Week 10. I'm in the home stretch now with only three weeks to go! My blogs have lagged a bit. I should have written this one a few days ago. Bear with me. I've even caught myself nearly forgetting to write down the meals for some days over the last couple weeks. This whole challenge is now not a challenge in some ways but instead just a new normal for me. I've become less mindful of the fact that this whole thing is 'out of the ordinary'. Because, it's kind of not now.
Day 64
breakfast: fried egg on buttered pan bread
lunch: rose of sharon jelly and black walnuts on pan bread, apples
dinner: potato gnocchi with basil tomato sauce, potato cake with basil tomato sauce
Can you make gnocchi with frozen hash browns? Apparently yes. I'm sure some snooty foodie or chef would really rolls their eyes at this winter gnocchi. I say go ahead and roll those eyes...all the way to your fancy grocery store!
I've had gnocchi in a restaurant in the past, and honestly I wasn't a huge fan. I don't have much desire at all for Italian food in general, which is probably why. (Wine is another subject.) So I wasn't overly impressed with my gnocchi other than the fact that they worked out, though it was hard to roll them off a fork as they tended to be a little more lumpy than traditional gnocchi dough. The thing is, it worked and I enjoyed eating it. The thin sauce was a great addition. I turned the rest of my potato dough into potato cakes to eat on sandwiches for the following days.
Day 64
breakfast: fried egg on buttered pan bread
lunch: rose of sharon jelly and black walnuts on pan bread, apples
dinner: potato gnocchi with basil tomato sauce, potato cake with basil tomato sauce
Can you make gnocchi with frozen hash browns? Apparently yes. I'm sure some snooty foodie or chef would really rolls their eyes at this winter gnocchi. I say go ahead and roll those eyes...all the way to your fancy grocery store!
I've had gnocchi in a restaurant in the past, and honestly I wasn't a huge fan. I don't have much desire at all for Italian food in general, which is probably why. (Wine is another subject.) So I wasn't overly impressed with my gnocchi other than the fact that they worked out, though it was hard to roll them off a fork as they tended to be a little more lumpy than traditional gnocchi dough. The thing is, it worked and I enjoyed eating it. The thin sauce was a great addition. I turned the rest of my potato dough into potato cakes to eat on sandwiches for the following days.
Day 65
breakfast: egg white sandwich on soda bread with mayo
lunch: potato cake sandwich on soda bread with mayo, apples
snack: apple chips
dinner: potato cake sandwich on soda bread with mayo
Day 66
breakfast: potato cake sandwich on soda bread with mayo
lunch: potato cake sandwich on soda bread with mayo, crabapple sauce
dinner: potato cake and fried egg sandwich on toasted soda bread with mayo, crabapple sauce
I know, that was a lot of potato cake sandwiches! It was awesome to assemble meals without much cooking for a change!
breakfast: egg white sandwich on soda bread with mayo
lunch: potato cake sandwich on soda bread with mayo, apples
snack: apple chips
dinner: potato cake sandwich on soda bread with mayo
Day 66
breakfast: potato cake sandwich on soda bread with mayo
lunch: potato cake sandwich on soda bread with mayo, crabapple sauce
dinner: potato cake and fried egg sandwich on toasted soda bread with mayo, crabapple sauce
I know, that was a lot of potato cake sandwiches! It was awesome to assemble meals without much cooking for a change!
Day 67
breakfast: smashed potato with fried egg and chive butter
lunch: fresh spinach and fried eggs on toasted soda bread with mayo
snack: apple chips
This smashed potato thing rocks. I have been digging into my potatoes (saved mostly until the end because I love potatoes so much), and these are a fast way to cook them. I just defrosted in the microwave and slightly smashed them on top of melted chive butter in a pan. The skin gets crispy as they cook.
breakfast: smashed potato with fried egg and chive butter
lunch: fresh spinach and fried eggs on toasted soda bread with mayo
snack: apple chips
This smashed potato thing rocks. I have been digging into my potatoes (saved mostly until the end because I love potatoes so much), and these are a fast way to cook them. I just defrosted in the microwave and slightly smashed them on top of melted chive butter in a pan. The skin gets crispy as they cook.
Day 68
breakfast: french toast with mashed and sweetened plums
lunch: venison loin with blackberry sauce, herbed cornbread (baked with sage and thyme)
dinner: venison loin with blackberry sauce, herbed cornbread
I was really happy with the venison loin and blackberry sauce. The ends of this large loin were cooked well, and the inside medium rare. The flavor of the medium rare meat with the blackberry sauce is such a perfect combination. If you like medium rare steaks, give this a try. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the beautiful pink inside of the loin!
breakfast: french toast with mashed and sweetened plums
lunch: venison loin with blackberry sauce, herbed cornbread (baked with sage and thyme)
dinner: venison loin with blackberry sauce, herbed cornbread
I was really happy with the venison loin and blackberry sauce. The ends of this large loin were cooked well, and the inside medium rare. The flavor of the medium rare meat with the blackberry sauce is such a perfect combination. If you like medium rare steaks, give this a try. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the beautiful pink inside of the loin!
Day 69
breakfast: herbed cornbread with butter, grape juice
lunch: venison loin with blackberry sauce, herbed cornbread with butter, apples
dinner: venison loin on toasted herbed cornbread with mayo, fresh spinach with olive oil and salt
I seared the venison pieces for my dinner so the juices wouldn't run into my cornbread making it soggy.
breakfast: herbed cornbread with butter, grape juice
lunch: venison loin with blackberry sauce, herbed cornbread with butter, apples
dinner: venison loin on toasted herbed cornbread with mayo, fresh spinach with olive oil and salt
I seared the venison pieces for my dinner so the juices wouldn't run into my cornbread making it soggy.
Day 70
breakfast: herbed cornbread with butter
lunch: venison loin with blackberry sauce, herbed cornbread with butter, apples
snack: herbed cornbread with butter, elderberry/blackberry wine
dinner: toasted herbed cornbread with mayo and fried egg
I realized I'm very low on salt. Uh oh.
breakfast: herbed cornbread with butter
lunch: venison loin with blackberry sauce, herbed cornbread with butter, apples
snack: herbed cornbread with butter, elderberry/blackberry wine
dinner: toasted herbed cornbread with mayo and fried egg
I realized I'm very low on salt. Uh oh.
Recipe:
Blackberry sauce: Mash approximately 1 pint of blackberries and push berries and all juice through wire sieve to strain out seeds. Put juice into a saucepan with 2 tablespoons sugar and simmer until reduced to preferred thickness.
Blackberry sauce: Mash approximately 1 pint of blackberries and push berries and all juice through wire sieve to strain out seeds. Put juice into a saucepan with 2 tablespoons sugar and simmer until reduced to preferred thickness.