Friday Food: Runny Yogurt for Popsicles

Friday 

Short version: Barbecue meatballs, bread and butter, raw carrots

Long version: I had actually baked the meatballs the day before, when I had the oven on anyway to make bread. So I just re-heated them in a skillet on the stove and added some barbecue sauce to them.

Saturday

Short version: Leftover meatloaf or meatballs, rice, curried split peas, apricot popsicles

Long version: I found a container of curried split peas in the freezer that I figured ought to be used up. Three of the four children eat them, so they go pretty fast.

I made the popsicles mostly because my last batch of yogurt turned out too runny. That happens if I don't have the milk warm enough. Runny yogurt is good for smoothies and popsicles, though. To make these popsicles, I just mixed the yogurt with equal parts apricot jam and a very small amount of heavy cream. The result is delicious, and a lot easier than the chocolate pudding pops that require cooking.

Sunday

Short version: Barbecued pork ribs, rice, green salad with ranch dressing, pots de creme

Long version: A. bought a couple of racks of ribs at the store and cooked one rack this day. That required setting up a grill outside and monitoring them for several hours, so it's not something that happens often. They sure are popular with the children, however.

All that scrap metal the previous owner of our house left behind sure has come in handy.

Since I wasn't cooking the whole dinner, I had lots of time to chop up fresh dill and garlic for the ranch dressing.

Monday

Short version: Pot roast with potatoes and carrots, raw snap peas

Long version: I made a chuck roast in the morning with potatoes and carrots, and then just heated it up at dinnertime.

It's the summer kitchen schedule, for sure.

While I had the oven on in the morning, I also cooked a beet from the garden. I couldn't find any aluminum foil, so I improvised with a larger Pyrex inverted over a smaller one to make a covered dish for the beet.

Looks kind of like a glass mushroom.

Tuesday

Short version: Pot roast skillet, apricot popsicles

Long version: I chopped up the rest of the pot roast, carrots, and potatoes and fried that in butter with some leftover rice and frozen peas. Surprisingly tasty.

The popsicles were in honor of our anniversary. Also, it was hot and I had more runny yogurt to use up.

Wednesday

Short version: Egg 'n' things, canned peaches

Long version: I made a big skillet of scrambled eggs. Some of the family had them with the leftover rice and curried split peas. Some had them with tortillas and cheese. A. had his with the leftover pot roast skillet. 

And then everyone had some of the canned peaches the commodities lady had given us. One of the more popular commodities items in our house, for sure.

Thursday

Short version: Tacos, black beans, etc.

Long version: When A. grilled the pork ribs, he experimented with grilling a couple of pigs' feet, too. They didn't soften enough, though, so he asked me to cook them further in a soup or something. It finally cooled down enough that I could simmer something on the stove for a few hours without turning the kitchen into a sauna. 

So I simmered the pigs' feet in a couple of quarts of rooster stock from the freezer, along with some dried black beans, a bit of leftover onion, and a clove of garlic.

I had also taken out some of A.'s very spicy venison posole that I froze a few months ago, so I added the pigs' feet to that for him.

The kids had the meat in corn tortillas, and the beans if they wanted them. There were chopped lettuce, tomatoes (thanks, garden!) and avocado (thanks, commodities!) as well, but I didn't bother with a separate vegetable.

Oh, and I had the other half of the zucchini bread I made a couple of weeks ago and froze, too, so the kids had that after dinner.

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