Food and Recipes while under Coronavirus quarantine #4

[BetteDavisEyes]

Food is so expensive these days.

Even foods that are on sales or specials still tend to be quite high. We've noticed it at the fish counter. We enjoy fish or seafood meals at least three times weekly, and some of the prices are almost ridiculous. Sea scallops were on a Nino's special last week, so we got just under a pound - 10 large scallops. The seafood freezer had a large sign for Alaskan King Crab Legs for $89.99 a pound! How can someone justify spending that much for a meal at home? Alaskan King Crab legs are mostly shell, so you'd need more than a pound to feed a family of four. I had King Crab legs when we were on an Alaskan cruise. I wasn't crazy about them - too much work to get to the crab meat. I preferred the fresh Alaskan salmon.

 

[anneg]

Even foods that are on sales or specials still tend to be quite high. We've noticed it at the fish counter. We enjoy fish or seafood meals at least three times weekly, and some of the prices are almost ridiculous. Sea scallops were on a Nino's special last week, so we got just under a pound - 10 large scallops. The seafood freezer had a large sign for Alaskan King Crab Legs for $89.99 a pound! How can someone justify spending that much for a meal at home? Alaskan King Crab legs are mostly shell, so you'd need more than a pound to feed a family of four. I had King Crab legs when we were on an Alaskan cruise. I wasn't crazy about them - too much work to get to the crab meat. I preferred the fresh Alaskan salmon.

Crazy price! We prefer Dungeness crab (leg clusters), although it still takes effort to get all the meat out. It's cheaper than Alaskan King Crab legs but significantly more expensive than it used to be.

 

[PayrollNerd]

The other day I made salami rolls as my protein snack. A 1/2 lb of genoa salami makes about 20 or so. I diced up small dill pickles and let them drain on paper towels. I spread softened cream cheese on the salami slices, sprinkle them with the diced pickles and roll them up. I used an 8 oz block of cream cheese. They are great to take to a potluck too.

I made the lemon cheesecake again. Added some frozen blueberries like last time. I was going to make one with a gluten free crust but the kiddies are wrapped up at work. Maybe this weekend we’ll all get together.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

How to make your best omelet yet

At hotel breakfasts, fancy brunches or even the college dining hall, the omelet station always felt like the height of luxury to me.

www.detroitnews.com

At hotel breakfasts, fancy brunches or even the college dining hall, the omelet station always felt like the height of luxury to me. Omelets hold a revered, almost mythical position in popular and culinary culture as well, whether it's the hypnotic comfort of famed French chef and cookbook author Jacques Pépin demonstrating his recipe or watching Helen Mirren's character discover the bliss of a masala omelet made by the aspiring chef played by Manish Dayal in "The Hundred-Foot Journey."

But cooking a great omelet at home needn't be shrouded in mystery. If you already feel confident about your scrambled eggs, you're most of the way there. In "CookWise," Shirley O. Corriher explains: "Basically, omelets are glorified scrambled eggs. They start out the same way, and then, when the eggs are partially set but still juicy, they are folded over."...

 

[Catmommy]

Yep, omelets are one of my favorite go-to meals. Even if you mess them up, they're still a tasty scramble.

 

[anneg]

How to make your best omelet yet

At hotel breakfasts, fancy brunches or even the college dining hall, the omelet station always felt like the height of luxury to me.

www.detroitnews.com

At hotel breakfasts, fancy brunches or even the college dining hall, the omelet station always felt like the height of luxury to me. Omelets hold a revered, almost mythical position in popular and culinary culture as well, whether it's the hypnotic comfort of famed French chef and cookbook author Jacques Pépin demonstrating his recipe or watching Helen Mirren's character discover the bliss of a masala omelet made by the aspiring chef played by Manish Dayal in "The Hundred-Foot Journey."

But cooking a great omelet at home needn't be shrouded in mystery. If you already feel confident about your scrambled eggs, you're most of the way there. In "CookWise," Shirley O. Corriher explains: "Basically, omelets are glorified scrambled eggs. They start out the same way, and then, when the eggs are partially set but still juicy, they are folded over."...

Thanks, I enjoyed the article. Then I followed a link to "When Jacques Pepin Made All the World an Omelet" and from there another link to "Learn Jacques Pepin's famous omelet techniques" on YouTube... and now I want to sample the omelets he made in the video (haha). I usually make scrambled eggs with soft, creamy curds instead of an omelet.

I was surprised to see him using a fork in a nonstick skillet.

 

[Springrain]

Just thought I'd drop in to talk about this new snack I tried in case anyone is interested, they're vegan "pork rinds" called Pigout Pigless Pork Rinds. I myself am not vegan or vegetarian, but I don't eat pork or pork products. (I eat chicken, beef, turkey, and seafood.) These are made of rice and pea protein and are seasoned to have a pork rind type of flavor. Normally, meat substitutes aren't great in my experience, but I find these are surprisingly "meaty" tasting. I'm not very familiar with the taste of pork, having eaten it only once by mistake, but it tastes very similar to how pork smells. They're super crunchy and have a good variety of flavors to choose from. They're also a lot healthier and lower calorie than actual pork rinds. Just something I wanted to shout out in case anyone is interesting in a vegetarian and/or lower cal version of pork rinds.

In other news, I had a delicious homemade caesar salad with shredded rotisserie chicken for dinner tonight.

 

[RusselSprout]

Big pork scratching fan here! You do get good bags and bad bags though, i prefer the smaller harder pieces, than the big puffy pieces. They are sooo bad, but sooo good

 

[Springrain]

What's everyone's favorite fast food or chain coffee? I could directly inject the McDonald's hazelnut iced coffee into my veins...lol.

 

[PayrollNerd]

What's everyone's favorite fast food or chain coffee? I could directly inject the McDonald's hazelnut iced coffee into my veins...lol.

I'm not a coffee drinker altho I love the smell, particularly the flavored ones. I'm a tea person. Chik-fil-A and McDonalds will let me order a half sweet half unsweet iced tea.

 

[anneg]

I'm not a coffee drinker altho I love the smell, particularly the flavored ones. I'm a tea person. Chik-fil-A and McDonalds will let me order a half sweet half unsweet iced tea.

I like the half and half iced tea too. The sweet tea in restaurants is usually too sweet.

 

[killarney rose]

I like Dunkin Donuts original coffee, or Pilot truck stop’s Colombian coffee.

 

[Springrain]

I like Dunkin Donuts original coffee, or Pilot truck stop’s Colombian coffee.

There's no Dunkin Donuts near me (West Coast), but I love their bottled hazelnut iced coffee. (I'm a big hazelnut fan!)

I'm not a coffee drinker altho I love the smell, particularly the flavored ones. I'm a tea person. Chik-fil-A and McDonalds will let me order a half sweet half unsweet iced tea.

Love iced tea and sweet tea too!

 

[acutename]

Even foods that are on sales or specials still tend to be quite high. We've noticed it at the fish counter. We enjoy fish or seafood meals at least three times weekly, and some of the prices are almost ridiculous. Sea scallops were on a Nino's special last week, so we got just under a pound - 10 large scallops. The seafood freezer had a large sign for Alaskan King Crab Legs for $89.99 a pound! How can someone justify spending that much for a meal at home? Alaskan King Crab legs are mostly shell, so you'd need more than a pound to feed a family of four. I had King Crab legs when we were on an Alaskan cruise. I wasn't crazy about them - too much work to get to the crab meat. I preferred the fresh Alaskan salmon.

food price inflation is insane lately. I already do not eat meat and while I used to buy some cheaper fish, I skip it if it is too much, which now is always. fairly ordinary bread costs $5. pretty much everything costs about $5 or more. not sure how people with growing families can even afford to eat.

 

[PayrollNerd]

food price inflation is insane lately. I already do not eat meat and while I used to buy some cheaper fish, I skip it if it is too much, which now is always. fairly ordinary bread costs $5. pretty much everything costs about $5 or more. not sure how people with growing families can even afford to eat.

I don't think families can afford to eat. I went to the produce pickup on Wed morning. The line was all the way thru the parking lot, down the main street and down a side street. There were people walking from the apartment buildings nearby pulling carts. They help those people first so they don't get overheated.

I arrived about 15 minutes early at 9:15am. They started at 9:30am but they didn't have enough staff to bag things. So the helpers were still arriving 30 minutes later. I was so glad to see they had set up in the shade. I got to the front of the line at 10:20am and literally they just laid the veggies in the back of my vehicle. Most were just loose.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

food price inflation is insane lately. I already do not eat meat and while I used to buy some cheaper fish, I skip it if it is too much, which now is always. fairly ordinary bread costs $5. pretty much everything costs about $5 or more. not sure how people with growing families can even afford to eat.

I think about this often. DH is retired, and we are financially quite comfortable, but I know that today's food prices must be taxing on young families. School breakfast and lunch programs will probably be overwhelmed come fall when more families request free meals to make sure that their children are properly nourished.

When I decided to bake a pumpkin cheesecake last week, both Nino's and Meijer did not have graham cracker crumbs. When Nino's didn't have them, I was going to get a box of graham crackers and was stunned to see that they were $5.99! DH said he would look at Meijer where they also did not have graham cracker crumbs, but a box of graham crackers was more reasonably priced. I haven't bought graham crackers in recent years and noticed that they have shrunk since I last got them. Graham crackers were a staple in my childhood home: Mom preferred them over too many sweet treats.

Back-to-school commercials have been running for a couple of weeks, and I have read some news articles about how much parents will be spending for the coming school year. Holiday commercials will start in a month or so, and I'm sure that is going to put a financial strain on many families this year.

 

[angelainwi]

Looks like it will be good. Your zucchini 'noodles' look great! I'm glad you are happy with your new pan.

I don't make lasagna anymore. Since there are just the two of us, I cheat and use penne and layer it with ricotta, pasta sauce and mixed Italian cheeses in a casserole dish. I usually use enough ingredients to make 2-4 meals for us.

I make my lasagna with bowties. I cook the bowties and cook 2 lbs of hamburger meat and then mix in pasta sauce. I layer the bowties, meat sauce, and Italian cheeses in a casserole dish and it is one of my husband's and 20 year old son's favorite meals.

 

[TenaciousTBacon]

I watched a TikTok last night with the person making a big lasagna with 3 different cheeses, noodles, 2 meats and spinach. A commenter wrote, "This looks amazing! My wife and I are applying for a loan to make it for our family of six."

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I watched a TikTok last night with the person making a big lasagna with 3 different cheeses, noodles, 2 meats and spinach. A commenter wrote, "This looks amazing! My wife and I are applying for a loan to make it for our family of six."

When I read this article a few days ago, I wondered how much my favorite NY breakfast would cost. Visited the Big Apple several times but never had a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich. We always find the nearest Jewish deli for a bagel with cream cheese and lox (sliced tomato and red onion, capers are optional). Locally, smoked salmon has been close to $30 a pound, so I'm sure that NYC prices are much higher. A bagel with cream cheese and lox could be $25 or more. Some folks would have to take out a loan to enjoy the popular New York deli treat!

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2022-07-27/inflation-hits-nycs-bodega-favorite-bacon-egg-and-cheese

 

[JrzyGirl70]

@BetteDavisEyes I just had one yesterday at Zuckers in Tribeca, cost $15.00 for just the sandwich but so worth it.. If you are ever in New Jersey I am going to tell you to skip the BEC sandwich and go with a Taylor Ham, Egg and Cheese on a hard roll salt, pepper, ketchup (if you are in South Jersey they call it Pork roll, egg and cheese). We had to ship Taylor Ham out to Las Vegas when my family moved out there.