Day 2: Breakfast was the best sandwich ever, which involved homemade bread, homegrown tomatoes, farm eggs, and fancy cheese. See?
Dinner was rice made with leftover Asian broth from that time I poached a chicken, and I also did a quick stir fry using frozen veggies and soy sauce.
Day 3: Leftovers.
Day 4: Sandwiches on the road.
Day 5: Chicken Cacciatore! Impressed? You should be, but not with me. My dad made it while we were visiting, and it was gooooooood. =)
Day 6: Ok, well. We got back in town last night, fed Malachi and got him to bed, and then my pregnant body decided it wanted grilled cheese and tomato soup....again. I didn't have any canned soup, so I decided to make it from scratch using this recipe I found from Rachel Ray. I didn't have any heavy cream so I made some from scratch by melting 1/3 cup of unsalted butter and adding it to 2/3 cup whole milk. I also don't have an immersion blender, so I did what I have done successfully several times before and blended the (HOT) soup in my regular blender. Except that I overfilled it (stupidstupidstupid). And the lid flew off. And really hot soup rained down all over my arms and my chest.
I screamed, jumped back, and pulled my plastered shirt off my chest to keep from burning worse. Jeremy came towards me looking the scared-est (but most in control) I've ever seen him and started to try to lift my shirt, and which point I looked down at my red-splattered clothes, realized what he was thinking, and gasped out "It's not blood! Turn off the blender!" Relief flooded his face, he did turn the blender off, and then he followed me into the bathroom where I jumped in a freezing shower. When I got out, I realized the burns on my arm were much worse than my chest, and the pain was bad. Like, Jeremy asked me later if it was worse than labor, because apparently I gave him that impression. By the time the night was over I had gone through half a bottle of aloe, propped my arm on multiple pillows, almost hyperventilated, taken two kinds of pain reliever, scared the crud out of my husband, and vowed to make tomato soup from a can for the rest of my life. Jeremy cleaned the entire kitchen, brought me my dinner, prayed for me, and never once mentioned how much worse he had it when he got 2nd-degree burns on his feet two years ago (and then had to continue to walk around at work, in shoes. I have a whole new level for compassion for him now).
And yes, it's a little better this morning. My right arm is fine short of a few little red spots, my chest has some red spots but overall is a lot better, and my left arm....really hurts. But at least it's not throbbing and excruciating. I can type, and move, and pick up Malachi, none of which I could do yesterday.
So yeah. Day 6, done.
I'm pretty excited about this week. I planned out my menu based on some of the things I really want to get rid of, and this week I am hopeful to clear out some potatoes, cornmeal, leftovers, lasagna noodles, and BBQ sauce, not to mention there are only 4 items on my grocery list this week, including my exceptions. Woohoo! Stay tuned!
Tomato Soup
Adapted from here
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- about 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup of heavy cream, or 2/3 cup whole milk and 1/3 cup melted butter
Cook tomatoes and broth over medium heat until bubbling. Add cream, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Use an immersion blender until mixture is smooth, or blend a little at a time into a regular blender. Serve with preferred toppings.
