Friday Food: Ice Cream Tower

Friday 

Short version: Chicken drumsticks, leftover rice, carrot sticks, watermelon

Long version: I mostly made the drumsticks because I had the oven on anyway to bake bread, so I thought I might as well put the chicken in there, too.

A. had seen a method of butterflying chicken drumsticks that he thought might help to make them better, since neither one of us particularly likes the drumsticks.

I hate dealing with raw chicken, but I did try it. It was a pain, and I probably wouldn't bother with it again. Though it did make them cook faster. And there was more surface area for the spices I put on there.

I made an inadvertent food face in the morning:

Happy bacon.

Saturday

Short version: Barbecue meatballs, baked potatoes, cucumber and tomato salad, more watermelon

Long version: And then I had to bake bread AGAIN, because I over proofed the dough the day before and it made very dense loaves. BOO. Baking again when it's this hot is not my idea of fun, but it did give me the opportunity to bake the meatballs and potatoes. 

I only used a little bit of barbecue sauce on the meatballs, since I don't have very much left. I used some ketchup to stretch the sauce, which works pretty well.

Sunday

Short version: Pork Spanish rice, pork soup, salad, ice cream

Long version: I used a can of commodities ground pork for this meal. Originally I was going to make taco meat with it, beans, and corn. But then I found the lamb-y rice still in the refrigerator that really needed to be used, so I dumped the rice right in with the meat mixture, added shredded cheese, and made it into a skillet meal.

The soup was for the child who came down with a sore throat this day. I had the liquid left from cooking the pork butt the week previously, so I used that, some of the ground pork, some already cooked onion, and some of the rice to make the soup.

The salad was for me, because I wasn't very hungry. It was a tomato and cucumber salad with feta.

Customized food: It's what's for dinner.

We still have three kinds of ice cream to choose from.

A tower of Great Value.

Plus chocolate syrup and peanut butter cookie crumbles.

Monday

Short version: Leftovers, garlic bread, green salad with ranch dressing, plums, watermelon

Long version: I had eight chicken drumsticks left, and some meatballs. When I got home, I found the meatballs had all been eaten. Thankfully, I had also taken out a container of leftover chili from the freezer to thaw, just to make sure there would be enough food. The chili was enough for A., who had that and a couple of chicken drumsticks.

I had one of the drumsticks in my salad. Only two children were eating--I can't believe we only made it to the second week of school before pestilence struck the house--and they had the other drumsticks.

I had made the garlic bread when I was baking bread on Saturday and purposely saved it for this meal.

The plums had been in the refrigerator almost too long. They're not something I typically buy, but a child at the store with me had asked for them. And then I forgot about them. There were three left, which was perfect for the two children eating and A.

Tuesday

Short version: Bunless cheeseburgers, boiled potatoes, tomato/cucumber/feta salad

Long version: I went to Walmart this day. I had to buy meat.

Sad day.

We're getting very low on meat in our chest freezer. A. has a lot of hunts lined up for the boys, but they're all still a couple of months away. So I bought meat. I hate buying meat at the store. It's so expensive, and so not good quality.

However. We must eat. So I bought it.

One of the things I bought was ground beef, with which I made the cheeseburgers. And which lost like 25% of their mass in the pan in the form of fat and added liquid, I suppose. Such a bummer.

The cheeseburgers were pretty good, though.

So was the salad.

I spy pickled onions.

There is actually a cheese factory in one of the towns we go to somewhat frequently. Sadly, the factory itself no longer sells to the public, but the grocery store there carries their cheese. For some reason, they rarely have the feta in stock. However, the last time I was there, the feta was in stock, so I bought five packages. I'm not sorry about it, either.

Wednesday

Short version: Beef and bean burritos, carrot sticks with ranch dressing, peanut butter cookies

Long version: I purposely saved some of the ground beef to make burrito filling this night. I accomplished that by simply adding a can of pinto beans, salsa, and spices to the browned meat.

The burritos themselves were just flour tortillas microwaved with cheese, and then the meat and beans put in them before rolling. Sometimes I put out all the toppings. But not on a work day.

Thursday

Short version: Sandwiches, chips, cucumbers with ranch dressing, cottage cheese and peaches

Long version: This was the last day in a string of days that had temperatures in the mid-90s. I am very tired of sweating, so I gave myself a break and made sandwiches with the ham and salami I had on hand. 

The peaches were canned, but I think soon we should be getting lots of peaches from Nick. I hope so, anyway.

Refrigerator check:

Those big bowls on the bottom both contain roasted green chiles. More to come on those later.

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