So what? Sew buttons!

So it’s been a while since I just wrote about things I’ve cooked or baked and I think I’ll do so now since I have a wonderful wonderful opportunity (that is, a babysitter is here!) First of all, my husband and I are on diets so no more baking for a while, except for special events. Fortunately (unfortunately?) in the next three weeks alone are: my mother’s birthday, Easter, and a dinner party.

I have made a few really good dinners lately. Over the weekend I made a whole meal from Everyday Food– mini meatloaves with honey mustard, roasted potatoes, and a Boston lettuce salad. It was fantastic and, as if he had read the part in the magazine which described said meal as “family friendly”, Clark gobbled it up. The little loaves had panko breadcrumbs in them and cheddar cheese, and were topped with honey-mustard-ketchup, and more cheese. We’ll definitely be making it again.

For a nice Valentine’s Day dinner I bought a nice pork loin at the Amish market and butterflied it. Then I put a stuffing on it and rolled it up. The stuffing I also bought at the butcher’s, but I added a chopped apple and dried cranberries to it.

Last night we had very little in the house so I made this impromptu and interesting made up dinner: In a pan I sauteed garlic and a chopped up zucchini. Then I added the handful of frozen shrimp we had in the freezer (defrosted) and a cubed up salmon fillet (also from the freezer and defrosted). When the seafood was almost done I added about a cup of frozen peas and stirred it all around. To finish it I added lime juice and a cube of cilantro in oil. We had it over brown rice and added a bit of soy sauce to it. It was really good and the cilantro had a great fresh flavor. I had frozen it over the summer. Which brings me to a wrap up of all those things I said I was freezing. Let’s see how they turned out? Did Winter Sarah appreciate them? Overall, yes she did! Post-Baby Sarah also really appreciated having things in the freezer, too.

The herbs and pestos were great and I still have plenty left. The ratatouille was very good and I actually wish I had more left of it. The canned spaghetti sauce is fantastic and I’m hoarding it. In fact, after having it regular jarred sauce is tasting way too sugary to me. I’m sure it’s much more acidicy-tomatoey too because when I used it in lasagna the other night my son (a fairly messy eater) ’s face got quite broken out from the tomato sauce on it. The stuffed peppers I did not think were very good. Chopped, cleaned leeks from the farm were great to have on hand, and actually nicer than having to get a large amount at the grocery store. As for the soups? The cream of broccoli was great and I still have one left. It maintained a nice fresh flavor. The sweet potato corn chowder also did very well. The corn chowder was tasty, but somehow didn’t seem very chowdery anymore. Mostly it was like you were eating a big bowl of nicely seasoned corn. And of course the corn zippered corn continues to be fantastic.

OK, it’s time to take the sitter home, but very soon I’ll be writing about my lovely dinner party menu!