Tommy Joe wrote:
>
>
>
> Thanks for that. I have an 80 year old female friend who lives in
> a not so nice assisted living place and she can't afford better. I
> might wind up there myself one day, but I'm only 62 and have a feeling
> I'll probably be dead before I need the services of such a place.
> Anyway, I don't see why some people are so opposed to creating the
> base, as you put it, or as I interpreted it. Sure, like beans for
> example. You make them and there they sit in the fridge for a long
> time. You can put anything in them. Almost. You can broil meat and
> add it one day, another eat it meatless or with cheese. You can have
> fragile veggies in the fridge that cook quick and can be thrown in to
> cook with the beans while they are being reheated. I used that as an
> example. But setting the base and that altering a bit each day is not
> only creative but also makes sense financially and for saving time.
> And I wouldn't do it if it wasn't good. That's first and foremost.
>
> Tommy Joe

I completely agree, i like to do the Italian style beans with just
enough stock to cover so that when they are done cooking the cooking
liquid is absorbed & all you have is cooked beans and not a lot of extra
broth.

I can then turn the cooked beans into a pate or spread, highly seasoned,
for bread, or use them in soup or salad or some other way. I
particularly like the 'black eyed peas' this way.

Your comments about cooking the meats separately is something i have
only come to recently, i accidentally made a vegetarian soup a month or
so ago , i just forgot to put any meat in it. And i was shocked! just
shocked at how much better the vegetarian soup tasted, all the flavors
of the herbs & spices & veggies came through in the finished soup so
very strongly, so much more flavorful than if i had, as usual, cooked
the meat with the veggies.

I have now taken to making the meat & soup separately and only add the
cooked meat as i warm up the soup.

And just FYI in case you have not already noticed it, there are 'some
people' here who harshly criticize any and everything. Its an
unmoderated newsgroup phenomena, we have our share of anti social
curmudgeons here, one learns to ignore them after a while

--
Mr. Joseph Littleshoes Esq.

Domine, dirige nos.
Let the games begin!
http://www.dancingmice.net/Karn%20Evil%209.mp3