Sunday, May 25, 2014

Short Week, sorta

It's never a short week in food prep, right?

So, here we are at the unofficial start of summer...ahh! The pool is open, the swim team season is underway, the boys are sleeping well at night (coincidence? I don't think so).

Monday: Roasted turkey breast, tzatziki or cucumber salad (or both!), stuffing, asparagus

Tuesday: Tacos

Wednesday: Spaghetti

Thursday: chicken, rice, leftover asparagus

Friday: Maybe pizza?

We'll see how the end of the week goes.

Last week I made one of my pinterest pins (finally) for shrimp corn chowder. It was bland but that just made it easier to jazz up. Since I am the only soup eater in the house I won't put it on the sidebar here but it was a yummy basic recipe and very easy to boot.

This is the tzatziki recipe I am trying this week:


Tzatziki

Serves 4
This side-dish works best in the summer and can be served with bread, lamb, vegetables and potatoes. It is a mainstay in middle Eastern cuisine, although we are bringing it here as a Greek dish. Give it a try, close your eyes and picture yourself on a beautiful beach in Antiparos.
Ingredients:1 cup natural yoghurt (greek-style is best, particularly sheep-milk yoghurt)
1 firm cucumber
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
Sea salt
Instructions:Take a bowl and fill it with the yoghurt.
Peel the cucumber, grate it and put it into a separate bowl adding some salt. Let it draw some water and then drain it well by pressing it into a sieve using a large spoon. Add it to the yoghurt. (You can reserve the juice and drink it – it’s delicious and healthy.)
Peel and finely mince the garlic cloves and mix it into the yoghurt mass along with the vinegar, olive oil, mustard and a little salt to taste.
A few finely chopped mint leaves are optional, and taste lovely in the mix.
And of course now that it is almost 80 degrees I am immediately thinking about my detox soup as well. Mmmmmm.

Last week was a bit of a bummer--I made the Joy of Cooking ribs, which we thought were great, but my rib-loving oldest wouldn't eat them. He orders them from restaurants all the time so I am a little bummed out about this. What we are eating is dwindling, dramatically, and it makes me sad. Some of it is me. I am worn down by making lunches and grateful to just put the same thing in the one lunch, and frustrated to the point of wanting to give up on the uneaten lunches on the other side. Right now I try to console myself that I am at leaf getting the highest nutritional punch possible out of what I serve and hope it works out in the end.

I don't mean to end on a melancholy note but that's kind of where I am in the kitchen right now. Wishing you a happy Memorial Day--may it be filled with good memories, new and old.


Saturday, May 17, 2014

For the Record

So, I meant to post what we had for the first communion for future reference.

The only request from the first communicant was buttered noodles (nugget shaped from Wegman's). We made two pounds, put them in a crockpot on "keep warm," and it was plenty.
He didn't care about the rest, so we went with a very Delco Celebration.
-Because he really did care, a medium sized party tray of nuggets from Chik Fil A
-Roy Tweedy's meatball sandwich special
-Wayside Market mini sandwich tray and mini croissant tray (20 each, huge hit, delicious), garden salad (yummy but no one ate it, though it was perfect as a leftover party food item in my fridge for the week)
-Colonial Village dried beef dip and potato salad
-cheese plate (because Mr. Picky loves his cheese) with Ritz and Triscuits
-320 Pico and Chips and fruit salad
-Margarita punch
-Maria's cake
-ah-maaaaaaz-ing cookies from a friend
-chips, pretzels, bugles, Chex Mix
-3 dips--onion, curry, lemon-dill

We were so lucky the weather cooperated, and it all went beautifully.

This week:

Monday: turkey breast, stuffing, broccoli

Tuesday: tacos

Wednesday: spaghetti

Thursday: Pacific Rim Pork with rice

Friday: leftovers, or pesto quinoa for the boys

We came in to a lot of hot dogs (and I mean a LOT--they were for a tailgate that ended up all but rained out) so I was looking for the St. John's Hospice recipes and it encouraged me to clean out my paper recipes and get them coordinated online. I tossed a bunch of stuff (if it called for an ingredient I don't know, it's out--I'm not at a point in my life to be experimenting quite like that) and need to get the rest connected to the blog. I was fascinated, though, to discover just how many of the recipes I'd clipped were from Jenny Rosenstrach, she of my blog obsession, Dinner: A Love Story. I had stuff from Cookie and Real Simple all over the clippings boxes. Happily, many of them are now online, so the clippings are recycled, but I am so glad she has embraced the new media and the interwebs.

Wishing you a good week!

Saturday, May 10, 2014

My Favorite Food Category

So, how was your week? Mine was full of leftover party food. It was bliss. (Many of you know--"leftover party food" is my favorite food category!)

Alas, not so for this week. Mother's Day brunch tomorrow and then actual cooking this week. But the communion, the party, and the leftovers--all wonderful. Now back to reality...

Sunday--I don't care as long as I don't cook it. I made quiches for brunch (classic Betty Crocker quiche Lorraine, thanks to the interwebs, and this spinach quiche (with crust) and this spinach and mushroom quiche (without). The one without, I used the rest of my fat-free yogurt and regular fat sour cream (it's what I had). I couldn't believe all that fit in my pie dish but it did!

Monday--baseball at 6 with a 5:15 call, so Crazy Jane's Chicken, rice, and spinach.

Tuesday--tacos

Wednesday--spaghetti

Thursday--Pacific Rim Pork, rice, maybe broccoli on the side

Friday--hooray for the school's end-of-year party!

Have a great week and Happy Mother's Day to any who celebrate!