Friday (my husband's birthday)
Nacho bar with tortilla chips, ground beef, refried beans, cheese, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, sour cream, nacho cheese sauce, guacamole, plus scratch spongecake with lemon glaze
Saturday cookout (joint birthday celebration with our son and daughter-in-law)
hot dogs, kielbasa, buns, potato salad, grape tomatoes, fresh strawberries, stir-fried vegetables and rice, blackberry lemonade, scratch ice cream cake
hot dogs, kielbasa, buns, potato salad, grape tomatoes, fresh strawberries, stir-fried vegetables and rice, blackberry lemonade, scratch ice cream cake
Sunday
ham and cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, leftover desserts
Monday
Pasta Tina (cannellini beans, garlic, olive oil, chicken soup base, pureed and served on cooked pasta), garden salad, first-of-the-season rhubarb sauce
Tuesday
chili (canned chili enhanced with canned tomatoes, additional cooked beans, bell pepper, and cheese), blueberry muffins (packaged mix)
Wednesday
meatball subs (frozen meatballs, canned pasta sauce, hot dog buns, topped with cheese then broiled), honey-mustard carrots, canned green beans
Thursday
homemade chive and garbanzo hummus, crackers, raw vegetables, Cole slaw
Since my husband and my birthdays are 6 days apart, we have our bigger celebration (with our son and daughter-in-law and exchange gifts) on a single day somewhere near both birthdays (sometimes between the two or sometimes much later). We chose the Saturday after my husband's birthday this year. I told my daughters I would handle most of the food for this day, as they've been doing so much this month. But I also promised myself I would choose the easy way out for everything. I bought a deli potato salad, fresh produce to serve plain, and a stir-fry "kit" that was marked down as the sides. I bought hot dog buns instead of making them. For the dessert, my daughters baked the cake portion of the ice cream cake and I used the ice cream I'd made in late February for the ice cream layer. This was more expensive than a usual dinner for us, but far cheaper than a restaurant meal. My thinking is almost always "use what you have." With a fire ring and plenty of wood, a cookout makes sense for us. I have a simple ice cream maker, so back in February when I had a glut of whipping cream, I made a batch of ice cream to be used for this birthday celebration.And I have the right kind of cake pan (a springform) for making an ice cream cake. I do try to use the tools we already have.
This past month has been such a treat to not have to cook dinners. I think I've learned a few tricks from my daughters. Will I return to my all-from-scratch cooking, or will I adopt some of their shortcuts? Time will tell. On Sunday, we return to our regular meal cooking schedule. All good things must end.
How were your meals this past week? Any stand-outs?
