It's Going To Be A Boring Week

I mean, literally, what does one say about hamburgers and spaghetti? I made burgers on Sunday night and spaghetti last night. The budget is holding steady and I'm managing to feed the family -- the challenge is to be creative about it.

I bought the 1/4-lb. pre-formed lean hamburger patties from Albertson's (the ground meat they sell at the butcher counter is ground there in the store as opposed to the pre-packaged stuff in the bins that comes from God knows where -- see "Fast Food Nation" if you want a good scare) and seasoned them with Worcestershire sauce and Cavender's Greek Seasoning. Usually we each have our preferred way to fix our burgers -- Jackson and Chris like cheese (American), Jennie and I don't; Jackson likes his burger dry with no condiments; Chris likes his practically mooing rare with mustard, onions and pickles; Jennie likes to fix her own; and I vary between lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise, or mustard and sweet relish and onions.

Sunday night I decided to get mildly creative, so I sauteed mushrooms in one pan, and onions in another pan with a little balsamic vinegar thrown in. I put Swiss cheese on the burgers along with the mushrooms and onions and a little Dijon mustard. Nothing earth-shattering, but it was tasty and made a change. Corn on the cob and French fries rounded out a very American dinner.

Unfortunately, we couldn't wait for the salmon with cream sauce to open the chardonnay so consumed it with the burgers. Not a perfect match, but a lovely wine nonetheless.

Last night I did the absolute easiest dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and hot Italian sausage. A glass of chianti rounded that dinner off nicely, along with a loaf of hot Albertson's French bread. I believe Jackson and his friend Greg have entered the Bottomless Pit stage of their growth, so they finished their spaghetti and meatballs and most of the loaf of bread in record time, supplemented it with yogurt, and had a light snack after taekwondo.

Tonight will probably be chicken, so I may troll through Epicurious.com for inspiration, or fall back on old favorites. Ugh, I think I'll feel more energized about cooking when the weather cools off!