Our plans to cook on Monday were thwarted when Matthew’s refrigerator died. Dad had to take down coolers and they brought everything back to our house. Matthew and I spent the afternoon sorting through everything and fitting it all in our freezer and refrigerator.
He is forbidden from buying any more sauces, dips or condiments, Lol! Every time he goes to the grocery store, he forgets what he already has in the fridge. He had 4 bottles of soy sauce, 7 containers of dip (4 of which were the same), I lost count of how many bottles of BBQ sauce and an assortment of other things.
So, are you a meal planner, going to the grocery store with a list? Or are you an impulse buyer?
He also had 5 eggs that were six months past their sell-by-date. Do you know how to tell if eggs are bad? Put them in a bowl of water and if they float it’s best to toss them. They were tossed!
We got back on track with our meal plans on Tuesday. One of Matthew’s favorite shows on Food Network is Guy Fieri's ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’. A couple of years ago, pre-pandemic, we went to Las Vegas. One evening we ate at Guy Fieri's El Burro Borracho restaurant. Matthew ordered the Trash Can Nachos. He has wanted to make them ever since.
I bought a 104-ounce can of green beans so we would have a ‘trash’ can. (In case you’re wondering, we already have our green bean casserole in the freezer for Thanksgiving.) We followed Guy’s recipe, but you could easily modify it with other ingredients. After removing the can, it took about 10-seconds before it collapsed. Kids would love it. So, here it is…
Tuesday in the Kitchen with Matthew: Guy Fieri's Trash Can Nachos…layers of chips, homemade cheese sauce, seasoned ground beef, homemade pico de gallo, black beans, shredded cheese, sour cream, Cholula hot sauce, pickled jalapeños & green onions.
Another hot day was on tap Wednesday, perfect weather for power washing the house and windows. Since Matthew was going to be helping his Dad, we tossed a pork butt in the crockpot at 8 am. I love crockpot cooking!
Wednesday in the Kitchen with Matthew: Asian Pork in the crockpot with a sauce of fresh garlic-ginger-Chinese 5-Spice-rice wine vinegar-soy sauce -brown sugar then served over Jasmine rice, stir fry vegetables and garnished with sesame seeds and green onions.
Friday in the Garden: We had some visitors…After lunch in the garden it was time for a rest! (Roy said they’re hungry…we can always buy tomatoes!) Mom showed up 2 hours later…
Have you ever purchased pizza by the pound? Well, if you visit Beaujo’s in Colorado you order a 1-lb or 2-lb or 3-lb or 5-lb pizza. That’s a lot of pizza!
Friday Pieday: (Copy-cat) Beaujo's Colorado Mountain Pie…a honey & pepper braided crust topped with red sauce, pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, green peppers and mozzarella. This crust is definitely in the top 5!
We were watching the food channel on vacation when we learned about ‘hot honey’. It’s easy to make and can be used on pizza, fried chicken, biscuits, waffles and one recipe even suggested ice cream! Hmmm, I am going to have to think about that one.
So, I decided to give hot honey a try…
Sunday’s Creation: Detroit Style Pizza crust topped with red sauce, goat cheese, pepperoni, mozzarella then garnished with hot honey, arugula tossed in olive oil and more goat cheese.
Till next week!
~Peggy Palmer-Johnson