Saturday, July 29, 2017

Productive Foodie Morning; Wasted Afternoon

This was a “foodie” morning, for sure. If I can make myself get started, and I’m moving on it, I keep going as long as I can on food prep. It pays off later when I just don’t feel like “fixing” something. I was up very early, even for me, and I ran to the store around 7 for a few small things I was out of. When I got back, I got going.

By 11, I had a crock pot going with what I laughingly call Cream of Potato Soup. Tomorrow will tell, when I taste it, whether it really is what it says it is. I had inherited more white potatoes than I use these days. I also inherited a bag of small red onions. And I had a 2 lb. tub of plain yogurt in the fridge.  Tossed it all in the pot. Diced, of course. I also did something not always recommended but which made sense to me. I put the yogurt in from the get-go. Folks told me it would curdle. I think it only curdles if you add cold to hot. I was doing it all from cold.

And, it did not curdle. I stirred every couple of hours. It cooked for 10 hours. I’m not sure the potatoes are as tender as I wanted. Maybe the yogurt was responsible. A lot will show up tomorrow when I re-heat some and taste it. I ended up with 7 2-cup containers to freeze.

I also used yogurt instead of sour cream for an old family favorite: cucumbers, onion and sour cream. I had to dice the onions and cucumbers because of dental issues. Even the thinnest slices are not chewable because of their width or something or other. Anyhow, it is also very tasty and very tender. I think part of the tenderness comes from it soaking in that yogurt, just as it does in sour cream. This one was good.

Washed and trimmed 2 lbs. of strawberries for the fridge.

And I grabbed the blender and made a batch of yogurt smoothies with what was around. Yogurt, of course, some beet juice, some cucumber, some strawberries, an apple, half a can of crushed pineapple and something I can’t remember. Anyhow, I ended up with 7 good size cookie-go-cups of the smoothie.

One other thing I did was cook up the last 6 frozen beef patties a friend had given me. I used a ‘corrugated” square non-stick pan. After they were cooked, I froze 5 of them for quick grab-and-go (just nuke for a minute) burgers when I get a craving. I used the 6th for dinner with a previously frozen serving of spaghetti squash and sauce.

I did all of that, including the cleanup, between 8 and 11. Then I crashed. I was wasted. The back and knees said they were holding up but that it was time to quit.

The rest of the day was a big fat zero! But I’m happy with the things I did do and will have when I need them.

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