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If you are going to bake them, steam them first. Especially if they have the skin still on. This will reduce the amount of fat, splattering and tendency to smoke and burn before getting crispy.

I am planning on doing a batch of wings this way tomorrow.

ExChefInMA

I use the Lock&Lock containers for my daughter when I make her a bento style lunch. I have yet to include rice in any of the meals that I send her to school with.

Typically, a bento lunch for her will be cold popcorn chicken, olives, sliced fruit, vegetable sticks, and some dipping sauce. She loves the idea of the individual portions of each. We have also done things like salmon salad, chicken salad. This week, she will have some smoked brisket and maybe some smoked chicken. As the weather gets colder, I will include a thermos of soup, or something else warm for her.

You don't need to stick to a traditional Japanese style bento lunch, the concept is a meal made of individual items.

As far as what to pack the containers into, we just picked up a LLBean lunch box to match her new school backpack.

The thing to remember is to enjoy it, make it fun for yourself.

Alan

I have been using my foodsaver so frequently, I had to buy a replacement after 4 years.

They are great, you can buy the rolls of bags at costco while you are buying your bulk packaged foods. The bags are great because once you get a feel for how big you need to store portioned food items, you will waste less.

I use the various canisters I have for storage and wet marinading, the bags for storage and dry marinading. You can also reheat in the bags (think sous vide), freeze in them.

I like being able to buy in bulk and not have to worry about things going off quickly. Think about all the things you buy that you didn't have time to use all of.

Alan

As a novel thought, ask your grandson what he wants to bring.

During the summer my daughter (6 years old) goes to a day camp that doesn't provide food. I ask her most nights what she wants to bring. Some days it is salmon salad, others it chicken nugget bento box. As far as the comment about not making lunch a foodie experence, why shouldn't it be an experence?

During the school year, she brings lunch 2 to 3 times a week, some of the parents of her classmates have asked me about the lunches I send with her.

Alan

You can reduce the salt level by cutt the amount of soy sauce and using a good rice wine to balance out the liquid ratio.

I will be making this soon.

Alan

Tonight I roasted some salmon and seabass, served with an asparagus and lemon ravioli and an heirloom tomato, fresh mozzerla salad.

Just a little something to feed the family.

Alan

If you know that you are going some where , you can always offer to bring something.

Funny story, my sister in law invited a bunch of family over for some holiday meal, her husband spent time outside burning chicken tips, and then using the same tongs that handled raw chicken, to cook the steak tips . After seeing this, I went inside and quietly whispered in my wife's ear not to eat the beef. Surprisingly, nobody got sick, but after that, when ever my wife's sister was inviting family over for holiday meals, I have done the "what would you like me to make?" thing, and in most cases, I wind up cooking the entire meal and everyone in the family is healthy and happy. Of course this is not the ultimate solution for most people, but considering that I used to cook professionally, it works out and again, the family is happy.

Alan

Juice them, fill ice cube trays and freeze. Then you will have portioned amounts of lemon juice to use in your cooking. Average Ice cube tray "cup" holds about 1oz.

Alan

josdean,

Where do you live? I'll come buy it from you that way, you don't have to be subjected to it. I miss being able to get fresh venison, most of the friends that I have that are hunters are several states away.

As far as preparation, I would use any good lamb recipe, as it is also a strong flavor. One of my favorite marinades for venison is red wine, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce. You can tweak it with garlic, and other aromatics. I would also suggest either barding or larding it as venison is very lean.

Alan

I have one that I got a little over a year ago and have been using it daily. I have set pots right off of a flame on it, I have poured boiling water on it, have run it through the dishwasher on a sanitize setting. It has withstood all of that and comes back for more. I have used a lot of cutting boards over the years and this is about the best one that I have had.

With all of that said, there is one thing that I don't like about it, it has a tendancy to warp. But that is not really an issue, as I just flip it over. As a carving board it does leave a little to be desired, as the juices channel is very shallow.

If you have one, use it, if you don't have one, get it. I will most likely get a couple of smaller sized ones at some point.

Alan

Dave,

Check out www.slashfood.com and epicurious.com. I haven't been happy with the SE mobile site, can see topic lines, but not navigate into them.

Alan

Emilydev,

One thing that you can do is plan your weekly menus.

Let's say that you want to have roast chicken for dinner tonight. You can buy a cut up roaster and freeze all but what you are going to eat tonight seperately so that you can pull pieces out and thaw/cook them as you want them. OR, you can roast the whole chicken tonight, then for tomorrow's lunch make chicken salad. And the following night's dinner, take some of the roasted chicken, and dress it with some tomato sauce and cheese to make chicken parm. And the next night make soup with the rest, get the idea?

There are so many things that you can do with a single ingredient as far as extending your budget and not being bored with leftovers. And yes, it is by far easier to talk about then to put into practice. I am the only one in my house that seems to eat leftovers, so I make less for each meal.

Alan

A chiffonade of basil would work really well. Or maybe a couple drops of a basil infused oil. You don't want to over power the cheese or detract from the prosciutto.

Alan