Good Food From Leftover Scraps

These days, with more and more people being at home and maybe not wanting to venture out to the grocery store, there is a lot more home cooking going on.  People are learning to bake, make their own bread and soups, and finding out that cooking can actually be fun.  I have been at home for almost 47 years and have always cooked the family meals anyway, but I still tend to use recipes for most of what I cook.

A few years ago a lady at the Drop-In Centre I like to hang out at came up with the idea of making Stone Soup once a month. I had never heard of stone soup before so she explained it to us all.  It seems a traveler came to a village where he found the people unwilling to share their food. He filled his pot with water and a stone and set it on the fire. When asked what he was doing he told the people that he was making stone soup and that it was really good. He said he would share it with them but it needed something extra before it would be ready. Each villager contributed a little something to the pot and in the end, the whole village was able to enjoy a delicious soup without denting their precious food supplies.

I have made many soups over the years but I had never heard of this, and I always used a recipe.  The soups we had at the Drop-In Center were marvelous and never the same. Suddenly I was feeling much braver. Throw stuff in a pot and eat.  What a concept! 

I have an Instant Pot. To cook anything in there you have to add liquid first. Juices off the meats fall into the liquid and make such marvelous juices and I began saving them in the freezer.  Now I combine a couple and maybe add some bouillon or store-bought broth to it to make more, and throw in whatever happens to be in my fridge....leftover corn, bits of meat, maybe some cooked pasta or rice...it doesn't matter.  The combinations are endless and I doubt that I could ever duplicate anything. I do remember that the juices from a country chicken dinner and those from barbequed flavoured spare ribs together were totally amazing.  Who knew?  And just like the villagers, I feel that I'm getting a good, hardy meal (a few actually) out of free bits that might otherwise have ended up in the garbage or down the drain.  

A bit of homemade bread just adds to the enjoyment.

Or, since we are using leftovers from the fridge, how about some potato buns?  Enjoy.

https://canolaeatwell.com/recipe/potato-buns/

Instant Pot Extras

Last year I got an Instant Pot for Christmas. There was some concern that I would be afraid to use it but I must say I love the darn thing.

My mother used a pressure cooker when I was young and I will admit to having a fear of that thing. But the Instant Pot has computerized safety features and I don't worry about it at all. It has given me a burn warning a few of times.....but all while cooking one meal. I have to assume that I didn't get the pot deglazed well enough after browning the meat as I had made that dish before with no incident. I took the top off, and carefully stirred, scraping the bottom of the pot with a plastic spoon and hoped for the best. There was just no other reason for it to be warning me. Dinner was just fine and in the entire year, that was the only incident.

I'm still reading messages in the forums from people who are staring at their new Instant Pots and are too afraid to plug them in. I say, do the seal test, as described in the manual, and the cook yourself a perfect egg or two, just so you will get the idea how to use it without worrying about wasting too much money on some more expensive food that you are so convinced you will ruin. Then use actual Instant Pot recipes as this method of cooking is definitely different from what you are used to.  Over time you will learn the tricks and come to understand just how this gadget works. After that, you may start to develop ways to use the Instant Pot to cook some of your old favorites.

The Instant Pot will not only save you time, it will save you money on your electrical bills as well. The other thing it will do is save you money by stretching  your food dollars.  When you use an Instant Pot you must always put at least a cup of water or some other fluid into the pot first. The juices off your meats will end up in this water and I came to the conclusion that it had to be good for something. I started freezing it and asked an online group if they every use that liquid for soups or other dishes. The answer was a resounding yes!  So today I thawed out one of those containers of frozen liquids and mixed it with the juices from the most recent meal. Both were chicken dishes, but quiet different from one another so the juices were different colours and had different flavours. It didn't matter.  I added a bit of store bought chicken broth too, just to top up the pot a bit so there would be enough for four bowls. Then I divided it in half as there are only two of us here.  I considered adding vegetables, but just went with noodles for today. The other half may get the vegetables since I'm exploring taste sensations.

It was so good, and full bodied. We really enjoyed it. So, besides already getting a couple of meals out of my cooked dinners, I will get a couple more out of the simple water that was required to cook them. You can't beat that kind of savings, especially since it was so good. The juices can, of course, be used in your other cooking as well. I may cook some rice in it next time.

Robbie Burns in Cramped Quarters

As is the custom at the New Horizons Club, the annual Robbie Burns Celebration was planned and everyone was looking forward to it. It had been an extremely cold week, and when the seniors arrived they found a very cold  hall.  The furnace wasn't working and help would not be available for a few days, at least.

Usually the hall is set up with tables, and everyone is comfortable seated for a meal of soup and haggis. The soup was made, and it was either come up with some alternate ways of doing things, or throw the soup out. I did hear that phrase used, but I'm sure someone would have managed to save it from such a fate.

The community centre is very old, and happens to have two distinct parts. It turned out that while the furnace wasn't heating the side we normally use, there was at least electrical heat on the other side. A decision was made to set the chairs up in there, row upon row. There was no room for tables. 

There was a piper, as usual, and this year we had a couple of little girls from the Andrea Goral School of Highland Dancing perform for us. I'm not sure anyone beyond the first row was able to see anything, but the members gave them a good round of applause anyway.  The haggis was piped in and addressed in grand style, by John Sullivan then carted off again to be cut up and served.

The soup found it's way into mugs this year, as that was a much safer way to eat it without tables, and sitting elbow to elbow. The haggis and a bun were put into the soup bowls and served as a second course.  Following that we had cake and then tea or coffee. Then Coral Lindsay filled us all in on the life and times of Robbie Burns. Apparently he was prolific in more ways than one.

While the day didn't turn out quite as planned, it still was an enjoyable one.