I've been sick this week so I haven't been doing much cooking... but I
decided to make dinner today. I bought groceries today so we had some
lovely fresh baby chickens and I started cutting one of them up to
make soup - but then I realised it was 5.30 and my soup wasn't even on
the stove! It wouldn't be ready till about 9! I put that on anyway,
and then I shoved the other chicken into the oven at 400F for an hour
to roast, with half a lemon and a bunch of fresh parsley stuffed into
it.

While it was roasting I boiled up some chopped potatoes and I had a go
at making a German potato salad. I didn't really like it - it was too
sweet for me - but DH said it was good enough to have seconds. I think
I picked the wrong recipe - this one had some flour in it to thicken
the dressing and it turned into a gloopy mess! I'll try it again soon
with another recipe and see if it comes out better.

The stock came out wonderful, so tomorrow I'll make soup. I think I'll
use the andouille sausage that's lurking in the fridge and make gumbo.
We've got more than enough cooked chicken now!

PS. As part of my 'waste less food' campaign, I put the chicken necks
and the back of the one I cut up into a ziplock baggy in the freezer
to use another time. I usually toss them in the trash because I'm too
lazy to make stock... but no more. Homemade tastes soooooo much better
than bought, and costs sooooo much less!

Kajikit said...

> I've been sick this week so I haven't been doing much cooking... but I
> decided to make dinner today. I bought groceries today so we had some
> lovely fresh baby chickens and I started cutting one of them up to
> make soup - but then I realised it was 5.30 and my soup wasn't even on
> the stove! It wouldn't be ready till about 9! I put that on anyway,
> and then I shoved the other chicken into the oven at 400F for an hour
> to roast, with half a lemon and a bunch of fresh parsley stuffed into
> it.
>
> While it was roasting I boiled up some chopped potatoes and I had a go
> at making a German potato salad. I didn't really like it - it was too
> sweet for me - but DH said it was good enough to have seconds. I think
> I picked the wrong recipe - this one had some flour in it to thicken
> the dressing and it turned into a gloopy mess! I'll try it again soon
> with another recipe and see if it comes out better.
>
> The stock came out wonderful, so tomorrow I'll make soup. I think I'll
> use the andouille sausage that's lurking in the fridge and make gumbo.
> We've got more than enough cooked chicken now!
>
> PS. As part of my 'waste less food' campaign, I put the chicken necks
> and the back of the one I cut up into a ziplock baggy in the freezer
> to use another time. I usually toss them in the trash because I'm too
> lazy to make stock... but no more. Homemade tastes soooooo much better
> than bought, and costs sooooo much less!


Kajikit,

You're not supposed to post dinner escapades after we're all stuffed after
dinner!

Make it a breakfast post... TO GET US OUT OF BED!

Best,

Andy
Eats dinner for breakfast!

Kajikit wrote:

> PS. As part of my 'waste less food' campaign, I put the chicken necks
> and the back of the one I cut up into a ziplock baggy in the freezer
> to use another time. I usually toss them in the trash because I'm too
> lazy to make stock... but no more. Homemade tastes soooooo much better
> than bought, and costs sooooo much less!

Good for you! I do the same with the extra chicken bits. I also save the
rinds from the hard cheeses like Parmesan and Grana in the freezer. It
makes a wonderful addition to a simmering pot of beans.

I'm trying to use what we have without making as many trips to the store
as I used to. We have so much meat in the freezer from buying when it's
on sale so I've been pulling a "Christine D" and using up everything
thing I can before buying anymore meat. Tonight I roasted a 10 lb.
turkey. Dinner was pseudo-Thanksgiving style in that I did make a
dressing and gravy, but the potatoes were boiled reds and I served
steamed broccoli. No pumpkin pie. Well, no dessert for that matter.

Now I have a turkey stock going with the carcass and giblets. I love the
way the house smells when stock is on.

--Lin

"Kajikit" wrote

> lovely fresh baby chickens and I started cutting one of them up to
> make soup - but then I realised it was 5.30 and my soup wasn't even on
> the stove! It wouldn't be ready till about 9! I put that one away,

Snicker, done that a few times! (corrected a typo above, hope you don't
mind)

> and then I shoved the other chicken into the oven at 400F for an hour
> to roast, with half a lemon and a bunch of fresh parsley stuffed into
> it.

Sounds good!

> While it was roasting I boiled up some chopped potatoes and I had a go
> at making a German potato salad. I didn't really like it - it was too
> sweet for me - but DH said it was good enough to have seconds. I think

I dislike the sweet ones too.

> The stock came out wonderful, so tomorrow I'll make soup. I think I'll
> use the andouille sausage that's lurking in the fridge and make gumbo.
> We've got more than enough cooked chicken now!

Thats the ticket! Got file' powder perchance? Often sold in the seafood
section here if not the spice section. It's a dried ground sasafrass I
gather. I shipped some to PeterL a bit ago but will take another 2 months
to get there I think (he's 1/2 a world away and we took the slow route to
save money).

> PS. As part of my 'waste less food' campaign, I put the chicken necks
> and the back of the one I cut up into a ziplock baggy in the freezer
> to use another time. I usually toss them in the trash because I'm too
> lazy to make stock... but no more. Homemade tastes soooooo much better
> than bought, and costs sooooo much less!

Save the rest of the chicken carcass next time too! Yup, the bones and
stuff.

There are 2 kinds of basic 'stock' and without getting too fancy about it,
you have a meat stock mostly there. Thats good and can be very deeply
flavored but if you also add bones, it will gel when chilled and be
'consomme'.

When ready, if you want more *simple* ideas on how to do it, let me know.
Meantime, if you have freezer space, setup a second and possibly a 3rd
freezer bag which you'll add vegetable peelings to. That goes in the stock
as well.

Bag 1- bones and meat scraps

Bag 2- Potato peelings (I separate these as not all stocks take to potato),
broccoli stems if you dont normally eat them (tale ends if you just mince
those off), woody mushroom stems (Shiitake etc).

Bag 3- onion skins (include washed root ends), carrot peelings and ends,
squash ends, lettuce root portion, cabbage root portion, just about
anything in here.

Most of my stocks are either bag 1, or 1 and 3. Sometimes, they are bag 2
and 3 for a vegetable stock (grin).

I put all this in my cotton (washable) 'cooking bags' so I can lift them out
easily. These bags are just the 'delicate laundry' sorts with an open end
you are supposed to pin closed but i tie lightly with a cotton kitchen
twine. Dump in crockpot (slow cooker) with water (and whatever spices you
like) and let it develop about 24 hours on low. Remove and empty bags
(place in laundry after a good rinsing in hot water) then defat the stock in
the fridge for a bit. Separate stock to usable portions and freeze.

It took longer to type this than it takes to make it ;-)

Kajikit wrote:
[snip]
> While it was roasting I boiled up some chopped potatoes and I had a go
> at making a German potato salad. I didn't really like it - it was too
> sweet for me - but DH said it was good enough to have seconds. I think
> I picked the wrong recipe - this one had some flour in it to thicken
> the dressing and it turned into a gloopy mess! I'll try it again soon
> with another recipe and see if it comes out better.
>
[snip]

That sounds like a poor recipe choice then. I would never make
(or intentionally eat) a SWEET German potato salad. For me, if
there is any sweetener at all, it would have to be a microscopic
amount.
--
Jean B.

In article >,
Christine Dabney > wrote:

> I don't know about you, but I find it sort of fun. I am using up
> EVERYTHING in the fridge and freezer...veggies, you name it.
>
> I still have a long way to go. I don't know how I got this much
> stuff!!

Unfortunately, I know exactly what you mean. <lol>
Just get creative!
--
Peace! Om

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe. -- Dalai Lama

On Sun, 15 Mar 2009 10:52:24 -0400, "cshenk" > wrote:

>"Kajikit" wrote

>> PS. As part of my 'waste less food' campaign, I put the chicken necks
>> and the back of the one I cut up into a ziplock baggy in the freezer
>> to use another time. I usually toss them in the trash because I'm too
>> lazy to make stock... but no more. Homemade tastes soooooo much better
>> than bought, and costs sooooo much less!
>
>Save the rest of the chicken carcass next time too! Yup, the bones and
>stuff.

The rest of the carcass was still attached to the chicken. I cut the
legs off, removed the wings and put them into the freezer, and cut the
breast bone in two. The legs and breasts-on-the-bone went into the
stock pot, and the rest of the chicken went into the freezer.

>There are 2 kinds of basic 'stock' and without getting too fancy about it,
>you have a meat stock mostly there. Thats good and can be very deeply
>flavored but if you also add bones, it will gel when chilled and be
>'consomme'.
>
>When ready, if you want more *simple* ideas on how to do it, let me know.
>Meantime, if you have freezer space, setup a second and possibly a 3rd
>freezer bag which you'll add vegetable peelings to. That goes in the stock
>as well.

I hardly ever peel my vegetables... they're either frozen or used
as-is. When I make stock I put the elderly vegetables in it. We don't
have enough freezer room to save EVERYTHING.

>Bag 1- bones and meat scraps
>
>Bag 2- Potato peelings (I separate these as not all stocks take to potato),
>broccoli stems if you dont normally eat them (tale ends if you just mince
>those off), woody mushroom stems (Shiitake etc).
>
>Bag 3- onion skins (include washed root ends), carrot peelings and ends,
>squash ends, lettuce root portion, cabbage root portion, just about
>anything in here.
>
>Most of my stocks are either bag 1, or 1 and 3. Sometimes, they are bag 2
>and 3 for a vegetable stock (grin).
>
>I put all this in my cotton (washable) 'cooking bags' so I can lift them out
>easily. These bags are just the 'delicate laundry' sorts with an open end
>you are supposed to pin closed but i tie lightly with a cotton kitchen
>twine. Dump in crockpot (slow cooker) with water (and whatever spices you
>like) and let it develop about 24 hours on low. Remove and empty bags
>(place in laundry after a good rinsing in hot water) then defat the stock in
>the fridge for a bit. Separate stock to usable portions and freeze.
>
>It took longer to type this than it takes to make it ;-)

It sounds like you're VERY organised! I'll consider it a victory that
I made stock at all... but it'll be more of a victory once I actually
use it all! lol

"Kajikit" wrote
> "cshenk" wrote:

>>> PS. As part of my 'waste less food' campaign, I put the chicken necks
>>> and the back of the one I cut up into a ziplock baggy in the freezer

>>Save the rest of the chicken carcass next time too! Yup, the bones and
>>stuff.
>
> The rest of the carcass was still attached to the chicken. I cut the
> legs off, removed the wings and put them into the freezer, and cut the
> breast bone in two. The legs and breasts-on-the-bone went into the
> stock pot, and the rest of the chicken went into the freezer.

Grin, I mean after you eat the chicken off it. If like most, you pull the
meat off the bones to eat it, nothing wrong with saving them bones for a
second use!

>>There are 2 kinds of basic 'stock' and without getting too fancy about it,
>>you have a meat stock mostly there. Thats good and can be very deeply
>>flavored but if you also add bones, it will gel when chilled and be
>>'consomme'.
>>
>>When ready, if you want more *simple* ideas on how to do it, let me know.
>>Meantime, if you have freezer space, setup a second and possibly a 3rd
>>freezer bag which you'll add vegetable peelings to. That goes in the
>>stock
>>as well.
>
> I hardly ever peel my vegetables... they're either frozen or used
> as-is. When I make stock I put the elderly vegetables in it. We don't
> have enough freezer room to save EVERYTHING.

Ah now there I have an advantage. We own a home with a garage so in the
garage is an extra chest freezer. You can get them even free on local
freecycle places. I had access to one even as a college student so got used
to the idea of the budget differences.

Same here though on the elderly veggies (grin). Instead of tossing them, I
make stock. I might toss them though if I had only a stovetop for making
stock on as it costs alot to run for long hours. Slow cookers dont have
that problem.

Here's a more space careful version

Bag 1- bones and meat scraps

Bag 2- peelings and anything about to subsume but hasnt yet, til ready to
make stock

>>It took longer to type this than it takes to make it ;-)

> It sounds like you're VERY organised! I'll consider it a victory that
> I made stock at all... but it'll be more of a victory once I actually
> use it all! lol

Hehe not so very organized. I just happen to have space in the chest
freezer.

In fact, I simplified the original version for you as I have about 8 bags
running (though some may be empty at any given time). See, I also use my
'stock' for the pets so have to put the onions and such separate as they
cant eat stock made from that. I mark the stock bag with a permanent
'sharpie' marker if it's PF (pet friendly, no onions or salt). 1 bag has
fish bones, heads, and tails for example for fish stocks.

The trick to using up stock when freezing it, is to freeze it in suitable
amounts. 2 cups roughly work for us. Once you have it always there and
dirt cheap to make, you'll find it slips more and more into your cooking.

Oh and cost to run a chest freezer? Modern ones cost 1-2$ a month
generally. It's having a place to put them that can be a problem if
apartment living.

"Christine Dabney" wrote
> Lin wrote:

>>I'm trying to use what we have without making as many trips to the store
>>as I used to. We have so much meat in the freezer from buying when it's
>>on sale so I've been pulling a "Christine D" and using up everything
>>thing I can before buying anymore meat.
>
> I don't know about you, but I find it sort of fun. I am using up
> EVERYTHING in the fridge and freezer...veggies, you name it.

I know the feeling! Right now, I'm eating our way through it all here too.

I am devising new things to use what's left in there with what I have handy.
Next escapade will be the baby octopus which will probably be gently
simmered in dashi and mirin then served on yam-noodles with a side of shelly
beans (green beans and pintos).

In article >,
"cshenk" > wrote:

> "Christine Dabney" wrote
> > Lin wrote:
>
> >>I'm trying to use what we have without making as many trips to the store
> >>as I used to. We have so much meat in the freezer from buying when it's
> >>on sale so I've been pulling a "Christine D" and using up everything
> >>thing I can before buying anymore meat.
> >
> > I don't know about you, but I find it sort of fun. I am using up
> > EVERYTHING in the fridge and freezer...veggies, you name it.
>
> I know the feeling! Right now, I'm eating our way through it all here too.
>
> I am devising new things to use what's left in there with what I have handy.
> Next escapade will be the baby octopus which will probably be gently
> simmered in dashi and mirin then served on yam-noodles with a side of shelly
> beans (green beans and pintos).

Baby octopus is better (more tender) than squid served cut and deep
fried like calamari.
--
Peace! Om

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe. -- Dalai Lama

On Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:29:04 -0400, "cshenk" > wrote:

>Hehe not so very organized. I just happen to have space in the chest
>freezer.

A separate freezer is a big help - no matter how small.


--
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that
interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.

Mae West

In article >,
sf > wrote:

> On Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:29:04 -0400, "cshenk" > wrote:
>
> >Hehe not so very organized. I just happen to have space in the chest
> >freezer.
>
> A separate freezer is a big help - no matter how small.

Very true! My sister and brother in law want a small one.
I missed Chas's birthday. I'm considering that as a late gift!
--
Peace! Om

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe. -- Dalai Lama

cshenk wrote:
> I am devising new things to use what's left in there with what I have handy.
> Next escapade will be the baby octopus which will probably be gently
> simmered in dashi and mirin then served on yam-noodles with a side of shelly
> beans (green beans and pintos).
>
>
Speaking of yam noodles (shirataki?), I saw some veggie ones at a
Japanese store yesterday. Have you ever seen them? I wonder how
they taste?

--
Jean B.

"Jean B." wrote
> cshenk wrote:

>> I am devising new things to use what's left in there with what I have
>> handy. Next escapade will be the baby octopus which will probably be
>> gently simmered in dashi and mirin then served on yam-noodles with a side
>> of shelly beans (green beans and pintos).

> Speaking of yam noodles (shirataki?), I saw some veggie ones at a Japanese
> store yesterday. Have you ever seen them? I wonder how they taste?

Hehe i have some in my cabinet. Best to not over cook them. In fact, i
normally soak then steam them.

cshenk wrote:
> "Jean B." wrote
>> cshenk wrote:
>
>>> I am devising new things to use what's left in there with what I have
>>> handy. Next escapade will be the baby octopus which will probably be
>>> gently simmered in dashi and mirin then served on yam-noodles with a side
>>> of shelly beans (green beans and pintos).
>
>> Speaking of yam noodles (shirataki?), I saw some veggie ones at a Japanese
>> store yesterday. Have you ever seen them? I wonder how they taste?
>
> Hehe i have some in my cabinet. Best to not over cook them. In fact, i
> normally soak then steam them.
>
>
The veggie ones? These contained sprouted grains and some other
veggies. Still very low carb. I had never seen them before.
They look like they are in diluted V8 colorwise.

And you don't refrigerate the shirataki? I love it and don't know
why I don't cook it more frequently.

--
Jean B.

"Jean B." wrote
> cshenk wrote:

>>> Speaking of yam noodles (shirataki?), I saw some veggie ones at a
>>> Japanese store yesterday. Have you ever seen them? I wonder how they
>>> taste?
>>
>> Hehe i have some in my cabinet. Best to not over cook them. In fact, i
>> normally soak then steam them.

> The veggie ones? These contained sprouted grains and some other veggies.
> Still very low carb. I had never seen them before. They look like they
> are in diluted V8 colorwise.

Okk, mine are not the same. Just dried noodles made of yam. Lovely yellow
coloration to them.

> And you don't refrigerate the shirataki? I love it and don't know why I
> don't cook it more frequently.

Naw, these are dried (grin).

> --
> Jean B.