Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The Story of the Stolen Menu and the Big Ol' Potato

I have a menu plan all written out for this week.  Excuse me, I had such a menu, but a 6 year old girl decided to teach me a lesson and stole it.  Silly me, I told her that she could not get on the internet this morning because it was time to leave the house.  So to exact her revenge, she stole the menu out of my purse while I ran back in the house to grab a coat.  That'll show me, right?!  Oh wait, did I mention I told her she would now have to eat slop because I don't know what to cook? She quickly sneered at me and said that I knew what I was cooking.  Surprisingly, I do.

Part of my menu was inspired by this:

A Big Ol' Potato.  I had no idea when I bought a 10 lb bag of potatoes a few weeks ago, that 5 of those pounds would be in 2 giant potatoes.  That sucker was hard to peel, hard to chop, but tasty to eat.

Monday:
Cream of Potato Soup and salad
Take 1 Big Ol' Potato, peel and chop.  Saute onion and celery in a big pot with oil.  Add a bit of butter or margarine for flavor.  Add flour to make a roux once celery and onion soften.  Then add 2 cups of beef broth (or chicken, or vegetable) and 2 cups of milk that you have to use right away as it is past the expiration.  Then add all your potato and some chopped ham. Add salt and pepper to taste.  A dash of hot sauce is good too. Cook on medium until potatoes are soft. 

Tuesday:
Baked Mexican Chicken (bought pre-marinated from Fiesta Foods), Pasta Salad

Wednesday:
Easy Huevos Rancheros

Thursday:
Baked Ham, Homemade Macaroni and Cheese, Broccoli and Cauliflower with ranch for dipping

Friday:
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and veggies

Saturday:
Chef Salad
This may not happen as it is my nephew's birthday, and we are eating at his party at 3 p.m.

Sunday:
Free Day (or Chef Salad if we don't have it Saturday)

Some of the recipes are in an attempt to use the last of some milk.  I always get the half gallon size with WIC because it stays fresh longer.  Good thing, as the milk we are drinking has a date of April 4th.  But since Lucerne guarantees freshness for 7 days after, and due to it being in cardboard, it is still fresh.  I found boneless ham for 1.28 a pound at Fiesta.  After this week's menu I'll still have enough ham for a future dinner.  Also lettuce was 50 cents a head at Fiesta, and many veggies were on sale (cauliflower and broccoli were both 59 cents a pound).  We are still working our way through some of Fiesta's medium eggs that I split with my cousin, and some farm fresh eggs that were brought to the church for people to help themselves to.

What have you had excess of lately?  What are you cooking to avoid wasting it?

5 comments:

Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

We dont waste much around here. I cut the "eyes" off my potatoes yesterday and planted them before I roasted what was left! I like the way you plan TJ.
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Anonymous said...

So you're supposed to cut the eyes off before planting them?

TJ said...

You plant the eyes, and then you can use the rest of the potato. It doesn't always work with store bought produce though. I have a bunch from my friend that she and hubby grew that now have sprouted quite nicely. I hope I can get a good spot dug out for them.

Anonymous said...

Whoa! That's a big ol' tater!

Your soup sounds yummy!

Anonymous said...

When I get my apartment, I am going to buy a couple patio potato planting bags/kits, and try it then.