Saturday, 10/30/21

 Jen made her squash/wild rice/pecan casserole (delicious), Jason made a loaf of rye-ish bread and I made a chocolate cream pie. I used the filling from my usual Cook's Illustrated recipe, but with a pastry crust instead of the Oreo crust they used.  Fun dinner and company.

Friday, 10/29/21

 Jason was in the mood for ramen, so I had a nasi goreng pack (with a ton of spinach) and he had regular old ramen with cabbage and fried egg. At least I had a made a nice dessert: snickerdoodle bars from "Midwest Made". I was leafing through the book in the morning and had to stop and maker a batch the minute I came across the recipe. Everyone else says they are more like a dense cake, but I am stubbornly insisting that they are bars. Tasty either way.

Thursday, 10/28/21

 Just leftovers.

Wednesday, 10/27/21

Tomato soup (with cheddar on the side) and a batch of dinner rolls. I honestly just wanted dinner rolls (thanks, Jason!) and looked for some entrée that would justify it. Worth it.

Tuesday, 10/26/21

 Quinoa and black bean bowls, with avocado, pineapple salsa and roasted delicata squash. I used the IP for the beans; they turned out so well. Carter said with surprise, "this is actually good". Thanks, kid.

Monday, 10/25/21

 Chicken curry, from a big batch I made Saturday. Turned out more like a soup ( I should have used a little roux) but it tasted pretty good. Used up some sweet potatoes and cauliflower from Jason's farm, which was nice. Served with basmati rice, and, unexpectedly, popovers. Jason is still working on that. They keep sticking, yet he continues to ignore my advice. Oh well, they taste fine and Carter loves them.

Sunday, 10/24/21

 A broccoli and cheddar quiche (no real recipe. I kind of used the proportions from a SK recipe, except I swapped in some leftover ricotta for the called for cream cheese. Pate brisee recipe from Martha Stewart). Jason and I also had an arugula salad. In a shocking twist, Carter complimented my pie crust! I will say, it was perfectly flaky for once. 

Saturday, 10/23/21

 We had some leftover gravy in the fridge, so Jason requested cheesy fries with gravy. I mean, of course that was tasty, but...

If we had a vegetable, I don't remember what it was. Maybe some cauliflower?

Friday, 10/22/21

 Corrina and Zac came for dinner, which was a real treat. And not just because they brought Frontier pizza. Jason made some pretzels that he wasn't too thrilled with (once again I find myself thinking: if only I could do this myself!), and I made a serviceable pumpkin pie with a graham cracker crust. As much as I love a graham cracker crust, I think it would have been better served by a standard pastry. Oh well.

Thursday, 10/21/21

 I had Jason make a loaf of raisin walnut bread, and so we had that with cheese, mostly. I think we also had some cauliflower but I can't remember for sure. Maybe some apple, too? Apparently a very forgettable meal.

Wednesday, 10/20/21

 Made a Deb Perlman recipe that called for ground pork and asparagus over rice; I used ground beef, green beans and noodles. And omitted the Chinese rice wine. And added cilantro and peanuts. So it was a pretty broad adaptation to be sure.  A little greasy, but good flavors, especially with extra chili crisp at the table.

Tuesday, 10/19/21

 Fish sticks (I had intended to make my own but Aldi was out of all white fish so...meh), rice, roasted cauliflower. Finally found the perfect use for our borrowed air fryer! They came out perfectly. Say what you will about frozen fish sticks; when they are nice and crunchy and you have a spicy cocktail sauce to go with them, they make an excellent meal. 

Monday, 10/18/21

I was not inspired to do anything with tofu until I came across a recipe in the Times for a sheetpan tofu with ramen noodles and baby bok choy. I was low on hoisin sauce (one of the main ingredients for the tofu marinade) but I just added some mirin and a little bit of brown sugar and that worked out fine.  Using ramen in that way was fun: parts developed a little crunch and they got a lot of flavor from the marinade. I didn't have bok choy but Jason brought me some kale from the farm and that worked well (blanched ahead of time).

Sunday, 10/17/21

 Popovers with a creamy chicken-broccoli filling (that I made Saturday). The popovers stuck like crazy, and weren't quite as crispy as I might like. Since they are a bread item, they fall under Jason's realm, which leaves me chafing (I secretly believe I could do better but I never have the chance!). A good dinner nonetheless. Even slightly soggy popovers are great.

Saturday, 10/16/21

 I did actually do a lot of cooking, but it was all for the week ahead (a spinach-sweet potato pasta bake for my lunches from SK; I stuffed the remaining peppers, made a salsa verde, threw together another batch of Instant pot rice pudding, made a chicken-broccoli for popovers, cooked a head of cabbage with some leeks,  AND made another apple crumb cake).

After all that what did we have? Leftover pizza.

Friday, 10/15/21

 No real dinner; we went to Jay and Jodi's for snacks and drinks (Jason made pretzels) and just ate some ice cream when we got home. For someone who had the whole day off to cook, that is very unimpressive.

Thursday, 10/14/21

 Pizzas from Jason (cheese, goat cheese & onion, mushroom & pepperoni and peppers, onion and more pepperoni). Good, especially because I wasn't the one cooking.

Wednesday, 10/13/21

Pancakes and sausage. Not my favorite dinner, I confess. If there is to be breakfast at night, I prefer homefries. But it was fine.

Tuesday, 10/12/21

 I knew I would be tired after work (still worth it for the 4 day weekend!) so dinner was just peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (from a loaf of bread that Jason had made and frozen); chips and salsa. 

It felt a bit like defeat, but it certainly was quick. So there is that.

Monday, 10/11/21

 For some reason, Jason brought home a lot of green peppers from his farm (even though he knows I don't really like them). we were casting about for what to do with them and I agreed to try stuffing them. Found a recipe from the NYT that seemed reasonable. Here are my notes:

Used red wine instead of white; mixture of celery and cabbage instead of fennel; skipped oregano. Surprisingly good!

I have never wanted to try stuffed peppers, but we all liked them pretty well. Ground beef and rice are pretty inoffensive, after all. And the peppers got soft enough to be pretty mellow. I would actually make this again!

Sunday, 10/10/21

 Jason got our borrowed air fryer to work, so we tested it out on french fries. It worked well, but not markedly better than oven baking. But covering them in cheese and a quick mushroom gravy was an excellent idea. Made a very plain romaine salad to go with it for a semblance of balance.

Saturday, 10/9/21

 Jen's birthday dinner. She requested chocolate cake with raspberry sauce; I made a nearly flourless cake from our recipe files (Old school! It used to be in regular rotation until Jason and I got tired of it). Easy enough as long as you beat the hell out the eggs and don't overbake it. For the sauce I just used a bag of frozen raspberries, cooked with a little sugar and some Grand Marnier. Big success!

Laurie made meatballs and polenta, and I also made an appetizer of fried goat cheese balls with an arugula salad. Plus some lackluster brussels sprouts (I overcrowded the pan so they were more steamed than fried). Overall a tasty and very fun meal!

Friday, 10/8/21

 No dinner to speak of. Just some Cheez-Its. Don't ask how this happened.

I did do a little baking earlier in the day: an apple crumb cake from SK that was very good. LOTS of crumb topping.

Thursday, 10/7/21

 Seared tuna steaks, and noodles sauteed with ginger, garlic, soy sauce and spinach. No leftovers! The fridge is nearly manageable again.

Tuesday, 10/5/21

  Another meal from the weekend's cooking: chicken pozole. I was glad to use up some tomatillos from Jason's farm that were on the verge. I didn't have quite enough, so the soup could have been a little more flavorful, but it was still pretty good. The chicken was nice and tender and I love the corn-y flavor from hominy. Some leftover pita to go with it (and MORE sundaes for dessert).

https://www.mamalatinatips.com/2012/09/green-pozole-with-chicken-recipe.html

Wednesday, 10/6/21

Leftover. I guess I did too much cooking over the weekend. Last of the sundaes (Jason gained two pounds).

Monday, 10/4/21

 Jason made a sort-of rye bread, and we had grilled Swiss on rye, plus finally the last of the cauliflower. The bread turned out perfectly, and made for good sandwiches, even if Aldi's Swiss isn't as sharp as I would like.

Sunday, 10/3/21

 The second of my prepared meals, spaghetti and meatballs. I didn't have quite as much sauce as I thought I did, but no one minded. The meatballs were so filling, I could hardly eat any cauliflower. More ice cream sundaes for dessert.

Oddly, I was using a different brand of pasta and Carter noticed! Maybe he is a food prodigy?

Saturday 10/2/21

 Return of the tater tot casserole. I had prepped the filling on Friday, so all that was needed was to pre-cook the tots and throw the whole shebang into the oven. I don't care what anyone says, it's delicious. And no cans of creamed soup were involved! I always forget where I got the recipe so here it is:

7 tablespoons [100 grams] unsalted butter

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

1 celery stalk, diced

Kosher salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 tablespoons [55 grams] all-purpose flour

2 cups [480 ml] whole milk

2 teaspoons chicken or beef bouillon base, or 1 bouillon cube

1 pound [455 grams] 80 or 85% ground beef

2 cups [240 to 280 grams] frozen corn, peas, or a combination of the two

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup [80 grams] sour cream

One 2 pound [910 grams] bag frozen tater tots

8 ounces [230 grams] sharp Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (2 cups)

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter or oil a 9 by 13 inch [23 by 33 cm] baking dish.

2. In a large saucepan or pot, melt 6 tablespoons [85 g] of the butter over medium heat. Add half of the onion, the carrot, celery, and a pinch of salt and cook until the vegetables soften and the onion turns translucent, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the flour and stir to incorporate it into the vegetables—they will clump into one dry mass. Cook for 2 minutes. Slowly begin to stir in the milk a little bit at a time, waiting until the vegetable-flour mixture absorbs the liquid before pouring in more. Stir in the chicken bouillon base. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3. In a large skillet, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add the remaining onion and a pinch of salt and cook for 3 to 4 minutes to soften. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the beef, and cook until browned, another 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the corn (and/or peas, if using) and cook for 1 minute more to warm through. Remove from the heat and season with the Worcestershire sauce and salt. Add the beef-corn mixture to the pan with the creamed soup base. Add the sour cream and mix to combine. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Cooled and covered, the hot dish can be refrigerated for up to 2 days in advance. 

4. Top with even rows of tater tots (feel free to play around with the design) and bake for 50 minutes, or until the tater tots are browned and crispy. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the cheese, and continue baking until the cheese melts, another 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

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Friday, 10/1/21

 Jason and I went over to Jay and Jodi's for snacks, drinks and games. We brought pita and hummus (homemade pita, store-bought hummus) and Jay sauteed some zucchini and between that and the drinks, we didn't really need dinner when we got home. I had made hot fudge and caramel sauce earlier in the day, so Jason and I had ice cream sundaes and called it a day. Carter got dinner at work.

Thursday, 9/30/21

 This was a truly lackluster meal that shouldn't have been: cheese and spinach ravioli and garlic bread. OK, the garlic bread was good (made from a couple of leftover rolls that Jason made), but the ravioli was just bleh. I thought I had tried that Aldi brand before, but maybe the recipe changed or maybe it was a different variety, but in any event, Carter and I were not fans. disappointing. Jason also made himself a box of Flamin' Hot Cheetoh mac and cheese (it was on sale!) just for fun. It was such an unpleasant color that I couldn't even bring myself to taste it.

Oh well, every night can't be a winner.

Wednesday, 9/29/21

 Weird eggplant grinders; Jason made the rolls (which were pretty good), and the filling was some pan-fried eggplant that I had made over the weekend. I didn't even try that on Carter (he likes eggplant parm, but he isn't really a big fan of eggplant in other forms) and gave him macaroni and cheese. Filling, but not my favorite way to eat eggplant either.

Tuesday, 9/28/21

 Once again I was facing down a meal that I don't know why I chose: tofu burritos. Meal Planning Lace is apparently a lot more optimistic than Cooking Dinner Lace. Anyway, I sauteed up crumbled firm tofu with garlic, onions and taco seasoning, and then proceeded as usual with regular taco/burrito stuff. Carter was unimpressed, to say the least. It isn't that he doesn't like tofu, but it is not really a substitute for ground beef. But honestly, it was fine (and he ate it).