Friday Food: Throwback Turnips

Friday 

Short version: Vaguely chicken soup, cookies

Long version: I used the chicken bones left from the previous Tuesday's meal to make stock, and then pulled off what meat there was. It wasn't much--maybe a cup and a half. So this was only vaguely chicken soup. Mostly, it was vegetables. I had carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, peas, and at the last minute I added a pint jar of sauerruben (fermented shredded turnips). 

The sauerruben was key. It added a lot of flavor, but also quite a lot of body to the soup. So really, this was more of a vegetable stew. I also added some sour cream to make it a little richer. 

It was actually really good. The younger two children were the only ones eating with me--the older two were gone on an FFA trip and A. wasn't feeling well--and they loved the sauerruben, too. 

A happy mistake by Seeds 'n' Such in the end. And I still have plenty more turnip* seeds to plant this year.

The cookies were just chocolate chip/peanut butter ones, with a little bit of oats added to bulk them up a bit.

Saturday

Short version: More soup, cheese, biscuits

Long version: Since most of the family hadn't eaten the soup the night before, there was enough for another meal for the four of us who were at home. As long as I supplemented with something else. Like cheese and biscuits.

Remember: Your biscuits do not have to be round. 

Embrace the rebellion of wonky rectangular biscuits. It saves so much time.

Sunday

Short version: Lamb chops, hammy rice, green salad with vinaigrette, cookie bars

Long version: The FFA travelers returned this afternoon, and I knew they would have had their fill of hamburgers, pizza, and gas station food.

Travel food is never the best.

So I made some plain food for them. The lamb chops were from the ram lamb that we butchered recently; the one that sat for some time in A.'s office until we could get around to cutting it up.

That delay in processing turned out to be the perfect amount of time for aging. Everyone was exclaiming about how tender the lamb chops were.

I cooked the rice in some ham stock.

And I remembered in the afternoon that the younger kids had nothing for their school snacks for the week, so I quickly made some cookies. They were oat/peanut butter/almond/chocolate chip cookies. I baked about two dozen as actual cookies, and then baked the rest as cookie bars for our Sunday dessert.

I have the chocolate chip cookie recipe memorized, and I freely add to it as I go, making sure to get the right texture at the end so they aren't dry, so it doesn't take me long to make cookies anymore. Handy sometimes.

Monday

Short version: Ham and rice skillet, leftover lamb chops

Long version: I had a small amount of ham from the last time I cooked it that I stashed in the little freezer for a future after-work meal. And this was it. Diced ham, leftover rice, already-cooked onions, green peas, grated cheese.

The lamb chops were for A., because there wouldn't have been quite enough of the ham and rice otherwise, but there was enough for him to have it as a side dish to his lamb.

Tuesday

Short version: Lamb chili, rice pudding, birthday jello

Long version: The birthday boy was sick--with both a bad stomach and throat--so I put off his requested birthday meal and instead made chili with some of the lamb we ground. I don't like ground lamb on its own as burgers or something, but it's good in something highly spiced like chili. You can tell it's not ground beef, but the lamb flavor isn't overwhelming.

One child, after taking a bite of his chili, asked, "Is this really strong beef or really good lamb?' Really good lamb. Also really good chili, which also had two cans of beans; a few cubes of frozen green chili; a jar of lamb and game stock I made awhile ago from the leftovers of lamb chops, grouse, and doves; and some of the giant calabaza I baked and pureed this day.

This resulted in about a gallon and half of pureed calabaza.

Edited to add: I forgot to explain the birthday jello! This day's birthday boy was sick, so we delayed his requested meal of pork ribs, mashed potatoes, and strawberry/rhubarb crisp with ice cream until he was feeling better and wanted to eat. It seemed sad to have nothing for him, though. So I made some jello (4.5 cups lemonade+2.5 tablespoons gelatin) and stuck a candle for him to blow out in a serving of that. We had to sing really fast, because you can imagine how precarious a lit candle in a chunk of wobbly jello is, but it worked for the situation.

Wednesday

Short version: Breakfast quesadillas, cucumbers, crispy rice treats

Long version: We were home all day thanks to school being canceled due to an ice cloud that settled on us, plus some very cold temperatures and wind. We didn't even have online schooling, because so many people were without power.

An actual snow day! HOORAY.

So everyone spent much of the day eating various snacks as well as a pretty heavy lunch of chili pie made with leftover chili topped with cornbread. I decided after all that that we really didn't need a big dinner. I was cooking bacon anyway for my contribution to the next day's elementary Valentine's party, so I used a few pieces of that in scrambled eggs with cheese and salsa to make quesadillas.

The crispy rice treats were for school the next day, too, but I made a small pan of them for my own family to eat this night.

Thursday

Short version: Randomness

Long version: The elementary kids had their Valentine's party right before school let out, so they ate there. I also ate some of the cream cheese and bacon roll-ups I had sent for that party while I was there. Then we rushed home to get Poppy dressed for her cheer game. The power had been out all afternoon and still wasn't on when we got home, so she just ate a peanut butter sandwich while I did her hair. 

Everyone else ate concession food at the game, as well as some beef jerky I had brought. And we had to stay until the boys' varsity game and didn't get home until after 9 p.m. Boo.

Refrigerator check:

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

* When I searched "turnips" in my posts, look what came up from over a decade ago: Tiny boys and Good Old Dog Mia eating raw turnips. 

Insane Lasagna, Denied

We don't celebrate birthdays in a really big way in our house. The birthday person gets to choose all their food for the day--breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert--and then we have a little family party after dinner with presents. 

The food is obviously a big part of that, and I have always made anything my children have requested.

Until this year.

This year's new 15-year-old* requested this lasagna for his birthday. 

Ugh.

I never wanted to make that again. It was just too much. But it's a birthday! And I always said I would make anything for their birthdays!

So I resigned myself to two days in the kitchen, plus some sore arms. As the birthday grew closer, though, and I realized how much I was dreading it, I just . . . said no. I told him I would make him lasagna, but it wasn't going to be that particular one.

Whereupon he changed his mind and said he'd rather have pork ribs and mashed potatoes. Which are about a thousand times easier.

I do feel some guilt about this, but not enough to make the lasagna. And I did make cinnamon rolls for his birthday breakfast, so that kind of makes up for the lasagna, right?

I made them on Sunday and just par-baked them because his birthday is today and I was working yesterday. (The pan in the back right has bar cookies for Sunday dessert.)

I guess even I have my limits in the kitchen. And that lasagna is it.

*I am now in the stage of figuring out how to get teenagers a driver's licenses, which is wild. Also wild: I will not be out of this stage for another decade.

Snapshots: Poppy, Center Stage

I told Poppy her friend could come spend the night on Thursday. She was thrilled, and sat right down to make a schedule for their 24 hours together.

The list included a tea party with their American Girl dolls.

The list also included baking the monster cookie mix this same friend had given Poppy for her birthday. So of course, the cookies were part of the tea party.

For some reason, this spoon sticking up out of his ice cream delighted one child so much that he asked me to take a picture of it.

Kind of a long back story, but the younger two wanted to order a howling wolf beeswax candle for their brother's upcoming birthday. I duly ordered one on Etsy, but what came was . . . not a wolf.

It was actually a fox candle, and the seller was very nice about it when I messaged her to let her know we received the wrong canine candle. The wolf candle won't get here in time for the birthday, but we get to keep the fox, so I guess it's a two for one deal.

This year's guidelines for creating the elementary students' Valentine's Day boxes were to decorate them with a favorite book character. Poppy chose Curious George, and we came up with a pretty good one using an ice cream bucket.

George is sitting on the Man with the Yellow Hat.

And last, lookit!

DAFFODIL!

There are quite a few bulbs sprouting in the mechanic's pit garden. The crocuses and daffodils seem to be coming up at the same time, which is sort of odd, but I am not complaining. Yay, plants!

We had two more lambs born this past week--both male--but I don't have a picture of them yet. Maybe next week.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.