Friday Food: Plan Bs All Over the Place

Friday

Short version: Swiss steak, rice, frozen green beans

Long version: I'm not entirely sure what the difference is between Swiss steak and grillades, but I'm guessing it's the roux. That is, with the roux, it's grillades. Without the roux, I'm calling it Swiss steak. These days, I'm usually too lazy and pressed for time to make a roux, so I guess I make Swiss steak with my cube steak now.

I added some bell pepper this time, too. Is that still Swiss steak? Hell if I know. I'm gonna just call it Kristin steak, okay?

Saturday

Short version: Buckwheat pancakes, bacon, still-frozen peas

Long version: This was not my plan for dinner. I had taken out two big arm roasts to make pot roast, but they didn't thaw in time. Plan B was pancakes. The kids were very happy with this plan.

This right here is a griddle pan full of my children's dreams coming true.

I gave them the peas, still frozen in a bowl, to eat while I was cooking pancakes. I considered this their vegetable. It would have been too weird to serve a salad with pancakes, anyway.

Sunday

Short version: Pot roast, potatoes, carrots, leftover rice, green peas

Long version: I found when I went to peel potatoes that I only had two left. Okay, then! Potatoes for the adults; leftover rice for the children. Happiness all around.

The greatest happiness was thanks to A. replacing my broken kitchen sink faucet with a spare faucet he found on the (non-functioning) sink in his shop. It was a perfect fit, and has the benefit of being made of metal rather than the dreaded plastic.

Okay, so it's maybe a little crooked, but it was free and it's metal and I will take it, thank you.

Monday

Short version: Tacos, pinto beans

Long version: Yes, I made the corn tortillas myself again. You may recall my prediction that this would happen if I once tried making homemade tortillas. It did.

When I made the pot roast, I purposely didn't use any particular seasonings--just onion, garlic, a can of tomatoes, and a bay leaf--so that I could re-purpose the inevitable leftovers. Thus, to make the taco filling, I just fried some cumin and chili powder in oil, added the diced leftover meat and the remaining sauce, plus a little water, and simmered until thick.

I didn't have a potato for the pinto beans this time (sorry, Miss Amelia), so it was literally just beans, water, and salt. They were still good.

I had both sour cream and avocado this time, so those with the beans and the homemade tortillas made me very happy.

And that is why I do crazy things like make my own tortillas.

I sneaked away to make the tortillas while this was happening:

Hooray for literacy. And pretend literacy.

Tuesday

Short version: Beef and vegetable soup, cheese, garlic bread, cheese omelet

Long version: Once again, this was not my plan for dinner. Once again, my plan was derailed by the incredibly slow defrosting of meat here.

I don't know what it is about this climate--lack of humidity? altitude?--but frozen stuff takes FOREVER to thaw here. If it's something easily thaw-able like ground beef, I can take it out in the morning and get it defrosted in time to cook it by completely unwrapping the meat and putting it in our oven, which has a pilot light that makes a tiny bit of heat. But a lot of stuff just won't thaw if I don't take it out the night before. Like the arm roast from Saturday. Or the stew meat this day.

Anyway.

I still had some of the pot roast left, so I used that to make a beef and vegetable soup. The only unusual vegetable addition this time was the lamb's quarters I asked A. to grab from our excessively weedy back pasture. Might as well get some benefit from that terrible mess.

The omelet was to supplement A.'s soup and also provide something other than soup for the one soup-averse child. That child had still-frozen green beans to fulfill his vegetable requirement. And this made him happy.

Wednesday

Short version: Pork chunks, roasted potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes/onion/bell pepper, green salad

Long version: No stew again this day because we spent the morning at a friend's ranch watching calves get branded (and vaccinated, tagged, castrated, and de-horned).

It was a very Western scene.

The cows and calves weren't having much fun, but my kids sure were.

Better than a playground.

We stayed for lunch and didn't get home until early afternoon, at which point I was kind of exhausted and definitely in no mood to prepare stew.

So instead I thawed some pork steaks, chunked 'em up, and fried them in bacon grease with paprika, diced onion, and some of A.'s garlic that he pulled up.

Thursday

Short version: Leftover pork and fried potatoes, frozen peas

Long version: The stew meat once again stayed unloved and unprepared in the refrigerator, this time because we took the boys to the dentist 90 miles away. This of course turned into an all-day excursion that involved a stop at a nursery where I was planning on getting some annuals for the front flower bed. I was most definitely NOT going to get any more tomato plants. 

I got four Juliet tomato plants. A. got a fig tree. We cannot be trusted at nurseries.

Anyway.

By the time we got home at 3:30 p.m. and A. and I had prepared a couple of troughs to plant the tomatoes and a dozen sweet pepper plants that unexpectedly germinated from seeds I took out of grocery-store mini bell peppers and stuck in a random container of potting soil, it was almost 5 p.m. 

I hadn't thawed any meat, but there was quite a bit of pork left from the night before. So I peeled and diced several potatoes, fried those in some bacon fat and butter until they were soft, then added the leftover pork and more paprika, salt, and garlic powder.

Then I went out and planted all the seedlings. I am going to have a shitload of bell peppers if those plants all produce.

I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow, so tomorrow is Stew Day. As it is promised, so shall it be done.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?