Tag Archives: cooking

Frozen Food

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The young man seemed confused as he looked back at the young woman who had just asked, “Do you eat frozen food?”

The young man glanced at the meal he just put in the microwave, then back at the woman. “Of course not. Who in the world would do that. I heat it first.”

Okay, before you complain too much, remember just how much you are paying for the little bit of entertainment.

The fact is, nowadays, almost all of us eat frozen food, well heated first. It has all sorts of advantages, certainly for me. It’s fast and simple to prepare, assuming I can find a magnifying glass with enough magnification to read the instructions. (has anyone come up with a magnifying ap for my phone?)

One nice thing, I don’t have any dishes to do after eating a heated frozen diner. The serving size is good. It discourages me from overeating. It’s fast. In the microwave, 8 to 10 minutes or half an hour in the regular oven.

If you have a large family, everyone can have their choice of what they want to eat. Some can have chicken, some chicken fried steak. Personally, I like that steak that looks and eats like hamburger.

To some degree, it is something of a preppers tool. If I keep enough of the meals in a large freezer, I can go for maybe a week off the grid. As long as I have a gas stove, I can have nice hot meals. The meals will remain edible in a well insulated freezer for at least a week. If it is winter, longer.

There are, of course, other forms of frozen food. When the kids were young, we used to by a 1 lb. turkey roast, whip up some instant mashed potatoes and some frozen vegies and we had a good Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Maybe it wasn’t what you would get in a 5 star restaurant, but the kids went nuts over it.

Now, with the kids out of the house, we either buy a frozen turkey diner or go out. We wouldn’t mind fixing it, but we just don’t eat that much.

I think others are doing the same. When we go out to eat on a holiday, we are far from alone. Usually, we have to wait a while to get in. Most are close to the same age as us.

Frozen vegies, I am told are healthier. They can wait longer to pick them because they freeze them in less than 24 hours after they leave the field. Fresh vegies may have to last a week before they get eaten.

Going back to the question by the young lady in my story. Is it really so bad to eat frozen food, as long as it is heated first.

HOT DOG!

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It is not a mistake that people use the term to express that something good just happened. I mean, any kid, when something good happens, they will exclaim, “HOT DOG!”

However, let us go back to the source of the interjection. We need to face it. Hot dogs are one of a child’s favorite form of sustenance. I guess, in a way, that makes me one of the oldest ever kids. Love hot dogs in almost any form. Incidentally, drop that hot dog in corn meal and deep fry it, and it all gets more so. I mean, who in their right mind can resist a corn dog. Bad thing is, the Kristal’s nearby has stopped serving them. That is not fair.

When I was just a little lad, a hot dog was a hot dog. I could eat them plain; with mustard, ketchup and mustard. My favorite, which will offend some, the works which included mayonnaise. Immediately after posting this, I am sure there will be those who will want to raise their indignations. However, as much as I have a freedom of speech, I also have a freedom of how I eat hot dogs.

However, it is more, far more than that. I would guess there are close to a dozen ways of cooking them. When a kid at home, the way we cooked them, it usually just meant tossing them in boiling hot water for a while. However, they can be roasted over an open flame. I think that is my favorite. Then there are those machines with multiple rollers that cook them slow and very evenly. Yeah. I like that kind too.

My mouth waters as I think of it. There is the lazy man’s way. I cut them in half and heat them in a frying pan, fist insides then outside. If I can, I will put them on a bun. On the other hand, if all I have is sliced bread, I make a sandwich out of them. Not as good, but still good.

Did you know that you can heat them in a microwave very quickly. Maybe not the best tasting, but, you know, some of us kids get impatient. Incidentally, good for when you have a crowd of kids around. Let’s face it. Unlike us older kids, they aren’t so picky.

Then, I guess there have to be dozens of types of hot dogs. If you don’t believe me, just take a gander through them at your supermarket. There are beef, turkey, sausages of various types and the list goes on. Moreover, there are places that actually specialize in various hot dogs. There used to be one in Memphis, which the family and I went frequented. When we went to the mall, it was the first place we went. The four of us always looked forward to it. The problem was that we all ate so fast that they never lasted nearly long enough.

Now, you might wonder, just why it is I am writing this. I have this really strong longing for a couple of hot dogs, yes with mayonnaise and the works and we’ve run out of them. It will have to wait until the stores open, a little longer. As a kid, I can’t wait. You know. No kid can ever wait, you know.

Sometimes, They Get it Right, Sometimes

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Most of time, they are wrong. As mentioned before, I frequently go surfing the web, looking for things I don’t need. I have looked at yachts before, though there is no way I could afford one, even if they gave it to me. Nonetheless, I do occasionally see ads about yacht oriented things; you know, marine oriented equipment. I have done research on Paris years ago. I still see ads for tickets, not only to Paris, but Rome and London too. I don’t even have a passport.

The current thing is those air fryers. I’m still trying to figure that one out. I don’t think I would use an air fryer if I had one. Most of the time, we go out to eat. I am spoiling my wife now. Besides, with just the two of us, if I cook at home, we end up with a lot of waste. Most of what little cooking I do is with a cast iron skillet. It works good and it is very reliable. I cook a couple of hamburger patties in about 3 minutes. Virtually impossible to ruin. If I used an air fryer, it would be difficult to save much time.

Nonetheless, I turn to the left and I see the benefits of air fryers. I turn to the right and I find out I can fry fries without frying them. Pardon me, but doesn’t that mean they aren’t fries. Don’t know what they are called.

The ads don’t bother me, but I do laugh at them. I see the ads when I play Free Cell. At any time of any day, as I go through the channels, I see them advertised on TV. They pop up in bunches in my emails. I just laugh at them. They serve no purpose. If I should decide I need one one day, I think I would go down to Walmart and get one. Thing is, I would not even need to make a special trip. I went right by one yesterday when I went to the bank. Worse thing about those air ovens, they take up space. With a 900 square foot house, I need space more than an air oven.

I thought about making a list of things that they advertise, aimed specially at me, that I have no use for. Then I could write a book about them. That way, I could share the humor.

As a side note, there are some things I’ve seen ads for, I just might find out what they are and what they are used for. Those that read the book might could tell me.

Food. Now That’s an Interesting Subject

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I must admit I had to wrestle mentally with this prompt. Then it all became clear when I substituted the word do for the word would. I hope that will be okay. You see, if I would like to make something, I usually do. About the only thing I haven’t tried is homemade pie. Something about that crust that scares me. If and when we do make a pie, we buy the crust as well as the filling. In my book, that does not qualify as making a pie.

Right now I’m considering making a beef stew. When we bought the slow cooker, it came with a recipe that is great. The hitch is that I keep putting off the trip to the store. I am always putting off trips to the store these days. When I finally go, I spend $250 just for my wife and me. Then, it seems I got so little.

Mostly, these days, we eat out. With just the two of us and my wife eating so little these days, a lot gets wasted. She just loves chili dogs so we open a can of chili now and then. To keep it healthy, I generally open a can of veggies or pull out some that are frozen. I don’t know. Seems to me corn and peas taste better when frozen. (heated of course) To me, carrots and cabbage have to be fresh.

I try to keep raw hamburger patties in the freezer for those days when we just just don’t don’t feel much like going anywhere. It really is sirloin but in a different form. A little gravy, a little mashed potatoes or baked potato and we have steak dinners.

A couple of interesting stories about the potatoes. My wife’s grandmother was one of those who did not like the modern stuff. You know, before she visited us, she insisted on baking the potatoes in the oven and boiling the potatoes first for mashed potatoes. Before she went home, she loved the 7 minute potatoes that come out of the microwave and she was amazed at how we got the potato flakes to taste so good. The secret, add a slice of Kraft American cheese before adding the hot water.

Every now and again, we like the red potatoes too, you know the little ones. Add a few spices while they boil and they can really spice up a meal. Hint: don’t peal them.

It just is, it’s not nearly as much fun cooking when it’s just the two of us. Moreover, it’s no fun cleaning up after.

Therefore, when we go to a restaurant, I always thank them, not just for cooking my food, but also for doing my dishes. It does sometimes confuse them, but one day, they will figure it out.

Daily writing prompt
What foods would you like to make?
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