Meal prep in the last week...

I'm listing ingredients for these meals, so I can remember how I made them for the future.  If no measurements are given, it's because I didn't measure.  :)

All That and the End of a Bag of Chips Salad.  I did not feel like cooking.  I saw a YouTube video about Frito Salad.  I knew we had the end of two bags of chips (Fritos and Nacho Doritos), so I thinly sliced 1/2 an onion and a carrot, diced a green bell pepper, put those in a bowl with a bag of frozen roasted corn (thawed), the rest of of the cooked, diced chicken from last night's Burrito Bowls, a small can of sliced ripe olives, and a handful of shredded cheese.  I mixed some mayo and sour cream in a bowl, added a couple of Tablespoons of lime juice, a half teaspoon or so of Tajin seasoning, and a half teaspoon or so of chili powder.  I added dressing to the vegetables and chicken in the salad bowl, and put it in fridge till supper time.  When it was time to eat, I stirred in the lightly crushed Fritos and Doritos.  It wasn't the most healthy thing I've made lately, but it was a different tasty thing that used up lots of stuff that needed using up.

Chicken Burrito Bowls.  I prepared a box of Zatarain's Cilantro Lime rice (as per package directions), and heated up a can of Borracho beans (black or regular pinto beans would also be fine.  I arranged on a platter a sliced avocado, a large diced tomato, a thinly sliced yellow squash, cooked diced chicken, and some Cotija Cheese.  We assembled our own bowls as we liked.  I added Cilantro Lime salad dressing; Carey doesn't like dressing on his salad.  Who doesn't like dressing on a salad...burrito bowl...whatever?  :)

Chicken and Rice Casserole with fresh green beans with bacon.  No ingredients listed for this one.  The chicken and rice was not very successful, and the green beans I could make in my sleep.

Friday we had an omelette for supper.  I fried some bacon.  After the bacon came out of the pan, I sauteed a finely diced squash and onion in the same pan.  When they were tender, I removed them from the pan, and fried some tomato slices, letting each side get a little charred.  After I removed the tomato from the pan, I added beaten eggs.  I gently lifted the edges to let the uncooked edge run under the cooked egg.  When the top of the omelette was on its way to being set, I added the crumbled bacon, squash, onion, and cheese to the eggs in one side of the pan.  I flipped the bare half of the eggs over the top of the vegetables.  I left it on the burner for a minute to melt the cheese inside.  Then I turned off the heat and cut the omelette in half, and set each half on a plate and topped with the charred tomato.

Carey was very complimentary.  It was pretty good, but really...squash...still?  And there's still more to go through.  I'm not sure how many ways I can think of to use up the rest.

Living dangerously...

We went out on a whim tonight.  I can't tell you when the last time we ate out was.  And I am officially sick of squash from the garden.  Last night I added it finely diced to spaghetti sauce...sigh.

I was this far into my salad tonight before I remembered...Cyclospora!  In for a penny, in for a pound; I ate the salad.

I'm hoping for the best.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Forty-fifth challenge finish of the year.

This is a compilation of stories originally published in Texas Monthly with follow ups after each chapter.

I heard the author interviewed about this new (at the time) book of his on NPR several months ago.  I've long admired his work as an award-winning journalist for Texas Monthly magazine; I see that he is now an executive editor there.  

A few days after hearing that interview, I received an email from Amazon that this book was specially priced at $1.99 for a limited time.  I already knew I wanted to read it, so was only too happy to get a deal on it.  When I realized that the subtitle fit a prompt of the challenge, it sealed the deal.

 

Meal prep in the last few days...

Sesame Chicken.  Would have been nice if I had sprinked some sesame seeds on it, huh?  Maybe some diced scallion tops?  

Before I started the vegetables, I cooked a couple of packages of chicken breasts.  I've discovered that I like them pounded and cooked in a hot skillet, then on low for awhile to cook through.  The pounding is kind of a chore, so I figured I would thank myself for cooking a bunch and vacuum sealing for future meals.  Bonus:  only one clean up.  :)

Tonight I made Mexican Casserole again...this time I remembered the cornmeal, so we liked it much better than the last time where it was more like a quiche!  LOL

While it was in the oven, I used a couple of garden tomatoes and made fresh salsa to have with it.  Enough was left in my small food processor bowl for tonight, and the rest went into a jar for the fridge to be used in the next couple of days.

The grocery order a few days ago was a high-dollar one.  I had used up most of my freezer 'staples' so stocked up on bacon, sausage, flour, a few easy-prep frozen dinners, and the chicken that I cooked and vacuum sealed for storage.  We should be set for awhile.  And there's still garden bounty to be used too.

Here we go again...

I just read that beginning Sunday, July 12, the price of Forever stamps goes from 78¢ to 82¢.  Price increases will also affect postcards, international stamps, and several other postal products.

Eye roll and loud sigh inserted.

Carry on.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Forty-fourth challenge finish of the year.  

I finished this last night.  Heard good things about this.  Waited on reserve list for ages.  Had high hopes.

I liked most of it, but I didn't love it.  Felt like it took forever to make progress.  It lagged, and could have used more editing.  The main character was likable and kind, but his true identity, most of his personal history, and motives were kept secret from the other characters and the reader until the last couple of chapters.

Now is where this description and review get difficult for me.  There were a few (pretty few) references to Christianity throughout the book; and at the end of the book they became more frequent and overt.  

I am a Christian, let me say that right out.  Still, I am not crazy about fiction that does not let people know that the book is written from a Christian viewpoint right from the beginning.  It somehow seems disingenuous to me to find that out halfway through the book.  I feel like people of other faiths, should be aware before investing money and time reading something that may not interest them.  

I realize that Christian fiction is one way to reach out to people.  I personally usually find it written for a lower level of reader, and I imagine that that is done to reach a wider audience of people who may need to 'hear the message.'  I just feel that people's right to choice should be respected, and that they should know from the outset what they are embarking on.

I know, and love, people who have a different point of view about this.  I continue to love them.  I hope they continue to love me.

Now I have until Friday morning to finish this month's selection for book club.

Some of the meals during the past week...

Tomatoes gone wild!  I don't like tomato slices after they have sat for awhile, so I put a whole tomatoes worth of slices on my sammy.  That's it; just tomato (salted) and mayo.  And yes, that is a lot of Cheetos, but I had to share them with Rudy.

Just kidding!  I edited in the Cheeto dust on him.  He does get a few, but never makes a mess.  😋
 

Spaghetti squash again.  This time topped with sauteed portobello mushrooms, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and a bit of cream cheese melted into the vegetables, and a little parmesan sprinkled on top.  The squash was slightly under ripe.  The vine died, so Carey harvested the smallish squash from it.  It hadn't matured enough for the fiber to form 'spaghetti strands,' but the squash roasted and tasted fine.

Sausage with Hot Potato Salad and sliced tomatoes.  The Hot Potato Salad is made with cooked potatoes while still warm, mayo, sour cream, and a little Hidden Valley ranch mix.  It was supposed to have a little cooked bacon in it too, a few chives...but I was out of both.

Tonight we had more green beans and potatoes from the garden, cooked with bacon and onion, and a little beef broth.  I made a pan of cornbread again.  (Carey likes it left over for breakfast in milk.)  This meal used up the last of the potato harvest.  

I know the meals are kind of repetative, but the garden has been a lot more productive than in the past, and I'm trying to make sure everything gets used.  Carey says it's too much work if they just go to waste.  We do share with friends.  Wish you all lived close!