What we ate: Aug. 4-8

We were out of town Aug. 7-8 and ate out a lot. So this is an abbreviated week...

Monday

PE and D not here

TA ate: chicken garlic sausage, tomato sauce, penne, shredded cheese (leftover from Sat. night dinner)

M ate: omelet with goat cheese, chives, a little ham

Tuesday

PE and D not here again

TA and M invented a tortilla layer cake:

In a pan, saute lots of garlic cloves (we chopped up 10), add 1 can pinto beans, some salsa

We took 3 medium sized tortillas

First layer: tortilla, sauteed beans, cheese (we used slices of Swiss since it's the only cow's cheese M can eat, but shredded cheddar would taste better)

Second layer: tortilla, cream cheese, beans, more salsa

Third layer: guacamole

Tip:

We should have reheated the whole thing in the oven or microwave so the cheese would melt, then added the guacamole.

Wednesday

(Eating what's left in the fridge before our trip)

broiled salmon marinated in lime juice and olive oil; leftover rice (salad served but too mooshy to eat)

Thursday

On the road...

Friday

TA's birthday; we all at Applebees in M's hometown in NC.

What We Ate: July 14-18

It's been hot here all week, so when I've cooked, I've tried to make short-cuts to recipes, to get out of the kitchen faster.

Monday

sauteed scallops tossed in with rice noodle-veggie dish leftover from Sunday night

What PE ate:

Trader Joes chicken pot stickers, noodles, carrot

Tuesday

I made a sort-of version of the Greek dish Pastitsio, but without the cream sauce since I didn't want to add another step and since I was under the impression that TA didn't like cream sauce. TA had a friend over for dinner, who ate 5 servings of it.

• Sort-of Pastitsio (recipe follows)

• frozen spinach sauteed with garlic and pine nuts

• (TA's friend is allergic to nuts, so we also had last-minute frozen French green beans with butter, lemon juice and dill).

RECIPE

Sort-of (Stream-lined) Pastitsio

• Prepare 8 oz. of pasta--like penne, elbows, or the squiggly one. Cook until al dente, rinse, set aside.

•Preheat oven to 350.

• Meanwhile, saute 1/2 lb. (or up to a lb.) of ground beef. (If you're using one chopped-up onion, add with beef, and forget the green onions, etc., later. Drain most of the fat; add 4-5 chopped cloves of garlic, saute for 2 minutes; (add chives, green onions); then add small can of diced tomatoes.

• In a large casserole dish, add pasta, then stir in still-warm sauce from pan. You may add shredded cheese or feta (I didn't, and it still tasted fine). Sprinkle top with pecarino or parmesan.

• Put in oven until top cheese looks melted.

What PE ate:

she was at sleepover

Wednesday

With 1/2 lb. of gr. beef leftover, we made tacos, with shredded cheese, tomato and lettuce. TA put it in tortilla and made a burrito. No alternatives, everyone ate it. Vegetables: leftover spinach or beans.

Thursday

I thought I was thawing out a whole, cut-up chicken until too late--and saw that it was just 4 scrawny chicken backs, purchased to make chicken broth. Since I recently over-bought cans of garbanzo beans (and no other), I decided to make this Mediterranean night. I searched on Internet and found a Mediterranean soup at www.realsimple.com, which called for a whole chicken, but I just used chicken backs.

• hummus (1 can of garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice)

• falafel (1 can of garbanzo beans, flour, baking soda, garlic, chives, parsley) with pita bread, tomatoes and tahini sauce (tahini, yogurt, lemon juice).

• Mediterranean chicken soup (I thought this was a little bland... it really needs more garlic and/or spices like cumin, but the couscous was a nice touch).

• green salad

Friday

sauteed boneless chicken breasts and thighs (basic recipe in New Joy of Cooking, p. 587, my edition) with Tomatoes and basil (recipe on next page of same cookbook), pasta. Vegies: leftovers or salad.

Reactions: Again, I thought this recipe was too bland. It only called for 1 tbsp. of garlic. Maybe it would have been better with the capers, but my family doesn't like them. It was better with hot sauce and powdered cheese added.

What PE ate:

plain sauteed chicken (set aside) with plum sauce and peanuts she crushed at the table (she didn't like it that much, though)

2-Minute Ranch Dressing

[I mentioned making ranch dressing in one of my "What We Ate" posts but now I can't find it. Someone asked me for it the other day, so I'll give it its own post. As I said in that post, if you make your own yogurt and always have it on hand, making your own ranch dressing is a logical step since you already have half of the main ingredients.]

Note: equal measure here means one-half cup, one cup, etc.

• equal measure of yogurt (any kind) or buttermilk or sour cream (if you only have it and don't mind it being rich)
• equal measure of mayonnaise (any kind)
• few sprinkles of dried garlic powder (you can use fresh garlic, but it will have to be used right away)
• squeeze of lemon juice or a little vinegar, to taste (you'll need more vinegar if you use sour cream)

Other possible additions:
dried onion powder
dried or fresh chives
herbs, like fresh or dried oregano or basil

Make it in a measuring cup so you can measure, stir and pour from the same container.

When you've used what you want right away, put in a glass jar for the fridge. Depending on how much vinegar you added, it will stay fresh for a couple of days, sometimes longer, but it's best to use up within 5 days--so don't make much more than you can use quickly. One-half cup portions usually works for us.

Once you see how easy this is to make, you'll wonder why you were spending $3 for a bottle for store-bought--and this way, you avoid the MSG.

Tip: This is an easy thing for kids to make and they like to experiment adding new flavors each time.

Homemade yogurt

I used to have one of those plug-in yogurt makers, but the frustrating thing was that it only made four cups at a time—and our family consumes lots of yogurt each week. Plus, organic yogurt at my local grocery is going for up to $4/quart.

It finally dawned on me that my oven's breadproofing function could be used to make yogurt since it maintains 100 degrees, the perfect temperature for yogurt. (I've heard you can just leave on an oven light and then wrap containers in towels, but I've never tried it).

You don't need any special tools for making yogurt, just somewhere to put the milk so it can be cultured. I purchased wide-mouth quart-size Mason jars for this purpose. They can be sterilized in a dishwasher. If you're paranoid like me, I sometimes take the extra precaution of putting the Mason jars (and the large measuring cup I use to transfer the hot milk into the jars) in the microwave, half full of water, and microwave on high for three minutes; cool before using.

Tools needed:

• pot large enough to boil milk (enamel seems to work best)
  
• quick check thermometer (digital best)
  
• sterile jars or containers to pour milk into
  
• (optional) a large sterilized measuring cup to transfer the hot milk from the pot into the containers
• oven or some place to keep milk at 100 degree for four hours
  

Directions:

• Bring however much milk you want to use to almost boiling -- 180 degrees.


• Pour immediately into containers or jars and let cool to 100-110 degrees. The cooling process usually takes 60-75 minutes in my house, depending on the inside temperature. (You might want to measure the average time a few different times so you can just set a timer and know when to come back).


• About halfway through the cooling, you'll need to warm up your oven to 100 degrees. When milk cools to 100-110 degrees, add 3 tbsp. of yogurt to each quart of milk.


• Transfer jars or containers to oven. Put some kind of top on them. Keep at 100 degrees for four hours.

Tip#1

The only tricky thing I've found with making yogurt is getting the milk to exactly 180 degrees. I have a tendency to poke a thermometer into the hot milk every 3 minutes, which really isn't necessary. The laziest thing to do is to put a lid on the pot of milk and leave it on low for 10 or more minutes, then start checking every 5 minutes or so after that.

Tip#2

Try to make yogurt at least once a week, to keep the culture fresh. When your (last) container of yogurt is getting down to the last 1/2 cup, it's time to make more.

Recommended tools

• You can culture the yogurt in any kind of container, but I've found Mason jars the best containers because: they store easily in the fridge; they're cheap (I paid about $.83/each for wide-mouth jars at the local hardware store); and the jar lids provide a little bit of a seal for the yogurt after it has cooled in the fridge.
  
  
• However, I don't like the two-piece lids that come with Mason jars because they're a hassle and the outer part of the lid tends to rust after a few go-rounds in the dishwasher. Instead, I splurged and got one-piece large Quattro Stagioni lids from the Container Store. They will fit other (non-Quattro Stagioni) jars.