Not cooking with gas

[gwyn]

Hey, cooking side of my flist: In an effort to try to make more things I can have multiple meals of so I don't have to go out as much, I've been dusting off some favorite recipes. The big problem is one I regularly have--I live alone, I don't eat much (which is why it's so infurating that I'm so fat), and I get instantly sick of things once I've had them a couple times in a row. There are very few things I can stand to eat multiple meals of, but I'm trying to minimize trips to the grocery, so this is a conundrum.

I know I can freeze things, but my freezer is small and again, things go bad before I want to eat them once more. I have to regularly throw stuff out because it goes bad in the fridge, gets chunks of ice crystals and gross old-freezer taste in the freezer, or gets rancid in the cupboards. I'm just a terrible cook and easily discouraged, too, which is part of the problem, and I also don't eat meat much at home by myself.

One of my favorite recipes is for this slow-cooker beer braised pork shoulder in black beans, and I bought everything to make it last night, but since I'm trying to go to the store at night, the meat guys are long gone and can't give me a custom amount (my slow cooker is enormous, so that's not where my issue lies). So the smallest pork shoulder I could get was 2-1/2 pounds, but I only need 1-1/2 pounds. If I try to use the full amount, would it mess up the recipe of one pound of black beans and two bottles of beer + water and adobo sauce? Would I have to cook it longer?

I could cut it myself, down to the required 1-1/2 pounds, and freeze the rest, though if I tried to make it again with only one pound, would that also screw things up because I was missing a half pound? I don't know how to adjust things, to be honest, and whether amounts make that much difference in a slow cooker. Basically, I don't know how to handle this giant slab of meat since it's not the correct quantity.

One other thing I was considering is I saw a high end cake box mix for a coconut cake, but they only give instructions for cook times and temps for two round pans, and I don't have round pans. I'm way too poor to buy new round pans, but I was considering treating myself and making a coconut cake, yet I don't know what the temp/cook times would be if I put the batter in a 13x9 pan. Would it be best to follow their instructions, and just get the pans even though I really shouldn't?

It's hard to prep when you're kind of a disaster human with regard to food. Thanks for any advice.

Comments

[kore]

OMG, I don't really have any advice //SO HELPFUL but I feel the same kind of frustration -- my freezer's really small, our fridge is OLD (was new when we moved into this apt -- 20 years ago!) and they won't replace it, and I struggle to cook anyway. And it is really hard trying to figure out what we need and stock up, AND minimize going outside....

[musesfool]

For the meat, you probably need to cook it a little longer in the slow cooker for a larger amount of meat, but I think you're good on the beans and liquid (just add a little more water than you might normally - 1/3 or 1/2 cup more).

You can bake the cake in a 9x13" pan - same temperature but it might a little longer in the oven than the box says - check it at the time the box says and if the skewer still comes out wet, give it another 4-5 minutes.

[cathexys]

LOL I just went off on how baking is SO HARD and how I'm too messy and inaccurate for it, and I almost was gonna say, ask musesfool about that. :D

[musesfool]

I mean, if it's a cake mix, the heavy lifting in terms of measuring is done for you - all you have to do is add the directed number of eggs and oil usually. Setting the timer is often key, but if you have a good sense of smell and you trust it, you can also frequently tell when a cake is done or close to done by the smell. *hands*

(I mean, I learned to bake from my grandmother and aunt, who eyeballed everything and didn't write anything down, so I don't think it's necessarily true that everything in baking is really particular - some things are pretty forgiving, but sometimes you do need to know what something is supposed to look/feel/smell like as you make it.)

[cathexys]

I just really am bad at it, I guess. Like I used to bake my own bread and it's not that I'm unable to make a cake mix, but the times I've burnt stuff or the middle's not done but it's already fixing to char outside...I just think baking is much less forgivable and you can't fix it after the fact as you often can with cooking...

[musesfool]

you can't fix it after the fact as you often can with cooking...

That is mostly true (though I've found that a thick layer of frosting can cover up some more cosmetic type problems).

I've had my own disasters, but I guess it's also a question of whether you enjoy it, and it sounds like you don't, so even when it goes well it might not be your favorite thing to do. *hands*

[cathexys]

that!!! it's just not my thing, i think :)

(Also, I have an old oven that doesn't heat correctly or evenly.)

I wish I were better at it and enjoyed it more...

[cathexys]

Just general cooking and baking advice: cooking is very forgivable (esp things in sauce and slow cooking) and baking is totally not. Neither is the Instapot as I've recently learned.

So I won't be able to help any at all about the baking, bc I'm a baking disaster because I never measure and am horrid at remembering to set timers :)

But soups and sauces and stews are awesome because you can do a lot of stuff wrong without really messing thing up. With your meat, I'd probably cut the meat in half and keep the beans etc. That way you can do another recipe with the other pound plus. (I'm happy to suggest stuff. I love green chili for pork in the slow cooker or you could do bbq pork--there's a way to put fatty meat on aluminum foil in a crockpot and the fat drops off)

If you use the entirety of the meat you wouldn't ruin the recipe in terms of cooking, but it sounds pretty meat heavy at that point. Probably it won't extend the cooking time (not sure if you cut up the meat into pieces, but in general, specific meat times are more relevant in the oven with roast or bird sizes as opposed to the slow cooker). The important thing in your recipe sounds like it's the beans: you need enough time to get them soft without making them mushy.

And the great thing about stews and anything with sauce is that you can fix it after the fact(unlike baking, again :): it needs salt or spices, you taste and add; it lacks liquid, you add some, etc etc

And I bet if you ask for favorite easy recipes and give us some guidelines, your flist would come up with great recipes!!!

[topaz119]

I would do as musesfool says about the baking; there is absolutely no need to go buy new pans.

And you can do either of your options for the pork roast, though I might lean to cutting it in half completely, so you've got 2 portions of 1.25 pounds each, which for a slow cooker recipe is really close enough and then don't bother with adjusting the other ingredients. Then you can do it again with the other half of the meat.

The trick with the freezer is to get as much air out of the container as possible; that keeps the ice crystals from forming and helps with that stale tasted, too. I usually get 1-gallon freezer bags for things like stews and fill them so that when they lay flat there's no air space at the top of the bag, near the ziploc. Then I lay them down like that on a cookie tray and freeze them so I can put them on their sides, like a filing cabinet. (I mean, I feed a mob, so I go for big storage options; you can certainly do it in a quart-sized bag, too.) For meat, I double-wrap in plastic wrap and then a layer of foil or a ziploc.

[batwrangler]

Maybe buy a box of angel food cake mix to go with your coconut cake mix and try this recipe: https://www.thecountrycook.net/3-2-1-microwave-mug-cake/