Topic: What are you eating / What did you eat.

[8ullfrog]

Last night we did an ultra half ass sloppy joe.

Browned some ground beef, doused it in bbq sauce, and hamburger bun. Very reminiscent of school lunches.

[6pairsofshoes]

Safeway:  Signature Select Frozen Ice Cream Sandwiches, mint chip flavor.

Not particularly good.  These were a freebie, so it's hard to complain. I usually share them with the child across the street but the parents think he's getting too chubby, so we are stuck with all 12 of them.  They are small and easy to fit into the freezer so they'll go away relatively soon.

I think they would have been a good dessert for your sloppy joe adventure.  A perfect way to cleanse the palate.

[8ullfrog]

Mom made burritos and put a ton of effort in. Mega contrast with last night.

I'm not sure what lit a culinary fire in her heart, but she did a great job. Nothing out of a can, everything was fresh, and it reminded me of how many shortcuts I take when I cook.

[8ullfrog]

I made the indoor version of this:

Honestly I don't get the outdoor version, just seems to be a smash burger.

Covid meant I had to make a few substitutions, which made me nervous, as substitutions can absolutely ruin a recipe. Hence all the comments on recipes where they go "This was poo! I didn't have X, so I used disgusting substance Y instead, and it ruined it!" (Yeah, no poo)

Anyway the substitutions were as follows.

I didn't have yellow mustard, so I used brown. I think this made the sauce a bit more savory, but thankfully it didn't cross the line to bitter.
I didn't have American cheese, so I mixed some shredded cheddar and some shredded mozzarella, once again I think this cut the "sweet" flavor this sandwich is probably supposed to have.

So it ended up a bit savory instead of sweet.  Mom said it reminded her of an in-n-out burger, and I have to agree.

I'd say the biggest surprise here was using mayonnaise instead of butter on the bread. I was shocked at how much better the bread evenly cooked and became golden brown. A lot of the time I've had grilled cheese sandwiches fall apart in the pan because the butter made the bread too soft, the mayo made it hold up nicely.

If I had more time/ingredients, I might have used fresh onion slices instead of the diced and caramelized onions the recipe calls for, I might also stick in a leaf of lettuce to up the crunch factor.

Obviously this isn't a calorie counter's friend, but I figure if I only do this once a month or so, I should be fine. It's always nice to break out of routine and try something else.

During covid I've managed to lose exactly three pounds.

[8ullfrog]

I feel so lonely here now...

Anyway, I took one of those poo knorr packets, and a velveeta packet from the dollar store, combined them with some steamed chicken and steamed broccoli.

It was disappointingly bland, so I hit it with some soy sauce, and holy poo, soy sauce is apparently a stimulant to me now, because I was up until 8 AM the next day, then crashed like a corpse.

So I guess I'd say I enjoyed the experience while it lasted, and the knorr packets are relatively inoffensive, but I probably spiked the golly out of the sodium content.

[6pairsofshoes]

There is low sodium soy sauce.  I'm not sure what brand you used.  Most traditional soy sauce is not as high in sodium as regular table salt.  I put it on lots of stuff:  eggs, vegetables, rice, etc.

I had a grilled plantain last night, one that was picked recently, and it was like a party in my mouth.  Up until that moment I just didn't get the whole idea of plantains.  I had some in the States years ago and in San Juan recently, and they were just bland starchy and basically flavorless.  I didn't get what the fuss was about.  They are kind of like American supermarket bananas compared to the one I ate in Brazil.  The ones in the US are just bland and starchy.  The one I had in Brazil was like this burst of complex flavors.  There's something to be said for obtaining ingredients near their source. 

[8ullfrog]

Yup, starchy like a less than fantastic tamale. I'm glad you were able to have a proper one.

[8ullfrog]

golly, I honestly can't remember. We had nice sandwiches for lunch...

oh golly, it was a nasty can of chef boyardee ravioli. I hated it.

And hours later I shoved my face with shredded cheese from a bag.

Honestly, I blame the ravioli. When I eat a can of Chef Boyardee spaghetti, it gets the job done, and I go to bed full.

So yeah, Chef Boyardee ravioli can golly right off.

[smokester]

golly, I honestly can't remember. We had nice sandwiches for lunch...

oh golly, it was a nasty can of chef boyardee ravioli. I hated it.

And hours later I shoved my face with shredded cheese from a bag.

Honestly, I blame the ravioli. When I eat a can of Chef Boyardee spaghetti, it gets the job done, and I go to bed full.

So yeah, Chef Boyardee ravioli can golly right off.

I'd never hear of Chef Boyardee so I looked it up. This video makes me I wish I hadn't:

[8ullfrog]

That guy is way overdoing the "cool kids club" youtube personality, holy poo.

Mostly it's bland. Bland pasta, bland meat, bland sauce.

Which is weird because when the dude was alive people went nuts for his sauce. Like they'd show up at his restaurant and just buy jugs of the poo.

Also this idiot is eating it straight out of the can... you have to heat it.

I looked him up, and this guy is a real piece of work.

[6pairsofshoes]

I've never been to Buca de beppo.  This guy is really annoying.  In love with his own adjectives.  I agree with your assessment.  He really needs a bucket of cold water thrown over him.

Sure you can eat canned pasta, but it ain't all that hard to make in the first place. I guess if you don't have access to cooking facilities, it might make sense if you lacked alternatives.

[8ullfrog]

honestly it's been a gift with covid.

Making actual pasta is right out with this heat, but microwave up a can of bland spaghetti, and you're done!

The ravioli's on the other hand, are not filling enough.

[8ullfrog]

Tonight was pretty amazing.

The heat wave dipped enough I was willing to risk the toaster oven, so I rolled out some pastry and a pack of aidells. Roasted garlic and gouda.

Normally the cheese in an accent, but here, it's bursting.

The pastry came in precut triangles, which is less helpful than they think it is. Each sausage got two triangles, and then I budged them together to form a nice barrier coating.

Next, I gave them the listed 11 minutes in a 375 degree toaster oven.

That didn't get the job done, so I gave it another five.

In the meantime, I mixed the same sauce from the patty melt, this time actually measuring it. feel free to adjust.

2 TBS ketchup, 2 TBS Mayo, 2 TBS yellow mustard, 1TBS Worcestershire sauce. Spin it with a spoon until well blended.

Then I used the logo on the paper plate to separate food and condiment, and it was an amazing gooey mess.  Didn't even realize I needed this, but I did.

[8ullfrog]

Tonight we had Aidell's meatballs, and I can't say I'm a fan. It was a whoopsie purchase, mom thought she bought sausage, not meatballs.

We were going to do like a light stroganoff/swedish meatball type thing, sans onions because of the recall, but I've got plenty of garlic and Worcestershire sauce.

Heated them up separately because I wanted to see how they tasted before I ran the demon stove. They were... gross? Like they were chicken, which is divisive. I like chicken sausage, a lot of people I know won't touch it.

I don't actually see the ones we got on the website, or I'd link it as a warning. They had like, spinach in them? I'm sure a cook with more time and a more friendly climate could figure out something to do with that, maybe something greek? some cucumbers on a sandwich, maybe Tzatziki?

Either way, a sour cream and savory sauce just seemed like the wrong lane, so I crap hit it. Meatball sandwich with canned sauce.

The rolls actually turned out amazingly well, and the cheese was nice and gooey, the sauce I could take or leave, but the meatballs, again, were a disappointment.

I probably would have been better off just saucing and cheesing the bread.

Ya live, you learn, some dinners just suck.

Yesterday I think we did cold cut sandwiches? It got up around 96 degrees and just sat there all day. 84 right now and we're creeping up on midnight.

I also had some disappointing ice cream tonight, they overdid it with the chocolate. Like, if you're doing ice cream, I could see going two note with the chocolate, like a chocolate ice cream base with chunks of chocolate in it, but for the third... I dunno, tone? Throw in some caramel, some vanilla cream, something to break up the chocolate overload.

Nope, chocolate chocolate chocolate.  Mom ate it happily.

[6pairsofshoes]

Some of their meatballs are ok.  Some not so much.  They make really good caramelized onion burgers (chicken) but the related meatballs are pretty disappointing.  It's hard to know why.  I often pick up what they have at Grocery Outlet, but it's good to keep an eye on the exp. dates.  They freeze well, too.

I am eating lots of good french yogurt and some nice local barbeque.  I had some really good fish last night:  grouper fried and then smothered in some kind of delicious sauce.  It's cheap and they give you a ton of food.  It's a hole in the wall local place with no signage and only word of mouth to let you know it's a restaurant.  They give you scalloped potatoes with cream, and peas & rice, as well as salad and vegs.  I can eat one meal for 3 days.  $12 for one of those styrofoam take out containers heaped with food.  We eat lots of salads and sandwiches because of the heat.  I'm not inclined to cook anything much more adventurous than an omelette, although my skills in that area are improving.  Not quite up to the level of Gwen in Gavin and Stacy, though.