Cheap & Cheerful Meals for an Early October Week

Dinners

Friday

pepperoni pizza, sautéed grape leaves in yogurt-dill sauce, carrot sticks, chocolates

Saturday

refried beans, homemade tortillas, tomato wedges, carrot sticks, cole slaw

Sunday

lentil-vegetable soup, scratch biscuits, chocolates

Monday

root beer beans, sausage patties, roasted purple potatoes, stuffed grape leaves, tossed garden salad, preserved figs

Tuesday

Leftover beans, sausage, potatoes, grape leaves, plus blackberry pie

Wednesday

spaghetti with meat sauce, sautéed kale, cauliflower leaves and Brussels sprout leaves in cheese sauce, blackberry pie

Thursday

chicken in gravy, roasted purple potatoes, kale, apple, cabbage, raisin, and almond salad

Breakfasts included cream of wheat type hot cereal, carrot-raisin muffins, banana bread, toast, oatmeal, homemade yogurt, frozen blackberries, the last of the fresh plums, fresh tomatoes, coffee and milk

Lunches were varied this week and included cheese, peanut butter, spicy pinto bean spread, French bread, whole wheat bread, saltine crackers, raisins, tomatoes, leftover soup, cabbage, lentil sprouts, apples, bananas, lettuce, celery, peanuts, almonds, and graham crackers. We all seemed to put the ingredients together differently, with some of us making soups, some sandwiches, and some snack-y items like “ants on a log”.

We continue to eat from the garden, but more and more grocery store produce is entering our meals and snacks, such as the cabbage, carrots, bananas, and celery. I tried to keep snack foods available to everyone, making a batch of banana bread, carrot-raisin muffins, a loaf of French bread, a container of bean spread (puréed cooked beans, salsa, salt and oil), and some roasted almonds on the day I baked sandwich bread and a pie. I am constantly amazed by the quantity of food we eat each week.

What was on your menu this past week?

My Week, Making Tamales and Finding New Ways to Use Grape Leaves

the inside view of our homemade tamales, using our homegrown corn husks as wraps

Friday night I had made some stuffed grape leaves which gave me the thought that the same ingredients might also make a good soup. So on Saturday, I made a grape leaves, rice and beef soup, containing finely shredded grape leaves, onions, lots of garlic, dill weed, oregano, vegetable stock, beef bouillon, ground beef, salt and pepper. The soup differed slightly in ingredients, mostly the addition of ground beef. I really didn't know if my family would like this, but it turns out they loved it! So, the next day I harvested a bunch of medium-sized grape leaves, shredded them, and froze them in packets for soup in winter.

I made our year's supply of plum and apple chutney over the weekend, using our garden plums and apples, plus onions, vinegar, sugar, and spices. I'm looking forward to curry dishes this fall and winter. And I made sweet pickle relish using green tomatoes, green peppers, onions, vinegar, sugar, and spices. I picked over our tomato plants pretty well but didn't pull the plants out of the ground altogether. There could still be a handful of small greens ones developing which I could use to make a small batch of dill relish early next week.

We harvested our meager crop of corn for Saturday's dinner. It was tasty, but not much kernel development. I did, however, save the husks for making tamales. And I have the bonus of free corn stalks for fall decor. 

After shucking the corn on Saturday, I soaked the good parts of the husks in salt water overnight, then the next day I drained and wrapped them in a towel and refrigerated until I wanted to make the tamales. On Monday, I made chicken tamales. This was my first time ever making tamales. It wasn't as difficult or time consuming as I'd thought they might be. I followed a basic technique of making a meat, spice and olive filling plus a cornmeal dough. The meat I chose was b/s chicken breast. I simmered the breast in water, drained (but saved the liquid), then added seasonings and chopped olives. For the dough, I didn't have masa harina, so I used regular corn meal and it worked just fine. Masa harina is a grind of dried corn that is commonly used in corn tortillas. It's instantly binding and makes a good dough. Cornmeal is coarser, but when mixed with shortening and liquid from poaching the chicken breast, it held together enough to spread on the corn husks. I didn't use as large a quantity of shortening as recipes called for, yet that didn't seem to matter. BTW, I still had a pint of chicken poaching liquid leftover. I saved that for use in a pumpkin soup, along with some drained vegetable liquids after chopping green tomatoes, peppers, and onions for making relish. I save all kinds of liquids to add to the stock for homemade soup. I think saving cooking liquids and fats may be hallmarks of tightwads everywhere.

Speaking of saving oil, I don't know if you do this too, but when I use too much oil in roasting or sautéing vegetables (and it's clear there's a lot left in the pan after cooking), instead of wiping out the pan I put the oily pan in the fridge and reuse it the next day. So, after Wednesday's roasted potatoes and sautéed cole crop veggies, I put the oily baking sheet and skillet in the fridge overnight and reused them the next day. I laugh a bit because I think it would look strange to a visitor who might open my fridge and see "empty" but used baking/cooking pans. But I figure this practice is no worse than pouring the residual oil into a cup and storing in the fridge overnight. Again, I think this is just more testament to my waste-nothing mindset. Anyway, on Thursday I made a small batch of oven-roasted potatoes as a snack for us all, and the oily skillet was used for sautéing more garden greens.

I began sprouting lentils indoors again. Wednesday evening I set a 1/4 cup of dry lentils to soak over night. I drained the lentils Thursday morning, then left to do their thing in a jar on the counter. By bedtime on Thursday I could see the beginnings of sprouts emerging from the seeds. Looking good. Our garden bounty is beginning to wane a bit and I knew we'd want some cheap additional fresh veggies to add to October salads. Sprouting lentils is easy, doesn't take up very much kitchen space, and only requires the light we get through a window (for greening up the sprouts at the end of their growth). 

As I took my morning walk through the garden on Thursday, I thought more about the grape leaves. They'll be falling off the vines soon, so if I want to use more I should do so in a hurry. I picked a large handful and washed them to use with Friday's dinner. I'm planning on shredding the leaves, sautéing in some oil with garlic and onion, then tossing with cooked pasta, plain yogurt, dill, and additional minced garlic. Keeping my fingers crossed that this will be tasty.

And now here we are, back to Friday again. Tonight will be another pizza and movie night. It's my week to choose the movie and I've chosen The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. 

How was your week? Have you made tamales before? If you have, do you have any tips? 

Wishing you all a weekend of abundance!

One other post today -- Cheap & Cheerful Meals for this Last Week