Week #3: March 22-25, 2010

I am so tired.

Really, tonight was exhausting. I seriously considered at some point just saying "fuck it" and telling my family to order a pizza.

At least it turned out alright, or at least the family seems to think so.

Night #6: Monday, March 22. Corn patties and lentils with mixed vegetables. This was pretty complicated, only because the lentils and veggies had to be made separately. It ended up being pretty tasty, though, with a higher proportion of lentils than I expected. I've decided I really like lentils, I'd like to use them more in the future. The corn patties were Indian-tasting, with some curry and coriander...they were good, but I'm not much of a fan of those particular spices. I think I would have preferred more garlic. But, then, I would always prefer more garlic.

Night #7: Tuesday, March 23. Broccoli and sun-dried tomato frittata, mashed potatoes with leeks, and a green salad. It was my first time making a frittata, although I have made scrambled eggs with stuff in them before, which is similar. I minced the broccoli and the tomato really finely...I was worried that the frittata would burn on the bottom, and that maybe it would stick to the pan. Surprisingly, it turned out PERFECTLY. Hooray! As for the mashed potatoes, I really just wanted to use the leek and potatoes I had left over from the colcannon last week. I boiled the potatoes, and put the leeks in with them towards the end. I then took the leeks back out...not too difficult...mashed the potatoes, and added the leeks back in. I also put sour cream and milk in it, and it was pretty yummy. Salad was...bleh. Bagged spinach and greens and stuff, with carrots and tomatoes sprinkled on top. Zero effort FTW.

Night #8: Wednesday, March 24. Crab cakes, corn on the cob and roasted butternut squash. The absolute most difficult thing about this night was the butternut squash. That shit is HARD to peel! And to cut, and to do anything else with. But, thankfully, the actual dish itself was the easiest thing ever...chopped squash, tossed with olive oil, maple syrup and fresh chopped sage, and some salt and pepper, baked on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes. The crab cakes were my mother's request...she wanted me to double the recipe, which meant $60 worth of crab!! It's totally worth it for the jumbo lump crab meat...the recipe I have is from the "Cook This, Not That" cookbook, and it is amazing. Not too much other stuff, besides peppers, lemon, egg and breadcrumbs...mostly crab, which makes it de-licious.

Night #9: Thursday, March 25. Vegetable fritters with fresh tomato sauce, and spinach rice. I just don't know why I thought this would be easy. This was the most ridiculously difficult dinner yet. I had to HAND GRATE the damn butternut squash, potatoes, zucchini, and carrots, because I have no machine that does such a thing. Well, I suppose the Magic Bullet might do it...but I don't know, and I didn't have time to try. The fritters turned out alright...a little bland, I should have added a little more salt and pepper to the mixture. The spinach rice was actually really good...long-grained rice cooked in vegetable broth, with frozen spinach and onions added once it's cooked. Way easy, and very yummy, provided the correct amounts of salt and pepper are added. I think that, overall, the night was successful...the family enjoyed it...but I definitely, seriously need to read the directions more carefully. When it says to squeeze out the grated vegetables BEFORE adding the egg...it's for a reason.

Next week is a short week again, I'm going to a seder service with Jacob on Monday night. : ) It really seems like this week was patties week...ha...I made some sort of patties or cakes on 3/4 nights. Next week will be easier, I think.

: )