Friday Food: Turkey and Tortillas

Friday 

Short version: Leftovers in casserole form

Long version: I don't know if it's because we only got an 18-pound turkey this year instead of 22 pounds ("only," ha), or if everyone just ate more of it, or if it's because we had a guest and I sent leftovers home with him, but we really didn't have a ton of leftovers from Thanksgiving this year.

There were a few cups of dressing, about a cup of mashed potatoes, and some turkey, plus gravy, which I unceremoniously mixed all together with some frozen peas in the casserole dish the dressing was in and baked. That was dinner.

It tasted good, but half the family apparently does not like dressing soft. I don't like it mushy and tend to make it on the crispier side, so they've had no experience with wetter dressing, and they did not like it. Good to know.

There was also a selection of leftover desserts, although since everyone had pie for breakfast, the servings were pretty small. 

This was also the day I put away the Thanksgiving decorations.

So long, Sight-word Turkey. See you next year.

Saturday

Short version: Elk burgers, oven fries, green salad with vinaigrette, maple snow

Long version: The elk burgers were very well-received. I guess we need to grind more of the elk.

The children collected clean snow in the morning specifically so they could eat it with maple syrup, like Laura does in Little House in the Big Woods, which is our current book for reading aloud at bedtime. Some wanted just the syrup on their snow, some opted to have heavy cream on there, too. All were happy.

Sunday

Short version: Bull and elk chili, crackers, peanut butter cookies

Long version: I wanted to make cornbread to go with the chili, but I didn't have any yogurt. I use yogurt in place of the large quantity of buttermilk in my cornbread recipe, so . . . crackers instead.

And these peanut butter cookies, with chopped almonds added in.

Monday

Short version: Rice+leftovers skillet meal, carrot sticks

Long version: I used a container of turkey and turkey broth that I had meant to put in the freezer to make dinner this night after work. All I did was dump that in a skillet, add rice, and salsa, spices, simmer until the rice was soft, then stir in some grated cheddar cheese.

Tuesday

Short version: Chorizo+egg burritos, grapes

Long version: Unexpected work day thanks to subbing. I took out a bag of elk chorizo to thaw before I left for work. When I got home, I fried the chorizo, scrambled some eggs in the pan with it, and stirred in shredded cheese. Then I went for a run.

When I got home, I found everyone eating burritos with the chorizo and egg mixture in flour tortillas, which was my plan all along. Nice when things work out like that.

The grapes came from the commodities lady. She gave us three bags of red grapes, and miraculously, they were crisp and tasty. The grapes that make it to us out here in the hinterlands tend to be in the soft and wrinkling stage, so it was nice to get some that were in good shape. Also nice because I didn't make a vegetable for this meal.

Let's have a photo here, slightly related to food:

Can you spot the horse in this photo? This is what I see on my laps past our house on my runs: Cora staring at me, willing me with the power of her mind to give her hay.

Wednesday

Short version: Re-combined leftovers

Long version: I got home around 5:30 p.m. with the first communicant to find that eldest son had prepared dinner for his sister and dad using the leftover rice skillet meal. He added some other things to it and served it with corn tortillas. So that's what the kid who came home with me had, too. A. filled in his meal with some canned beef stew from commodities. 

To the rest of the rice mixture, I added the bit of leftover chorizo and eggs, and put that in tortillas for the other two boys.

For myself, I used the last container of turkey and broth to make a soup that also included leftover roasted carrots and onion, leftover mushrooms, and frozen peas. A surprisingly good soup. Good thing I never did get around to freezing all those containers of turkey and broth.

Thursday

Short version: Various things

Long version: I was at our school's annual holiday craft party with the younger two. We ate the finger foods and snacks there. I must confess to a particular liking for taquitos.

At home, A. made bean and cheese tacos. He fries the tortillas for these, which is something I never do, so it's a fun version of my boring ones. 

And that's the third night in a row that featured tortillas of some kind for dinner.

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