Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for late January

Friday
meatloaf (from the freezer), topped with
gravy (from the freezer)
oven-roasted pumpkin chunks
pasta, tossed with canned tomatoes, garlic, onion powder and herbs
baked apples (the last apples from our orchard)

Saturday
black beans and rice, cooked with canned tomatoes and Mexi spices
oven-roasted pumpkin chunks (this has become my favorite way to eat pumpkin this year)

Sunday
pumpkin pancakes
breakfast sausage
oranges

Monday
black bean burgers, topped with
onions sauteed in bacon fat
seasoned oven-roasted potato wedges
frozen peas
watermelon pickles

Tuesday
kale, onion and olive frittata, topped with a quick sauce of canned tomato paste, garlic, onion powder and basil
French bread
carrot sticks
creamy pear jello (using the last pears from the orchard)

Wednesday
shepherd's pie from the freezer (yes, that shepherd's pie!) *or* for the one person not wanting shepherd's pie ;-), a leftover black bean burger, topped with grilled onions
pumpkin muffins
salad of orange segments and dried cranberries

Thursday
French bread pizza (using up the other loaf of French bread, a quick pizza sauce of tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder, dried herbs, liquid from draining olives, and some of the salty crumbs from the bottom of a bag of pretzels, also topped with caramelized onions from Monday, and sliced olives)
frozen green beans
pumpkin pie


On Wednesday, I had hopes that I would be able to eat the shepherd's pie, as I was just heating it from the freezer that night. I went to taste a tiny bit and told my family that it tasted like dog food. One daughter said, "yes, it does taste like dog food, but I still like it". Okay, then, I can stop shopping in the people food aisle for groceries and stock up on Alpo! JK

That's what we ate this week. My favorite meal was on Monday, the black bean burgers, topped with caramelized onions -- yum, those were good!

What was on your menu this week? And what did you particularly enjoy?

Just a homebody

I'm just a homebody this week. No big plans to go anywhere until tonight.

I found soft spots on one of my pumpkins, so I cut those spots out, and baked up a bunch of pumpkins.

I froze several bags of pumpkin puree, and made a large batch of pumpkin muffins, using this little trick to get almost 2 whole trays of muffins in my 30-inch oven.

Needing snacks for packed lunches, I made a batch of peanut butter balls. I used a cup of toastie-O cereal, crushed to roll them in.

I also made a batch of No-added Sugar Fruit and Nut Bars. These make great breakfast bars, as well as snacks. For nuts, I used a combo of sunflower seeds, ground flax and sesame seeds and chopped almonds. For the fruit, I used dates and dried cranberries.

While watering the indoor plants, I noticed that one of my African violet leaf cuttings had shot up some baby leaves, indicating I have a viable plant from this leaf.

My daffodil bulbs in pots (from December) are now starting to show some growth. I'll need to transplant these to the garden, next month.

We've had some mild weather. The kale looks healthy, as does this plot of radish greens. I used a bunch of radish greens, kale and mustard greens in last night's frittata for dinner.

The lettuce seeds that I started indoors last week are now up. they're growing under lights, and hopefully will provide tasty salads in another 2  1/2 months.

What have you been up to this week? Are you a homebody at heart, or do you thrive on getting out and about?