Friday
Short version: Leftovers
Long version: Stir-fry for some, chicken taco meat for others. All fed.
Saturday
Short version: Bull meat, garlic bread, roasted carrots, raw green beans
Long version: Another session of pressure-canning bull meat to get it out of the freezer, another opportunity to pressure-cook more of the same. This time I added some pesto I had made earlier in the day to the meat, along with some asadero cheese.
I already had a pan with butter in it from A. making an omelet earlier in the day, so I figured I might as well throw something in the oven with the bread as it baked. That something being carrots.
In case you didn't know, ponies like carrots, too.
Sunday
Short version: Oven-fried chicken, pasta with pesto, raw cucumbers, steamed green beans, chocolate chip cookies
Long version: Another Sunday, another meat bird down. The kids had said they were getting tired of roasted chicken (?), so I had A. part this one out for me and I used the (GIANT) pieces to make oven-fried chicken.
First the chicken is marinated in yogurt with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika, then it's shaken to coat it in masa (corn flour) with the same spices, then baked in a buttered pan.
Cubby was SO HAPPY with this. He asked me to make every chicken this way from now on.
Everyone else was happy with the pasta. Because pasta with pesto made from homegrown basil really can't be improved upon.
Calvin chose the chocolate chip cookies, but only because I didn't have any cream to make his preferred desserts. He allowed as how chocolate chip cookies would be acceptable. They were.
I used the recipe in Cubby's ATK kids' cookbook for the chocolate chip cookies that calls for melting the butter. This is my favorite, because I detest hauling out my mixer and creaming butter and sugar.
While I was in the kitchen with dirty bowls and pans anyway, I decided to make some more of these "breakfast" cookies for Cubby and Jack to bring to school for their snacks (I use maple syrup, walnuts, peanut butter, Craisins, raisins, and mini chocolate chips). Since I had just made the chocolate chip cookies, I experimented with using the same melted butter method.
I am pleased to say that they were a success, and now I need never cream butter again. Amen.
Monday
Short version: Cafeteria spaghetti and meat sauce, cucumber slices
Long version: One of my duties at the school now is helping the cook clean up after lunch. I told her that if she had any food she was going to throw away, I could bring it home for my children and/or dogs and chickens, and so she gave me the remainder of the spaghetti and meat sauce she was going to toss.
It went to the children this time.
The tomato sauce came out of a can, though, so it needed some doctoring. More salt, garlic powder, and a little vinegar, and it was quite tasty. The kids were excited to get spaghetti, too, which I never buy.
Tuesday
Short version: Leftovers, raw green beans
Long version: The younger kids had leftover bull meat and leftover pasta with pesto. Cubby had leftover chicken and more spaghetti when he got home from football practice.
Wednesday
Short version: Bunless hamburgers, calabacitas and tomatoes, cafeteria green beans, cucumber spears
Long version: Hooray, the calabacitas are coming! Calabacitas are the squash we got seeds for from Rafael. They make both an edible summer squash that's like zucchini--but better--and a hard-skinned winter squash.
I sauteed the calabacitas in some bacon fat with a few tomatoes, and they were delicious.
The green beans were leftovers from the school lunch. I buy the same frozen green beans from Sysco myself, but these I didn't even have to cook. Bonus.
Thursday
Short version: Chicken salad sandwiches, carrot sticks
Long version: I subbed at the school in the afternoon, so I made the chicken salad in the morning with the last of the leftover oven-fried chicken. A good meal for another hot day.
For Charlie, who does not like chicken salad, I sauteed some of the chicken in olive oil. Then I took some of that chicken and added it to my salad with cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden, plus some feta cheese, to make a very tasty Greek-ish salad.
We were on vacation this past week, so we were in & out. Sometimes we grabbed a larger lunch while out, so we weren't hungry for dinner. Here are a few things we had for dinner this week.
ReplyDeleteturkey & cheese sandwiches, applesauce, chips
grilled salmon, salad, garlic bread
zucchini skillet lasagna, salad, garlic bread
And for tonight, I was going to make chicken salad sandwiches & salad, but after seeing your tomato, cucumber, chicken salad with feta I changed my mind. :)
Linda
Morning all
ReplyDeleteThis week we ate
Monday - bbq pulled pork on outdoor rolls, potato onion and pepper salad, watermelon
Tuesday - coconut chicken with spicy orange sauce and green onions over rice, roasted yams
Wendsday - Seattle dogs with sauted peppers and onions, leftover potato salad and watermelon
Thursday - spicy peanut chicken with lime wedges, soba noodles, grapes and strawberries
Friday - I plan on making spaghetti with green salad and bread on the side
Friday-a family barbecue not at my house! So I didn't have to cook, just bring a salad. And we had hamburgers.
ReplyDeleteSaturday-blts, corn on the cob, watermelon. The grandkids say 5 slices of bacon apiece is not plenty. Ice cream bars.
Sunday-egg salad in a pita with lettuce and tomatoes, more corn and more watermelon (it's hard to beat this time of year). No children ate the egg salad. They filled their pitas with sliced cheese.
Monday-leftovers, but cantaloupe instead of watermelon, and fresh lima beans
Tuesday-chicken salad, fresh bread
Wednesday-stuffed peppers, sliced tomatoes
Thursday-zucchini and pasta with feta cheese, green beans
Kristin,
ReplyDeleteThis week I got yellow slicing tomatoes from a friend and made BLTs 3 times!
I also made a pot of beans and ate them with cornbread with a huge salad on the side.
Then I had the beans with rice and salsa.
Repeated these same foods all week!
On an unrelated note, when I put "going country" in my search engine to find your blog just now, my 3 options that showed up were "going country", then "going concern" and third "going commando'!! Lol! I thought you might get a kick out of that! I did NOT click on option #3!
Terri W.: That was almost certainly a good call.
ReplyDeleteFriday - burgers purchased at the local free outdoor concert
ReplyDeleteSaturday - BLTs because it is finally tomato season
Sunday - beef short ribs in the crockpot, potato wedges fried in bacon fat, sliced cukes in vinegar
Monday - zucchini fritters fried in bacon fat because it is also zucchini season
Tuesday - chicken and bean tacos
Wednesday - stir fried chicken and garden veggies on soba noodles
Thursday - another round of BLTs
Pam in Maine
I love that you asked the cook for the school lumch leftovers! Better for the planet and less work inthe kitchen for you. A true win win.
ReplyDeleteOkay about this week's food
Last saturday was potluck at the yearly neighborhood party, we got to meet a lot of our neighbours and were welcomed so warmly �� I brought deviled eggs, guacamole, a black bean dip and nachos
Sunday we grilled sausages we had defrosted and not eaten at the party with zucchini olive feta pasta salad
I had a cucumber that needed eating up so I made gaspacho on Monday, which we had with bread, pickles and a cheese board
The BF made 4 cheese pizza on Tuesday
We were feeling lazy on Wednesday, so I got chicken lasagne fro the freezer, beetroot pickles and leftover pizza
Thursday we had some snacks while playing the Pandemic boardgame (it's great BTW)
I found a huge zucchini lurking in the garden, so I tried a new recipe: I sauteed some chopped chicken in s skillet, then chopped zucchini and garlic. Added chicken broth, white wine and blue cheese and let it all simmer. I added cream and black pepper at the very end. We had it with rice. It was reaaaally good!
Claire: Yup. I hate seeing food wasted, so home it comes. How is it going at your new house in the country?
ReplyDelete@Kristin: i feel the same!! Food waste is a terrible thing, so many resources and labour went into preparing the food, the least we can do is use it up.
ReplyDeleteThanks for asking, it's been in the new place for 7 months and we are loving it! So much freedom, and I see the same as you do, the community is actually closer that anywhere else I livee, even if we are by far not as remote as you. We made friends with the local farmer, and have become good customers for his goat & ewe cheese, eggs as well as for the meat when he does kill some animals (not that he likes to do it. Thankfully we don't have to butcher ourselves, as my skills are non-existent in that area. Our german shepherd dog has been loving it too, and we got a second dog in March (a GSD-lab mix rescue) who is absolutely adorable