Friday
Short version: Baked cod, pasta, various leftover vegetables, strawberries
Long version: Lent isn't much of a penance for seafood-loving Cubby, since it's pretty much the only time I plan to cook fish. This was the two pounds of cod I bought from Misfits Market when I tried one of their cold boxes awhile ago. I had been saving it for Lent. I just squeezed half an old lemon on it, covered it top and bottom with butter, and baked it at 400 degrees until it was done.
It was very good. And two pounds was just enough for everyone.
The pasta was egg noodles with the pizza sauce from last week, along with an extra packet of the cheese powder from the too-salty Annie's macaroni and cheese, plus some milk, and I also snuck in a few spoonfuls of pureed calabaza, since I had it out anyway. Popular with the children despite my sly addition.
There were leftover broccoli, cabbage, and calabaza, and I apportioned that all out based on who will eat what. I had all three. Yum.
Strawberries because they came in the Misfits Market box on Wednesday and strawberries only ever last a few days. It was time they were finished, so I sent them outside with the children when they went out to play some game after dinner. No strawberry juice all over my table that way.
Saturday
Short version: Bull meat, fresh bread and butter, roasted green beans and carrots, cucumber and tomatoes
Long version: I still have bull meat in the freezer, and probably a dozen quart jars of canned bull. I really need to use it. So I dumped out two jars, broke it up with my hands into smaller pieces, and spread it in two cast iron skillets. Then I poured about 1/3 cup of melted tallow on it (because it has no fat of its own), sprinkled it with paprika, garlic powder, and salt, mixed it all up, and roasted it with the green beans and carrots until it was a little crispy.
Tasty, but still a bit chewy. Which pretty much sums up the bull meat.
Sunday
Short version: Beef stir-fry, rice, chocolate-covered peanut butter balls
Long version: I had actually taken a bag of stir-fry vegetables out of the freezer before I thought about it and realized I had enough fresh vegetables to make stir-fry with those. And, more importantly, I had the time.
So I used an onion, a red bell pepper, green beans, carrots, and some frozen beet greens from last year's garden. Along with the beef, of course.
It was really good. And so pretty.
Monday
Short version: Leftovers, macaroni and cheese, carrot sticks with curry dip
Long version: More bull, rice, leftover pasta, and then I made the macaroni and cheese to drop more food into the bottomless pit of the track-running boy.
I used two boxes of the Annie's macaroni and cheese, but only one of the cheese powder packets. How does anyone eat that stuff if it's made according to the directions? It tastes like a soft orange salt lick. It was fine with half the amount of the cheese stuff, though.
Tuesday
Short version: Barbecue meatballs, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, green peas
Long version: Cubby had a friend over, and meatballs are a reliably popular food with most kids. Barbecue meatballs are just, uh, meatballs baked in barbecue sauce. I actually like these better than meatballs in marinara. My kids like them, too, and they're even better with coleslaw.
Look! A sheep!
Wednesday
Short version: Leftovers
Long version: Bull meat, meatballs, and some leftover pork roast from the school cafeteria. That last was a bit dry and bland, which I fixed by frying it in a bunch of butter with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and a very little bit of barbecue sauce. Much better.
Also, there was leftover rice, macaroni and cheese, and peas. Ta da! A balanced meal made entirely of leftovers. Perfect for a workday.
Thursday
Short version: Shepherd's pie, green salad with ranch dressing
Long version: Cubby had a different friend over who eats as much as he does, if not more, so I figured I'd better make a large quantity of something. I decided on shepherd's pie, and my choice was validated by the universe when I was presented with like five pounds of leftover mashed potatoes on Wednesday by the school cook. I could have felt bad about taking them, except I actually peeled all 40 potatoes for her, so I guess you could say I earned it.
A bunch of the older kids were out for an FFA event, so she had a lot of leftovers. And that giant quantity of mashed potatoes was exactly the quantity I needed for the two shepherd's pies I made with four pounds of ground beef. The one in the 15"x10" Pyrex was almost finished, but I was left with the entire 13"x9" Pyrex untouched.
Yay leftovers.
Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?
12 comments:
Sat - grilled cheese because we had a movie with popcorn on a wet cold afternoon. No one really hungry.
Sun- no idea as I came down with some vile germ brought home by young daughter. One boy sick too.
Mon- three of us still down(the theme for the week) but husband and teen did pasta and garlic bread.
Tues- supposed to be hamburger, but only one non-sick person wanted that, so some beyond burgers and chicken strips entered the scene, waffle fries.
Wed- taco Tuesday and kids seem better
Thurs- one new kid added to the sick list, and 3 moved back on. I think the upright people had bagels?
Fri- depends on who's actually in the mood to eat. Maybe fish sticks for husband. Probably Popsicles for the invalids.
The kids have break next week, so I hope it warms up so they can sit outside in the sun and recover from this flu.
I love small towns where, "it takes a village" still applies. The cook knowing you have kids tht will be able to use the leftovers and making sure they don't go to waste is a beautiful thing.
We were Instacarting every day this week - one check spread over 5 weeks instead of 4 is a toughie - and didn't get home until 7 most nights. We are used to an afternoon snack instead of lunch, so several evenings were a heavy snack for dinner. Pretzels, pb, blueberries, oranges, nuts, cheese or some combination. I remember a few omelets and grilled cheeses too. We don't complain because it's still nutrition of sorts and I don't have to cook.
The sheep picture reminded me of "Squirrel!!" from "Up". I say it to distract my dh at opportune times.
takeout
spaghetti & meatballs, salad
spaghetti & meatballs, cabbage mushrooms, onions sauteed
pizza casserole, chicken patties, cauliflower
turkey burgers, cauliflower
chicken chili, tomatoes & avocado on the side
And for tonight, takeout.
Linda
Hello, this week we ate:
Monday - Roasted turkey breast and yams, spinach salad, bread
Tuesday - Made some gravy with the turkey drippings that I added some leftover turkey to...this I served over mashed potatoes, corn and leftover bread to round out the meal...huzbeast was happy.
Wendsday - Turkey, bacon and tomato sandwiches, assorted vegetables with ranch dip
Thursday - Potato soup, veggies and dip, cheese, crackers
Friday - I unearthed some breakfast sausage from the depths of the freezer so I'm thinking sausage gravy over biscuits with eggs will be dinner tonight...I'm not to fussed about not having any fruit or veg to round out this meal...got some strawberries, clementines and whipped cream for dessert later.
Happy weekend everyone.
Friday-lentil and spinach soup, sourdough biscuits
Saturday-meatballs, pasta, peas, prayer bars (they're supposed to be so good you pray for more - I don't like them myself but the grandkids love them). The 7 year old had noodles and cheese.
Sunday-sausage and fried potatoes, broccoli. The 7 year old had sausage and cornbread.
Monday-homemade baked beans, fresh bread and butter
Tuesday-meat pies
Wednesday-eggs, baked potatoes, broccoli
Thursday-Mexican hamburger casserole (so-called because it has chilies in it and a cornmeal topping), coleslaw
Just in case I haven't let you know before, I really like the sheep photos. The first weekend in May will be the first in-person Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in a few years and I'm looking forward to it. I don't need any wool or yarn this year (or sheep), but there are usually several nurseries with good quality plants, so I'll have my wagon with me.
Very kind of you to entertain the FG crowd by having bull meat this week. 🙂
I agree the sheep photos are fun, though I pretty much enjoy all your photos.
Also, I am looking forward to the book posts!
Cheryl in IL
Bull meat question! Could you just have it ground like hamburger? With some added fat, maybe? And/or mixed with some other beef, like 1 part bull to 2 parts other? Or does that not work? Is the ground beef from the butcher or grocery just female cows or steers (I think that’s what neutered males are called)? Ground beef is so much more flexible and quick. I don’t like to talk so much about the details of where my meat comes from, but you’ve made me so curious. Thanks!
me: That sounds very Not Fun. I sincerely hope your entire family is fully recovered now.
Sheila: There are benefits to living in a small community. And working in the school cafeteria. :-)
Mary W. and Cheryl: I'll try to feature the sheep more regularly. They're so much a fixture of my life, I forget how novel and fun they are to other people.
Jen: Ground beef from the store is most likely from cows or steers (yup, that's the neutered males) just because beef ranchers don't keep bulls around in quantity for meat. Too dangerous. Yes, grinding would be a good use for tough meat like the bull, and I wish we could do that. However, we never brought this meat to a butcher, and we don't have a grinder. We butchered it ourselves, very quickly. Full post is here https://going-country.blogspot.com/2020/10/boo-time-to-butcher-bull.html
Friday: my husband's night to cook and he made hamburgers and sliced cucumbers. I made a spicy mayo dip for the cucumbers.
Saturday: pizza with red sauce, andouille sausage, mushrooms, colored pepper
Sunday: The daughter and granddaughter came for dinner and a bath for the granddaughter. There's only a shower at their house. We had whole chicken roasted with potato wedges, mushrooms and colored peppers, sliced cucumbers with spicy dip or ranch dressing for the granddaughter
Monday: leftover chicken, potatoes, sliced cucumbers
Tuesday: chicken and potato tacos. This was another of the taco filling experiments which was a success. I had already made a taco filling with just potatoes so I was pretty sure that chicken and potatoes would be great.
Wednesday: chicken from the roast sauteed with leek, colored pepper, mushrooms, white wine and gravy from the Sunday roast mixed with spaghetti. Sliced cukes with spicy dip. This used up the last of the chicken meat. Also the spicy dip mixed into the pasta was pretty good.
Thursday: leftover chicken pasta, frozen broccoli. I couldn't take another meal with sliced cucumbers.
A friend who works at the local high school has been giving us some food leftover from a weekly high school food distribution. She knows we'll eat just about anything and will grab things that were left after everyone was gone. If she doesn't want it, she'll drop it off at our house. One of the leftovers recently was a package of those plastic wrapped English cucumbers. Normally I only eat cucumbers in the summer and they are ones that I grow myself or get from a local farmer. The spicy dip makes these English cukes palatable. The spicy dip turns out to be really good on just about anything. I've eaten a lot of mayo this week.
Pam in Maine
We mostly used up leftovers since we were planning to head out of town. I did cook three chicken breasts which I shredded and threw in salads and added to Spaghetti with marinara sauce.
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