Thursday, 3/24/22

 A dish that I knew only I would truly love: Korean rice cakes with greens, peanut sauce and hoisin (from the NYT). The comment section convinced me to skip the boiling step and just soak them for a bit; I was glad I did. I also added some ginger and probably twice as much greens (Chinese broccoli). I thought this was excellent, but I love the chewy texture of rice cakes. I didn't even bother trying to serve it to Carter so he just had boxed mac & cheese. More for me. 

Wednesday, 3/23/22

 Repeat of the Blue Apron potato-bacon-kale hash. I should double this, because everyone wants the leftovers. So good.

Tuesday, 3/22/22

 Repeat of a tofu dish from "Weekday Vegetarians". I didn't have the called-for eggplant, so used up some broccoli and zucchini instead. The two keys are cutting the tofu into fairly small cubes and roasting it aggressively, and the delicious sweet-hot chili glaze (Franks, brown sugar, honey and butter. OF COURSE it tastes wonderful). Served over rice. No complaints (not even about the zucchini. Just make your children do sports a few hours a day and they will eat anything.

Monday, 3/21/22

 Chicken nachos....nachos, but make it complicated. I pressure cooked a couple of bone-in chicken breasts, then cooked them with diced tomatoes w/ chilis, Goya seasoning, garlic and chiles en adobo. I also sautéed up some zucchini to throw in the mix. Carter was mystified/aggrieved as to why I would add zucchini, but admitted that he couldn't actually taste them. I don't want you getting scurvy, son!  That plus guacamole was dinner, and a tasty one at that.

Sunday, 3/20/22

 Capped off a social weekend with dinner at Jen and John's. Grilled cheese with Jason's bread (delightfully crispy in the waffle iron side of a sandwich press), arugula salad, oat bars (SK) from me.

Plus John made us French gimlets that were lovely and spring appropriate.

Saturday, 3/19/22

 Dinner at Jay and Jodi's, with Bev & Joel there, too. Simple pasta and sausage for dinner; plus salad and brussels sprouts. Jason made a loaf of bread, I made an angel cake. This was a little cynical on my part, as it was the one dessert I knew Jodi would eat (spoiler: she did). We were supposed to play games, but we got too tipsy and sleepy from pre-gaming before the parents showed up.

Friday, 3/18/22

 Third Friday of pan pizza. Jason has a bee in his bonnet on getting the bottom crust just right, and I am happy to eat pizza every week. Salad for health.

Thursday, 3/17/22

 Just leftovers

Wednesday, 3/16/22

 Garlic noodles, from the NYT.  Twenty cloves of garlic! It wasn't as pungent as you would think. Seasoned also with oyster sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce; I added broccoli and surimi so we didn't get the pure experience. But Carter was a fan, so that was nice.I liked them but didn't love them, not sure why. Maybe i didn't add enough fish and oyster sauces (they were so smelly!). I would try again, though.

Tuesday, 3/15/22

 A beef and cabbage stir-fry, from the NYT. It called for sirloin but I used ground because that's what we had. Seasoned with lots of black pepper, garlic, soy sauce and black vinegar (and a little brown sugar) and served over rice, it was a good one dish dinner. No complaints, even though it was very cabbage forward.

Monday, 3/14/22

 Repeat of a Blue Apron that we had at Jen and John's: potato and kale hash. This was a big hit (Carter didn't even notice how much kale he was eating!) and will go into the regular rotation. A little time consuming but so tasty. Thanks, Blue Apron@!

Sunday, 3/13/22

 Khichdi (rice and lentils) in the Instant Pot, from the NYT. I took commenters advice and toasted and ground the spices (good) and reduced the water (bad. I wanted something a bit soupier). Threw in some spinach and served cabbage with mustard seeds on the side. Plus I made some raita (surprisingly good and so why do I never get it at Indian buffets? Must start). Good enough.

Saturday, 3/12/22

 Dinner with Jay and Jodi. We made an crazy amount of potato pancakes. I was shocked that we ate them all, and yet....we did. Salad and I brought some of the oatmeal cookies from Friday. Jodi wouldn't try one....I will tempt her yet. Meringues? Macaroons? I'll find her weakness. and then exploit it.

Friday, 3/11/22

 Pan pizza, round 2. Jason had notes from last time: we cooked it a bit longer, added a little more sauce and some pepperoni. I was delighted that he wanted to make another! We also had a salad and oatmeal whoopie pies (from the King Artur Cookie book). They are a little sweet, and my first batch could have baked a little longer, but overall a success. Will definitely make again.

Thursday, 3/10/22

 Seared tuna steaks, rice, cabbage. Since this was all pretty plain fare, I had condiments to spice things up: a soy sauce mixture, furikake, and togaroshi. Pretty quick (sautéing the cabbage was the slowest part) and good.

Wednesday, 3/9/22

 I was off having snacks and drinks with a co-worker, so Carter and Jason had egg and sausage sandwiches without me. I didn't hear any complaints so I will assume all was fine. I came home and ate a piece of toast.

Tuesday, 3/8/22

 I was inspired to make shrimp scampi by the oddest source: a Big Y ad that played on my phone. It was pretty straightforward; I just wished I had used linguine instead of angel hair. I mostly followed a recipe from the NYT but honestly you don't really need one. I would make it again...maybe with more butter. added some spinach for greenery.

Monday, 3/7/22

 I found some bagels in the back of the freezer, so we had those with a variety of toppings (smoked cheddar, olives, jalapenos, capers, tomato jam...). I think Carter ate 3? In any event, they are all gone and another spot in the freezer cleared.

Sunday, 3/6/22

 Rare Sunday evening out at Jen and John's. Really good Blue Apron: potato and kale hash, to which we added bacon. Jason was particularly enamored, so we are going to try to recreate it next week. We also brought bread and more of the chocolate cookies and ginger bars.

Saturday, 3/5/22

 Went over to Jodi's for dinner. We made a quick pasta with vegetarian sausage and jarred sauce (I don't mean to be a snob; it is pretty good buy why so sweet?) and a salad. Jason made bread and chocolate cookies, I tried a cookie recipe from King Arthur Flour for something called ginger squares. Sort of molasses cookies in bar form, with candied ginger and a streusel topping. The topping sank right in and made it more of a swirl; I think I would use melted butter to make it and refrigerate it for a while before using it. I also overcooked them a tiny bit, which was my fault. But I liked the flavors and would make them again with those changes.

Friday, 3/4/22

 After more than a year of me quietly pining and sulking, Jason finally agreed to make the pan pizza from King Arthur Flour that was so popular a while back. We had been at an impasse because

a. He hates to follow recipes

b. Feels that he has ownership over pizza making and didn't want me to do it.

But I finally wore him down. It turned out well enough so that he wants to try it again, with a couple of tweaks (the bottom crust was not quite crispy enough). I call it a cautious victory.

Thursday, 3/3/22

 Jason made us a pretty little loaf of bread, and I made a chopped salad with an ersatz Caesar dressing. What with all the provolone, pepperoni and toasted bread crumbs it is quite a hearty salad, but not as quick a dinner as you would imagine.

Wednesday, 3/2/22

 Pancakes, bananas, sausage for the boys. I find pancakes for dinner curiously unsatisfying, but these at least turned out well. And no leftovers.

Tuesday, 3/1/22

 Pierogies, onions, kielbasa. Plus I roasted some brussels sprouts from a sad looking bag I found in the freezer. I thought they were gross (mushy inside) but Jason said they were great.....in any event, they are gone now. Good riddance.

Monday, 2/28/22

 This was a week where I didn't feel like making any of the meals I had planned. But, we did use a lot of things from the freezer. Tonight it was egg rolls and fried rice. I think this was my best version of fried rice yet: I took the time to stir-fry each element separately (tofu, eggs, ginger/garlic, mushrooms/peppers). It was little more work but worth it.

Sunday, 2/27/22

 I realized at some point that my planned dinner, a sort of chick pea and feta salad, with pita bread, 

a. would not appeal to Carter and 

b. not really be filling enough. 

So I added some kielbasa (emptying out that freezer!) and gave Carter some leftover broccoli. That meant there was enough leftover salad for my lunch so a success all around.

Saturday, 2/26/22

 Dinner at Jay and Jodi's; we collaborated on knishes, which was fun. I made the dough, Jay made the potato filling, and Jason filled them (salad from Jodi). I used the recipe from SK, which I have apparently used twice before. Everyone really liked them, which was nice. I also made a flan, which Jay appreciated and Jodi didn't try. Still working on opening up her palate.