Friday Food: An Uninspired Week

Friday 

Short version: Leftovers, radishes and carrot sticks

Long version: Some had leftover beef stroganoff and noodles that the school cook had sent home with me the day before. Some had leftover taco meat and rice. And Poppy ended up having a fried egg because she really did not like the stroganoff, but there wasn't any more of the taco meat. 

Everyone had the raw vegetables. I didn't make an order for a Misfits Market delivery on Wednesday because I generally get a box every other week and this was an off week. Good thing, because our county got so much commodities stuff the lady in charge was just driving around asking people to take things, whether or not they're actually signed up for commodities. We are not, but we still got a fresh produce box just so it wouldn't go to waste.

It actually included several things I choose from Misfits Market every time I order. Fun.

Saturday

Short version: Concessions food

Long version: We went to see our boys basketball team play in the district final game. The game was in the evening right after our monthly Saturday Mass. 

I briefly considered being fiscally responsible and bringing tuna sandwiches or something to eat between church and the game, but then I decided to be irresponsible instead and buy everyone dinner from the concession stand. So everyone had smothered burritos and chips and candy.

I regret nothing.

Sunday

Short verison: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green salad with ranch dressing, no-churn vanilla ice cream

Long version: This is the third time I've tried making no-churn ice cream. This time I used a Cook's Country recipe given to me by Cubby and Calvin's teacher, who makes ice cream for all their class parties. 

The plain vanilla was still too sweet, although not as sweet as previous recipes I've tried. So I think if I add some plain cocoa powder to it next time, it will temper the sweetness and I might actually manage to make ice cream that doesn't cause immediate cavities.

Look! I got a picture of the elusive Odin!

Ready for his walk.

Monday

Short version: Leftovers, garlic bread, raw cabbage

Long version: Some had leftover meatloaf, some had leftover stroganoff, all had garlic bread that I had baked the day before when I was making loaves of bread, plus raw cabbage because that's the way they like it.

We also had a little leftover ice cream, which went well with the leftover chocolate cake from lunch the school cook sent home with me. Lucky kids.

Tuesday

Short version: Beef stew, cheese

Long version: This was not a very exciting Fat Tuesday meal. I'm a traitor to my New Orleans roots. 

It was good stew, though. I added green chili, green garlic (frozen last spring), tomatoes, pureed calabaza from the freezer, and beef stock to the meat, potatoes, and carrots. Very flavorful.

I did let the kids have another piece of cake, as a kind of half-hearted nod to the celebratory nature of the day. Maybe more like quarter-hearted, actually.

Wednesday

Short version: Tuna salad sandwiches, tomato soup, Cheetos Paws, custard

Long version: I made the soup and custard because half the family was sick. And when there is illness in our home, there is soup and custard. I've been getting a lot of eggs lately from a friend who got a whole bunch of new hens that are laying like crazy, so the custard was very yellow and strengthening.

Miss Amelia gave Cubby the Cheetos Paws when he was there stacking wood for her, because she is incapable of sending him home without snacks. The children approve of this.

I ate my tuna salad with lettuce, toasted pecans, dried cranberries, and shredded cheese. I find this to be a much more delicious way of eating it than just a pile of tuna.

Thursday

Short version: Leftovers

Long version: Most of the family had leftover beef stew. One child had tuna salad, a tortilla and cheese, and raw tomatoes. I had a salad with the last of the meatloaf and the last avocado from the commodities box. Yum.

Everyone (except me) also had some Coke from the liter bottle Cubby won in a game at the school pep rally. He generously shared, because no one should drink an entire liter of Coke. 

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

T.T.: I Know One Thing, That I Love You

When Cubby was only about two years old, he used to LOVE to watch the video for "Say Hey I Love You" with me. 

It's by Michael Franti and Spearhead, a group I knew nothing about then and still know nothing about, except for this one song. And this song never fails to make me happy.

The lyrics are pretty repetitive, but manage to drive home the point that a loving relationship with another person is the most important thing there is. 

The video itself is a little too choppy for me--why does the camera have to cut to another shot every two seconds?--but it is still joyful, entertaining, and fun to watch.

Three things we could all use more of these days. Along with love. That, there can never be enough of.

Whether you like the style of music or not, go ahead and watch the video and see if it makes you smile. It always works for me.

Snapshots: What Hope Looks Like

This post is going to be the counterpoint to the stories from Ukraine have been dominating the news this weekend. It is all terrible, and frightening, and none of us know what's really happening or how it will turn out.

And none of us can do one thing about it, either. 

What we can do is focus on the things in our lives that bring us hope, rather than despair. Everyone has those, hard as they can be to see through the forest of anxiety sometimes.

Here are some of mine.

Instead of heading down the road with the dogs this weekend for my morning walk, I've been walking to the adjacent pasture to check on . . .

LAMBS!

With unfortunate timing, the ewes started giving birth this week. The frigid, windy weather has not been at all hospitable to new life, however, and we did lose a few. But there are four healthy lambs at the moment--two girls and two boys--and one of them I actually watched being born through the window of the kitchen right at sunrise.

I didn't want to get too close, so I don't know if you can even see it, but it's right there at its mom's nose.

I was very grateful that that particular ewe chose to have her lamb where I could see it from the house--the others were way out in the pasture when they gave birth--so I could see that this lamb was not getting up and nursing as quickly as it should. 

Given that it was only five degrees outside, that was not surprising.

A. wrapped it in his wool coat with a jar of hot water to warm it, and then gave it some homemade glucose solution (water, salt, and honey) to give it the strength to stand up and start nursing. It did eventually make it up and figure out nursing, and it's doing well now.

The horses waited patiently for their hay and ice breaking during the post-natal check-ups.

Aaaaanytime, lady.

Bill was not amused when I came right by the fence with a small piece of metal rather than a flake of hay.

That camera is not going to satisfy the inner pony.

The cabbages and kohlrabi are growing happily under their lights in the children's bathroom, and there are signs of plant life outside, too.

Daffodils, yay!

I totally gave up on covering the one garden box that had some things growing in it over the winter, but a few lettuce plants actually survived in one corner of it. Soon I'll be planting more lettuce seeds, arugula, and radishes.

Seeds will grow, lambs will frolic, and life will go on. Amen.