Friday
Short version: Fish patties, mashed potatoes, frozen green peas
Long version: I still have several cans of salmon from the excess commodities, although when I made fish cakes with it, we found them to be softer and not quite as tasty as the tuna patties I customarily make. So I mixed the two kinds of canned fish, using two cans of tuna and one can of salmon. This worked well, and will likely be how I will use the rest of the salmon.
On several days this week, I cooked, pureed, and froze the remaining calabazas that were starting to go south. I have discovered that the easiest way to cook these giant squash is to cut them in half, scoop out the seeds, and put the halves in my huge pressure cooker with a bit of water. I bring it up to pressure, turn it off, and by the time the pressure comes down to zero, it's done.
Saturday
Short version: Beef stir-fry, rice
Long version: I had two sirloin steaks left from the package I had thawed for Thursday's dinner, so I sliced them thin and used them to make stir-fry with onion, carrot, broccoli, frozen green beans, and half a bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables.
The great benefit of the bag of stir-fry vegetables is that is has the baby corn cobs and water chestnuts in it, both of which are favorites of my children. I think they each got a single one of each, but at least they got something exciting.
Yes, tiny corn and water chestnuts are exciting. Low standards, remember?
Sunday
Short version: Pork ribs, leftover mashed potatoes and rice, Holy's cabbage, roasted parsnips, baked peaches and cream
Long version: The MiL got the parsnips at Trader Joe's in Albuquerque before she drove here. I haven't had parsnips in years, but coincidentally bought some seeds to grow them this year. So I was interested to see which of my children will eat them.
Unsurprisingly, there was an even split on the appreciation of parsnips, as is so often the case. However, I love roasted parsnips, so I'll just eat the ones not eaten by the two parsnip avoiders.
The MiL also brought us real cream from Trader Joe's. We can't get real cream anywhere we shop--only the ultra-pasteurized whipping cream with all the stabilizers and junk--so this was very exciting. I decided the best way to enjoy the real cream was poured over sweetened fruit. So I baked two gallon bags of Nick's peaches with maple syrup, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves.
A very popular dessert, especially with the cream.
Monday
Short version: Green chile cheeseburgers (with buns!), green salad with vinaigrette, leftover baked peaches and cream
Long version: The MiL is a big fan of green chiles. This was her last night with us, so I decided to make something with green chile. I already had dough going for bread, so I used some of that to make buns and made cheeseburgers that could be topped with chopped roasted green chiles.
Not everyone chose to have the green chile, but everyone enjoyed having a bun with their burger.
Funny story: I had also made chocolate chip/walnut cookies earlier in the day, per Poppy's request. I took the big bag of sugar out of the cabinet and put it next to the bowl with the melted butter in it. The bag of sugar was still in the grocery store bag, which came home in the back of A.'s truck, which is very frequently used to haul hay.
This is why when I opened the bag of sugar, small bits of hay came off the outside plastic bag and ended up on top of the melted butter.
Welcome to my life.
I scooped the hay out, and figured any bits I missed would just mean some extra fiber in the cookies.
Tuesday
Short version: Quesadillas, leftovers
Long version: Shearing day! Yay!
We ate a late lunch of sloppy joes after shearing was done, and then A. left around 4:30 p.m. to get the boys to an altar server training and judo. A couple of the children wanted to eat before that, so I made them bean and cheese quesadillas. The others had leftover hamburgers and rice when they got home around 7:30 p.m.
Shearing photo!
Wednesday
Short version: Cubby's spaghetti and potatoes, chicken with pesto, green salad with vinaigrette
Long version: At 4 p.m., there were children whining about being hungry, children making themselves tortillas and peanut butter while asking when dinner would be, and I was not yet ready to make dinner. So I said, with some irritation, "If you want it now, go ahead and make dinner."
So Cubby did.
He decided to make spaghetti--with a jar of roasted tomato puree, a few cubes of frozen pesto, oregano, and butter--and potatoes fried in oil.
I did note that would be two starches in one meal. He did not care. And honestly, neither did I, since A. doesn't eat pasta and would be happy to have the potatoes.
The chicken was my addition. We got two roosters from our neighbor that we had butchered this day. I had cooked them in the pressure cooker to make stock, and then I used some of the shredded meat for dinner, mixed with pesto and butter.
I also contributed the salad.
Obviously, we need to do some work on the idea of a balanced meal, but at least I didn't make all of it.
Thursday
Short version: Chicken slop, mashed potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette
Long version: That same rooster meat, plus the stock, plus cornstarch, onion, powder, garlic powder, and bit of rosemary to make essentially chicken in gravy. Slop sounds so much more fun, though.
When I told the boys what we were having for dinner, they all said, "Slop? Like what they eat in prison?"
Yes, children. I'm giving you prison food tonight. Eat up.
Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?
Well, I did have a soup-heavy week-- vegetable beef and chili soup. Plus leftovers. But that's not why I'm commenting. Thank you for the tip about cooking squash in the pressure canner. I have several that need cooked still (various pumpkin-like types). Maybe I'll try this, and then feed the rest to the chickens because I've already frozen more than I'll need for the year.
ReplyDeleteFri-tuna salad, melted cheese on a carb- tortilla,chips, bread.
ReplyDeleteSat- eggs, bacon, bagel, applesauce, salad.
Sun- salad, chicken patty, tater tots, broccoli. My son's thought this was just like a hot lunch at school. They were not wrong.
Mon- salad for husband, cheezits and M&M's for the kids. We were driving an hour to a trampoline park to celebrate youngest boys birthday, and the cheap admission starts right at dinner time. Do I get points for giving them extra toasty cheezits? I didn't buy any food at the overpriced concession stand at least. Cupcakes for birthday boy at big sister's house- it turns out she lives 5 minutes from trampoline park. No nutritional content today, but lots of fun.
Tues-tacos with assorted toppings.
Wed- half of a pack of bacon left,so bacon, eggs, broccoli, bread with butter.
Thurs- winter came back with rain , sleet, and several inches of snow, so leftover chicken stewed in gravy, noodles, string beans, the last of the broccoli.
How enterprising of your son to make the spaghetti and potatoes. Enjoy the weekend!
Jody: The ones I cook for the chickens I just split in half and leave all the junk in the middle.
ReplyDeletembmom11: Points for avoiding the concession stand. Surprisingly challenging to do.
Chicken slop...hahahahaha...oh wait. I frequently make garbage soup and pasta. Ahem. I'm totally using chicken slop from here on out. You get credit for making me laugh for the first time today.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this week we ate:
Sunday - Sausage gravy over biscuits, scrambled eggs, baked apples.
Monday - Chicken and tomatoes, green beans, cheese bread.
Tuesday - Baked beans with sausages, leftover bread.
Wendsday - Shrimp scampi and angel hair pasta, spicy bell peppers.
Thursday - Meatballs, crash potatoes, more spicy bell peppers, cottage cheese.
Friday - Think I'll make grilled ham and cheese to go with tomato soup.
Happy weekend everyone!
takeout
ReplyDeletezucchini pizza, salad, garlic knots
mini quiches, roasted potatoes & broccoli
chicken divan, rice, rolls
chicken/vegetable/pasta salad, chips
meatloaf, roasted carrot sticks, leftover rice, rolls
and for tonight fish fillets, oven fries, stewed tomatoes
Linda
Saturday: homemade personal pizzas; some homemade crusts, some on small flour tortillas, which make excellent thin crusts. I still have one kid who is a staunch holdout and wants the homemade crusts, but at least I’m not making a batch of 18 anymore and worrying they’ll last all weekend; a batch of 8 sees us through nicely.
ReplyDeleteSunday: leftovers from Saturday.
Monday: lasagna–two pans of cheese, one of beef and cheese to use up ground beef from the weekend. Everyone said this was the best lasagna I’ve ever made, and I think the only thing I did differently was when I emptied a jar of sauce (2 jars for each pan) I added a little warm water and swished it around and added that to the pan. My grandmother always taught me to do this with spaghetti sauce, and I’d forgotten to do it until recently. The extra moisture must have been important!
Tuesday: Burgers, tater tots, and leftover lasagna for those who wanted it.
Wednesday: hamburger stew, using some leftover burgers and potatoes that miraculously hadn’t sprouted in my pantry.
Thursday: taco night
Friday: I’m making ham and bean soup in the crockpot, just in time for some winter-like weather, and corn dog muffins, partly because I love cornbread with soup, and partly to appease the one child who dislikes soup or stew in any iteration.
I have always wanted to learn to shear a sheep. The only livestock I have dealt with is horses. mine did not even care for trimming his mane and tail.
ReplyDeleteYou may have answered this before…what do you do woth the fleece?
ReplyDeleteSaturday: cheese manicotti, salad
Sunday: rotisserie chicken, green beans, stove, top, stuffing, mac & cheese
Monday: salad for me in Chick-fil-A for kids
Tuesday: various leftovers
Wednesday: fish, rice, vegetable
Thursday: spaghetti
Clearly, I am in a run and need inspiration.
Mei: Shearing is extremely physically demanding and requires great skill. Which is why we are very happy to pay someone else to do it.
ReplyDeleteAndra: A. sells them online, mostly to hand spinners I think.
A saying of my mother-in-law's was that it's not healthy to be too clean. And my mother's take on this was "we all have to eat a peck of dirt before we die." My kids have heard me make these comments many times when I served up something that might have counted toward that peck of dirt. Like straw in cookies.
ReplyDeleteFriday-tuna in cheese sauce, baked potatoes, peas
Saturday-ham sandwiches, coleslaw
Sunday-fajitas, lettuce and tomatoes
Monday-ham and bean soup, cheese biscuits
Tuesday-hamburgers, baked potatoes, roasted carrots
Wednesday-baked beans, fresh bread
Thursday-leftover burgers stirfried with vegetables, baked potatoes
Our week wasn't very interesting. However, we're going to a fun concert tomorrow that includes pies. The Sweet Adelines chorus is having their first post-pandemic Sweetie Pie Social tomorrow! The first time we went to one of these events, Amigo won the Pie of the Month for a Year raffle. OMG, was that fun!
ReplyDelete