Julie Bove wrote:
> "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.

Well, if you do, try reheating them in a frying pan with olive oil and
some seasoning. They say you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's
ear, but I do think you can do a lot with leftovers, even left over
fishsticks if you are willing to try a few things.

-S-