Julie Bove wrote:
> I have a feeling that I will be the odd one out here but, do you ever
> have to change the way you are cooking things? I do simply because
> of our varying schedules. There were years when I needed to have a
> quick meal so we often ate things like pasta, or I would do a lot of
> the prep work ahead of time, like cutting up veggies. I could also
> rely on some frozen foods like potato products and fish sticks
> although we really don't eat those things often.
>
> But then things changed and we needed an instant meal because we were
> dragging ourselves home late. Sometimes during that time period, we
> ate out because it was just quicker to get the food in us than to
> drive all the way home. I used the Crock-Pots a lot during that time
> and we ate a lot of soups and stews.
>
> But now? We are all on totally different schedules. I have no
> problem ever getting my own meals. As I'm sure you all know, I am
> happy to eat a bean taco or burrito or even just a plate of assorted
> veggies. I can throw those things together in a hurry. But husband
> and daughter are coming and going at all hours of the day so trying
> to plan a hot meal that will be ready when they need to eat is often
> impossible. Once in a while I can actually time it right.
>
> So... Now I am looking for recipes so that I can make things that
> reheat well. That way I can cook things ahead of time and they can
> just nuke stuff if I am not here.
>
> But it is presenting a problem in using up some of the stuff that I
> used to make. Like frozen potatoes and fish sticks. I have some to
> use up but I need to find a day when at least one of them will be
> here for me to fix them fresh. Well, obviously not exactly fresh as
> they are frozen foods. But stuff like that does not reheat well.
>
> Anyway... Do you find that you have to keep changing your game plan
> when it comes to meals?

We rarely eat together and we eat lots of leftovers because it's faster
to warm up something that's already been cooked than it is to cook it
the first time. I work, albeit at home, through what is most people's
normal dinner time because I give private music lessons for a living.
My typical day goes from 3:30 to 9:00 PM with a break most of the time
when I don't have a student or my wife is teaching a lesson.

E.g, if you steam vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower (hope I
spelled them both correctly but I suspect not) and make a cheese sauce
for them, as long as you keep them separate and store them that way,
they store fine for a few days in the refrigerator and you can warm them
up separately, then combine and eat and, at least in my opinion, they
taste fine.

Likewise, we find the hamburgers, sausages, even the lowly hot dog all
store fine in the refrigerator and reheat well enough. We'll cook up
ground beef and save it that way, to be combined optionally with tomato
sauce and turned into a Sloppy Joe.

Typically, we reheat in the microwave and add a bit of water and/or oil
and/or seasoning when reheating.

I don't think food that started out in life as prepared and frozen
reheats as well - it wasn't as good to start with so it will be that
much less good as a leftover. I think we get by with leftovers a lot
because we start with as much that's fresh and homemade as we can.
We'll grill vegetables and then save them - they are also still good
tasting a few days later. Likewise, when we make carmelized onions, we
make much more than we need and store the rest.

If I was starting with leftover frozen food, like fishsticks, I'd reheat
by sauteeing them in oil with garlic - would give them more flavor than
simply reheating them in the microwave. I've done this one, actually.
Likewise, sometimes, if we have leftover sausage, we turn it into a
stir-fry by cutting it up and sauteeing it in oil and seasonings - more
surface area to get browne, and we have a rice cooker which is almost as
easy as reheating leftovers, so we'll make some rice, or use leftover
rice if we have it, and toss the into the skillet, seasonng with some
sort of salty, soy sauce or similar plus rice wine vinegar, salt and
pepper. Comes out great and everyone here likes it. It's sort of
reheating and sort of a new dish based on leftovers.

We use these glass containers we buy at the grocery store with plastic
lids that snap into place. They seem to do a good job at keeping food
fresh, much better than old-fastioned tupperware or similar, they're
reusable, and both the container and the lid can go in the dishwasher.

-S-