Cook the Cookbook Project- week 12

 

Week 12 was a page out of my mom’s meal planning for sure. I know we ate a very similar menu on a regular basis when I was growing up. The only real difference would have been my mom would have just heated the green beans plain and not made a salad out of them. Other than that small detail this was so very familiar to me and took me back in time.

The macaroni and cheese was made the same way she made hers. I remember that so vividly from my childhood. It is very different from how I make the same dish though. And to be truthful I prefer how I make it. I mean it was cool to eat this version again but I will be sticking with my recipe in the future.

The “Mexican Green Bean Salad” was simply cooked french style green beans with a bit of chopped onion added and marinated in some oil and vinegar dressing. Since the recipe simply stated “cooked” I went with the canned version. My mom always had a couple of cases of canned green beans in the cupboard to serve. She stocked up whenever the grocery store had their case sales so we ate a lot of canned green beans. Back in the day like I said she wouldn’t have fussed with the marinating step she would have just heated them up.

Stewed tomatoes, another item she stocked up on at those case sales. I remember how much I hated those things. I made a discovery this week with this menu- I still hate them. Unfortunately for me growing up my parents loved them and they were on the table at least every other week…..

Of course the menu called for some bread, this time it just states a crusty bread and since I was lazy this week mine came from the grocery store. Mom always had bread on the table, every meal every day.

For dessert this week the menu called for fresh fruit in season. I did pick up a couple of options but by the time I made my way through the rest of dinner I was stuffed so the fruit will go with my meals the next few days.

Since this chapter in the book is all about eating cheaply the meals are fairly plain, even compared to some of the other menus in the book. But at the same time they are very filling. I think to cater to staying on budget and filling bellies. I did enjoy the menu this week (except those stewed tomatoes….LOL) and this I think more than any other menu struck that memory area of my brain. Like is said my mom would have served this same menu on a regular basis. 

Next week it looks like menu features a meat and vegetable pie so I am looking forward to that one too.

I do want to say thank you for reading my ramblings about this adventure in the this cookbook. I am having a lot of fun and I look forward to doing the menus each week and to sharing my thoughts about them with you.