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Thursday, October 6, 2022

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for Early October

Our weather has been mild, so we're still having cookouts and eating some meals outside.

We're still eating almost all of our produce from the garden. This week, we added purple fingerling potatoes to our menus. On Thursday, I pulled up most of the beets, washed and chopped the leaves then froze them for winter meals. I'll use the beet root Friday and Monday. I need the beet space in the garden for next year's garlic. After pulling beets I mixed some compost, homemade bone meal, and a bit of fertilizer into the soil. Then I planted 99 cloves of garlic from August's harvest. I have about 50 heads (they're small heads) of garlic remaining to use this next year.  I'm slowly building up our garden garlic. If it grows well this next year, we should be about right for our year's garlic needs plus garlic for planting.

I'm a bit tired after working in the garden earlier today. So I'll get right to our suppers.

Friday

Friday Pizza and Movie Night
(we watched Shallow Hal)
homemade pepperoni pizza
apple wedges
Italian-style vegetable medley (zucchini, green beans, tomatoes, garlic, onions, oregano)
scratch brownies

Saturday

Saturday Cook out

hot dogs (buns optional, homemade)
apple wedges
tossed garden salad
blackberry cobbler and peanut butter cookies

Sunday
leftover night -- assortment of chicken salad, lentil soup, rice, biscuits, boiled eggs, various garden greens, lentil sprouts, radishes, apples, brownies, blackberry cobbler

Monday

Monday
meatloaf with gravy
roasted garden purple fingerling potatoes
tossed garden salad
pan-seared garlic green beans (these are soooo good -- green beans sautéed in oil, garlic added after beans are browned, then a bit of sesame oil and soy sauce to finish)
blackberry-rhubarb jello

Tuesday

Tuesday
chicken thighs in meatloaf gravy (just a little chicken, the rest went into a chicken salad for lunches this week)
rosemary polenta
baked beans
roasted beets
sautéed beet greens
radish leaf and sprout salad
leftover blackberry-rhubarb jello

Wednesday

Wednesday
hot dogs and baked beans
tomato-cucumber salad
roasted garden purple potatoes
pan-seared garlic green beans
peanut butter cookies

Thursday

Thursday
chicken-vegetable soup
scratch cornbread (using 3 tablespoons canned garbanzo bean liquid as substitute for the egg)
blackberry cobbler

Breakfasts: pancakes, toasty o's cereal, oatmeal, cobbler, yogurt, juice, milk, toast, eggs

Lunches: chicken/apple/cabbage/carrot leaf/raisin salad, tomato-basil soup, tomato sandwiches, eggs, apples, peanut butter, leftovers, cookies

This was the first time we tried using garbanzo bean liquid as an egg substitute (Thursday's cornbread). My daughter had bought a can of garbanzo beans to make hummus while cat-sitting earlier this week. She saved the liquid to use in place of eggs in baking. The cornbread on Thursday turned out pretty good. It was a bit dense, but good. Have you tried using canned garbanzo bean liquid as an egg substitute before?

That's what we ate this past week. What was on your menu?

Have a wonderful October weekend, friends! Do any of you have special plans for this autumn weekend?


21 comments:

  1. Your meals look so good once again. We had a big pork shoulder roast on Sunday with mashed potatoes and the last picking of homegrown beans. It was a big roast but my son came at lunch time on Monday and had a healthy portion so that left only a little bit to be made into a stroganoff for two on Tuesday. Monday we had pizza which I divided the ingredients in half and gave my son to take home so he could put together a fresh pizza for him and his sister for dinner. Wednesday we had chicken and rice casserole and red Thai curry soup. Thursday was leftovers. I mostly have a cup of soup for lunch but there is still a quart of red Thai curry so we'll see if that is served again tonight or not. Otherwise, not sure what tonight will be. I made an apple crisp with some apples that were starting to rot and we only picked them in late Sept. I also made instant pot mini cheesecakes on Sunday that made 10 mini's and we've been enjoying that all week. Pumpkin spice waffles for breakfast some days and eggs or oatmeal or cream of wheat on other days.

    Alice

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Alice,
      Yum! Your meals sound delicious! You have piqued my interest -- what is in red Thai curry soup?
      I wonder what went wrong with the apples. They should have lasted longer than a couple of weeks. But I'm glad you could salvage them in a crisp.

      Delete
    2. the blogger Budget Bytes has red Thai curry soup and red Thai curry chicken and they are both so delicious.
      Alice

      Delete
    3. Thank you, Alice. I'll check Budget Bytes for those recipes.
      Have a great weekend!

      Delete
  2. I would have never thought to use garbanzo bean liquid in place of an egg. Cornbread seems like a good place to try that. We were on vacation last week, so it was a combination of sandwiches and snacks that we brought, along with a sampling of local restaurants. Yesterday, my husband made spare ribs in the crock pot which were quite good. No special plans for this weekend because I have to work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Live and Learn,
      Yeah, I'd never have thought to use garbanzo bean liquid either, if someone else hadn't already tried it and said it worked. It does make one wonder, though, what made someone try this as an egg substitute to begin with.
      Spare ribs sound tasty!
      Even if you do have to work over the weekend, I hope you find numerous pleasant moments.

      Delete
  3. We had fairly simple meals this week. Chili, tacos, pulled pork sandwiches, chicken and noodles, and pork chops. Last nite we took all the kids out for dinner for fall birthdays. To cater to the vegan our choices were quite limited, but she decided on a place, and we had a good time.
    Tomorrow my oldest dd and I are heading to Salt Lake City to see the musical The Lion King. I’m very excited about seeing it. We bought tickets when we were down there a month ago for a play. The last trip was packed full of oh, sooo much shopping, but this trip should be slower paced, with a lot less shopping. Frugal? Heck no, our tickets were crazy expensive. But it’s something my dd and I really enjoy doing now and then, and sometimes that’s ok lol.

    Diane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Diane,
      What wonderful plans for the weekend! I hope you and your daughter enjoy this outing and the show. And I don't see this as "unfrugal". We all save where and when we can, so we can afford those special treats. My family has taken a couple of vacations that many folks would think were non-frugal. But we save where and when we can so those "treats" don't bankrupt us. Come back next week and tell us what you thought of the show.
      Happy birthdays to your fall-born family members! An meal out to celebrate sounds lovely. And your simple meals sound tasty!
      Have a great weekend!

      Delete
  4. I totally agree! I wish we didn’t have to travel 6 hrs one way to go to the theater, but it is what it is. We usually go to one a year, but when we heard Lion King was there, and there were tickets available we decided we had to just do it. We are staying 2 nites, and we could have saved money by cutting that back to just one, but then all of the sudden the trip seems very hurried and busy, and just not as enjoyable. It’s just no fun to spend more awake hours driving to and from your destination than you spend there. I suggested to dd that we head home early enough to make at stop at Fred meyer in idaho falls lol. She was all over that idea lol.

    Diane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Diane,
      your weekend sounds like it's shaping up to be wonderful! Have fun!

      Delete
  5. I've heard of using the liquid from cans of beans/garbanzos as an egg substitute--it's called aquafaba, isn't it? I haven't tried using it, myself, so it's good to hear what other's experiences are.

    Your green beans sound delish!

    I worked today so my husband has pulled pork that he thawed out for our dinner, plus he cooked Swiss chard and made applesauce, and I pulled down some tortilla chips which are going to be stale if we don't eat them soon (and I have a salty food craving). I made chicken and rice casserole yesterday, and we've also had kielbasa chowder with homemade bread, chicken salsa verde (recipe from budgetbytes.com), and once again my mind is blanking on what else we ate. Oh yeah, I made pizza. Can't believe I forgot. Our evening schedule is pretty scattered these days and I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around it--some nights it's best to have a crockpot meal due to staggered schedules, some nights I need to have meals ready early, some nights they need to be ready late ....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kris,
      yes, I believe you're right on the name for the liquid as egg substitute. It worked fine. I think in the future I'd add just a little bit more baking powder to help leaven.

      It sure sounds like meal time is a challenge right now for you. But you have great tools to manage this. I've had salty food cravings lately, too. Your tortilla chips sound like a good solution to the cravings, and it used them up before they went completely stale. (I did salty roasted potatoes on a couple of nights. When I dig some more, oven fries will become a staple for snacks around here.)

      Have a wonderful weekend, Kris!

      Delete
  6. Lots of variety in your meals this week! You always inspire me with your creative use of odds and ends.

    Meals this week, or what I can remember of them:
    * chili, made with plenty of kidney beans, with toppings of onion, cheese for the kids, and Fritos.
    *eggroll in a bowl, served with rice mixed with a bag of cauli rice
    *beef hash (home-canned stew beef, diced homegrown potatoes and onion, cooked with beef broth and seasonings) and a scratch cherry pie
    *homemade pizzas (GF for me)
    *mac and cheese, chicken (from a Costco rotisserie chicken), and zucchini sauteed with onions

    No exciting weekend plans, but we have two teenagers headed to homecoming tonight and will be taking the one who doesn't drive yet out with his date for dinner and playing chauffer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was me, Cat. One of these days I'll remember to routinely check whether I show as signed in before commenting.

      Delete
    2. Hi Cat,
      no problem. I sometimes forget to check for my name, too.
      Your meals sound tasty. Thanks for mentioning hash. I hadn't thought about making hash in many months. But now we have some potatoes again, so hash will be on our menu this week.
      Yum! Scratch cherry pie sounds delicious!
      I hope your kids enjoyed their school dance.

      Delete
  7. Even your leftovers are beyond our usual meals. Everything looks so gourmet and healthy. We're on a tossed salad kick, adding various toppings to keep the salad interesting. We consume less carbs eating a salad before the rest of the meal. Going out, a salad is easy to prep and bring along. We still do not eat in restaurants. Yesterday we took the newest bivalent Covid booster, and still wearing masks. I'm determined not to get the virus as long as I can. Still too many unknowns about long term risks.
    We cook pinto beans in an instant pot. Is the bean water equivalent in viscosity to the canned water?
    Have a great weekend,
    Laura

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Laura,
      Thank you. I don't know about gourmet, but we enjoy what we fix.
      Salads are always good, in my book. When we ate in quick service restaurants, we used to bring carrot sticks with us. I will have to remember about salads as a possibility. We haven't eaten inside a restaurant since 2020, either. I've eaten on the patio of a burger joint, made picnics for the park, and picked up donuts/pastries to take to the beach. For the time being, this is just our approach to meals away from home.
      Does the bean cooking liquid from your instant pot look as thick as egg white? That's about the viscosity of canned garbanzo bean liquid. It might be worth trying out. The substitution is 3 tablespoons of bean liquid for 1 whole egg in baking. Good luck if you try this!

      Delete
  8. We’ve cooked with Aquafaba, in the way your daughter did. It works fine in breads, buns, muffins. Places where there are other liquids but it’s not a necessity like in an egg based recipe. You get the equivalent of multiple eggs from the liquid and most people just throw it away. But not you Lili:)
    My son has been cooking some awesome dinners, one was a stir fry the other a taco,meaty, cheesy dinner. I’m really working to be on top of all left overs, sometimes the fridge seems a bit bare but it’s also because the volume of food has visibly decreased now that only one child is left.
    Good menu Lili , you always seem to have a handle on leftovers and repurposing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Teresa,
      I totally get that -- about how bare a fridge can look as kids move out or as my husband and I age and don't need as much to eat. Just the fewer jugs of milk that I buy now is surprising to me. I no longer need an entire shelf in the fridge to store a 2-week supply of milk.
      Your son's cooking sounds delicious. The taco/cheesy dinner sounds very tasty!
      Thanks for your input on using aquafaba.

      Delete
  9. Search Aquafaba recipes. You can do some pretty amazing things with chickpea liquid! VKC

    ReplyDelete

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