Friday Food: Leftovers and Lettuce

Friday 

Short version: Steak, mashed potatoes, green salad with ranch dressing

Long version: Did I make an herb butter with parsley and basil for the steak? Why yes, I did. Because I am something of a broken record in the kitchen. And we still have fresh herbs.

I made the mashed potatoes in case there were any children still complaining of a sore throat who didn't want to eat the steak. Sure enough, one child had nothing but mashed potatoes and cheese for dinner. 

Saturday

Short version: Pizza, cucumber spears with ranch dip

Long version: Baking bread and making roasted tomato sauce while the oven was on, so, pizza. We still don't have any asadero cheese (our mozzarella substitute), but I did have the last of A.'s salvage ricotta in the freezer. So we had a three-cheese blend: ricotta, cheddar, and Parmesan. 

The asadero is better, but no one complained.

Oh, and regarding the ranch dip: It's a dressing when I put it over salad, and a dip when there's a little puddle on everyone's plate. Same thing, though. Just so you know.

Sunday

Short version: Fried pork, spaghetti, green salad with vinaigrette, maple custard

Short version: More commodities pork (fried in butter), more spaghetti with more roasted tomato and garlic sauce. And you're going to see a lot more lettuce in the near future because there is a veritable carpet of lettuce out there, thanks to A. shaking out the lettuce plants gone to seed when he was digging up the fall garden beds. Lettuce EVERYWHERE. So exciting.

I way overbaked the maple custard, and it separated. Boo. That is definitely my most frequent kitchen failure.

Monday

Short version: Leftovers, raw tomatoes

Long version: There was enough leftover steak for everyone, which I re-heated in a skillet with the rest of the herb butter. Also leftover rice. 

It's a workday dinner, for sure.

Tuesday

Short version: Odd meatloaf, baked potatoes, green salad with ranch dressing

Long version: The meatloaf was odd because I didn't have enough bread crumbs and didn't want to haul out the food processor to make more, so I used some quick oats. This definitely does not have the adhesive power of bread crumbs. It was pretty crumbly.

I also forgot to add extra fat to the very lean ground beef. And I didn't add enough salt. So, while it was fine, it was certainly not the best meatloaf I've ever made.

I was very happy with the salad, though.

I've been growing vegetables for almost 20 years now, and I still get great satisfaction when I'm able to say, "I grew all of this myself." (Here lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers.)

Wednesday

Short version: Leftovers, green salad with ranch dressing

Long version: The leftovers this time were the fried pork and extra baked potatoes, which I diced and fried in butter.

The salad this time was only the lettuce and tomato. One of the cucumber vines is staging a comeback, but still doesn't have any cucumbers on it big enough to eat yet.

Thursday

Short version: Leftover meatloaf, tuna salad, rice, raw tomatoes, chocolate chip cookie bar rejects

Long version: I thought I had a lot more meatloaf than I did. I suspect a little mouse named Cubby had been nibbling on it before bed, as is his habit. 

In any case, there was enough for A. and me. The children had the tuna salad.

They also had the chocolate chip cookie bars, which were my contribution to the silent auction bake sale that happens during the school play today. One edge of the pan got a bit overdone, so I cut that off and the kids had that. No complaints from them.

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