Had some refried beans left over so I made enchiladas with ground beef and beans,they were good.

Tonight I'm making my black bean and mushroom meatloaf.

Got some "Reduced for quick sale" stew beef from Sam's Club so I'll be making slow cooker stew this weekend. The meat is still cut in chunks too big for us so I cut each chunk into 3 or 4 smaller pieces.

Nothing like cooking cheap cuts of beef all day in a slow cooker; makes it fall apart tender.

Bronx

Italiancook wrote:

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ITALIAN COOK:
Good afternoon. Listen, do like I do because I do not like butter. If I taste it I have to wash my mouth out. When preparing mashed taters I use approx. 1/3rd butter & 2/3rds CREAM CHEESE....Trust me it tastes much better than butter in mashed taters.

Now then IC.I do not want to tell you how to make MASHED TATERS, but, consider using some OLIVE OIL, CHOPPED ONIONS BAY LEAF & CUT UP GARLIC. place all in the boiling water including the salt. Drain.... mash up the taters, adding milk/1/2 1/2 & butter/cream cheese concoction, Also if some salt is required use LAWRY's Seasoning salt good stuff. Also I found black pepper taste good as well.

IC, while doing this mixing with your fork mixing in the seasonings & tasting as such keep your sauce pan on the burner low...so as to keep the taters warm while mixing
(GOOD IDEA...HUH !!!)

I hope this info provides you with some thought on how to spruce up your taters.
Let us know how it works out for you.

Good luck & enjoy the day.

~KIDPIZZA / CASS.

Cass, I always appreciate cooking tips. Thank you. I have cream cheese in the fridge, usually. I'll try your ratio next time. In fact, I'll try your recipe for mashed potatoes next time. I'll let you know how it turns out. But it may be a while before I make mashed again. I'm going to have quite a supply of potato patties in my freezer to use up first.

I agree with you, Mike, on buttermilk mashed potatoes.

Don't know why I was so worried about artery health yesterday when making mashed potatoes. I knew then that I was going to make Ben & Jerry Dreamsicle Ice Cream today. The recipe is on this site. The ice cream is delicious! The bonus is that you don't have to cook a custard. Just toss everything in a container and whisk & pour in machine.

For me, the ice cream has too much cream. It uses both cream & half 'n half. Next time, I'm going to use only half 'n half. The next time will be in a day or so. The recipe uses orange juice concentrate. Only a third of a cup, which means there's enough to make the ice cream 2 or 3 times. I'm making it for the freezer, so that's a good thing.

I've had an ice cream maker for most of this century, but only used it twice. I couldn't find a good way to pour the custard into the small opening at the top without making a mess. Yesterday, I discovered that Pyrex makes an 8-cup measuring pitcher that has a top with pouring holes that can be placed over the spout. This worked out perfectly. No pouring mess.

I use funnels for tasks like pouring into your ice cream maker.

I've got one of those ice cream makers where the outside of the container is a gel-filled freezer pack, I've gotten some good ices and sherbets from it, but I don't think it's got enough freezing power for a cream-based mix, even though our big freezer is set for 10 below, so the cold pack gets plenty cold.

I don't think my wife will let me spend money on a real ice cream machine, though. S'OK, the farmers market season starts later this month, and the gelato stand there is better than anything I could make anyway. And Freddy's has pretty good frozen custard, in addition to the best french fries in town.