Friday
Short version: Bunless cheeseburgers, leftover rice, cucumbers with vinegar and salt
Long version: The most notable thing about this unexciting meal was that A. arrived home from his week-long absence just as I was dishing it up, so he ate with us. Everyone was very excited. They also appreciated the radishes he had picked up at the excellent produce store along the way (along with lettuce and apples for me, because he still loves me and doesn't want me to die from e. coli caused by infected western-grown lettuce).
Saturday
Short version: Soft tacos, pan-fried sweet potato cubes, asparagus
Long version: The lack of electricity wasn't going to stop me from celebrating Cinco de Mayo, dammit. I ALWAYS celebrate Cinco de Mayo, even if it's in the lamest way possible. I had already purchased some limes and two avocados--which at $1.50 EACH should at least have had some gold filigree on the skins or something. I was ready. And I have a propane stove and a grill. Who needs electricity?
So! I seasoned two London broil steaks with lime juice, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and salt about an hour before I had A. grill them for me. He also warmed up the corn tortillas (wrapped in foil) on the grill.
I sliced the meat thin for the tacos, and everyone could choose among grated cheese, salsa, sour cream, diced shallot, lettuce, pieces of lime to squeeze, and the incredibly expensive avocado for their toppings.
I cooked the sweet potatoes on the stove in olive oil, then took them out and cooked the asparagus in the same pan with the same olive oil. Reducing dishes is paramount when you're without running water.
You know what else lime is good for besides seasoning tacos? Seasoning gin. Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
Sunday
Short version: A fun and exciting picnic dinner
Long version: A. was gone again. Charlie had baseball practice from 4-5 p.m. in the village. Cubby had baseball practice from 6-7:30 p.m. at a different field in the village. There was no time to come home for dinner. Picnic dinner at the playground it is! The children were thrilled with the fact that they got to play at two different playgrounds (the ones nearest to the two different fields) AND eat dinner at a playground.
Right before we left at 3:30 p.m. I made hamburgers and wrapped them in foil. They were still warm when we ate. To the picnic bag (I don't own anything so fancy as a dedicated picnic basket, probably because I don't really like picnics personally) I added some bread to make the hamburgers into sandwiches, a random bag of take-out ketchup packets and plastic utensils from a restaurant meal with my parents months ago that I kept meaning to throw away because when will I ever use them (now, it turns out), and two treats purchased at the grocery store that morning after church: Fritos and Fruit Roll Ups.
Did you know that Fruit Roll Ups now come with designs on them you can press to your tongue to make a tongue tattoo? They do. It's gross.
We need a random photo break, right? Let's travel back in time to December of 2016.
Three boys and a beaver pond. They love making Fruit Roll Up tattoos on their tongues. Ew.
Monday
Short version: Tuna patties, scrambled eggs, rice, curried cauliflower
Long version: This was the day after I finished three weeks of the elimination diet, and the very first thing I re-introduced was eggs. Thus, I had two fried eggs for breakfast and scrambled eggs for dinner. Let me just tell you how nice it was to not be begrudgingly chewing leftover meat first thing in the morning. VERY NICE.
The boys had the tuna patties. Except Charlie, who only ate rice because he went outside just before dinner and discovered the remaining Fritos in the car where I was keeping them for purposes of bribery during future baseball games/practices. He covertly ate them all and then mysteriously wasn't hungry for dinner.
His meal of rice and Fritos seemed to give him enough energy for his baseball game after dinner, though. Elite athletes, take note.
Tuesday
Short version: Roasted chicken 'n' stuff, leftover rice, peas
Long version: Yup, another one of those gross chicken leg dinners. I filled up two sheet pans with the chicken and other stuff from the fridge (sweet potatoes, mushrooms, onions, carrots), and heated up the leftover rice in the chicken juices.
And then we all went to a baseball practice. And a playground. Because that is now our life.
Wednesday
Short version: Chicken sandwiches, cucumbers with salt and vinegar, carrot sticks with ranch dressing
Long version: I purposely made the big pan of chicken Tuesday to have leftovers for this very meal. It was over 80 degrees again, and we had two baseball games at 6 p.m. at different fields for which I was, again, the sole parent/chauffeur. I just felt the simpler I could make meal preparation and clean-up, the better for my already challenged mental state.
I made most of the chicken into curried chicken salad, basically by making this dip and mixing it with the diced chicken and some finely diced shallots. I understand some people put grapes in this kind of chicken salad. I did not.
Cubby loves both curry and chicken salad, so I knew he would love it. Charlie loves neither of those things, so I saved some of the chicken for him to have a plain chicken sandwich with just butter on the bread. Jack ate a curried chicken salad sandwich. I ate the plain chicken in a salad.
Poppy watched us all eat with great interest, but no actual food. Soon, my girl. Soon.
Thursday
Short version: Ribeye steaks, rice, peas, leftover curried cauliflower
Long version: Who cares what we had for dinner? A. finally came home and we didn't have any baseball activity after dinner. Ribeye steak was just a bonus.
Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?
Wow, what a busy week solo for you. Hopefully, A. is done with traveling for awhile?
ReplyDeleteSaturday - Chinese takeout
Sunday - Tuna melts, homegrown asparagus
Monday - Salmon burgers, homegrown asparagus, roasted potatoes
Tuesday - Pork chops on grill, salad with homemade dressing, garlic bread
Wednesday - Chicken breasts, broccoli, rice,
Thursday - Spaghetti, asparagus, garlic bread
Friday - leftovers
Linda
Linda: I am so jealous of your homegrown asparagus. I haven't had real asparagus since we left Blackrock. There is no comparison.
ReplyDeleteOur week for menus starts on Sunday, so:
ReplyDeleteChicken and Dumplings
Spaghetti w/meat sauce
Steak patty sandwiches, fries
Ranch chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans
Fish stick, mac n cheese
Sausage/cabbage/potatoes one pot meal
Beans and rice, ham (white beans, in crock pot)
Each meal had various vegetables: corn, peas, broccoli, green beans
Dessert was a pan of brownies I made at the beginning of the week.
My husband commented that you will have to stop posting this...because the weeks are just flying by. Heee hee ..for us olders anyway. You have so much energy ....good thing you are young. Take care. Beth
ReplyDeleteOnly one change related to our eating that I can think of. I tried a pork/brocolli dish with tai chili sauce and lite coconut milk that wasn't spicy hot at all. Would have been good with some kick, so I'll try it again. Probably will add too much next time, but that's what tasting is all about, and what I should have done the first time I made it.
ReplyDeleteThe cure for Poppy must still be working as you're adding foods. Awesome! Also, totally can see Charlie finding the bags of food in the car and eating all of it, and why not.
Kristin, I know there is nothing like homegrown asparagus. It's not my own, but grown by my dads neighbor. I think it's my favorite all time vegetable.
ReplyDeleteLinda
It's been a rough week (rough several weeks, really), so most of the week's menus are short stories. For example, I threw together a chili in the crock pot Thursday morning, and after a day of back pain and exhaustion I was really glad I didn't have to cook. Simple, tasty, and also easy to clean up.
ReplyDeleteShort stories are good sometimes.
Happy Mothers Day, hope it is a little less hectic than usual.
ReplyDeleteA little late but here is our menu
ReplyDeleteSaturday - pizza
Sunday - grilled pork chops and colcannon
Monday - Mexican baked eggs on crazy, good rice
Tuesday - beef and refried bean tacos on wheat tortillas with various toppings
Wednesday - crockpot vegetable beef soup and crusty bread
Thurday - mushroom, swiss cheese hamburgers
Friday - Grocery store roasted chicken, leftover colcannon and roasted broccoli
Pam