Friday Food: A Rib-ful Week

Friday 

Short version: Beef rib meat, spaghetti, raw green beans

Long version: I only have a few boxes of beef left in the freezer, and almost one whole box was all beef ribs. So I decided to cook some.

I filled my big pressure canner about 3/4 of the way with ribs and pressure-cooked them for 45 minutes. Then I spent almost as long picking meat off bones and pulling off fat. So tedious.

At dinnertime, I fried that meat in olive oil with dried oregano and garlic powder, then added the last of a can of spaghetti sauce that had been hanging out in the refrigerator.

Also in the refrigerator was some roasted tomato and garlic sauce I had made the day before. That went on the kids' spaghetti.

Saturday

Short version: Pizza, rib meat, cucumber

Long version: I spent all day--almost literally--in the kitchen dealing with peaches, canning beef stock, and baking bread. While I was at it, I made one pizza crust, which I topped with the rest of the roasted tomato sauce, some of A.'s salvage ricotta that I had frozen, and grated cheddar.

Sunday

Short version: First dinner--pork ribs, cornbread, tomato/cucumber salad; Second dinner--Rib meat, leftover cornbread, peach pie and ice cream

Long version: A. asked me to take out the rest of the giant package of pork ribs I had frozen. I put them in the oven on low heat with A.'s rub on them (garlic powder, paprika, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, and chili powder) while we were at church in the morning, and when we got home, A. declared them done.

He couldn't wait to eat them, and also thought maybe he could save me from having to cook dinner, so he announced to the children that we would have our main meal at lunchtime and then they could have peach pie and ice cream for dinner.

Of course, I ended up cooking for lunch and then frying more rib meat for dinner, because the adults and one child were not that enthused about only eating dessert for dinner. But it was very easy cooking, and the three children who ate nothing but pie and ice cream for dinner were thrilled.

And then, of course, there were many more peaches to be stowed away for later. This time I froze them, Some peeled and sliced, some just pitted and unpeeled.

Monday

Short version: Trout, rib meat, potato salad, carrot sticks

Long version: A. took the kids fishing for the day in the mountains.

I'm still not over how unreal any photo taken in New Mexico looks. Even with a cheap phone and no filters or editing. It really just looks like this.

They returned with one rainbow trout. I fried that and served it with melted butter and parsley. There was enough for every kid to get a small serving. 

I had taken out some steaks, but I didn't want to cook them until the fisherpeople got home, and they didn't get home until pretty late, so instead I just fried yet more of the rib meat.

I made Real American Potato Salad as a Labor Day treat. I only make it when I have pickles, which I never buy, but now I have refrigerator dills made with the Armenian cucumbers. 

So! Boiled potatoes (boiled whole and dressed while still warm), mayonnaise, pickle juice and pickles, onion powder (I don't like crunchy bits of raw onion in potato salad), salt, and pepper. So good.

Tuesday

Short version: Rib steaks with herb butter, rice, leftover sauteed calabacitas, raw green beans

Long version: I didn't have any steak sauce left, so I sent two children out to the garden to gather basil and parsley, which I chopped fine and mixed with soft butter to top the steaks. And then they all told me they like that better than steak sauce anyway. Yay.

Wednesday

Short version: Spaghetti sauce and rice, leftovers, raw green beans, alliterative popsicles

Long version: I had slightly more ambitious plans for dinner, but when I got home I couldn't muster up the energy for much. I had brought home a bunch of the leftover spaghetti and meat sauce from the school lunch, though, so I just mixed the sauce with leftover rice and microwaved that for the kids. 

I got several compliments on this, which was pretty funny.

A. ate the rest of the steak and some rice. I ate some leftover steamed green beans with spaghetti sauce. 

I made the popsicles to celebrate Poppy's first day of preschool (they always start later than the older kids). I had a lot of peach and plum jam I had made with the fruit given to us by neighbors, so I pureed that and a little cream with my immersion blender to make peach and plum popsicles.

I do love alliteration.

Thursday

Short version: Judo food!

Long version: The kids' judo instructor gave a party for all the students who passed their belt test last week, and the families. He provided all the food: tortilla chips and nacho cheese, hot dogs, Puerto Rican rice (there was a name for this that I don't remember, but I do remember it had pigeon peas in it), and freshly-made funnel cake. And I didn't have to cook any of it. Hooray.

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