Friday Food: Someone Turns Seven Today

This little seamstress here. Happy birthday to Poppy.

Friday 

Short version: Chicken Spanish rice

Long version: I made this skillet meal with leftover rice and left it at home for A. to feed the boys before he brought them to the football game. I was already at the volleyball game with the cheerleader all afternoon. She had a hot dog from the concession stand for dinner.

I ate a salad before I left, and then beef jerky and pistachios during the football game.

It did not pour rain during the game this time, but I was still very grateful that the mercy rule took effect for us at halftime (if one team is more than 50 points ahead at halftime, the game is over) so we could go home. Football takes foreeeeever, and 8 p.m. was quite late enough for me, thank you.

Saturday

Short version: Spaghetti and meatballs, individual garlic bread

Long version: I had some roasted tomato sauce in the refrigerator I had made earlier in the week, so pasta seemed like a good option. Poppy wanted to help me make the meatballs, which is why they ended up being much smaller than the ones I made myself.

Wee meatballs.

A. was hunting and camping with the two younger boys, so I let the two children at home make their own garlic bread. They get to choose what spices they want in it and knead those in. Always fun.

You may notice there were no vegetables on that plate. I counted the tomatoes. 

Sunday

Short version: Lamb ribs, baked potatoes, baked beans, tomato/cucumber/feta salad, cookies, rice pudding

Long version: We have several bags of lamb ribs in the freezer that have been there for almost a year for the very good reason that I really dislike cooking them--so fatty and awkward to fit in a pan, to say nothing of trying to cut them apart--and also don't want to eat them.

The boys all like them, though, so I cooked some. I just covered them in foil and baked them for a long time. That's why I also made the baked potatoes and the rice pudding. I hadn't been planning on serving the rice pudding, but then the hunters came home and were very hungry even after eating dinner and cookies, so they had the rice pudding, too.

Monday

Short version: Pork chunks in milk gravy, last of the baked beans, garlic bread, cucumbers

Long version: Yes, I am making these pork chunks a lot. They're fast to cook, which is much appreciated after work.

Tuesday

Short version: Chicken fajitas, pinto beans

Long version: I have only one pepper plant in the garden, but it has been producing quite a few peppers. They look like hot peppers, but they have no heat to them and are pretty much just bell peppers. So I used those, onion, and three big chicken breasts to make fajitas. I even marinated the chicken. 

I was very proud of my forethought, yes. And they were very good fajitas. I did not, however, cook the vegetables and chicken together.

Because I have four children, that's why, and two of them didn't want the peppers and onions.

Wednesday

Short version: Bacon cheeseburger casserole, frozen peas, marshmallows with chocolate sauce

Long version: I made the casserole while I was in the kitchen the day before. I dislike doing this the day of, because I feel like I spend way too much time in the kitchen preparing two full meals. But I really like it the day we eat it, when all I have to do is stick it in the oven.

I mostly made this casserole because A. brought home a bunch of the boiled potatoes I had sent camping with him. So I used those--plus a few extra I microwaved--ground beef, onions, ketchup, mustard, a few diced dill pickles, the last of the American cheese A. had bought, some grated cheddar cheese, and the remnants of a couple of cups of milk unfinished by children.

It ended up being very good.

Not very pretty, though.

I gave the children a marshmallow each, dipped in the chocolate syrup I make. The reason I did this is because one child was daunted by the amount of math homework he had to do, so I figured he could use some extra energy. And we were out of cookies.

Thursday

Short version: Pork, cornbread, tomato/cucumber/feta salad

Long version: This was a GIANT pork shoulder butt roast. It was so big I had to use my biggest Pyrex to get it in the oven, which I dislike because then I have to use aluminum foil to cover it. And then I have to throw the aluminum foil away.

I prefer using a dish with its own washable lid, is what I'm saying.

Anyway. This pork roast is not the kind with tons of fat that gets very tender, so even though I did cook it for a long time, I still ended up slicing it and then heating up the slices in the pan juices, enhanced with mustard and maple syrup.

My sister arrived for a visit this day. She brought many fun things from her local farmers market, including the lemon cucumbers and tomatoes I used in the salad.

Refrigerator check:

The Persian melon on the top shelf came from the farmers market, too.

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