USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Foxfyre]

Made my Poor Man's Fried Rice for dinner.

1 pound breakfast sausage
1 12 oz bag frozen cut green beans
Cooked rice (about 3 cups)
Onion powder, garlic powder and ginger to taste
Soy sauce to taste.

Jasmine rice...hmmmm?

Basmati, not sticky like Jasmine.

You don't seem like the Minute Rice type...I was at least hoping not that

I won't use Minute Rice but I have succumbed to the 'boil in the bag' rice -- it comes packaged in a pourous bag--you drop it into boiling water for 10 minutes or so and then pull the bag out--squish it a little to expel the excess water and voila--perfect rice every time in just the right quantity for the two of us with virtually no clean up and no waste. You can get it in white, brown, or flavored.

 

[Ringel05]

Made my Poor Man's Fried Rice for dinner.

1 pound breakfast sausage
1 12 oz bag frozen cut green beans
Cooked rice (about 3 cups)
Onion powder, garlic powder and ginger to taste
Soy sauce to taste.

Jasmine rice...hmmmm?

Basmati, not sticky like Jasmine.

You don't seem like the Minute Rice type...I was at least hoping not that

No, was raised on that kind of crap, margarine, Miracle Whip, Velveeta, etc. When I discovered real food I never went back. The primary reason I use the powdered forms is when I'm cooking for the wife, she likes the flavor but onions and garlic don't like her in their normal state, she will bur them all night long. Frozen veggies means I don't have to make a trip to the store every day to buy fresh and considering I was raised on over cooked, mushy canned vegetables frozen is a huge step up. Don't get me wrong I prefer fresh veggies but I don't have a problem with frozen either.

Sounds like my childhood to the T.
My mother was, and still is, a terrible cook. Her idea of Sunday dinner was those "Banquet Salisbury Steaks" ...canned corn and boxed mash potato mix.
Her entire spice collection was salt. pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder...that's about it. EVerything was canned and boxed, that was the 60's and 70's.
Same as you, I discovered real food in my early 20's...and learned to cook..and never went back. I buy so little processed foods, almost zero. Ketchup, mustard and Hellman's mayo is pretty much the only prepared things I eat.
And one other thing...canned carrots...why in all that is holy do these things exist? They taste absolutely dreadful, and it's not like slicing real carrots is that hard.

I was the oldest of 4 boys, military brats and while the food was mostly processed fake food we didn't know the difference and we never went hungry. There were times we had breakfast dinners, lots of Spam and Army noodles with ketchup (spaghetti), my mom's spaghetti was always watery. We always ate Wonder and Rainbow bread (I won't touch it today), when she would make toast she would toast a whole loaf and we would scarf it down. One aspect of her cooking I learned early on how to not repeat was her use of salt, she would salt the food while cooking and we would add more at the table.

 

[Ringel05]

Made my Poor Man's Fried Rice for dinner.

1 pound breakfast sausage
1 12 oz bag frozen cut green beans
Cooked rice (about 3 cups)
Onion powder, garlic powder and ginger to taste
Soy sauce to taste.

Do you cook the sausage before adding the other stuff? That seems like a LOT of sausage though for somebody who generally eats really healthy.

Yeah, cook the sausage then add the beans then the cooked rice and the spices with about another tbsp of oil (sesame oil is what I prefer when cooking "Chinese").
With 3 cups of cooked rice the sausage amount really isn't that much, that batch will most likely give us 3 to 4 meals just eat it in portions (one portion is the size of your fist).

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Jasmine rice...hmmmm?

Basmati, not sticky like Jasmine.

You don't seem like the Minute Rice type...I was at least hoping not that

No, was raised on that kind of crap, margarine, Miracle Whip, Velveeta, etc. When I discovered real food I never went back. The primary reason I use the powdered forms is when I'm cooking for the wife, she likes the flavor but onions and garlic don't like her in their normal state, she will bur them all night long. Frozen veggies means I don't have to make a trip to the store every day to buy fresh and considering I was raised on over cooked, mushy canned vegetables frozen is a huge step up. Don't get me wrong I prefer fresh veggies but I don't have a problem with frozen either.

Sounds like my childhood to the T.
My mother was, and still is, a terrible cook. Her idea of Sunday dinner was those "Banquet Salisbury Steaks" ...canned corn and boxed mash potato mix.
Her entire spice collection was salt. pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder...that's about it. EVerything was canned and boxed, that was the 60's and 70's.
Same as you, I discovered real food in my early 20's...and learned to cook..and never went back. I buy so little processed foods, almost zero. Ketchup, mustard and Hellman's mayo is pretty much the only prepared things I eat.
And one other thing...canned carrots...why in all that is holy do these things exist? They taste absolutely dreadful, and it's not like slicing real carrots is that hard.

I was the oldest of 4 boys, military brats and while the food was mostly processed fake food we didn't know the difference and we never went hungry. There were times we had breakfast dinners, lots of Spam and Army noodles with ketchup (spaghetti), my mom's spaghetti was always watery. We always ate Wonder and Rainbow bread (I won't touch it today), when she would make toast she would toast a whole loaf and we would scarf it down. One aspect of her cooking I learned early on how to not repeat was her use of salt, she would salt the food while cooking and we would add more at the table.

Yep, that was our generation. Salt was pretty much everything. I bet when you was a kid you put sugar in your cereal too. Frosted flakes...with a teaspoon of sugar added in. Good Lord.

 

[Ringel05]

Also made apple pie the other day, used Gala apples and only added about a 3rd a cup of sugar....... Next time I'll only add a quarter cup as the pie was almost too sweet. For those who don't know, the standard apple pie recipe calls for a cup of sugar.

 

[boedicca]

Made my Poor Man's Fried Rice for dinner.

1 pound breakfast sausage
1 12 oz bag frozen cut green beans
Cooked rice (about 3 cups)
Onion powder, garlic powder and ginger to taste
Soy sauce to taste.

Jasmine rice...hmmmm?

Basmati, not sticky like Jasmine.

You don't seem like the Minute Rice type...I was at least hoping not that

I won't use Minute Rice but I have succumbed to the 'boil in the bag' rice -- it comes packaged in a pourous bag--you drop it into boiling water for 10 minutes or so and then pull the bag out--squish it a little to expel the excess water and voila--perfect rice every time in just the right quantity for the two of us with virtually no clean up and no waste. You can get it in white, brown, or flavored.

We don't make rice very often, but use a Zojirushi cooker when we do. The rice comes out perfect. They're a bit pricey (we got one for a wedding present), but if one eats a lot of rice, it's the way to go.

 

[Ringel05]

Basmati, not sticky like Jasmine.

You don't seem like the Minute Rice type...I was at least hoping not that

No, was raised on that kind of crap, margarine, Miracle Whip, Velveeta, etc. When I discovered real food I never went back. The primary reason I use the powdered forms is when I'm cooking for the wife, she likes the flavor but onions and garlic don't like her in their normal state, she will bur them all night long. Frozen veggies means I don't have to make a trip to the store every day to buy fresh and considering I was raised on over cooked, mushy canned vegetables frozen is a huge step up. Don't get me wrong I prefer fresh veggies but I don't have a problem with frozen either.

Sounds like my childhood to the T.
My mother was, and still is, a terrible cook. Her idea of Sunday dinner was those "Banquet Salisbury Steaks" ...canned corn and boxed mash potato mix.
Her entire spice collection was salt. pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder...that's about it. EVerything was canned and boxed, that was the 60's and 70's.
Same as you, I discovered real food in my early 20's...and learned to cook..and never went back. I buy so little processed foods, almost zero. Ketchup, mustard and Hellman's mayo is pretty much the only prepared things I eat.
And one other thing...canned carrots...why in all that is holy do these things exist? They taste absolutely dreadful, and it's not like slicing real carrots is that hard.

I was the oldest of 4 boys, military brats and while the food was mostly processed fake food we didn't know the difference and we never went hungry. There were times we had breakfast dinners, lots of Spam and Army noodles with ketchup (spaghetti), my mom's spaghetti was always watery. We always ate Wonder and Rainbow bread (I won't touch it today), when she would make toast she would toast a whole loaf and we would scarf it down. One aspect of her cooking I learned early on how to not repeat was her use of salt, she would salt the food while cooking and we would add more at the table.

Yep, that was our generation. Salt was pretty much everything. I bet when you was a kid you put sugar in your cereal too. Frosted flakes...with a teaspoon of sugar added in. Good Lord.

Not so much the sugar for me, the salt and the fat, hell yeah!!!!
Granted we would toast and butter bread sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar but i tended to use more cinnamon. With pancakes and french toast I rarely used syrup but would drown them in margarine.
Ya have to realize our parents were depression era kids, most everything was still being salted to preserve it so it's what they knew.

 

[Dajjal]

I have very little to say about food, I eat chicken salad almost every day. Except like today when I have run out of chicken. So I heat up a tin of spaghetti and a tin of stewed steak and dump it on a plate. That is as close as I come to cooking.

 

[boedicca]

Also made apple pie the other day, used Gala apples and only added about a 3rd a cup of sugar....... Next time I'll only add a quarter cup as the pie was almost too sweet. For those who don't know, the standard apple pie recipe calls for a cup of sugar.

You're using apples that are way too sweet. The best apple pies are made with sour apples, i.e. Granny Smith. If you can find some sour green apples, give those a try!

The peaches here are really good right now, so I'm going to make a peach pie or cobbler this week. I can't wait for the Faye Elberta and Oh Henry peaches - they should be available by the end of the month - but those are purely for eating plain. Delish!

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Also made apple pie the other day, used Gala apples and only added about a 3rd a cup of sugar....... Next time I'll only add a quarter cup as the pie was almost too sweet. For those who don't know, the standard apple pie recipe calls for a cup of sugar.

Ugh...don't you hate it when your visiting someone and they bring out a store bought pie??
Apple pie from a grocery store is absolutely horrendous. So sweet it literally causes pain in your lower jaw. Yuo might as well sit down and eat a bowl of corn syrup.

 

[boedicca]

You don't seem like the Minute Rice type...I was at least hoping not that

No, was raised on that kind of crap, margarine, Miracle Whip, Velveeta, etc. When I discovered real food I never went back. The primary reason I use the powdered forms is when I'm cooking for the wife, she likes the flavor but onions and garlic don't like her in their normal state, she will bur them all night long. Frozen veggies means I don't have to make a trip to the store every day to buy fresh and considering I was raised on over cooked, mushy canned vegetables frozen is a huge step up. Don't get me wrong I prefer fresh veggies but I don't have a problem with frozen either.

Sounds like my childhood to the T.
My mother was, and still is, a terrible cook. Her idea of Sunday dinner was those "Banquet Salisbury Steaks" ...canned corn and boxed mash potato mix.
Her entire spice collection was salt. pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder...that's about it. EVerything was canned and boxed, that was the 60's and 70's.
Same as you, I discovered real food in my early 20's...and learned to cook..and never went back. I buy so little processed foods, almost zero. Ketchup, mustard and Hellman's mayo is pretty much the only prepared things I eat.
And one other thing...canned carrots...why in all that is holy do these things exist? They taste absolutely dreadful, and it's not like slicing real carrots is that hard.

I was the oldest of 4 boys, military brats and while the food was mostly processed fake food we didn't know the difference and we never went hungry. There were times we had breakfast dinners, lots of Spam and Army noodles with ketchup (spaghetti), my mom's spaghetti was always watery. We always ate Wonder and Rainbow bread (I won't touch it today), when she would make toast she would toast a whole loaf and we would scarf it down. One aspect of her cooking I learned early on how to not repeat was her use of salt, she would salt the food while cooking and we would add more at the table.

Yep, that was our generation. Salt was pretty much everything. I bet when you was a kid you put sugar in your cereal too. Frosted flakes...with a teaspoon of sugar added in. Good Lord.

Not so much the sugar for me, the salt and the fat, hell yeah!!!!
Granted we would toast and butter bread sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar but i tended to use more cinnamon. With pancakes and french toast I rarely used syrup but would drown them in margarine.
Ya have to realize our parents were depression era kids, most everything was still being salted to preserve it so it's what they knew.

BINGO. There was a British cook book writer, Elisabeth David who had a mission to teach British women how to cook again after the Depression and War Years. The lack of ingredients and rationing had caused a full generation to not learn proper ways to cook. Her baking book "English Bread and Yeast Cookery" is a classic.

 

[Ringel05]

Also made apple pie the other day, used Gala apples and only added about a 3rd a cup of sugar....... Next time I'll only add a quarter cup as the pie was almost too sweet. For those who don't know, the standard apple pie recipe calls for a cup of sugar.

You're using apples that are way too sweet. The best apple pies are made with sour apples, i.e. Granny Smith. If you can find some sour green apples, give those a try!

The peaches here are really good right now, so I'm going to make a peach pie or cobbler this week. I can't wait for the Faye Elberta and Oh Henry peaches - they should be available by the end of the month - but those are purely for eating plain. Delish!

Even with Granny Smiths I use a third of a cup of sugar and that's sweet enough, I just wasn't thinking when I made this pie and added a third of a cup instead of a quarter cup. As for peaches, the wife likes those, too sickly sweet for my tastes. I use two thirds to three quarters less sweetener then what the recipe calls for in all my deserts.

 

[Foxfyre]

Made my Poor Man's Fried Rice for dinner.

1 pound breakfast sausage
1 12 oz bag frozen cut green beans
Cooked rice (about 3 cups)
Onion powder, garlic powder and ginger to taste
Soy sauce to taste.

Jasmine rice...hmmmm?

Basmati, not sticky like Jasmine.

You don't seem like the Minute Rice type...I was at least hoping not that

I won't use Minute Rice but I have succumbed to the 'boil in the bag' rice -- it comes packaged in a pourous bag--you drop it into boiling water for 10 minutes or so and then pull the bag out--squish it a little to expel the excess water and voila--perfect rice every time in just the right quantity for the two of us with virtually no clean up and no waste. You can get it in white, brown, or flavored.

We don't make rice very often, but use a Zojirushi cooker when we do. The rice comes out perfect. They're a bit pricey (we got one for a wedding present), but if one eats a lot of rice, it's the way to go.

We live in a rice and beans state, but neither of us like Spanish rice all that much. About the only time we have rice is when I prepare something Asian that screams for rice. We do like Asian cuisine but not often enough that the rice becomes an issue. Hombre and I are both misplaced Texans and the potato still reigns supreme.

 

[boedicca]

Also made apple pie the other day, used Gala apples and only added about a 3rd a cup of sugar....... Next time I'll only add a quarter cup as the pie was almost too sweet. For those who don't know, the standard apple pie recipe calls for a cup of sugar.

You're using apples that are way too sweet. The best apple pies are made with sour apples, i.e. Granny Smith. If you can find some sour green apples, give those a try!

The peaches here are really good right now, so I'm going to make a peach pie or cobbler this week. I can't wait for the Faye Elberta and Oh Henry peaches - they should be available by the end of the month - but those are purely for eating plain. Delish!

Even with Granny Smiths I use a third of a cup of sugar and that's sweet enough, I just wasn't thinking when I made this pie and added a third of a cup instead of a quarter cup. As for peaches, the wife likes those, too sickly sweet for my tastes. I use two thirds to three quarters less sweetener then what the recipe calls for in all my deserts.

I cut back on the sugar in fruit pies as well. mr. boe loves cherry pie. I use Oregon sour cherries and about half the recommended sugar.

Peach pie is wonderful if the peaches are tart.

 

[Ringel05]

No, was raised on that kind of crap, margarine, Miracle Whip, Velveeta, etc. When I discovered real food I never went back. The primary reason I use the powdered forms is when I'm cooking for the wife, she likes the flavor but onions and garlic don't like her in their normal state, she will bur them all night long. Frozen veggies means I don't have to make a trip to the store every day to buy fresh and considering I was raised on over cooked, mushy canned vegetables frozen is a huge step up. Don't get me wrong I prefer fresh veggies but I don't have a problem with frozen either.

Sounds like my childhood to the T.
My mother was, and still is, a terrible cook. Her idea of Sunday dinner was those "Banquet Salisbury Steaks" ...canned corn and boxed mash potato mix.
Her entire spice collection was salt. pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder...that's about it. EVerything was canned and boxed, that was the 60's and 70's.
Same as you, I discovered real food in my early 20's...and learned to cook..and never went back. I buy so little processed foods, almost zero. Ketchup, mustard and Hellman's mayo is pretty much the only prepared things I eat.
And one other thing...canned carrots...why in all that is holy do these things exist? They taste absolutely dreadful, and it's not like slicing real carrots is that hard.

I was the oldest of 4 boys, military brats and while the food was mostly processed fake food we didn't know the difference and we never went hungry. There were times we had breakfast dinners, lots of Spam and Army noodles with ketchup (spaghetti), my mom's spaghetti was always watery. We always ate Wonder and Rainbow bread (I won't touch it today), when she would make toast she would toast a whole loaf and we would scarf it down. One aspect of her cooking I learned early on how to not repeat was her use of salt, she would salt the food while cooking and we would add more at the table.

Yep, that was our generation. Salt was pretty much everything. I bet when you was a kid you put sugar in your cereal too. Frosted flakes...with a teaspoon of sugar added in. Good Lord.

Not so much the sugar for me, the salt and the fat, hell yeah!!!!
Granted we would toast and butter bread sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar but i tended to use more cinnamon. With pancakes and french toast I rarely used syrup but would drown them in margarine.
Ya have to realize our parents were depression era kids, most everything was still being salted to preserve it so it's what they knew.

BINGO. There was a British cook book writer, Elisabeth David who had a mission to teach British women how to cook again after the Depression and War Years. The lack of ingredients and rationing had caused a full generation to not learn proper ways to cook. Her baking book "English Bread and Yeast Cookery" is a classic.

In the 1800s, specifically in the south the primary foods were meat, meal and molasses, scurvy was an ever present problem.

 

[boedicca]

Jasmine rice...hmmmm?

Basmati, not sticky like Jasmine.

You don't seem like the Minute Rice type...I was at least hoping not that

I won't use Minute Rice but I have succumbed to the 'boil in the bag' rice -- it comes packaged in a pourous bag--you drop it into boiling water for 10 minutes or so and then pull the bag out--squish it a little to expel the excess water and voila--perfect rice every time in just the right quantity for the two of us with virtually no clean up and no waste. You can get it in white, brown, or flavored.

We don't make rice very often, but use a Zojirushi cooker when we do. The rice comes out perfect. They're a bit pricey (we got one for a wedding present), but if one eats a lot of rice, it's the way to go.

We live in a rice and beans state, but neither of us like Spanish rice all that much. About the only time we have rice is when I prepare something Asian that screams for rice. We do like Asian cuisine but not enough that the rice becomes an issue. Hombre and I are both misplaced Texans and the potato still reigns supreme.

We're surrounded by Cal-Mex, and I can completely forego the rice. I generally don't eat much carbs; mr. boe is a bread fiend, so it's easy just to have some sourdough on hand for him.

 

[boedicca]

Sounds like my childhood to the T.
My mother was, and still is, a terrible cook. Her idea of Sunday dinner was those "Banquet Salisbury Steaks" ...canned corn and boxed mash potato mix.
Her entire spice collection was salt. pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder...that's about it. EVerything was canned and boxed, that was the 60's and 70's.
Same as you, I discovered real food in my early 20's...and learned to cook..and never went back. I buy so little processed foods, almost zero. Ketchup, mustard and Hellman's mayo is pretty much the only prepared things I eat.
And one other thing...canned carrots...why in all that is holy do these things exist? They taste absolutely dreadful, and it's not like slicing real carrots is that hard.

I was the oldest of 4 boys, military brats and while the food was mostly processed fake food we didn't know the difference and we never went hungry. There were times we had breakfast dinners, lots of Spam and Army noodles with ketchup (spaghetti), my mom's spaghetti was always watery. We always ate Wonder and Rainbow bread (I won't touch it today), when she would make toast she would toast a whole loaf and we would scarf it down. One aspect of her cooking I learned early on how to not repeat was her use of salt, she would salt the food while cooking and we would add more at the table.

Yep, that was our generation. Salt was pretty much everything. I bet when you was a kid you put sugar in your cereal too. Frosted flakes...with a teaspoon of sugar added in. Good Lord.

Not so much the sugar for me, the salt and the fat, hell yeah!!!!
Granted we would toast and butter bread sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar but i tended to use more cinnamon. With pancakes and french toast I rarely used syrup but would drown them in margarine.
Ya have to realize our parents were depression era kids, most everything was still being salted to preserve it so it's what they knew.

BINGO. There was a British cook book writer, Elisabeth David who had a mission to teach British women how to cook again after the Depression and War Years. The lack of ingredients and rationing had caused a full generation to not learn proper ways to cook. Her baking book "English Bread and Yeast Cookery" is a classic.

In the 1800s, specifically in the south the primary foods were meat, meal and molasses, scurvy was an ever present problem.

Yep. We are very fortunate to live in an era of easy and effective transport for foodstuffs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Peach pie is wonderful if the peaches are tart

The crust is what makes or breaks a good pie in my book...

 

[Ringel05]

Jasmine rice...hmmmm?

Basmati, not sticky like Jasmine.

You don't seem like the Minute Rice type...I was at least hoping not that

I won't use Minute Rice but I have succumbed to the 'boil in the bag' rice -- it comes packaged in a pourous bag--you drop it into boiling water for 10 minutes or so and then pull the bag out--squish it a little to expel the excess water and voila--perfect rice every time in just the right quantity for the two of us with virtually no clean up and no waste. You can get it in white, brown, or flavored.

We don't make rice very often, but use a Zojirushi cooker when we do. The rice comes out perfect. They're a bit pricey (we got one for a wedding present), but if one eats a lot of rice, it's the way to go.

We live in a rice and beans state, but neither of us like Spanish rice all that much. About the only time we have rice is when I prepare something Asian that screams for rice. We do like Asian cuisine but not often enough that the rice becomes an issue. Hombre and I are both misplaced Texans and the potato still reigns supreme.

I love beans and rice, I also love potatoes though they sit heavy on my stomach so we rarely have those. We're eating much more in the way of veggies and salads these days, one of my favorite quick meals is to by the large bags of cole slaw mix and just add ranch dressing and no, I don't use the 'lite" dressings, they add more sweetener to compensate for the low fat tastlessness.

 

[Ringel05]

Basmati, not sticky like Jasmine.

You don't seem like the Minute Rice type...I was at least hoping not that

I won't use Minute Rice but I have succumbed to the 'boil in the bag' rice -- it comes packaged in a pourous bag--you drop it into boiling water for 10 minutes or so and then pull the bag out--squish it a little to expel the excess water and voila--perfect rice every time in just the right quantity for the two of us with virtually no clean up and no waste. You can get it in white, brown, or flavored.

We don't make rice very often, but use a Zojirushi cooker when we do. The rice comes out perfect. They're a bit pricey (we got one for a wedding present), but if one eats a lot of rice, it's the way to go.

We live in a rice and beans state, but neither of us like Spanish rice all that much. About the only time we have rice is when I prepare something Asian that screams for rice. We do like Asian cuisine but not enough that the rice becomes an issue. Hombre and I are both misplaced Texans and the potato still reigns supreme.

We're surrounded by Cal-Mex, and I can completely forego the rice. I generally don't eat much carbs; mr. boe is a bread fiend, so it's easy just to have some sourdough on hand for him.

I can eat bread and butter till the cows come home but I don't. While the vast majority consists of whole grain breads my favorites are hot white rolls, french and italian breads so those are reserved for an occasional treat. Heck I'd rather eat that for "desert" than desert.