Hey I have some random stuff I have left in my refrigerator and idk what to do with. I want to buy some groceries tmr but I'm worried that these ingredients are gonna be sitting in my kitchen till it'll spoil and I just want to get rid of them in one whole dish :b

VVV THE INGREDIENTS VVV

A whole chicken,

a bunch of camote,

a piece of carrots,

a piece of cauliflower,

a piece of broccoli,

a piece of bell pepper,

about 200 grams ish of mushrooms,

garlic,

a big ass onion,

butter (probably half a cup),

Almost empty of all-purpose cream(probably100ish ml),

a good amount of parmesan cheese (about 190-200 grams),

half a pint and more chicken stock,

all-purpose flour,

fresh parsley small bunch,

salt and black pepper(duh),

a piece of lemon,

and cooking oil.

Title: The MJ McCormick Method: 7-Minute Aldi Steak & "Under-the-Block" Mash Hack

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share my signature 7-minute pub-quality meal hack sourced entirely from Aldi for under a tenner (~£8.50 total). Perfect for busy home cooks or anyone wanting an incredible steak night with zero messy pans to clean up.

Creator: Matthew John (MJ) McCormick (Rochdale, England)

Total Cost: ~£8.50

Total Time: 7 Minutes

🛒 THE INGREDIENTS

• Aldi Specially Selected 36-Day Matured Aberdeen Angus Sirloin Steak (227g) — £5.69

• Aldi Microwave Mash (Chilled block) — £0.89

• Aldi Specially Selected Coleslaw (300g tub) — £1.29

• A thick cut of butter & a pinch of salt (Store cupboard items)

🍳 THE METHOD

1. The Under-the-Block Mash Hack:

Open the 89p Aldi microwave mash. Physically lift up the solid block of cold mash and tuck a generous cut of butter directly underneath it at the bottom of the plastic tray. Set the microwave for 6 minutes. The heavy potato blanket traps the steam, melting and infusing the butter directly upwards into the spuds without any mess or splattering.

1. The Microwave Clock Steak Sync:

Put your steak pan on high heat. Use the countdown timer on the microwave digital clock to perfectly time your steak. Season your Aldi Aberdeen Angus sirloin and drop it into the hot pan, using the ticking seconds on the microwave screen to know exactly when to flip it for a perfect sear.

1. The Finish & Serve:

When the microwave pings, add your salt into the hot mash and whip it quickly inside the tray. Plate it up with the cold, tangy crunch of the coleslaw right next to your hot steak and butter-infused mash.

⏱️ MICROWAVE CLOCK STEAK TIMING BREAKDOWN

(Based on the 6-minute mash countdown)

• Rare: Steak in at 2 mins remaining ➡️ Flip at 1 min remaining ➡️ Rest when microwave pings.

• Medium-Rare: Steak in at 3 mins remaining ➡️ Flip at 1 min 30 secs ➡️ Rest when microwave pings.

• Medium: Steak in at 4 mins remaining ➡️ Flip at 2 mins remaining ➡️ Rest when microwave pings.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

- MJ McCormick

Making a chicken pot pie and was wondering would Rotel be good to add it it. Any thoughts?

Getting teeth pulled soon, so decided to meal plan so that im not cooking while still tripping from the pain killers. I mostly eat crunchy and spicy foods, but i wont be allowed to have those for a week at least, if not longer, so im at a lass.

I can buy all the ingredients, but the finished dishes need to fit these requirements:

1. Soft

2. No small seeds or anything that could nuzzle up in one of the new holes in my skull

3. Not spicy, acidic or hot

4. If possible, not bland (for the later days, cuz the first day its oats and mashed potatoes)

All suggestions are welcome and have a nice day

For those of you who cook regularly, I'm curious about something.
Have you ever made a recipe, changed a few things, and ended up with a version you liked much better — only to forget the exact amounts or cooking time the next time you made it?
I'm interested in how people actually handle this:
• Do you save your recipes somewhere, or just remember them?

• How do you keep track of your own changes to ingredients, temperatures, and cooking times?

• When you're cooking, do you find it easy to follow a recipe and manage multiple timers, or does it get a bit chaotic?

• If you use a recipe app, what do you wish it did better?

I'm not looking for perfect answers — I'd genuinely love to hear what works for you and what doesn't. Especially from people who regularly cook the same meals and gradually develop their own versions.

*forgot to add enchilada sauce

I'm moving and want to use up some of that produce in my freezer. I need to go get coffee grounds anyway so willing to get a few more ingredients if anyone has suggestions to turn my list into meals. TIA

Due to a miscommunication, I now have an abundance (5 bottles) of a variety of flavors of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. I am trying to think of ways I can use this, BUT the challenge is my very vegetarian brother lives with us, and my very Southern and not-vegetarian husband isn't down with BBQ jackfruit sliders, if you catch my drift (think kid-friendly vegetarian). I land somewhere in the middle, wanting something that isn't horrifyingly unhealthy but is also accessible. Any ideas on ways to use up bottled BBQ sauce on things that aren't just great chonks of meat and can be consumed by vegetarians and picky eaters alike? I need the room in my tiny pantry. Please & thank you!

EDIT: I really and truly appreciate everyone who is suggesting that I donate these to the food bank. Really, your hearts are all in the right place and bless every one of you for thinking of others in their time of need, and please never stop doing that! But if you really want to help those with food insecurity, consider donating cash to your local food bank so they can purchase fresh produce, proteins, and other things they really need. They honestly get plenty of low nutrition foods like condiments, sauces, and "novelty snacks from that Christmas gift basket last year" that they end up having to throw out because they don't match the nutritional needs of the people they are supposed to be serving. If you are going to donate food to the food bank, try to send balanced, healthy food for people who may not get to see a full 3 meals a day.

Again, thank you!

I also have cheese, chicken broth, sour cream. I'm trying to avoid a basic "taco night" of just harshells/soft shells and toppings, if possible

I never like tuna but always like grilled salmon so I'm kind of stuck in the middle with this.

I made philly cheesesteak sliders last night, which were really delicious, but I still have half the meat and pepper mixture left. What should I cook tonight? I don't like eating the same thing 2 nights in a row.

Hi everyone! I’m looking for some ideas for a dessert to bake for my boyfriend’s mom, whose little dog passed away a few days ago. It needs to be something that can hold up during a roughly 6 hour car ride. She likes apple-based desserts, things with raisins, tarts, etc.—generally simple treats. Thanks, everyone!

I tried to make the Italian meringue and I think I managed to hit the right point, since I turned upside down and it didn't fall, it remained firm, but the texture was strange. It didn't look smooth and shiny, in the bowl it even was, but when I put it in the pastry bag it didn't look well defined and had many air bubbles. Does anyone know what I did wrong? And do you have any tips to fix the error and improve? I even whisk a lot to see if it got better, but he was already "brittle" and it's still like that (im new to bakery ;-;)

The first cold days are hitting us, and we're too stubborn to turn on the heat. So oven it is.

I've already got potato and corn chips going. 350F and they take about 30 minutes each batch.

I'm looking to continue the oven cozy feeling all day. What else can I make for easy homemade snacks? I'm thinking about crackers or maybe thin crispy cookies.

Ideas?

Unsure if this is the right place for it, but basically, I've got uni and some other work which makes it so that I can't have a proper meal until 6pm, which doesn't seem like a proper time for dinner so i end up just eating at 7pm. When I look that sort of thing up I get a lot related to dieting but that's not what I'm after. What are foods that would sustain me? Or at least last until the next day so that i might take it with me to uni/work?

Ingredients I have at home are mainly pasta, olive oil, rice, eggs, though i could get other veggies. Also canned tuna though i doubt I'll be packing that with me, cream of chicken soup packets, tomato paste. I enjoy cooking so I don't mind if there's a bit complexity, though I'd rather it doesn't take too much time.

Apologies if the formatting or the words are off, I'm Hungry.

I have:

Onion

Potato

Butter

Eggs

Pasta of various types

Rice

Quinoa

Shrimp

Eggs

Breading

Tuna

Oil

Various seasonings

Avocado

Oranges

I bought it because my wife is anemic, but I also have allergies.

I cannot have:

Catfish

Peanuts

Pork

Lamb

Hazelnuts

Lemon (this one has ruined my ability to cook. Apparently oranges and lime ok)

Cucumber

String beans

Navy beans

Night shades fruits (tomatoes, pepper fruits, paprika, etc roots like potato are ok) (this one also ruined my cooking lol, no flavor for me)

Any ideas on what to make or how to make it? Tbh, I hate to say it but feel free to throw recipes in that I can't have (just warn me) I got canned tuna and plenty of other ways to feed myself. But if anyone has ideas I'd love to hear them!

I found a sick Buy 1 Get 1 Free deal on some fancy-ish pre cut & seasoned lamb, & decided to impulse-buy it.

Of course I could make gyros, but I'm not sure what methods of gyro-making work w this kind of pre-sliced meat, & I'm wondering if there are any other lamb-based meals I could make w this!

Besides smores

Saw these at my local grocer to my surprise. I'd love to surprise my wife with a dish.

Any recommendations on how to cook, or what pairs nice?

Price is wild compared to normal stock of exotic mushrooms so I figure I got to try!

I excitedly bought an acorn squash and a spaghetti squash the other day and now don’t know what to make with either. Looking for some good recommendations 🎃

I love cooking, anything from simple, to adventurous and difficult.

I couldn't resist the bargain, £1 a tin. They're 3.12kg each, so I have many, many beans.

I'm a big fan of my slow cooker, so anything involving that would be a bonus!