As for not having excess of food, I usually cook for four. Then we eat the leftovers the next day for lunch. If I know that it is not going to get eaten for lunches then I freeze individual portions for future lunches for Stephen. There are always some days when the dinner doesn't do well as leftovers like steak, carmelized onion with feta cheese sandwich day. The leftovers aren't great the next day so Stephen will take a frozen lunch of something that does freeze well. Does that make sense? I also usually plan in one meal that all the ingredients are normally in the house like grilled pizza, which we frequently do on Saturdays. I always have all the ingredients in the pantry for the sauce, dough and cheese in the fridge. So if we decide to go out to eat, then we just won't make the pizza.
As for produce going bad, I had that frequently happen in the beginning. I typically grocery shopped for a whole week, but then some of the produce would go bad by the time we were ready to eat it. My first solution was to use it up at the beginning of the week, but that didn't work very well. We ate yummy fresh stuff at the beginning but then not so much at the end of the week. My solution now is this fresh veggie stand that it close to the house. Stephen has two ways to come home from work and one of them passes this great place. It is open about 10 months out of the year and always busy so there is always amazing produce at great prices, I might add. I ask him to pass by there about 2 or 3 times a week to the veggie and fruit stand to get us fresh produce for 2 days. It has saved us money because we really are eating the produce that we buy and it only keeps me in the grocery store once a week, which also saves us money!
I think those were all the questions. Here is the recipe for Syrian kabobs. Stephen's brother first made it for us, and we have fallen in love with this for dinner. We do it with lemon as suggested but also a tomato and cucumber salad (marinate with apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper) and spoon it into the pitas with the meat. Also, we have done it with and without the pine nuts. The last things is that we don't do them on skewers. We just make them into hamburger patties. It is great summer dinner. Enjoy!
Syrian Kabob Recipe
from NY Times
30 min | 15 min prep
SERVES 4 -6
- 2 lbs fatty ground beef, like chuck
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2/3 cup minced onion
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 lemon, juice of
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 dashes cayenne
- 1 tablespoon ground allspice
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- oil, to brush on grill rack
- lemon wedge
- pita bread, for serving
- Combine all ingredients but oil, lemon wedges,and pita in a bowl, and knead very well into a paste.
- Hold a flat metal skewer - not nonstick, and at least 12 inches long - point up in one hand. Dip other hand in a bowl of water, take a handful of meat mixture and form it around base of skewer in a small sausage shape with pointed ends. Repeat, working your way up the skewer. Each skewer should hold three or four kebabs. (You can also just form meat into eight patties.).
- Lay finished skewers on a sheet pan, and smooth kebabs with fingers, making sure they are fairly smooth and secured on skewers. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- Prepare charcoal grill, or turn gas grill to medium-low. Spray or brush oil on clean grill rack, and set within a few inches of the fire. Fire should not be too hot, and rack should be at least several inches from heat source.
- When rack is heated through, gently squeeze the kebabs to be sure they are secure on the skewers, and place skewers on grill. Meat should start sizzling gently; it should not spit and turn black. Cook undisturbed until deep brown, at least 7 minutes. When meat lifts easily from grill, slide a spatula under kebabs and turn over. Continue grilling until browned on both sides and juicy, but cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes total. Serve hot with lemon wedges and pita that has been warmed on the grill.
