Sunday Night Meals

typically speaking, my most elaborate meals are on sunday nights.  i have completed my weekend tasks (hopefully) and love to bring my weekend to a close with a very nice meal.  growing up, sunday noon was always the meal my grandma took the most time and care preparing.  to this day, i still love a deliciously cooked pot roast with root vegetables and brown gravy.  i think it is with this memory that i strive to do my best for my family on sunday evenings, keeping this tradition alive and instilling family meal time in my own children’s hearts.  this week was no exception.

here is my rendition of pork steaks, mashed potatoes, roasted acorn squash, and fruit fluff.  i hope you enjoy it as much as we did!  everybody was a member of the clean plate club tonight!

mashed potatoes ingredients:

• 5-6 small yukon gold potatoes
• 5-6 small red potatoes
• 1/2 C cubed acorn squash with skin removed
• salt, pepper, and parsley to season
• 2 oz. whatever-fat-content-you-want cream cheese
• 1/3 C sour cream
• 2 T butter

preparation:

• after boiling potatoes and squash until tender, drain off water and add remaining ingredients and seasonings.  
• mash or mix with a hand mixer

roasted acorn squash:

• 1 acorn squash
• 1 1/2 C water
• 1/4 C canola oil
• nutmeg, cinnamon, all-spice, ground cloves to suit your taste
• 2 T brown sugar

preparation:

• cut squash in half and scoop out seeds and stringy stuff
• cut into strips and cut strips in half
• remove skin from a few strips and cube for use in mashed potatoes
• place in a baking dish; add other ingredients and toss to mix
• cover with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes; i removed tin foil in last 5-10 to encourage the liquid to evaporate and condense flavors

notes:

i had never eaten squash with the skin on it but it was just fine.  the steaming/roasting left the skin very tender and not chewy or rubbery like i expected.  i did melt a few small pats of butter over the squash after i removed it from the oven and it was really yummy!

pork steaks ingredients:

• 4 pork steaks
• 1 T oil
• s&p

preparation:

• heat oil until smoking on a griddle or frying pan; this could also be done on the grill or broiling pan very successfully
• lay seasoned side down and season the side up with s&p
• flip
• continue frying until internal temperature reaches at least 165* degrees - pork must be cooked at a slightly higher temperature than beef to kill any bacteria; i typically am not too concerned with this but as this meat was not our own, i took extra precautions. 
• total cooking time was right around 15 minutes
• *Since originally writing this, the USDA relaxed on their guidelines and the new recommendation for pork is 145 degrees Fahrenheit for internal cooking temperature.

notes:

i saw these greek seasoned pork steaks at the grocery store for a very reasonable price (approximately $2 for 2 steaks).  although i'm not a pork fan i picked them up and thought i'd give it a whirl.  it was interesting to eat supermarket meat after only consuming home-raised; something i don't especially care to do again, but these were ok considering what my taste buds are programmed to like.

fruit fluff ingredients:

• fruit on hand - i had apples, bananas, and a can of tropical fruit mix
• 1/2 mini marshmallows
• 1 t lemon juice (this is an excellent way to protect against browning of apples and bananas before you serve them)
• 1/2 vanilla yogurt (a great way to get some additional protein and calcium into our tummies)
• 2 T cool whip (i find this helps give it a fluffier texture)

preparation:

• mix ingredients together in a bowl and place back in the fridge to remain chilled until served

notes:

my grandma also used to add a little miracle whip, probably something like 1-2 T to her fruit salads in addition to the yogurt or cool whip.  that extra tang was different and i always liked it.  d, however, does not think miracle whip belongs in a fruit salad, so i don’t include this ingredient anymore.  sounds a little gross, but seriously give it a try sometime!