What's blooming in my garden these days

Snow crocus -- they bloom earlier, are smaller, and more delicate in color

Giant crocus -- I have several spots of purple and white giant crocus

Primroses -- my favorite is this pale yellow one, but there's also white, pink and purple in my yard

Grecian Windflower -- it's an early bloomer for us

Petite Daffodils -- the petite ones bloom several weeks before the larger daffodils. They're about 10-12 inches tall and do fine in pots for us.

Here's a swath of purple and white giant crocus, near the front door. It's visible from the driveway. On a sunny day, when the blooms are open, it's a cheery sight when driving in.

Next to the kitchen door is a tiny dooryard garden of white and purple primrose, purple hyacinth, petite daffodils, some ground cover with tiny white blooms, later in spring, evergreens, violets, and lots of moss and rocks.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers and we're eating well this week!

Friday
Homemade wonton soup (yes, I made the wontons myself -- and this soup was so wonderful!)
Fruit salad of banana, orange segments and dried cranberries
Pumpkin pie

Saturday
Chicken, rice, spinach, onion enchiladas
Avocado
Chocolate chip cookies

Sunday Brunch
Heart-shaped pancakes with red currant syrup
Crustless mini quiches with spinach, onion and sausage
Bacon
Fruit salad
Cream puffs filled with frozen strawberries and whipped cream

Monday
We had a late lunch with my father-in-law and his wife, so when we came home, no one was hungry. I made a bowl of popcorn and some cocoa

Tuesday
Southwest pumpkin, bean, potato soup, topped with avocado, salsa and Cheddar cheese
Pumpkin muffins
Rhubarb-plum sauce

Wednesday
Egg salad sandwiches
Roasted tomato soup
Pumpkin pie (from freezer, last pie from the batch)

Thursday
Meatloaf with gravy (I made 2 and froze the other one)
Mashed potatoes (extras so I can make a turkey-rosemary-potato soup in a day or two)
Oven-roasted canned tomatoes
Grilled onions
Pumpkin pie


I have to thank YHF for her suggestions and encouragement on making wontons last week. The only time I have made wontons before, they were the cream cheese filled kind that you deep fry (popular at bridal showers in the 80s). In this week's wontons, I used ground pork, finely chopped fresh mushrooms, onion powder, garlic powder, ginger powder, soy sauce and corn starch. After forming them, I froze them all on a baking sheet, then transferred them to a ziploc bag for freezer storage. When making the soup, I used chicken stock, onion, garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder, soy sauce, chive blossom vinegar, and salt as the broth. To that, I added a few tablespoons of thawed, frozen spinach, a beaten egg, frozen peas and some dices of tofu. I brought the liquid back to a simmer, and dropped in the wontons, set the time for 7 minutes, and put the cover on the pot. Once the timer rang, they were done. I have to say, this soup was restaurant-caliber, it was that good. I think it was a combo of the ground pork, garlic and mushrooms in the wontons. The flavors were fantastic together.

Saturday's enchiladas were no slouch meal, either. Thanks again to Belinda, from Frugal Workshop for her quick and easy enchilada sauce recipe (using paprika, chili powder, salt, oil and flour). Enchiladas are becoming a "regular" in our house. I love enchiladas, for their taste, of course, but also they're a great way to use up leftovers, deliciously. This week's enchiladas had the last of the chicken that I picked off the bones, when making stock for the wonton soup plus some thawed frozen spinach lingering in the fridge too many days, and leftover cooked rice. I added chopped onions, garlic powder, tomato sauce, onion powder, black olive juice and chili powder to the chicken/rice/spinach mix for flavor.

I listed Sunday's brunch menu, instead of a supper menu, as the brunch was our main meal of the day. Dinner was free burgers from Jack-in-the-box, and a buy one, get one medium curly fries w/coupon). I made sauteed spinach and green beans in some bacon fat at home to go with the burgers and fries. This dinner cost $3.49 for the one order of curly fries that we paid for. The burgers were so huge (double patties), that all of us cut ours in half before even taking one bite. We saved the halves for the next day. That $3.49 comes out of our "entertainment" budget, by the way.

Tuesday's soup was remarkably good, considering I was combining two thoughts, a pumpkin soup and a Mexi-inspired soup. And avocado on top of thick soup is quite good, in case you're needing to use up some ripening avocados.

I had some boiled eggs lingering in the fridge way too long. My boiled egg eater has gone off of boiled eggs! So we needed to use them this week. I made sandwiches both Wednesday night and for Thursday's lunch. The ones in Thursday's lunch also had some slices of ripe avocado on them. Creamy and delicious! And the roasted tomato soup sounds much fancier than it was. I used all of the canned tomato liquid (which was more like a puree), and diced up the last of the oven-roasted tomatoes from earlier in the week. To this, I added sauteed onions (which got a little over-done, but the burnt bits kind of blended in with the roasted tomatoes), onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. Good for something so simple.


What was on your menu this past week? Anything that really stood out as something you want to repeat soon?