Thread: Special tricks

On 3/7/2012 6:54 AM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:

>
> Batch cooking. Eat one and freeze one or two. Things like soup and
> spaghetti sauce, chili con carne, pirohy, holubky.


Or make two different batch meals and alternate them during the week.

Spaghetti sauce (with or without meatballs and sausage) can be served
over spaghetti, ravioli, bakers chicken, and used in lasagna.

Beef or chicken stew can be served again as pot pie or soup.

Roast chicken can resurface as stir fry or chicken salad.

Grilled (or smoked) salmon can be served with a white or wine sauce over
your favorite pasta.

gloria p

On Mar 7, 5:34*pm, "Polly Esther" <Polly...@cableone.net> wrote:
> "Ophelia" <Ophe...@Elsinore.me.uk> wrote in message
>
> news:[email protected]..
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > "Nunya Bidnits" <nunyabidn...@eternal-september.invalid> wrote in message
> >news:jj8930$hud$[email protected]..
>
> >> Examples: Beside the stove I have squirt bottles of olive and peanut
> >> oils, alongside a can of spray oil and an oil mister. So I seldom reach
> >> any further than stoveside for oils unless it is for outright frying.
>
> > What a good idea!!! *I have squirty bottles for sauces but I hadn't
> > thought of them for oil!! *I decant from a gallon tubs into bottles. *BUT
> > that bottle dispenses far more oil than a squirty bottle would, and often
> > far more than I need!
>
> > Thanks
>
> > O going off to find squirty bottles for her oils
>
> I clean the styrofoam little trays that are used for packaging produce. *Set
> on a shelf of the pantry, they're great to keep a sticky or oily ring from
> happening on a shelf. *I also wrap my cooking oil bottles with a paper towel
> and hold them in place with rubber bands. *You have to be careful with this
> trick though because those little trays multiply almost as fast as bread
> twists and lids that don't fit anything.

I often employ the ones that beef or lamb come atop as plates for the
cooked meat, usually after*rinsing them with hot tap water.

> Polly

--Bryan

In article <jj95g3$ok0$[email protected]>,
gloria p <[email protected]> wrote:

> On 3/7/2012 6:54 AM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
> >
> > Batch cooking. Eat one and freeze one or two. Things like soup and
> > spaghetti sauce, chili con carne, pirohy, holubky.
>
>
> Or make two different batch meals and alternate them during the week.
>
> Spaghetti sauce (with or without meatballs and sausage) can be served
> over spaghetti, ravioli, bakers chicken, and used in lasagna.
>
> Beef or chicken stew can be served again as pot pie or soup.
>
> Roast chicken can resurface as stir fry or chicken salad.
>
> Grilled (or smoked) salmon can be served with a white or wine sauce over
> your favorite pasta.
>
> gloria p

<grin> Did you ever get into a food do-loop? Where the leftover
becomes the basis for a dish that has leftovers which become the basis
for another. . . .
--
Barb,
http://web.me.com/barbschaller September 5, 2011

"Polly Esther" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
>
> "Ophelia" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]..
>>
>> "Nunya Bidnits" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:jj8930$hud$[email protected]..
>>
>>> Examples: Beside the stove I have squirt bottles of olive and peanut
>>> oils, alongside a can of spray oil and an oil mister. So I seldom reach
>>> any further than stoveside for oils unless it is for outright frying.
>>
>> What a good idea!!! I have squirty bottles for sauces but I hadn't
>> thought of them for oil!! I decant from a gallon tubs into bottles. BUT
>> that bottle dispenses far more oil than a squirty bottle would, and often
>> far more than I need!
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> O going off to find squirty bottles for her oils
>
> I clean the styrofoam little trays that are used for packaging produce.
> Set on a shelf of the pantry, they're great to keep a sticky or oily ring
> from happening on a shelf. I also wrap my cooking oil bottles with a
> paper towel and hold them in place with rubber bands. You have to be
> careful with this trick though because those little trays multiply almost
> as fast as bread twists and lids that don't fit anything. Polly

I haven't had a sticky or oily ring since I got rid of my Mist-O.

On Mar 7, 12:28*pm, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:

>
> I use white vinegar for cleaning hummingbird feeders.

We just grow a lot of plants with trumpet flowers, like salvias.
There's a nylon trellis right outside our kitchen window covered with
flowering vines. Hummingbirds love to sip at these flowers, and unlike
feeders, you don't have to worry about filling them or keeping them
clean.

On Mar 6, 8:32*pm, "Polly Esther" <Polly...@cableone.net> wrote:

> * * We only eat 'out' once a month. *That's about 89 meals to prepare at
> home. *Any neat procedures you've learned through the years to make cooking
> easier/faster? *Polly

My specialty for weeknight suppers is stirfry. I'll take some meat
(usually chicken breast) out of the freezer the night before, so it is
thawed in time for dinner the next day. Sequencing is important: When
we get home, I'll put rice and water in the rice cooker, and mix a
simple marinade for the meat. Slice the meat across the grain, and put
it in the marinade. Turn the rice cooker on. Rinse the (Asian)
vegetable, onions, etc. and let drip dry. Slice against the grain. Get
the finishing sauces out of the cupboard or fridge, along with frozen
broth cubes.

I keep oil for stir frying in an old hot sauce bottle with a single
hole cap. Heat the wok, and whip a ring of oil out of the bottle.
Check to see when the oil is hot enough by sticking a bamboo chopstick
into the little pool at the bottom and looking for bubbles from the
tip.

Stir fry the vegetables a double handful at a time, to avoid cooling.
Drizzle a little more oil between loads. Stir fry the onions. By this
time, the rice should have popped, and needs to coast. Stir fry the
meat, add the sauce, add the broth cube to pick up the cornstarch in
the marinade, re-add the vegetables, add sesame oil/hot chili oil/
whatever. In the meantime my wife has served the rice, so I serve the
food. The whole thing takes a half hour, start to finish.

Best of all, it's a balanced meal with only two pots to wash. If you
have things under control, you can make cleanup easier by filling the
sink with hot soapy water after you have rinsed the vegetables. Then
put your meat cutting board, etc., in there to soak as you go along.

"Nunya Bidnits" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:jj8a88$pbb$[email protected]..
> Polly Esther <[email protected]> wrote:
>> . . . or what Moma didn't tell you. I was just reading and saw this:
>> for soft, warm hamburger or hotdog buns, wet and wring a dishtowel. Wrap
>> the rolls in it and place on a cookie sheet in the oven for
>> about 10 minutes at 300 degrees. That just might work. I'll try it.
>> I've also learned at my age, that a granite countertop will
>> quickly just suck the heat out of about anything. If you want to
>> keep a dish piping hot, don't set it on granite.
>> We only eat 'out' once a month. That's about 89 meals to prepare
>> at home. Any neat procedures you've learned through the years to
>> make cooking easier/faster? Polly
>
> Learning good knife techniques amounts to a whole set of the "neat
> procedures" you seek. If you take the time to learn good knife and cutting
> techniques, and care for your knives, your prep work will go much faster.
> It's worth taking a class if you are more or less starting from scratch.
> Skills should include knife grip, chef's claw, and specific techniques for
> each defined food and styles of cut, such as julienne, dice, etc. It
> sounds simple and there is a lot of common sense involved but most of the
> people who I watch wielding kitchen knives clearly need some skills to
> make things safer, faster, and easier. The one caveat is that you have to
> commit to a lot of practice to get your techniques in line, but once
> learned, it's like the proverbial riding a bike.

I would suggest, always use a damp tea towel under your cutting board, it
stops it moving around on the counter top when you get a little too vigorous
with your cutting.

Mike

A few special tricks:

A food TV trick: Spray a measuring spoon or cup with PAM to quickly measure
and dispense honey and other sticky stuff, if you can't measure by eye.

Mom's special trick was simply "I'm not making two meals! If you don't like
it, STARVE!" So, why die young?!?

Andy

"gloria p" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:jj95g3$ok0$[email protected]..
> On 3/7/2012 6:54 AM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
>>
>> Batch cooking. Eat one and freeze one or two. Things like soup and
>> spaghetti sauce, chili con carne, pirohy, holubky.
>
>
> Or make two different batch meals and alternate them during the week.
>
> Spaghetti sauce (with or without meatballs and sausage) can be served over
> spaghetti, ravioli, bakers chicken, and used in lasagna.
>
> Beef or chicken stew can be served again as pot pie or soup.
>
> Roast chicken can resurface as stir fry or chicken salad.
>
> Grilled (or smoked) salmon can be served with a white or wine sauce over
> your favorite pasta.
>
> gloria p

Changed up like that, it's not leftovers. My friend's husband won't eat
leftovers....his loss....Sharon in Canada

On Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:36:55 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
<[email protected]> wrote:
snip
>
><grin> Did you ever get into a food do-loop? Where the leftover
>becomes the basis for a dish that has leftovers which become the basis
>for another. . . .

That's why I won't make 'other things' with the Thanksgiving turkey. I
got to the point where the danged bird was around for more than 2
weeks. Now we just eat it straight and get rid of it.
Janet US

Janet Bostwick <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> On Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:36:55 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> snip
>>
>><grin> Did you ever get into a food do-loop? Where the leftover
>>becomes the basis for a dish that has leftovers which become the basis
>>for another. . . .
>
> That's why I won't make 'other things' with the Thanksgiving turkey. I
> got to the point where the danged bird was around for more than 2
> weeks. Now we just eat it straight and get rid of it.
> Janet US
>


I only cook/recycle leftovers once for another main meal.


Most leftovers go into lunch sized portions, and into the freezer for the
SO to take to work.


--
Peter
Tasmania
Australia

Bloke Down The Pub <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Nunya Bidnits" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:jj8a88$pbb$[email protected]..
>> Polly Esther <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> . . . or what Moma didn't tell you. I was just reading and saw
>>> this: for soft, warm hamburger or hotdog buns, wet and wring a
>>> dishtowel. Wrap the rolls in it and place on a cookie sheet in the
>>> oven for about 10 minutes at 300 degrees. That just might work. I'll
>>> try
>>> it. I've also learned at my age, that a granite countertop will
>>> quickly just suck the heat out of about anything. If you want to
>>> keep a dish piping hot, don't set it on granite.
>>> We only eat 'out' once a month. That's about 89 meals to prepare
>>> at home. Any neat procedures you've learned through the years to
>>> make cooking easier/faster? Polly
>>
>> Learning good knife techniques amounts to a whole set of the "neat
>> procedures" you seek. If you take the time to learn good knife and
>> cutting techniques, and care for your knives, your prep work will go
>> much faster. It's worth taking a class if you are more or less
>> starting from scratch. Skills should include knife grip, chef's
>> claw, and specific techniques for each defined food and styles of
>> cut, such as julienne, dice, etc. It sounds simple and there is a
>> lot of common sense involved but most of the people who I watch
>> wielding kitchen knives clearly need some skills to make things
>> safer, faster, and easier. The one caveat is that you have to commit
>> to a lot of practice to get your techniques in line, but once
>> learned, it's like the proverbial riding a bike.
>
> I would suggest, always use a damp tea towel under your cutting
> board, it stops it moving around on the counter top when you get a
> little too vigorous with your cutting.
>
> Mike

Yeah, that's a good one. The hard boards are worse about moving around than
the thin mats.

When I use a thin cutting mat, I still often put a thick board under it.
This is simply to elevate the cutting surface to make knife work such as
sideways cuts much easier.

MartyB

Ophelia <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Nunya Bidnits" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:jj8930$hud$[email protected]..
>
>> Examples: Beside the stove I have squirt bottles of olive and peanut
>> oils, alongside a can of spray oil and an oil mister. So I seldom
>> reach any further than stoveside for oils unless it is for outright
>> frying.
>
> What a good idea!!! I have squirty bottles for sauces but I hadn't
> thought of them for oil!! I decant from a gallon tubs into bottles. BUT
> that bottle dispenses far more oil than a squirty bottle would,
> and often far more than I need!
>
> Thanks
>
> O going off to find squirty bottles for her oils

Once I set up oils that way I wondered why I ever did it any other way.

I also repurposed an old hard clear plastic square container that has lost
its lid. It's just big enough to hold the squirt and spray bottles. I keep a
piece of paper towel in the bottom of it and change it occasionally. This
helps prevent oil from accumulating on the bottom of the squirt bottles.

MartyB

Melba's Jammin' <[email protected]> wrote:
> In article <jj95g3$ok0$[email protected]>,
> gloria p <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On 3/7/2012 6:54 AM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Batch cooking. Eat one and freeze one or two. Things like soup and
>>> spaghetti sauce, chili con carne, pirohy, holubky.
>>
>>
>> Or make two different batch meals and alternate them during the week.
>>
>> Spaghetti sauce (with or without meatballs and sausage) can be served
>> over spaghetti, ravioli, bakers chicken, and used in lasagna.
>>
>> Beef or chicken stew can be served again as pot pie or soup.
>>
>> Roast chicken can resurface as stir fry or chicken salad.
>>
>> Grilled (or smoked) salmon can be served with a white or wine sauce
>> over your favorite pasta.
>>
>> gloria p
>
> <grin> Did you ever get into a food do-loop? Where the leftover
> becomes the basis for a dish that has leftovers which become the basis
> for another. . . .

I love it when I can get that going because the flavor is compounded in
everything. IMO cooking is all about building flavor, and finished recipes,
or leftover prepared components of recipes should be used. Waste nothing!

MartyB

"Nunya Bidnits" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:jjaj56$km5$[email protected]..
> Ophelia <[email protected]> wrote:
>> "Nunya Bidnits" <[email protected]> wrote in
>> message news:jj8930$hud$[email protected]..
>>
>>> Examples: Beside the stove I have squirt bottles of olive and peanut
>>> oils, alongside a can of spray oil and an oil mister. So I seldom
>>> reach any further than stoveside for oils unless it is for outright
>>> frying.
>>
>> What a good idea!!! I have squirty bottles for sauces but I hadn't
>> thought of them for oil!! I decant from a gallon tubs into bottles. BUT
>> that bottle dispenses far more oil than a squirty bottle would,
>> and often far more than I need!
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> O going off to find squirty bottles for her oils
>
> Once I set up oils that way I wondered why I ever did it any other way.
>
> I also repurposed an old hard clear plastic square container that has lost
> its lid. It's just big enough to hold the squirt and spray bottles. I keep
> a piece of paper towel in the bottom of it and change it occasionally.
> This helps prevent oil from accumulating on the bottom of the squirt
> bottles.

I now have a squirty bottle of oil behind the hob and it was so easy this am
to squirt just a little into a pan! I think I might just save a wee
fortune)
It doesn't seem to leak or drip at all. Perhaps I was just lucky with the
bottles I have.
--
http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

On Wed, 7 Mar 2012 21:24:58 -0800, "Julie Bove"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Polly Esther" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]..
>>
>> "Ophelia" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]..
>>>
>>> "Nunya Bidnits" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>> news:jj8930$hud$[email protected]..
>>>
>>>> Examples: Beside the stove I have squirt bottles of olive and peanut
>>>> oils, alongside a can of spray oil and an oil mister. So I seldom reach
>>>> any further than stoveside for oils unless it is for outright frying.
>>>
>>> What a good idea!!! I have squirty bottles for sauces but I hadn't
>>> thought of them for oil!! I decant from a gallon tubs into bottles. BUT
>>> that bottle dispenses far more oil than a squirty bottle would, and often
>>> far more than I need!
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> O going off to find squirty bottles for her oils
>>
>> I clean the styrofoam little trays that are used for packaging produce.
>> Set on a shelf of the pantry, they're great to keep a sticky or oily ring
>> from happening on a shelf. I also wrap my cooking oil bottles with a
>> paper towel and hold them in place with rubber bands. You have to be
>> careful with this trick though because those little trays multiply almost
>> as fast as bread twists and lids that don't fit anything. Polly
>
>I haven't had a sticky or oily ring since I got rid of my Mist-O.

Those thingies are worthless.

Don't need any stinkin' towels held on with rubbers either, misters
for oil is the messiest way possible, and very unhealthy inhaling that
oil aerosol.

Ophelia <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Nunya Bidnits" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:jjaj56$km5$[email protected]..
>> Ophelia <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> "Nunya Bidnits" <[email protected]> wrote in
>>> message news:jj8930$hud$[email protected]..
>>>
>>>> Examples: Beside the stove I have squirt bottles of olive and
>>>> peanut oils, alongside a can of spray oil and an oil mister. So I
>>>> seldom reach any further than stoveside for oils unless it is for
>>>> outright frying.
>>>
>>> What a good idea!!! I have squirty bottles for sauces but I hadn't
>>> thought of them for oil!! I decant from a gallon tubs into
>>> bottles. BUT that bottle dispenses far more oil than a squirty
>>> bottle would, and often far more than I need!
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> O going off to find squirty bottles for her oils
>>
>> Once I set up oils that way I wondered why I ever did it any other
>> way. I also repurposed an old hard clear plastic square container that
>> has lost its lid. It's just big enough to hold the squirt and spray
>> bottles. I keep a piece of paper towel in the bottom of it and
>> change it occasionally. This helps prevent oil from accumulating on
>> the bottom of the squirt bottles.
>
> I now have a squirty bottle of oil behind the hob and it was so easy
> this am to squirt just a little into a pan! I think I might just
> save a wee fortune)
> It doesn't seem to leak or drip at all. Perhaps I was just lucky
> with the bottles I have.

It's something that accumulates over time. Each squirt, I think I tiny bit
escapes and eventually finds its way to the bottom of the bottle. I just
assume by it's nature that stored oil is going to try to get loose. ;-)

On Wed, 7 Mar 2012 22:20:41 -0800 (PST), spamtrap1888
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Mar 7, 12:28*pm, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>
>>
>> I use white vinegar for cleaning hummingbird feeders.
>
>We just grow a lot of plants with trumpet flowers, like salvias.
>There's a nylon trellis right outside our kitchen window covered with
>flowering vines. Hummingbirds love to sip at these flowers, and unlike
>feeders, you don't have to worry about filling them or keeping them
>clean.

I do both. And flowers aren't enough to keep hummers around,
flowering times and quantities are very unpredictable. Maintaining
feeders requires very little effort, one filling can last two weeks...
what most people who don't use feeders resent is the cost. My hummers
arrive like clockwork, every year on May 14th. With feeders I can
place them where my cats can watch, free entertainment.

"Polly Esther" wrote:
>
> We only eat 'out' once a month. *That's about 89 meals to prepare at
> home. *Any neat procedures you've learned through the years to make cooking
> easier/faster?

For about two years now I've given up on eating out entirely except
for a very occasional light snack if I'm away from home... restaurants
have become much too expensive and for crappy food and service.

And anyone still want to eat mystery meat... you've been warned for
years:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headline...ns-pink-slime/