(I know! I changed it AGAIN! That light blue and glaring white background were bugging me. I make no promises I won't change it again, but I think this is better. Feel free to weigh in if you care.)
Friday
Short version: Chicken with Finny's sauce, leftover rice, frozen green beans
Long version: This was the night we got home late from the bull butchering. It was 6:53 p.m. when we walked in the door, and of course everyone was starving.
Except for me. Handling hundreds of pounds of fresh raw meat has a dampening effect on my appetite.
No one else seemed to be affected that way, however, so I immediately went into the kitchen to make the fastest dinner I could. Luckily, the meat I had taken out of the freezer earlier to thaw was boneless, skinless chicken thighs my mom had brought us. Those cook relatively quickly, especially because I cut them up into smaller pieces after they had browned in bacon grease. I seasoned them with some random spices after they were in the pan.
Then I dropped the full container of tomato sauce from the top shelf of the refrigerator, creating a tidal wave of sauce that mostly landed on my shoe and the floor. Super.
Luckily, the container landed right side up with some sauce still in it, so I used some of that for the chicken.
Leftover rice, green beans from the freezer, and we were eating by 7:15 p.m. Shockingly late for us, but the best I could do.
Saturday
Short version: Chicken with peppers and onions, graveyard pasta
Long version: I am not one to do holiday-themed meals, because, as you know, I am not a Fun Mom. My sister, however, IS a Fun Mom, and Halloween is her favorite holiday. When she was here a couple of weeks ago, she brought some black pasta (made of soy, although I don't know why soy is black) so we could make a Halloween dinner.
I'm sure she would have done something more creative with it, most likely involving dry ice and meatballs made into eyeballs or something, but since she left it to me, this is what the kids got:
Sure. Best I could do, Sis.
Sunday
Short version: Pork bites, boiled potatoes, steamed carrots and broccoli
Long version: My mom had brought these pork chops that were seriously at least an inch and a half thick. My sister suggested that they're mostly used for butterflying and stuffing, which is a nice idea, but I just cut them into chunks and fried them in bacon grease with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.
Not as fancy as stuffed pork chops, but faster and still tasty. Which is pretty much my cooking philosophy in a nutshell.
Break for a photo of a much fancier chef than I am:
Much cuter, too.
Monday
Short version: Pork stir-fry, rice
Long version: More of those extra-thick pork chops cut up again, this time for stir-fry. I had actually cleverly cut all the pork up at the same time, and then put some in a container with marinade for the stir-fry the next day. Because stir-fry does not happen on a workday without previously prepped meats and frozen vegetables. Which is what I used for the vegetables, along with some of the leftover steamed carrots and broccoli.
Tuesday
Short version: Bull steaks, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots and broccoli
Long version: And here it is! The first of many, many meals featuring bull beef. For the first time cooking it, I did it as plainly as I could so I could gauge the tenderness and flavor. So I just pulled out a bag labeled "steaks,"* sprinkled them with some steak seasoning, and seared them on a very hot griddle pan in bacon grease.
I was pretty sure tenderness--or lack thereof-- was going to be the main issue, so I cooked them about medium rare, then sliced it thinly. Then I put the pieces back in the pan and added some butter to make a sauce, because it's very lean meat.
The taste was very, very good. Any of the pieces that got even the least bit well done or weren't sliced thin enough were indeed too tough, but I can work around that. It's basically like cooking London broil, which was a cut of meat that always seemed to be on crazy sales when A. and I were first married, and which I cooked a lot. So I feel like I'm on familiar ground here.
Wednesday
Short version: Baked ziti, leftovers
Long version: The day before, I had made two pans of roasted tomatoes and garlic and turned that into Finny's sauce. I had some cooked calabaza hanging out in the refrigerator, so I sneakily threw that into the food processor along with the rest of the sauce ingredients.
While I was at it, I figured I might as well go all out and just make something ahead for the Wednesday Workday dinner. So I boiled some pasta, mixed in the sauce and a LOT of shredded asadero and Parmesan cheese, topped it all with yet more cheese, and stuck it in the refrigerator.
Then, when I got home at 4:30 p.m., all I had to do was put it in a 350-degree oven for about an hour.
A. had leftover steak and mashed potatoes. I should have had some of the leftover steak, too, but instead I had some of the pasta with leftover broccoli and carrots, and I wasn't sorry about it, either. Yum.
Thursday
Short version: Ground beef tacos, pinto beans
Long version: Just plain ol' ground beef tacos. And not crunchy tacos, either. We can't be fancy all the time.
Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?
* Our sorting system when butchering is very minimal. Depending on the size, there are bags of roasts, steaks, stew meat, stir-fry (cut thinner than stew meat), and chili meat (the roughest stuff chopped up). That's it. We are not professionals, obviously.
5 comments:
I really like the background and new set up.
Font seems very small on my laptop, also a lot of seemingly wasted space in the margins, but the named links are great. I read back on the cats link to some rather horrifying stories about dead mice; the android phone version seems great. The color is perfect.
I didn't keep track of what we ate last week at P's home, but I did devour two chicken drumsticks in barbeque sauce that P had sitting on the stove when I arrived. Friday I made the terrific cauliflower/bacon/cheese/olive dish from the NYTimes, but without the olives; I substituted feta cheese. Also--hummus and tortilla chips made in the air-fryer). The kids had pizza at the Jiu-Jitsu Halloween party. Saturday we had grilled steaks and French fries made in the air fryer (good but too time-consuming for 5 people). Then I made a roasted chicken that we had with baked potatoes. I made a broth with the bones from 4 t-bone steaks, which was OK. Later I threw in the chicken carcass and simmered it some more and it was MUCH more robust. So, the next night we had a super veg beef soup with the extra meat that I had cut off the bones before making the broth and various vegetables that were on hand. For the last dinner in AZ, P and I cooked a whole brisket, all day, slowly, and had it with rice, with crudites as a starter. We finished hummus and guacamole from previous nights, and had the grad-school curry dip as well. The brisket was great, and I instructed P on how to make roasted potatoes with the massive amounts of dripping. P's grocery store had a whole bunch of briskets on sale--I never see them here.
I like the background as it is today.
Glad the bull steaks were good.
We were still away on Sat. night, so we had dinner out.
tilapia, roasted potatoes & squash
Italian breaded pork chops, roasted carrots, cauliflower, mushrooms, spinach & garlic bread
spaghetti pizza, cauliflower
shepherd's pie with lots of vegetables, garlic bread
same
bacon, guacamole grilled cheese sandwiches, maybe roasted squash
Linda
Some week I will keep track.
I say that, but I trust you realize I lie.
We had
• crock pot beef rump roast, with separately roasted potatoes and carrots.
• tomato soup with grilled cheese. Exactly as basic 1970s as it sounds.
• breaded hamburgers and mashed potatoes.
• a beef-barley-vegetable soup made out of the leftovers from the roast night. Also birthday cake made by the mother-in-law in honor of the newly minted 7-year-old.
• spaghetti.
• hot dogs (prepared by my mom) with the harvest crew.
• something else, but I don't know what.
Karen.
Hey, from the other day photo of you and Poppy . Your haircut and hair looks great and so do you!
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