Whats for Dinner?

WasabiPoptart

WasabiPoptart

It's open house at my daughter's school. I didn't offer to make anything for her class. However, every year I've noticed that the teachers don't get to eat during the open house since they have to field questions and generally be available. Then they have to scrounge leftovers, if they eat at all. That means they go from about 1pm until 8pm with nothing while watching parents, students, and siblings stuff their pie holes. So this year I'm making food for the teachers so they can eat something before the open house starts.
I have a tray of sun-dried tomato and spinach pinwheels and a tray of baked ham & cheese roll ups. I hope they like 'em.
 
Cajungal

Cajungal

Staff member
WasabiPoptart said:
It's open house at my daughter's school. I didn't offer to make anything for her class. However, every year I've noticed that the teachers don't get to eat during the open house since they have to field questions and generally be available. Then they have to scrounge leftovers, if they eat at all. That means they go from about 1pm until 8pm with nothing while watching parents, students, and siblings stuff their pie holes. So this year I'm making food for the teachers so they can eat something before the open house starts.
I have a tray of sun-dried tomato and spinach pinwheels and a tray of baked ham & cheese roll ups. I hope they like 'em.
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On behalf of teachers everywhere, you're a saint.

I'm head of the elementary newspaper staff, and I told the parents I wouldn't be able to offer snacks (no time or money). One of the parents brought iced tea, milk, and homemade oatmeal chocolate chips cookies--enough for *both* clubs who were meeting today.

*happy tears*
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

It's frozen dinner sort of week; up to my eyeballs with work. If I had the cash I would totally pay someone to cook and clean for us.
Costco and Trader Joe's frozen meals are tasty so I'm cool with a lazy week. :D
 
Denbrought

Denbrought

I recently learnt what poaching is (it wasn't used for a single meal in the house I grew up), so I've been cooking chicken a lot that way. It's improved a lot of my chicken recipes in terms of juiciness, and it greatly reduces my time spent cooking (as long as I remember to start the chicken earlier). It's like a hacky sous-vide!

Anyway, I poached some old frozen chicken, sliced that, breaded it (milk, flour, egg, panko + mortared spice mixture), fried it with peanut oil, and served with a side of mashed potatoes. Pretty tasty for improvised.
 
papachronos

papachronos

drawn_inward said:
Just go buy a >$300 sous-vide machine!
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Or do what I do and use a cooler and mix boiling and cold water to get to the temp you want. A cheap Coleman, in my experience, loses about 10-15 degrees F per hour until the food comes up to temp, and 5 degrees F per hour after that, so it only takes a bit of boiling water every half hour or so to keep it at temp until your food is done.
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

So, have to make dinner for 5-6 people next week. I have very little cooking talent and I have to be able to transport it by tram - so, in Tupperware boxes or something. Haven't gotten a more original idea than "macaroni and cheese" yet. Anyone a good suggestion? Preferably high-vegetable, non-seafood :)
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Bubble181 said:
So, have to make dinner for 5-6 people next week. I have very little cooking talent and I have to be able to transport it by tram - so, in Tupperware boxes or something. Haven't gotten a more original idea than "macaroni and cheese" yet. Anyone a good suggestion? Preferably high-vegetable, non-seafood :)
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How long will it be in transit?

--Patrick
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

PatrThom said:
How long will it be in transit?

--Patrick
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Oh, an hour or so - but I've got a functional kitchen at the other end so I can reheat or cook further or whatever. I just don't want to lug around all the ingredients, inconvenience a friend and try to cook properly in another kitchen than I'm used to.
 
Eriol

Eriol

There's plenty of veggie stews (or non-veggie stews) that would transport and reheat well. Another option would be something noodle-based like Pad Thai would also work quite well. You can even bring the greens for garnish in a separate bag, and then after heating, you put on the garnish (and chopped peanuts, but check to see if that's OK first), and it looks "nice" like you prepared it there... kind of.

On that note: ALWAYS check for allergies beforehand. You'd be surprised what you run across. For example, a friend of ours eats everything EXCEPT is allergic to Soy. Not violently, but like hives and stuff.
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

We made cauldron-sized batches of turkey chili and chana masala for freezing and for lunch this week.

We modified this method for wings by putting them in the pressure cooker for 8 min, and then making a cornstarch/soy sauce/sriracha batter and shallow frying them. Super tasty. The steaming renders the fat and par cooks the wings. It's my go-to method from now on. We've tried baking them and grilling afterwards with great success as well.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Bubble181 said:
So, have to make dinner for 5-6 people next week. I have very little cooking talent and I have to be able to transport it by tram - so, in Tupperware boxes or something. Haven't gotten a more original idea than "macaroni and cheese" yet. Anyone a good suggestion? Preferably high-vegetable, non-seafood :)
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Cobb salad? The most cooking you'll have to do will be to cook the eggs, bacon and chicken. Might want to save adding the avocado until after you arrive so it doesn't brown, or put off boiling the eggs until you get there (for safety). You could even keep the ingredients separated in containers and not assemble the whole thing until you get there (including the eggs).

--Patrick
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
Cobb salad? The most cooking you'll have to do will be to cook the eggs, bacon and chicken. Might want to save adding the avocado until after you arrive so it doesn't brown, or put off boiling the eggs until you get there (for safety). You could even keep the ingredients separated in containers and not assemble the whole thing until you get there (including the eggs).

--Patrick
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Heck, these days you can buy pre-boiled eggs.
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

Bubble181 said:
So, have to make dinner for 5-6 people next week. I have very little cooking talent and I have to be able to transport it by tram - so, in Tupperware boxes or something. Haven't gotten a more original idea than "macaroni and cheese" yet. Anyone a good suggestion? Preferably high-vegetable, non-seafood :)
Click to expand...
Duh. Waffles and french fries and chimay . You're welcome.
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

In my experience, authentic Chinese dishes smell bad when they are being cooked, but taste amazing. My wife's Chinese roommate's mom visited for 6 months and made some delicious albeit odoriferous food.

I guess it all depends on what one is accustomed to.
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

Natural casings for sausages have the best snap! Honestly, I am not much of an offal fan. However, I'll generally try just about anything once.
 
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