Friday
Short version: No-meat fried rice
Long version: All day I had thought I would make breakfast burritos for dinner, and then I went into the kitchen to actually make dinner and saw the leftover rice while I was taking out the eggs.
So I used the rice, the eggs, some already-cooked onion from the freezer, and frozen peas to make fried rice, instead.
This is what it's like to cook without a meal plan. You just never know what I'm going to do.
Saturday
Short version: Lamb 'n' bean burritos, broccoli salad
Long version: I used the random bits and pieces from our sheep butchering to make a burrito filling. All I did was simmer the meat pieces with a couple of onion ends (I keep these in the freezer after I cut up an onion for stock and so on) until it was tender. Then I broke it up with my immersion blender. To the blended meat, I added sauteed onions and garlic, tomato sauce, cumin, chile powder, paprika, and both pinto and black beans.
The kids ate their with flour tortillas. A. ate his with corn tortillas. I didn't eat anything, instead making the broccoli salad my dinner.
I don't think I have ever made a broccoli salad before. My original plan for dinner had been to use the meat for something like sloppy joes (there I go being unpredictable again), and I had thought I would want something like coleslaw to go with them. I didn't have any cabbage, but I did have broccoli. Hence, broccoli slaw.
But then, when I was looking at recipe for broccoli slaw, I came across several broccoli salad recipes that called for bacon. And I had bacon leftover from breakfast.
See how it all worked out?
I used the broccoli (chopped quite small, because I don't like big, chewy broccoli chunks), finely diced onion, diced bacon, and raisins in it. For the dressing, I pretty much made the same dressing I make for coleslaw, except without any celery seed in it.
It was really good. A couple of children tried it, but I pretty much ate it all myself. Which is how I thought it would end up.
Sunday
Short version: Roasted rooster with potatoes and carrots, giblet gravy, green salad with vinaigrette, chocolate ice cream
Long version: The rooster was one we got from our neighbor. A. prepared it all the way from killing to cooking. He roasted it on a bed of potatoes, carrots, onions, green garlic, and parsley, with butter and garlic under the skin.
Thursday
Short version: Elk steaks, boiled potatoes, green peas, rotisserie chicken on the road
Long version: This day ended up being crazy busy, with a lot of driving* for me. I left at 10 a.m. and didn't get home until after 8 p.m.
My sister also arrived for a visit this day, of course while I was gone. When she actually got here, I was at a track meet with one child and A. was driving the school bus. To ensure there would be an proper meal for our guest (and everyone else), rather than just quesadillas, I made most of this meal in the morning before I left.
I actually mostly made it at 5 a.m., which is when I peeled, chunked, and boiled the potatoes, steamed the peas, and put the steaks in a marinade. Then, when A. got home after 5 p.m., all he had to do was fry the steaks and re-heat the sides.
Not that my sister would really care if she were presented with a quesadilla, but steaks are better. A. made a sauce for them with cream and red wine, so they were very well-received.
I had bought a rotisserie chicken on my way out of Walmart. I ate some of that for my lunch in the car as I was driving to the track meet. And then the trackster ate most of the rest of it on our way from the track meet to Holy Thursday Mass.
Refrigerator check!
* We have to drive a lot to get anywhere, but this day I had to go several wheres, so it was a total of almost 300 miles.