“No Like That Chicken”

Really, I have been knitting... I've got a heel on one of my Scherherazade's Slippers..

Yesterday, we went to the store after picking up TJ from class. I've been wanting to start cooking lamb occasionally, but at $20-30 per pound for some of the 'classier' looking cuts... well, I'm not willing to try at this point. We wandered by the meat counter and, lo and behold, leg of lamb's on sale for four bucks a pound. That's about the same as getting boneless skinless chicken around here. I snatched one up!

We picked up the farm box and headed home so I could get it in the oven. I pulled out my Nourishing Traditions cookbook and looked through the lamb recipes. I settled on Stuffed Leg of Lamb (p.344) and started substituting. I hadn't thought to have her remove the bone for me, so I had to do that myself (not exactly a work of art, but I've got lamb leg bone in the freezer for next time I make stock). I'm out of onions, so I used up last week's leeks, 2 in the stuffing and one in the pan. I couldn't find the pecans, so I used walnuts. Last week's spinach is long gone (so good), so I used the fresh turnip greens from this week's box. Mint came in the box! Perfect! I wanted the oranges in the box for dessert, so used the ones we had picked up at Safeway for in the recipe. There's no vermouth in the pantry (can you believe that?), so I used some Bare Foot something or other that's in the fridge from ... umm.. how long's it been there? And, I'm out of beef stock. Or so I thought, turns out there was just over a cup left in the freezer, so I made up the other 2 cups with water and bouillon. I tossed a few potatoes in the oven for the last hour as a side.

All in all, the lamb looked good and cooked thoroughly waiting for Ben to arrive. He had a somewhat last-minute emergency with the server and was about an hour or so late. I started plating the children's food just before he came home. I dished out the green beans and potatoes and took that to the table. BB looked at the roast and said, "I no like that chicken, I no eat that chicken!" I sliced off a portion and chopped it small with her screeching in the background, put about a teaspoon's worth on each of the girls' plates and Ben arrived. Suddenly, the girls just couldn't get enough of "that chicken" and dinner went really well for awhile. Everyone was really tired, though, so I had to set an end time and send them off to bed.

Bento? Yum!

Lot's of food posts this week! Here's another:



I went for making a healthy lunch for TJ today. He gave me input (which shapes for rice, no PB to dip the carrots in), and I went from there.

The brown rice packs into the molds really nicely! Here's MissA's rice star from last night:

Blueberry Goodness

I came across organic blueberries on sale at the store today. I bought two of the precious tiny containers. They are so full of flavor! MissC wanted to gobble them up, too! After we'd eaten most of the first container, I remembered my mini pie pans and searched out a recipe. This one sounded good and quartered it -there's only a little over a cup of berries left. I found I'm out of cinnamon as I was mixing - kinda too late.. oh well, we'll see how nutmeg holds its own.

Revolutionary?

I was so tired and need to study. I sent a text to Ben that at 6 I would be going on break. He and the children would be on their own. I threw some potatoes in the oven and was about to gather my things when MissB pulled out the mini-pie tins and MissA asked if we could have pot pies for dinner.

Ah, I have pie crust in the fridge (store bought for just such a moment). Veggies abound since the CSA has started up again, and TJ pulled a radish from the garden. And, there's chicken stock in the freezer (my bad. I meant to cool it off quickly and forgot about it!).

I pulled a few potatoes back out of the oven and chopped up the vegetables - broccoli, celery, squash, radish and potatoes - and tossed them together. I double-bagged the bowl shaped broth and smashed it on the pavement, then put a few big chunks in a pot (~2-3 cups). When it melted, I added flour (maybe 2 Tbsp, could've used at least 1/4 cup) and let that boil till it reduced a bit, and added a dash of thyme and basil. The girls helped me place the crusts in the pans and poke them with forks. Then I filled the pie pans with veggies to just under the rim (no higher than the liquid level will be, the filling above the gravy may not cook) and poured the broth over them. The potatoes came out of the oven just before the pies were ready to go in. I think they cooked about 30 min, maybe just under.

JB’s Magic Caston

Thank you Cat for making this video! This totally clears up any lack of understanding I had with the written instructions!

Stranding Mittens

I found a neat book at the library and ordered the 'proper' yarn from Denise. (I'm still new to substituting fiber, so I'm trying to occasionally get the yarn called for to compare)

(I borrowed this from the library! Much better price!)

and tried my hand at a mitten for TJ. His favorite colors are black, red and yellow, so I used the latter two for this:

It fits my hand perfectly.. So, I ought to go down a needle size...