March First Half

Friday: lasagna, did one vegetarian and added leftover pork sausage to other.
This time it was kale, summer squash, sun dried tomato version.  No pesto, and it was fine.

Weekend: visiting friends out of state!

Monday: leftover lasagna

Tuesday: favorite picky eater's vegetarian chili.  http://pickyeaterblog.com/the-best-vegetarian-chili-ever/
Soaked black beans and cattle beans overnight, and cooked them together in pressure cooker 11 minutes natural release.   Skipped the bell pepper for my picky eaters.  Was out of coriander so I doubled the cumin.   (Got out-of-proportion upset about not being able to find spices, and somebody cleaned and straightened out my spice/cans cupboard and gave me a hug and calmed me down.)

Wednesday: Pumpkin peanut butter curry: http://hostthetoast.com/thai-coconut-curry-butternut-squash-soup/ served over a choice of rice or quinoa.  Potstickers as exciting side dish.

Thursday: Honey-Mustard Pork Chops, Green Beans (Long Bean Style), whole wheat Mac and Cheese, Applesauce.
Honey-Mustard Pork Chops: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2015/01/honey-mustard-pork-chops/
actually followed recipe, including finish with broiler.
Green Beans long bean ideal: http://www.undercovercaterer.com/2014/06/long-beans-with-mushrooms-and-black-bean-sauce-recipe/
what I actually did: left out the mushroom, substituted red miso paste and chopped garlic for the chili-black bean paste, used green beans instead of long beans
Mac and cheese inspiration: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/12/31/recipe-whole-wheat-macaroni-and-cheese/
Family favorite Cheese sauce recipe I worked from: http://butterwithasideofbread.com/2013/02/baked-potatoes-with-broccoli-amazing.html
(skipped the cayenne and thyme and any spice.  Just butter, flour, milk, and cheese.

Saturday: Pi Day of the Century:
breakfast: quiche and pumpkin pie
supper: shepherd pie and chicken pot pie
dessert: caramel apple pie

Sunday night leftovers:
chicken pot pie and tastes of this and that
vegetarian flatbread pizza and green salad
quinoa, cheese, and salsa and black bean patty burrito
quinoa and honey-mustard sauce from pork chops with mashed potato
homemade vanilla pudding for dessert

Pudding of Cooked Rice

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/creamy-rice-pudding/

I've been increasing it to 2 cups rice, 2 2/3 cup milk, and did three egg yolks.
I used 2/3 cup sugar, need to reduce that.  Too sweet for breakfast.

White bean Kielbasa soup

Where other people have meatless Mondays, I'm most likely to serve a meat dish on Mondays when the committed vegetarians are out at activities.

I sautéed onion, carrot, and celery, then added the leftover flageolet white beans, kielbasa, tomato, and kale, and a cup of broth to thin it, for a simple rainy day skillet stew.   We added Tabasco at the table.

Lunch Pasta

The zucchini and mushroom needed a purpose, so I turned them into lunch with other goodies I had in the fridge.

chopped garlic
small red onion
1 zucchini
handful of mushrooms
sun dried tomatoes in oil
firm tofu, one slice diced
pesto
leftover cooked pasta
grated parmesan cheese

saute in pan, in the order you'd expect.  Served 2.

Idea for alternative: with kalamata olives and some oregano.

Grill Experiments--Salmon and Bison

Menu
Grilled Salmon
Grilled Steak
Grilled Corn (Elote)
leftover acorn squash with quinoa stuffing
green salad.

Notes:
Grilled Salmon
Heat grill up to 325 F.
took much longer than 8 minutes.

Next time:
oil the grill.  Less olive oil on Salmon.  It dipped into drum and caught fire.
It was cooked just about right! despite temperature dropping too low in the middle of cooking!
Salmon was generally appreciated.


Bison Steak
heated grill up to 325 F
cooked to 135 F.

next time:
Serve red meat again, half the kids liked it.


Elote--
Took more than half an hour to cook.
Shucked corn
turn on various sides to get them slightly charred
smear on mayo/cheese mix
served paprika/cayenne/chili powder at table for sake of anti-spice child.

Next time:
char a little less, it will be fine, and faster.
make sure cheese is cotija.
divide smear; mix paprika/chili into most smear.

Monday Night Leftover Fest

I made a salad, and put together some ham fried rice from the leftover rice and diced ham.
And put out all the containers of leftovers for people to choose and heat in microwave.

Leftover red pepper noodles from Zen Garden
Leftover Happy Family from Zen Garden
Broccoli-Cheese soup, which is especially good with tortilla chips, who knew?
Commercial Chicken Tortilla Soup from Costco
Turkey Chili
Red Beans
Quinoa
Shredded Cheese