Friday Food: A Little Bit of Chicken Fried*

Friday 

Short version: Leg of lamb, rice, radishes, soup

Long version: I thawed the last of the boned legs of lamb we had done at the proper butcher awhile ago, then marinated it in olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder, and salt. 

To cook it, I just browned it whole in bacon grease on both sides until it had gotten as crusty as it could without burning, then sliced it and briefly heated the pieces in the pan again, adding more salt and garlic powder at that point.

It was a pretty small roast, and would not have been big enough for all six of us to eat it. However, I had also made soup.

I mostly made the soup because I had made lamb broth several days earlier with a couple of lamb shanks, for a child who wasn't feeling well. I needed to use the broth or freeze it. I've been making stew a lot with the elk and ram, so I decided to do something different.

I used one of the two ham bones that had been in the freezer, simmered that in the broth--with onions and garlic added--then pulled off the meat and chopped it. There was about a cup of ham, to which I added the rest of the pinto beans I had cooked last weekend, diced carrots, the last of the pizza sauce, and rice. At the end, I also added a can of green beans we had gotten with commodities.

A good soup. I ate that, A. ate some with his lamb, and the sick child ate some of the broth with rice.

Saturday

Short version: Soup and bread at home, infinity concessions food at homecoming

Long version: I was with three of the children at homecoming, which is always a very long afternoon and evening. There are three basketball games and the homecoming court coronation. I had one boy playing in one of the games, one girl cheerleading, and one boy on the homecoming court. Due to various circumstances, we ended up rushing out the door to get the basketball player there on time, and I did not have time to get together a bunch of food.

This left me at the mercy of the concession stand. For six hours. With three children.

I must have spent at least $50 for, at various times, two Frito pies, two hamburgers, one hot dog, and assorted chips, candy, and drinks. It was a good reminder that it is totally worth all the somewhat obsessive planning and packing of food that I typically do for outings. 

A. was home with one sick child--luckily, the only child who did not have any part to play in homecoming this year--and they had leftover ham and bean soup and the fresh bread I had made this day.

Sunday

Short version: Tuna/salmon patties, leftover rice, artichokes, salvaged chocolate pudding

Long version: Two 12-ounce cans of tuna, one 14-ounce can of salmon, because we're starting to get salmon from the excess commodities again.

I bought the artichokes last time I was at the store. Because they had them, and one child really loves artichokes. My mother always made a dipping sauce for them with oil, vinegar, and Worcester sauce, and so I do, too.

Everyone knows the best part of the artichoke is the heart. Somehow, my children assume that they eat the leaves, and then give me the heart for my salad. I think we did this once, and now apparently it's tradition. Kids are funny like that. And I'm not complaining.

The pudding was a classic Kristin Following a Recipe mess-up. I somehow read a quarter cup of cornstarch as three quarters of a cup. You can imagine how thick the resulting pudding was. I realized my mistake when I had to gouge it out of the pot. So I put it back in the pot, added more of everything, heated it again, whisked it vigorously, and called it good.

It was good, actually. And we ended up with like a gallon of pudding, which no one complained about. Given the frequency with which I do something so boneheaded in the kitchen, it's a good thing I have the experience to fix it instead of just giving up on it.

I didn't spill any of it, either. Yay me.

Monday

Short version: Tuna-rice skillet, more pudding

Long version: I had some of the uncooked tuna patty mixture left, as well as a lot of rice. So I combined the two, plus already-cooked onion from the refrigerator, mayonnaise, frozen peas, and shredded cheese to make a skillet meal.

I had split the pudding into two containers, saving one for this night.

Sunday pudding on the left, Monday pudding on the right.

It's very nice having chocolate pudding at the end of a long Monday. I recommend it. So do my children.

Tuesday

Short version: Store fried chicken, leftover rice, grape tomatoes, chocolate-chip oatmeal cookie bars

Long version: In a complete departure from our typical meals, we had fried chicken from a grocery store this night. I was in a city to go to the doctor with the child who is soon to have his next foot surgery. We went to the grocery store before we came home, of course, and it was there that I bought the fried chicken, from the deli.

The reason I bought it was because of another child, who went to a Popeye's with A. on one of their adventures and came home raving about the chicken sandwich he had there. It was, I was told, fried chicken, lots of mayonnaise, and dill pickles. I had promised him we would re-create it at home, should we ever have the opportunity.

I don't fry chicken myself if I can avoid it, so I bought the 16-piece chicken offer from the deli, made sure to get dill pickles, and the Popeye's fan was in business. He was SO HAPPY with his sandwich. Sandwiches, in the plural, actually, since he ate two of them.

Everyone else had just the chicken with the leftover rice.

The chicken was not my plan for dinner this night, because I didn't think we'd get home in time for dinner. I had made a spanish tortilla for dinner, but that can sit quite happily in the refrigerator until it's needed.

I screwed up the cookie bars when I added too much of the dry ingredients and not enough butter, so they were kind of dry and crumbly, but no one seemed to have any trouble eating them.

Wednesday

Short version: More chicken sandwiches, lots of leftovers, green salad with vinaigrette, more cookie bars

Long version: Two children had the sandwiches. One had two pieces of plain chicken and some of the leftover tuna-rice skillet. One had a piece of the spanish tortilla. A. had the rest of the tuna-rice skillet and the last piece of leftover lamb. I had a salad with some chicken in it.

This cleaned out many leftovers, which is always satisfying.

Thursday

Short version: Spanish tortilla

Long version: Only half the family was eating, because two children came down the night before with a nasty stomach flu. Another child was at a basketball game. The remaining family members had the spanish tortilla I had made on Tuesday morning. And . . . that was it. I didn't make a vegetable.

Time for a refrigerator peek!

It's full! Because I went to the store on Tuesday.

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

* It's from a song. Of course. This one.

Here Come the Lambs!

On Sunday afternoon, one child came bursting into the house with the exciting news that there were lambs in the pasture. And not only lambs, but triplets.

One, two, three, all in a line.

This is the first time in fifteen years of lambing that we have ever had a ewe have triplets. While exciting, we didn't really expect all three to make it. Sheep have a hard time keeping track of and nursing that many lambs, and we don't bottle feed lambs. 

However, as of yesterday night, all three seemed healthy, so maybe they will all make it.

A set of twins was born Sunday night, as well.

Babies everywhere.

They seemed healthy, too. 

Thankfully, we're in a stretch of notably warm weather, which is what we want for lambing. Even a healthy lamb has a hard time if it's 15 degrees with wind, but in this weather, they don't have any trouble.

We're off to a great start so far with the lambing. There are four more older ewes that should lamb in short order, which means there will be lambs popping all over the pasture in a couple of weeks.

Spring is coming, and so are the lambs.

Update: Two of the triplets were dead this morning, for no particular reason except that they apparently didn't follow their mother overnight, and she didn't go find them. So now we have three live lambs. And that's the way it goes.

Snapshots: All School, All the Time

Since I worked all the days of our four-day school week this week, I spent more time than usual at school. Also, yesterday was homecoming. More school time! I had one cheerleader, one basketball player, and one member of the homecoming court there, all of whom needed special clothing. And all of that required me to be there until the bitter end, after the coronation. Which was after all three basketball games. 

I did not stay for the dance afterwards. It was a community dance, so I could have, but it went from 9 p.m.-midnight, which is way past my bedtime even on days I haven't spent six hours sitting on a hard bleacher with excited children. 

The older two boys wanted to go to the dance. A. had said he would pick them up around 11 p.m., but then he was home sick and already asleep when I got home at 8 p.m. I am still thanking God quite sincerely that my friend with similarly-aged children was going to the dance, drives right past our house on her way home, and offered to bring the boys home after the dance.

Anyway! All this to say that all my photos this week are in and of the school.

Our school is currently under construction, and that means all kinds of inconveniences. So far we have lost Internet, water, and power at various times. One power outage occurred on Monday. We have a generator, but our superintendent asked us to conserve power while it was running, so I turned off the lights in the hallway leading to my kitchen-office.

It actually looked way darker in real life. And somewhat alarming, with the red exit sign glowing at the end.

On Tuesday, I was substituting for our special ed. teacher, who is also the cheer coach. She asked me if I could organize the new cheer uniforms, unwrapping them, sorting them, and putting together bags for each girl using the size chart she gave me.

There are five pieces to each uniform--undershirt, undershorts, overshirt, skirt, and giant hair bow--and thirteen cheerleaders. 

A table full of cheer. (Ha.)

It was surprisingly difficult, but I managed in the end. And I only forgot one girl's undershirt.

On Thursday, I substituted in the phrase-cube classroom. This was my mandate for the day.

Can't make me.

I was definitely not smiling when I saw the instructions for the day's third-grade math lesson on fractions. It involved various sizes of paper, modeling clay, and cups of water, all to be laid out in stations.

Thankfully, the teacher had already cut the paper to size for me, so I just had to organize it all, label it, and lay it out. This took me the entire fifteen minutes of the first recess.

Also thankfully, the other teachers' aide comes in at math time and actually did the lesson with them. It seemed to be just as complicated in the execution as it was in the set-up, but the kids thought it was really fun.

Oh, I do have one non-school photo! Sort of. This is what I was staring at for an hour and a half on my way to the basketball game last Friday.

I did not see a single other vehicle for 62 miles. I did see one coyote and a whole lot of antelope, though.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Catch as Catch Can

I ended up substituting on both of my usual days off this week, so it was a bit of scramble to get everyone fed every night. I did it, though, obviously.

Friday 

Short version: Lamb stew, cheese, leftover cornbread at home, and cookies; tuna salad, cheese, cookies, and chocolate milk on the road

Long version: I left at 1 p.m. to go to a far away basketball game. Before I left, I made lamb stew. It was pretty standard, except I threw in the last tablespoon or so of green tomato salsa that had been hanging out in the refrigerator. This was not popular as a salsa, but as a flavor booster, it works pretty well.

Due to a lack of easy breakfast options in the morning--out of milk, out of bread, only a couple of eggs left--I made a big pan of cornbread for breakfast. There was some left over, so the home crew had that with the stew.

The basketball game ended at 5 p.m. I knew if we ate in town, we wouldn't get home until pretty late, so I brought food to eat in the car. For the basketball player, there were tuna salad, crackers, and cookies.

I had gone to the grocery store before the game, and there I got the chocolate milk for the boy, as well as rice cakes and cheese for my dinner. I didn't have a knife with me, so I bought the pre-sliced squares of cheese. My children were fascinated by this cheese. They didn't know such things existed.

Sheltered lives they lead.

Saturday

Short version: Pork, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli

Long version: The standard slow-cooked pork roast, shredded and broiled in its own fat with mustard and maple syrup.

The boy who used to get so full after half a baked potato that he couldn't finish his dinner can now eat a whole potato plus his dinner, and still be hungry.

Growth spurts are real.

Sunday

Short version: Pizza, cucumbers, pumpkin pie with whipped cream

Long version: One cheese pizza, one with cheese and pepperoni. I always have to make ranch dressing for the pizza now, so I figured cucumbers would be a good addition to that.

I made the pumpkin pie with the single pie crust that was left after I made a double recipe and only used one for our New Year's pecan pie. I also already had a bag of pureed squash in the freezer, to which I added the rest of the ingredients for this pie.

The crust went all wonky during the blind baking and sort of slid down inside the pie plate in a few places, but I pressed it back up and over the pie plate before it got all the way baked. The pie was delicious, despite this.

Monday

Short version: Leftover pizza, baked beans, raw radishes, pumpkin custard with more whipped cream

Long version: I had the equivalent of one whole pizza left over, so I just put that all on one pan and put the whole thing in the refrigerator. Then all I had to do after work was heat it up in the oven again.

I had made the baked beans the day before, because I cooked a pound of pinto beans and one child had been asking for baked beans. I am aware they are not a typical accompaniment to pizza. Oh well.

The pumpkin custard was the pumpkin pie filling that didn't fit in the pie itself. I always make the whole recipe anyway, and then just bake the extra in a small casserole dish to have as a custard. Some of the family actually prefers the custard without the crust, so it all works out.

I made more whipped cream, a task that is much less annoying in small quantities when I use my immersion blender. I just have to be careful not to overwhip it, because it goes from liquid to really thick very quickly after a minute.

Tuesday

Short version: Pork and bean quesadillas, cucumbers

Long version: I found out the day before that I needed to substitute this day, and I didn't have enough leftovers for another meal. I did, however, have a small bag of pork in the freezer from a picnic roast I made awhile ago, and some of the plain pinto beans I had cooked on Sunday. So I combined the two with spices and salsa to make a filling. It was about equal parts pork and beans. That's what I used, along with cheese, to make the quesadillas.

The flour tortillas were store-brand ones I had bought when I went to the basketball game last weekend. I don't think I had ever bought these before, because I was surprised at their size. They barely fit in my 14-inch skillet.

Tight fit. It made it kind of hard to flip them.

Wednesday

Short version: Chorizo and potato skillet, raw radishes

Long version: I typically rely quite heavily on ground meat during weeks I have to work a lot and thus don't have as much time to cook. The only ground meat I have left at the moment is elk chorizo, so I took a bag of that out to thaw while I was at work this day.

When I got home, I microwaved a bunch of potatoes to cook them most of the way, then chopped them and fried them in butter with the chorizo, some already-cooked onion from the refrigerator, and grated cheese.

The one child who doesn't like chorizo had the very last of the tuna salad from Friday in a tuna quesadilla, which is like a tuna melt, except using corn tortillas instead of bread.

And I had a very interesting item that came from the excess commodities delivered the day before. It was a little self-contained ceasar salad kit, in its own little bowl with a little fork and everything. Clearly the sort of thing purchased for those eating on the go. I was not really on the go, and this is not something I would ever purchase, but it was fun to try it for free from commodities. It included a little cup of dressing, but too much of it, and diced chicken, but not enough of that. So to up the protein, I used only half the dressing and added pecans. It wasn't bad.

Thursday

Short version: Leftovers, eggs, carrot sticks with ranch dip

Long version: I had to go to the basketball game twenty miles away right after work, so I didn't get home until about 5:30 with the basketball player. There were some leftovers from the chorizo and potatoes, and some baked beans, but not enough of either.

To fill everything in a bit, I scrambled half a dozen eggs, and added bread and butter. Also the last of the ranch dressing from pizza night for their carrot sticks.

And now, a refrigerator check-in.

Less empty than previous weeks. 

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

A Question for You

If you've been reading here a (very) long time, you might remember that I used to do Audience Participation Days sometimes, wherein I ask a question of you. I'm going to do it again today, because, well, I have a question for you.

As you know, our pipes froze last week and we were without water for a few days. It was irritating, but not the end of the world. We knew the pipes would thaw sometime. Several of my co-workers and our neighbors had water issues too, so we could all commiserate together.

Random old photo that has nothing to do with the subject at hand, but a nice (patriotic) sunrise nonetheless.

My family, however, was sort of horrified that we temporarily didn't have any water. It occurred to me that never once in my childhood or young adulthood had I ever been without water for longer than short power outages. Now it seems normal to me to sometimes go without running water for short periods of time, but that's because I've lived rurally for so many years.

So this is my question for you: Have you ever been without running water? For how long?

Snapshots: Milk 'n' Stuff

So what happened this week besides our pipes freezing? Let's see . . .

A. went on an overnight adventure last weekend with one of the boys, and he bought some milk while they were gone. It was so wee and funny looking in comparison to the gallons that I always have to buy. 

Look how cute!

A random shot of the rime we had last weekend . . .

Rime on a rusty gate. There's a cowboy poem in there somewhere.

My temporary office at work isn't connected to the main heating system, which is not so good in these days of single digit temperatures. I was thoughtfully provided with a little space heater, though, and the name is very amusing to me.

 

I like to think my office is a multifun kind of place.

And last, in a real sign of our times, I took a selfie while I was on Zoom.

Waiting for a student who never showed up, that is. I didn't interrupt my meeting to take a picture of myself. That would have been really strange.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Even Without Running Water

Had take-out been an option for me, I would certainly have taken it this week. Since it's not, however, this is what I did . . .

Friday

Short version: Sausage, leftover spaghetti, carrot sticks with ranch dip

Long version: We had a lot of spaghetti left from Wednesday, and A. had taken the child who didn't like it on an adventure, so we finished that. I supplemented that with the last package of smoked sausage from the freezer, and the last of the ranch dressing to go with some carrot sticks.

Saturday

Short version: Elk stew, cheese, garlic bread

Long version: I was making bread this day, and had been planning all day to make pizza with some of the dough. But then we got home from an extensive cleaning session at church that involved putting away all the boxes of Christmas decorations and . . . I just didn't want to deal with pizza.

The way I make it is a lot of work, and I didn't want to do it. So there.

I had made the stew in the morning, thinking I would eat it and then would have it for another night, but instead I made garlic bread with some of the bread dough and served that with the stew.

Good thing I hadn't told anyone I was planning on pizza. They would not have been pleased with the change in plans.

Sunday

Short version: Ham, rice, black-eyed peas, frozen green peas, pots de creme

Long version: While digging through one of the chest freezers last month, I came across a container of black-eyed peas I had made several months ago. I considered using them on New Year's Day instead of making another pot of them, but I decided to save them for some other time.

This was the time. 

The ham was one I had bought around Christmas when they were pretty cheap. 

Oh, and I should note that when I make the pots de creme now, I leave out the extra sugar entirely. The chocolate chips provide all the sugar it needs. In my opinion, anyway.

Monday

Short version: Leftovers, granola, bread and butter

Long version: This was the day I came home from work to find no running water. I had been planning on making cornbread to go along with the leftover ham and black-eyed peas, because there wasn't enough rice left for everyone, but I didn't want to dirty the several dishes used to make the cornbread. 

So instead I microwaved two potatoes, chopped them up, and fried them along with the ham while it was re-heating. 

A couple of kids had granola and yogurt after dinner, too, and they all had bread and butter.

I forgot this night that I had paper plates stashed somewhere for camping, so we used regular plates. But from the next morning on, we used paper plates. I hate paper plates. So floppy and annoying.

Good eggs, bad plate.

Tuesday

Short version: Tamales, cookies

Long version: Still no water, still didn't want to make a bunch of dishes. I had taken out some cube steaks to thaw, but decided the better option would be to steam the extra tamales I had frozen on Epiphany. 

After washing an entire counter's worth of dirty dishes earlier in the day with about two gallons of water carried in buckets and boiled on the stove, I was very motivated to conserve dishes as much as possible.

We had grape tomatoes, grated cheese, and lettuce to top them with, along with salsa, hot sauce, and the last of the sour cream. A nice dinner, although one I would have preferred to have saved for a night when I didn't have a lot of inclination to cook, instead of using them on a day when I was home and had the time. Oh well. 

I did make cookies earlier in the day, but I make cookies so frequently that I knew I could do it with minimal dishes. One bowl, one measuring cup, one spoon, and one pan. They were chocolate chip-peanut butter-oatmeal-almond cookies, and they were much appreciated. Worth the four dishes.

Wednesday

Short version: Bull and potato skillet, frozen peas, tamales, granola, cookies

Long version: The chunk of ham that was in the refrigerator when I went to work was not there when I got home, so I had to figure out something else to do with the several potatoes I was microwaving and planned on frying with the ham. Luckily, I had a small bag of processed bull meat in the freezer, so I used that with the potatoes instead, also adding some already-cooked onion that was in the refrigerator, garlic powder, paprika, chile powder, and shredded cheese.

To fry this, I used the big cast iron skillet I had used Monday for the ham. I never washed it, and I just used it again. And didn't wash it. Again. This is called "seasoning." Ahem.

I also didn't wash the smaller skillet I use to fry my eggs in the morning since, um, Monday. Whatever. It's just butter in there.

The bull and potatoes were all eaten before the basketball player got home, but I did have some leftover tamales. Good thing, because he ate FIVE tamales, and then used his milk cup to eat some granola (dishes conservation!), and THEN had a big piece of bread with peanut butter.

An impressive showing. I foresee a growth spurt and another round of buying shoes and jeans in my near future.

Thursday

Short version: Cube steaks, potatoes, carrots, brownie

Long version: Third use for the big cast iron skillet that I hadn't washed the night before. I used it to brown and then simmer the cube steaks in a tomato sauce. When the cube steaks were mostly done, I put some sliced carrots and potatoes in there with them and baked it until everything was tender.

An all-in-one sort of meal.

And then I really needed to wash the skillet. And I could! Because we had water! YAY. I even washed the egg skillet. Going crazy with the power of water.

The brownies were a very last-minute decision, since the oven was on anyway to cook the potatoes and carrots. I thought it would be nice to have something celebratory for our great water triumph.

Let's check in on the contents of my refrigerator, shall we?

Lotta cheese, not much else. Good thing I have to go to a basketball game today in a town with a grocery store.

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