead of chicken. It was delicious! The chicken sounds even better.

I've got some boneless Boston pork shoulder that I'm thawing..... so I'll probably make pork tinga Wed.

[cbayer]

21. Some Mexican men are working on our boat and we talked today

about my cooking. They tasted some of the pork I made last night and drank some of my home made jasmine tea and gave me a bigs thumbs up.

But the chicken tinga is sill my favorite.

So simple and so amazing.

Good luck and let me know how it turns out.

[B2G]

11. Make Stroganoff

1 large round steak cut up into strips
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 large onion, sliced into strips
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 stick of butter
2 cans of beef bullion
1 cup sour cream


Melt butter in large skillet. Coat steak strips in flour, salt & pepper mixture. Brown steak in skillet (stir well after browning to loosen up the drippings). Add mushrooms, garlic & onion and cook about 5 minutes until, stirring well. Stir in cans of beef broth. Cover and simmer on low for about an hour, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Just before serving, stir in sour cream making sure it’s well heated. Serve over buttered noodles.

[rdharma]

14. Thanks for the suggestion.

That would work with several items that I need to use or lose.

[B2G]

17. I think you'll love it

The flavors in the sauce more than make up for freezer burned meat. You might want to let it simmer a little longer if that's the case.

Let me know if you decide to try it.

[cbayer]

22. I love stroganoff and the sauce would probably compensate for the

rougher pieces of the meat.

[rdharma]

25. Stroganoff slowly simmering now.

I forgot to coat the meat with flour. Added flour after sautéing garlic and onion and before adding broth. Probably missed out on some delicious meat fond by doing it this way........ but got some veg fond before adding broth.

Put everything on a very slow simmer and stirring every 10 min. or so. I'm 30 min. into slow simmer and the meat is still tough. But the broth tastes phenomenal.

I'll let it simmer a while longer.

If the meat doesn't turn out well, I'll still have some exceptional sauce for buttered noodles.

[B2G]

29. I'm so excited!

Lol...I think the meat will be fine.

Report back!

[rdharma]

32. It turned out VERY good!

And that recipe worked out very well with the mushrooms and sour cream that I needed to use up.

I'm not going to allow meat to freeze burn again...... but I'm glad I didn't throw it out.

Excellent rec. Thanks again.

[B2G]

34. Yay!

So glad! It's one of my favorite recipes.

[Galileo126]

10. Freezer spelunking

I need to rotate items in the freezer. I still don't know what is buried in that frozen cave.

So, it'll be some type of mystery meat, probably freezer burned (see rdharma's thread above).

I'm going in...cover me! Wish me luck...

[cbayer]

12. Sounds like time for a purge.

While it can be painful, just get a big trash bag and throw some of that stuff out!

I have a teensy freezer space in my fridge and I know exactly what is in it at all times.

But when I had a big one, I had to do what you are going to have to do.

Best of luck!

[rdharma]

16. Be brave and prepared to do this......

[pinto]

18. I hear you. I learned the hard way with way too much old stuff buried in the freezer.

"What's this, when did I buy it? Who knows, I'm going to trash it." Have gotten more efficient. I use those zip lock freezer bags with a white label. Date everything as I bag it up, pack stuff by date in the freezer. LOL, kind of looks like a file cabinet but it works for me. Waste was one of my biggest food costs.

That and actually using leftovers in another meal or two...duh. Good luck with the freezer job. I still do this - set a trash bag right by the fridge and toss what needs to go. It's my Sunday chore, trash pick up is Monday early AM so the stuff doesn't sit around.

[Galileo126]

30. Not as bad as I thought...

I threw away about 1/2 pound of hamburger, 1/2 pound of chicken breast, and 2 fillets of "mystery fish" (I think it was cod, but who knows). These all had severe frostbite. I reorganized the freezer, and used a sharpie to ID everything in foil or plastic.


However, I did find a 1 lb package of Portuguese sausage (chouriço) that still looks good. Probably since it is already cooked and in a vacuum pack. So, tomorrow will be Portuguese stew.

As for tonight, it's baked pineapple chicken, homemade spud salad, and steamed brussel sprouts.

Edit:spelling.

[cbayer]

31. Now don't' you feel good!

And your reward is that excellent sausage.

Kudos!

[pinto]

15. Broiled sliced roast beef & cheddar cheese melt on rye, open faced. Breaded asparagus, broiled.

I'm going to coat rye toast with Dijon, layer on the beef and cheese. Parboil the asparagus, run through egg and bread crumbs. And broil both in a pie pan for a one plate meal. Still have some pearl onions, may fill the open pan space with those.

[cbayer]

23. Breaded asparagus!!

That's a big yes from me.

[rdharma]

26. Another vote for that breaded and broiled asparagus.

That sounds great!

[greatauntoftriplets]

19. More of the chicken pot pie I made yesterday.

It's a lot of work, but good during this cold weather.

[bif]

20. Cabbage & Northern bean soup.

[bitchkitty]

24. Cornbread!

UPS just delivered my new cast iron, and I'm making cornbread. I love making it in cast iron; you put the pan in the oven to heat up before you pour the batter in. Then it sizzles and makes a beautiful golden crisp crust.

I don't know what I'll have with it. I'm thinking vegetable plate - carrots, mashed potatoes and sliced tomatoes.

Then I'll sit down with my plate and watch The Following. I love Mondays!

[littlewolf]

27. broiled fish and baked cauliflower dusted with garlic and cheese. it is so good. nt

[FarPoint]

28. Meatloaf.....

Dry-roasted fingerling potatoes in sea salt, garlic cloves and bay leaves for aromatics and Ohio cream corn that I froze over the summer.

Desert....chocolate-peanut butter- oatmeal no-bake cookies which I made Sunday.

[NJCher]

33. homemade tortilla chips

and fiesta dip from Trader Joe's.

I want to do chicken tinga but too much work for the time I have tonight.


Cher

[pscot]

35. Hoppin John

with kale and collards and and a handful each of brown rice and wild rice. It was delish.

[laundry_queen]

36. We had potato & leek soup with cauliflower mac 'n cheese. Both were a hit. (new recipes for us) nt

[rdking647]

37. i made eggplant parm

[fizzgig]

38. stew over rice

onion, garlic, potato, carrot, chickpeas, and cherry tomatoes. i seasoned it with curry powder, cumin, corriander, cayenne and a bit of paprika.

i totally winged it, we'll see how it comes out.