What's for dinner?

Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Sorry about that. I buy about two pounds of pre sliced bottom round and marinate it in my own concoction for two days before making the first batch. It lasts for almost a week in my fridge. It's Tacos Tuesday all week long while the bowl lasts.

Anyone want the recipe? It's not a video but I can describe it here.
 
OK, here it all is:

Street Taco Recipe:

Tortillas are quality store bought "street taco" Taqueria style mini corn tortillas.

You get a large griddle up to around 350 degrees with a large patty of butter. You melt the butter in the area where 6 shells would cook all at once. You crisp them up slightly browned on each side and load them up on your plate with the freshly re-heated meat. All this goes on the plate and is brought to the toppings real fast while it is hot. No letting is sit around to get cold. That's the secret to the best street tacos. They are right off the griddle loaded up with ingredients and served right to the customer. The faster you start in on them the better they are.

The meat:

I take 2lbs of bottom round beef, already sliced to less than a 1/4 inch slabs, and cook them from 350 to 400 degrees for no more than a minute per side. It could be 45 seconds or even 30 seconds a side. The trick is to not leave it rare and bloody. It's also good not to cook all the moisture out of it. You then place it in a bowl and re heat it for about a minute while you wait for the tortillas to be perfect.

So this is the marinade:

1 half cup of Soy Sauce, not salt free stuff, please.
4 tablespoons of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning mix. I get the cans of the stuff at Walmart. It's cheaper than the little packets.
4 tablespoons of bottled lime juice.
4 tablespoons of roasted garlic rice vinegar.

I mix all that and lay it on in layers making sure that both sides of each slice of meat is coated. I then place the bowl of meat in the fridge.

The onions and cilantro with salt and vinegar:

This is the best part. White vinegar with salt sets off the acidic flavors with the meat and tortilla's savory flavors. So you dice a cup of white onion, a 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro, a teaspoon of kosher salt, and two tablespoons of white vinegar.

Now all you do is add the onion/cilantro mix to the hot off the griddle tacos and add your favorite taco sauce. I mix habanero with hot taco bell sauce for my fireplug tastes. Throw in a Mexican beer and that's it.

Things that will kill all this goodness. Don't add cheese, guacamole, sour cream, or lettuce or tomatoes to this. It kills the flavors and masks them to the point that the meat is no longer the star.

ti1.pngti2.pngti3.pngti4.pngti5.png
 
Evening all.

As advertised I cooked up a nice Latin meal tonight, Roast Pork, Beans and Rice, Fried Plantains (Tostones), Mojo sauce over all. I even found some decent Yuca (Cassava Root) at the WM and subbed it for the yams. I've got company so I'm gonna post some gratuitous photos and I'll get into the mechanics of this (fairly complicated) meal manana. Till then I hope you all had a good supper and a fine day!

(By the way, Super writeup Giz! Looks mouthwatering! That Yucateca Hot Sauce is one of my favorites too).

Cheers!

KIMG0990.JPGKIMG0989.JPGKIMG0988.JPGKIMG0985.JPG
 
I really envy you foodies who take such tremendous pleasure in cooking and preparing wonderful meals.

I am an excellent cook, but find it difficult to muster the interest more days than not, is the truth.

I cook a couple of times a week, and then eat leftovers out of my freezer.
This is being a cook and enjoying food, just like anything else. It means you aren't reaching for highly processed food and other junk foods, but are instead eating right. Get a big enough freezer, and you get a rotation going between any number of delicious meals, all the healthier because you know what went in them and you can cut back on all the nasty stuff plus will never introduce the bizarre chemicals you get in pre-processed snacky foods.

Being a foodie or a good cook doesn't mean you have to spend two hours on one meal. But if you spend two hours on 6 or 8 meals, the time spent becomes so much less and the food can be just as good. Heck, often better, as many soups and sauces taste better when fridged or frozen for a while. My ideal is some cooked chicken and/or ground beef, a soup, a spaghetti sauce, and some chili all cooked up in batches and then eaten from in a mix over time. Makes me feel like a king, always eating great, never eating high calorie junk food.

Only problem is getting enough fridge/freezer space. But of course you can scale down. And even if you find yourself eating the same thing a few times in a row, well -- if it's good food, I'm okay with it. Understand if others are not. Just try to mix some diverse veggies in there to keep the nutrition and fiber high, and you should be more than fine if you like your own cooking.
 
Evening all.

No writeup last night. I think the time difference finally caught up with me and I was out like the proverbial light! Tonight, I've planned on making Cubano Sandwiches with my leftover pork roast. My version is more like a Medianoche though, I like to have cotto (cooked) salami in place of the ham.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medianoche
Swiss Cheese, mayo, mustard, thin sliced dills, and soft rolls (Cuban Bread is very soft and doesn't last more than a day since it's baked with lard) - in this case it's leftover hamburger buns since they have a similar texture, they're what I got, and I'm FRUGAL! (Cough... cheap....)...:ROFLMAO: Problem is, I'm not hungry yet! I had a late lunch of canned sardines in spicy tomato sauce (anyone else love canned fish?), jalapeno jack cheese, crackers, and veggies. So it's all sliced and ready but I'm not!

Friday's Latin Fest was really tasty. Everything turned out well but my favorite had to be the Tostones (Patacones) - crispy fried plantains disks. They're easy to make and use a two step frying process similar to the best French Fries. First you have to find some green plantains (MUST be green, too sweet otherwise if ripened, then you just panfry in slices and the darker the plantain the better) Plantains are super starchy so they will fill you up. Here's a good recipe for them:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020516-tostones
These turned out - hot and crisp -and they're super easy to make. Just remember the first fry of the chunks may take a few minutes to turn golden and should be done in barely bubbling oil. The final fry should be done in high temp oil for a crispy finish.

I'll take some pix of my sandwiches when I finally get around to them later but hopefully everyone's not waiting on dinner like myself. Stay safe, Stay well fed, and Stay optimistic folks. May be a bumpy ride ahead...

Cheers!

KIMG0985.JPGKIMG0986.JPGKIMG0987.JPGKIMG0988.JPG
 
Last edited:
Evening all. Haven't been feeling too creative writing like for a couple of (busy) days. Yesterday was a wash - went to one of the big towns in the region (150 mile round trip) to visit one of the Big Box Stores, puttered around for a while, ate a late bag lunch and that was it for dinner (except for a couple of cold brews on the deck...).

Today, I spent most of the morning weeding (not my favorite chore) after exercising while it was still cooler. It's supposed to get up to 95 manana- with the humility - I mean humidity - it'll be in the 100's heat index wise. Had to recharge the R134 in the AC system of one of the vehicles too. Takes a while at an always awkward angle but it saves a LOT of dinero doing it yourself. Gas is climbing like a homesick angel - It was $3.99 when I left, $4.09 when I got back and $4.19 as of yesterday. Diesel is $5.49.

A couple of petro industry sites I keep up with state that the wholesale prices of RBOB light distillates (Gas) indicate that $5.00 gas nationwide is imminent. Stocks are at very low levels for the this time of the year - the start of the driving season - but there doesn't seem to be much demand destruction yet. Americans are in the mood to DRIVE. As the old saying goes though, "the best cure for high prices is high prices". Guess we'll see HOW high!

I'm planning on leftover beans and rice and yuca tonight along with some store bought rotiserie chicken I picked up this afternoon, but I'm just not hungry yet. I'm gonna leave you with some pics from this weekend - grilled Cubano sandwiches (along with a gratuoitous photo of a sunset over Waikiki - at a TIKI BAR of course :LOL:)...

Roast pork, Cotto Salami, Swiss, dill pickles, mayo, mustard, and butter. Turned out nice even on old burger buns! I also made up a batch of fresh dilled fermented pickles today too. My dill plant is putting out some big flower heads and I don't want to waste them. We'll see how they turn out! So, till then.

Stay safe, stay sane, and stay well fed!

Cheers!

KIMG0991.JPGKIMG0992.JPGKIMG0995.JPGKIMG0949.JPG
 
Made gnocchi because they had a good deal at big lots.
Did it kind of primavera with onions, carrots and broccolli.
However I always forget that you really need to boil them for whatever time it says on the package.
Overcooked mine by a minute maybe and they were kinda gooey.
Next time I'm going to make sure to have the water boiling like crazy.
 
Evening all.

I swear I'm getting Narcolepsy... One minute I'm sitting here last night watching TV and writing on the site, then BAM! ( No I'm NOT Emeril :cool:) I'm waking up and it's past 10... Probably just getting back in the swing but I'm not adjusting back to our time as well as I normally do... As such I did entirely: CR*P today! :ROFLMAO: Sometimes ya just can't be "Busy Beaver" all the time!

Anyway. Just leftovers last night so really not much to write about anyway. Tonight, I'm doing pan griddled sharp cheddar, salami, and mustard quesadillas (Yeah, I know culture approbation and such... Blah blah blah). I've got plenty of tortillas and I gotta use the suckers.

Along with them I'm having my fresh homemade pickles (the dill flowers really add a lot to the brining process), sliced maters, and chilled canned Vietnamese fruit salad from the Dollar aisle of the local "Not the Walmart"(They're not making earnings bank for some reason and their stock's PLUNGED over the last couple days.) very good stuff and cheap. Try it if you see it.

Made a good and satisfying meal at a very good price - CHEAP! Some of the best food is also the most frugal on the budget. It's just a matter of a little creativity, a few basic ingredients, and the best sauce of all - Hunger!

This would be a great quick meal to prep on the road and there's very little in terms of prep or cleanup. Just get some good Claussen's type fridge pickles for the best taste and try to find that Viet fruit salad in the Dollar aisle - it's a deal!

Cheers to you all! Stay safe and sound out there...

KIMG0998.JPGKIMG0999.JPGKIMG1000.JPGKIMG1001.JPG
 
Evening all. Kinda busy weekend. Went out visiting BOTH Fri and Sat nights which is unusual for me. I got home too late both nights to do much besides take a shower and head for the rack. I did enjoy a couple of late night snacks though. Friday I received a shipment of Patagonia canned fish and mussels. Normally pretty pricey stuff (canned and smoked in Spain by small family fishing firms, sustainably harvested, and canned in organic EVOO). Really great stuff though.

Luckily, they go on sale every now and then and they usually send me a discount code between orders. Got cans of smoked mackerel and mussels smoldered over Bay Branches. Also some cans packed in paprika and pimento sofrito. Super good and really good for you. had that Fri night along with some odds and ends of veggies and cheese and Ulu (Breadfruit) chips. Sat, it was a Dexter's Lab "Beeg Bad Burreeto" (anyone else watch that show with their kids back when)? Beans, rice, spicy pork filling (baked up a pack of "country style pork ribs" for some cooked meat on hand), and Pepper Jack cheese.

Tonight? The "Too Much Fun" Special. Homemade Chicken Soup (broth made from the chicken leftovers from Wally World earlier this week) Veggie, and Rice soup with crackers. Made a huge pot to freeze some and eat for the week. Nothing could be finer! All in all, pretty good for an ad hoc weekend menu. Anyone have a good recipe to share with us? Hopefully you're all doing well on the road and staying safe out there! Yap at ya later.

Cheers!

KIMG1002.JPGKIMG1003.JPGKIMG1004.JPGKIMG1005.JPGKIMG1006.JPGKIMG1008.JPGKIMG1009.JPG
 
first meal of the day a nice NY Strip steak
then got myself cooked up 12 chicken wings, eat til full and done deal for the day. meat hound here only!
 
Does anyone else ever put canned chili in their quesadillas? Or hot-dog chili sauce (I'm partial to the $0.59 discount cans of chili-sauce) in quesadillas?
 
Does anyone else ever put canned chili in their quesadillas? Or hot-dog chili sauce (I'm partial to the $0.59 discount cans of chili-sauce) in quesadillas?
Does THIS answer your question? :LOL: Gotta be the "Hot" kind though.

KIMG1010.JPG

Cheers!
 
Evening all. A couple days of doing not much. One of prepping for rain and one of waiting it out. Got a couple more days of T Storms forecast. Thu is supposed to be the bad one. Fri is supposed to be about 82F and clear and sunny. I'm defrosting a couple of steaks to celebrate!

Tonight is a leftover soup and crackers night. That batch of chicken veggie rice was really a good one. It's amazing how easy it is to make soup and how little you need to make a big pot of it. It's the homemade stock that really makes the difference. Everything else can be odds and ends out of the fridge or in a can from the pantry.

Cheap too. I rarely buy canned soup anymore. Paying $2.50 for a can of Chunky is hard to justify when I can make a whole pot for about half that. I do keep some on hand for emergencies but I haven't used any in quite a while (no emergencies). Freezes great and fills you up! Easy to make on the road too along with stew (I like Lamb (Irish) Stew. Must be the Coloumb and Keenan in me (from County Derry).

Just a quick shot of a simple dinner but hot and tasty. Anyone have anything good tonight? Hope you all have. Nothing better than a good meal at the end of the day to set things right...

Cheers!

KIMG1011.JPG
 
Cheap too. I rarely buy canned soup anymore. Paying $2.50 for a can of Chunky is hard to justify when I can make a whole pot for about half that. I do keep some on hand for emergencies but I haven't used any in quite a while
Not to mention it's probably much healthier and far better tasting...

Although if you are making stock from scratch it can really really drive up the time requirements :)
 
I get canned stuff like soup or ravioli when it's on sale. Sometimes circumstances make it hard to prep and cook food the right way.
Also have a few ramen bowl things. Just boil water and fill.
Today for lunch I made baked beans with chopped up hot dogs.
Not my first choice, but I wound up with 2 left over dogs and saw some baked beans for cheap at big lots.
 
Not to mention it's probably much healthier and far better tasting...

Although if you are making stock from scratch it can really really drive up the time requirements :)
Light years better but there are also some good products in the stores too. I don't bother with making stock on the road for obvious reasons. I use boxed organic chicken or beef stock augmented with some "Better then Bullion" chicken, beef, or veggie base. It amps up the flavors very well (adds salt too). I always carry a couple jars. Well worth the extra cost IMO...

Cheers!
 
I get canned stuff like soup or ravioli when it's on sale. Sometimes circumstances make it hard to prep and cook food the right way.
Also have a few ramen bowl things. Just boil water and fill.
Today for lunch I made baked beans with chopped up hot dogs.
Not my first choice, but I wound up with 2 left over dogs and saw some baked beans for cheap at big lots.
Beans and Weinies! Love them on toast. Picked up the habit while assigned to a base in England for 6 months. Beans (Must be Heinz Vegetarian Beans in Tomato Sauce in the paper wrapped blue can) Brits are mad for them, very popular for breakfast either with the Full English Fry Up (and BOY are you FULL when you eat one those...) or very often by themselves over toast. I eat em all the time.

Very filling and very cheap - I usually sub pork and beans mixed with a little catsup, Worstershistershistershire Sauce, and plenty of pepper, The real Heinz beans are kinda hard to get. Wally World is selling some premium instant noodles made in the UK in the pasta section you might try. They're sold under the "Naked" Chinese Style Noodle label. Try the "Firecracker" style.

Cheers!
 
Evening all.

It was a really rainy, stormy day so not a lot happened as you might imagine. I DID score a great buy at Wally World though. Went to go get things and browsed the clearance aisle (they're doing some serious rearranging in the store - apparently they're all doing it due to crappy earning results). I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a stack of Mr. Buddy Little Buddy Propane Heaters (normally $77 bucks) for $25 bucks each!

Not a error. I bought two. I have a large one one that does a good job and these small ones put out a lot of heat (and water) for their size. If they're all doing it you might check your local WM to see if you can score one too if you need one...

Anyway, tonight turned out to be another Caribbean inspired dinner menu. I've been eyeing the extra plantain from frying Tostones earlier this week and it was getting nice and dark (sweeter) and ready to make Maduros - sweet fried plantain slices. I had already done a batch of leftover roast pork simmered till tender in a sofrito (sauce) of garlic, green chiles, tomatoes, onions, peppers, comino, oregano, basilico, and tomato sauce.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020517-maduros-fried-sweet-plantains
Add rice, black beans (jazzed up Goya canned beans with onions, garlic, and spices), a couple of non authentic tortillas (great for mopping up sauce though) and the plantain fried in olive oil till caramelized on the edges and creamy in the center.Very yummy (and FILLING). A big plate of that (with plenty of hot sauce) and I felt like I was back in Panama eating at one of the little roadside stands along the Trans Isthmus Highway on the way to Colon on the Carib side for some diving. I also felt like going to BED! :LOL:

Does anyone carry a rice cooker with them or do you do it in the pot? Instant is good too. I can't live without rice. It's embedded in my soul! In Hawaii we say: "A day without rice is like a day without real food". Rice and Beans make a perfect protein that's super cheap and nourishing when you're short on cash. Easy to dress up too. Whatever you had tonight, I hope it made you happy and feel good...

Cheers!

KIMG1013.JPGKIMG1015.JPGKIMG1014.JPGKIMG1016.JPG
 
Last edited:
Light years better but there are also some good products in the stores too. I don't bother with making stock on the road for obvious reasons. I use boxed organic chicken or beef stock augmented with some "Better then Bullion" chicken, beef, or veggie base. It amps up the flavors very well (adds salt too). I always carry a couple jars. Well worth the extra cost IMO...

Cheers!
I absolutely love the Chinese powdered Chicken Essence... I use it as a salt substitute some times.

1653580582771.png
 
FYI I pickup food at food pantries for free. Most times it's FDA overstock so it's like I paid for it anyway. Fruits and veggies along with bread seconds from walmart.
 

Latest posts

Top