Friday Food: Leftovers Every Day

Friday 

Short version: Pot roast, gravy, egg noodles, raw carrots, leftover steamed carrots and broccoli

Long version: The pot roast gravy was made with cornstarch and milk (and the meat juices, of course), and it was good, but cornstarch just doesn't make as thick and nice a gravy as flour does.

Every child had a raw carrot before dinner, because they just couldn't wait to eat something. Carrots work.

Saturday

Short version: Leftover white chicken chile or barbecue beef sandwiches, green salad, frozen peaches and peas

Long version: I made bread in the afternoon, which meant the main course of dinner was really just a complement to fresh bread. So some had the barbecue beef (leftover pot roast simmered with barbecue sauce) and some had the chile, but all had the bread.

The children had the frozen peaches and peas while I was making dinner and they were whining about being hungry. I invited them to browse among the frozen produce in the small freezer, and half had frozen peaches while the other half had frozen peas.

Remember when I suggested front-loading produce to get kids to eat more of it? As you can see, I really do practice what I preach on this one.

Sunday

Short version: Bunless cheeseburgers, pasta with pesto, green beans, leftover broccoli, crispy rice treats

Long version: I still have quite a few cubes of frozen pesto in the freezer from the summer, for the simple reason that I have a hoarding mentality about it and hate to actually start using it. Which is, of course, crazy.

Anyway. I used some, and it was good. As were the green beans, which were also garden produce frozen at the height of summer.

It's always fun to have garden food in the deadest of winter.

Monday

Short version: Pot roast tacos

Long version: Since I had the oven on anyway, I cooked two chuck roasts on Saturday. The one I didn't use that night I sliced and saved for this after-work meal. All I did with the meat was fry it with cumin, chile powder, and salsa. Tasty, and very quick.

Tuesday

Short version: Scrambled eggs with cheese, leftover taco meat, bread and butter, carrot sticks with curry dip

Long version: We ended up going to the school basketball game unexpectedly, which meant I wasn't home to make dinner. So, when we got home at 6 p.m. with four starving kids, it was scrambled eggs to the rescue!

Those who don't really like scrambled eggs had the meat.

Wednesday

Short version: Lamb gyros with homemade sourdough pita bread, hummus, yogurt sauce, green salad

Long version: I go along making boring old hamburgers and random leftovers into meals and then . . . I do this. 

It all started with a boned leg of lamb (ram, actually) that I pulled out of the freezer. I cut the nicest part of that into strips and marinated them in olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder, and salt.

Then I made the pita bread. 

Then I made the yogurt sauce with plain yogurt, minced garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

The hummus was the last of the double-batch I made some time ago. I had one more container of it in the freezer, and I figured this was the perfect time for it. (This was the day's leftover, I guess.)

Butter lettuce with vinaigrette (the dressing was also actually a leftover) and . . . well. I don't like to brag, but you would have wanted to eat this meal.

It would have been even better with the cucumbers and tomatoes that were supposed to come in my Misfits Market delivery this day, but given that it looked like this outside all day, I can't say I was surprised FedEx didn't make it to my house:

Luckily, we weren't relying on FedEx to deliver Samson's hay.

This may have been one of the most delicious meals to come out of my kitchen in some time, but it was also definitely one of the messiest.

No such thing as a spatter guard for a griddle pan.

Thursday

Short version: Lamb stew, bunless cheeseburgers, frozen peas

Long version: The gnarlier bits from the leg of lamb went into this stew, along with potatoes and carrots and peas. Half the family ate the stew, half ate the cheeseburgers I made with the remainder of the ground beef from a few days ago. The latter group also had some potatoes from the stew, and still-frozen peas.

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

T.T.: Oddly Wholesome Movies

This is kind of weird, but you know what's a really good group of movies for kids?

The Ernest movies. 

If you're old enough, you probably remember Ernest from the 1980s. I didn't even watch them, but even I knew who Ernest was. Apparently, they continued making the movies into the 1990s, and there are quite a few of them. Some of them are free on YouTube or Prime. 

I randomly put on Ernest Saves Christmas a few weeks ago for the kids, without much hope that they would all like it. I figured Cubby might, but I wasn't sure about the others. They almost never all like the same movies. That happens when there's an 8-year age span.

Imagine my surprise when all of them loved it. So the next time they got to watch a movie, I put on Ernest in the Army. They loved that even more.

I know they all liked it because every one of them came to tell me their favorite parts in great detail after the movies were over. 

They're kind of stupid movies, in the sense that the comedy is almost entirely physical. 

But! BUT!

It's not inappropriate comedy. It's not scatalogical; it's not mean; it's not snarky; it's not subtly sexual; it doesn't rely on bad language. It's just . . . falling down and throwing heavy pancakes as artillery and so on. It's slapstick, and it's fine for kids.

I find that frustratingly rare in entertainment, even in entertainment that's supposed to be for kids.

So! If you find yourself scrambling for truly family-friendly entertainment, you might try Ernest. I haven't watched all of them, so I can't really personally vouch for every single one, but the two we've watched so far have been hits.

Bonus movie tip: Every one of my children also likes The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, a.k.a., the original Pooh movie. That's another entirely wholesome movie for kids, though not free anywhere online as far as I know. It's funny without being at the expense of any of the characters. I don't know why movies like this can't be made anymore, but it's pretty unique.

Amateur Librarian Seeks . . .

Book recommendations. And here's why.

I was asked to put together a library for the middle and high school students at our school, and I'm pretty much starting from scratch. 

In addition, I'm adding to the existing small elementary library. 

This means I'm buying books. Lots of books. 

A. has suggested quite a few books, particularly for the older students. My older two children--who are prodigious readers themselves--have suggested quite a few books. I've ordered a few dozen books, and have about a hundred more on a list that I'm preparing to order.

But I still have room on that list for more, and I'm sure there are some really great books that I'm missing.

So! If you were in my position, what books do you think you would consider essential for a school library? Any ages, any genres, non-fiction, fiction, modern, classic . . . it's all fair game.

GO. (And thanks!)

Snapshots: Winter, Finally

We've gone through most of the calendar winter at 60 degrees with high winds. Boo. But now, it finally looks (and feels) like real winter.

Snow on the road.

Snow on the horse.

Snow on the sheep.

The only uncovered window in the living room faces east, which means the best light of the day in there is as soon as the sun comes up.

My early-rising habits ensure that I am always awake to see it.

That first light coming in through the window creates areas of light that look just like a Dutch painting.

Vermeer would have loved New Mexico.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: In Which I Brand Myself

Friday 

Short version: Bunless cheeseburgers, fresh bread, raw radishes and tomatoes, baked apples with cream

Long version: I was actually planning on giving the kids leftover lentil soup, but I took pity on them at the last minute and made the cheeseburgers instead. 

Dodged a bullet there, kids.

A. and Calvin were gone to the city for hunter education, so I made a dessert for the children left at home. Although baked apples are a sort of pseudo-dessert, since they're actually relatively healthy. Also easy, since I've been using the bags of pre-peeled and sliced apples that I froze in the fall when I had boxes of apples on hand.

Definitely need to do that again this fall.

Saturday

Short version: Giant baked spaghetti, green salad with vinaigrette

Long version: There seem to be infinity boxes of spaghetti coming with the commodities deliveries, lately, many of which have been passed along to us. Last time I made spaghetti, I only made half a box, and it was not enough. This time I made the whole box, and filled an entire 9x13 Pyrex with it, plus a meat sauce.

I made it ahead of time because this was our one weekend a month where we have Saturday Mass and don't get home until after 5 p.m. It makes for a late start to preparing dinner, so I try to have something made ahead of time.

Not a problem this time, however, as we all got in the Honda to go to church and found it was dead as the proverbial doornail. And without A. or the van here, I was very disinclined to try to jump-start it myself using the school bus.

Pile out, kids! No church this weekend for us!

It made for plenty of time to bake the spaghetti, though. And the children were very pleased with the great quantity on hand.

Sunday

Short version: Oven-fried chicken, roasted potatoes, cucumbers with salt and vinegar, very lazy chocolate fondue

Long version: The travelers weren't returning until after dinner, so I decided to use the bag of extra rooster legs in a yogurt marinade I had put in the freezer last time I made this. There were only six, which would definitely not be enough for the whole family, but was enough for the reduced family.

The chocolate "fondue" was chocolate chips melted in the microwave with a bit of coconut oil, and half a graham cracker and a marshmallow each for dipping. A very popular--and easy--dessert option.

Monday

Short version: Tacos, bacon and egg sandwiches, frozen peas

Long version: I didn't have quite enough leftover taco meat for everyone, so I made bacon and fried egg sandwiches for A. and Cubby. 

Exciting? No. Tasty and filling? Definitely.

Possibly how Samson and Bill feel about hay. It's not as good as fresh grass, but it does the job.

Tuesday

Short version: Pork, corn on the cob, steamed broccoli, roasted beets, oatmeal cookies

Long version: Pork butt, cooked slow then pulled apart and fried in the rendered lard. The best way to eat this cut, in my opinion, because then it's tender, but not wet.

The corn on the cob was courtesy of Calvin, who gave A. some suggestions when they stopped at the grocery store on their way home from hunter education.

Broccoli and beets courtesy of Misfits Market.

I had the beets in a cast-iron skillet in the oven (that is, the foil-wrapped beets, just so no juice would drip onto the oven floor), which I pulled out of the oven and put on the stovetop while I was checking on the pork. When I leaned down to pull the pork out of the oven, my cheek touched the handle of the skillet that was slightly sticking out from the stovetop. The cast-iron handle of the cast-iron skillet that had just been in the oven.

OW.

It only hurt for a couple of hours, and isn't bad enough to have blistered or anything, but I do have an inch-long mark on my face, right near my ear, that is pretty noticeable, and will likely be there awhile given how long burns take to heal completely. 

So, yeah. I essentially branded myself.

In my long and varied history of cooking burns, this one takes the cake.

I made the cookies because the kids needed snacks to bring to school. I just used my standard chocolate chip recipe, except I substituted some whole wheat flour (I have about 20 pounds of it from secondary commodities that I'm trying to use up), oats (ditto commodities), peanut butter, and walnuts. 

Actually, those last two were commodities items, as well. If I made these cookies with raisins instead of chocolate chips, I could just use all commodities items and call them Commodities Cookies.

Except not all my kids will eat raisins in cookies, so I guess not.

Wednesday

Short version: Leftover spaghetti for the kids, leftover pork and a potato for the adults, cucumbers with salt and vinegar for all

Long version: I had planned this meal of leftovers for Wednesday because that's a work day for me. When we ended up staying home for our snow/Zoom day, it made for a very easy meal anyway.

Snow!

Thursday

Short version: White chicken chile, cornbread

Long version: I had never actually had white chicken chile before, but I had some vague idea it included white beans, which I have a bag of thanks to (CAN YOU GUESS?) commodities.

When I looked up recipes, I found that it's one of those popular recipes that rely on cans of things and rotisserie chickens. Often in a slow cooker.

Those sounded good, and certainly quick, but who wants quick when it's 61 degrees in the kitchen and simmering chicken carcasses all day provides some much-needed warmth?

So I started with the saved carcasses of two meat chickens that I had roasted in the summer. When I had removed most of the meat from those after roasting them, I put the remaining bones in the freezer, labeled "chicken for stock." Those two carcasses went in a pot with onion, celery, carrot, bay leaf, and peppercorns and simmered a couple of hours. After which I strained the stock off and returned it to the pot with some of the dried navy beans.

That cooked until the beans were soft. Meanwhile, I picked the remaining chicken off the bones and dumped that (about two cups) in with the beans, along with a sauteed diced onion and garlic cloves, three frozen cubes of the green chile sauce I made last Mother's Day, some cumin, oregano, and salt. 

Simmer, simmer, simmer, add sour cream and milk at the end.

If I ever write a cookbook, I'll call it Fifteen-minute Recipes Ready in Seven Hours.

It was good, though. And the magic of soup is that you can start with two throw-away chicken carcasses and a cup of dried beans, feed everyone, and still end up with almost a gallon of soup left over:

Stone soup, indeed.

Although I did end up frying yet more of the pork for those in the family who aren't too thrilled with soup. Or who can't eat too many beans.

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

Remote Living: Snow Days

I woke up to at least four inches of snow this morning, which began the flurry of phone calls to the tune of "Will the School Buses Be Running Today?"

Patiently waiting for the answer.

In New York, school superintendents made the call regarding snow days based on whether the plows would be able to keep up with the weather. But that strategy is dependent on the roads actually being plowed at some point.

That is not the case here.

We do have snowplows here, but far fewer of them, and they don't even try to plow most of the roads in the county. Because there is only one paved road. That road is kept pretty clear, but all the innumerable dirt roads, to say nothing of the lanes and long, long dirt driveways that lead only to one ranch house? They don't even try to plow those. If you live at the end of a seven-mile dirt driveway, you get out in your 4-wheel drive, or not at all.

Most of our students are in the latter situation. A.'s bus route is over 100 miles every day. Exactly zero of the kids on that bus route live on the paved road. Almost half of the route is on unimproved dirt roads. 

And in addition to all of that, each of the buses (there are only two) has to go up and down a steep hill with switchbacks.

This is why, when we have snow or other bad weather, the superintendent calls the bus drivers to see if they think they can safely run their routes.

This morning, the answer was no. 

The sign says it all.

Luckily for the school in this age of COVID, all of the students have their own laptops, so it's easy to send the kids home with their computers when the forecast calls for inclement weather, and then make the call for virtual schooling in the morning.

Unluckily for the kids in this age of COVID, that means no more snow days.

It is much safer, though, and less nerve-wracking for the bus drivers. Because driving unplowed dirt roads for a hundred miles is no one's idea of a good time.

T.T.: The Island of Misfit Produce

Now that I've gotten three different Misfits Market boxes--and, perhaps more importantly, actually took a photo of one--I feel like I can give a pretty honest review of the service*.

Here's how it works: First, you have to check if they deliver to you. I can't tell you how shocked I was when Jack's friend's mom told me she gets it. She lives waaaaay out there on a remote ranch, so if they deliver to her, the definitely deliver to me.

Then you sign up for an account. You can place orders within a three-day window. You can set it up to have a Google calendar notification (or another calendar--there are I think three options) when you can start "building" your box, and they'll also send an e-mail notification.

Then you start shopping. There are pantry items along with produce and other things. A $30 minimum is required to complete an order. Payment will be automatically charged to the card you provide when you sign up, but if you don't put $30 worth of stuff in your order, the order won't be completed and you won't be charged. There are no weekly fees or anything. You only pay for what you put in the box, and only if you hit $30.

You don't have to order every week, either, just whenever you want. I've been getting a box every two weeks.

The produce can be combined with a wide variety of pantry items to reach the $30 minimum for an order. There are also things like meats, seafood, and dairy, but those have a separate $30 minimum for what they call a "cold pack."

So! Those are the details. And here are the specifics of how it has worked for me.

I've ordered two boxes of just produce. (I haven't tried any pantry items yet.) The vegetables are, for the most part, not wrapped in anything, which I love. I hate having to buy vegetables wrapped in layers of plastic at the store. The Misfits box looks like the CSA boxes we used to get. Most of the vegetables are just kind of in there.

With the exception of things like those tomatoes.

The boxes themselves are very, very sturdy. The entirety of the order within the box is wrapped in a sheet of brown paper with shredded cardboard or something sandwiched between it, for insulation. I'm not entirely sure what the shredded stuff is in the middle of the paper layers, but I do know it's all entirely burnable. Or, if you live in a normal place where you don't burn things, recyclable. Each box has one ice pack in it, and the produce both times has arrived to me still cool and not at all wilted. Even the lettuce and beet greens.

The produce in general is very good quality (with the exception of the Very Sad Pineapple). The apples have had a couple of dings in them, but they haven't been soft or notably bruised, and they don't start to rot or anything. It's all lasted two weeks once I get it with no problem. All of the produce is listed as organic.

The box pictured above was $39.45, and contained a head of cabbage, four beets--two of which were the size of softballs--three cucumbers, a small bag of snow peas, two pints of grape tomatoes, two big heads of butter lettuce, six huge Fuji apples, one big head of broccoli, and a bunch of radishes. That's a pretty good haul of produce, and it will last us two weeks.

One person signed up using my referral code a few weeks ago--thanks, Martha!--and I decided to put my credit towards one of the "cold packs." I don't have a picture of that one, but it contained Parmesan cheese, frozen cod, and frozen shrimp. The seafood is all labeled wild-caught. It came packaged in a plastic insulating bag with two extra cold packs, and was still completely frozen when it arrived. I'm saving the seafood for Cubby's birthday and Lent, so I can't speak to the quality of it yet. 

The quality of everything has so far been much higher than the things available at our local stores. Which is a pretty low bar, to be honest, especially for produce.

So is it worth it? For me, that's an all-caps YES. Being over 100 miles from a store means that we are almost always very low on fresh produce, because we just don't go to the store that often. Misfits Market carries things I can't easily find even when we do go to the store. The quality is better than what I can find locally. The prices are very in-line with organic produce. And I really appreciate how they've tried very hard to limit the plastic in their packaging.

Basically, if someone had set out to create a service that perfectly solves a problem in my particular life, they couldn't have done a better job.

Is it worth it for you? Well, I don't know. If you live far from stores like me, almost certainly. Or if the stores you can get to don't routinely carry organic, wild-caught, or fair trade items, and that's important to you, this might be a good option. If you're trying to stay out of stores for whatever reason, then also yes. Only you can answer the question of whether it would make sense for you, but if any of the above circumstances apply to you, I definitely recommend it.

And if you do decide to try it, you can use this link for $10 off (and a $10 credit to me, hooray for more vegetables!).

A sight that never fails to make me happy. I hope it makes you happy, too.

* No, they are not paying me. But if you click on that link, it will use the referral code linked to my account, which will get your $10 off your order, and me a $10 credit.