Week Nine

The most important meal this week, carrying on a family tradition...green eggs and ham!

Monday-Monday's Monastic Meal. For dinner we had one of my favorite simple dinner's from the skete in California I love to visit. Baked potato, beans, salad, and beets. I cooked up a pot of pinto beans (also in preparation for a meal later in the week) and we ate those plain. I really love beans cooked plain like that. Lucas typically puts some vinegar and hot sauce on them but I like them as is, with a little salt. There isn't much fresh beet around these days so we had to have canned but it was still delicious! Simple, I know, but it is a great meal.

Tuesday-Garden burgers, hash browns, and spinach. One of the key ingredients, we believe, to excellent garden burgers is to add avocado on top in addition to pickles, mayo, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, etc. We like to make our hash browns from fresh potatoes and then cook them up on the stove. I think they taste really great fresh like that but I am having a hard time getting all of the water out of the potato before cooking so that they crisp up best.  I am thinking next time of par-boiling them with a little baking soda and then frying them. That is the same trick to use when making home fries so I am hoping it will work.

Wednesday-I was too sick to eat anything except plain spaghetti. Noodles. Sauce. Cheddar. Glass of milk. That's all.

Thursday-Homemade chili. On accident a few years ago I discovered what I believe makes fabulous chili. At the time, I did not mean to do it but now I do it on purpose every time. A few years back I soaked and cooked some beans to make chili with. I had intended to soak kidney beans but they turned out to be pinto beans. At the time I was concerned about the condition of the chili, almost throwing out the whole idea and cooking refrieds or something, But, it made the best chili. Now I always use pinto beans. It requires a fair amount of chili powder and I suggest cooking them a really long time. What makes it so good is when the beans get really soft and thick. I also add a good bit of tomato, both paste and diced. It was delicious!

Friday-"Pre gymnastics meet" burritos. yum!


Saturday-Lucas and I went out to dinner to a newer restaurant in Corvallis. I HIGHLY recommend it. I was completely wooed. I had a delicious dinner made with all local ingredients and the flavor was a home run. Additionally, our waiter was extremely helpful and he and Lucas and a number of looonnngg conversations about beer; something this restaurant is also known for. If you live in Corvallis or the area I strongly encourage you to go to Les Caves.


Sunday-Sally came home from Beirut with many treasures, some of which were our dinner tonight. yum. She made Lebanese food. It had a fancy name in Arabic that I attempted to pronounce but in the end I just couldn't, so, I am certainly not going to try spelling it. But, it was a delicious meal and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. And, our guests, Jerry and Sharon, brought a pie. It was a mince-meat pie and it was so good; my first!