And, coincidentally, it's a whole new year this week. Fresh starts and all that. Parties. Traditions. Very bad sales on everything except chips and champagne. I'm not complaining. I quite like chips. Salt is my second favorite food group. And I'm a big fan of fizzy. It's just that one's resolve to stop the great holiday cash hemorrhage is in conflict with the grocery stores' resolve to put very few meal-building items on sale.
So. A challenge. I think we're up to it.
let's start by cleaning out the last of the leftovers:
Thursday: turkey pot pie
Make this as easy on yourself as you can- use premade pie crust if you can afford to, and if you can afford a special treat, a sheet of puff pastry for the top. This recipe even uses leftover gravy! If you don't have any, you can make some, or make a white sauce, or open a can or jar of gravy. Use any bits of leftover veg in the fridge or freezer, except anything broccoli-ish or cabbagey. Those are strong flavors that tend to take over any pot they're thrown in to. Here's a good recipe to start with:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Turkey-Pot-Pie-355790
Friday:Pot Roast
Chuck roast on sale here. Get a big enough roast to ensure some leftovers for tomorrow. This recipe calls for mole sauce, which can be found in the Hispanic food section of most large grocery stores. And, note the terrific use of coffee! I nearly always have half a pot of cooling coffee around, or a cup or two that I set in the microwave to warm and then forgot. In case you don't, instant will work just fine.
Friday:Pot Roast
Chuck roast on sale here. Get a big enough roast to ensure some leftovers for tomorrow. This recipe calls for mole sauce, which can be found in the Hispanic food section of most large grocery stores. And, note the terrific use of coffee! I nearly always have half a pot of cooling coffee around, or a cup or two that I set in the microwave to warm and then forgot. In case you don't, instant will work just fine.
Saturday: Tortilla soup and tamales
Every one else in the world is probably either going to a party or hosting a party tonight. If you are, and you're still stressing about what to cook, go to realsimple.com, or marthastewart.com, or even pinterest, and you'll get all the help you need.
We'll be spending a quiet, uneventful new year's eve wishing each other a quiet, uneventful new year and turning the leftover pot roast into tortilla soup.
no recipe link here, just tip a jar of your favorite salsa in a pot, add some chicken broth, some frozen corn, a can of drained black beans, and diced up leftover roast. heat it up, and serve it with tortilla chips, avocados (on sale here) cilantro, cheese, sour cream...whatever you feel like. I most often use leftover chicken here, but I'm a little tired of poultry. Chicken will be back on the stove later in the week.
Kroger (and a few other shops) sell some nice tamales. I may pick up a few, if soup doesn't sound substantial enough.
Sunday: Pork roast, black eyed peas and greens.
If you're a food nerd like I am, or if your food traditions didn't originate in the south, some day, you'll find yourself asking "what's up with black eyed peas and greens for new years?"
your answer lies within:
for whatever reason, let's go with tradition.( If you've got energy left from last night's party) Boston butt roast is on sale, and this smoked pork roast recipe will make great leftovers for tomorrow's burritos.
and the greens: (if you buy them bunched, it's important to follow the instructions for cleaning them. if you buy them chopped in a bag, you've spent a little extra and paid someone to do the de-sanding for you; just give them a good rinse)
and the peas: (yes, of course you can use canned. just drain and rinse them. someday, though, give dry beans a try. Cheapest little protein packets in the world!)
Monday: Smoked pork burritos
yesterday was the biggest hands-on cooking day of the week. Let's make today easy. Get the nicest flour tortillas you can (good ones on sale in NC) and turn the leftover pork roast into burritos. if you want to add some spice, warm the pork in a pan with some olive oil, a little liquid smoke, and chili powder. or, just chop it up and nuke it. Lettuce is expensive for all of us, but you can up the nutrition AND lower the cost by shredding up some of the fresh spinach that most of us have on sale.
Tuesday: Sweet Spicy Chicken, sweet potatoes & couscous.
did you know that sweet potatoes are one of the best nutrition per calorie items in the vegetable world? well, they are. And cheap. At least at Costco, where yesterday I picked up an entire box for what worked out to be 65 cents a pound. The chicken recipe uses chicken thighs, but I've chicken breast already in the freezer, so I'll use that.
Wednesday: any leftover chicken turns into chicken chili. Recipes for this standby abound, but I need to use these sweet potatoes, so I'm going with this one:
don't be alarmed by the length of the recipe- half of the things on it are spices that I'll bet you already have. except marjoram. not even I have marjoram. yet.
I'm putting that alongside a variation on one of my all time favorites, popovers. Nothing like a popover for turning the most boring kitchen staples into something special. And this cheesy spin on them looks super:
don't worry for a second about roasting and peeling that pepper if you don't want to. a can of diced green chilies will be fine. or, leave them out entirely. bringing all the ingredients up to room temp is pretty important though. Popovers pop because of the sudden intense heat, and if they start out cold, they'll be popunders. I never, ever remember to set the ingredients out ahead of time, so I usually end up heating the milk and butter, and whisking them (by hand or in a blender) slowly into the eggs. pour the milk into the eggs slowly. Dump hot milk into beaten eggs, and you'll get scrambled eggs- blend it in slowly, and the whole thing will be up to room temp and ready for the flour & salt.
Thursday- Let's use today to use up leftovers, and shop for next week. Avocados are $1 each at Kroger, and if I still have any left, I'll be using them in this salad, and putting it next to reheated soup or chili (or chicken, or couscous...)
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