Friday Food: Here, There, and Everywhere

Friday

Short version: Fish sticks, oven-fried potatoes, salad with vinaigrette

Long version: We just had fish sticks the previous Friday, but I was lazy and made them again. Also because my oven was fixed (hooray for A.!) so I had finally baked the peanut butter cookie dough balls I froze when it broke. That meant I had two not-really-dirty baking pans. Perfect for fish sticks and oven-fried potatoes.

Saturday

Short version: Cornbread, Snow's clam chowder

Long version: This was the day of the funcion, at which everyone ate a very large lunch. Only the perpetually hungry boys wanted any dinner. I had the oven on anyway to make Poppy's birthday cake, so I made a pan of cornbread, too, and then just served that with a can of Snow's condensed clam chowder.

Condensed soups are SO much better than ready-to-eat soups. They always water those down way too much.

Sunday

Short version: Salisbury steaks with gravy, mashed potatoes, carrot sticks with curry dip, corn, chocolate coconut cake

Long version: This wasn't what Poppy had requested for her birthday dinner, but her request (slow-cooked pork) did not mesh well with her desire to spend the day at the canyon we went to last year for her birthday. So I told her I would make the pork the next day, and this day I made Salisbury steaks when we got back from our adventure. She also loves Salisbury steaks, so that was fine with her.

The vegetables were her request, as was the cake. I didn't follow a recipe for the cake, instead just adding coconut extract and coconut milk to chocolate cake, and then making a white coconut frosting.

I was not too pleased with how the frosting came out--my butter was too cold and I didn't really beat it long enough, so it wasn't as smooth as it could have been, and also I added a bit too much coconut milk so it was kind of wet--but everyone loved the cake.

Ugly, as always. But also tasty, as always.

The chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting she requested that I make for her class on Monday looked prettier.

Sprinkles taste like garbage, but they are cheery.

Monday

Short version: Pork, butter-swim biscuits, cucumbers with salt and vinegar, leftover cake

Long version: Poppy's requested pork was pork shoulder cooked until tender, then pulled apart and broiled in its own rendered fat with spices and maple syrup. She also wanted these biscuits.

Tuesday

Short version: Fried pork and cornbread, green salad with tartar dressing, rice pudding

Long version: I changed my plan for dinner because I had a pretty big chunk of leftover cornbread that was getting too dry to eat plain. Frying it in a lot of butter certainly takes care of any dryness. Frying it with leftover pork and then adding a bit of maple syrup to the whole thing also helps.

The leftover tartar sauce makes a pretty good salad dressing. Pretty much like ranch, except with the addition of some finely diced pickles.

I had made the rice pudding the day before while I was cooking the pork in the oven. The children are happy that baked rice pudding time is here again. So am I, because if it's cool enough to run the oven for a few hours, it's cool enough for me.

Wednesday

Short version: Sandwiches on the road, burritos at home

Long version: I picked up the eldest boy and Poppy from school a bit early and we drove to Albuquerque to stay the night before an early flight o Vermont the next morning. It's wedding time, whee!

For the car travelers, I used the last of the leftover pork to make sandwiches. Before I left, I used the half pound or so of ground beef still in the refrigerator to make taco meat. A. used that to make burritos for him and the one boy remaining at home (he stayed home because his last football game is on Thursday). The middle boy is in Indianapolis, competing at the FFA national convention.

We really were all over the place this day.

Thursday

Short version: We shall see.

Long version: I'm writing this and scheduling it to post while I'm gone. This is the day I'm actually flying to Vermont. We arrive in Burlington right around dinner time, so I'm guessing we'll get something in that city before starting our drive to our rental house. I don't know what it will be, though.

I also don't know what A. will be making at home. Questions abound. I'll report back next week when I'm home.

No refrigerator check photo, either. It looks pretty much the same every week, anyway. Imagine a lot of milk and other dairy, plus random canning jars and containers of leftovers.

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