Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for Early December

As we're eating fresh oranges regularly, now, I thought I'd save some of the peel and make a batch of candied orange peel. My kids all think of this as a Christmas treat, and I love this stuff. Some people don't care for it. So I guess this is a love it or hate it treat. In any case, it's a thrifty candy.

My whole family agrees that candied orange peel is even better when coated with dark chocolate. I used about 1/2 cup of chocolate pieces, combining semi-sweet chips and broken pieces of unsweetened baking chocolate for a dark chocolate with about 70% cacao.

 It's reminiscent of those jellied orange sticks enrobed in chocolate. I didn't coat all of the candied orange pieces, but saved some as is to chop and freeze to add to cranberry bread later this winter.

On with the suppers this week.

Friday  pizza and movie night

scratch pepperoni and olive pizza

cabbage and avocado salad with salsa and mayo dressing
carrot sticks
leftover pie

Saturday
leftover Thanksgiving dinner
leftover pie

Sunday
chicken soup, using chicken carcass from Thanksgiving plus veggies and potatoes
scratch biscuits

Monday
beef stew
pumpkin scones
salad of shredded cabbage, lentil sprouts, sliced celery, avocado chunks
persimmon wedges (our neighbor gifted us with a box of persimmons)

Tuesday
Salisbury steak and gravy
brown rice
frozen peas
roasted root vegetables (garden beets, garden turnips, store carrots)
stewed prunes

Wednesday
beet green frittata (beet greens from yesterday's harvested beets)
toasted whole wheat bread
Asian slaw
steamed carrots

Thursday
tuna melts (gotta get our fish in some way)
roasted pumpkin (our last fresh pumpkin)
canned green beans
sautéed gingered pears (Asian pear chunks I froze in September from neighbor's downed tree branch, butter, ground ginger -- delicious and no sugar needed)

What was your favorite meal this past week? My favorite was our pizza night. The pizza was good, but it's more than just the meal. I really look forward to sitting and watching a movie with family each week. It's relaxing and takes me out of my own life for a few hours, if that makes sense.

Everything so quickly changed from Thanksgiving and late fall to Christmas season. I've got some gingerbread cookie dough in the fridge to make little men and women tomorrow. I listen to Christmas music (using Roku to find yule log Christmas music videos) all day while I'm working in the house. The dining room has been transformed into gift wrap central. Saturday we'll pull out the rest of our Christmas decorations (tree went up on Thanksgiving and outdoor lights on Sunday) and have a decking the halls snacky dinner. I feel like we're full into holiday mode. How about you? Are you all in on the Christmas season already, or are you putting it off another few days. I understand going either way. I really wasn't looking forward to doing the Christmas season work. But now that I'm listening to music, lighting candles, reading Advent scripture, and making plans for gifts for my loved ones, I think I can do this and be cheery about it.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

What greens are available in your area for holiday decorating?

Holly is a favorite in some areas. Fraser fir (love that scent) can be found I believe in parts of Virginia. You can find boxwood in many parts of the US. 

For the fireplace mantel, I simply lay cut branches on the mantel,
and add pinecones, unbreakable ornaments,
and chunks of paper birch.

What greenery and berries grow abundantly in your area?

I make my own holiday potpourri, using cedar, cinnamon sticks,
whole cloves, and dried orange slices. I saw a bag of this selling
 in a gift shop years ago and thought I could easily make my own.

Are any in your own backyard?

This is one of two wall planters by our front door. I fill
the coir liner with branches of cedar
then top with pine cones and unbreakable ornaments.

I use cedar, holly, and occasionally Douglas fir to decorate our home, inside and out. We also have a couple of different red-berried shrubs in the yard that offer a little pop of color to indoor arrangements and displays.

Holiday swags are perhaps the most complicated decorations
I make with greenery. I bundle together cedar branches, secure
 with a piece of green wire, then wire on an ornamental florist pick .
To top it off, I tie on a plaid bow.
Very easy and done in about 15 minutes, start to finish.

Greenery from the yard is not only beautiful, but free and regenerates itself. I understand that for some households cut greenery just wouldn't work or isn't an option.

But if you do cut your own greenery for indoor Christmas decor, how do you like to use it? What materials do you have naturally available to you?