Menus and grocery lists, February 5, 2014

“But you can't start. Only a baby can start... 

You and me -  We can't start again.” 

John Steinbeck

Three things are clear. John Steinbeck never saw an Olympic sport, he rarely cooked dinner, and he never watched

Groundhog Day.

But, the day before yesterday, hundreds of televisions  turned off the Superbawl and replayed this classic movie about restarts and redos.  At least three major religions  glean important spiritual lessons from this film, which made Punxsutawny Phil the second most celebrated rodent in America-

next to this guy, naturally.

What, one wonders, would the human Phil in the movie had done, had he known on February 1st that he was about to experience 10 years of February 2nd? 

Probably the same thing an Olympic speed skater would do if she knew that the next start (and the next one, and the next one ) would be a false start:

she'd start getting better at getting a better start.

Which brings us right around an icy track to dinner. Because as long as the peeps gotta eat, every day is a new day to get dinner right. In fact, while there are way too many parts of a life that don't allow restarts, way too many parts of life where you have to get it right the first time or live with the mistake, dinner is not one of those parts. You can keep starting dinner over and over every day until dinner's a winner, and when you get it wrong, it's no big deal.

hmmm. Okay, so sometimes getting it
wrong is a big deal.
Unless, of course, the poison is on purpose.

This week, we're playing groundhog day with a fantastic eye of round recipe- we'll have it over and over, giving it a starting position in three different dinners; with any luck, at least one of them will get it just right:

Wednesday: Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans

Well, one doesn't often see a dinner this traditional on this blog- which brings up the question. If we rarely have a dinner this traditional, is it then actually nontraditional?
I think I just gave myself a Groundhog Day- worthy mindspin.
We'll use a (relatively) inexpensive eye of round for the beef, and Alton Brown's mashed potatoes, with pan roasted green beans. Here's the tricky thing about this (otherwise amazing) beef recipe: the oven is off for the last 3 hours of cook time, making baked sides (potatoes, rolls, roasted veggies) impossible. 

Thursday: Beef Pho

About 10 days ago, we came home from Dallas farmer's market with a sack of snow peas. They just sort of came home with us, even though they had no dinner to be a part of and now they're in danger of dying a furry death in the produce drawer.  I'll use them in place of the increasingly hard to find bean sprouts in this pho, and slice some of last night's beef paper thin, and pop it in the bowl at the last second- it needs time to warm, but letting it boil in the broth would make it tough.


Friday: Pan Roasted Salmon and Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash

Fish once a week for three weeks in a row! 
There's a cinnamon and chili powder rub on this salmon that looks very nice, and should pair beautifully with the sweetness of the the roasted squash. I'll be prepping and cooking extra squash and saving the leftovers for a salad on Sunday.




Saturday: Leftover Beef Fajitas, Black Beans and Rice

See the marinade that Ree Drummond uses in this fajita recipe? I may make about half of that and soak slices of leftover roast in it before I give them a high heat stir fry. Here's the thing- that pan has got to be smokin' hot and I have got to be patient enough to throw in only a few slices at a time. If I get impatient and don't let the skillet heat sufficiently, or crowd the skillet with meat, all those yummy juices will release into the pan, and we'll end up with stewed beef fajitas. Eww.  I'll be opening canned seasoned black beans and warming them up to go alongside.


Sunday: Butternut Squash and Black Bean Salad

What a beautiful salad! Any leftover black beans will be rinsed and used here, as well as the leftover roasted squash. If there's any beef leftover, we may make this a more substantial meal by using it to make a sandwich or two. Frugal, nutritious, tasty and pretty. This is the way to give old food a fresh start.

And I hope this week is full of fresh starts.
I hope that  things that feel like endless loops
turn into a chance to press reset.
Because groundhog day, or any day
Is a good day to start something new
even if it's something old.
Even if it's something as old as Wednesday
I hope it's as new as today-
and that today gives you a chance,
and then another, and another
to do your life

happier than ever after.