Friday Food: Done with School!

Friday 

Short version: Sloppy joes, raw radishes, yogurt with maple syrup

Long version: Thanks to state requirements increasing the number of instructional hours in our school year, we had to add a couple of Fridays to the school calendar. This was one of them. I had a small jar of barbecue sauce in the refrigerator, so I made sure to thaw some ground beef and then used the sauce and some frozen diced onions to make sloppy joes.

Those who were still hungry after their sandwich had the yogurt.

Saturday

Short version: Chili

Long version: I made this mostly to use up some lamb stock and canned beans that had been hanging around. It made for a good meal to feed those of us at home, and the two hunters when they came back pretty late from bird hunting.

Sunday

Short version: Birthday lamb steaks, quail, dove, fresh bread and butter, green salad with ranch dressing, pumpkin custard with whipped cream

Long version: The previous day's hunt yielded two quail and two doves. The children gutted and plucked these, and then I just roasted them whole. Both are very small. The quail is all white meat, like chicken. Dove is a very dark meat, like a goose.

This was A.'s birthday. He always likes lamb, so I pan fried some steaks from the back leg and then made a sauce with red wine and butter. I used that sauce on the game birds, too.

It was quite a meal.

Pumpkin custard is just pumpkin pie without the crust. I overbaked it. Boo.

Monday

Short version: Rotisserie chicken, fried chicken, rice, salad with vinaigrette

Long version: My parents arrived for a short visit just after we got out of school. They had stopped at the store before coming and bought two rotisserie chickens and some fried chicken. They got the fried chicken because for the eight of us, we really needed three rotisserie chickens, but there were only two at the store.

Most of the kids chose to have some of the fried chicken, so that was a nice option for them.

Tuesday

Short version: FFA food

Long version: This was the night of the big FFA fundraiser, which is a dinner and an auction. The FFA kids prepare the meal. It was ham, rice, green beans, salad, rolls, and a sopapilla cheesecake.

And then we had the auction. It raised a ton of money for the FFA, which was the point, but man, auctions are so not my scene. So loud.

I spent most of the day baking--mostly for the auction, but also for the next day's birthday and some gifts.

Gingerbread, sourdough bread, chocolate chip cookies, crispy rice treats, pecan pie. This is just the stuff I wrapped up for the auction. There was plenty more left for us.

Wednesday

Short version: Birthday shrimp, chicken, pureed potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette, pecan pie with vanilla ice cream

Long version: Three members of our family have birthdays in the second half of December. This was the youngest son's tenth birthday. He requested the shrimp and potatoes. Some of the family doesn't much care for shrimp, so I also made some chicken and gravy with the chicken I had pulled off bones after simmering the rotisserie chicken carcasses.

I used this recipe for pecan pie again--once again using maple syrup in place of the golden syrup--and it came out much better this time. I think because I chopped the pecans. Or maybe I baked it longer. In any case, it got many rave reviews.

Thursday

Short version: Refried bean quesadillas, still-frozen green beans, leftover bread pudding

Long version: I was at a basketball game until about 5:30 p.m., so when I came home with the basketball player, I just made some quesadillas with flour tortillas, cheese, and canned refried beans. The kids had been eating all day at school, what with making gingerbread houses in the morning, lunch, and then the holiday parties after that. They did not need an elaborate meal. And I didn't want to make one. So that worked out.

I did let them have the last of the bread pudding from the birthday boy's requested breakfast. Not that anyone needed anything with more sugar, but oh well. 

'Tis the season for sugar everywhere.

Refrigerator check:

Might need a grocery run before Christmas.

And now we are on Christmas break until January 6. Alleluia, everyone can SLEEP IN.

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