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Yes, breadcrumbs on top. I used Jamie Oliver’s recipe from New York Times Cooking. I like it because the eggplant is baked plain rather than breaded and fried. You can taste the eggplant more that way.

Black bear from Canada. Not gamey at all, quite mild. Their taste is highly dependent upon their diet. The ones living on fish are actually fishy to the point that most hunters won't take a coastal bear to eat. Between deer and moose, closer to the sweetness of moose than the mildness of deer.

Thanks, they were pretty tasty. I'm not sure about legs but they still have shoulders🐷 I cut these steaks out of a boston butt that I was breaking down for sausage. I think the cut would be roughly equivalent to a beef chuck steak.

Oh, here's a big one. No Name beef burgers are being recalled nationally for E. coli. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/no-name-brand-beef-burgers-recalled-due-e-coli-o157h7 For the non-Canadians present, No Name is a private label of Loblaw's, our biggest supermarket chain.

The (black) bear I've had has been very mild, almost sweet.

I don't know if this has been asked before - but what kind of bear? We have a lot of black bears around here but I have never tasted any kind of bear. I assume that it would be gamey but how does it compare "gamey wise" to venison or moose?

@TdeV, I have to admit I've been focusing on the hot meals, which in my book means mostly dinner (maybe lunch). But what are you planning to do about breakfast, if you're a 3 meals-a-day person? Yogurt? Cereal? Toast? Or do you need to be considering things like egg bites and muffins? I know both freeze well. Waffles?

That looks delicious. We used to be able to buy "pork leg steaks" here which looked much like yours. They were a great combination of fat and lean. Haven't seen them for years. Are they raising pigs without legs now?

Likely not much help at this point.

In my experience, it’s usually the texture that suffers rather than the flavor. YMMV For umpteen years, I brought frozen meals to work for my lunch every freaking day. Lasagne, soups, chili, enchiladas, bean stews, lots and lots of pasta with vegetables (chunky shapes, cooked very al dente, both the pasta & veg) hummus and other bean dips. Always accompanied by a zip top bag of raw carrots, celery, snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, jicama, radishes, cherry tomatoes which offered a nice textural contrast. Not everyone cares as much about texture as much as I do and even those who do may be satisfied with less of it when feeling under the weather. There have been times when I’d have preferred all nutrition be something I could sip through a straw so I didn’t have to chew anything 🙃 Along those lines, if I were having surgery, I’d be filling my freezer with smoothie kits that could be dumped into the blender with juice, milk or yogurt. I’ve got lots of combos with a couple servings of both fruit and veg, protein and fiber. It’s not going to feed the rest of the family but there have been times that’s all I could stomach!

Another dessert in the again category. Galatorie's Sweet Potato Cheese that I made for my neighbors 98th birthday get together.

The FDA's Bad Bug Book is an excellent (fascinating/horrifying) resource. It's free to download. https://www.fda.gov/food/foodborne-pathogens/bad-bug-book-second-edition

Speaking of listeria, here's yet another enoki mushroom recall. This one's (so far) BC-specific. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/mushmoshi-brand-enoki-mushroom-recalled-due-listeria-monocytogenes

What a great variety - interested to hear what you think of the krauts - I've never had anything but the original type - which I love.

Lunch was SV pork steaks that were cooked about two hours at 141F.

This is another option that I have used a few times now.

No cream and no cheese. I emptied a jar of some kind of Classico tomato sauce for pasta...the jar is long gone and I'd never used one before...and a can of Rotel.

Yes, jarred sauces can be very good and as Smithy said, you can have them over rice, pasta, potatoes. You don't even need to freeze. You can buy par-cooked rice in microwave bags. Heat one up, put in a bowl, pour some sauce over it and gently nuke a little more until the sauce is hot. Sprinkle a little shredded cheese over and voila!

I got a gift certificate for Olive My Pickle for Christmas. My order just arrived. I got Dill Pickle Kraut, Smoked Black Pepper & Garlic Kraut, Classic Kosher Dill Pickles, Spicy Kosher Dill Pickles, Horseradish Pickles, Veggie Medley (giardiniera) and a free Kosher Dill Brine. I'll be a real sour puss now!!

Tomato - based (like spaghetti sauce, with or without meat and veg) Herb based - basil pesto, for instance Cheese sauce (might need to investigate how to do this without sauce breaking on reheat) Butter and garlic Soy sauce based...out of my wheelhouse but someone here can help Hollandaise (don't know if it would break) There's a peanut sauce, like you'd find in mafe, that I think would freeze well. Lemon and butter I'm freewheeling here, but I can imagine all those things over rice or noodles, with or without meat and veg, that would take the dish in very different but delicious directions.

seems they have been having some success - https://dm.cms.aldi.cx/is/content/prod1amer/ALDI_2026 Growth Press Release_FINAL 1.5.26pdf """. . . . In 2026, the company’s 50th anniversary in the U.S., ALDI will open more than 180 new stores across 31 states...""" we have a new one two stones throw from Giant and Weis - when they first opened it was glorious. later visits showed gaping holes in inventory. like, , , no onions . . . huh?

Another note from my desk: SAUCES What are good sauces for dishes that will be frozen? VARIETY Methinks that more variety could be introduced by using noticeably different sauces in the same batch. Use different brined foods (tangy and salty) Suggestions welcome.

Much followup to do but I'm wanting to get rid of stack of notes on my desk! PRE-COOK If I'm only doing the pre-cooking of food components (onion, garlic, bacon, chicken, etc.), can I used dried vegetables (onion, garlic, carrot, celery, bell pepper, mushrooms*, etc.) WITHOUT any soaking or cooking, as long as I ADD water or other fluid to the dish? HERBS & SPICES Considering that reheated frozen food doesn't taste as good as the first cook, what can be done to improve the flavour? Can I (and is it effective to) double the dried herbs double the spices in dry rubs reduce the offensive spices (e.g. allspice) use more volume of flavourings, e.g. mustard, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, Maggi, More Than Gourmet demi glace I want to thank everyone for their support. I'm going to be convalescent for a couple months at least; my operation is very soon, so I don't have time to do m/any more trial runs. It will be disastrous if everything tastes awful; I don't want to rely on drab takeout pizza, or chicken pies from the grocery. 😒 Edited to add: * Notwithstanding that @weinoo says I have to soak the mushrooms so I can get the dirt out.

Another topic you may find useful is here:

That. Topic. Is. Brilliant! I'd forgotten all about it! Thanks for bringing it up!