Friday Food: Here Comes the Za'atar

Friday 

Short version: Ground beef fried rice, chocolate pudding

Long version: I had maybe a half pound of ground beef in the refrigerator that needed to be used. I fried it in a skillet with onion, cabbage, carrots, and a can of commodities green beans in the afternoon--plus garlic powder, soy sauce, ginger, and vinegar.

I used part of that at dinner to make the fried rice, by simply adding some of the leftover chicken-stock rice from the night before, and two whole eggs scrambled with two egg whites leftover from making the custard the day before.

This was eaten very enthusiastically by the children, which is always gratifying when I'm serving something totally improvised and intended to just use up random things.

I made the chocolate pudding because there were more children with sore throats. Of course. 

Fortunately, I happened to look at the recipe for Cubby's birthday chocolate cheesecake while I was heating the milk and cornstarch for the pudding. I realized that if I used all the chocolate chips required for a double recipe of the pudding (I always make a double recipe), I wouldn't have enough for his birthday cake. 

Whoops. That was a close one.

So I used a substitution I found online for half the chocolate chips that involved cocoa powder, sugar, and butter. That worked just fine, and I will probably do that from now on. Chocolate chips are a lot harder for me to get and keep in stock than those three ingredients, so from now on I think I'll save the chocolate chips for actual cookies or whatever when they're not being melted.

Saturday

Short version: Birthday shrimp, sausage, oven fries, green salad with ranch dressing, chocolate cheesecake

Long version: This was Cubby's birthday dinner request. The sausage was the boudin I brought home from Texas.

I used this recipe for the cheesecake, as I always do.

And it cracked, as it always does.

Sunday

Short version: Za'atar ground beef with yogurt sauce and hummus, more shrimp, leftover rice, carrot sticks

Long version: This whole dinner started with the hummus I had left over from the staff party. I made the ground beef with onion and za'atar, which is a middle eastern spice blend based on sumac that has a slightly sour flavor. One child didn't like the za'atar, but everyone else did. It was really good served over the leftover chicken stock rice with hummus and yogurt sauce (drained plain yogurt, lemon, garlic, salt, pepper) on top.

I didn't make a dessert, because I had made a dessert for the three previous nights and we still had ginger snaps.

Monday

Short version: Salmon chowder, ploughman's lunch

Long version: I had made the salmon chowder over the weekend for the sicklings and there was quite a bit left over. None of the children were notably enthusiastic about it, but they ate it, along with their bread, cheese, and pickled green beans. Which is what we now call a ploughman's lunch.

Tuesday

Short version: Leftovers, scrambled eggs, rye crisps, still-frozen green beans

Long version: A. finished the salmon chowder, along with some cheese and rye crisps. The eggs were for the children. They were pretty full from their Valentine's Day party and treats at school, so they didn't need a big dinner.

This was not a special Valentine's Day dinner--at all--but I did find some leftover buckwheat pancakes in the refrigerator in the morning that I made festive with my heart-shaped cookie cutter.

The eye rolling from my sons when I set these in front of them was the most amusing part of my day.

Wednesday

Short version: Bunless hamburgers, potatoes, carrot sticks and ranch dip

Long version: The potatoes were actually the parts of the potatoes left when I cut off the ends to carve hearts for stamping valentines. I had peeled and boiled the rest of the potatoes, not having any particular plan for them, just not wanting to throw them away. I figured I'd find a way to use the cooked potatoes. And I did, by throwing them in the pan with the hamburgers and frying them.

Waste not, want not, right?

I actually had the fortitude to fry hamburgers because school ended early due to the snow that fell all morning.

A 12:30 dismissal time leaves lots of time to play in the snow.

We reeeeally needed the precipitation, so yay for snow.

Thursday

Short version: A late conglomeration of foods

Long version: I was at Cubby's last basketball game with the younger two children. A. took Calvin to judo. All of us got home around the same time, about 7 :15 p.m. I had taken out three steaks to thaw, but hadn't actually cooked anything, and didn't really feel like cooking the steaks at that late hour. 

There were, however, leftover hamburgers and boudin sausage. So the boys all had one or both of those, and then everyone but one child had a cheese sandwich. A. actually cooked one of the steaks for himself, and also finished the hummus with some tortilla chips.

I ate half a leftover hamburger and a few tortilla chip crumbs while I loaded the dishwasher. Because all I wanted to do was get the children to bed so I could go to bed myself.

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