(another busy day, mostly before noon, so dinner was again, easier)
*turkey minestrone soup (using frozen turkey in stock, garden kale and garden garlic, onions, carrots, canned tomatoes, frozen green beans, garbanzo beans and macaroni), topped with cheese
leftover French bread
*apple pie from the freezer
Saturday
*leftover turkey minestrone
sandwiches from an event I worked earlier this day
*salad with lettuce and cucumbers given to us, and tomatoes from our garden
fresh watermelon and blueberries, given to us
Sunday (catching a cold, not feeling like any sort of big production for a Sunday supper, used up some leftovers, and made an easy dinner)
scrambled eggs with onions and peppers (I cooked the onion and peppers to go into burritos for the next day's lunches, and made extra to fold into the eggs)
*oven roasted blue and white potatoes
*fresh pear slices
*salad of lettuce, cucumbers and garden tomatoes
Monday (my son had dinner at a friend's house on Sunday, and brought home some leftovers for us. The pork, cabbage and some of the potatoes were the leftovers.)
pork roast
red cabbage and apples
potatoes (I added a few more, to stretch this for the whole family)
Delicata squash
vanilla pudding for dessert
Tuesday (still feeling cruddy, thankfully I had a large container of beef chili in the freezer, and a watermelon given to us on Saturday)
beef chili
watermelon slices
French bread
Wednesday (no leftovers or frozen meals, so I had to cook from scratch, but feeing a bit better, so I was okay with this.)
roasted chicken leg quarters -- pulled the meat off bones, then tossed in herbs, garlic powder, onion powder, salt/pepper and some chicken broth -- very delicious for a quick and easy chicken dinner
*mashed purple potatoes, topped with gravy from the freezer
baked squash
*kale and onions sauteed in bacon fat (had bacon for breakfast, poured most of the fat into container for the freezer, then saved the pan for tonight's dinner for the kale)
Thursday
chicken soup
leftover apple muffins and French bread
*applesauce from freezer
Have you heard this? I don't remember where I read this, but when making large pots of soup containing noodles, with the intention of having leftovers, or holding some of the soup until later, to cook the noodles separately. Add the noodles to each bowl, just before serving. And save any leftover noodles in a separate container in the fridge. The noodles won't suck up the liquid in your soup, and get soggy.
I feel so thankful for friends who give leftovers, for the lady who coordinates teas and luncheons who offers things like watermelons and English cucumbers for us to take home, and for a freezer, which held some leftover entrees for us to eat, on those nights I was too wiped out to cook. I was able to put together dinners each night, which met nutritional needs for my one daughter who is working hard to keep her weight up. I'm just thankful, today.
Our weather has turned practically balmy this week, with daytime highs in the 50s, nearing 60 on some days. This has kept the fall garden doing well. I picked garden greens a few times this past week, to add to soups, or saute, as is. This is an "el nino" year, which means warmer than usual temperatures for us (also means a whole lot more rain, but I can live with that). Our "fall garden" could last well into winter. More kale, chard, radish, mustard greens and cabbage. Again, just feeling blessed and watched out for, right now.
So, tell me, what's been the most colorful dinner you've had this past week?
