Bulk Cooking Club

[MareMare]

Wasn't really planning on making anything today, but my dad brought me a ton of sirloin and sliced it up thin so I could make jerky! I did pretty much my regular marinade (but sugar free) and then marinated it for a few hours and just put it on to dehydrate over night. I've still got some more marinating to put on when this batch is done. Nom!

My sugar free marinade~

5 oz soy sauce (I buy generic, 10 oz bottles of these two)
5 oz Worcestershire sauce
a few glug-glugs of Red Wine Vinegar
two glug-glugs of oil
1-2 tsp granulated garlic
1-2 tsp granulated onion
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp + red pepper flakes
1 tsp + freshly ground black pepper (coarsely ground!)
2 tsp liquid smoke
6 packets Splenda

I mix everything together, taste it, adjust seasonings if I need to, then pour the marinade over the meat and let marinate for a few hours, tipping the bowl over or massaging the bag occasionally.

[Melladh]

I might have to try that, I love rice and eat far to much of it if it's available.

Just remember it doesn't actually taste anything like rice, it's just tends to go with the same dishes that go with rice... Mostly you'll need to use dishes with a strong taste, because if it's too mild, the cauliflower might overpower it, and it might be.. weird

There are several ways to prep it, most people I find on the webs seem to just toss a cup of shredded cauliflower in the microwave. I like using the oven (because larger amounts cook more evenly in the oven, and the stove will be free for whatever I'll make to go with it) so I shred cauliflower with a bit of carrot, mixed it by hand with rape seed oil, butter, salt and black pepper, and put it in the oven at 225°C for 15 mins... It was tasty!

[zippecar]

Good to know, thanks. I'll try just about anything once.

[Antidigger]

I tend to cook in sort of bulk! When I make a meal for the 2 of us, I'll usually make an extra 2 portions to freeze. The other thing I do is freeze up the gluts of homegrown produce. Yesterday I made us 4 tubs of runner beans (half a tub will be a generous portion for 2) with all the beans that I couldn't give away when we came back from holiday.

[eiyela]

I made a huge batch of my mom's everything soup. After dinner I still have about 5 liters of soup to freeze.

This is what I used. Everything except the sausage and celery (any kind of celery, really) are totally optional, this is what I had lying around.

1/2 knob celery
2 large onions
7 carrots
2 handfuls of shredded cabbage
3 spicy sausages (I used chorizo)
4 cloves of garlic
1 big bunch of leafy greens
2 cans worth of home cooked kidney beans (another thing that freezes well!)
1 tbsp oil
chili paste
paprika powder
salt
pepper
2 stock cubes (optional)

Dice up all your veggies except the leafy greens and stick them in a pot with some oil and the sausage. Add garlic and some spices, you can adjust the flavour later but a little bit helps make the veggies tasty. Fry the veggies in the pot for a few minutes. Add water, enough to cover and then some, you want room for the leafy greens and beans later. Add stock if you want and bring to a boil. Boil until your veggies are soft, taste and season some more if necessary, add beans and leafy greens and boil for another 2 minutes. Serve with some nice bread and cheese, if you like.

[Antidigger]

Sounds delicious.

[TroubleT]

I just did our weekly grocery run. I found fresh green beans for a $1/lb. Guess what I'll be doing tonight?

My DH and I just discussed making our own stock and canning it. We figured out that doing enough in one day could be overwhelming with everything else on our plate so we're going to do half batches, store that in the fridge and then pressure process on the following weekend. Making stock is super easy and we can use the meat from the chickens in several different dishes through the week like burritos, chicken salad for lunches or our favorite Santa Fe chicken. 

[MareMare]

Mmm I totally want some green beans to roast! Having homemade stock on hand sounds awesome!

[TroubleT]

Oh, and we made this recipe for dinner the other night using some cooked up hamburger. Super yummy!

[Kochopia]

I'm making some make ahead lasagnas for the week! Someone suggested no boil lasagna noodles ...that would be so much easier than the other kind