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?