Groceries this week
Early Sunday morning, I stopped by Walmart before church. Among the things I needed (specific supplements), I bought 1 bunch of bananas, spending $1.14 for those.
Wednesday, after another blood draw (6th blood draw in 2 weeks) -- the lab was near the restaurant supply (we call it Cash 'n Carry, its former name, but now it's Chefstore). One daughter came with me for prayer support and in case I didn't feel right after the draw, and also to help with large boxes and bags. At Cash 'n Carry we bought 50 lbs of onions $14.09, a case of 9 4-lb bags of raisins $88.89, a gallon of olive oil $38.19, 1.25 quarts of sesame oil $17.69, 15 lbs of butter $3.09/lb, 12.5 lbs of popping corn $9.39, a carton of popcorn salt $4.28, 5 lbs of pizza cheese $11.99, and a 5 lb block of cheddar cheese $15.89. We'll be eating well this winter. I spent $246.77. I mentioned a while back that I'd be spending a lot stocking up for fall and winter. This was one of those shopping trips. For the week, I spent 247.91.
When I got home from Cash 'n Carry, I noticed a few of the onions were definitely on their last legs. This afternoon I took some time to peel and chopped those onions for the freezer. I have a few more that I'll do this to, so none will be wasted (or so we hope).
Meals this week
Friday
Friday movie and dinner night. We didn't watch a movie because we got a late start. So we watched stand-up comedy instead. The night before, my daughter roasted a whole chicken. I reheated some of the meat and made a little more gravy with the leftover drippings. We had chopped tomatoes, spiced apples, roasted garden potatoes, and Swiss chard with this dinner. The laughter and good meal were what we all needed.
Saturday
Another chicken meal. My husband made flour tortillas and wrapped up seasoned leftover chicken. With the chicken wraps we had chopped fresh tomatoes and sautéed kale and garlic. Another meal that hit the spot.
Sunday
I simmered the chicken bones and my husband picked off as much meat as possible to make this really delicious soup. He added some canned pumpkin, the leftover chicken gravy, some stock and lots of garden veggies -- onions, carrots, celery, parsley, sage, thyme, potatoes, and green beans. It was very tasty. With the soup, he made scratch biscuits, also delicious.
Monday
A mixture of black-eyed peas and the last of the roasted chicken from last Thursday, some kale, chopped dried tomatoes, and lots of garlic and herbs over brown rice, with chopped russet apples on the side.
Tuesday
Swiss steak. Under the sauce of tomatoes and carrots is cube steak that we bought from the rancher. Very tender and flavorful. My family really enjoyed this meal. With it I served mashed garden potatoes (purple, red, and Yukon gold), and sautéed Swiss chard.
Wednesday
The Swiss steak made so much extra sauce that I had enough to make a soup the next night, adding the leftover black-eyed peas, some additional tomatoes, celery, more garlic, and garden herbs. I topped the soup with bottom-of-the-bag tortilla chips from a few weeks ago. I served this with scratch cornbread that I topped with cheddar before baking and baked delicata squash. I mixed up some brown sugar and set out salt, butter, and cinnamon for everyone to help themselves to top their own 2 halves of squash. I had 4 small delicata, perfect for splitting between the 4 of us.
Thursday
Tonight, one daughter is making ham fried rice for us, with chopped apples own the side. She taught today, so after she came home, she worked on dinner while I chopped onions. It was a lovely part of the day, catching up with her while we both cooked.
We are still using a lot of produce from our garden and mini orchard. This week, we used, garden onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes, green beans, celery, parsley, thyme, oregano, sage, tomatoes, apples, winter squash, Swiss chard, and kale in dinners, plus dried plums in breakfasts and lunches.
Our meals are humble, I know. But this is the type of cooking we really appreciate. Good basic foods prepared well is fine dining in our book.
How was your week? What were your favorite meals this week? Any special plans for the weekend? We'll be digging more potatoes, weather permitting. Then a few lovely autumn walks, and puttering around the house. A normal, wonderful weekend.
