aryqalyn's Profile
Should I Join Costco?
It was a while back, but I believe I compared name brand to the same name brand. Toilet paper is definitely about more than the price and the quality of the Kirkland's TP was an unknown factor at the time.
Should I Join Costco?
Great optical department, but as someone said some states require certain things to be oen to the public - In VA I have to be a member for optical but can get Rx without a membership.
They really seem to have a little something for everyone. I would recommend going with a notepad (they check cards, but just let them know you are considering joining and want to have a look) and jot down what you would be interested in buying. If you can't tell whether it is a good deal, put down quantity and price and do a comparison next time you are at the grocrey. I was surprised to find that the toilet paper price wasn't any better than the local Walmart, but I found enough "pros" for me to shell out the $50.
A bit past expired
I was in a bit of a rush in the grocery yesterday. In addition to my usual grocery items, I was looking for a bit of meat that could be cooked quickly to eat alongside some leftover lentil soup. I was thrilled to find some pre-cooked chicken sausage (in a brand usually out of my price range) on "manager's special". It said "use or freeze by 3/9/09" so I put it in the cart thinking it was perfect since it expired that day and I was using it that day anyway. It wasn't until I go home that I realized that yesterday was 3/10 - one day beyond expiration. It looked and smelled fine, so I ate one anyway with no ill effect and froze the rest.
My questions are:
1) Should the grocery store still be selling these, or is it an oversight?
2) If not, should I call them and let them know so they can remove them from the shelf.
I'm not looking for a refund or anything, just wondering if I ought to give them an FYI in case there is an under-trained employee or a potential liability for them.
Utter fail (need help)
You might find it easier to cook your chicken without burning in the oven.
If you put it in the pan and it seems like the outside is cooking too fast for the inside to get done, I typically lower the heat and put on the lid for a little while. Better to loose the crispy sear than to have an inedible dinner.
Cooking takes practice. Don't get discouraged.
Best pancakes ever?
I want to make a Valentine's breakfast for my boyfriend and his son (8yrs old). My boyfriend will be off his low carb diet for the day, so he requested pancakes. I wanted to make something a little more special than my typical Betty Crocker Cookbook recipe. Any suggestions? The little one is pretty picky, but I could always make a plain batch for him if he doesn't like the good ones :)
Also, if anyone has a good breakfast potato recipe, that would be wonderful.
Strange Holiday Food Gifts
Not so strange, but lazy I suppose. My boyfriend received a box of cordial cherries (the kind that run a couple of bucks from the mass retailers and drug stores around the holidays) that had expired the PRIOR November. As in 13 months before.
Deviled eggs- getting the shells off?
Cool the eggs immediately in ice water when they are done cooking. If you let them cool slowly, they will stick.
I've been told that if you dunk the cold eggs in very hot water for a few seconds just before you try to peel them, that the shell should loosen up a little (expands from the heat), although I don't know if that is true.
Foodie trying to get my toddler interested in vegetables...need help!
This is what my parents did with my brother and I. There was always a meat, a starch, and a veggie on the table. I wasnt a very picky eater, but my brother spent many nights where his dinner was nothing but one of the sides. He has grown up just fine, although I still catch him sneaking his veggies onto his girlfriend's plate on holidays.
Father's Day Food Books??
I struggle every year with what to buy my dad for Father's Day, because if he already knows he wants it, chances are he's already bought it. Now, in the 11th hour, I remembered how much he enjoys his "Food Lover's Companion" and thought he might like a food or food science book. Any suggestions? Both "Food: The History of Taste" and "What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained " look interesting to me. Any comments on either of these books?
I'm not looking for cookbooks - my mom does nearly all the cooking in their house.
Maggie Moo's vs. Cold Stone
I've tried both and Maggie Moo's is better BUT CSC has had their no-sugar-added flavor every time I've gone and MM's has been hit or miss. If you have someone sensitive to sugar in your party, call first.
Splenda
I can't have sugar and use Splenda fairly often. The taste doesn't bother me at all, but it may well be because I am accostomed to it.
I agree with the earlier poster that said splenda is not as good in things like cakes and cookies. It does not provide volume or moisture like sugar. The splenda website suggests adding milk powder and baking powder (or soda, can't remember offhand). I find that the milk powder suggestion does help in baking, but that the additional leavening agent adds too much of a salty taste.
You would be best sticking to fruit pies, cheesecakes, scones, etc. I also agree with the philosophy to use a recipe that uses less sweetener overall.
Steer clear of the brown sugar blend for people who CAN'T have sugar - it is part real brown sugar and part splenda.
Bulk cooking, then freezing ideas?
I do this to take for lunch at work, as well as eat for dinner. My best results are always with things that have a soup/stew consistency, whether intended to eat plain (like your stew) or to pour over rice or noodles. I also like to make all dishes that fit into the same size container, for ease of stacking in my tiny apartment-size freezer.
-Stroganoff
-Chili
-White chili
-Pork and sauerkraut, although to be fair mine is more like sauerkraut with pork
-Curries
-15 bean soup
-Stew of every variety - I am making Brunswick tomorrow, in fact
-Cabbage roll casserole
-Mock shepherd's pie: I stir the meat mixture and veggies together, put individual serving amounts into containers, then top with mashed potatoes. It is oversimplified, but it works for me.
I've tried to do up little servings of baked chicken with veggies and things like that and their freezer life isn't as good.
I've been wanting to do enchiladas, but I am concerned about either the tortillas getting freezer burnt on the edges (as the OP mentioned). I think I am going to try making an "enchilada casserole" by cutting chunks of tortilla and submerging them in the "filling," but I am not getting my hopes up. I suspect the sauce taste will be overbearing or the tortillas will disintegrate too much.
Good luck :)
Favorite Corn Dish
Cut off the cob, tossed with red onion, basil, oil & vinegar, and S&P and served chilled.
I ate the entire pizza, and I bet you have too (ladies included)
I'm not a big eater at all. If I order delivery or eat pizza out, I can only squeeze in a slice or two. Frozen? It just disappears! The only whole one I've eaten frozen though was the thin and crispy CPK with black olives and eggplant. Delish!
Cocktail Party Appetizers
I have seen a couple of appetizer recipes posted recently that call for figs and I am curious...do you buy these in your regular grocery store? I can rarely find dried figs, let alone fresh ones.
Pasta salad help
I like to make Greek- or Italian-style pasta salad using whatever looks nice on the olive bar plus pasta and fresh diced tomato and maybe green pepper, then feta and a nice Greek vinaigrette if my finds were more "Greek" or parm or asiago and my fave Italian dressing if my finds were more "Italian".
My mom makes a good mayo based pasta salad using approx 1/2 mayo and 1/2 ranch dressing, with a dash of creamy horseradish sauce, celery, onion, sometimes fresh green peas, hard boiled egg, and imitation crab. I know a lot of people hate hate HATE imitation crab, so shrimp are good instead if you are one of them.
I can't stomach most store bought pasta salads or potato salads - sweet mayo based dressing and sweet pickles...ick! - but I love homemade.
$10 meal for four
Shepherd's Pie (I make mine crustless but flour etc would be cheap enough)
Pork and Sauerkraut w/ Onions and Apples
Pancakes with fruit topping and eggs
same or different? (weight loss)
I agree that this is psychological.
I have no problem eating the same foods over and over. I have the same breakfast and afternoon snack every day. It makes it easy to keep track of my calories, etc when I am eating something familiar. I do keep my eyes and ears open for new options, though. If I come across something that is as good or better than something I am currently using, I know I have a new option in case I get bored.
As another poster said, calories in - calories out = weight lost/gained. It is really a matter of finding what works for you. Figure out which makes you want to cheat more: getting bored from eating the same foods consistently, or temptation from having a variety of foods at hand.
Farmer's Markets in Hampton Roads??
I grew up in northern Virginia and loved to go to the farmer's market with my parents during the summer. The farmers would pull up to the local park and set up stands next to their trucks. There was lots of fresh produce, ripe and inexpensive, and homemade goodies. The Farmer's Market here in Virginia Beach was a huge disappointment. I found it hard to believe that the sellers were "farmers" rather than "distributors. "I only went once, so maybe I didn't give it a fair shot, but I wasn't impressed by price, variety, or freshness. Did I just have a bad experience and they need another shot? Is there someplace else in the area that has more of the atmosphere I am looking for?
VA food products - Rowena's
I can't have sugar either and I enjoy Rowena's. They generally have samples out in the gift shop in Norfolk, so if you can make it in there to taste, that would be your best bet.
As with pretty much all sugar free products, its not quite as good as the real thing. My recommendation is to get a SF curd to go with whatever SF pound cake you choose. I got my father a lemon lb cake with lemon curd as a gift and they cake with a little curd on the side went quick, with the leftover curd remaining as a staple on the breakfast table for english muffins, etc until it ran out.
Meals that freeze well
I like to make a big pot of something fairly healthy on the weekend and freeze it in individual servings so that I can bring it to work for lunch throughout the following week. I am starting to run out of ideas. Any suggestions?
home cooking basics everyone should know
A "go-to" cookbook would be helpful, something that has all the basics. My mom got me a Betty Crocker cookbook when I moved away from home and it has the basics - pancakes, biscuits, a chart of how long to cook each veggie by a variety of methods, etc.
How about copying down some of the easiest of your favorite recipes to start? They are probably familiar to him, and if he hits a snag you are just a phone call away.
A crockpot is great, although I have not found a great crockpot cookbook.
Pantry items I always keep on hand:
powdered or canned milk
Canned tomatoes - diced and crushed
Dry pasta
Rice
Broth
Canned beans
Low Calorie Snacks
Or the lazy version - coleslaw mix with some store bought light asian sesame dressing. Not as tasty for sure, but quick.
Corn is a higher in cals than most veggies, but since summer is coming - leftover corn on the cob sliced off and tossed with apple cider vinegar, red onion, a few drops of olive oil, S&P and basil
Chopped Pork - Food Processor??
Yeah, I was thinking my alternative would be to put it covered in a low oven until warm enough to pull. Was hoping for something quicker since it is a work night and I don't want to keep it in the fridge any longer. And I know if I freeze it whole, it will never be eaten.
Good recipes using chicken breasts
Rachael Ray has a good recipe that (according to her) is similar to Cassoulet, but I can't remember what she calls it for you to look up the original recipe, but here is the recipe with my changes:
1 package bulk Italian hot sausage
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced
2 carrots, sliced
3 to 4 ribs celery from the heart, thinly sliced
1 fresh bay leaf
2 (15-ounce) cans white cannellini beans
1/2 tsp sage
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock
Crumble and brown the Italian sausage. Add chicken and brown a couple of minutes, then add veggies and bay leaf, salt and pepper and cook 7 to 8 minutes more to soften veggies. Add beans (with a little of the liquid), sage, wine and stock and simmer until everything is tender and cooked through. Thicken as desired with cornstarch or leave "soupy." Rachael tops with buttered french bread crumbs and finishes it in the oven. I didn't try this as I felt it was pushing it a bit calorie-wise, but I bet it would be great.
My other fave for chicken is to pour a bottle of BBQ sauce over top, cover with foil and bake until tender, then remove the foil, baste and return to oven until the top is a little carmelized.
Low Calorie Snacks
One of the veggie companies (Green Giant I think) now sells single serve frozen veggies. I am partial to the broccoli with cheese sauce. Also for low cal snacks I enjoy:
-2% Cracker Barrel Sharp Cheddar 1 oz sticks (I need single serve packaging for portion control, but it would be a lot cheaper to buy a bar and cut it up)
-TLC granola bars
-Light yogurt
-Single serving bags of Light microwave popcorn
-Apples
-Pineapple (fresh or canned in juice with no sugar added)
-Special K Protein Plus or Fiber One
-Hard boiled egg
A nice cup of homemade soup or a yogurt parfait is wonderful when I have a day that I can make several ahead of time. Otherwise, I come home from work lazy and my best intentions go out the window.
Let's talk iced tea
I usually make it the same way my mom did - 5 lipton regular size tea bags in a little boiling water for 5 minutes, then pour into a 2 liter glass pitcher, add water and chill in the fridge.
Any lightly fruit flavored tea bags (apricot and mango are my favorites) make a lovely substitute. If I use a flavored tea bag with a strong flavor (like mint), I just sub out 2 - 3 of the lipton bags for the flavored ones instead of all of them.
I used to have a mint plant and would add some fresh mint. I remember it was really good, but I tried both steeping the mint leaves with the tea bags and adding them to the cooled tea and I can't remember which way yielded the better results.
Chopped Pork - Food Processor??
Several large pork roasts were purchased and cooked in a smoker during our vacation. Unfortunately, some people had to unexpectedly leave early, so we ended up with a lot of leftovers. The original plan was to pull the meat, but the task is a little daunting. I am considering other applications, but I was wondering, has anyone had good results chopping already cooked meat in the food processor? I just got mind for Christmas and haven't gotten much practice with it yet. Don't want to end up with baby food.
Diabetic/Sugar Free Cocktails??
Mojitos was a great idea. I have made these before at home and I love them. Don't know how they slipped my mind! I decided to go with something a little lower maintenence though and mixed crystal light lemonade with some raspberry vodka. It was perfect. The liquor store were we stopped for supplies had sample size bottles of a watermelon flavor and that combined with the lemonade was super summery. I think I see some experimentation in my future.
I am excited to try the fresca/bay leaf combo - I can sit here and imagine the flavor of each individually, but I can't imagine what they will be like together.
Thanks for everyone's help!
