Friday Food: Wrinkly Potatoes

Friday 

Short version: Cheese pizza, ranch dip, raw bell pepper

Long version: The older boys were still gone at their FFA convention, so I only had three people eating pizza. That meant I could get away with just one half-sheet-pan pizza. It was just cheese.

Saturday

Short version: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green peas, mango-coconut popsicles

Long version: The quintessential Mom Meal to welcome back our weary travelers.

How you know Mom loves you.

The popsicles were a departure, and were solely the result of my getting an entire box of ripe mangos from commodities. They were very good mangos, but some of them were starting to get black spots on them. 

I used several of them to make the popsicles, which handily also used up the last half cup of coconut milk I had frozen after making Poppy's First Communion coconut cake. The recipe I quickly consulted called for two and a half cups of mango to one cup of coconut milk. Because I didn't have enough coconut milk, I made up the difference with milk, cream, and coconut extract. And then I added maple syrup until it seemed sweet enough.

Popsicles are very easy to make, but there is no way to cut up mangos that doesn't make a huge, sticky mess.

Juice everywhere.

They were very good popsicles, though.

Sunday

Short version: Leftovers, chocolate pudding with cream

Long version: I had leftover Italian sausage, meatloaf, and the brisket my mom had sent home with me. I let everyone choose which meat they wanted, and then I portioned out leftover macaroni and cheese from a previous lunch, as well as leftover mashed potatoes. Plus some frozen peas.

I still use this recipe for chocolate pudding, but I double it, use half a cup of heavy cream and the optional cocoa powder, and split the chocolate chips between semi-sweet and dark. This makes a very good pudding. Sieving is also not optional for the best texture. This is unfortunate, because I dislike sieving anything, but it's worth it for pudding.

Monday

Short version: Cheeseburger casserole, leftover peas

Long version: A. came home with a bag of wrinkly potatoes from our elderly neighbor. I put them immediately in a big pot and boiled them whole, figuring if they were cooked, they would get used more readily.

They did. I used about half of them this night in a casserole that also included diced leftover meatloaf, grated American cheese we got from commodities, milk and cream, onion and garlic powder, and all the condiments for cheeseburgers. So ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise.

This sounds suspect, but it was actually delicious and everyone loved it.

Tuesday

Short version: Pork, fried potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette, rice pudding

Long version: I put a big pork shoulder in the oven early in the morning, along with the rice pudding, and let that cook most of the day. I just broiled the pork with rendered lard and spices, and the fried the rest of the boiled potatoes in more of the lard.

You'd never know they were sad, wrinkly potatoes to start with.

Wednesday

Short version: Ham and beans, rice, garlic bread, carrot sticks

Long version: The very large ham bone left from Poppy's First Communion meal was taking up a lot of room in my little freezer. And we had gotten three pounds of dried pinto beans from a couple different places. It was quite cool in the morning, which meant I could simmer all those beans with the ham bone comfortably.

This ham bone had more ham on it than most, which made for better beans, of course. I also added already-cooked onions, garlic, and tomato paste to them. And then I cooked the rice in some of the ham and bean broth. This made for a very flavorful meal.

Thursday

Short version: Pork fried rice, un-staled cookies

Long version: Leftover pork and rice, plus eggs, already-cooked onion, frozen peas, garlic powder, ginger powder, soy sauce, vinegar, and a bit of maple syrup.

I used all the rest of the rendered lard from cooking the pork in this, which was a lot of fat. Predictably, my family said it was the best fried rice I've ever made. 

Edited to add because I forgot to explain: The cookies were the chocolate chip ones I made before our trip to Arizona. I had thought the boys at home would eat the ones in the cookie jar, but I guess they didn't know they were there. They were a little stale, but perfectly fine after thirty seconds in the microwave on a plate under a damp paper towel.

Refrigerator check:

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