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  • I hate menu planning sometimes

    I can remember the days when most people did the same 7-10 meals every week, anybody else remember Prince Spaghetti Wednesdays? Prince had a whole advertising campaign based on it. My grandparents cook sort of alternated between whole roasted chicken if it was only them and a couple grandkids and a full on roast of beef on sundays after church [if they didn't load everybody up and head over to Letchworth State Park and the Glen Iris Inn. Fantastic spot, I can highly recommend seeing the falls sometime. Not sure if the food is still excellent or not.]

    I do try to vary what we have for evening meals but sometimes I just want to make a single evening menu and follow it for a month or so *sigh*

    This week -
    spaghetti with meat sauce - I got a deal on almost ready to rot roma tomatoes that are perfect for making sauce, and it lets me resurrect a pound of ground meatloaf blend that is getting well aged from a meat sale on base about 4 months back.

    asian glazed thighs - supposed to be skinless drumsticks, but again, I have thighs in the freezer with ginger glazed carrots on the side. Both are gingery and garlicy, and will go nicely with the ultra long grained indian basmati rice we have.

    a funky egg noodle, bacon, onion and cabbage stir fry I found, looked interesting. *burp*

    mongolian beef, the indian rice again but mixed with lentils for the fiber and taste.

    cod a la meuniere with a tossed salad - a classic Julia Childs recipe.

    Turkey McNuggets, homemade, with a cranberry dipping sauce and assorted raw veggies dipped in hummus, honey mustard sauce, and whatever salad dressings we dig out of the fridge that appeals.

    We are having a final cook out, and doing steaks and baked potatoes with tossed salad before Rob wusses out because he thinks it is too cold to hang out on the deck.

    I find that working with food blogs, I need to tweak down the sweet and salt a *lot* because most people were raised with convenience foods that have added sugars and salts, and their tastes go towards the heavy handed. We regularly cut down the soy sauce by subbing in mirin, and we have a custom sauce we make that combines soy, onion, ginger and mirin to thin out the whole shebang so it isn't like sucking down a salt lick. [you blenderize the bejebus out of 1 cup soy, 1 cup mirin, a whole large onion and a knob of peeled ginger the size of a ping pong ball, jar the mess and shake it every day for a week or so while leaving it in the fridge. Strain and bottle.]

    I recently redid that apple bison chili by subbing pumpkin chunks for half the apples, choosing a very tart apple, and beef for bison and doubled the beans and it wasn't actually as deadly sweet. I still would not call it a chili, more of a hearty fall meat stew. I used half inch cubes of beef instead of ground meat and it improved the texture overall.
    EVE Online: 99% of the time you sit around waiting for something to happen, but that 1% of action is what hooks people like crack, you don't get interviewed by the BBC for a WoW raid.

  • #2
    Quoth AccountingDrone View Post
    I recently redid that apple bison chili by subbing pumpkin chunks for half the apples, choosing a very tart apple, and beef for bison and doubled the beans and it wasn't actually as deadly sweet. I still would not call it a chili, more of a hearty fall meat stew. I used half inch cubes of beef instead of ground meat and it improved the texture overall.
    That sounds really good. Could you post or PM the recipe?
    I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
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    • #3
      We do ours every week. Our routine has settled down to "I cook 2 nights, partner cooks 2 nights, I get takeout one night/we both get takeout one night, we combine for dinner the other two nights."

      This week we're doing chicken kiev, ravioli, spag bol a la partner, chicken fillets with salad and rice paper rolls. Our takeout night is going to be Saturday.

      (the spag bol a la partner is basically "chuck a can of spaghetti into the frypan, add mince and a few other ingredients and mix together". The rice paper rolls I'm doing on my own)
      Last edited by fireheart; 09-29-2014, 12:05 AM.
      The best professors are mad scientists! -Zoom

      Now queen of USSR-Land...

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      • #4
        Quoth XCashier View Post
        That sounds really good. Could you post or PM the recipe?
        http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2014/0...son-chili.html

        from this thread
        http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...t=jester+chili
        EVE Online: 99% of the time you sit around waiting for something to happen, but that 1% of action is what hooks people like crack, you don't get interviewed by the BBC for a WoW raid.

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        • #5
          We don't have a set menu plan for me except that I get the same breakfast every day.
          cindybubbles (👧 ❤️ 🎂 )

          Enter Cindyland here!

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          • #6
            Letchworth! I love Letchworth! Haven't there in a while, though, and never actually ate at the Glen Iris.

            The recipes sound pretty tasty, especially the asian glazed chicken thighs. And we just bought some thighs, too....hmmm....
            When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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            • #7
              heh, I hear ya...know what's really sad? we pretty much cook the same stuff every day (like for instance, one night it'll be hamburger meat & the next night it'll be something with chicken etc.) & then one night we'll do sandwiches & then on Tues at the KFC here in Macon they have a special so that Tues are our "happy meal" night & that's pretty much it.

              It sucks, but being's that none of us are Iron Chefs & money's been tight since we lost my grandmother so...
              "Much butthurt I sense in you, cry like a bitch you should"

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              • #8
                My 'staple' meal is my own take on stir fry. Usually serve that 3 or 4 times a week. Alfredo with chicken and broccoli, bbq pulled pork with mac n cheese, steaks with potatoes, tacos, and beef stroganoff are other regular meals just not as often.
                You're only delaying the inevitable, you run at your own expense. The repo man gets paid to chase you. ~Argabarga

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                • #9
                  I love rice paper rolls!

                  My version:

                  Mint
                  Julienned carrots, cucumber, maybe other stuff.
                  Strips of chicken, or maybe a red meat. (Seafood is apparently excellent, too.)
                  That ultra-fine rice noodles, like rice vermicelli. I forget the proper name.
                  Rice paper.
                  Hoi Sin sauce, or your preferred asian sauce.

                  Cook the meat (or tofu, if you prefer), allow to cool.
                  Soak the rice noodles until soft, then drain.
                  Just before eating, soften a sheet of rice paper, put on a damp (clean!) towel, place some of each ingredient in (like a burrito or an egg roll), wrap (also like a burrito or egg roll).
                  Eat with sauce.

                  Yum.
                  Seshat's self-help guide:
                  1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
                  2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
                  3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
                  4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

                  "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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                  • #10
                    My local grocery has a running deal where five packages of meat of various types are a set rather than per pound price, so although they are pretty much the same ten cuts/types, I get to work in some variety.

                    My usual pattern is to cook those off immediately (the day after shopping) but lightly - rare for everything but chicken and ground beef. Usually grilled, but even I hesitate when the snow is too high.

                    Stir fries and various incarnations of burritos with chicken/beef/pork alternating. Pasta dishes with or without meat. Lots of slow cooker oriented items. VERY rarely the traditional meat-starch-green presentation.

                    I've gotten my wife off of maccas for breakfast; I've worked the sandwiches I make for her every day down to $1.66, which is pretty good. Egg, cheese, meat on bagel on English muffin.

                    The big problem in our household is that we have a big gap between prep time and dinner. We go out to the farm for a feed run for an indeterminate time EVERY day, so while I have time to do decent home cooking, it has to be something that will either hold for hours or can be 'final assembled' in a few minutes once we get back home. Any suggestions on stuff I can work into the rotation that meets that criteria?

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                    • #11
                      Quoth cindybubbles View Post
                      We don't have a set menu plan for me except that I get the same breakfast every day.
                      We do the same breakfasts and lunches 95% of the time, if we vary it will be on a weekend. Rob gets leftovers for lunch from the night before typically.
                      Quoth MoonCat View Post
                      Letchworth! I love Letchworth! Haven't there in a while, though, and never actually ate at the Glen Iris.

                      The recipes sound pretty tasty, especially the asian glazed chicken thighs. And we just bought some thighs, too....hmmm....
                      I don't get people who peel off the skin and then have to kick the flavor up because otherwise it is too bland... the fat in the skin is only nominal, and fat is what carries the flavor. Though we buy thighs instead of drumsticks as thighs tend to be cheaper.

                      We won't be getting back up to the area this fall, but we are going to hit Glen Iris for a dinner in the spring - my father in law and step monster in law are threatening to visit next spring and we are hoping to divert them to do a trip to Mom's house instead - we can pop them into Mom's room, though it has twin beds. We have no room to swing the cat let alone have house guests here.
                      Quoth CorneliaMarieRocks View Post
                      heh, I hear ya...know what's really sad? we pretty much cook the same stuff every day (like for instance, one night it'll be hamburger meat & the next night it'll be something with chicken etc.) & then one night we'll do sandwiches & then on Tues at the KFC here in Macon they have a special so that Tues are our "happy meal" night & that's pretty much it.

                      It sucks, but being's that none of us are Iron Chefs & money's been tight since we lost my grandmother so...
                      We used to do the KFC rotissery gold meal on SCA night, until they stopped doing the rotissery gold.

                      We are pretty broke with only the one income inbound. I do Amazon Mechanical Turk to get the money over on Amazon to buy Christmas and Birthday presents for people.

                      And it isn't that I am an iron chef, I simply an trained as a chef, and know how to make things from scratch that most people buy pre-made. I find having the raw materials tends to make cooking random stuff off of blogs easy as I don't have to go out and buy asfoetida, I already have some.
                      Quoth Kittish View Post
                      My 'staple' meal is my own take on stir fry. Usually serve that 3 or 4 times a week. Alfredo with chicken and broccoli, bbq pulled pork with mac n cheese, steaks with potatoes, tacos, and beef stroganoff are other regular meals just not as often.
                      We have some staples - taco-tato night is popular [taco makings shoved into a baked potato instead of taco/tortillas] with care I can get a chicken and veggie soup [chicken in half inch dice, carrots, celery, onion, potato, garlic and herbs] on the table from refrigerator in 35 minutes [it is a matter of small cut veggies, small cut chicken and cooking it at 180-200F, and NOT boiling it.] Grilled steak is also popular, we keep 4 oz steaks already marinaded in one of several different ones frozen in sous vide bags. In thhe morning, decide which flavor we want, toss them in the sous vide and in the evening toss on the grill to maillard up the outside and figure out the veggie du jour.
                      Quoth Seshat View Post
                      I love rice paper rolls!

                      My version:

                      Mint
                      Julienned carrots, cucumber, maybe other stuff.
                      Strips of chicken, or maybe a red meat. (Seafood is apparently excellent, too.)
                      That ultra-fine rice noodles, like rice vermicelli. I forget the proper name.
                      Rice paper.
                      Hoi Sin sauce, or your preferred asian sauce.

                      Cook the meat (or tofu, if you prefer), allow to cool.
                      Soak the rice noodles until soft, then drain.
                      Just before eating, soften a sheet of rice paper, put on a damp (clean!) towel, place some of each ingredient in (like a burrito or an egg roll), wrap (also like a burrito or egg roll).
                      Eat with sauce.

                      Yum.
                      Sounds nice.

                      We do wonton wrapper nights - shove them into muffin plaques, fill with assorted stuff and bake. We do a stirfry eggroll filling [typically tiny shrimp, cabbage, mung sprouts, green onion, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots] pepperoni pizza [shredded mozzarella, pizza sauce, diced pepperoni], crab rangoon [cream cheese, surimi, ginger, garlic, sriracha sauce] taco stuff, and cooked fruit fillings like for cherry, apple or blueberry pies.

                      We also do a shakshuka and have had success with baking a batch of manti then dropping them into the shakshuka to do a final simmer before serving. Much heartier than the classic serving the manti in chicken broth. You can also emulate shakshuka by taking the largest can of stewed tomatoes, chopping up a large onion and some garlic and a couple peppers of your preferred heat. Saute up the raw veggies, dump in the tomatoes and simmer the whole mess up. Correct seasoning for salt, pepper, cumin, curry powder and before serving toss in some whole raw eggs, soft farmhouse cheese [sheep, cow or goat] and in our case, manti.
                      EVE Online: 99% of the time you sit around waiting for something to happen, but that 1% of action is what hooks people like crack, you don't get interviewed by the BBC for a WoW raid.

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                      • #12
                        Quoth Seshat View Post
                        Strips of chicken, or maybe a red meat. (Seafood is apparently excellent, too.)
                        That ultra-fine rice noodles, like rice vermicelli. I forget the proper name.
                        Cellophane noodles. Although depending on the width, they can be rice vermicelli/vermicellini.

                        We do rice paper rolls at work with the kids: we soak the paper for them, but then they fill and roll themselves. They love it!

                        My plan is to just keep it simple since I'm doing these at home for myself on a Friday night (SO is out that night). So itll probably just be vegies, soy and vermicelli. I would do meat, but all I have is canned chicken and cold cuts.
                        The best professors are mad scientists! -Zoom

                        Now queen of USSR-Land...

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                        • #13
                          Quoth fireheart View Post
                          Cellophane noodles. Although depending on the width, they can be rice vermicelli/vermicellini.

                          We do rice paper rolls at work with the kids: we soak the paper for them, but then they fill and roll themselves. They love it!

                          My plan is to just keep it simple since I'm doing these at home for myself on a Friday night (SO is out that night). So itll probably just be vegies, soy and vermicelli. I would do meat, but all I have is canned chicken and cold cuts.
                          The smallest count shrimp freeze nicely and thaw very quickly if you spread them onto a cookie sheet in a single layer. You can also precook and fine dice chicken, freeze it in a single layer and store it in a zippy bag, and by fine dice I mean effectively quarter to third inch. You can get this easily by going to the deli counter and asking for the thickest slice of turkey, roast beef, ham or pork roast which should be somewhere between quarter and third inch. Take it home, get the knife out and make it into little cubes.

                          Almost anything diced can be frozen and thaw very quickly if it is done in a single layer, and a small zippy bag of diced meats does not take up much room and makes it worlds easier to get a fast meal on - if you are cooking something like an omelet, you don't really need to thaw it.
                          EVE Online: 99% of the time you sit around waiting for something to happen, but that 1% of action is what hooks people like crack, you don't get interviewed by the BBC for a WoW raid.

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