Stuology

Ada came home today, crying about not wanting to come in the house, and when Mac lifted her into the house, she collapsed in a fit of crying and “oh woe is me” and “I DON’T LIKE IT!!” James came in happily, but when I picked him up, he proceeded to slap me in the face which did wonders for my headache. I’m not sure whose brilliant idea it was to time it to have an almost two year old and a 3.5 year old at the same time.

Mac and I did get to leave the house yesterday without children, thanks to Hilary and Camilo. We went out to see Twilight, since it was the one playing in the VIP section. I had a coffee with Bailey’s Caramel Irish Cream and Godiva Chocolate Liquor. Mac had a Red Bull and Vodka, and we had chicken quesadillas as a snack to tide us over until dinner. That’s why we always get tickets to the VIP section. I left the movie with some extreme lust…over the Cullen’s house. I want not only the house, but the location of the house. I have not read the book, nor do I plan to after seeing the movie. It wasn’t a terrible movie, but I think I would have liked it a lot better 20 years ago. The only thing that made me want more–besides the house–was the preview for The Spirit^*. Graphic novel noir usually makes me happy. We ran into a few stores after the movie, went out for dinner, and then came home where I made some more hot cocoa mix and finally watched Wall-E.

And lastly, my weekly menu.

Saturday: Whatever we had in the fridge and cabinets that was edible and couldn’t be labeled as dessert.

Sunday: Mac and I ate out. The kids had Aladdin’s Cafe.

Monday: Again, leftovers. There was a lot of food made recently. Mac hasn’t been feeling well today, so I dug up stuff from the fridge.

Tuesday: Baked potato soup

Wednesday: Chili–a small pan of Cafeteria Chili for the masses, and some of M’s Best Chili Evar! for me and Mac if he feels like it.

Thursday: Spinach ravioli with a sauce yet to be determined. Perhaps a vegetable on the side.

Friday: Leftovers or a Guinness braised brisket. It depends on the quantity of leftovers from Tuesday - Friday.

M’s chili would probably would fulfill my “make one new thing a week” goal. I’ve been doing well since I’ve started posting my menus. At least one thing every week is something I have never made before.

*Beware, it will load the trailer, loud blaring sounds included.

This recipe is from Cooking Light. You can make the potatoes the night before during or right after you’ve made dinner. It quickens the time it takes to prepare this. I also never use reduced-fat cheddar cheese because the texture is disgusting. If you are cutting the fat, then don’t eat cheese. You can also take the stance that I do. Get a really, really good aged cheddar and use less. I will also use yo-cheese instead of sour cream. And if you are not concerned about “cooking light,” throw the butter back into the roux.

Baked Potato Soup

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.

Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash. Discard skins.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Sprinkle each serving with cheese, onions, and bacon.

I was going to try to make a new chili tonight, but instead made homemade pizza for sixteen people–including us. I made the dough in the early afternoon, and had that split into 6 equal parts by late afternoon. I then made the tomato sauce, cut up peppers and onions, chopped up mushrooms and shredded cheese. By the time it was time to cook, I just needed to pull my stuff out of the fridge and shape the dough. I only have one pizza stone, so I can only cook one at a time. It only takes 8 minutes to cook, so people had to eat in waves. I ate two slices as I fixed up the later pizzas. It was such a flurry of pizza, I’m not completely sure if I’m remembering all I made: pepperoni and mozzarella; Italian sausage, red bell peppers and provolone; red bell peppers, red onions and mushrooms; ricotta, grilled chicken, feta and red bell peppers (no tomato sauce and I forgot the artichokes for this one); Italian sausage, pepperoni, red bell peppers, red onions and provolone; mushrooms, pepperoni, red bell peppers and mozzarella (I think). Having everything prepared and cleaned up before I started the pizza assembly and cooking helped keep my kitchen from being too chaotically dirty.

Mac pulled out the chocolate fountain with some fruits, pretzels and such. I later pulled out some dried cherries to try with it. Really good!

I haven’t made my dinner list for next week yet, but one night will include the new chili, and one night will be baked potato soup because I bought a thing of milk when I already had one in the downstairs fridge.

Saturday: Beef Stroganoff^*

Sunday: Slow cooked sweet pork ribs, corn with onions and bacon, and cheddar mashed potatoes^**–I also made almond cherry cookies^*** for dessert. And I have a sandwich loaf in the oven for the beginning of the week.

Monday: Chicken soup with a side of bell peppers and dip–I bought a dry dip mix at Penzeys. I’m going to mix it with yo-cheese.

Tuesday: Roast with coconut macadamia twice-baked sweet potatoes

Wednesday: Leftovers or sandwiches or something easy–I’m not sure what I’m suppose to bake for Thursday, so I’m leaving dinner open to fast and easy. Coconut chicken maybe since I’m using coconut milk on Tuesday, I can make the marinade for chicken on Tuesday, and grill the chicken on Wednesday.

Thursday: Probably turkey

Friday: Chili and sandwiches–I wanted to try a new kind of chili. Maybe the one you made recently, M.

*Insert Joke Here

**Which I almost sprinkled bits of bacon on top because I thought it would be funny.

***I told you that is what I’d end up doing with it.

Butternut Squash and Crab Bisque

Directions:
In a large stockpot on medium heat, melt the butter, then add the shallots and sweat them for several minutes until soft. Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant. Add the butternut squash, half of the crab meat, and chicken stock. Turn the heat to high until the mixture boil, and then turn back to medium and let simmer until the butternut squash is soft, about 30 minutes for me. I diced my squash to about 1/2 inch so it would cook fast. If the liquid gets too low while simmering, add a bit more stock or some water.


Once the butternut squash is soft, puree about 3/4 of the stock mixture using a blender or food processor. If you don’t want chunks of butternut squash, then an immersion blender will work.


Pour the pureed mixture back into the stockpot, stir in the heavy whipping cream, and simmer on medium-low for a few minutes.


Then season to taste, stir in the remaining crab meat, a squeeze of lemon juice (if you want) and keep simmering for about five minutes or until it is your desired thickness. You can add more stock if it is too thick.

The next time I make it, I’m going to roast the butternut squash to see how it changes the taste.

The loaf I made with unbleached AP flour was very yummy. I wanted to make one with whole wheat. The first one I tried–eh. Not inedible, but not great as a sandwich loaf. I’m trying again today since 1) they are rebooting servers which I need to log into work, so I can’t until 1:00pm, and 2) most of the process is waiting, and I can work while it is proofing. My experiment today will use unbleached AP flour, whole wheat flour, rye and toasted wheat germ. My current wait time is over, so back in the kitchen.

Our meal plan got mixed around when Ada said last night that she wanted to go to “the Apple place.” We entertained her and went to Applebees. It has been awhile since we have been there. I have to say that the food that was getting bad was last night just terrible. I don’t plan to make another trip to Applebees again (if it is my choice).

Last night’s leftover night is tonight’s leftover night. Hopefully it won’t be too terrible because “leftovers” means assembling another pizza. I had one more round of dough left, leftover sauce, and leftover diced peppers from dinner on Sunday. I just had to grate new cheese. The only thing that I did not have leftover was parchment paper. Oops. Even using semolina, the dough stuck and I could not bake it on my pizza stone. I had to bake it on the cookie sheet I use to transfer it to the pizza stone^*.

I need to replenish my parchment paper.

*I used to own a peel long, long ago. I have no idea where it is at. That was two houses ago. I have a new one on my wishlist for December. In the meantime, I use a flat cookie sheet. It has worked well, but I have to stick my arm in a very hot oven.

The title of the post was what Mac said during dinner tonight. I made pizza dough earlier in the day. I also made the sauce–giving me the opportunity to use some of the tomato products I’ve been hoarding.

I cleaned out my cereal, chip, crackers and so on pantry tonight while chatting with a friend. He got to hear about all my expired stuff–including two bags of Cheetos that had expired in August. The bottom of the pantry is completely empty. I also found 9 cans of tomato sauce. I’m rolling in tomato products. I’m having cavatini this week, so I’ll make the sauce for that.

Tomorrow is going to be another day of cooking. My kitchen has been cleaned, so it is prepared for more.

Saturday: Pizza–probably half cheese only and half with mushrooms and bell peppers. Or I will make two. I’m not sure. I have pizza dough in the fridge that I made this morning. I’m about to make the sauce. I have ginger pear muffins in the oven for dessert.

Sunday: Breakfast - Buttermilk pancakes with blueberry syrup

Dinner - Two kinds of chili, asiago drop biscuits and maybe cinnamon rolls for dessert. Ada requested the rolls last night. If I don’t do this, then I’ll grill some steak and chicken for make your own soft tacos with chips and salsa on the side. I don’t know what for dessert. We are having friends over for dinner–something we should do more often.

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Butternut squash and crab bisque. This would be good with a country loaf.

Wednesday: Cavatini

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Maybe we should order Indian. It has been awhile.

My mini vacation is over. It was nice to have a few days to just do whatever, even though two of those days were partially spent cleaning and organizing. It won’t be long until I have more time off. Next week is a full week, but after that I have Thursday and Friday off. Then I’ll be off the end of December.

I swapped dinners around. I was not impressed with the ginger pork soba noodles–mainly due to the noodles. I’m going to adjust and try again. Tonight is pot roast–in the slow cooker. I’m going to get that started now. I was thinking about doing another sandwich loaf as well. The one I made was well received by our household. It has been eaten.

Vacation being over is not that bad. I love working from home. It gives me time to do these little things during the day that I would normally be spending driving. I actually like driving, so it isn’t that as much as I can’t do much else except listen to NPR or podcasts while I’m driving. Using the driving time to prep dinner or throw in a load of laundry feels more productive to me.