"Steve Freides" > wrote in message
...
> 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-

I am hoping to be able to do the fishsticks tonight although at present
nobody is home but me and not sure when they will be. Need to use up the
coleslaw.