(La la la, continuing to ignore current events.)
Usually I try to blather on a little bit before I list the meals I’m planning for the week – I don’t know why; so this will feel more like a Regular Blog Post? Who knows. But I’m fresh out of topics for today. Literally the only thing I can think to tell you is that I saw on Instagram (I think?) that you can store your asparagus in half-filled jars of water to keep it fresh longer. Who has room for THAT in their fridge (besides the Instagram poster, whose fridge was FULL of veggies and fruits in matching glass jars that no one would ever have to worry about knocking over while reaching behind it for the milk), is what I thought. But I also thought of some asparagus that has been in my fridge for ** a while ** and that I haven’t been able to motivate to cook and eat. So I tried it. It is in my fridge now, in two small jars. We will see what happens. Now I don’t even HAVE to eat it, because it is An Experiment.
Look at that – I managed to blather on for a whole paragraph! Never put it past me to come up with some words about nothing, I guess.
Dinners for the Week of January 19 – January 25 (whew – I looked at my calendar wrong and originally wrote “February 1” instead of “January 25” and TOTALLY ACCEPTED IT AS FACT because time is meaningless) (thank goodness for very minimal proofreading!)
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup : This was SO GOOD last time I made it, and I have been thinking about it ever since. Like last time, I will add a can of black beans and a cup of frozen corn. Also, like last time, I suppose I will omit the lime juice? At least, I can’t remember putting lime juice or cilantro in it at any point? And it was delicious? How can I recreate a recipe I enjoyed when I apparently didn’t follow the instructions, but not in a purposeful way but in an I-clearly-didn’t-read-the-recipe-all-the-way-through way?
- Chicken and Zucchini Stir Fry: This has become such a solid standby. It’s easy (even though I also chop up an onion to throw in with the zucchini) and it’s tasty and I feel very pleased with the amount of veggies it contains.
- BBQ Salmon Bowls with Mango Salsa: Okay, I get squicked out by the combination of avocado and mango, so I am just doing a plain old mango salsa with this one. And I think I may put everything on top of some romaine instead of rice. (I am every food blogger’s nightmare.) Hmmm. If I do lettuce, I’d have to make a dressing, wouldn’t I. But I could do a nice honey-and-lime vinaigrette. Yes, that sounds yummy.
- Something with the asparagus.
I AM going to eat the asparagus. But come on – you do this, too, right? You buy something, fully intending to eat it, and then it loses all appeal before you can do it? I bet you have something like that in your fridge right now, no?
Okay, Internet. That’s it for me. I wish you good health (mental, physical, and emotional) and happy eating this week.
Ha, my asparagus at the moment is a tube of polenta. I have one recipe I enjoy making, but have none of the other ingredients I need for it nor do I make any effort to acquire them. Fortunately/unfortunately it lasts for months in the fridge so I can keep feeling like I’ve failed for many more weeks.
I can’t do the jar thing with asparagus (no room/95% chance a child will knock it over) but I do wrap the ends in a wet paper towel, then a plastic bag, and this seems to keep them fresher longer.
I keep buying already grilled chicken thinking it will make an easy lunch! But it looks terrible in the package and I always talk myself out of it and then too much time has passed. So I throw it out and the cycle begins again.
I think my current asparagus is beets. They kept coming in our weekly fruit and veggie baskets, and kept coming, and there are only so many ways and times per week that it seems acceptable to serve beets. My kids are tired of eating pink pancakes, boiled and chilled beets with balsamic glaze, and roasted beets…. And my husband declared that he was over the pink themed food the morning I made “red velvet oatmeal.”
I cannot begin to tell you how many fresh vegetables go into the crisper only to rot away – I shall point out, that is The Husband’s fault. He’s getting better but still…
But asparagus is the one vegetable that is generally bought and consumed fairly quickly. Even so, the open glass/jar would never work in this house. If The Husband didn’t knock it over, I surely would.
My very favorite line? “Look at that – I managed to blather on for a whole paragraph! Never put it past me to come up with some words about nothing, I guess.” Pretty much sums up how I feel after I post anything at all!
I’ve had asparagus last over a week like that 🙂
My fridge is usually in such disarray that fresh fruit or veggies get ‘forgotten’ and rotten. It drives me crazy. Mini: ‘Oh I love raspberries.’ I always make sure to present the moldy container later in the week. ‘Oops.’
My fam has been begging me to bring back Chicken Tortilla Soup. I insist that they all complained that I made it too often, so I back off. I also think that it was the last thing I ate before a stomach bug a year or two ago and I’ve made it sparingly.
This week we had lots of leftovers early in the week, because I went overboard last week. Chili, spaghetti and meatballs, pot roast. All good options. Tomorrow I’m making a turkey breast to go with a veggie dish I made last week that we are nuts about. Then I think dirty rice for Thursday. Oh, I did a meatloaf on Sunday. My family is crazy about my meatloaf recipe.
I hope the asparagus holds up and tastes yummy. I like how you repurposed it as an experiment so if you don’t eat it at least it served its purpose.
Apparently that trick works with fresh herbs as well. I have never tried it because I guarantee someone would knock them over and it would be a disaster. I was looking at that tortilla soup and thinking “I wonder if I could make it vegan, and not in a slow cooker, and do I need those poblano peppers” so apparently I am a food blogger’s nightmare as well.
This is what I do with asparagus when I don’t have a plan for it. I roast it and then serve it over fried eggs.