Warning: Undefined variable $show_stats in /home/jdqespth/public_html/wp-content/plugins/stats/stats.php on line 1384

Test your smoke alarms

It’s a good idea to test your smoke alarm. In fact, my lease stipulates that I should check it every month. But since I was never quite sure what kind it was, whether it would notify the fire department, or whether it would go off quickly – and because whenever my neighbor’s cooking sets it off, it stays on forever until the fire company comes and fixes it somehow. So I have been understandably nervous about testing it and disturbing my neighbors.

So this morning I was toasting up some pecans to pack with a salad…

Consider my fire alarm to be in full working order.

No apartments were harmed in the creation of this public service announcement.

Planning the week

Food I have
meat
leftover beef roast
leftover pork roast

vegetables
zucchini
spinach
salad greens
jalapeno peppers
carrots
chinese cabbage

Meal Planning
Monday, April 24 – 7:30 movie screening
something quick and easy – salad: with blue cheese, toasted pecans, purple onion, and a red wine and balsamic vinaigrette

Tuesday, April 25
beef, zucchini, spinach, onions, peppers – with mexican beans and rice

Wednesday, April 26
pork, chinese cabbage, carrots, peppers – stir fried with flat noodles

Thursday, April 27
Dining Out for Life?
going early to New York?

Plotting dinner

I have a chicken leg quarter marinating in a garlic and basil salad dressing.

I also have asparagus.

So I’m thinking I want an asparagus and pasta dish on the side of my roasted chicken. The big question is just how caloric I want to make the sauce.

I could do anything from a light drizzle of olive oil over the pasta with sauteed asparagus, fresh tomatoes, and garlic.

I could make a bechamel sauce… as of this morning, my milk was still good and tasty, but it is getting on toward the end of its window of goodness and could turn ornery at any time.

I have a lovely blue cheese that I had bought for eating plain, but I could chuck that into a sauce (or crumble it over the plain pasta).

I have parmesan cheese, which is definitely going in.

Right now (i.e. while I’m hungry) I think I should add as much sexy creamy fatness together as possible. But any way I make it, it will be tasty. Such a hard decision – I will be thinking about it all day today. Well, not all the time, but off and on.

Just figuring out a menu for the week

Monday
Townes van Zant thing until late
leftover sloppy joes

Tuesday *turned out very well*
Thai Curry
– green beans
– yellow & red bell peppers
– chicken? tofu? no protein at all?
– ginger
– carrots
– maybe buy some hot peppers to put in, too
over rice – make with coconut cream instead of butter

Wednesday
union elections
Meat & Potatoes
– last of the leftover beef
– potatoes
– onions
– garlic
– red bell pepper
– bacon!
– frozen gravy

Thursday
2 bacon & egg sandwiches
going to see V for Vendetta

Dinner tonight (+ lunches)

I am going away for the weekend, so I’d like to use up my perishables.

Foodstuffs with short lifespans
1-2 meal-worths of roasted beef
1-2 meal-worths of ham
3 small red bell peppers
2 yellow bell peppers
green beans
1/2 a small iceberg lettuce

eta:
1/3 a loaf of white sandwich bread
a few pocket pitas
Argh – yeah, and I have pears, too – I should check whether they are ripe yet
/eta

I think the green beans should go in a stir fry with the beef. If I cut them lengthwise, they’ll have a better texture after being frozen.

I think I will not try to make one big stir fry with all the ingredients because, while I could probably make it work, I’m a little horrified by the idea. Partly because the kind of stir fry with green beans should go over rice, but the kind with the lettuce should go with fried noodles. At least in my head.

So I’ve got ham running around. I could make the stir fry and freeze all of it and then make a dinner of ham, eggs, and toast. Or I could scramble them together, with some of the bell pepper, and put them in pita bread.

Okay, so that takes care of everything except a few miscellaneous slices of bread. I could toss them. I used the last of the milk last night, so bread pudding is out. Hmmmm… any ideas? Oh, yeah, and pears. You think I could cut up the pears, mix them up with some bread and brown sugar, bake it, and end up with something edible?

There’s hope that I might finally be getting a new supermarket! It has be vaguely under construction since it closed, but they do seem to actually be making progress recently. Yes I am excited about the cheaper groceries of greater variety – but I am even more excited about the public restroom. Oh my god, will people quit using the lot behind mine as a toilet? Don’t worry, there is a fence between my backyard and the lot, but when the supermarket was open, I could shortcut through the lot… not anymore!