Meals we had, April 22-28

New series! I don’t always have time to edit and post recipes, but I’m going to do a little retroactive menu “planning” and just type up what we ate all week, to use for meal ideas in the future.

Note: My in-laws generally deliver groceries and some cooked meals to us regularly. I organize the week’s meals around those ingredients, along with using up leftovers. If we are having a repeat combination then I try to change the presentation. If I want to use a particular recipe then I start with something we already have and buy the rest of the needed ingredients. But I try not to buy a lot of additional groceries if we already have something in the refrigerator that needs to be used.

Breakfasts: Eggs
Lunches: Homemade soups with sour cream and fresh herbs; bread with cheese or a slice of meat

-Monday dinner: Fried potatoes (Russian-style) with sliced pork and steamed broccoli
-Tuesday dinner: Scalloped potatoes with cubes of pork
-Wednesday dinner: Boiled pelmeni with sauteed green beans
-Thursday dinner: Eggless meatballs (we ran out of eggs) and boiled potatoes
-Friday dinner: Homemade popcorn chicken with angel hair pasta (we just make plain and garnish with cheese/butter)
-Saturday dinner: Pizza made with this crust and using leftover meatballs/popcorn chicken as toppings
-Sunday dinner: Chicken-bacon-cheese bake with boiled buckwheat and sauteed bell pepper

Looks like we need to add more veggies to the menu. Got any recipes to recommend?

How to Make Russian Tacos

Nope, I didn't switch the photos. Those are actually blini, or a Russian version of crepes. After trying various substitutes for taco shells, my roommate decided to serve the filling in blini, and it has become one of my favorites.

The blini are soft enough to fold up and thick enough to hold the filling in. They can be reheated and can also be heated up a saucepan or the oven to get a crunchy effect, a la chimichangas.

How to Make Lasagna

I’m pretty flexible when it comes to lasagna fillings. I like there to be plenty of cheese and tomato sauce, but other than that, the choices are wide open.

The basic elements for lasagna are:
1) SAUCE, supplemented with any combination of meat/veggies
2) An egg/cheese CREAMY component
3) A melty cheese like MOZZARELLA
4) PASTA (store-bought or homemade)

Since most of the ingredients are cooked ahead of time, your main goal is for the noodles to become soft (if not cooked already) and the layers to set. This requires having the right amount of liquid in there that is going to bubble up and seep through all the layers. At least, that’s the way I think of it.

How to Make Shepherd's Pie

Call it by whatever name you prefer; here is what it looks like: a layer of ground beef and veggies crowned with a topping of mashed potatoes with a golden crust.

I don't know if there are any "rules" for this dish, but here is my latest version: