What's cooking? (2 Viewers)

[DaveF]

Today:

• Blondies for work
• Oatmeal (instant pot) for a couple days breakfast
• Hard cooked eggs (instant pot) also for breakfast
• Mac & Cheese for dinner and leftovers for the week

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Blondies for HTF friends

Fixed that for you.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

My wife and I made a new kitchen purchase this week - a chest freezer!

We have no idea if there will be food shortages again as there were during the spring, but we do know that driving during the winter can suck, that going to the grocery store while taking care of infant twins is an effort, that as our boys get bigger and eat more solid food we could use the extra storage space, and finally that we’d love to be able to take advantage of Costco’s great meat selection but the quantity is too much to use at once.

So for $200, that seemed a worthwhile investment to be able to buy more in bulk and have more on hand. I’m excited because it’ll allow me to have a bit of everything on hand so I can do less advance dinner planning and more improvisation based on mood and time available. Got a vacuum sealer too to help protect the frozen stuff from freezer burn. It’ll also be great to be able to make a bunch of baby food purées and freeze them instead of making new stuff every few days.

I think this will really help with making the house run more efficiently and with limited access to childcare help during the pandemic, any bit of extra efficiency is worth its weight in gold.

 

[DaveF]

I’ve given a moment’s consideration to a freezer chest. But already forget about food for months, year(s) in just the drawer freezer of normal refrigerator! So, no standalone freezer for me!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That was my relationship to the normal refrigerator pre-baby!

 

[DaveF]

Babies eat a lot of filet mignon, I hear! Gotta keep it stocked!

 

[BobO'Link]

Babies eat a lot of filet mignon, I hear! Gotta keep it stocked!

Well... that's not as far fetched as you'd think. Both my kids were severly lactose intolerant and also had problems with soy formulas - couldn't keep either down. My daughter developed colic due to the formula intolerance, we knew what was going on with my son because of her. They had to be fed with stuff called "Meat Based Formula" which is, essentially, pureed beef. It's thick and requires an orange juice nipple slightly cut open a bit more so it won't clog. It stains everything when it comes back up. We had to special order it and only 1 pharmacy would get it for us. When we picked up a case they ordered the next one.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I am making a lot of chicken soup purée for them! This week the market has farm fresh quartered chicken legs with the backbone still attached - perfect for stock and soup - at $0.39 a pound. I’ll be happy to stock up.

 

[DaveF]

Tonights dinner. Not a creamy Mac & cheese, but has strong, interesting flavors. Also, adding Serrano ham (leaner tham prosciutto) on top adds some nice flavor and texture.

Wisconsin Five-Cheese Bake

A savory twist on traditional macaroni and cheese made with multiple cheeses for layers of cheese flavor in every bite.

www.allrecipes.com

 

[ChristopherG]

Tonights dinner. Not a creamy Mac & cheese, but has strong, interesting flavors. Also, adding Serrano ham (leaner tham prosciutto) on top adds some nice flavor and texture.

Wisconsin Five-Cheese Bake

A savory twist on traditional macaroni and cheese made with multiple cheeses for layers of cheese flavor in every bite.

www.allrecipes.com

that looks dangerously good

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

My wife and I made a new kitchen purchase this week - a chest freezer!

Here in Idaho there's two architectural features in new home construction. One is a walk-in pantry in the kitchen. The other is a dedicated 20A outlet in the garage for a "hunter's game" chest freezer.

 

[ChristopherG]

My wife and I made a new kitchen purchase this week - a chest freezer!

We have no idea if there will be food shortages again as there were during the spring, but we do know that driving during the winter can suck, that going to the grocery store while taking care of infant twins is an effort, that as our boys get bigger and eat more solid food we could use the extra storage space, and finally that we’d love to be able to take advantage of Costco’s great meat selection but the quantity is too much to use at once.

So for $200, that seemed a worthwhile investment to be able to buy more in bulk and have more on hand. I’m excited because it’ll allow me to have a bit of everything on hand so I can do less advance dinner planning and more improvisation based on mood and time available. Got a vacuum sealer too to help protect the frozen stuff from freezer burn. It’ll also be great to be able to make a bunch of baby food purées and freeze them instead of making new stuff every few days.

I think this will really help with making the house run more efficiently and with limited access to childcare help during the pandemic, any bit of extra efficiency is worth its weight in gold.

I bought one about in August primarily because of the potential for shortages. Even when the current pandemic gets sorted the question remains what about the next one? Anyway they were fairly hard to come by in August but I happened to find a 14.8 cu ft Fridigaire on the Home Depot Website and snatched it up. This has turned out to be been one of the best things I've ever bought. We buy all sorts of things when they are on sale and then food saver them and tuck them in for a nap in the deep freeze.

Its almost like going shopping in the basement - I have really been able to limit my trips to the grocery store and I fell like we've actually saved money since we got it. I would recommend it to anyone.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Just found this thread. Fun!

I do most of my cooking in an Instant Pot.

Since I retired a year ago I have been collecting recipes and trying new dishes.

I'll try to stay active and provide photos

 

[usrunnr]

Stand-a-lone freezers are expensive to operate. We got rid of ours and took $50 a month off our electric bill.

It was, however, an old freezer.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Oh wow.

Mine came with an EnergyStar tag that estimated it cost $30 a year to run. In my experience those estimates have been accurate so I’m hoping it’s not the drain you experienced.

And to what Chris was saying a little earlier, I too am excited to “go shopping” in my own home. Having two small kids to take care of with limited help due to the pandemic, anything that takes chores off my list, like having to either go to the store or reorder deliveries frequently, is a win on that basis alone.

I’m very excited for the day after the holidays when those spiral hams that normally go for $50 get knocked down to $10 each. I would gladly pick up a couple of those to freeze. I was also thinking about buying a whole beef tenderloin next time they’re priced absurdly low, cut it into individual steaks, and then vacuum seal and freeze for another day.

My wife is excited to spend an afternoon making a month’s worth of baby food and freezing it, instead of making new batches every couple of days.

I don’t think I’ve been this excited about an electronics purchase since I bought my projector in 2014.

 

[ChristopherG]

Stand-a-lone freezers are expensive to operate. We got rid of ours and took $50 a month off our electric bill.

It was, however, an old freezer.

Perhaps for an upright but the chest freezers are some of the most efficient appliances you can own. Mine has added about $9.00 per month to my bill.

 

[BobO'Link]

I've owned 2, older and less energy efficient, self-defrosting uprights. The latest one, roughly 10 years old, costs around $5/mo to run. That said, where I live has one of the lowest electricity rates in the nation. Just 10 miles over is a place with much higher rates and it'd cost $9-$12/month there.

 

[Cameron Yee]

I made the sauce tonight and went even simpler following Marcella Hazan's recipe. When it finished, I couldn't bring myself to serve it without adding dried oregano, basil, and garlic powder.

I bought a couple cans of tomatoes intending to do this same recipe some time this week. They had some Cento brand marzano tomatoes for $3/can, but I figured I'd go with the $1 cans for the recipe.

 

[DaveF]

How did you like it? (Unfortunately the NYT recipe is paywalled. But the link I’d previously given had the basic recipe in it too)

 

[Cameron Yee]

Sorry about the pay wall. The NYT recipe is just the tomatoes (2 cans), butter (5 T), and onion (half).

We quite liked it, and it's good to know I can make a nice sauce if I have a little more time than I usually do. Usually, we just use a Classico sauce and dress it up with extra garlic, onion, and sausage.

The kids like my usual method, so I was curious how they'd react to this new one. My oldest ate it right up, but the youngest took a few bites and said she was done. But she had a bit of an attitude yesterday, so it may not have been the recipe.