Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for a birthday week, making it easy on the cook!

Friday

Stuffed bell peppers (stuffed with taco meat found in the freezer, topped with tomato puree and baked)
Brown rice
Celery sticks and bleu cheese dressing
Biscotti

Saturday (we've had such a string of glorious weather, that we brought out the patio chairs and fire ring to sit around, while eating dinner)

Homemade pizza, topped with leftover taco meat from Friday's stuffed peppers, the tops of those peppers, chopped, black olives, as well as marinara sauce from the freezer and mozzarella cheese
Apple wedges
Roasted marshmallows for dessert

Sunday

Mini pigs in blankets (Lil smokies wrapped in scratch biscuit dough)
Sweet potato fries (leftover in the freezer from Dollar Tree, my daughters's birthday dinner)
Apple wedges
Frozen green beans with toasted almond slivers
Brownies (daughters baked from scratch)

Monday

Meatloaf (from freezer), topped with leftover pizza sauce, the last green pepper, black olives, heated in oven
Mashed potatoes (last of the shriveled potatoes from November's stock-up, with cream cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, chicken fat, chives)
Cabbage, kale and celery slaw
Assortment of brownies, biscotti and toffee bars for dessert

Tuesday

Frozen bean burger patties
Leftover mashed potatoes, leftover rice or whole wheat bread
Kale sauteed in ham fat, with ham "cracklins" as topping
Oven-roasted sweet potato chunks
Shortbread cookies

Wednesday

Scrambled eggs with chopped ham from the freezer added
Carrot, raisin and peanut salad
French bread with rosemary, garlic olive oil drizzled over slices
Shortbread cookies

Thursday

French bread pizza (using extra bread from Wednesday's baking and frozen pizza sauce)
Cabbage, kale and celery slaw
Oven-roasted carrots



So, you may have noticed that this past weeks meals were less labor-intensive for me. (Or maybe that doesn't come through in my post -- trust me, much less labor-intensive.) This has been my gift to myself for the week. A week of easier meal-prep. You see, tomorrow is my birthday. A couple of weeks ago, I began preparing extras and freezing them, just for this week. It's been very nice to not have to cook as much this past week. Of course, by the end of the weekend, my freezer will be empty of pre-made meals, and I'll need to return to cooking fill meals daily, again. BTW, my birthday dinner is also all taken care of. I found some Mexican chicken soup in the freezer, as well as a casserole dish of chicken enchiladas! Both were good the first time around, so I'm sure they'll be delicious tomorrow! Happy birthday, me!

What was on your menu for the week? Was it a wintry menu (due to cold temps in your area) or a spring-like one? This time of year it seems that I can go either way with the menu. It's not hot enough to not want to use the stove, and not consistently cold enough to necessitate a hot soup to warm everyone up.

Have a great weekend!

There *is* something that I'm picky about the brand

Most of the time, I could care less about brands. I'll eat any brand of mayo, any brand of tomato paste, any brand of soy milk -- I'm just not picky about brands, for the most part.

But there is one item that I am selective with. That's olive oil.

I don't know if you remember a couple of years back, but there were allegations that some olive oils weren't really olive oil. This situation got me looking into olive oil and how to improve my chances that what I'm buying is, indeed, olive oil.

certification and harvest date on the back label

From what I read, the 2 best indicators that an olive oil was legit are these: 1) the bottle is stamped with a "harvest date", and 2) the bottle has a quality seal, such as the California Olive Oil Council, which certifies the oil has passed some chemical analysis.

So, off I went in search of an olive oil that met these 2 criteria. I only found 1 brand of olive oil in my grocery store which had a harvest date stamped on the bottle, California Olive Ranch. And they also had the seal from the COOC, mentioned above. So that is what I bought a couple of years ago.

I brought it home, and was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. It actually had a distinct flavor to it. It's described as having a "floral, buttery and fruity aroma" with hints of green apple flavor. To me, it tastes a bit like an oak cask. I found it very appealing. You know how it is. You find something that tastes different to you than all of the rest. So, this is my preferred olive oil.

I've stuck with this particular brand for several years now. When the old bottle was nearly empty, I began searching around for a favorable price on this brand. I found that at World Market. I had seen this olive oil on sale, there, before. So, I just waited. And voila, as hoped, on sale, 25% off. It is a "splurge" item for me, at about $4.25 per pint.

Like I said, there's not a whole lot that I'm picky about, but with olive oil, I really am.


To keep my olive oil tasting fresh for as long as possible, I store the bulk of it in the fridge, pouring out only about 2-3 ounces at a time, into a small, dark glass jar with lid, to store in a cool, dark cupboard, for ease of use. My last bottle remained fresh-tasting until the very end, about 8 months post the "best by" date.

Do you have a food item about which brand you are picky?