I Can’t Believe I Made My Kids Eat That: Vol. I
Disclaimer: This post would be more impactful with photos, I realize. However, the dh in question took my camera on the hunting trip in question…ergo, no photos. Just try to imagine and compare…a photo of professional-quality looking crap vs. actual crap.
We have a tradition in our household. When my husband goes hunting, the kids get to plan our dinner menu. Most of the time, it’s McDonald’s. Occasionally though, they want home cookin’ of the Hamburger Helper variety. They are partial to “Beef Stroganoff” (warning: I feel an attack of overuse of “quotes” elipses, and parentheticals coming on).They wanted to mix it up tonight, however and have “Taco Dinner.” I don’t actually know what’s in “Taco Dinner,” but there’s hamburger, rice, “sauce mix” and taco chips. Yum.
Well, first problem is the skillet I was using, I think, had something stuck in the bottom of it. (It couldn’t possibly be that I actually burned anything). Smoke…everywhere. Billowing. The end product looked like a cross between wet dog food and…well…dry dog food but with taco chips on top and a powdery cheese mixture. But, I’m nothing if not persistent. And, I employ the same cooking technique as every other woman in my family. If the smoke alarm doesn’t go off, it’s a success (seriously, you don’t wanna know how many cell phone chargers I’ve melted because I usually use my flat-top stove as a counter). We ate it. They loved it. Blech.
Again, I would love to add photos of our fine dining experience. Instead, I’ll have photos of whatever kill the dh brings home. One of my favorite ways to torment him is when he calls home. I always ask, “Did you catch any deer today?” He loves that. He so needs to get back here, for the welfare of our childrens’ colons.
Robin
Hmmm … Mexican Beef Stroganoff. That sounds seriously doable, and very unique. Oooo … Mexican Venison Stroganoff … ok, the wheels done be churning now … where’s that bag of egg noodles … Got deer??
Comment by LunaPierCook — November 25, 2007 @ 7:21 pm
Ok…and while I’m on it. Deer Tacos taste like heaven. Honestly, venison anything. We get 70% of it ground into 1 lb. packets. Spaghetti, tacos, meatloaf. EVERYTHING! If he doesn’t get one this trip…there might be violence.
Comment by Robin Dec — November 25, 2007 @ 7:35 pm
I just hashed out a quick recipe in my head, passed it by Mary (the recipe, not my head) and it met with approval. Here’s my thought, totally untried …
1 lb something (ground beef or venison, or chunks like stew beef, etc.)
1 cup black beans
1 cup whole kernel corn (not canned!)
2 4-oz cans green chiles
4 tsp ground cumin
1 can condensed nacho cheese soup
1 container sour cream (not even low fat!)
1 bag egg noodles
Shredded Mexican cheese mix
Chopped chives
Tortilla chips
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Brown the meat in a large high-wall skillet. While browning the meat, drain the chiles and chop them fairly fine. Once the meat is browned, drain the oil from it and put it back in the skillet. Add a couple tablespoons olive oil, the beans, corn and chiles. Once the veggies are slightly browned and most of the oil is absorbed, add the can of soup and, using the empty soup can, add the same amount of sour cream, along with the cumin. Stir well till smooth. Lower the heat and let the mixture simmer slowly so it becomes creamy.
Put on about 6 quarts water to boil. Once it’s boiling, add the egg noodles and cook as per the directions, till they’re al dente. Drain the noodles.
Check the flavor of the sauce, and add salt and pepper to taste.
To serve, lay a bed of cooked noodles on a plate. Top with the sauce mixture, then the shredded cheese and a sprinkle of chopped chives, surrounding the plated food with nacho chips.
Yeah, I’m going to have to try this, this week sometime …
Comment by LunaPierCook — November 25, 2007 @ 8:11 pm
Venison Helper. I think we have a business idea here.
RR
Comment by Rebecca Regnier — November 25, 2007 @ 8:27 pm
Mmmmmm. If he kills something, I’m totally going to try this (and by me trying this, I mean have my husband cook it). As it stands right now, my house smells like a college dorm and I had to give my daughter Tums.
And if he doesn’t bag a deer, we’ve still got that squirrel
Thanks!
Comment by Robin Dec — November 25, 2007 @ 9:27 pm
OK, you could totally profit with the Venison Helper idea. Market it to every man who loves to hunt and the stores would sell out in record time. In fact, it may even get the dh’s to go grocery shopping….eh, probably wouldn’t go that far
Comment by Cheryl K — November 25, 2007 @ 10:32 pm
See, now this is how we roll in my house. Mommy goes grocery shopping for the lunch-packing treats. Daddy goes shopping whenever we need meat. It works out quite well. Man, I really hope he comes home with a deer. We also have a running joke ‘cuz this is right around when we put up our Xmas decorations. He usually has to hang the thing in the garage for a day before he takes it to the butcher. I always threaten to stick a red nose on it and hang it off the porch. Y’know. To be festive.
Comment by Robin Dec — November 25, 2007 @ 11:10 pm
“I always threaten to stick a red nose on it and hang it off the porch. Y’know. To be festive.”
This is about as good as my dad fixing rabbit stew on Easter one year.
Comment by Cyndi — November 26, 2007 @ 3:14 am
HAHAHA! Rabbit stew. Now that’s funny. My husband/his dad would totally do that. Er…I’d better make sure they don’t read this post…
Comment by Robin Dec — November 26, 2007 @ 8:33 am
My hubby just came home from sitting in the woods in Williams County. No dear. YIPPEE!!! I know I know, but he said he was going to make jerky……IN MY KITCHEN….woot woot I’ve been saved by hearing my daughter cry at night because Bambi’s in the garage. Thank you!!
I realize many many people love dear meet and its not the different in terms of taste…however when you live with a 10 year old who wants to be a Vetrinarian and couldn’t kill a spider—I have to side with her—she’s moody at this age.
Comment by Cheryl Engfer — November 27, 2007 @ 2:11 pm
I think at the point that smoke started bellowing out of the pan I would have reached for the phone and hit the speed-dial button for Tiffany’s, lol.
Comment by Shawna — November 30, 2007 @ 10:23 am
[...] think I’ll stick with Taco Helper (husband’s working again tonight). It could end [...]
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