Cheap & Cheerful Suppers This Last Week

first harvest of indoor radishes

Friday
pepperoni pizza, fig-applesauce, carrot sticks

Saturday
TVP meatballs and spaghetti, green beans, coleslaw

Sunday
spinach frittata topped with marinara, brown rice, steamed carrots

Monday
TVP, mushrooms, carrot greens in leftover beef gravy over slices of French bread, roasted pumpkin cubes and broccoli

Tuesday
tuna noodle casserole, garden salad (garden greens, lentil sprouts, indoor-grown radishes and their greens), chocolate chip bar cookies

Wednesday
chicken teriyaki over rice, steamed carrots, green beans

Thursday

vegetarian chili, cheese biscuits, carrot sticks

Breakfasts included oatmeal, toasty o's cereal, homemade yogurt, toasted homemade bread, peanut butter, roasted almonds, canned tomatoes, frozen blackberries and blueberries, dried prunes and cherries, juice, coffee, and milk

itty bitty carrots that I used in a large pot of vegetable soup

For lunches this past week, I made 2 large pots of soup, one garden vegetable and the other tomato-basil soup. We also used leftover cooked macaroni noodle, cooked rice, and pizza sauce, plus bread, peanut butter, cheese, peanuts, almonds, celery, carrots, cabbage, lentil sprouts, frozen and dried fruit, juice, yogurt, and milk. One of my daughters enjoys smoothies with her lunches and will often combine some yogurt, frozen blackberries, honey, and milk in a blender. We all like salads and combine chopped raw veggies with lentil sprouts and a creamy dressing for an easy slaw. I also just like simple meals, such as a meal of toast, cheese, nuts, and raisins.

We baked 2 large loaves of French bread, a pan of chocolate chip bar cookies, a batch of scratch brownies, and another batch of pumpkin-chocolate chip mini muffins this week. We seem to gobble up any and everything I bake.

Our meals are humble and very basic. I keep thinking that this weekly post must be boring to read. I sometimes wish I cooked more interesting meals. But this is the type of cook that I am -- basic, but meets our needs.

What was on you menu this past week?

My Week -- Mostly Good

Hi friends,

How has your week been? It's been a mostly good week, here. Wet and windy and all that brings to our area.

I was in the mood for chocolate chip cookies last week but didn't want all of the sugar and fat that cookies typically contain. So, I made chocolate chip mini muffins. The batch made as many mini muffins as the same amount of chocolate chips would make cookies. Only, I used more flour, less sugar, and less fat (and I used oil instead of butter). These were very tasty. I added a full tablespoon of vanilla extract and some molasses to boost the flavor of the batter, and whole wheat flour for part of the flour for added nutrients.

As it turns out, both of my green pumpkins are showing signs that they will turn orange. That's exciting for me. In total, we got 12 pumpkins and winter squash.

I thought I'd share an update on my indoor radishes. They really put on growth this past week. I think I'll start harvesting them for use in a toasted salad on Friday, where I'll use both the leaves and roots.

Believe it or not, I'm still harvesting fresh raspberries every few days. These are overbearing raspberry plants. They produce medium size crops in mid-summer and larger crops in fall if kept watered through summer. The small bowl above was harvested early on Thursday (Nov. 4). There are still more berries forming on the canes, which I expect I'll be picking in a few days. Depending on when cold weather sets in, I may or may not get 2 more pickings. (Or maybe not, keep reading.) We began this one patch with a single cane and will be moving some of the escaped canes to a new bed next spring to double our output of overbearing raspberries.

I'm still harvesting from the garden every day. I have Brussel sprouts, beets, turnips, kale, Swiss chard, green onions, cauliflower (that never flowered but I'm using the leaves), parsley, spinach, lettuce, and nasturtium leaves that I can pick, at least in small amounts. Planting several items in troughs and containers on the deck for a fall garden has worked out very well for us. The deck veggies seem to be doing better than those down below in the garden.

Late Thursday afternoon, a large tree came down onto our house, taking out the back part of the vegetable and raspberry garden. We've had some heavy rains and then Thursday had some gusty winds. The soggy soil loosened the roots enough that a big gust of wind was able to topple the tree. My husband and I spent an hour cutting away what we could and will work more on it Friday before hiring someone to finish the job. We're not even sure yet if there's significant damage to the roof as it came down onto attic space. One of us will go up to the attic to check for openings in the roof later today. While this was definitely not a good thing, our garden will receive more sun in spring and summer as a result of this tree coming down. Looking for the silver lining to this cloud. We've lived in this house for 26 years and have now had 8 trees come down unplanned, hitting the house on 3 of those occasions. You'd think we'd want to move to a treeless lot, wouldn't you?

I had another curbside grocery pick-up this week, again at Fred Meyer. This bag charge thing seems to be fluid. This week, no charge for the bags, and they were using plastic bags that were printed "Pick-up". I don't know if they were using up their old supply of plastic "Pick-up" bags so didn't charge me for them, or if the bag charge on pick-up orders only has been rescinded. I'll find out next time. Anyway, back to my order, I found eggs on sale for 85 cents/dozen in 18-ct cartons (with coupon, limit 5 cartons). I bought the limit, which came to 7 1/2 dozen eggs. This should last us a while. I also noticed that Fred Meyer's 5-dozen box of eggs was less expensive (and not on sale) than a few weeks ago, leaving me to wonder if egg prices are moderating a bit. 

A mostly good week. What were the highlights (or lowlights, as the case may be) of your week? Any interesting weather in your area? 

2 extra posts:

Getting More Servings of Fruits and Vegetables Into Each Day

Cheap & Cheerful Meals This Past Week