Eating, National Blog Posting Month

A timeline of culinary misadventures

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1989. The time when I didn’t know how to cook but my little brother was hungry so I made him Every Spice In The Cabinet Soup. It was terrible, but he ate it and pretended it was good.

1997. The time when I didn’t know how to cook but I wanted to make dinner for Rockford and my little brother so I made a chicken-broccoli casserole recipe that I found on the back of a can. It was terrible, but they ate it and pretended it was good.

2001. The time when I didn’t know how to cook but I needed to make dinner for Rockford and myself and all we had in the house were potatoes. I tried to make potato soup, but I only used potatoes, water and pepper. It was terrible, and we did not eat it.

2002. The time when I tried to make stuffed shells with goat cheese. They were terrible, and we ordered pizza.

2009. The time when I tried to make a vegan meal and it used every pot and pan in the house. It was terrible, and we ordered pizza.

2017. The time when I nearly cooked a spider in the rice. That was tonight, and I fished it out in the nick of time.

What’s your most memorable kitchen disaster?

menu plan Monday, National Blog Posting Month

I probably should’ve planned to eat kale and quinoa all week

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We had a really lovely Thanksgiving break, and I’m not ready for it to be over. We made the most of our last day of freedom yesterday by doing some Christmas shopping, putting up the last of our Christmas decorations, eating far too much stuffing and playing several rounds of Hogwarts Battle (which should definitely be on your wish list if you enjoy Harry Potter and board games, which we do). The turkey and stuffing are gone — for those keeping score, the bonus turkey was much smaller than anticipated and I sent the leftovers to my sister-in-law’s house — but we’re planning to head back to Hogwarts again this evening after a crushing defeat last night in Year Four.

Here’s what will be on our dining room table this week.

Monday: Sloppy Joes
I found myself thinking about Sloppy Joes over the weekend,[1]I don’t know, man. and I wondered if I could make them in the CrockPot. So I’m going to try it tonight.

Tuesday: Sweet Potato Burrito Bowls
After all of the holiday indulgence, I figured it would be good to eat something that was all nutrition. This seems like it’ll fit the bill. The green rice it’s supposed to be made with sounds delicious, but the kids won’t eat it so I’m just going to make plain rice.

Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner
I’m not going to try to make waffles this time.

Thursday: Honey-Garlic Chicken
This is a tasty, dependable CrockPot dish.

Friday: Pizza
I’m trying the Vegan Harvest pizza from American Flatbread this week. I’ll let you know if it’s worth eating.

Hungry for more? Check out the Menu Plan Monday linkup at OrgJunkie.

Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 I don’t know, man.
National Blog Posting Month

When life hands you superfluous turkey

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The grocery store my in-laws go to were having a Buy Some Groceries And Get A Turkey For 50 Cents[1]not the actual price sale a few weeks ago, so they bought one. But then my sister-in-law decided to make duck for Thanksgiving, so they left it at our house for Sunday Night After Thanksgiving Dinner purposes. Tonight being the Sunday Night After Thanksgiving, I thawed the turkey over the weekend. And then this morning my mother-in-law texted to say they wouldn’t be joining us tonight because my father-in-law isn’t feeling well.

We have been eating leftover turkey since Friday, so we’re a bit turkey’d out over here. I’d been planning to load my in-laws up with leftover turkey and send them on their merry way. But it looks like we’re going to have a surfeit of poultry, and I need to figure out what to do with it. Here are a few ideas the internet threw at me:

– In “Less Waste, More Taste: A Master Chef Reimagines Thanksgiving Leftovers,” Massimo Bottura roasts turkey bones and processes breadcrumbs to make Passatelli in Turkey Broth.

– Delish.com has some weird suggestions such as Thanksgiving in a Blanket, Beer-Battered Turkey and Moo Shu Turkey.

– Midwest Living naturally has a variety of casserole selections, including something called Catchall Casserole.

– And of course Pinterest has 10,001 ideas for your leftover turkey.

What I’m most likely going to do, though, is shred it and freeze it. Savvy Eats has a good guide for just what to do at Freezing Thanksgiving Turkey Leftovers. It should be good for about three months[2]I am not a food-safety expert, so take this with a grain of salt. in the freezer, so either we’ll have Turkey and Dumplings in January or I’ll shed a single tear in March as I throw the bag away.

Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 not the actual price
↑2 I am not a food-safety expert, so take this with a grain of salt.