Eat Down, Day Three: Send Mushrooms

We are on day three of the eat down and I have already made a critical mistake...I didn't buy enough mushrooms. In my defense, when I went shopping for the eat down, I was recovering from the flu. So my mind was hazy. And frankly, when I bought the original mushrooms, which we ate last night, they weren't really on the list, so in a way I cheated. Well, I thought I cheated, but really I should have bought more.

To review...

We started night one with a beer can chicken. And then last night we had leftover chicken ramen bowls, which were awesome. Now, was it essential to put mushrooms in the ramen? Probably not. But they happen to be a favorite of my daughter's, so I did it. I did it, knowing full well that I would be making boeuf bourguignon sometime soon. Turned out, sooner than I thought, which was today.

So, last night my husband says, "Hey what's for dinner tomorrow?" The beauty of this system is that there is a big, wonderful list posted on the fridge of our meal options. So I said, "Pick! Your choice." I figured he would pick flatbread, which is what we generally have on Fridays...get it? "Flatbread Friday." But no. Bourgignon.

How this dish came to be on our menu at all (in the middle of the summer, no less!) is because our friends were over last week and left a bottle of wine. Now, in years past, I would have guzzled that wine like it was gatorade, but those days are, I am sorry to say, behind me. My digestive system, in a strange series of events, has turned on me... no wine. No dairy. Very little ability to process spicy food. Let's keep this between us, though, okay, I don't want the "Italian-American" police to come revoke my card.

Long story short: I can't drink the wine, but I can cook with it. This is one of my go-to recipes because it's terrific, and I ALWAYS have great cuts of venison to use in place of the beef. I practically always have all the ingredients on hand. All except--you guessed it--the mushrooms. My husband said, "Oh don't worry, I can go to the store and just buy some." Nope. Nope. That's not how this works. I told him, either a farm stand or beg someone to bring us mushrooms. Well, I guess we decided to reserve our begging to when our need was more dire....

So, as I type this, it's simmering away in my oven, smelling all kinds of crazy good, only without mushrooms. I added extra carrots, and lots and lots of pearl onions. I bought them in the frozen section, which I think has to be the best ever way to buy them because there is so little prep involved.

As for the rest of the eat down, well, I have to say that so far we are good shape. My mom brought me some wonton soup and a couple of other Chinese dishes, so this should help up our game. And tomorrow we are *kind of* cheating because we are going out to celebrate a friend's birthday. I would say we are poised, at this point, to make this thing extend well into August!