Friday Food: A Lot of Desserts

Friday 

Short version: Breakfast sausage patties, leftover beans and rice, leftover green salad with ranch dressing

Long version: This was my sickest day with the household cold. I had some pinto beans and rice left from the night before, but not enough for the four who were eating (another child was also sick). So I used one of the 12-ounce tubes of breakfast sausage I got on sale a few weeks ago to make sausage patties to go with the beans and rice. This was not as much sausage as the boys wanted to eat, but it was as much as I cooked. 

I did manage to sit at the table with them and eat some beans and rice before giving up and crawling into bed, leaving A. to do the dishes.

That sure was some run-on sentence. Oh well. I'm leaving it.

Saturday

Short version: Green chile hamburger stew, chicharron burritos, butterscotch pudding

Long version: This is the stew/soup I learned to make after our neighbor Ms. Amelia gave it to us a few times. It's ground beef, pureed roasted green chile, onions, garlic, potatoes, and carrots. I always add green peas if I have them, too, and usually something creamy. This time sour cream.

This batch was extra good because I used some of the rooster stock in it, which makes everything better.

Not everyone loves soup, and there wasn't a ton of it, so I also used the last of the cooked pinto beans and chicharrones to make burritos again.

The one boy who was sick this day and had a sore throat really loves butterscotch pudding, so I made a double batch using this recipe*. I thought it was okay. About half the family loved it. The other half, like me, prefer chocolate. Never is there 6/6 agreement on these things.

Sunday

Short version: Meatloaf, roasted potatoes, raw green beans, tomato slices with mayonnaise, Poppy's brownies

Long version: I only used about a third of the thawed ground beef the day before in the stew, so I used the rest of it this day. I had been planning on making spaghetti and meatballs, but I didn't get around to cooking and pureeing any tomatoes. And I had two baking pans from making cookies earlier in the day that could be used again without washing.

So instead, I made meatloaf on one pan, and roasted potatoes on another.

A. had the tomatoes. The children had the raw green beans.

I wasn't too enthused about baking a dessert, but Poppy wanted to make her fair brownies again, so she did that and they baked while I was baking the cookies.

We need to expand her repertoire a bit, but it's very nice having another contributor in the kitchen.

Monday

Short version: Leftover green chile stew, grilled cheese sandwiches, pear sauce with cream

Long version: It was pretty warm this day, and this was not really a warm-day meal, but I had the leftover stew that I wanted to use up, so here we are. There wasn't enough for everyone to have a lot, which is why I also made the grilled cheese sandwiches.

I got more pears from the lady who runs the coffee shop in the village and made a half gallon of pear sauce with them for the continuing sore throats in the house. Pear sauce isn't as good as applesauce--a much smoother texture and less flavor. It's good with lots of cinnamon and nutmeg in it, plus a bit of lemon juice to give a more balanced flavor. It gets eaten with enthusiasm, anyway.

Tuesday

Short version: Frozen rotisserie chickens, quick sliced potatoes, apple slices

Long version: I went into the town with the Walmart to pick up my washing machine (yay!) and saw randomly in the meat section that they had discounted frozen rotisserie chickens. Presumably they freeze the ones that don't sell fresh the day before and then sell them frozen the next day for half price. Two cooked chickens for six dollars? YUP.

I brought those home and re-heated them in the oven for dinner. This is the most convenient, most prepared food I think I have ever purchased. It was nice for a change.

I was going to make mashed potatoes, but then I decided instead to use the pan that was still on the stove from making the sandwiches the night before. It just had butter in it, so I didn't wash it, figuring I could use it again. To the bit of butter in the pan, I added some chicken fat I had frozen, and I used that to cook thinly sliced potatoes until they were mostly soft, and then I put them in the oven with the re-heating chicken to get browned.

I had put out carrot sticks and ranch dressing before dinner, so at dinner I just cut up some of the green apples the kids had picked from the tree at our abandoned house next door. These apples are only good for eating fresh or drying--they don't soften at all when cooked--so I figured I'd better start serving them fresh or I'll never get through them. Any fruit that's already cut up will go much faster than unprepared fruit.

Wednesday

Short version: Chicken and chickpea curry, rice, apple crisp with cream

Long version: I made stock with the two chicken carcasses and then, as I always do, painstakingly picked off all the meat from the bones. This always seems that it's not worth the time, but it is. I got a couple of cups of meat from that, and then I supplemented it with dried chickpeas I cooked separately in the morning. Plus some of the chicken stock, a few finely chopped collard greens, a few green beans from the garden, and, of course, onion, garlic, and curry powder. Also sour cream and cornstarch at the end.

The fact that the two main ingredients both start with "chick" made me think I should name this something like "chick-chick curry" or "chicky curry." But no. Too lame.

I made the crisp almost entirely in the microwave, which works surprisingly well when you don't want to have the oven on for 45 minutes. First I microwaved the apple slices with the sugar and spices for about ten minutes in an oven-safe casserole dish, covered with plastic wrap. When they were soft, I topped them with the oats, flour, etc., and microwaved it another five minutes to cook the topping before shoving the whole thing under the broiler for just a few minutes to get brown and crispy.

Thursday

Short version: Spanish tortilla, leftover curry and rice, crispy rice treats

Long version: I was gone just before the end of school and then had to leave an hour later for flag football practice. I needed something I could make ahead and serve quickly. I had a lot of eggs on hand, so I made a Spanish tortilla. Some people chose to have the leftover curry and rice, too.

I had made the crispy rice treats to bring in to school for the staff when I went in for a meeting. I brought enough home that everyone could have one for dessert, too. 

Refrigerator check:

Full up. And blurry.

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

* I used the optional cream (of course), and I only had light brown sugar, so I added a bit of molasses, too. There was just enough molasses that the pudding tasted very faintly of it, which my children approved of. They love molasses.