You asked.

As I am not making casseroles daily, many have asked what we eat on other days. Last night Joyce did a roast although she rarely cooks. She does liver and onions about once a month and her special chicken casserole. Not from the book.

We get casseroles from Nancy's Kitchen in the neighborhood and meals from "What's for dinner" in Lake Oswego. They deliver and the meals are about $13-$14. Although they are made for two they always feed three of us with some left over. I also, have met a little Asian man at Safeway who guides me to the best value in fish for that day and tells me how to cook it. Also, usually rubs it with his mixture of "secret spices".

I buy the $5.00 roasted chicken at Safeway when they have it. They also have a Coconut and Curry Bisque at Safeway We often have that on Mondays when I clean out the refrigerator with left overs (chicken, vegetables, rice, etc.)and place them in my "Refrigerator Soup". Thought you would like to know.

SPICY SZECHUAN BEEF AND VEGETABLES

2 cups instant cooked rice

2 C water

3/4 lb ground beef Beef again. Is this book produced by the Cattle producers of America?

1 (1 lb) frozen broccali florets, carrots and water chestnuts

4 oz snow pea pods, trimmed - I used frozen Chinese Style Peapods

1/2 cup Szechuan spicy stir-fry sauce Here I used a stir fry sauce making the recipe much less spicy. The pharmacist in me had trouble not following the recipe to the T.

3 Tbs dry-roasted peanuts

If you have followed this far I am sure you know how to throw it all together and pour over rice.

Number Five

As explained in my last post I discovered that my "One- Dish Meals Cookbook was divided into three sections, Casseroles, Skillet Dishes, and Slow-Cooker Meals. I am now doing these in rotation. This is the first of the Skillet Meals, Spicy Szechuan Beef and Vegetables. But THAT IS A LIE. I had three clerks at the Safeway searching for Szechuan sauce among the myriad of other sauces. I guess I will have to go to China to get some. What to do? Abandon the project? No, the Julias would not have quit. So with much consternation I purchased a Stir Fry Sauce. So here it is No Szechuan Beef and vegetables, not Spicy and rather bland.

Number Five

As my last post explained I found that my "ONE-DISH MEALS COOKBOOK was divided into three sections - Casseroles, Skillet Dishes and Slow-Cooker Meals. So, I am making one from each group in succession. This is my first of the Skillet group. It is called Spicy Szechuan Beef and Vegetables, but to tell you the truth. THAT IS A BIG LIE.

I had three clerks at the Safeway searching for Scechuan Sauce with no luck. What to do? Give up? Forget it? No, the Julia's would not have given up.

Much to my consternation I purchased a Stir Fry Sauce chosen from the large selection.

The resulting meal was OK, probably not as spicy as it could have been.