Wednesday, November 28, 2007

More Eat Down Meals...

Last night I made those Niman Ranch pork chops, but I decided to try it in the slow cooker instead, using up more of the things I had in my refrigerator, pantry and freezer. I sliced an onion, added a cup of white wine, a bag of cranberries, a quarter cup of butter, a few sprigs of rosemary, a small handful of sugar and salt and pepper and placed it all in the slow cooker, on top of the pork chops. I cooked it on high for about 4 hours. It turned out really well! The 1 year old boy ate a whole entire pork chop, his picky two year old brother ate one bite and their dad ate the rest. I was lucky enough to have been invited to a friend's house for dinner with all of the moms in my playgroup. We had a lovely evening without our kids or husbands around!

Tonight I found a package of chicken sausage in the freezer. I also had a few bags full of various types of bell peppers from my produce CSA. I decided to go the slow cooker route again. This time I cut up a whole bunch of the peppers and a few onions and placed them in the bottom of the slow cooker along with 3 garlic cloves, some thyme, salt and pepper and about a half a cup of red wine (the dregs of a bottle that I had frozen awhile back, rather than throw out). I put the sausage on top and cooked it on low for 8 hours. It turned out pretty well, but not as good as last night. I served it with buttered noodles, peas and pan roasted brussels sprouts. Once again, the baby ate everything in sight, including two helpings of peppers and onions, the two year old ate only noodles and peas, and I ate almost all of the brussels sprouts myself.

I am beginning to be able to see the back of my freezer now, and the produce drawer is nearly empty and ready for tomorrow's delivery. I love Eat Down Week because it forces you to get creative with your cooking, which can be really fun!

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