Friday Food: So Much Store Meat

Friday 

Short version: Leftover soup, cheese, leftover chocolate pudding with cream

Long version: After a seriously choppy night of sleep for various reasons and then waking up for the day at 3 a.m., and THEN going to work for our annual Friday to make up for having Labor Day off . . . I was not in good shape by the time I got home from work.

Thankfully, I had enough of the brisket and rice soup I had made for a sick child left over for everyone to have that for dinner, so all I did was heat that up and slice some cheese to go along with it.

We also had lots of leftover chocolate pudding, which is much more exciting than leftover soup.

I then took to my bed, where I slept for an hour before getting up again. And I still had no trouble going to bed by 9 p.m. and sleeping until six the next morning.

Saturday

Short version: Lamb and chickpeas, rice, cucumber/tomato/feta salad

Long version: I used a bag of lamb shanks to make stock, and then pulled all the meat off the bones when they were tender. I used this meat, along with some of the stock, some pureed tomatoes from the garden, a can of chick peas, lots of garlic, onion, and some yogurt and lemon juice, to make a kind of very thick stew to put over the rice.

It was good. I like the mixture of lamb and chick peas. It's a good way to stretch the meat, sort of like adding pinto beans to taco meat. I still have four pounds of dried chick peas to use, and we have two ram lambs going into the freezer as soon as it gets cold, so you'll be seeing this combination a lot more in the coming months.

Sunday

Short version: Chicken, baked potatoes, leftover corn, cucumbers with salt and vinegar, brownie sundaes

Long version: These were chicken leg quarters that I separated into thighs and drumsticks, coated in a spice mixture, and baked in the oven along with the potatoes.

Or rather, attempted to bake in the oven. After about half an hour, I smelled propane, went to check on the oven, and found that it had barely heated up and was definitely not cooking anything.

I'd been having trouble with the oven igniter that A. had replaced for me awhile ago. He had adjusted it, but then this happened. I assume it's related, but I don't really know. All I know is my oven stopped working.

So I pulled everything out, finished the potatoes in the microwave, and sauteed the chicken in skillets.

Not-baked chicken.

Luckily, the brownies had been baked earlier in the day along with some cookies in what turned out to be the oven's last gasp. We had those with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Monday

Short version: Leftovers, cucumbers

Long version: There were leftover lamb and chickpeas, plus two pieces of chicken. I had baked extra potatoes, which I chopped up and fried--in fat rendered from the brisket last week--for the starch. There were also leftover brownies, which was fun.

Tuesday

Short version: Cheeseburgers on homemade buns, potato chips, corn on the cob, cucumbers, peaches and cream

Long version: I had some buns I had made when I overproofed my dough that came out quite flat and small. They were sort of like English muffins. So I just made the hamburger patties small to fit them. Kind of like sliders, I guess. They were good, in any case.

This was the day I had been in the city and bought corn from the trailer on the side of the road.

And all these peaches came from our tree. We've now gotten peaches from two neighbors, and our peaches are the best of the three we've had this year. Nice to have the best peaches ten feet from my door.

Wednesday

Short version: Pasta with chicken, hamburger patties, cucumbers

Long version: I had bought a rotisserie chicken at Walmart the day before. I do this pretty much every time I go to Walmart, because I'm always leaving the city after lunchtime for my long drive home. So I get a chicken, eat the drumsticks as I drive, and then I have the rest of the chicken for something else later in the week. Good deal for seven dollars.

What I did with it this time was shred one of the breasts and add it to cooked pasta shells with the last of the roasted tomato sauce I made awhile ago, and some Parmesan. The children had that.

I had enough ground beef left to make four more small hamburger patties. I had one bun left, which A. had, along with two more of the patties. One boy had a hamburger patty with his pasta.

Thursday

Short version: Pork and gravy, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, watermelon

Long version: Pork chunks from the whole loin I bought awhile ago, fried, then I added a diced shallot, milk, and cornstarch to make gravy.

Pork chunks, pre-gravy, and potato chunks, pre-mashing.

I also got a seeded watermelon from the produce trailer when I got the corn. The last hurrah for summer, I guess.

Refrigerator check:

Awkwardly full. More eating is in order.

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