Friday Food: School's Out!

Friday 

Short version: Pintos and ham, chicken stir-fry, rice

Long version: A completely random meal. It was cool, so I thought I should simmer some pinto beans while it was still comfortable to do so. I put a ham bone in with the beans.

And then I made chicken stock with the rotisserie chicken carcass. I pulled about a cup of chicken off the bones after making the stock. There were two bags of stir-fry vegetables in the freezer that had been in there for awhile, so I used those with the chicken to make the stir-fry, and then I used the stock to make the rice.

Ham and chicken.

So everyone got some rice and then could choose what to put on it. It was about an even split. One child actually had both. In separate piles, though.

Saturday

Short version: Lamb and chickpeas, mashed potatoes, carrot sticks

Long version: I defrosted a bag of lamb stew meat, which was some meat that had been cut off the bone and some bony chops. The chops I simmered with a few onion ends until I could pull the meat off. Then I combined that meat with the deboned meat, a container of cooked chickpeas from the freezer, tomato sauce, chicken stock, onions, green garlic, thyme, paprika, and cumin. This simmered for a long time, until everything was very tender. At the end I added a bunch of yogurt with cornstarch to thicken it. 

Sunday

Short version: Nachos or Frito pie, ice cream

Long version: Earlier in the week when I had quite a bit of elk taco meat left over, I decided to freeze it for an easy Mother's Day dinner. So all I did was thaw the meat, set out both tortilla chips and Fritos, plus toppings, and let everyone make their own combinations.

I myself had Frito pie. I do love Frito pie.

Monday

Short version: Toasted bean burritos, still-frozen green beans

Long version: I had a lot of the pinto beans and ham left, which is what I used to make the burritos after work.

Tuesday

Short version: Pizza, cherries

Long version: There were only four of us eating, because the two FFA boys were at a dinner, so I decided very last minute to use some of the bread dough I had going to make one pizza. I did this mostly because I had opened canned diced tomatoes in the refrigerator, plus I had extra bacon on hand. So half the pizza had bacon and pickled onions, and half was just cheese.

Pizza dough, along with muffins, cake, and meatballs that were used at other times.

The cherries were the first of the season from Colorado. I was very excited when I saw the sign up for the truck on the side of the road in town the week before, even though I knew it was a little too early and some of them wouldn't be all the way ripe. This was true, but there were enough ripe ones that it was worth it. I love cherries.

Wednesday

Short version: Barbecue meatballs, baked beans, bread and butter, radishes

Long version: The meatballs were a small bag of extra ones I had frozen some time ago and baked the day before when the oven was on to bake bread. I heated those up with barbecue sauce after work. 

I had made the baked beans the day before, too, with the rest of the pintos and ham, plus some of the bacon. I knew I would need an easy dinner after work because it was field day for the elementary students, and that always tires me out.

Thursday

Short version: Cocktails, chips and salsa, ham steaks, roasted potatoes, cucumbers with ranch dip, ice cream sandwiches

Long version: Last day of school, hooray! That is why we had the cocktails. I trust you know without me having to tell you that it was only A. and I consuming cocktails. 

A. was for some reason inspired to make a rhubarb syrup on Wednesday, which is what we used for our drinks. He added a few frozen strawberries for a nice color. 

Our rhubarb is mostly green, and therefore not pretty. We mixed this with vodka and lemon juice.

The children got to have the chips and salsa to celebrate. And ice cream sandwiches. The actual food--ham and potatoes--just went in the oven to roast all together, which made for a nice easy dinner.

Refrigerator check:

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