Friday Food: Beef, Chicken, Pork, and Fish

I hit all the proteins this week.

Friday 

Short version: Sloppy joes, pureed potato soup, green salad with ranch dressing, composite cookies

Long version: Kind of a last-minute use for the package of ground beef I had taken out of the freezer, and then all I heard was how much everyone looooves sloppy joes.

Okay, then. I guess I didn't realize the depth of passion we have for sloppy joes in this household.

I made the soup for a sick child who had a terrible sore throat. It had a lot of cream in it, and thus, was good.

The cookies I made this day started with a chocolate chip cookie recipe, but then I added in cinnamon, oats, and raisins, so they ended up being a hybrid chocolate chip/oatmeal raisin cookie. Heartier than plain chocolate chip, but more indulgent than plain oatmeal raisin. A good mash-up, I thought.

Saturday

Short version: Double dogs on homemade buns, pickled radishes and onions, cucumbers, cookies

Long version: I was making bread, so I made some buns. Because they were sourdough, and didn't have any milk or oil in them, they were more dense than your typical hot dog bun. They were also larger, which is why I actually put two hot dogs on each buns.

The hot dogs were some the school cook gave me a few weeks ago. There were like two dozen, and I knew we wouldn't be able to eat them all quickly enough, so I froze a bunch.

The radishes also came from the school cook. Sysco radishes have very little flavor of any kind, which is why I pickled them. Because then they taste like pickles. I used white vinegar, water, salt, and sugar (I didn't measure anything), and I also threw some thinly sliced onion in the jar too. There was room, so why not? They turned out a very pretty pink thanks to the radishes, and were very much enjoyed by those who put them on their hot dogs.

Pretty in pink.

Sunday

Short version: Ribeye steaks, leftover potato soup, sauteed asparagus, cucumbers with salt and vinegar, ice cream with leftover salted caramel sauce

Long version: I probably shouldn't even bother listing the asparagus, because I'm cooking half a dozen or more spears almost every night. Often I eat them before dinner even starts, but sometimes they make it onto A.'s plate. This night, they did, and he very much enjoyed his fancy steak and asparagus meal.

Monday

Short version: Leftover steak, hot dogs, bread and butter, pickled radishes

Long version: I didn't have quite enough steak for everyone, so two kids had some of the cafeteria hot dogs from the freezer.

Pause for a pretty photo of pickled radishes and onion:

Pink!

Tuesday

Short version: Roasted chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette, peanut butter/almond cookies

Long version: We haven't had chicken from the store in a loooong time, but A. bought a couple of whole ones last time he went grocery shopping. I roasted one with just parsley and onion ends inside (I save the ends of onions when I cut them off for making stock or whatever), and butter, salt, and pepper on the outside. 

It needed more seasoning, but it was fine. Especially with the gravy.

The cookies were these peanut butter cookies, but with some finely chopped almonds added, just because I have SO many almonds from commodities that any cookie that can reasonably accommodate them gets almonds in it. These cookies accommodated the almonds very well.

Wednesday

Short version: FFA food, buckwheat pancakes

Long version: I was at the FFA banquet, where I had smoked pork, coleslaw, and pinto beans. 

A. used the remainder of Sunday's buckwheat pancake batter to make pancakes for the three children at home. They prefer buckwheat pancakes with peanut butter rather than syrup, so it makes for a slighly more wholesome dinner than standard pancakes.

Thursday

Short version: Tuna patties, leftover mashed potatoes, green salad with mustard vinaigrette, cobbler with cream

Long version: I came home from work on Wednesday with a LOT of tuna. I guess the cook had opened a giant can and only used some of it for some tuna pasta salad for the salad bar, so she sent the rest home with me before it could go bad. That's what I used for the patties.

She also sent me home with a lot of leftover peach cobbler, and slightly less apple cobbler, so everyone got to choose. And then they had cream on it.

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

A Very Fancy Spa Morning

Poppy's Easter book this year was actually a whole set of books: Fancy Nancy. She was given one of the early reader books featuring Fancy Nancy by her preschool teacher and immediately fell in love with the character. I have to admit that Fancy Nancy is quite charming in all her over-the-top ways, and the books are not really as vapid as they sound.

One of the books in the set I got her was Ooh La La Spa! It's Beauty Day, in which Fancy Nancy treats her mother to a very fancy home spa day. Poppy, of course, was immediately captivated by this idea and wanted to do it. 

I am not much of a spa person myself, so I was not notably enthusiastic about the idea. However, when her brothers went on a field trip to Santa Fe with the elementary that she was not allowed to go on, I consoled her by telling her we would make it our spa day.

The book that started it all.

We followed some of the things in the book, and decided on some things ourselves. Poppy made a schedule for us:

The referenced "Boy Helper" was a last-minute addition when one of her brothers was home.

 As per the schedule, we started with a foot soak. I used two packets of some absolutely ancient foot soaking powder that came originally from Blackrock. They must be at least 30 years old. I have no idea how these two packets ended up in New Mexico with us, but this seemed as good a time as any to use it.

Seriously, MiL, how old do you think this is?

Because we are country bumpkins, I used a rubber feed tub as our soaking tub. Poppy added some marbles, as Fancy Nancy did, so we could massage our feet on them.

Here we are, soaking away our foot misery.

Next on the agenda was a face mask. There was actually a recipe in the Fancy Nancy book for a face mask that was just mashed banana and honey. Because I can never leave well enough alone with recipe, I also added some oats, and then a little water to make it more spreadable.

We even had a cucumber for the necessary slices for the eyes, thanks to A.'s recent trip to the Outside World. So I found "relaxing spa music" (my exact search) on YouTube and we prepared to get beautiful.

Appropriately masked.

Poppy applied my mask for me.

She was very generous with the oats. 

After cleaning ourselves up, it was on to manicures and pedicures. Poppy did this for both of us.

Pedis in the kitchen.

The end result was a lot of blue nails.

Twenty each, to be precise.

Finally, a tea party. This was not in the book, but we love a good tea party in our house. I had made cookies earlier in the day, and I made some very fancy cucumber finger sandwiches.

I even cut the crusts off, which is something I typically disapprove of.

And that was our DIY home spa morning. It was fun. And, of course, fancy.

Growing Food: Small Walls

If I were ever to design my absolute dream property, it most definitely would include a fully walled garden. The wicked wind here is very hard on plants, and they could use the shelter.

Absent a surrounding wall for the entire garden, however, I make my own mini-walls.

A few weeks ago when I showed you the milk jugs that I use as mini-greenhouses for the newly transplanted cabbages, there were a couple of plants surrounded by rocks that I promised I would talk about later.

Today is the day. Hooray! (I love accidental rhymes.)

Four of those jugged cabbages were big enough that they were starting to press against the sides of the jugs.

So I decided the time had come to remove the jugs. 

I do this very carefully, kind of rocking the jug back and forth to loosen the soil. Because the jugs are sunk down into the mud when they're placed, if I tried to just yank the jug out quickly, the whole plant would be likely to come out with a chunk of dirt. That's why I have to be careful.

Freedom!

Although the plant is obviously much bigger at this stage, there is still a possibility of frost here through May, along with days of strong, drying winds. That's why I prefer to give them a little bit of protection for a little bit longer. And to do that, I build walls around them.

I have a pile of large rocks (originally collected along our roadside) that stay in the garden all year that I use for just this purpose. All I do is set the rocks in a circle around the plant. 

Cabbage Stonehenge.

I don't build up the height, so it doesn't completely enclose the plant, but it's enough to give some wind protection. In addition, the rocks absorb our very strong sun and heat up during the day. That heat radiates back from the rocks at night, thereby giving the plants inside the rock circle a few degrees of protection from below-freezing temperatures.

I'll do this with all the cabbages and kohlrabi this month as they grow and I remove the jugs. It's not necessary for the plants like tomatoes and basil that will go out when it's warmer, but the little walls are just enough protection for the cabbage and kohlrabi to carry them through until frost-free and less windy days.

Snapshots: We Got Rain!

As evidenced by dirty water at the bottom of the rain gauge.

We did get more than the gauge shows. A lot of it was blowing around so much it didn't settle in there, I think, but we got probably something slightly less than an inch. Unimpressive for most places, but very exciting--and very needed--for here.

Now on to the next most exciting thing:

Laaambs!

Nine lambs on the ground so far, with one ewe left to deliver.

Let's see what else . . . Ah. Another sign of spring:

I just love asparagus season.

And last, a patriotic windmill for you:

Plus that crazy-blue New Mexico sky.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Sight-word Sundaes

Friday 

Short version: Sneaky stew, chocolate pudding

Long version: I had a package of ground beef I had taken out with no particular plan in mind, and a sick child in the house. I hadn't made green chile soup in awhile, so I started with that. 

At its most basic, that soup is just onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes, ground beef, green chile, and stock. I, however, rarely make anything without adding, subtracting, or otherwise amending.

This time, I didn't have the celery I usually add, so that was out. I did have pureed calabaza in the freezer, and calabaza is always good with green chile, so I added some of that. And then I put some sauerkraut in there and some green peas. This made it into more of a stew than a soup.

My children aren't huge fans of calabaza or sauerkraut, but they don't notice it in a stew like this. And it was a really good stew. 

I made the pudding because, again, sickness. I used a new recipe this time, because I wanted to use up some of my very numerous eggs. Almost all recipes use just yolks, but as I've mentioned, I dislike separating eggs. I found one recipe--and pretty much only one--that uses whole eggs. 

I don't know if it was just the recipe, or the fact that I used half and half instead of just milk, but it was very good pudding. I liked it better than the recipe I've been using typically, actually, so I guess I'll try it again some other time with just milk and see how it comes out.

I also made granola in the morning, and the melted butter, honey, and maple syrup stratified very aesthetically.

So of course I took a picture.

Saturday

Short version: Leftovers at home, pulled pork out

Long version: I went to the junior/senior banquet at school, where I had pulled pork, baked potatoes, rolls, salad, and cake. At home, they had leftover green chile stew, enchilada casserole, and rhubarb pudding.

Sunday

Short version: Shrimp, bunless hamburgers, rice, asparagus, sauerkraut, sweet potatoes, sight-word sundaes

Long version: This meal kind of got away from me. I first took out the bag of shrimp A. had bought for Lent that I had never cooked. I just sauteed it with lots of butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and lemon juice. 

But I don't care for shrimp, so I also made hamburgers. 

And then I had a bunch of asparagus that needed to be cooked, so I sauteed that in butter. 

And THEN, there was half a jar of sauerkraut in the refrigerator that I rinsed and threw in the pan with the hamburgers. Lastly, leftover roasted sweet potatoes for the children who don't like asparagus or sauerkraut.

And then there was dessert.

One son's teacher had encouraged his class in learning their multiplication facts by letting them earn parts of an ice cream sundae with each times table they learned. So zeros and ones were a bowl and spoon, twos were a scoop of ice cream, threes were whipped cream, fours were another scoop of ice cream, fives were chocolate sauce, etc. The other son was very jealous of this and wished his teacher did something similar.

She didn't, but I promised him that if he learned all 1,000 sight words (words that have to be learned by sight, because they don't follow standard rules of spelling--like the word "sight") that his teacher wanted them to learn this year, then I would make him his own ice cream sundae bar.

He did, so I did.

A. bought both chocolate and vanilla ice cream. I made salted caramel sauce, chocolate shell (melted chocolate chips+a bit of coconut oil), and whipped cream. I also set out peanuts, chocolate chip cookie chunks, and sprinkles. 

Welcome to the ice cream shoppe.

And then, if I may use a crass but accurate expression, everyone pigged out. I even let them have seconds.

The sight-word boy's bowl.

It was very tasty, very fun, and very satisfying.

Monday

Short version: Freezer fried rice

Long version: This was a last-minute meal after work that came together with a lot of help from the freezers. I had leftover rice in the refrigerator, which is of course what gave me the idea for fried rice. I was going to use the one can of commodities canned pork I still had, but when I went out to one of the big freezers to take out peas, I found a bag of ham I had put in there after Easter. So I used that instead.

Also from the freezer were some of the cooked onions I put in there last week. Those things, plus some broccoli that needed to be used, asparagus from the garden, eggs, soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic powder made for a tasty meal. 

And on a work day, no less! Applause, yes.

Tuesday

Short version: Meatballs, shrimp, spaghetti, green salad with ranch dressing, rhubarb pudding with cream

Long version: I still had some of the shrimp I hadn't cooked on Sunday, so I sauteed that. It wasn't enough for everyone, and everyone doesn't like shrimp anyway, so I also took out some meatballs I had frozen the last time I made meatballs.

I was going to use barbecue sauce on the meatballs, but then the commodities lady stopped by and gave me a lot of Roma tomatoes. They looked nice, but of course they were more or less tasteless. So while the oven was on to cook the meatballs, I roasted some of those tomatoes to make a sauce, with the addition of a pesto cube, a cube of green garlic puree, garlic powder, fresh parsley from the garden, and a bit of balsamic vinegar.

And then, since I had the sauce, I made spaghetti.

The sauce was definitely not as tasty as it would have been with good tomatoes, but it was serviceable.

Wednesday

Short version: Leftover spaghetti and meatballs, green salad with ranch dressing, peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream

Long version: Both the lettuce for the salad and the peach cobbler came from the school cafeteria. I guess that's all I have to say about this meal.

Thursday

Short version: Spaghetti casserole, bull and vegetable skillet

Long version: As I was putting together this totally improvised casserole, I realized I was using many of my own Tuesday Tips. The casserole included DIY shredded asadero cheese, roasted tomato sauce, already-cooked onion, and bull meat from the freezer, plus pureed calabaza from the freezer, leftover spaghetti cut into little pieces, and a little more freshly cooked spaghetti to have enough.

The spaghetti was cooked in a pot I had used for oatmeal and hardboiled eggs already this day, and then used again to cook the asparagus and peas A. and I had. Because I am all about reducing dishes. Lastly, I buttered the casserole dish with one of my saved butter wrappers.

Maybe I should just call it Tuesday Tip Casserole. It was good, anyway.

A. and I had bull meat fried in tallow, with (already-cooked) onion, asparagus, and peas.

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

Growing Food: Rhubarb Pudding Recipe

Well, we are gardening for food here on Tuesdays, so it makes sense to have recipes that use that food, right? Right. And the very first is for one of the very first things to come out of the garden in the spring: rhubarb.

Rhubarb bouquet.

Rhubarb seems to be a polarizing food. People who like it, really like it. And people who don't, really don't.

If you're in the second camp, I am sorry. Come back later. But if you're one of those who really likes rhubarb, this one's for you.

Some back story on this recipe first. It is one that the MiL used to make from an old set of cookbooks she has*. The recipes noted the place of origin, and this recipe was supposedly Pennsylvania Dutch. 

It is not a pudding in the American sense. It's kind of like a crisp, except the topping doesn't have oats or nuts in it. I could not find anything similar to it online, and actually called the MiL to get the recipe. The recipe as written is extremely sweet. The MiL makes it with more rhubarb and less sugar, and so do I. 

Rhubarb Pudding

Ingredients for fruit base

4 cups rhubarb, cut in about inch-long chunks

1 egg

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for topping

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup loose brown sugar (NOT tightly packed)

pinch of salt

1/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes

Method

1) Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and butter a 2-quart casserole dish.

2) Beat the egg with the sugar and salt in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined, then stir the rhubarb into it until it's all mixed together. Put in the buttered dish. (I actually use my 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup to measure the rhubarb, then dump that into the casserole, use the Pyrex to mix the sugar, egg, and salt, and then pour it over the rhubarb so I can mix it together right in the casserole.)

3) In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, and salt, and then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter. Spread this to cover the top of the rhubarb in the casserole.

4) Bake 35-40 minutes. Let cool and serve with cream.

What this makes is an extremely simple but incredibly tasty dessert. The topping reminds me of shortbread, which makes sense, given the ingredients.

Topping and base, ready to be combined.

Notes

1) If you're new to cooking with rhubarb, remember the leaves are toxic and can't be used. Only the stalks are edible.

2) If you want it sweeter, you can up the sugar in both the rhubarb base and topping. The original measurements were for a full cup of sugar for only three cups of rhubarb, and a packed half cup of brown sugar in the topping, so my version about halves the total sugar.

3) You can make whipped cream to top it, but we just pour straight heavy cream right on top. It doesn't need the extra sugar that is typically in whipped cream, and anyway, who wants an extra step before you can start eating?

Puddles of cream are a beautiful sight indeed.

My gift to you, fellow rhubarb lovers. Happy spring.

* I think it was the Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery, although the MiL will have to tell us for sure.

Snapshots: As Seen Around the House

What have we this week? Starting with some tableaux by our lone female child.

She sets these things up and then asks to take a picture. This one is supposed to be for my mother, who gave her all these toys.

And this one, I was told, is for the MiL. 

I also have some more distant photos of lambs:

There has since been another born, so now there are three.

Random mushroom art:

These mushrooms I was cutting up were huge, and I thought the pieces looked like a flower. Sort of. If you squint.

And a morning walk photo:

Casting a very long shadow. 

You can tell from the dead brown in that photo that we have had no rain--zero--and so spring has not really sprung yet. However! We have a pretty good chance of rain early this coming week, so I have some hope that there might actually be some green in future walk photos.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.