Friday Food: Here Comes the Elk

Friday

Short version: Barbecue meatballs, garlic bread, salad, steamed broccoli, pan-roasted sweet potatoes, chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream

Long version: This was Poppy's birthday dinner. She didn't actually request anything, so I just made what I was planning on making anyway. She did request chocolate cake. I made Grandma Bishop's Chocolate Cake--which at this point should probably be called Great-Great-Grandma Bishop's Chocolate Cake, given her actual relationship to this generation--and then Poppy ate nothing but the ice cream in her bowl.

Oh well. It's the thought that counts. And I was happy to finish her cake for her.

I didn't get a picture of the cake, but it was one of my classic Ugly Cakes, with the bonus of Ugly Candles because I couldn't find the birthday candles and instead had to use a random emergency candle and someone's baptism candle.

Good thing I only needed two candles, because that's all I had.

Saturday

Short version: Elk stew, leftover meatballs, cheese, salad

Long version: My plan for this night was pizza, but then we went to the canyon and by the time I got home there wasn't enough time to get the pizza all done for that night. So what I did was get the dough pre-baked, and then I shoved it in the refrigerator until the next night.

Meanwhile, I re-purposed the elk roast from a few days before into a stew with potatoes, carrots, and peas. Those who didn't want the stew had leftover meatballs.

There were a lot of calories to be replaced after hours of running up and down rocks.

My sister was still visiting, and I paid her the honor of not even worrying about the fact that I was serving leftovers for dinner to a guest. I also didn't worry too much about keeping the house completely picked up while she was here. She might wish I treated her more like a guest, actually.

Sunday

Short version: Delayed pizza, cucumber slices with vinegar and salt

Long version: The pizzas came out well, despite the delay in their final baking.

Monday

Short version: Refrigerator treasures, garlic bread, cheese, raw tomatoes, omelet

Long version: The garlic bread I actually pre-baked along with the pizza crusts on Saturday, so when I got home from work, all I needed to do was put it back in a hot oven for about fifteen minutes.

I neglected to take out any meat to thaw before I left for the day, so instead I pulled out leftover elk stew, chicken taco meat, and roasted vegetables and made various combinations of those for dinner, plus the omelet for A.

It all worked out.

Tuesday

Short version: Elk chili, cornbread

Long version: I seem to have neglected to serve a vegetable. Oh well. The chili had plenty of tomatoes in it. Good enough.

Wednesday

Short version: Elk chili, tortillas and cheese, green salad

Long version: Another work day, another chance to re-purpose leftovers. This time I heated up the leftover elk chili for those who liked it and served it with corn tortillas and cheese. For those who didn't really appreciate the chili, I microwaved the same tortillas and cheese, but put some of the elk meat from the chili right into the tortillas, then added sour cream.

Elk chili tacos. Sneaky.

Thursday

Short version: Oven-fried chicken, mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, green salad, applesauce and cream

Long version: It's only in the last year that I've started buying cereal*, and so it is only recently that I have realized how useful cereal bags are. I use them to put bread in the freezer, store cheese after it's been cut, and, in this case, shake chicken in corn flour. They're such wonderfully sturdy bags. And since I've already paid for them and have to throw them away, it makes me feel better to get another use out of them.

I made the applesauce from a five-gallon bucket of apples Rafael gave us. From that five-gallon bucket, I canned fourteen quarts of applesauce, made baked apples on Sunday, and then made another gallon of applesauce that we'll just eat. Not bad.

It was cold and snowy this day, so much so that Cubby and Charlie were released early from school.

Giving them more time to read by the woodstove.

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

* I instituted Sunday Cereal when we moved here, because church starts at 8 a.m., and it's hard enough to get everyone there on time without worrying about cooking breakfast. So everyone gets two bowls  of (store-brand) Rice Krispies on Sunday mornings. Whee.