Friday Food: So Much Ground Beef

Friday 

Short version: Pork ragu, pasta, green salad with vinaigrette, mashed squash

Long version: I used the other chunk of random cooked pork to make a kind of ragu with tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrot, celery, and some balsamic vinegar. I think traditional pork ragus are made with something like a pork shoulder, which would get nicely shredded and make a very rich sauce. The cut I had was a lot more lean, so I diced it into the sauce, then simmered it for a few hours and mashed it with my potato masher to break it up. 

Some of the pork sauce I put into pasta for the kids, with parmesan cheese. The rest I topped with asadero cheese for A. and me.

Saturday

Short version: Breakfast sausage patties, leftover rice, coleslaw, Grandma Brown's baked beans, mashed squash

Long version: I had a cabbage--not one of ours--that had been in the refrigerator for, um, maybe a month and half? In any case, it needed to be used. And all the children like coleslaw. I used half the head for the coleslaw, and the rest was sauteed with carrots and onions in butter. We didn't eat any of the sauteed cabbage this night, though.

To go along with the summery coleslaw, I also took out the last container of Grandma Brown's baked beans from the freezer. No more Grandma Brown's until someone goes to New York. 

It's gonna be awhile.

Sunday

Short version: Bunless cheeseburgers, individual garlic/herb breads, leftover coleslaw, leftover steamed carrots

Long version: I took out the last giant log of Sysco ground beef we got from the school cook before Thanksgiving and made it into three different things: shepherd's pie for Monday night, taco meat for whatever night I need it, and hamburgers for this night.

The bread dough was in the big pot to the left of the cutting board. 

I was preparing for my long week of work, you see. Having food on hand and ready to go makes everything much calmer for me.

By popular request, I let the children each have a piece of bread dough to knead in their chosen spices. Because I am nothing if not an indulgent mother. Ahem.

Monday

Short version: Shepherd's pie

Long version: And here is where I bask in my own brilliance in making this ahead, so when I got home, all I did was turn on the oven, put the dish in the oven (very important to put it in from the refrigerator as soon as the oven is starting to heat, rather than putting a cold glass dish into an already-hot oven), and eat 45 minutes later.

I thought I would have leftovers from this. However, it is apparently a very popular offering in this house. There was only one portion left over.

You know what's going to be really fun? When I have boys ages 13, 15, and 17 to feed every day. Plus A. And Poppy. (And myself, of course, although that's not so daunting.)

I'm gonna need several more 13x9 pans.

Tuesday

Short version: Very Exciting Tacos

Long version: And what made them Very Exciting? I made the tortillas for the first time in a loooong time. I was only making them for the children, so I only had to make eight, which turns out to much more reasonable than making 20. I didn't even set off the smoke alarm! Although, that was more because it was warm enough to open the window near the stove.

It was also warm enough--70 degrees--that I allowed Poppy to FINALLY wear her new (well, secondhand new) sandals outside the house. With socks, but still. She's been waiting for this ever since they arrived two weeks ago. It was thrilling. 

Sandals on the feet, Christmas-themed sweatsuit on the top. About right for New Mexico in the winter.

A. and I got to have some excitement, too, with even without the tortillas, because we had guacamole. Hooray! The last time A. was near a store, it happened to be the one that always has cheap avocados, so he bought five large avocados. They all ripened at once, and that was the main reason I made tacos on this day.

So. Here's the thing about avocados. They are good in salads, and good in sandwiches, and yes, good on toast. But I'm going on record right now in stating that the highest calling for an avocado is guacamole to top Mexican (-ish) food. There's just something about those mashed avocados with lime juice that brings tacos--or taco bowls--to a whole new level. YUM.

Wednesday

Short version: Various foods for various people

Long version: The children had grilled cheese sandwiches, the last of the Grandma Brown's baked beans, and green salad.

A. had leftover hamburgers and salad.

And I had a salad with leftover taco meat, cheese, and the very last half an avocado.

Have you noticed that work days for me often feature random assignments of food? Yup. I like to call it "customized food." It sounds much more intentional that way.

Thursday

Short version: Yet more customized food

Long version: For the children, I microwaved leftover taco meat, leftover rice, frozen corn, and grated cheddar cheese. One bowl and done.

For A., I microwaved leftover taco meat, grated cheese, and salsa, and topped it with half an avocado.

But wait! Didn't I say I used the last half of an avocado the day before? Yes, I did. But then A. had to go pick up our beef from the butcher, which brought him right past a grocery store. So he stopped in to get some things, and those things included avocados. One was ripe, so I used it.

He also got some asparagus, which I cooked in a pan on the stove that had bacon grease in it already. Because that's about the level of cooking I'm willing to do when I get home from work. A. ate some of that, and I ate the rest.

I also had two fried eggs topped with salsa and the rest of the avocado. 

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