Thursday Eats, Parsimoniously

Sweet potatoes make me happy, like sunshine

When exbf arrived to give me a hand today (Thursday), I had not bathed or eaten. I had just sat here, hurting and drinking a regular Coke, my morning "coffee." Then, I became hungry after awhile.  Breakfast was two scrambled eggs and a glass of orange juice.

Snacks all day: pecans, dehydrated  apples, dehydrated tomatoes, glass of milk

Neither of us need to eat hotdogs. We love them but rarely eat them for our health's sake. So, for lunch we had two free hotdogs on free buns. Actually, I only ate one bun. I love hotdogs, so if you want to invite me over and offer hotdogs, I will eat them in order not to hurt your feelings....snicker.

On Thursday night a church here has a dinner for anyone who wants to come eat. Church members, mothers too tired to cook, and the hungry can come, anyone. I usually go. If I don't get a meal that I will finish, I can carry home lots of hen food. People bring their plates to me often, offering food for the hens.

The overwhelming majority of the people who attend these dinners are marginalized, horribly disadvantaged. Some have trouble even walking with aid. Many lack a hs diploma, some are not capable of even passing the GED test. They were in special ed. Many are elderly and do not drive. Many are hungry for company and food. (Church members deliver about 200 meals each Thursday, besides the meals served on site.)

On Tuesday I thawed two items for dinners for both of us on Thursday, but wanted to go to this dinner, also. He has never been because he rarely comes up on Thursday. I told him the plan and he agreed.

I put a three pound roast of some kind and six potatoes into an oven bag. Then, I seasoned with dehydrated green and red peppers and dehydrated onions. I could not afford carrots that I love with the roast, but, oh well.

There were four thawed chicken thighs, also free, in the freezer so that I could put nothing more in. They went into another cooking bag. Salt, pepper, and celery seeds went into this bag. I could not find the celery in the freezer and hurt too much to stand there, looking. The next excess celery will be dehydrated and wait quietly in a jar on a shelf, not hurling itself headlong from the freezer along with other disgruntled prisoners kept frozen.

Roast, chicken thighs, potatoes

Both cooking bags went into one pan. Both cooked at 350 degrees, so all was well.

I peeled seven largish sweet potatoes given to me at this dinner the week before. The outsides were sorry looking, not something I wanted to bake and then find out the sweet potato was bad. I peeled and sliced them and put them in a buttered Corning ware casserole that I have had since 1966. One cup of water went in the casserole dish. I used the glass lid. All those sweet potatoes were gnarly, not pretty, yet not one was rotten inside. You could have fooled me. All was done and refrigerated long before we left for the dinner.

Also, just before we left for the dinner, I made a Tupperware divided plate for his lunch tomorrow. He had a chicken thigh and sweet potatoes. He will add green beans he has open to fill the third part of the plate. Almost half the roast and three potatoes were put in another container for him to eat later in the week. Plus, he took home the three other thighs, frozen and another frozen thigh that hid from me another week as it sat in the freezer door.

Now, for the odd/coincidence part. We had hotdogs at the dinner tonight. PLUS, there were candied sweet potatoes and green beans! The coincidence of hot dogs for two meals today, sweet potatoes tonight and for tomorrow, plus green beans tonight and tomorrow stunned me. It's a good thing variety from meal to meal is not necessary for the two of us.

I have several of the thermal bags sold at stores to keep food cool or hot. He carried the frozen items home in that. He has one with his name on it. We have a system...lol.

The half of the roast and white potatoes will last me another four days (two days if I eat a sandwich at lunch and heat it for dinner). The sweet potatoes (lunch)  left will probably last three. I could stretch them to four days. I don't ever cook two kinds of potatoes on one day. It just happened, and we both have non-starchy vegetables to eat with what I cooked. I never candy my sweet potatoes. The variety, Beauregard, needs no sugar or butter. The white potatoes will have no salt or butter on them.

Today, my oven stayed on for less than 2 hours and cooked vegetables for 12  meals and meat for about 12 meals. Those are my dollars I saved by cooking all in one oven. Exbf buys cooking bags once in awhile when I need them since his food is cooked in them also. Actually, if I cannot afford freezer bags, he willing pays for them. I use both sparingly and buy with coupons and sales.  He knows food will come his way...lol.

Edit: Remember, he is taking about 9 meals home--five frozen thighs and however many meals he uses the roast for, dinners or lunches. Sometimes, he will cut the roast and freeze part. I, on the other hand said I had four meals of meat, more or less. If I eat roast beef, sliced thinly for lunch two days, and roast beef with potatoes for two nights, I have eaten my four meals at once. The whole shebang minus the frozen chicken could be gone in two days, maybe three days for the potatoes, maybe two days for the potatoes. So, I am not leaving meat in the refrigerator to sit for 12 days. No way.

About the cooking bags...Until I am free of pain on standing and scrubbing, I will use them to facilitate cleanup. We were rushing too much to take after-cooking pictures. Plus, nothing was actually plated.

Bonus
Another huge red pepper met the dehydrator and fit into a small pimiento jar when finished. Exbf brought my heater back for me. I now have heat but don't want to use it because of the high electric bill I will have.

Your turn
Do you ever cook a dozen meals at one time? Do you ever use the dreaded plastic cooking bags? Raise your hand if you love sweet potatoes as much as I do.