Menu planning

Man, I suck at menu planning.

Tuesday: we had pasta
Tonight: leftover fajitas and tacos
Thursday: Farmer's Market - may be some egg dish
Friday: Karate/pickup from Hershey Park
Saturday: Roasted chicken
Sunday: Pancakes

Pulled pork sandwiches

With cheeseburgers for boys, and a veggie burger for The Lovely Daughter.

I made coleslaw again, but this was MUCH better! I started with this:
A Bobby Flay recipe for Coleslaw with Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette - but of course didn't really follow it.

I shredded up about a cup of cabbage, maybe 5 baby carrots. Added the juice of a lime and *maybe* a teaspoon of canola oil. A dash of salt and a smidge of honey. Then a scant spoonful of my new favorite ingredient: Sambal oelek.

I am in heaven. Almost like green papaya salad - I'll have to try adding bean sprouts and chopped peanuts the next time :)

Shrimp scampi

YAY! Shrimp that actually taste like shrimp! These were either from Ecuador or Honduras (they had some from both places, and I can't remember where the ones I bought were from). The important thing is that they were wild-caught, and very fresh. Not gulf shrimp, but also not $20 a pound either. Some of the last of the asparagus roasted, some grilled summer squash, yellow rice, and bread. And there's plenty of fruit for dessert.

Misc.

Boys had hotdogs and leftover pizza; TMOTH had sausage and eggs; I had a salad. BUT I made pound cake this afternoon, and sliced strawberries from the farmers market to go on top. Mmm.

Banana pudding

OK, it's for dessert, not dinner :)

But dinner - Chinese takeout - just wasn't that good :(
The soup was pretty good, spring rolls OK, pad thai was weird, and ginger chicken that was pretty good as well. But WAY too much MSG. I took three advil and two benadryl, and hopefully will escape a major migraine.

Farmers Market Dinner

The farmers market is back!!! One day a week, in the parking lot of the church across the street from work, there is a farmers market from May to November. It is a weekly ritual for a number of us to walk across to the market on Thursday morning.

It's still early in the season, but I got enough for dinner - a dozen eggs from "happy hens" for scrambled eggs, a ginormous apple, potatoes for hash browns, and a quart of strawberries. Yummy, yummy, yummy.

Crockpot pulled pork and coleslaw

http://www.crumblycookie.net/2008/05/30/crockpot-pulled-pork/

I made this today, and it was wonderful. I (of course) tweaked it a little bit.
1. I added about half a teaspoon of ginger to the spice mix; I also didn't have white pepper so just added extra black pepper.
2. The only pork shoulder at the grocery was about 4 pounds, so I used about half the spice mix, then let it sit overnight (I put the rub on last night after dinner, then started the crockpot this morning before work (~7 am).
3. I added back about half the cooking liquid, after skimming off the fat. And I think I probably added more BBQ sauce in the heating the shredded meat phase, but I'm not sure because I just poured it in until it looked right. I used Stubbs, and was happy with the results.

Very carroty coleslaw on the side, potato chips because I was too tired to make potato salad, and YUM. The only downside was the slaw dressing - I bought Marzetti's (again, the only kind at the grocery. Grrr.) and it's a little more vinegary than I like. OK, but not great. Any recommendations for a sweet dressing, or a recipe?

(As an aside, I shredded my thumb while making the coleslaw. I walked into the living room holding a paper towel around it, and when TMOTH looked a question at me, I said "I shredded my thumb." The Lovely Daughter just erupted - WHY WOULD YOU EVEN THINK TO SAY THAT! DON'T SAY THAT! SAY YOU CUT YOUR FINGER! It was highly amusing.)

Chicken cacciatorre

A good dinner for a change - the pasta dish, salad, garlic bread.

And I put the spice rub on a small pork shoulder for this recipe:
Crockpot pulled pork