Ben's Notes: July 2012

Sunday, 29 July 2012

Pasta alfredo with onions and green pepper.

Monday, 23 July 2012

Steak

7/23/12
Steak, Potatoes, Water Spinach, Onions
Starting today, I'll present things in the order that they were cooked, in order to better understand where the inefficiencies are in my build order.

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Bacon.
2 strips, torn in half so that all 4 fit in the pan at once. Starting with this because I can use the oil to make everything else.
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Mashed Potatoes with Bacon and Sauteed Onions.
Potatoes were made up front, bacon and sauteed onion were finished and added later.
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Water Spinach
Cooked with garlic.
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Steak (bought raw from Giant Eagle).
Used some leftover grease from bacon to cook this.
A1 sauce was added after cooking.
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Sauteed Onions
Diced 1/8 onion and cooked it in the bacon grease/steak juice. Made the pieces a brownish color.

Interesting note - these onions made me tear up, but the last batch of onions didn't. I didn't realize there was such a large range in the strength of onion sulfuric acid; I thought the variance was in people's tolerance to sulfuric acid.

My Rating
4/10
The meat was too dry. This configuration has delectable potential but some kinks need to be worked out.

Comments

Need to work on my timings to maximize efficiency and minimize time elapsed. Examples:

Meat ended up being cooked too long, becomes dry and not as tasty.
One greased pan resulted in bottlenecking the entire process (mashed potatoes vs. {bacon, water spinach, steak})

Consider the opportunity cost of a second greased pan. Could split the bacon into two pans since you end up draining most of the grease from one pan.

One package of the mashed potatoes was too much for one person. Serves about 1-3 people.

Don't crumble bacon by hand. That was silly and messy.

Note times for each stage, and costs.

What to do with shredded cheese?

quiche (spinach, cheddar, bacon)

macaroni and cheese
stuffed shells
[mashed potato] pizza
potato dishes
cheese soup
casserole
taco
fondue
french onion soup
pasta
pasta salad
enchilada

week of 7/23

additional inventory:
2 Alfredo Sauce, 1 Gallon Milk, 1 Chicken Breast, 1 Steak, 1 Ground Pork, 2 Hummus, 2 Mashed Potatoes, 1 Bacon, 2 4-Pack Yogurt, 4 Avocado, 12 Jumbo Eggs, Green Pepper, Tomato, Garlic, Onion, Banana, Lemon, Lime
cost: 55.80

possible dishes:
steak and mashed potatoes
pasta marinara w ground beef
smashed potato pizza w bacon and chicken
pasta alfredo w chicken
guacamole w chips
scrambled eggs
omelet
water spinach w. garlic
bacon
hummus w chips

anticipated meals:

monday dinner
steak, mashed potatoes, water spinach

tuesday breakfast
scrambled eggs, bacon, bagel w peanut butter

tuesday lunch
guacamole

tuesday dinner
smahed potato pizza w bacon and chicken

wed breakfast
scrambled eggs, bacon, toast w peanut butter

wed lunch
guacamole

wed dinner
pasta alfredo w chicken

thurs breakfast
scrambled eggs, bacon, toast w hummus

thurs lunch
half price mad mex

thurs dinner
half price fuel and fuddle

friday breakfast
scrambled eggs, bacon, chips w hummus

friday lunch
taiwan cafe

friday dinner
pasta marinara w ground beef

Friday, 20 July 2012

7/21 Inventory

7/21
Inventory
Pizza Crust x2
Jar of Marinara Sauce x1
Mixed Shredded Cheese x1
Box of Pasta x7
Yogurt x5
Asian Bread x1
Bundle of Water Spinach x1/2
Blueberries x1/2
Bagel x3

Restock
Avocados
Tomato
Onion
Garlic
Banana

Thursday, 19 July 2012

Guacamole without Tomato

Guacamole without Tomato
7/20
Guacamole without Tomato

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Avocado x3
Onion x3/4
Lime
Lemon
Whole Grain Chips
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My Rating
3/10

Comments
Because the avocados turned out to be a little premature, I used a blender instead of mashing the avocados. Some onions were blended with the avocados, along with lime and lemon juice, while the other onions were added directly to the guacamole.
In the future, I should wait for the avocados to further ripen before using them, so that they are easier to mash and so that the final result has a creamier texture.

Add tomatoes next time. I did not add tomatoes today because I had run out from last time.

For me, 2 avocados = full meal. As a snack, recommended 1 person = .5 avocado.

Lunch ft. Tea Egg

Lunch ft. Tea Egg
7/19
Shrimp, Bagel with Peanut Butter, Clam Chowder, Tea Egg

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Lime Garlic Shrimp (from costco)
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Clam Chowder (from costco)
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Tea Egg (made by Gillian)
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Bagel x2
Peanut Butter
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My Rating
6/10

Comments
Tea Egg uses black tea, soy sauce, along with many other spices. Then you let it brew for ~4 hours.

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

Water Spinach

7/17/12

Blueberries
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Water Spinach (空心菜) (purchased at Lotus)
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Lime Garlic Shrimp (premade from costco)
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2 Bagels
Hummus

My Rating:
5/10

Comments:

Tried to cook too much water spinach at once. Sautee less in the pan at one time.

"Monday Brunch"

"Monday Brunch"
7/17/12
Bagels, Egg, Bacon, Hummus, Yogurt

1 Lemon-Lime Gatorade
1 Raspberry Yogurt
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2 Sesame Bagel, cut in half
Hummus
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1 Egg
Cheese
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4 Bacon Strips
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Garlic Lime Shrimp (costco)

My Rating:
7/10

Comments:
Add onion and peppers to egg.