Usually on the seventh day, I plan meals for the next week. But today, after a rather busy weekend of hosting guests for both Saturday dinner and Sunday brunch, in among trips to home renovation and flooring stores on Friday and Saturday to move our kitchen renovation project forward, I have opted for rest.
The good news is, we have enough leftovers to carry us through tonight. I may be behind the eight ball for lunch tomorrow, but that's why I have cans of baked beans and salmon in my pantry.
Some delicious items passed through our kitchen over the last few days:
Thursday: to make up for our southern BBQ gluttony the day before, we went vegan (except for the Parmesan cheese...) and had Spaghetti Squash with lentil tomato sauce. I didn't have a recipe, but I did have some purchased tomato sauce in the fridge, so I sauteed extra onion and garlic, added the sauce (about 2 cups), an extra cup of homemade vegetable stock, and 3/4 cup French green lentils. Once it was all done cooking, I decided to add about 3 T. of reduced balsamic vinegar that was also in my fridge. The results were delicious--a slightly sweet and sour tanginess that made the dish much more interesting than I was expecting spaghetti squash and tomato sauce to be. Unfortunately, this is not a kid favourite, because D is a huge pasta fan, and he feels cheated when we use the word 'spaghetti' but there are only vegetables on his plate.
Friday: Noodles with Gingered Miso Carrots and Chicken from Mark Bittman's Food Matters. This was one of those meals that I was sure would appeal to D, but we just got him on a bad day. A very simple noodle dish of stir-fried chicken and fresh ginger, grated carrots, and a simple but delicious sauce of equal parts miso and pasta cooking water. My husband and I liked it. D gave it a pass. In his defence, he had eaten a monstrous lunch of leftover ribs, chicken, apple slaw with honey Dijon dressing (also from Food Matters) and brown rice rotini, which had been intended for baby G, and we served supper early so D could go on an adventure with his uncle.
Saturday: made dinner for my inlaws who graciously watched the boys while we did a renovation shopping intensive that afternoon. Had salmon marinating while we were away, and a brown rice pilaf ready to bake (from Whitewater Cooks at Home). We got back from our shopping, I threw the fish and pilaf in the oven, tossed another batch of the apple slaw, steamed some asparagus and made homemade chocolate pudding, and we were sitting down to eat 45 minutes after we got home. I will never reminisce about Jello pudding mixes ever again. That pudding was amazing, and the only thing that took time was chopping the chocolate. D ate four helpings of salmon and two spears of asparagus as well as tastes of salad, pilaf and pudding.
Sunday: my inspiration for the chocolate pudding was that I was going to have extra egg yolks leftover from making buckwheat waffles with cassis, yogurt and granola. I used two in the pudding, and four to make blender Hollandaise to top off Eggs Benedict Salad. The salad in particular got rave reviews. I love buckwheat, and was delighted to find a good waffle recipe. And the cassis sauce was the perfect excuse to open Stonewall Kitchens' Kir Royale Jam. Both are definite make-agains. In fact, I may make the salad again tomorrow for lunch, as I have all the fixings still in my fridge!
Meal plan to come tomorrow, after an evening of rest.
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