Tuesday was a snow day – but as often happens the MMSD panicked and called off school and seems like we’re only going to get about 4 inches of slush by the end of the day, not the raging blizzard they feared. Plus right now it’s not even good snow to play in.
But that’s the weather and I was most recently writing about live music, and technically this is a food blog, so what’s cooking?
It was my weekend of enjoying processed dairy products. I found a can of sweetened condensed milk in the pantry that was a little bit past its June expiry date, and made some gluten free “magic bars” using this recipe with super precise measurements, that I was a little loose with, and didn’t notice till it came time to add the milk that it only used half a can. I also didn’t take them up on the DIY chips or sweetened condensed milk, and used sweetened coconut, and topped the bars with walnuts because that’s what I had. I was also out of eggs, so I made the crust with a little oat milk. But I digress – the point is the bars were a little gooey due to too much milk, and I had a few tablespoons of the milk leftover. Which I put in my oatmeal the next day, probably 3-4 tablespoons, to 1 whole cup of oats and 2 cups of water. So institutional food service oats, but so creamy and tasty! This is the second bowl reheated with some dates. And the gooey bars were quickly consumed by Pia and her friend who eats gluten free, and Mark liked them too.
On Sunday we had huevos rancheros for breakfast. I had cooked a pot of beans the day before, and when I mashed them up for the refrieds, I grated in a bunch of the babybel cheese I bought at Costco and forgot to put out at the cookie party. The beans are also very creamy and good. I think we will have to have a taco casserole with the beans that’re left because I still have a bit of ranchero sauce, too, and of course tortillas. Now they’re threatening another big snow – and school closures – Friday, so possibly a good day to just stay in and cook from the pantry and leftovers and the freezer.
I also made vegetable soup, tho not vegetarian; it has chicken broth in it. With tomatoes and big white beans and some spinach. And the last dab of beans and sauce from my favorite CSA recipe of last summer, well September really, Roast Tomatoes Over Spicy Beans With More Tomatoes, based on Nigel Slater. I froze the scant cup of the beans & tomato sauce leftover because it was just too good to go in the compost, and I thought it would be good soup base.
I had a jar of whey leftover from making ricotta, and I used it in this adaptation of King Arthur Baking 100% Whole Wheat Muffins. Something’s been going on with Sassy Cow, either the holidays or just winter. A couple of times there have been no half gallons of their milk, so I had to buy a whole gallon. Which meant I had lots of milk, hence ricotta. That I made into a big pan of veggie lasagna on the Thursday before the Friday when I went and moved in over at All & Emma’s to take care of Jasper, thinking it’d be a leftover Mark & Pia could eat. They went to Shake Shack and had smash burgers instead. We ate the lasagna another time and I froze a hunk, but I was not super pleased with it. I think the sauce was not reduced enough. Maybe it’ll be better after freezing, sometimes that works. Or I’ll top it with more cheese when we get around to eating the frozen piece.
I also made a gluten free version of my blueberry cornmeal muffins. I thought about doing the while wheat ones, and I read someplace that I could use almond flour in place of whole wheat. Because the GF flour is basically white, I thought it would do better in the cornmeal ones. I haven’t tasted a baked on yet, last night when I licked a bit of the batter it had that feels-funny-on-the-backs-of-my-teeth I always have with GF flour, but otherwise the flavors were the same as regular.
Last night we had meatloaf and baked potatoes – no pics. Tonight we’re having Anna’s spinach lentil soup from Ovens of Brittany, and hashbrowns made out of the leftover potatoes. Here’s my little taste test cup of soup, and as you can see it was already almost too dark for pictures at 4:30 4:42 the timestamp on the photo says.
Tonight it’s going to be meatloaf sandwiches on homemade sourdough and and Cafe Flora “Waiting for Spring” slaw. I used my new hand held mandoline to shave the fennel and onions in it.
And here’s the required Jasper picture, Jasper & Emma from yesterday.
