Friday, September 13, 2024

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?

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for the encouraging comments about my son and school. The school has requested a meeting for Monday to amend his IEP which means they will also be pushing for me to medicate him for ADHD. I am struggling to keep weight on him as it is so medication is a last resort as a common side effect is loss of appetite.

    Friday: We got dinner while at the local amusement park…chicken, broccoli salad, corn muffin
    Saturday—pizza and salad which we ate at the lake with my dad
    Sunday—Crispy honey chicken with rice
    Monday—pork chops and broccoli
    Tuesday—spaghetti
    Wednesday—salmon and sweet and sour cabbage
    Thursday—was planning on leftovers but forgot I signed up to take someone a meal. So I ended up making two breakfast casseroles. FYI pancreatic surgery to remove cancerous tumor can be a rough recovery. My sweet friend is having a rough time.
    Friday—Tonight I am planning to do leftovers 😉

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    Replies
    1. I hope you and the school can come up with ways to help your son that truly do help. Good luck.

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    2. Hi Andra,
      I had resisted putting my son on medication for a while, because he had times where he was fine. However, I will say meds made it possible for him to go back to school and actually pass classes and focus on the work. It's not a magic solution, as my son still struggles with some things, but it makes a big difference in how he gets by. (My son is in high school when this all came to a head, after years of struggle. I wish I had put him on meds earlier.) However, I hope you and his teachers can find some good tactics to help him succeed, whether medication or not.

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    3. MBMom11: Thank you for the input! I do plan try medication but want to wait until he is closer to 7. His doctor said that since he is making progress academically she recommends a behavior therapy evaluation.

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    4. Thank you for your graciousness, Andra. Between my son and my daughter who has an IEP who has massive issues this year, I'm too quick to look for a magic bullet. Hope you can help your son be his best self at school.

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  2. Fri - who knows?
    Sat - one son gone all day for band, and I had no interest in food. So grilled cheese. Husband had salad.
    Sun- leftover pork roast from the freezer, homemade oatmeal bread, broccoli,mashed potatoes.
    Mon - grilled chicken, leftover broccoli, leftover rice, bread, ramen.
    Tues - tacos due to a total lack of imagination.
    Wed - It's hot again! grilled chicken ,chips, apple slices . Husband added a salad.
    Thurs- band practice shifted, andI was tired, so grilled cheese.
    A low vegetable week. Maybe next week it'll be cooler.
    Enjoy the weekend!

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  3. Just going to tell you that Wmart rotiss chickens are 4.98 here. Southern Indiana almost on Ohio River.
    Good luck everyone on their children...hope there is something that helps them all.

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  4. Friday-chili from the freezer, cheese biscuits. I'm determined to clean out the freezer.
    Saturday-chicken pot pie, corn on the cob, vanilla wafer pudding
    Sunday-barbecued pork (freezer), potato salad, corn
    Monday-more chili, more biscuits
    Tuesday-leftover chicken pie, corn
    Wednesday-blts without the lettuce because I didn't have any, more corn
    Thursday-bacon and eggs, potatoes, yes more corn. It's really good this year.

    We have had ADHD problems here too. Good luck, you'll get through it!

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