What are you Cooking the Week of November 8, 2020?

[kimbob]

Eggplant parm tonight. Going to bread and bake the eggplant instead of frying it. Never baked it before but it should come out ok. Not in the mood for a frying mess!

[chocomouse]

Pizza tonight!

[BakerAunt]

On Friday, I made another batch of yogurt.

For Friday dinner, I made a large soup. I cooked 1 cup brown and ½ cup red lentils in some chicken broth. In a big pot, I sauteed chopped celery, carrots, and two mostly red bell peppers (from our garden; we finished their ripening inside). I browned ground turkey, then added some chopped garlic and 2 tsp. rehydrated dried onion. I added a cubed, small butternut squash (one of those designed to be small), and a half pound of sliced mushrooms. I added the cooked lentils and the broth, some autumn shaped pasta, and after that minced parsley and freshly ground black pepper. We have enough for a couple more meals.

[RiversideLen]

Roasted chicken breast (bone in, skin on) and potato, steamed cabbage and carrot and cranberry sauce.

Question, I have a can of pumpkin puree that has a bet by date of Dec 2019, do you think it's still OK?

[BakerAunt]

Len--As long as the can is intact (not bulging), it should be fine to use the pumpkin.

[Italiancook]

Len, I donate to a food bank. I heard from one of their constituents that the bank was giving away canned goods a year old. I called the food bank to find out why. I was told that some government agency, don't recall which, says they're good for one year after date on can. But all that is heresay, so you probably want to do some Internet searching to check this out. I agree with BakerAunt, I'd never use a bulging can -- that spells trouble! I'm also leery of dented cans, although I don't know if there's any science to that.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

I'm heading to the kitchen in a couple of hours to make my dad's chop suey for lunch and a few other meals. I'm going to use frozen Riced Cauliflower in place of the serving rice. I've never done this before, so I don't know how it'll work out. The Riced Cauliflower is bland, and it's harder than cooked rice, so it should work out okay. The recipe calls for pork shoulder, but I don't have any. So, I'm going to use ground pork from the freezer. I hope I don't ruin it.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by Italiancook.

[chocomouse]

Our food shelf says the same thing: they are not allowed to give out foods that are more than one year past the expiration date.

[Mike Nolan]

One year past the date on the label works for most foods, but not really acidic ones. Recently we were having some ham and found the only can of sliced pineapple we had was dated something like 2016. My wife opened it, but it smelled metallic so she tossed it.

I suspect the pumpkin is OK, but you might plan to have another can on hand if/when you decide to use it.

[RiversideLen]

Thanks everyone. Italiancook, I took your advice and did some additional research. I seem to recall hearing that old canned goods have been found (100 years old) and examined and found to be safe to eat and still nutritious. What I found was that the best by date is determined by the manufacturer of the food. Past that date there might be some degradation of color and taste but it should still be good to use. However, the condition of the can and how it's stored are important too. i.e. avoid dented and rusted cans, store in moderate temps and avoid high humidity and direct sunlight. Also trust your nose, ÿour nose knows". The Food Network has an article on it, How Long Is Canned Food Good I'm planning on making a pie from it, I'll report back.

[RiversideLen]

I made a stir fry for dinner consisting of cabbage, carrots, mushrooms and a leftover chicken breast. Had it over brown rice.

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