Friday Food: My Refrigerator Is Way Full

Friday 

Short version: Breakfast burritos, grape tomatoes

Long version: A long day at the county fair means I don't want to cook a lot for dinner. I just microwaved a few potatoes until they were soft, then fried them in a pan, in which I also scrambled eggs and added salsa and grated cheddar cheese. This filling went into flour tortillas heated up on a propane burner.

The addition of potatoes to breakfast burritos is key, by the way. It makes the texture better, and also makes them more filling.

Saturday

Short version: Gyro rice, pickles

Long version: The longest day of the fair, and also the day we eat in between the rodeo and the dance. Everyone is always very tired this day, including me, which is why I make it as easy on myself as possible to provide dinner.

I had a quart container of the gyro-spiced ground beef in the freezer, as well as a quart of chicken broth in the refrigerator. In the morning I made rice with the chicken stock, and then at dinnertime, I just mixed in the ground beef to that, heated it all, and added feta cheese.

Surprisingly good. The feta helps a lot.

Sunday

Short version: Grilled steaks, leftover rice, grand champion leeks, coleslaw, grand champion gingerbread with whipped cream

Long version: I built this whole meal around the leeks that I had entered into the fair. They were the grand champions in the agricultural products division, so obviously they were special.

I sliced them and fried them in butter before adding the juices from the chicken I had cooked the previous week and simmering them until they were completely soft. Then I added cream. Stewing them this way is the best method for cooking leeks, in my opinion.

They don't look like much, but they sure do taste great.

The leeks were perfect with the steaks, which A. grilled for me.

The coleslaw ended up being more involved than I had anticipated. I typically use pickled onions in it, but I was out of those and had to make some. I was also still out of mayonnaise, so I used the last of my canola oil to make some of that, too. Annoying.

The gingerbread was Poppy's prize-winning fair entry. She was very proud of it, as well she should be.

Monday

Short version: Hamburger steaks with milk gravy, leeks, mashed potatoes, leftover coleslaw

Long version: I think what I typically make is more like a hamburger steak than Salisbury steak, given that I don't use any binders. I think? I don't know. Basically giant hamburger patties with gravy. Always popular, in any case.

I used some of the leftover leeks in the gravy. An excellent addition.

Gravy everywhere.

Tuesday

Short version: Leftover meat, fried bread, carrot sticks

Long version: I had enough leftover steak and hamburger steaks to parcel out, and almost enough mashed potatoes. Two people had fried bread instead of potatoes.

Wednesday

Short version: Omelets, fried potatoes, cherries

Long version: I had to drive this day to town to buy a new washing machine.

BOOO.

Our commercial Maytag only lasted four years. After last year's miserably long period of tub laundry and laundromats while I waited months for it to get fixed, I decided it wasn't worth doing that again.

It broke Tuesday. I was in the van less than 24 hours later to buy another. This time I got a Speed Queen. Any bets on how long that will last?

Anyway. I went to Walmart while I was in town. I had planned to buy a rotisserie chicken for dinner. They didn't have any.

Sigh.

I hadn't taken any meat out to thaw, but I did still have large quantities of eggs. Eight dozen, to be exact. Certainly enough for omelets.

I cooked a package of bacon and put some of that in the omelets, along with cheese. In the one for A. and eldest, I also put in the last bit of an onion and some diced tomatoes.

I also microwaved a few potatoes and chopped those to fry them in bacon fat and butter.

Not pretty, but tasty. As usual.

I didn't feel like bothering with a vegetable. But I had bought cherries at the produce truck--actually an old school bus, because this is New Mexico--in town.

Fruit is the new vegetables. Or something.

Thursday

Short version: Ham, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, bread and butter, watermelon

Long version: I can't remember if it was A. or I who bought a whole ham awhile ago, but we have certainly not had any weather that has inspired me to turn on the oven and bake it. 

However! 

The ham was fully cooked, so I just cut some thick steaks off it and pan-fried them. This made the unpleasantly pink and wet ham much better.

Needs browning.

I got the corn on the cob from the produce bus, too, as well as the watermelon. It was a really good watermelon.

Refrigerator check:

The chaos that results from four gallons of milk, 2/3 of a giant watermelon, and half a ham. Don't worry. It will clear out quickly.

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