Now that I am no longer with AT&T, they sent me a phone, the free one they said they sent in November. Thanks, AT&T (sarcasm).
I have grass-fed beef, thinly cut pork chops, and maybe chicken thawing. I know I am making meatloaf. I want to cook the pork chops in sauce my kids were wild about. If there is chicken, it will be baked with carrots, onions and potatoes. The last time I cooked three meats in one day, it was just as easy as cooking one meat. Portions of all those are in the freezer. I will do the same today.
Yesterday, we went out for one thing at one store and went nowhere else. However, something came to us in the form of a popup Tupperware stand in a grocery parking lot. The woman gladly brought the items to my car for us to examine. I looked at cannisters (tops did not appear to be tight enough); spaghetti holders (at $10 each, I would need ten of those); short, very fat cannisters (too weird); a pitcher and glasses and tray (not interested, just wondering); a divided tray (I will take it).
Tommy gladly fixes his own salad from items in the refrigerator. I can cut bell peppers and there are usually shredded carrots or baby carrots and grape tomatoes. I prepare zucchini and squash for salads. But, he misses some things and must take out ten containers to make a salad some days. We had the tray in the car and he was looking with interest, holding it. That is a good sign.
If he thought it was a waste, he would have been uninterested or not talking about it. I asked him if he thought this would help him get salad fixings out. He said it would. So, I had enough cash to buy the first piece of Tupperware I have bought in about 6 or more years. I was tired and did not wash it yesterday, but today I will have it ready for use and loaded. I have cut thin gs up for him and he forgot about the food, could not find it, or probably became tired of unloading the items.
There are six divisions and a center part that has a covered container. In the summer I can slice or dice tomatoes for the center container. I think more produce will consumed and less wasted.
I have my eye on a cheap container for spaghetti, but once filled, I cannot lift it. So, it would be relegated to valuable countertop real estate. So, I procrastinate. I had the spaghetti in a flat airtight container and could not lift that. So, I put spaghetti into gallon storage bags. I still cannot lift it from a shelf safely. Now, I just put a few packages of the Ronco in a storage bag. It works for me.
Have you seen the huge jars that Cheese Balls, like cheese puffs come in at a Big Box store? That is what I want, but who wants to eat all these puffy cheese balls? Well, I probably could and just die! Since I cannot lift it full of spaghetti, I won't even try to find one that is empty. Speaking of spaghetti, prices have risen on my precipitously on my beloved Ronco.
Okay, I am looking forward to 78F today and 80F for two days. I love this. What are you doing this Friday or plan to do? Do you ever thaw out several meats at once to cook and have ready to eat?
Curious - how do you manage to lift a pot of noodles to drain, etc, when cooking the meals? That must be very frustrating to deal with. We had spaghetti the last 2 nights. Dh likes it now that I use chicken instead of hamburger meat in the sauce.
ReplyDeleteOne,
DeleteI never cook more than 7 oz of noodles. I try to use both hands. Or, I call Tommy to pour the water into the colander. It is not only frustrating but scary. I won't use ground poultry, but I wanted to chop chicken breasts into the sauce. Tommy was grossed out. I have no idea why!
I just chop up the chicken breast and cook them with sauteed onions and then add to the sauce.
DeleteOne,
DeleteThat is what I would do. I hate ground poultry. If I make it with chicken, he will eat it and not grumble.
I have a couple of pots that came with a matching colander that fits inside. I cook pasta in that. When the pasta is done, I just have to lift out the colander part of the pan. I let the main pot cool before I dump the water. I have been saved a number of steam burns this way.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have taken out different meats to thaw at the same time. I try to batch cook for the freezer. This week it was pepper steak, chicken pot pie and lasagna. I am in the kitchen for afternoon but I cook and have lots of choices in the freezer. I can just go pull out something and make a salad to go with. I don't mind cooking but I hate doing the dishes. This way, I have great food available without a big clean up every day. For some reason the chopped chicken breast in spaghetti does not sound good to me. I do make a chicken parmesan and serve that with spaghetti. I know it does not make sense. Some things (in my mind) have to be cooked a certain way.
There is one pasta dish I do with chicken. I cut the chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Season and the saute until done. Remove chicken from pan, add a little olive oil, then saute broccoli, sliced mushrooms, bell peppers, onion and squash. Return chicken to the pan and add jarred or homemade alfredo sauce. Serve over fettucine noodles. I have not tried to freeze this. I have substituted shrimp for the chicken and it was good also.
Texas,
DeleteI had one of those in my house that was destroyed. I miss it. Cooking the three meats was so much easier in one afternoon than going in the kitchen three times during the week. Some of the chicken is in the freezer. I have had sandwiches and some over salad. Tommy had some with vegetables and with salad.
For lunch today, he had one sausage for a sandwich on one slice of bread.
The ground beef has been for a taco salad for him twice and spaghetti twice for me.
We still have food left and vegetables, too.
I agree that some things should be one way...lol. I just thought it might be okay since he loves chicken parmesan.
I wanted to tell you to go to a shop that sells oriental products.
ReplyDeleteThey sell a strainer on o handle,I think it's called a spider? I have psoriatic arthritis and can not lift pots.
I cook the pasta and scoop it out of the pot and into a bowl. No lifting heavy pots of hot pasta. This way you can let the water cool before pouring it out.
So much easier on your poor hands.
Plus safer.
savannah,
DeleteI have a huge plastic spoon that will work, almost. I was looking at one of those in a grocery store. I do have to use something. After that first response, I thought I should have mentioned the spoon. I have heard that psoriatic arthritis is very painful.
Have you ever tried compression gloves? They have some at CVS with velcro wrist fasteners that might help.
ReplyDeleteAnne,
DeleteI was going to get something like that, but then my hands seemed okay. NOW, I suppose I will go ahead and do it. Thanks for reminding me.
I would eat all those puffy cheese balls if I had no conscience! They were a favored snack of me and my kids back in the day.
ReplyDeleteI also collected the containers for storage. I have dozens of random cookie cutters in one.
When the kids were young, and prone to carsickness
(never when I drove, only when my husband drove because he keeps lifting his foot on and off the gas pedal instead of gently easing it up and down, and so jerks the car around like a yo-yo),
we used those barrels for emergency car sickness. I dubbed them "Barf Barrels". They have a nice wide mouth for ease of use, plus they have a tight, snap-on lid to contain the mess with zero chance of leakage or smell. Saved more than one trip from disaster!