A Snowy Day: Let's Cook!

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frigilux

frigilux

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Mar 3, 2007
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The Minnesota Prairie
What to do on a snowy Monday holiday? Why, cook, of course. The only rule: No trip to the grocery store. Use what's in the pantry. These recipes are carb-controlled but very tasty. I'm also of the mise en place school. I like to prep everything before beginning to cook.

First up: Ground Beef & Cabbage Soup. Photo 1 shows the ingredients. The recipe is photo 2.

Next: Sausage, Chicken & Mushroom Casserole. Used chicken sausages from Sam's Club as I had no bulk sausage on hand. Also substituted canned mushrooms for the portobellos for the same reason.
Photo 3 show ingredients; photo 4 the recipe.

Last: A small batch of my Simple Chili. Photo 5 shows ingredients; photo 6 the recipe.

Photo 7: Everything bubbling away on the Frigidaire. House smells wonderful.

Photo 8: Lower rack of GE dishwasher. I know, I know; there's an open space in the front of the rack, but I wanted to make sure some water made it to the detergent dispenser.

Photo 9: Upper rack loaded.

Photo 10: Cycle selection and options. Detergent: Ultimate Clean Pac (Sam's Club).

Everything turned out well and the GE didn't leave a speck behind!

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Hi Frig!
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Timely: Had unexpected company, so we had a choice of soup or chili for supper. Sometimes the universe is in sync, LOL.

Hi, Ben!

Greg: Beef Burgundy made with tenderloin sounds excellent!

Joshua: I have a first generation iPad2. I use an app called Pepperplate as a recipe file. Two of the recipes were viewed in 'cook mode' in order to get everything on a single page; hence the different look.
 
Jim-- And 3-1/2 hours is without adding the Power Dry option! I probably could have gotten by without the Presoak and Sanitize options, but was feeling extravagant, LOL. Power Dry adds about an hour to the cycle. There's no denying that cycles on newer dishwashers are crazy long. Having said that, the machine is idle during much of the Presoak and, of course, the Dry portions of the cycle. The motor and pump aren't operating the whole time.

Photo 1: The longest cycle on the machine. Bottle Wash, Sanitize, Presoak, and Power Dry options added to the Heavy cycle. I never use the Power Dry option. I just open the door at the end of the cycle and let things flash-dry. Ditto the Bottle Wash option.

Photo 2: This is my daily driver cycle. Does a great job on everything but crusty cookware. The Normal cycle with Temp Boost and Power Dry options added (the way Consumer Reports tests) is 2:20 in length. My water heater is set to near 140 degrees, so Temp Boost isn't needed for most loads.[this post was last edited: 1/3/2017-08:44]

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I could have washed and dried that load by hand in 15-20 minutes...but then I wouldn't be using an appliance and we can't have that! I don't cook as much as I used to and sometimes think about washing dishes manually. In the end, I prefer a dishwasher for bowls/dishes/utensils that have come in contact with raw meat/juices.

Having said that, we didn't have a dishwasher from 1966-1974 and survived to tell about it, LOL.
 
Guys go easy on Frig

After all, it took me months to get him away from laundry PODS and back to liquids.  I had my work cut out for sure. But he turned it around.  He came back from the dark side and I no longer have to insert images from Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
 
I could have washed and dried that load by hand in 15-20 minutes...but then I wouldn't be using an appliance and we can't have that! I don't cook as much as I used to and sometimes think about washing dishes manually. 

 

Yes, but even though you could have had those dishes washed and dried in far less time than the dishwasher, there is one ugly difference: you would have been doing the work. You would have been stuck slaving over a warm sink for 20 minutes.

 

That 20 minutes could be used for any sorts of activities that might be more fun. Like reading my posts here.

 

In the background mutters erupt. "Actually, I think scrubbing a bunch of pots and pans would be more fun that reading what that brain dead twit Lord Kenmore has to say!"

 

Years back, I honestly questioned the value of a dishwasher for someone like me who lives alone. It "only" takes  a few minutes to wash a few dishes... And then, I lived with a dishwasher, and got spoiled very quickly. I don't have a dishwasher now, but I hope this is the last place I ever live that's stuck in the stone age... It makes kitchen life easier even when doing simple meals. And dishes are a major consideration for if I'd ever have people for dinner. At this point, I'm not set up for entertaining, period. But if dishes were the only issue here, it would be a tough sell to do even a small dinner given the work of cleanup. Meanwhile, a dishwasher makes it no big deal.

 

So...while I rant about 4 hour cycles, I admit they do beat washing by hand. At least if the DW is reasonably competent... I just don't like having long run times on appliances--I like to be around, to half monitor in case something goes wrong, and it's easier to schedule that for half an hour/45 minutes than 3 hours. Also thinking that there are times when one is doing a lot of dishes (candle light supper, holiday, wahtever), long running times means long periods when the DW is in use, and dishes could be piling up.
 

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