Thursday, 7/30/20

Jason sent me a recipe from Bon Appetit last week for "Singapore noodles".  No idea how he stumbled across it. Anyway, they are rice noodles with eggs, vegetables (they used broccoli but I didn't have any. So I used ....zucchini again) and curry powder. I also didn't have rice noodles, but sweet potato noodles (very bouncy). Anyhow, they are pretty good if a little bland. Extra fried shallots, Maggi sauce and sriracha at the table took care of that.

Wednesday, 7/29/20

The problem with burritos for dinner is that everyone likes them but there isn't much to say about it. I did also make a cake in the morning (Jason grumbled about it because it has been so hot. But he bakes bread!). It was a zucchini cake with lemon glaze, from David Lebovitz.  Yellow summer squash worked fine, as did canola instead of olive oil. My glaze was too runny and  slid right off the cake, so I just serve it on the side. Very nice, but I need to be careful not to overbake it next time. It is the tiniest bit dry.

Tuesday, 7/28/20

Butter chicken in the Instant Pot, with spinach added to round it out. The recipe I use (https://ministryofcurry.com/instant-pot-butter-chicken/) works well, with a couple of minor tweaks: I add a bit of cream at the end; I forgot to add tomato paste this time and didn't miss it; and I add a little more spice (cumin, coriander, and a bit of pakora chat). I also felt like it needed a little something at the end, and that turned out to be lemon juice.
I am always irritated with myself when I don't write down enough about what I did with a recipe, so here you go, future Lace.
Also: rice.

Monday, 7/27/20

Bread and cheese and condiments for dinner. Jason made us a nice loaf, and we had ricotta w/ tomatoes, plus brie, cheddar and swiss. The leftover pickled lychees were a surprisingly delicious addition.

Sunday, 7/26/20

Jason made us some little burgers, but I just wasn't feeling it. I think I am sick of eating buns (I normally skip them), but if I don't have a bun it throws off the ratios....Anyway, his other brilliant idea was to use up my IKEA gravy on the tater tots, along with some melted cheese. As far as I am concerned, that it all one needs for dinner. I also served some watermelon but don't think anyone else ate any.

Saturday, 7/25/20

We met my dad and Corrina in Whately for lunch, and Jason and I polished off a lot of pizza. It was cheese pizza from Frontier and it was so good that I ate too many slices. Then we stopped at the Frostie on the way home. So nobody was really hungry for dinner. We ended up having corn off-the-cod, plus a little tomato-mozzarella salad. Too hot to cook anyway.

Friday, 7/24/20

The last sandwich: grilled chicken, fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil. Not much to say, but the grilled chicken was pretty good.

Thursday, 7/23/20

Broccoli subs, from Tyler Kord's sandwich cookbook. Pickled lychees, feta, fried shallots. I remembered that Carter wasn't a fan last time I made these, so I just made him tuna  (that he greatly appreciated).  The farm share was out of broccoli, so they subbed in broccolini. Worked fine. It's a weirdly delicious sandwich.

Wednesday, 7/22/20

Tofu with zucchini, rice and a sauce with soy sauce, sesame, and a lot of chili crisp. Jason made me cook it on the grill, which wasn't ideal, but it turned out OK.

Tuesday, 7/21/20

Grinders with tuna (not tuna salad), hard boiled eggs, tomato, and artichoke hearts. I thought they were pretty good, but the boys were only meh. They don't know anything. 

Plus watermelon.

Monday, 7/20/20

In a slight break from sandwiches, Jason made us a batch of pesto and pasta, and I made a tomato-mozzarella salad. He cooked the pasta (elbows; I thought it was an odd choice but OK) in the Instant Pot so as not to heat up the kitchen, and it actually worked well! Not overcooked at all. Nice summery meal.

Sunday, 7/19/20

For the second sandwich night, I made Italian cold cuts on grinder rolls. I thought this was a pretty easy sell, but somehow Carter HATED his. He said there was too much balsamic vinegar, and one of the meats (the salami? capicola?) tasted terrible to him. I was surprised. Jason and I ate ours without complaint. We also had our first corn of the year. I just sliced it off the cob and microwaved it, a la Catherine Sluter. Sweet, crispy and delicious.

Saturday, 7/18/20

It is the beginning of a heat wave, so planned sandwiches for most of the week. Kicked it off with turkey on rye (that Jason kindly made). Had avocado, Swiss, red onion, mustard and tomato. We also had the zucchini pickles again (how long will I keep trotting them out?) and some fritos. I made a batch of rice pudding for dessert (thank you Instant Pot) that was very nice with some of our raspberries.

Friday, 7/17/20

Aldi has had some fun appetizers in their freezer lately, so we had mini pork dumplings and mini egg rolls. Maybe not the most nutritious meal ever, but certainly delicious. The freezer is looking better, but the fridge is still ridiculous.

Thursday, 7/16/20

The refrigerator is groaning...leftover night. Didn't help that much.

Wednesday, 7/15/20

For my boy Carter I made IKEA meatballs and gravy with mashed potatoes. Easy enough since I prepped in the morning. Served with some pickled zucchini but I am not sure anyone ate any of them.

Tuesday, 7/14/20

Baked chickpeas with pita chips, from SK. A repeat. I didn't actually bake them, just cooked them on the stove; sine i used canned beans, it didn't make much of a difference. I sprinkled a little za'atar on the pita chips; I think they are Jason's favorite part. Since i made the chickpeas and the pita in the morning, and the tahini/yogurt sauce a couple of days ago, this came together very quickly. Just reheated the chickpeas, threw together a quick tomato, mint and cucumber salad, and voila.  Now that I am working again, I am getting back in the groove of planning and prepping. No more looking up from the couch at 4 and saying "What should I make for dinner?".

Monday, 7/13/20

Finished off all of the leftover pizza. Just as good as the first time, plus the advantage of having them all done at once (and less cooking panic from Jason).

Sunday, 7/12/20

I had some broccolini from the farm, along with a lot of beet greens that I couldn't, in good conscience, throw away, so I decided to make a greens/egg dish. Settled on a kuku sabzi ( I basically used the technique from Samin Nosrat in the NYT). Jason made some pita, and I put out a bunch of condiments: feta cheese, sliced tomatoes, a cucumber/tahini sauce, some spicy cucumber pickles I made, and some lime-pickled red onions. Carter declared it "not as good as Pita Pockets", but he ate everything. Jason and I enjoyed it....Persian food has pleasant, unfamiliar flavors which makes for a fun dinner. And with all those condiments, you can really mix it up.

Saturday, 7/11/20

Carter has been requesting "Swedish pancakes".  There was a fair amount of confusion about what he meant by that, but it seems like they are slightly thicker crepes that are then folded into triangles and lightly sauteed in butter? Anyhow, that is how I made them and he could not have been more delighted. Served with some blueberry jam that Jason made, plus bacon. Jason and I thought they were fine, but Carter deemed them a "top five dinner".

Also made a batch of blueberry crumb bars from SK, since we picked so may blueberries. Maybe muffins next (of we ever get through some of the food in our bulging refrigerator).

Friday, 7/10/20

Jason pizza night. Four varieties: tomato and fresh mozzarella (which remains, I think to Jason's consternation, Carter's and my favorite);  onion, goat cheese and prosciutto; pepperoni, hot peppers and mushroom; and a new entry: zucchini, garlic and ricotta. The last one needed a bit more something, but sriracha took care of that. Still enjoying the new, thinner pizzas, and the fact that Jason is letting us you fresh mozzarella now.

Thursday, 7/9/20

Did I make nachos for dinner? Yes I did. I only put cheese on them, and served bean dip, guacamole, peppers and tomatoes on the side, so people could personalize them. I counted guacamole as a vegetable.

Wednesday, 7/8/20

In an attempt not to heat up the house too much, I through the wok on the grill and cooked out there. Took a little longer, but basically worked. Just a tofu and zucchini stir-fry with good old Cravings sauce, plus rice. Carter skipped dinner since we let him practice driving by going to McDonald's and getting some burgers.

Tuesday, 7/7/20

Dinner with Jen and John...two Blue Aprons that were both so complicated that I can't remember everything. Oee had salmon with a sauce with: tamarind, Vadouvan curry, tomato pasta AND ras el hanout. Seemed like a lot happening. That was served over rice that was mixed with some kind of seasoned butter, and then there was a raw zucchini and radish situation, and then fried onions on top of all that.  THEN there was a farro dish with dates, almonds, tomatoes, feta, fried eggs and I don't even remember what else. Blue Apron is going a little over the top! But they were tasty enough. Jason attempted to cook his bread on the grill; the bottom got a little burned but it wasn't entirely unsuccessful. Finally, Jen made a kind of raspberry cobbler. We gave her a hard time (she should maybe have tossed the berries in sugar, and doubled the topping), but no one didn't eat theirs...

Monday, 7/6/20

Jason made little burgers, and fried up some curly fries (both very much Carter-approved). I made a salad (it's the season)  and was the sous chef. Turns out I don't love curly fries that much, but how bad can a french fry be?

Sunday, 7/5/20

Since it was so hot out, I tried using the pressure cooker to make macaroni and cheese. It worked just fine, but it was a very plain recipe (from the Food Network, I think). Somehow not as tasty as baked, but with some toasted panko and some Frank's Red Hot it wasn't bad. Also had a salad that I liked but Carter barely ate. Ungrateful child (although he approved of the macaroni and cheese).

Saturday, 7/4/20

I took the leftover rice, greens and beans and added some grilled chicken and called it a whole new meal. The chicken helped, honestly.

Friday, 7/3/20

I had wanted to make a rice and pinto bean recipe that I came across in yet another Indian cookbook that I brought home (Indian in 7), but Jason wanted some other variant to use up a packet of ramen seasoning?? Anyway, I ended up with a rice and pinto dish with lots of beet greens/chard, which I  thought was only OK. All those greens made it kind of damp. I have been feeling very thwarted by my family, cooking wise.

Thursday, 7/2/20

Late dinner, since I didn't start anything until I got home from work. Worth it, though (as long as you don't ask Carter. He made himself a box of macaroni and cheese).  Zucchini/cheddar fritters, which are made in the oven instead of fried and yet were perfectly crispy and delicious. I made a little sauce with sour cream and adobo to go with them. Then I made a salad out of a bunch of things that needed to go: roasted regular and sweet potatoes, yellow pepper, spinach and cotija cheese, all with a cumin/jalapeno vinaigrette. The salad was quite nice but fritters were the star.

Wednesday, 7/1/20

Jason made a loaf of bread, and I made a sort of minestrone. Channeled my mom's "poor man's soup" and used ground beef, plus a can of white beans that I bought by accident (why does Aldi put the chick peas and white beans in the same box with such similar labeling?), some leftover crushed tomatoes, the last of a box of elbows....Surprisingly, the boys loved it, and it was quick to do in the Instant Pot. I think it was the ground beef that spoke to them. SK chocolate pudding for dessert.

Tuesday, 6/30/20

Chicken biryani, from the "Indian Instant Pot Cookbook". Only a couple of minor changes: chicken breast instead of thighs, and I toasted and ground the whole spices. We just don't love biting down on a whole clove at dinner time. Threw peas in at the end to make it a complete (and tasty) meal.

Monday, 6/29/20

Reluctantly made English muffins, sausage and egg sandwiches. I don't care if we never have them again, frankly.