A Little of this a Little of that

[HeidiE]

We have been snowed in recently and I started running out of healthy options to make wonderful dinners....and honestly I had a bad couple of days of eating ...I made and ate flour tortillas ....not a pretty sight and I will not relive it for you ..but seriously speaking I am more convinced than ever that this has nothing to do with my "willpower" ...white flour and sugar send me flying into a maniac eating frenzy ..I am not ashamed or embarssed ..because dammnit I can not help it when it happens my brain is consumed by "NEED MORE NOW!!!"

That said I thought it would be of mutual benefit to talk about creations we have all come up with ..when we just had a little bit of this and a little bit of that around the house...how can we do it ..with little money or resources or ablity to get to a store and buy stuff!!!!

Like what did you do when the power was out and your food was thawing? or what would you do in case it does happen?

what would or do you do at the end of the pay period when you have four things to eat in the house....

and what if you just do not want to go anywhere ...feel lousy and do not want to think?

think about it ..and please share your ideas


PS I must say my husband and I did really well with each other in this isolation ..until I made those blasted toritillas ...then we got some SERIOUS cabin fever and started biting each others head off!!! go figure on that one huh???

[HeidiE]

Re: A Little of this a Little of that

here are a couple of HEALTHY!!! dishes I came up with that worked out really well with a little bit of this and a little bit of that

what I had

I roasted together some onions a diakon radish in some canola oil until they were golden brown ..then tossed in some chopped up left over roast beef and roasted that until was kind of crispy brown ...then I tossed in some kim chee ...served ...was really good!!!

another dish I made was
roasted diced jicama and carrots with lots of garlic until golden brown added some leftover roasted pork loin ..red chile powder cooked a bit longer...and then before serving I added grated jalepeno jack green salsa and sour cream YUMMMMMM!!!

I made curry twice ...one Indian and one Thai.....

then I made the toritillas I am so glad I could get out of the house yesterday and today I get to go produce shopping again!!!!

[sallyseachange]

Re: A Little of this a Little of that

I got nabbed the other day at the house we don't live in, by hub, to help rake the branches of pruned olive trees. It got late (for lunch) and I hadn't done any shopping except go to the butchers for sausages (Italian sausages are breadless). Hub had brought bread, cheese and tomatoes for himself, thinking he'd be alone.

Well... we have to make a bonfire to burn the olive cuttings, so we just grilled sausages outside and hub ate them between toasted bread slices; I had them by themselves. Side dish was...no prizes for guessing ... tomatoes!

It was total bliss!

[HeidiE]

Re: A Little of this a Little of that

Sally your life sounds so romantic and wonderful!!!!

we did eat all our meals on the floor by the fireplace.and still are because it was so nice and why not if we can? .that is so wonderful to do I have to say ..and we even put a plate of cheese by the fire for breakfast and scooped it onto crispy radishes that was wonderful....

speaking of ...I am going to go make him some breakfast now ..we both of the day off and there is still some snow on the ground

[Qjakal]

Re: A Little of this a Little of that

Snow is nice stuff...in small doses. I was an army brat so we lived in quite a few cold spots . Watertown, Amsterdam, Oswego and related areas in the Southern Tier. HUGE snow belt...massive amounts at times and subzero temps for months. Up by the lake was the worst.

Anyway, we grew up with long periods of enforced indoor time and some uncertainty about heat and our next meal. After college I ended up in Buffalo, so it was more of the same.

Basically I decided to always have a "snow plan" and I expand on it as resources allow. At this house I have a 12K generator fueled by a propane gas submarine of sufficient size to keep us going for a month or so. I installed a backup freezer and fridge in the garage. I expanded our pantry and laid in emergency supplies of canned goods and water as well.

I wait for sales on soup. And then I buy it in cases. I rotate it and have enough for extended periods. It's kind of an all purpose food,imo. Most cans have less than 200 calories and you can add water to stretch it enough for a filling meal/snack. With the meat and fruit in the freezer I'd say I could go 3-6 months without skipping a beat. I also stock protein bars and shakes enough to go another 3 months if needed (man, THAT would be some winter...lol). I have canned vegetables as well as frozen but it would have to be fairly desperate times before I'd open those up! Splenda stores as well as sugar free syrup in the unbreakable containers. Coffee and lots of it!

Behind all that I have a few acres of trees for fuel and more powdered stores as well as seeds galore. Lot of flaxmeal so I can stay away from flour. It keeps very well. Freezes incredibly well!

Yeah, it sounds like I'm expecting disaster doesn't it? Not really, but I believe in being prepared and I respect snow and cold weather. I also work with computers at home so the generator is necessary to stay in business, so to speak. I have a nice batch of recipes and can always get more if needed (I'm still looking for something I like with eggplant...which freezes well,btw) Soup is my favorite as it can be modified in SO many ways!

Hope your winter ends soon and if not all ADBB members are welcome here in true disasters!

Q

[sallyseachange]

Re: A Little of this a Little of that

Heidi... your life sounds just as romantic to me!!! Lol! And... aren't fireplaces just wonderful? I'd be lost without mine!

Qjakal... love your 'snow plan'. You really live the Girl Guide (do you call them that in the States??) motto: "Be Prepared!". Hope you don't get that disaster winter though!

[julirama723]

Re: A Little of this a Little of that

As for power going out, that's a tough one! It's so cold where I'm at, we could just take all the stuff and put it on the porch and it would be fine!

As for running out of food/money...These are things I buy that are CHEAP that can make cheap meals.

head lettuce, tomato, sour cream, ground beef, cheese: taco salad
eggs (omelets, egg drop soup, mock danish, flax wraps)
canned chinese veggies on sale: I buy water chesnuts, snow peas, bamboo shoots--stir-fry is SO easy and quick, if you've got meat, add meat, if not, serve with egg drop soup for protein.
nuts--not the cheapest, but as far as portions, a bag is 16 portions! Have them as snacks, put on your salads, grind into flour, etc.

I buy stuff on sale--bricks of tillamook cheese, butter, bacon, cream cheese--stuff I use all the time. I buy large quantitites of it because I know it will keep for a long time in my fridge.

Also--buy frozen veggies if money is an issue. They NEVER go bad as long as they're frozen! Buy canned pumpkin and keep it in your cupboard. Tuna and chicken are cheap too, in a can.

Also, a lot of times for dinner, my bf and I "forage," meaning we eat leftovers and sort of clean up the kitchen by eating the food. On a forage night, I might have an omelet and some pumpkin. Or a large salad with pecans. Or pepperoni, mozz, green pepper.

[HeidiE]

Re: A Little of this a Little of that

this post makes me want to go make naked snow angels

Snow is nice stuff...in small doses. I was an army brat so we lived in quite a few cold spots . Watertown, Amsterdam, Oswego and related areas in the Southern Tier. HUGE snow belt...massive amounts at times and subzero temps for months. Up by the lake was the worst.

Anyway, we grew up with long periods of enforced indoor time and some uncertainty about heat and our next meal. After college I ended up in Buffalo, so it was more of the same.

Basically I decided to always have a "snow plan" and I expand on it as resources allow. At this house I have a 12K generator fueled by a propane gas submarine of sufficient size to keep us going for a month or so. I installed a backup freezer and fridge in the garage. I expanded our pantry and laid in emergency supplies of canned goods and water as well.

I wait for sales on soup. And then I buy it in cases. I rotate it and have enough for extended periods. It's kind of an all purpose food,imo. Most cans have less than 200 calories and you can add water to stretch it enough for a filling meal/snack. With the meat and fruit in the freezer I'd say I could go 3-6 months without skipping a beat. I also stock protein bars and shakes enough to go another 3 months if needed (man, THAT would be some winter...lol). I have canned vegetables as well as frozen but it would have to be fairly desperate times before I'd open those up! Splenda stores as well as sugar free syrup in the unbreakable containers. Coffee and lots of it!

Behind all that I have a few acres of trees for fuel and more powdered stores as well as seeds galore. Lot of flaxmeal so I can stay away from flour. It keeps very well. Freezes incredibly well!

Yeah, it sounds like I'm expecting disaster doesn't it? Not really, but I believe in being prepared and I respect snow and cold weather. I also work with computers at home so the generator is necessary to stay in business, so to speak. I have a nice batch of recipes and can always get more if needed (I'm still looking for something I like with eggplant...which freezes well,btw) Soup is my favorite as it can be modified in SO many ways!

Hope your winter ends soon and if not all ADBB members are welcome here in true disasters!

Q