Friday
Short version: Enchilada casserole, carrot sticks
Long version: This was made with ground beef and beans, plus corn tortillas, cheese, and enchilada sauce. Basic, but tasty. And a good way to make a lot of food with not a lot of ground beef.
Saturday
Short version: Birthday chicken, fried bread, corn, pecan pie with whipped cream
Long version: This was Poppy's request for her birthday dinner. She wanted chicken drumsticks. I had leg quarters, which I separated into thighs and drumsticks. We had just finished a jar of pickles, so I marinated the chicken in the juice from that jar, and then roasted it with paprika and garlic powder.
Fried bread is just what it sounds like: Bread fried in butter.
Poppy asked for corn on the cob, but I hadn't been to the store recently enough for that, so I had to make frozen corn instead.
This pecan pie. I made a Classic Kristin Kitchen Mistake and added a tablespoon of vinegar to it instead of a teaspoon. And then I had to add more sugar to offset the vinegar, which made the pie sweeter than usual. Some of the family members liked it this way; some did not.
Sunday
Short version: Cottage pie, carrot slaw, pickles, apple crisp with whipped cream
Long version: We had two additional young men eating with us this night, so I needed to make something that would feed a lot of people. Specifically, a lot of boys, both old and young. Cottage pie does that nicely.
I didn't have any corn left, which I typically use with peas for the vegetable part of the cottage pie. So instead I used some cooked collards and shredded carrot I had in the freezer. They were small enough that the children didn't notice them in there.
The only other vegetable I had on hand was carrots, which I shredded and made a slaw out of with some diced onions. The dressing had a little more mayonnaise than I add to regular coleslaw and a bit more sugar. No celery seed, either.
One of our guests doesn't eat gluten, which is why I used two bags of frozen apple slices to make an apple crisp. The topping was mostly oats and nuts, which was fine, but the apples needed to be pre-cooked before being baked with the topping. They were a bit crunchy.
Monday
Short version: More chicken, leftover rice, pasta, frozen peas, tomato salad
Long version: I had so much chicken marinated that I couldn't fit it all on the pan on Saturday. I had left the extra chicken uncooked in the marinade and baked it this night with some barbecue sauce. I put this to bake in the oven just before I left to pick up Poppy at cheer practice.
I didn't have enough leftover rice for everyone, so I made some pasta when I got home with just cream cheese, butter, and garlic powder.
Tuesday
Short version: Eclectic leftovers, carrot sticks
Long version: I had four chicken drumsticks left, which I chopped and added to the leftover pasta along with some roasted garlic I had in the freezer, a few tomatoes, and some of the grated asadero cheese from the freezer.
There was also leftover enchilada casserole, and then we had a couple of small catfish fillets from the one A. caught on Saturday that I just panfried with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
8 comments:
What did your children think of the pizza hut pizza? Bonus point for your sister for bringing that!
The week of plans thrown out the window.
-leftover pizza, misc as we had gone to an apple orchard for a corn maze and rural beauty. The kids all had a big snack there. So nothing special needed..
Sat- tacos for my family, German students made a Greek-style pasta Salad. They had activities that put them on a different dinner time than us, so I let them have free reign in the kitchen.
Sun- pasta, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic bread. German girls nude a late dinner of blue box Mac and cheese.
Mon- one German guest sick, so plans for vegetarian orange chicken, etc got thrown out. I made mashed potatoes, chicken strips and nuggets, fries, and fruit. Just throwing a whole lot of food on the table and hoping people eat something. German girls has soup and bread. And a rice pudding cup bought from walmart. They love the rice pudding.
Tues- stew, oatmeal bread, mashed potatoes, carrots, broccoli. German girls made a light snack dinner
Wed- my husband's birthday, and my son had me take him out to dinner. He had a Chipotle burrito that was huge and enjoyed it greatly. I got the kids domino's with the last of the gift card. Unfortunately, there was garlic stuff on the crust ( which wasn't supposed to be on it) so picky eater made do with a bagel and chicken patty. A delicious chocolate layer cake completed the festivities. ( it broke coming out if the pan, so much of it was glued together by frosting. Not too tragic.) German girls had soup, bread, and Gatorade. Rice pudding.
Thus- I grabbed a cold rotisserie chicken on my 5th trip to Walmart in 2 days. Rice, mashed potatoes, broccoli, a little corn and peas. No dish was big but everyone liked something. I took the German girls shopping at Walmart (6th time) for snacks to bring home. Then they asked if they could have something "bad" for dinner. Fast food it is! They discussed McDonald's, but the third German girl we had taken with us to Walmart pointed out there are few vegetarian options there. This girl started talking rapidly in German and then I recognized cheese curds. So Culver's it was!- with cheese curds, pretzel bites, fries, pumpkin spice milkshake and a salted caramel concrete mixer. The one girl finally was feeling better.
So I never made the orange chicken, the burritos, the vegetarian chili, and a few other planned meals. The German guests go hone Saturday, so I'll be back to disappointing only my own family.
I’ve been reading for a while but never commented, so here goes!
Fri- burritos on the go because 3 kids were ball boys at a college soccer game and we needed quick food
Sat- an all day long party (we live in a big college football town) so the kids ate whatever was at the party.
Sun- brats, salad, fruit, chips, raw veggies and dip. We had 31 people at our house (only 2 extra families!) so I had to make it easy on myself.
Mon- Carbonara that tasted subpar because I only had 8 eggs and not 10
Tues- pasta Bolognese, sourdough, garlic roasted broccoli
Wed- two of the boys had shot deer so we have lots of venison sausage. Tonight was sausage, potatoes, green beans and more sourdough
Thurs- 3 extra teenage boys in addition to the 3 teen boys I have and bringing a meal to another family of 8 people meant two big pots of Coq au Vin, two trays of roasted potatoes that barely fit in my industrial sized oven, three sourdough boules, fruit, and ice cream
We live in the Midwest, have 10 kids under 16, and homeschool. We used to live right by my families 40 square mile ranch in Texas where we only ate the meat we shot but moving to the Midwest means more food from stores!
You recognized cheese curds! You learned German! They went to Walmart six times! Cultural exchange achieved. :-)
That's a lot of sheer volume produced in your kitchen! So glad you have an industrial oven. You know, I have never made carbonara. Do you have a favorite recipe?
Hi , new commenter! I'm in the Midwest too. Eleven kids, but all over 11, so my years of crazy babies mixed with teens is past. You cook for a regiment!
mbmom11: part of Murphy's Law states that if you want a cake to look good, because it's a birthday cake or you're taking it out in public or something, it will break coming out of the pan.
Friday-sausage patties, cornbread, coleslaw, apple pie
Saturday-hot dogs, potato chips, spiders made out of Oreo cookies and pretzel sticks. I didn't know you could buy eyeballs in a jar like sprinkles, but you can and they added considerably to the spiders' appearance. This was for an overnight. I put carrot sticks on the table too.
Sunday-beef stew with carrots and potatoes
Monday-salmon loaf, baked potatoes, coleslaw
Tuesday-Mexican turkey, frozen green beans
Wednesday-enchiladas, broccoli
Thursday-we were gifted two big tomatoes from someone whose garden was still producing. So we had blts.
Yes, so much food! With 7 boys, it’s a constant cycle of cooking and dishes.
The Carbonara recipe I use is from The NY Times- my kids love it.
We are in the weird mix of nursing an infant while going over college applications with the oldest. It’s so strange and difficult and beautiful all in one. Hooray for big Midwest families!
Oh, I never answered your question! The pizza was not at all like I remember Pizza Hut pizza. It didn't have that greasy crust, which I suspect my children would have liked. Maybe their carry out is different from their eat-in pizza now?
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