Fried baguette with fresh spinach

We have had some amazing meals but I have not blogged them. The last week has been a special kind of crazy. On a whim, I started grad school (first step toward an MA in European History). And I broke my ankle.

Between boredom and necessity, I started experimenting in the kitchen and developed these:

So good I had to plate them on my fancy Royal Doulton. 

The ingredients are all hunks of leftover things... A day-old baguette, a random chunk of mutilated cheddar, some fresh spinach that is trying so hard not to wilt and a partial stick of butter my eleven-year-old daughter removed from the wrapper so she could use the wrapper to grease a pan.

I sliced the day old baguette thinly, to increase the chances that a layer of butter smeared across it and heated in the cast iron skillet would restore its edible potential.

I prepared each slice with a thin layer of butter on each side, dropping them directly over the center of the skillet preheated on medium. This allowed them to heat quickly and brown nicely on the edges. I flipped the bread over, topped with a very small piece of cheddar, a spinach leaf or two and a second small piece of cheese.

The assembled discs I pushed to one side of the pan, farther from the heat, and covered. I wanted to melt the cheese but not burn the bread. Probably 60 seconds.

I sprinkled with the tiniest bit of garlic pepper and some crushed red pepper flakes. I will be expanding on the concept for dinner.

Individualized chicken wraps

We have plain chicken left from last night's casserole so I made wraps:

For Me

Chicken, romaine, home canned cranberry relish and mandarin oranges

For my husband

Chicken, romaine, Parmesan and salsa verde

Leftover cabbage and... Pizza Hut?

My mother-in-law brought us her leftover stuffed cabbage, which I adore, and even put some plain cabbage in the bottom for the wee one. You see, despite her carnivorous nature and love of all things meat, doesn't like the typical ground beef and rice filling of stuffed cabbage or stuffed peppers. But she likes the vegetable exterior.

So I heated the leftovers in the oven, tossing two vegetarian burgers (Morningstar Mediterranean Chick Pea burgers) in with the cabbage.

And why the oven? Because I worked in Target cafe today and there was a Cartwheel for Pizza Hut Tuscany pasta. So when I made the meaty marinaras I bought one for my family and didn't even cook it. 

Did it at home.

I topped our pasta with grated percino romano and mine with crushed red pepper. I also had one of the veggie burgers along with my stuffed cabbage.

Harissa chick pea stew and rice

I had to make a whole chicken last week and chicken bone stock to make room in my freezer. 

To use up some of the new chicken stock so it would fit in the freezer I made rice with chicken stock and parsley mixed 50/50 with the water.

To use up the chicken and this pile of tomatoes someone gave us from their garden, I made this stew:

- 2 cups homemade chicken stock (to use up my old stock)

- 1 cup diced chicken

- about 30 ounces chick peas

- about 4 cups diced tomato

- 1/2 cup zesty sprouts

- 1 package saffron road harissa simmer sauce

- about 2 cups vegetables (in my case broccoli, carrot and cauliflower)

- 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

- 1 tablespoon ground cumin

- water

In the crockpot on high.

Tuna and peas over egg noodles

I originally planned to make this to use up some leftover tuna from sandwiches earlier in the week.

But I had a really crazy shift at work and then I fell walking out of the store so my husband made his own version of my vision.

- Egg noodles

- leftover tuna

- peas

For the sauce:

- soy milk

- cornstarch 

- cheddar

- Swiss cheese

And a sprinkle of shredded Parmesan on top.

Buffy gets a workout

When my daughter started school, she announced that she wanted a Buffy the Vampire Slayer lunch box. That required some hunting on eBay. We paid something absurd like $17 for it but she's  still using it four plus years later.

She's been asking to pack, because she realizes school lunches are mostly crap. We haven't had much money in the grocery budget and school lunches are cheap-- especially since she qualifies for reduced cost lunch.

But today is Tuesday, and Tuesday is processed chicken crap day, usually some form of "popcorn chicken." I have plenty of processed crap here that the grandparents brought while child at the stomach virus last week. 

So I packed a lunch that combined processed with wholesome at minimal cost.  

So here goes:

- cloth napkin

- juice box

- danimals yogurt (blame the grandparents) with an ice cube since lunch is at one

- big old apple

- grandma's leftover meatloaf (homemade) with ketchup and baby leaf lettuce on one slice of Italian white bread (grandparents brought that too. I really need to start baking bread again)

- homemade, home canned dill pickles made from local cucumbers and dill we grew ourselves

She's really excited.

Crazy mexi steaks

I created this crazy Mexican inspired steak sandwich to use up some leftover steak sandwich meat from my mother in law. The meat came with some fried peppers and hot peppers.

There wasn't enough left for three full sandwiches so I fried some corn tortillas in butter and put some sliced smoked Gouda inside each pair.

I piled some various lettuce on top of that, then the reheated steak meat, then Parmesan and then salsa.

Good stuff.

Juice box punch

My daughter now refuses to take juice boxes to school. I gave her a pitcher and a pair of kitchen scissors and told her to recycle the juice boxes into fruit punch.

She loved that idea.

Egg taco

In the middle of the blizzard of 2014, I'm still eating taco leftovers (and loving it!). 

Today I made a soft taco of scrambled egg, taco meat, extra hot salsa, corn salsa, iceberg lettuce, extra sharp cheddar and tomato.

Heavenly.

Brussel sprout taco

I've been on a taco salad kick the last few days because my mother in law brought taco fixings and I find this far more fun than hard shells. Iceberg lettuce, extra hot salsa, cheese, Goddess dressing (I don't have ranch, blue cheese or even sour cream), taco meat and the best part-- my home canned sweet and spicy corn salsa.

Tonight after work, I had the munchies and thought I'd have these leftover Brussel sprouts in a wrap with salsa and cheese. It hit the spot, though my husband thinks I'm nuts.

More comfort food

God bless my husband.

We had a snow storm on Tuesday, and after work on Wednesday he drove me to Target for my closing shift and then he got gas in the car and went to Giant.

You see, I had a coupon for free eggs if I spent $5. Since we're still broke and paying off our new tires, he took a credit card and bought $20 worth of groceries. 

Enough to get us through a few more days. And it's beyond cold. So we planned this comfort food meal:

- Home canned local apples

- Wegmans spirals and cheese boxed macaroni and cheese with fresh spinach

- burgers from the freezer (I don't even remember when we bought ground beef) on potato buns from Giant and more fresh spinach (husband's mom got spinach at the warehouse club and shared).

Dinner last night also came from the freezer:

- turkey leftover from Christmas Eve at my mother-in-law's house

- green beans almandine that I had made for Christmas dinner with my mom and step mom 

Chicken vegetable pot pie

Yes, we're still eating that chicken. I worked again this afternoon so we cheated a bit on this one.

- store bought pie crust

- almond milk

- Campbell's cream of potato soup

- vegetables

- potatoes

- garlic powder 

- curry powder

- paprika 

I took an old butter wrapper and greased a deep dish pie pan. I preheated the oven to 410 degrees.

Next, my husband microwaved some potatoes and I put the bottom pie crust into the pie pan.

We plopped in the soup, then a half can of almond milk. I sprinkled in leftover chicken and frozen vegetables (carrots, spinach, cauliflower, and peas). 

Next I added the spices, a quick sprinkle of the paprika and garlic and probably about a tablespoon of curry powder. We added more chicken.

The potatoes went on top of that and then I topped with the second crust. Into the oven she went, covered with aluminum foil. 30 minutes with foil, then 15 minutes without. I then lowered the heat to 350 and did another 15.

The result was scrumptious but a tad saltier than I'm used to these days.

Chicken leftovers

The chicken I made in the crockpot turned out very yummy, if you like chicken. Personally, chicken on its own doesn't excite me.

Tonight's dinner excited me much more. We took some of the leftover chicken and made fajitas of romaine lettuce, cheese, chicken, black beans, and salsa. 

Lamb sausage skillet

Leftover potatoes from Christmas.

Diced.

Leftover fresh arugula & spinach.

Sautéed in butter.

Lamb sausage.

Seasoning: raj el hanout & low sodium soy sauce

Christmas sandwich

While driving home from work last night, I dreamed up this sandwich. I love salad but I love it a lot more when I don't have to eat it with a fork. 

- one pita

- greens, stuffing that pita full (I used arugula, spinach and spring mix leftover from Christmas dinner)

- my homemade berry vinaigrette dressing 

- my home canned cranberry orange relish

- turkey 

Couscous

Tonight we recycled more leftovers (my mother in law sent us carrots and ham). I am rather pleased with this one. 

We made a big pile of couscous.

I boiled 3 cups water with about two tablespoons of raj el hanout. When the water boiled, I added 2 cups couscous and put the lid on for five minutes.

My husband diced the leftover carrots and ham. I also had him add the leftover sugar snap peas. I heated that up on the stove and added about two tablespoons parsley.

When we took the lid off the couscous, my husband fluffed it and we put some on each plate. (We have some leftover).

I drizzled some extra virgin olive oil on each pile, added the carrot/ham mix (and I know this is not halal), sprinkled with more raj el hanout, and served.

I keep harissa in the freezer, a few spoonfuls in fold-over sandwich bags all rolled up inside a freezer bag. I took one out and thawed it out in warm water like when you get sauces in processed frozen dishes.

This hit the spot.

Recycling with hot dogs

Husband had a hot dog & leftover mac and cheese.

Daughter had leftover mac and cheese, olives, homemade pickles, leftover fruit (pears, pineapple & papaya) and a hot dog served open-faced on the leftover spinach pizza dunker with pizza sauce instead of ketchup.

And me?

I had a hot dog on a jalapeño bagel with wasabi mustard, mozzarella, extra hot habanero salsa, jalapeño slices, and homemade dill pickles.

Simple dinner tonight

I went for a simple dinner tonight. I broke up some chicken breasts and mixed them with the leftover turkey. Served with some potatoes, home canned apples and cranberry clementine relish and a taste of store bought cranberry sauce for comparison.

Buffalo chicken orzo

My daughter and I went on a six mile bike  today. Man, I am out of shape. But I never was an athlete!

When we got home, the family whipped up a hot lunch of leftover orzo with chopped chicken.

My husband and daughter had theirs with sugar snap peas, lima beans, and brussel sprouts drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and topped with herbs and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

I had no lima beans and used Archer Farns buffalo sauce on mine.

Quick lunch

I served the leftover bean burgers and the leftover rice I used to make bean burgers with asparagus, artichokes, sweet snap peas from my garden and brussel sprouts in a lemon-butter sauce.