Wanna see what we ate this week? Oh good! Because I'm gonna show you.
Friday
Short version: Pizza, green salad
Long version: The MiL arrived Thursday night with a bag of tomatoes. Less than twelve hours later, I put several of them on a pan with a head of garlic and made Finny's sauce.
I almost went a whole year without making a batch of this. Horrors.
In addition to being The Best Tomato Sauce Ever for pasta and meatballs, it is also The Best Pizza Sauce Ever. And I already had the sourdough going for pizza on Friday. So serendipitous.
I made one pizza with chorizo and onions; the other was just cheese. Both were delicious.
Saturday
Short version: Floor-picnic grilled Italian sausages, bread and butter, carrots with curry dip, tomato and asadero salad
Long version: See this post.
Sunday
Short version: Pollo e coniglio cacciatore, spaghetti, steamed carrots and broccoli, sauteed zucchini and garlic
Long version: When we went up to the new house on Friday with the MiL, Cubby asked to bring his .22 for target practice. A. told him he could, and when A. was setting up a target by the woodpile for Cubby, a rabbit ran out.
Unlucky rabbit.
And so I had a rabbit to cook. Rabbit is best when it's stewed for awhile, and I didn't have time to do that on Friday or Saturday. Sunday was the day.
I thought it would be appropriate to make cacciatore--which means "hunter" in Italian--with it. Plus, I had some of Finny's sauce left over for pasta.
My master plan is for A. to teach the kids how to hunt, then I can teach them how to cook, and they can take care of everything. I'm trying to work myself out of a job, you see. Thus, I had Cubby help me make the coniglio cacciatore. (We filled the rest of the pan with pollo--chicken--because one cottontail does not feed six people.)
His hands were not actually moving so fast that they blurred while he was chopping. I just have a
crappy phone camera.
Of course, since Cubby was helping me in the kitchen, Charlie and Jack must do likewise. Charlie peeled two carrots for me.
With Poppy's help, obviously.
Jack helped me slice zucchini. I don't have a photo of that, as my hands were busy trying to keep him from slicing off the tip of his finger.
Monday
Short version: Bunless cheeseburgers, leftover rice or bread and butter, tomatoes and mayonnaise, sauteed mushrooms and onions, sick-boy soup
Long version: Cubby came home early from school with a general malaise that manifested in a headache and upset stomach. He was feeling better by dinnertime and told me he was hungry. So I made him some soup with chicken stock and leftover chicken, cooked carrots, and rice.
The ability to make Spontaneous Soup is a small talent, but very useful.
Tuesday
Short version: Pork chops, mashed potatoes, roasted squash/celeriac/onions, tomato/cucumber/feta salad
Long version: Man, that was some good feta. It's made at the cheese factory where I got all that cheddar cheese a couple of weeks ago. I will definitely be getting more of that next time I'm there.
The MiL brought me the celeriac and squash. She grew the celeriac herself. The squash looked like butternut, but the skin was much darker, so I don't know exactly what it was. Cubby actually liked it, though. Cubby and Charlie have historically been very anti-squash, though I continue to give them some to try every fall. Victory.
I also gave each boy a piece of celeriac to try. Both Cubby and Charlie asked for more. That's more than a victory; that's a miracle. Guess I'll have to grow celeriac next year.
Wednesday
Short version: Scrambled eggs, rice, collard greens, raw mini bell peppers and grape tomatoes
Long version: This was not at all my plan for dinner. I had planned on making a beef stir fry. I had the beef marinating and everything. Unfortunately, my hand and arm were so sore after all my sanding, cleaning, and painting at the new house--and I was so tired--that I just didn't have the physical ability to do all that chopping. I didn't have the mental fortitude either.
In such cases, scrambled eggs save the day.
The collard greens were from our very own garden.
It's looking much more impressive than the last time I showed it to you. Three cheers for A.
I just cooked them in olive oil with a lot of garlic. And I cooked them for at least half an hour until they were soft, because I do not enjoy tough greens. They were delicious.
I don't habitually buy mini anything, but the mini bell peppers were the only non-green ones at the tiny grocery store. And I don't do green peppers. The kids were very pleased with them.
Thursday
Short version: Delayed stir fry, random hamburgers, leftover rice, leftover mashed potatoes
Long version: Stir fry really takes far too long, what with all the chopping and separate cooking of the individual components and all. It sure is good, though.
This time I used a piece of the fajita beef, marinated in soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and garlic powder and sliced very thin. The vegetables were onions, carrots, broccoli, and bell peppers, and I used the same marinade with some cornstarch added to make the sauce.
I had a little meat left that wouldn't fit in the pan when I made hamburgers two days previously, so I fried those for Charlie, who does not enjoy stir fry.
There was some leftover rice, and some leftover potatoes, but not enough of either for everyone, so A. and Charlie had potatoes and the rest of us had rice. Stir fry with mashed potatoes is a little odd, but A. didn't seem to mind. More filling probably than the rice, anyway.
Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?
From scratch, macaroni and cheese. Since I am sadly not 6yo anymore, I added a ton of steamed broccoli. There were complaints! Surprising since it was devoured last time. Sigh..... so I pulled out all the broccoli and ate it myself. At least I was happy with it.
ReplyDeleteBBQ chicken legs with roasted broccoli, cauliflower and ??? Last of the homemade oatmeal rolls.
Tortillas filled with fried ham and sharp cheddar. Tossed them in the frying pan to crisp up. Last of a bag of chips on the side that were going stale. We tend to think the idea of chips is much better than the reality. I buy one bag about every 3 months. Still it never fails they go stale. I was determined that wasn't going to happen this time. Said if I tossed them this time, I was never buying again.
Corn chowder heavy with other vegetables.
Baked oatmeal with nectarines. I'm the only one that eats nectarines. I was on antibotics a couple months ago that made everything taste horribly bitter. Sliced them up, into the freezer, then promptly forgot about them. I was much happier with the oatmeal than others but oh well. Scrambled eggs with cheese and salsa. I am pretty sure we ate something else with it but no memory of that.
Angel hair pasta with home-made satay sauce (aka peanut butter sauce). Broccoli on the side. Ehhh on the angel hair but it was a use it up supper. Last of the pb in the jar and an open pkg of a brand of noodles we dislike. Excellent way to use up the last of the pb that is so hard to get out of the jar.
Corn bread dressing and gravy. Filled the dressing with sauteed onions, bits of cooked chicken from the freezer and pecans. So it was more casserole than anything. Shhh.....don't tell but I made the dressing with turkey broth and the gravy with chicken broth. I could taste it but no one else seemed to notice so.....WIN!
I am very impressed with you SPONTANEOUS every meal...not just soup.
ReplyDeleteYou are gifted in many ways. Love reading the blog.
Yummy things going on at your house!
ReplyDeleteThis week, some meals were:
Pork chops (fried), mac n cheese, lemon pepper green beans
Grilled steak, wild rice, corn
Sausage(baked), pasta salad, peas
Leftover steak (sliced thin) in gravy, over rice, green beans
Chicken stir fry over noodles
And that's it so far.
Next up is herb/garlic chicken, hamburger something or other, ham something or other....
Sides to be determined. :)
Saturday - grilled pork chops, roasted vegetables
ReplyDeleteSunday - tuna melts, vegetables
Monday - can't remember
Tuesday - work event - ate out, brought husband dinner home from same restaurant
Wednesday - salsa chicken over rice, corn with sautéed sweet peppers mix in & some cumin, red pepper, oregano
Thursday - tilapia, roasted vegetables
Friday - leftovers
Can't wait to hear of your Friday adventures!
Linda
Can I use frozen tomatoes to make the sauce?
ReplyDeleteCheryl: If they're whole frozen paste tomatoes, then I would say yes. Thaw them first, though, to drain some of the liquid. Slicing varieties might work once thawed, but they might also just collapse into a mushy pile. Nothing to lose by trying, though! I think the roasted garlic is the real key, anyway.
ReplyDeleteI must ask ... what in the world does rabbit taste like? Also, did you mix the rabbit and chicken together in the dish? If so, did any of your kids show a preference to one meat over the other?
ReplyDeleteSecond, I love that you share all of these dinner ideas BUT as I am a NOVICE cook I sometimes have to go searching for recipes similar to yours because I have no confidence in cooking without a recipe. Where would you say your cooking confidence came from??
Rabbit actually does taste like chicken. Yes, they were mixed together, though it would have been better to put the rabbit in before the chicken, as it takes longer to get tender. My kids always prefer eating wild game over domestic meat. It's the primal instinct, I suppose. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy cooking confidence comes from cooking for 25 years. My food was not very good in my early days of cooking (just ask my brother), and I followed recipes a lot then, too. It just takes a lot of meals made to amass the knowledge of what you personally like to eat and how to make food taste the way you want it to. Just keep cooking. You'll get there. (And there is nothing wrong with using a recipe, as long as you like the recipe.)
@Kristin ... thanks for the vote of confidence. Maybe in 25 years I will feel more confident in the kitchen. Potentially personal question but do you think you will stay in New Mexico for the long term as you have since purchased a home? I would definitely struggle to be so far from the largest town with an adequate grocery store, library, etc. Finally, what would be your favorite part of living in a small town??
ReplyDeleteThe plan is to stay, yes. We didn't just move from a suburb or city to this, though, so it doesn't feel so remote to us as it might to most. And to be honest, there is very, very little in a city that I feel I'm lacking, since I wasn't into eating out or cultural events or shopping or any of those things before. There is almost nothing I need that I can't get or do here. With the exception, actually, of a library. I miss having one of those nearby, although there is a bookmobile that comes to our village once a month, so I can get books from that.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't much like living in a small town, either. I like living OUT of town, which we will be soon. But having a town nearby with things like a bank or a market or a church is much more pleasant to me when the town is a small one with little traffic, people, and noise.
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYes - gig your children 'life skills' = 'empowerment' = 'delegation' = happy life for Mama - sounds like a plan! :)
ReplyDelete