Friday
Short version: Sloppy joes, carrot sticks with curry dip
Long version: We went to our neighbor's canyon property in the afternoon to cut firewood. He had yanked up a bunch of cedars by the roots.
These trees were taking over this pasture, so he pulled some out. He had said we could cut whatever we wanted for firewood, and he would burn the rest in the winter.
Anyway, by the time we got home a little after 5 p.m., everyone was very hot and hungry. I made a very fast dinner with the ground beef in the refrigerator by simply frying the meat and adding some of my frozen onions, plus barbecue sauce and ketchup.
This batch of sloppy joes FINALLY used up the gallon of Sysco barbecue sauce I bought almost exactly two years ago.
A significant achievement.
Saturday
Short version: T-bone steaks with caramelized onions and herb butter, spaghetti with pesto, green salad with ranch dressing
Long version: The caramelized onions were the ones I made a few weeks ago and put in the freezer. Some of them I froze in small piles on parchment paper. The rest I froze flat in a gallon bag.
The ones in the gallon bag froze into a solid mass and there is no separating them without thawing the whole thing. Lesson learned there. The small piles are the ones I used for dinner this night. All I had to do was take out two pucks of onions and microwave them for a minute to thaw.
The parsley came back with a vengeance this spring, which is why I made the herb butter. It was just soft butter mixed with finely chopped parsley and a leaf of green garlic from one of the plants that volunteered in the garden.
The herb butter and caramelized onions were a stellar combination on the steak. As you might imagine.
Sunday
Short version: Fried pork, oven fries, green salad with ranch dressing, chocolate pudding with cream
Long version: When I was ten years old, all I wanted to eat at restaurants was salad and french fries. And now here I am, a few decades later (ahem), and that's still all I want to eat. So that's what I made myself for Mother's Day.
I threw two cans of the canned pork we get from commodities in a pan and fried that with some spices as a grudging concession to being an adult and needing some form of protein in there. It did cross my mind that perhaps I could count the pudding as protein--so much milk!--but in the end, I am just not ten years old.
A highly satisfying meal, however, even with that boring and responsible addition.
Monday
Short version: Leftovers at home, brisket 'n' stuff out
Long version: I went to the school sports banquet with our athlete. We were provided with smoked brisket and rolls, and then everyone brought a side dish to share. I chose a little bit of creamed corn--pretty sure it had a LOT of cream cheese in it, and was thus delicious--and salad to go with my brisket. And I contributed carrot and celery sticks with homemade dip. The dip was basically the same ranch dressing I always make, but instead of yogurt, I used sour cream to make it much thicker for scooping. I also added a little finely chopped parsley, because I really have a LOT of parsley right now.
Almost all the carrots and celery were gone by the end of the evening, so I guess that was a good choice.
The home crowd had leftover pork, steak, bread and butter, and I left some of the carrots and celery for them, too.
Tuesday
Short version: Triple-can patties, rooster rice, frozen green peas
Long version: I have a few cans of the commodities salmon left, as well as several cans of commodities chicken. I combined one of each with a can of tuna--along with mayonnaise, mustard, eggs, bread crumbs, dill, salt, and pepper--to make patties. They tasted just like tuna patties, so I guess I'll keep doing that to use up the commodities stuff.
Wednesday
Short version: Chicken fried rice, pineapple and peaches
Long version: This fried rice kind of just happened last minute when I went into the kitchen to make dinner after work. I had a bunch of leftover rice, so I added a can of the commodities chicken--they're big cans, so that was about half a pound--frozen onion, frozen peas, the rest of the carrot sticks that I nuked for about a minute to mostly cook and then diced, garlic powder, soy sauce, vinegar, and eggs.
I had a can of pineapple in the refrigerator, along with two store-bought cans of peaches, that I had in there for breakfast. There was quite a lot left, though, so everyone got to choose one or the other for their dessert.
As you can see, between the canned meats and the canned fruit, we were all about the canned things this week.
Thursday
Short version: Chimichangas! Margaritas!
Long version: Last day of school! A. and I had some celebratory margaritas with the remainder of the Cinco de Mayo supplies.
Fri- lost in the mist of time.
ReplyDeleteSat- homemade pizza with pepperoni or sausage, salad for husband.
Sun- - cooler day, so chicken and gravy over noodles, broccoli, peas, carrots, homemade oatmeal bread.
Mon- tacos
Tues- hamburgers, chicken patties, hot dogs , apple slices, salad for husband. Banana bread made by 14 yr old ( counting as homeschool science - kitchen chemistry ! Homeschooling getting a little frayed with 1 week to go.)
Wed- pancakes and bacon, salad.
Thurs- leftover hamburgers, grilled cheese, chips , apple slices, pineapple.
Warmer weather means I'll be throwing meat on the grill and hoping we have potatoes in the house.
I'm glad your inner 10 year old gets indulged! I still have the palate of a 5 yr old, so I can't cast stones. I've got a sweet tooth and don't like most fruits, so at least your preferences are healthy!
What type of consistency is the canned pork? Is it chunks or more like a tenderloin?
DeleteMy eating is beyond random, but I had red beans with polenta one night, two nights I had leftover polenta with spaghetti sauce and cheese, one night I had baked chicken legs (I bought a 10 lb bag to make soup and some dinners). Wednesday I sauted mushrooms, threw in a can of yellowfin tuna in olive oil, and mixed in rice. I suppose it would have been better with some onion, but I truly enjoy the yellowfin tuna with rice alone, so the mushroom themselves were a treat. I use the oil from the tuna as well-- no point in throwing away olive oil. Last night sandwiches prior to the community college graduation. Mil
ReplyDeleteHello, this week we ate:
ReplyDeleteSunday - Went for a drive and wound up eating out.
Monday - Chicken Ceaser pasta salad over greens, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, bread
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wendsday - Ham sandwiches, roasted potatoes, strawberries
Thursday - Had some leftover ham so husband made an omelette to share, my contribution to our meal was toast and sliced fruit to go with
Friday - I cleaned out the fridge and gathered up the random things that need to be used up...mainly produce but I also have a chunk of mozzarella and a peice of leftover chicken from earlier this week...so...with the leftover french bread in the cupboard I'll make chicken pizza bread and we'll have salad to go with.
Saturday and Sunday - I'm thinking we'll fire up the bbq....cook once, eat for days. My kind of cooking.
Happy weekend everyone.
mbmom11: It's in chunks, but they're very shreddy from the canning process. I find it best to fry it to drive out the moisture, otherwise it's kind of wet and unappealing.
ReplyDeleteMonday - calabacitas (zucchini from the garden with corn, cheese, and onion), pork chops cooked with onion and Rotel.
ReplyDeleteTuesday - A very strange pork pie recipe (supposed to be French Canadian...we have a ton of pork, I'm trying to use it up), chopped salad made with cucumber and tomato
Wednesday- Roast chicken, and two sorta-pizza things. One cheese and cherry tomato, the other zucchini.
Thursday - used leftover pork, beans, and rice to make stuff for tacos. Made tortillas to go with it (from a mix).
Friday - greens soup, cornbread.
Friday-turkey loaf, baked potatoes, peas
ReplyDeleteSaturday-leftover turkey loaf in a tortilla, lettuce and tomatoes
Sunday-curried lentils, sourdough bread
Monday-salmon loaf, baked potatoes, coleslaw
Tuesday-Swiss steak, rice, broccoli
Wednesday-scrambled eggs, oven fried potatoes, roasted carrots
Thursday-off on the first camping trip of the season with two 8s, a 5, and a 3. Bologna and cheese rolled up in a tortilla and fried, potato chips, carrot and celery sticks, grapes, and of course marshmallows.