Friday Food: Salvage Food

Friday 

Short version: Pizzas, green salad with ranch dressing

Long version: Since I had finally gotten to the store that sells the big blocks of asadero cheese, and I was baking bread this day so I had dough on hand, it seemed I was obligated to make pizza. So I did.

One pepperoni, one cheese.

Saturday

Short version: Beans, rice, and ham; carrot sticks; gingersnaps

Long version: A. was at the basketball game with, of course, the basketball player. One of the children home with me wasn't feeling well and didn't want to eat. I was planning on having a salad. So, since I was really only feeding two children, I didn't end up using all the meat I had defrosted.

Instead, I used the ham stock I had made earlier in the day, along with the ham I pulled off the bone, plus the pinto beans I had defrosted, to make dinner for those two children. All I did was saute a diced onion--and save half of the cooked onion for later--add in the ham, beans, and stock, then cook rice in that. When it was all done, I added a bunch of butter and some balsamic vinegar.

Oh, I also used a few frozen tomatoes in the beans. I have a gallon-sized bag of tomatoes from the summer garden that I just froze whole one time when I was too sick or something to roast, puree, and freeze them. I really like having them whole like that, though, because it's very easy to just take a few of them out, run them under warm water for a minute or let them soak, and then squish the insides out of the skins. If you have the space they take up, it's way easier than skinning them fresh and freezing the pulp in ice cube trays or whatever.

The two who got home from the basketball game at 7 p.m. were kind of hungry, so they ate some of the beans and rice. And the one who hadn't been feeling well started to feel better, and he ate some. So it ended up being dinner for everyone in the end.

Sunday

Short version: Pork in gravy, cheddar smoked sausage, hammy rice, green peas, chocolate pudding

Long version: This was the meat I had defrosted the day before. We had both pork and sausage because I wasn't sure the one quart bag of pork loin chunks would be enough for everyone. Also, I had bought this sausage at Walmart awhile ago and figured we should try it out to see if it was worth buying again.

Most people seemed to think it was. Except the one who doesn't much care for sausage. He had the pork. 

I cooked the rice in more of the ham stock. 

This chocolate pudding, except doubled because I had some milk on the verge that needed to be used. And also, my family will eat astonishing quantities of pudding.

Eating in progress.

Monday

Short version: Salvage skillet

Long version: When I was pulling the ham bone out for the stock and so forth a few days earlier, I had taken out a foil-wrapped package from the refrigerator freezer that I thought was a ham bone. It was not. It was a whole cooked meatloaf that I had no memory of freezing. Which meant it had been in there awhile.

It was very dry and slightly not-fresh tasting, but I was not about to throw all that meat away. So I salvaged it by chopping it up fine--no chore, as it was so dry it pretty much just fell apart--fried it in some freshly rendered beef tallow with taco spices, salsa, and some already cooked onion, and then added leftover rice, grated cheddar cheese, and sour cream. I also threw in the last cup or so of beans and rice and some frozen corn.

The corn was the vegetable component. Ahem.

It was not pretty, but it was pretty tasty.

Which more or less sums up my cooking.

Tuesday

Short version: Roasted chicken pieces, baked pasta, frozen peas, peanut butter/chocolate chip cookies

Long version: I had to go to a basketball game at 4:30 p.m., so I made all of this and just left it for everyone else at home. It was one package of chicken leg quarters, separated into thighs and drumsticks, salted, seasoned with olive oil, Italian herb seasoning and garlic powder, and roasted at about 450 degrees until done.

The pasta was a box of penne, mixed with the last half a frozen bag of roasted tomato sauce, some of the ricotta that really needs to be used up now, and shredded asadero cheese. That went in the oven with the chicken for the last half an hour or so.

The peas went in the oven, too, actually. That made it very easy for me to just tell Poppy to have Dad take everything out of the oven at 5 p.m. so they could eat. 

I had made the cookies in the morning. They were pretty much just chocolate chip cookies with a bunch of peanut butter added in place of some of the butter. I love these kinds of cookies, although it is hard to get the chocolate chips to stay in while they're being rolled. The dough is much greasier because of the peanut butter, so it doesn't stick together as well as plain chocolate chip cookie dough. It's fine once they're baked, though.

Wednesday

Short version: All the leftovers, plus eggs

Long version: One half piece of sausage, pork in gravy, the meatloaf/rice skillet, baked pasta, peas, all apportioned out as I saw fit.

And I made a couple of eggs for A. to bulk his up a bit.

Still not photogenic. Still eaten.

 Thursday

Short version: Barbecue meatballs, garlic bread, baked carrots, brownies

Long version: I got all of this prepped before I went to pick up Poppy and her friend--who stayed the night with us--from cheerleading practice. Then, when I got home at 5:15 p.m., I did a car-key hand-off to A., so he could go pick up the basketball player from his practice. I could have dropped the girls off and then gone to get the basketball player, but I had to get all of this food into the oven.

I also made the brownies when I got home, which take literally ten minutes to mix up. Not that we had to have a dessert, but the oven was on anyway, and we did have a guest with us.

It all finished baking around the time A. got home around 6 p.m., so that worked out well.

Refrigerator check:

Good thing A. is going to get hay and groceries today.

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