Barefoot Week

Now onto more update-y things, I’ll catch you up on my recent Barefoot-ed-ness from this last week. It all began the Monday before last when I got the crazy beetle up my butt to cook something from my new cookbook. And I did cook, every day for five days. I know, if my arms weren’t so rotund I’d be able to reach to pat my back, as it is however I was just able to pat the top of my shoulder, good enough.

~Monday night I made a Rich Beefy Barley Soup. Now remember resolution number two? Well this recipe is what gave me the idea for it, this soup needed oxtail. Do you know what oxtail is? I didn’t. I still don’t think I do. It’s in the beef section so if it’s beef but called ox I don’t know, also if you look at it too long you can start getting some seriously disgusting ideas about what part of the animal it comes from, I thought tail which is far too close to the butt for my comfort so I just cooked it and stopped looking at it. This first recipe got me way out of my comfort zone, I had to use barley which I’ve never cooked with before and since I didn’t even know what a leek was I used mushrooms instead as a filler (now I know what a leek is, that comes in on Thursday so wait). Momma and Daddy came over and helped us eat the pot of Butt Appendage Stew, which is totally what it’s called now, and they liked it. I would have done a back flip if not or the rotund and bad back things I’ve got.

~Tuesday night I made Chicken with Shallots and some Roasted Butternut Squash on the side. It was all a very big hit with Laine and Erik. I only got a half a plate of food with both of them snatching bites off my plate. I was afraid Erik wouldn’t like the butternut squash since he has such an awesome hatred for sweet potatoes and they tastes similar, but he loved it and promised to try some sweet potatoes next time I make some, just in case his taste buds have changed. Sweet man.

~Wednesday night I made Spicy Turkey Meatballs & Spaghetti. This was the meal that I was totally disappointed in. I wasn’t let down with the flavor, that was great, it was perfect really it’s just the fact that it calls for meats and cheeses that were way pricy and I don’t think it needed all that money in it to make it taste as good as they did. I may be completely wrong but I think I can use regular bacon next time instead of pancetta and I can defiantly use a cheaper cheese. I don’t think the Asiago really made that much of a difference. However, it was a very nice meal and Erik’s favorite of the week hands down.

~Thursday was leftover night for Erik since he was working late and I decided to make something I figured he wouldn’t like (I was WAY wrong) just for me and Laine. I made Warm French Lentils that are supposed to be a side dish but I made it a meal. This is the recipe where I figured out what a leek was and I also found out I don’t mind leeks, I even used them again during the weekend. I really am looking forward to making this again, but it’s defiantly one of those meals that you have to shop for every time, I don’t usually keep leeks and turnips in the house. Well who knows, maybe now I’ll start.

~Friday night I made Tuscan White Beans at Erik’s parents house. With Kate’s room being remodeled and Jenifer moving back into the house there was too much going on and not enough people around to make it happen so Erik went to help move, I went to make dinner and Laine was there for cookie consumption, background noise and consternation. The child excels, you can borrow her if you need that particular combination. This meal was kind of an ordeal for me since I was making it with dried beans and it took me over three hours to fast soak and cook them. I also cooked the rice at home and chopped all the veggies and put them in baggies for the trip. I took my new Dutch oven, which I’ve cooked every meal in this week so far, just so I could show them how awesome it was.

~Saturday was New Year’s Day and we went to do the Black-eyed Pea, Cabbage and Ham thing at Erik’s uncle’s house, I don’t get it at all but I don’t judge either. Yes, yes I do but I did it quietly and with James Jeffrey backing me up at every turn. I do love that man. No, you can’t know who he is, I’m keeping him to myself.
When I got home from lunch I was starving since I can’t eat black-eyed peas due to the insane amount of grossness they carry and I couldn’t eat the cabbage because I think it was stewed and it may have had things growing in it. I didn’t look close enough to see. I tried but my nose melted off and I got scared. So I ate the appetizers and let Laine eat my food and it looked like I ate a whole plate, see, I was nice and didn’t hurt anyone’s feeling, unless they saw me feeding Laine under the table… or are reading this. Hiiii...
So back to starving at home, I was looking at the leftovers from all this week and nothing was really calling out to me and I saw that all my veggie drawers were still kind of full and I figured I’d better do something with all that fresh food before it went bad, so I cut up everything and threw it in a pot. And that’s what I’ve been eating for the last three days. It’s yummy.