food, food, food
What we had for dinner this week:
Sunday: Roasted beets (not purple) and carrots (purple) plus basil from the garden, garlic, new potatoes and onions over brown rice; whole wheat biscuits with butter and honey; cherries.
Monday: Pizza Fino! Garlic knots, Caesar salad, focaccia with bean-pesto dip, cheese pizza, pasta Alfredo, pasta with penne, calzone with red peppers and onions. Bonus points: happy hour menu, so it was all cheap, with leftovers, even.
Tuesday: And, because we just cannot get enough pasta over here… Cheese tortellini with alfredo sauce (five-ingredient recipe), greens, cantaloupe slices. The way I did the greens was sooooo good. Oh my gosh, good. I sauteed diced onions with a couple of teaspoons of spice mix my in-laws found for us — Moroccan Spice Mix, with cilantro, lemon, cumin, paprika, onion, garlic, ginger, pepper, mint, cinnamon, raisins, salt and red chiles. Would you like their website? Cocinadelmundospices.com. I washed and chopped rainbow chard, layered that on top of the onions and spices, poured some water on top, simmered, stirred, covered. Once everything was looking right, I took the lid off and let it all kind of braise. Perfect.
Wednesday: Life fell apart. Again. Thai take-out. (Tsunami Thai, home of the best entree ever known to woman — delicious, salty-sweet mango and salmon over rice.)
Thursday: Have no idea.
Friday: Um. Pizza Fino again.
Saturday: Tsunami Thai. Again.
People, my family and I cannot live on take-out! I have to start cooking! Please advise? It’s supposed to be 100 degrees just about every day next week, I have no air-conditioning and do not feel like heating up the kitchen, my kids refuse to eat anything that isn’t macaroni and cheese. Help? Gazpacho? Our tomatoes aren’t ready yet, but I could buy some.
Also, I am still bummed out about my Grandma and missing her so much. It hasn’t even been three months, but you know our society — “Get over it now, would you? Cuz you’re bumming me out.” Grief just kicks my ass. I am tired and need a flipping break. But the cooking cannot be avoided. Nor can the laundry. Everything else? Too bad, you’ll just have to wait.
xo
wm
ps I finally finished my 663-page textbook I’ve been working on forever. One more test + term paper = done.
pss even though I’m not at BlogHer, i did manage to grab dinner out with my girlfriend, and it was so nice. See? Left the house! Also took the kids to OMSI last week. See? Left the house! Today we launched model rockets. Fun.
, 
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We buy Costco rotisserie chicken and Spring mix salad. And eat that for 3 days. But since I’m childfree. . . .I eat mostly Luna Bars. And bacon. I have eaten 5 pounds of bacon in the past 3 weeks. And a case of Luna Bars. And a half-gallon of Odwalla super food.
Ooooooooooo, crock pot a bean soup! I’m about to soak beans now. And pot roast for Monday night. I even have a crock pot cookbook.
July 26th, 2009 | #
Oh I am SOOO hungry now! Dang! And yes, of course you can eat takeout every night. You just did, silly!
It was 110 here one day last week, and we were having company, and we did all cold foods. Started with guac and chips…mmm. Then a selection of French cheeses and bread. Mmm. Oh and fruit. Then gazpacho. Then a roast potato/black olive/green bean/red onion salad that is delicious! With rosemary! I did have to turn on the oven to roast the potatoes, but it wasn’t too bad. Recipe is at epicurious.com The guests raved. We finished with ice cream. It was a lot of food, as it turned out, but that’s better than the alternative.
July 26th, 2009 | #
Here’s what I made last night: artichokes with garlic butter and quinoa stir-fried like fried rice. This was an idea from my girlfriend and it is my new favorite! I first toasted the quinoa in a little butter in a pot. Then after it was fragrant I added two cups of water (one cup of quinoa), brought it to a boil, then covered and turned off the heat and we went for a walk on the beach. (Yes, we’re at the beach, where it is NOT hot.) Then when we returned, I sauteed a chopped onion in butter and olive oil, added the quinoa, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and fried until it was starting to brown, stirring often. Then I added chopped basil. Yummy! You could totally boil the quinoa in the morning and then just leave it on the stove and fry it in the evening.
July 26th, 2009 | #
OK that all sounds good. More please?
July 26th, 2009 | #
(This is one of my Easy Standards) Spinach Fettuccine W/ Pesto
Cook fetucchine according to pkg. directions. Drain noodles.
While pasta is still warm, mix in 1 container pesto. This time of the year you could add a few cherry tomatoes–other times of the year–sun-dried tomatoes.
Serve with a crunchy loaf of bread.
July 27th, 2009 | #
Oh, Nancy. I feel your pain – we are sweltering here too. I crockpot chicken legs or thighs. I cook in an electric skillet which I’m convinced does not heat up the house like using the stove, and I cook very early in the morning – yes, I bake a chicken at 6am before it gets too hot, then we eat it cold with a green salad for dinner. Email me if you want a crockpot recipe. I know that some people are all yuck! crock pots! Ewwww.
I hope it cools off soon.
July 27th, 2009 | #
LIB, thank you. That’ll work.
TOL, thank you, Texas girl. Sympathy from you means something, and I mean that. Cuz you know it isn’t hot here like Texas. But that won’t stop me from crying (plz see new post, wherein I whine up a storm). I do love the crockpot, send me a recipe. Has to be veggie though. (I’m not vegetinarian, but family is.)
July 27th, 2009 | #
Fruit, cheese, bread, salad, hummus, olives, cold drinks. All eaten picnic style on a sheet on the floor of the basement, which is where you’re also sleeping these days. Yikes.
July 28th, 2009 | #
Crock pots, yay! We also eat tons of omelettes around here, because they take five minutes. And, because our nearest pizza place is an hour’s drive away, we make “pizza toast”: smear ketchup or sauce on bread or bun, top with whatever you want (sausages sliced into “mini pepperoni” is max’s fave, olives are good, onions, green peppers) and cheeze. Ta-daaa! Pizza!
Luckily, my kids like salad. And cold hard-boiled eggs.
And! Sandwiches!
Notice, my “cooking” takes five minutes usually.
July 29th, 2009 | #
Oh yeah, and dip. Sour cream, hummus, etc. with carrot sticks and crackers and stuff.
July 29th, 2009 | #