We left last Friday for a judo tournament in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Las Cruces is more than halfway on the way to Tucson, so we combined this with our annual visit to Arizona to see family.
Friday
Short version: Fast food
Long version: We wanted to go to a recommended Mexican restaurant that happened to be near our hotel in Las Cruces, but by the time we got done with the weigh-in for the tournament, it was after 6 p.m. And it was a very popular restaurant in a very trendy area on a Friday night. There were crowds of people waiting outside. We couldn't even get into the parking lot.
It was too late and we had too many hungry and tired children to wait around, so we abandoned that plan and got hamburgers and french fries at a Blake's Lotaburger near our hotel. This is a New Mexico chain. It's a step up from McDonald's, at least, and worked for our purposes at the time.
Saturday
Short version: Pork loin, mashed potatoes, green salad with ranch dressing, pecan cookies
Long version: First, we had a judo tournament in the morning.
We didn't leave the tournament until after noon, so we didn't get to my parents' house in Tucson until just about dinnertime.
My mom made this meal. It was much appreciated after a couple of days of road food.
Sunday
Short version: Mexican food
Long version: There is an outpost of a famous Tucson Mexican restaurant (El Charro, if you care) near my parents' house, so we got takeout from there this night to make up for our failure in Las Cruces. Tamales and chicken tacos and enchiladas, and flautas . . . something for everyone.
I did the ordering on my cell phone, which was really weird. It's always disorienting when we enter mainstream American life for a short time. So much of it just isn't part of our everyday life that things like cell phones require conscious effort on our part.
Monday
Short version: Spaghetti and meatballs, green salad with ranch dressing
Long version: My mom made the meatballs the day before and I made the tomato sauce for them in the morning, because we were at my brother's house in Phoenix all day, swimming with cousins. Making most of it ahead made it very quick to get dinner on the table when we got back to my parents' in Tucson around 5 p.m. with some very hungry children.
Tuesday
Short version: Fish feast, leftovers, more salad
Long version: My mother always makes sure to have one day of fish when we're there, for the fish lovers in my family. She had shrimp, mahi mahi, halibut, and salmon. And then there was leftover spaghetti and sauce and mashed potatoes, too.
Wednesday
Short version: Leftover pork loin, rice, green salad with vinaigrette, frozen peas
Long version: We left my parents' house in Tucson at 4:45 a.m. and arrived home at 5:30 p.m. While I unloaded the car, I made some rice.
The pork loin was the other half of the big one my mom had made. She didn't want it, so she froze it and we brought it home in our cooler. It was mostly thawed, so I just sliced it and heated it in a skillet with bacon grease. I also threw the peas in there to cook.
Thursday
Short version: Lamb chops, leftover rice, green salad with honey-mustard vinaigrette
Long version: We had one ewe this year who didn't have any lambs. It sounds harsh, but any ewe that isn't having lambs is just a money dump in the form of hay, so A. decided to, um, cull her. We typically butcher sheep ourselves, but when we butcher, we just bone the meat out, resulting in lots of steaks, roasts, and stew meat.
This time we brought it to the butcher so we could get chops and things we don't have to equipment to make. A. had to pick it up Thursday morning--he really didn't relish another four hours in the car after just returning from our interstate travel--so we tried it out this night.
I fried eight rib chops in bacon grease, with nothing but salt and pepper on them.
I should have made a couple more, because all the boys wanted seconds and thirds.
I had salad with some leftover pork in it so everyone else could have the lamb, but I did try a small piece of it, and it was very good. Not strong-tasting at all. A. was delighted.
I made my usual mustard vinaigrette with the addition of some honey to balance out the slight bitterness the lettuce developed during the heat wave we had while we were gone. It wasn't inedibly bitter, but there was a little more bitterness there than is typical, so I thought a sweeter dressing would help. It did.
Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?
Fri- I thought it had been a few weeks since ordering pizza, and I was tired, so I used used some gift cards for Domino's. Then I checked last week's post and realized we had just had pizza 6 days before. I'm more tired than I thought. However no one complained.
ReplyDeleteSat- tacos
Sun- actual rain day that stayed cool, so I used up stew meat and made homemade bread. Broccoli, carrots, mashed potatoes, and one more cherry pie. I picked the cherries Saturday while my husband had boys out on a bike ride. My neighbor is more patient than me- she can get gallons of cherries for the freezer and I can barely do 5 cups.
Mon- chicken strips , fries, broccoli.
Tues- hamburgers, apple slices, chips, hot dogs
Wed- I was very tired ( sensing a theme here!) So leftover stew for husband, leftover pizza for kids and me, and picky child made a chicken patty and bagel.
Thur- I needed to cook some chicken breast, but as it was a cool day , with some torrential rain , thunder, and a tornado warning, my husband wanted pasta. So pasta and red sauce, leftover broccoli, pineapple, and the chicken grilled . No garlic bread or sausage, but the kids ate it.
I hope you have a lovely weekend at home!
Friday-zucchini and pasta with feta cheese, tapioca pudding
ReplyDeleteSaturday-leftover barbecued beef, fresh bread, salad
Sunday-camping. The usual first night meal: bologna and cheese rolled in a tortilla and heated in the frying pan, salad from home, s'mores
Monday-hamburgers, potato chips, salad, s'mores
Tuesday-hot dogs, potato chips, broccoli, s'mores (sensing a theme here? like maybe lowest common denominator?)
Wednesday-grilled cheese sandwiches, potato chips, cherry tomatoes, marshmallows (the chocolate bars were gone)
Thursday-home, meat pies, coleslaw
Lowest common denominator is a fully acceptable theme when camping! (Or when tired, or in busy weeks...) Everyone gets fed with minimum fuss. It's a win!
Delete- Fish, rice, Brussel sprouts/air fried zucchini
ReplyDelete- Umm out to eat. Finally had a day of no rain. We hit up the neighborhood pool and then my dad texted when he was done with his five mile hike with his hiking club. He suggested going out on his boat and then out to eat. So, we headed out to meet him and we went out in his boat. Well, the adults were in the boat. The kids wanted to go tubing. We all went out to eat at an Asian bistro before heading home.
- The kids had hot dogs, cucumbers, and fruit. My husband was flying. I had cereal.
- Meatloaf, noodles with bread crumb topping, greenbeans
- Leftovers
- My husband was flying. Sandwhich for me, daughter at a birthday party so she had pizza and cupcakes and my son had chicken nuggets, fruit, crackers, and a lot more.
-Game Night at a friend’s house so I heated up potstickers and cut up watermelon before we left.
-And now I had to redeem myself from last night. So, I made ribs in the instant pot, cornbread, corn on the cob, baked beans, more of the cut up watermelon, and I cut up some raw zucchini
And Kristin, it sounds like you all had a great time visiting family.
ReplyDeleteAnd braver than me. I am not eager to visit Tucson, AZ in the summer. But, my family members do not have swimming pools. ;) I’m hoping we can go visit family in November or December!
We got a whole lamb (18 kg) from the neighbour farmer this spring, and boy was it complicated to butcher without the proper tools! I feel you.
ReplyDeleteMy theme of the week is cooking other people's leftovers:
Saturday babysitting my nieces with my mum, my mum planned sushi, which I made with the 4 year old (!)
Sunday was garden party at friend's I made shrimp-zucchini/salmon skewers with leftovers from the sushi night before and a salad cobbled from my brother's fridge leftovers. I went home with a big pack of thawed fennel italian sausage
Monday pasta salad with the sausage and roasted summer squash, green salad
Tuesday baked meatballs from the sausage filling, stir-fried pak choi, kimchi, radish/ginger pickles and rice
Wedneday sushi with the leftover rice and leftover wakame salad from my mum
Thursday ciabatta bread with various toppings, mozzarella, snap peas with mint, ewe cheese, tomato & cherry salsa and grilled zucchini
Friday grilled chicken marinated in maroccan spiced with sauteed potatoes and tzatziki
Tonight we're heading to Lake Geneva for friends birthdays
Have a great weekend home
Claire
My husband was trying to be helpful and erased the meal plan...so in no particular order:
ReplyDelete-beef stew from a freezer chuck roast, turnips that have been languishing in the fridge since spring,carrots, onion, tomato paste, broth, and wine.
-grilled chicken marinated in fat free Italian dressing, which my husband swears works better than the normal kind.
- homemade pizza, topped with boiled egg, basil, tomato, bell pepper, and sliced garlic
- beef tips and rice
- from the freezer smoked pork with beans and tortillas (not homemade)