Friday Food: Bull and Sheep

Friday 

Short version: Pork tacos with homemade corn tortillas

Long version: This was the night of the school play. The kids were all there rehearsing and getting ready all afternoon, and they're fed dinner at school. So I just had A. and I and my parents to feed. This meant I could make corn tortillas without standing over the blazing hot griddle pan for an hour.

So I did.

After I made the tortillas, I fried the leftover pork on there with cumin and chile powder, and then put out all the toppings we had--onion, jalapenos, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese. 

And then when we got home from the play at 8 p.m., all the children were starving and had leftover spaghetti before bed. I have learned to have food on hand for them after the play, because they always seem to be hungry when they get home. Performing burns a lot of calories, I guess.

Saturday

Short version: Sorta beef stroganoff, mashed potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette, chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream

Long version: I don't think I've ever made a proper beef stroganoff, but this had beef (sirloin steak strips), mushrooms, and sour cream in it, so I called it close enough. It also used up the last of the pork liquid from cooking the picnic roast, which is always a flavorful addition,

The chocolate cake was one my mom bought at the silent auction bake sale we always have at school before the play. It was chocolate cake with white frosting, and it was pretty good. We already had the ice cream.

I spent most of the morning making and canning roasted tomato puree and applesauce. 

Round and round and round it goes, when it stops . . . applesauce!

Sunday

Short version: Sheep loaf, roasted potatoes, green peas, peanut butter cookies

Long version: Oops. When I originally posted this, I forgot to even write a long version. Here we go, a little late!

I made meatloaf with a bag of the ground sheep, which I flavored with some of the pureed roasted tomatoes I had in the refrigerator, zaatar, onion, etc. It was pretty good, but you could definitely tell it was not beef.

Monday

Short version: Lotta leftovers, bread and butter, raw cabbage

Long version: Two kids had the last of the sheep spaghetti, one had a hot dog leftover from the hot dog cookout the school did for families before the play, one had a hot dog and some sheep loaf, A. had sheep loaf and mashed potatoes, and I had a salad.

And then everyone looked at what his or her sibling had and asked why they couldn't have that. Because that's usually what happens on a day of apportioned leftovers. But they all ate what they had, because that is also what usually happens on a day of apportioned leftovers.

Tuesday

Short version: Chicken curry, rice

Long version: In my continuing efforts for Make-Ahead Tuesdays, I poached three giant chicken breasts, pulled off the meat from about half of it, and used that to make a curry. It also had onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and potatoes in it. Forgot the peas. Oh, and also some sour cream, because I think all curry is better with dairy. 

Actually, I think almost all foods are better with dairy. 

I actually used the curry powder leftover from dying Easter eggs to flavor it. This has been sitting in a jar in the back of the refrigerator since Easter, and it was fine. I should have used all of it, though, because the curry was a bit bland. Oh well. Still tasty enough.

Wednesday

Short version: Bull and sheep chili, sourdough rolls, cantaloupe

Long version: I made the chili the day before with about two pounds of ground bull meat, one pound of ground sheep,a jar of pressure-canned beans, the rest of the tomato puree that didn't fit in the canner, onion, garlic, and spices. I left it right in the pot and just heated it up when I got home from work.

This is 25 pounds of sheep meat, in case you were curious about what that looks like.

The rolls I had made when I last baked bread, which was the previous Friday. They were a bit hard, but fine for dunking in chili.

We got four cantaloupes from the lady who delivers the commodities food. I cut up two of them for dessert. They were very sweet, but still not soft enough. They were still eaten, however.

Thursday

Short version: Chicken fried rice

Long version: I was subbing for our school secretary, so I was planning on leftovers. Then I got home and saw the container of plain chicken I had pulled off those chicken breasts I poached on Tuesday. There was also still rice left, so I used those with onions from the freezer, frozen peas, eggs, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic powder, and ginger to make the fried rice.

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

Growing Food: Finally Harvesting

Look what I pulled out of the garden today!

One calabacita, four Stupice tomatoes, two Roma tomatoes (including a green one that fell off when I was checking the vines), and exactly six and a half green beans.

Of course, this is what I'm supposed to be harvesting in early July, not late September. But this year, I take what I can get. And I can get a skillet of vegetables for a side dish today. Hooray.

 

Snapshots: Must Be Fall

The First Day of Fall was all over the place online yesterday. For many people, that seems to mean pumpkin spice, fall decor, and cozy blankets. For me, it means an excess of tomatoes and apples.

And there they are, right on cue!

Of course, this year, neither of those are from my own property. My parents brought me the tomatoes, which I think they bought in bulk at Whole Foods. The apples came from a lady down the hill who brought us apples last year. She's a friend of our neighbor Miss Amelia's daughter, so I don't even really know her at all, but I sure do appreciate the apples from her trees.

I had a helper to make applesauce, of course:

No child can resist a Foley food mill.

After a couple of rounds of roasting and pureeing for the tomatoes, I was left with this:

Full jars always make me happy.

Let's see what else I have . . .

Sunflowers and the rising sun.

Sunflowers reflecting the rising sun.

And sunflowers on my table. Along with two computers, because I was teaching online when I was home sick on Monday, which requires one computer for my Zoom meeting and one so I can navigate around the texts we're discussing.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.