I’ve been
spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately…cooking and washing dishes. Yes, I
wash dishes because the dishwasher that came with the condo stinks. That’s ok,
I don’t mind washing dishes. It’s like ironing…mindless.
Anyway, I have
been spending a lot of time making soups, cakes, cupcakes, and muffins. That,
in addition to my regular meals.
I have come to
this conclusion: other than regular meals the rest of it might not be worth
all the fuss and time. Mostly because it takes a lot of time to do from scratch
what can be done by opening a box or a can.
Let’s start
with soups.
The cream of
broccoli and cream of asparagus that I make is good and worth continuing
because I like them. If I had use for them as a cooking sauce, I would buy
Campbell’s. My cream of mushroom is best left to Campbell’s and used as a
cooking sauce. It’s good, but…
Today I made
what looked like a great tasting soup, actually a bisque, but it was a great
disappointment. It was a butternut squash and sweet potato bisque and after all
the work it took to make, I don’t like it. I have packaged for freezing what is
left in the hope of finding someone who does like it.
My cream of
tomato and chicken soup is worth making. Easy to make and really taste good.
Cupcakes,
etc.
Sure they
taste good! But…why go through all the mess and clean up when I can open a box
and be done with it. Homemade from scratch doesn’t have all the
preservatives...point for that. But…
Coffee
My cup of
coffee in the morning and another in the afternoon is very important. I want my
coffee to have some body to it. I don’t want anything weak and watery. And I
want it to taste the same cup after cup.
With the two
Kitchenaid coffee makers I had (in two years) it seemed that no two cups were
alike. I wanted something I could count on. I made the decision that when my
Kitchenaid went squat I would look into getting a Keureg. However, I did not
expect my Kitchenaid to go squat so soon.
I did buy a
Keureg and two refillable filters. I will not pay all that money for the
pre-filled K-cups. And so the search begins.
I tried some
of the K-cups that came with the Keureg. Thank goodness there was a book giving
the strength of coffees available for the Keureg…some of them were in the
complimentary pack. I soon weeded out the weak and totally unacceptable from
the dark roasts and bolds. Dark roast and bold…ahhhhh!
I figure
I’m saving a lot of money, water and coffee by using the refillable filter.
I measured the coffee today and found that in the Keureg
refillable I use 3 tbsp of coffee. With my old coffee maker I used two 2-tbsp
measures...rounded. So I'm using one tablespoon less coffee now.
With
the water, instead of using 5 cups (which was the minimum) and throwing away a cup
of coffee because I didn't drink it...I now use only the water it takes
for one cup...in the case of what I used this morning...I used 14 1/2 ounces. I
use a BIG mug! Because I use a refillable filter I am not throwing the K-cups
into the garbage!
So
in the long run, I am saving $$ and the environment with the Keureg.
