Friday Food: Taking the Heat

Because I have to stay in the kitchen. Like so . . .

Friday 

Short version: Leftovers fried in a skillet, raw snow peas

Long version: There were leftover baked potatoes and some leftover taco meat, which I fried all together in a skillet. Add some shredded cheese, and there's dinner for the two children at home.

Saturday

Short version: Homecoming steak, pesto bread, pasta salad, carrot sticks

Long version: I had not made pasta salad in literally years, but I wanted to make something for our elderly neighbor who just got home after having a knee surgery. My usual offering for such a situation is an all-in-one sort of casserole like shepherd's pie, but it's too hot for that. So I made pasta salad, which is also an all-in-one meal if enough protein is added.

I used just the pasta from three boxes of the Annie's macaroni and cheese that we find way too salty. I mixed the cooked pasta with a mustard vinaigrette when it was still warm, so the pasta would soak up the dressing. Then I added a bunch of hard-boiled eggs, cheddar cheese, onion, snow peas, carrots, and some chopped romaine lettuce, and then mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. It came out very well.

The travelers returned around 6 p.m. They hadn't eaten an actual meal since breakfast, so they were appreciative of the meal I had planned for them. I had made pesto earlier in the day, and I just fried bread in butter and spread it with some of the pesto. This was mostly for the members of the family who couldn't or didn't want to eat the pasta salad.

I provisioned the road warriors for their trip out, but the MiL stocked them up for the return trip. And she used some of the same recycled containers I had sent out with them, also labeled in with a Sharpie.

Great minds and all that.

Sunday

Short version: Bull and potato skillet, cucumber spears, vanilla ice cream with chocolate shell

Long version: I took out a bag of the processed bull and fried that with some spices and potatoes pre-cooked in the microwave. 

Creativity in the kitchen takes a serious hit when it's 84 degrees in said kitchen before I even start cooking.

The cucumber was actually an Armenian cucumber, which is botanically a type of melon. It looks and tastes like a cucumber, though, and, most importantly, it is very heat tolerant. I have trouble with typical cucumbers getting bitter in our very hot sun. Armenian cucumbers aren't supposed to do that, so I decided to try growing them this year. 

So far, I've been very impressed with them. The only remaining question is what kind of refrigerator pickles they make.

Is there anyone who is not yet aware how easy it is to make chocolate shell for ice cream? Half a cup of chocolate chips melted--either in the microwave or on the stove--with a teaspoon of coconut oil. Stir until smooth, and that's it.

Monday

Short version: Pork and rice, still-frozen peas

Long version: I had some pork steaks in the freezer, so in the early morning I browned those, then cooked them on the stovetop until they were tender with the last few tablespoons of pesto, the last of a can of commodities spaghetti sauce. When they were done, I took them out, added some water, then cooked rice in that. I put the pork on top of the rice and put the whole skillet in the refrigerator. 

It was only 9 a.m. when I put the skillet in the refrigerator. Then at dinnertime, all I did was take the whole skillet out and re-heat it on low heat. 

The heat that makes me so cranky is making the calabaza take over the world. Silver linings.

Tuesday

Short version: Leftovers, cucumber, highly unusual cereal

Long version: It's so handy to have our thermostat right on the wall of the kitchen, so I can see that it's 86 degrees in my kitchen, thereby confirming my feeling that it was way too hot to turn on the stove.

I foraged in the refrigerator instead. A. got the rest of the pork and rice. 

There was a bit of of the plain processed bull left, so I microwaved that with butter (it's incredibly lean and needs the extra fat) and barbecue sauce to make sandwich meat.

There were also a few hard-boiled eggs, so I made egg salad for those who preferred that for sandwiches.

Some of the children were still hungry after their sandwiches, and I really didn't have much else on hand, so I decided they could have a bowl of cereal for a second course.

They never eat cereal for dinner. Literally never. I know this is common for many people when they don't want to cook, but not for us. However, it's not a bad filler if they're hungry after already eating actual food. So everyone got a bowl of either Cheerios (thanks to the MiL, who sent this home with the travelers) or generic Rice Krispies. 

A. had just brought home a bunch of cream from his grocery run this day, so I put a little of that on the cereal along with the milk. And now I'm a shoo-in for Mother of the Year. (Not being facetious. My kids were THRILLED. What's that about low expectations again?)

Wednesday

Short version: Beef stir-fry, rice

Long version: I got all ambitious and took out stir-fry beef. It was hotter than I expected in the kitchen when it was time to cook, and I was very tempted to cop out on actually stir-frying, but I did it anyway. Besides the beef, there were carrots and snow peas from the garden, as well as lamb's quarters.

While I was standing there sweating and stir-frying, the storm that had been hovering on our horizon for a couple of hours finally broke. The rain-cooled air blew into the kitchen and actually cooled it down enough that when we sat down to eat, I wasn't sweating.

The reward for my industry, I suppose.

Thursday

Short version: Meatloaf, garlic bread, green salad with vinaigrette

Long version: I was baking bread anyway, so I figured I should take advantage of the oven having to be on to make meatloaf and garlic bread as well. It was pretty hot by the time we sat down to eat, but it was good meatloaf.

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