What's your default cuisine?

[politicat]

When dinner doesn't work the way you planned, or something upsets your routine or you just don't have enough imagination to think of something new, what's your fallback that you love and will be happy eating?

We had a spill today - 3/4 of a quart of cherry stain on the new floor. (Thank dog for the wax - I managed to get it cleaned up without staining my mahogany floor cherry.) So the time I spent cleaning up that little mess was diverted from the exact timing I would have needed to put the bean and bacon soup together. By the time I got done, the soup had to be held over for tomorrow because beans take 3-4 hours at this altitude if I do the quick soak method, and that would mean supper at 10.

So the default? Italian. Refrigerator pasta, frozen meatballs (mine, though Costco's are good in a pinch) Blue Parrot or Seeds of Change marinara, a loaf of brown and serve baguette (again, mine) and a bag of salad. (I can recommend both bottled sauces as superior and Worth Every Penny.)

Mr P's default is chinese, but for me that's too much prep if I don't have the chicken thawed, and we didn't. (veggies live in the freezer; C&W stirfry blend because they're fresher than I can get locally in the winter.)

[mike_c]

1. generic oriental for me, with mostly thai and vietnamese influence....

The most basic is something like steamed fish, or a grilled steak sliced very thin and served with a vinegar/nuoc mam/chili dipping sauce and boston lettuce leaves. Stir fry over noodles. A rich hacho miso soup (not your watery yellow miso broth, but a meaty aged miso with seafood, seaweed, soy, chicken and bonito stock, noodles, and boiled egg). Etc.

[The empressof all]

2. Has to be Italian

I usually have the makings for Carbonara or Puttenesca in the fridge/pantry.

Roast Chicken with rosemary and garlic with a side of rice and what ever veggie that's around is usually another easy go-to meal. It doesn't take alot of prep or attention.

[eleny]

3. Bacon & eggs, toast and coffee

And if I'm desperate - it's Chinese, delivered.

That was some spill you had. I'm sorry it happened to you. That must be some great wax on your floors!

[politicat]

7. Future Acrylic "wax".

I am not paid by them, but if they ever ask for an endorsement, they have mine. It saved us, and saved having to rip out 100 square feet of flooring. In winter. In the bloody rain.

We put three coats of it down after we got the floors installed and glued. I am so glad we did.

(And no, Mr. P is NOT allowed to help me put up the rest of the plastic sealant over the windows.)

[eleny]

10. I love Future!

Now here I thought that you had some esoteric brand. I used to use Future on my older floors. When we got the new kitchen flooring I didn't need it. But my "new" floor is now very old and could use the boost.

[mandyky]

4. I always cook extra, so leftovers

I also keep frozen pizza, tortillas & cheese for quesidillas, smoked sausages, and canned raviolis for quickie meals.

Then there is always eggs and toast, etc.

[eleny]

11. "Magic Meals"!

[NMDemDist2]

5. "diet" plates. I usually have fresh tomatoes, cottage cheese and

a bag of sirloin patties in the freezer. about half the time I have hard boiled eggs too. If no cottage cheese, I sub cheddar or jack slices. I'll add avocados if they're around too.

we really like that combo and I can get it on the table in about 10 minutes.

I usually have leftovers in the freezer too, a lasagne or ham slices. and i always have italian red sauce and pasta in the cupboard.

we also will do bacon and eggs some days. but "diet" plates are the usual "Oh crap, what's for dinner?" fall back

[politicat]

6. mmm... cottage cheese.

I wish to hell I wasn't the only one in the house who liked the stuff.

[NMDemDist2]

8. buy it for you, eat what you want, then slip the rest into a casserole

in place of any farmers style cheese, nobody will ever notice.

I like it in lasagne a lot. I use it half and half with riccotta. moister that way too!

[politicat]

13. I do the first...

But DH can smell cottage cheese in a dish a hundred miles off... Picky thing. Oh, well, it's not his palate for which I married him.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

15. I am screaming

Please. That's a heresy this Italian-American cannot bear.

Lasagna, as made by white people for white people.

<sobbing>

[The empressof all]

16. Oh god now you jogged a nightmare.....

When I was a girl scout....going for my cooking badge....HORRORS!

They taught us to make spagetti sauce with Cambells Tomato soup spiced up with dried oregano. Served over pasta cooked for 15 minutes. This was in the mid 60's.

NOT KIDDING!

I need to go make the gravy now....Must purge...memory

[OldLeftieLawyer]

17. (staring at screen)

<sobbing harder>

THIS IS HOW YOU COMFORT SOMEONE???

<screaming>

[NMDemDist2]

19. whadda ya expect from a English/Irish/Scots/German who's 10th generation

American?

there was no olive oil on the Mayflower ya know.

Now if you want to talk spuds...

:hug: but sorry I traumatized ya :pals:

[OldLeftieLawyer]

20. Wow!

Are you ever white!

No wonder you like cottage cheese.

Potatoes rule, though.

But, still .......... <trembling>

[NMDemDist2]

21. nah, we've been on the continent long enough to have a bit of

local color mixed in there too....

great,g,g,g,grandaddy married a nice Native American lady up around the Great Lakes after he came back from the expedition with Lewis and Clark (true story) and on my mother's side, there were a couple other "mixed marriages" in the wilds of Kentucky (ala Daniel Boone wild, he's a distant cousin) so I'm American through and though, a true melted pot


:rofl:

[OldLeftieLawyer]

22. We have a dog like you

A real mutt.

They're the best.

[NMDemDist2]

23. now I'll have H2S weeping

he hates hearing about melted pots

:hide:

[Stinky The Clown]

24. Akshully, that 'fromage cotage' got me more than a melted pot

Many, many, many years ago, I was living in Charleston, SC (late 60s and I was inna Navy). I wanted to make lasagna to impress some young lady. The local Pigly Wiggly never heard of Ricota. I had my choce of large or small curd cottage cheese. I went for it.

The Ronzoni lasaga macaroni my mother and dad had brought down for me was all cooked and ready to go.

I applied the first of the cottage cheese and the Ronzoni jumped out of the pan.

It happened.

I swear it did.

The macaroni jumped.

Really .......

[NMDemDist2]

26. OK OK now in my own defense I have NEVER made lasagne

only with cottage cheese.

I take two parts ricotta, one part CC and whip it lovingly with some EVOO. THEN I put it in the stinking casserole with the long silly fat noodles

So am I forgiven now if I promise to NEVER do it again?? :spank:

[Stinky The Clown]

9. Italian

It comes naturally and we always have a stocked pantry from which we can concoct something. Most of these concoctions take mere minutes to make. There's no one thing that's the fall back.

Now, when we're **really** pressed, or lazy, and still dressed, it'll be subway or chinese or pizza. If we're already in our comfies, then we open a jar of gravy and make a quick macaroni.

A glass of wine, a glass of Pellegrino, and an after dinner espresso make any meal an event.

[Lugnut]

12. Definitely Italian

I can whip up a batch of meat sauce in no time and I always have a few different sizes of pasta on the pantry shelf.

[wryter2000]

14. I'm with you about pasta

I usually have some Maytag blue cheese, so I make a sauce of butter and blue cheese and serve it over thin spaghetti and top with freshly grated Parmesan or Romano (from Costco). If I have some time to thaw out some pesto, I'll use that.

Also, liver and onions and maybe bacon. The liver is frozen in the size of individual servings and thaws out really fast.

Waffles from the Krusteaz mix are fast to do, too. I like breakfast for dinner sometimes.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

18. Bagel dogs

They're already cooked, so we microwave them, top them with Gulden's Spicy Brown Mustard,



lots of sweet onion,



and pile on the Bubbie's sauerkraut.



And, oh, boy, the tiny little hot dogs in there are kosher!

[BamaGirl]

25. Whatever I have in the freezer, usually spaghetti or chili

I try to cook double of stuff that freezes well for those just in case nights.

[yellowdogintexas]

27. spaghetti, with Newman's sauce

or poached eggs on toast if I am the only one eating and I just want a little something.

cold cereal is also nice.