String Beans in the Freezer

Fresh string/green beans (courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

My daughter brought home a huge bag full of fresh string beans the other day along with the snack tomatoes and peppers. I finally got to them yesterday and ended up with 3 1/2 quarts in the freezer! 

I haven't prepped string beans since I was maybe in Kindergarten, so I'd forgotten just how much fun it was (NOT!). That required cutting off the ends, tossing the bad ones and cutting the lengthy beans into smaller segments. It took me just over an hour to get them trimmed and cut up before I could begin cooking them. 

Now, I say cooking them because I chose not to blanch them. I don't have ice to quickly cool them off, so I just cooked them through and froze them in a cooked state. I also added a bit of ham broth to the pot to add some flavor along with the salt I'd put in. 

Of course, once I was done cooking them, my daughter came home from work with a bag full of regular tomatoes. I guess our vegetable supplies aren't going to fall short this year, for sure!

N is for Nonsense and Nothing Much to Say

Well, it was the only "N" word I could think of at the moment. And, I do often talk about nonsensical topics, so I figured I'd work with it for today's A to Z Challenge letter.


First of all - HURRAH!!! We have Internet again!!! We finally got someone to pick up the line at Comcast and they helped get us going again here at home. First the Internet came back on and then they had to do a bit more to get the phone working again. We still don't know what happened, but I am so happy that I can have my Internet again!! Yay!!


Was able to get a double payment from the trust so that I could help Deb get her car fixed. We went out and transferred the money into her account so she can pay for the repairs. It's hard to find a job in an area where public transportation isn't overly convenient if you don't have a car. So, we're hoping that it won't be super expensive and that there will be enough money left to put some on the rent as well.


I got a Spicy Chicken sandwich from Wendy's today. Haven't had one of them in at least a year. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if I wasn't as thrilled with the fries. It was tender and moist with loads of flavor. McDonald's still has the best fries of the drive-thru places. Burger King has the best tasting burgers. Popeye's has tasty chicken and shrimp (as well as alligator bites once a year) and KFC also "do(es) chicken right", but they've lost some of the flavor they used to have. I don't believe their gravy is nearly as flavorful as it used to be unless I'm losing my sense of taste. I hope not. But, I do like their green beans - they're spicy hot, but I have no idea with what. Yet, they're really good. I'd have never considered spicing up green beans. Guess I'm just going to have to go ala carte one of these days in the Blackwood area and stop at all of them to create my own platter!! Oh, and then either a gallon of ice tea from Popeye's or a large iced tea from Dunkin. Perfect!! LOL

Late Nite Dinner and Other Food News

Happy November!! It's my birthday month and I've been promised a trip to Vermont as my present. We shall see. Money is tight for both of us, but other than gas, I think we can budget it fairly well. Maybe this time I'll get to see the Grandma Moses exhibit in Bennington that I was promised the last time we were there.

Apparently, I had an older version because ours had egg noodles.

Anyway, I am in the process of making Hamburger Helper Beef and Noodles, but I added a can of green beans to it as well as another cup of gravy so it will go farther. It always seems the gravy isn't nearly enough when you make these, but that won't be a problem this time. I'm also using soy milk instead of regular milk because my daughter has an unusual intolerance to milk. Most of us who have reactions have digestive issues. My daughter breaks out all over with acne. It's a shame because she just loves milk and dairy products, but as often as possible, we try to make them so she won't react. It's funny, too, because she can drink LactAid without a reaction, so it is apparently the Lactose that's the issue, but she doesn't have the most common reaction.

Anyway, I decided that, while the food is simmering the required 10 minutes, I would come in and post a long-overdue blog entry in my food blog.

I had the feeling when I wrote my last food blog entry that I was forgetting one of the places I had gone to eat. I just realized I'd forgotten TWO! LOL

Example of an Indian buffet

I went to another Indian buffet in Pennsauken called Palace of Asia. There have been others I liked more, but there have also been others I liked far less. The food was fresh and varied, something for everyone. I loved the fruit custard they had available for dessert. I'd love to know how to make the "custard" they put the fruit in. It wasn't vanilla or chocolate - it was fruit flavored, yet thick and creamy. Delicious!

Lobster Bisque

We also went to Cap'n Cats Crab Bar in Voorhees last week. It was my turn to treat and I had bought a certificate worth $30 for $15. So, that and an additional $6.21 at the end fed the two of us some delicious seafood. We both started off with Lobster Bisque, which was excellent. I had Coconut Fried Shrimp with onion rings and he had grilled Mahi Mahi, also with onion rings. He was a bit disappointed with the quantity of fish he got for the price, but otherwise it was all excellent. My shrimp came with a Pina Colada dip, but I opted for the cocktail sauce instead. And, we had a bottle of French cabernet; not one of my favorites, but I had a glass while he finished the bottle himself. Good thing I was doing the driving!

Meals at Midnight

That's right. You don't have to be a college student to decide to cook dinner at midnight (or just past, in our case). I just didn't feel like cooking yesterday and my daughter had a date, so she wasn't here to eat. But, when she got home from the movies, she asked if I had made anything because she was hungry (apparently, the date didn't include dinner). 


I had thawed a pound of hamburger, but when it's hot and humid, I'm not always anxious to go into the kitchen to work on a meal. So, we will "graze" rather than dine. But, by midnight, it had cooled some, so I offered to make some hamburgers (which I have been craving for a while). Or spaghetti and meat sauce. But, she wanted green beans and tomato sauce. I knew we only had a single can of tomato sauce which wouldn't be enough for this very simple, yet tasty, meal. 

She went to the pantry and pulled out that can and a can of diced tomatoes and two cans of French style green beans and I went to work. I browned the beef, then added the drained green beans followed by the tomato sauce and tomatoes. We usually serve this with fried potatoes, so I quickly cooked up some frozen French fries to go with.


I prefer this with straight tomato sauce, but it wasn't bad. My personal tastes are to use a single can of beans with their liquid plus ground beef and at least one can of tomato sauce. But, my daughter is a huge fan of French style green beans, so we got a double helping. Season to your taste - we added fresh ground salt and pepper. 


Although it was late, it was just what we both were looking for. Something a bit more substantial than tuna or peanut butter, yet reasonably healthy. Yeah, it was late, but heck - you're only young once (well, I can dream, can't I?)

Quick & Easy Meals We've Eaten Through The Years

I did Meals in Minutes recently, but that was more ease of preparation than how soon they'd be ready to eat. I'd like to share with you some meals we've made frequently through the years that don't take long to put together or finish.


The first one is one my ex had me make after we were married. It wasn't anything I'd ever seen before and I did have my doubts about it. But, you know it's really pretty darned good. It doesn't really have a name, so we call it:


Green Beans and Meat

A similar-looking Cuban recipe still in the pan.

All you need is a pound of hamburger, a can or two of green beans and a 15 oz can of tomato sauce. Brown the meat, add the green beans (my daughter likes French style best) with one can undrained and add the tomato sauce. Meanwhile, fry some potatoes - in fact, you could start the potatoes first if using fresh potatoes. You could also use O'Brien style (cubed) hash brown potatoes or even French fries. Once both things are cooked, we're ready to eat and that's usually in less than 30 minutes.


Another one I like that my mother used to make is:


Ham, Green Beans and Potatoes

Green Beans and Ham - PA Dutch recipe
Now I know where my mother got the idea to put vinegar on her green beans.

This would work for after Easter if you have a large piece of ham left from Easter dinner. Put the ham in the pot along with peeled quartered potatoes and a pound of green beans (preferably fresh or frozen) and cook until the potatoes are cooked through and the meat is hot. The potatoes and green beans will be flavored by the ham and the ham will be heated by the cooking process. Eat the potatoes like you would baked potatoes.


Meat Pie

Spicy Beef Stew
An example of what would work in a meat pie.

I mentioned this in yesterday's post. You could call this "stew pie" because it is made from leftover stew. I have deviated from this in that I have bought a tall can of Dinty Moore stew and a pair of frozen deep dish pie crusts, filled the bottom crust and used the second crust for the top. If you're more adept at crust making than I am and have a large family-sized pie plate, you can make a heaping helping of pie to feed your family (one small pie is enough for three people). This is a great way to use leftover stew. Serve with fruit on the side and maybe a salad.


Meat Sauce for Spaghetti from leftover Pot Roast (or steak)

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce -Wikimedia Commons

I've done this several times. If you have a food processor or a meat grinder, run your leftover meat through to a small grind or mince (cut up into smaller pieces so the processor can handle it). When you have lots of minced meat, put your spaghetti sauce together in the pot as you normally would and add the meat to it. The seasonings of the meat will add flavor to the sauce as will the meat itself and it will be wonderful and meaty! 


Chicken Fingers

The method I used to fry mine, but another blogger's recipe.

When I was caring for my mother, I tried to give her variety, meet her wants as well as her needs and get her to eat chicken more often (she would have lived on beef if she could). She liked fried foods, but was supposed to cut back because of cholesterol. One breast of chicken was too much for her to eat, so I decided to try something new. I was already pan frying some things for her using light olive oil. I had also bought some lemon pepper marinade. So, I took a single chicken breast, sliced it across the grain into multiple pieces, dipped those pieces into the marinade and then into bread crumbs. While vegetables were heating up on the stove, I pan fried those pieces in olive oil to give her the texture she wanted with the healthiest oil I could use without actually deep frying. This turned out wonderful! Not only did we have enough pieces to feed my mother and me, but my daughter stopped by and had some as well - just from one single chicken breast. Of course, we also had two vegetables and a fruit plus bread, but that piece of chicken went a long way and didn't take long to put together.


Shepherd's Pie on the Fly

Another blogger's Shepherd's Pie (actually Cottage Pie because it's beef)

Sometimes we're in the mood for Shepherd's Pie but really don't want to put it all in a casserole and put it in the oven when it's already cooked and ready to eat, so we will make a quick pan full of what amounts to a hamburger stew (hamburger, gravy, peas and carrots) in one pan and mashed potatoes in another and serve them just that way, topping the potatoes with the stew.


Finally, there's our all-time favorite:


Burritos

Vegan burrito filling, but no recipe in the blog.
You can also use what I make as a hot chip dip, which is how I was introduced to it. I just used it a different way.

Again, I'm using hamburger. Sometimes I add onions or onion powder, but I always add salt and pepper. Once the hamburger is finished cooking, I add a can of refried beans and a cup of salsa. I stir it all together. I used to add shredded cheese in the pan as well, but my daughter has limited her dairy intake, so the cheese gets added during the assembly of the burritos. We put our own burritos together rather than have one person assemble them for us. My daughter likes to add diced tomatoes and lettuce to hers. Since I don't, I let her get those ready. It's really all ready to go in under 30 minutes. You can heat the tortillas in the microwave or individually on a flat griddle. No matter what, it's really good!

Those a few of the meals we rely on to cook up quickly and easily. I hope you like them.