Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the Last of March

Friday

scratch pepperoni pizza (using homemade frozen pizza dough), steamed broccoli, steamed carrots

Saturday
everyone for themselves after the picnic at the park and cake -- frankly, I was stuffed and couldn't even think about eating dinner. I did snack on raisins and cheese later.

Sunday
homemade hummus (using peanut butter in place of tahini -- tasted good), cheesy bread, carrot sticks, leftover birthday cake and ice cream

Monday
leftover sandwich fixings and deli salads, carrot sticks, sliced strawberries and bananas, homemade cream of sorrel soup, leftover cake and ice cream for those who wanted some

Tuesday
meatloaf and gravy (I used frozen chives and garlic greens fresh from the garden liberally in place of root onions and garlic cloves in the loaf), roasted root vegetables (turnips and beets from garden, onions and carrots from the store), sautéed turnip and beet greens, potato chips

Wednesday
Mexican bean soup, toasted tortilla strips

Thursday
tomato soup made from tomato paste, water, onions, garlic, herbs, salt, topped with Parmesan cheese, toasted cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks, last of the potato chips

Breakfasts included toast, cereal, homemade yogurt, frozen foraged blackberries, orange juice, eggs, and homemade blueberry muffins. Despite the chilly mornings, I didn't make any hot cereals this week. This afternoon I finally set the crockpot with steel cut oats. One daughter in particular will be very happy tomorrow morning. Also, I had put off making yogurt for several days. Yogurt is my favorite breakfast. But making it does take time and some effort. I finally got around to making another batch on Wednesday. On Thursday morning I was grateful to have my homemade yogurt again. (I can't eat commercial yogurt -- additives.)

Lunches included spinach soup, cream of watercress soup, a really yummy chive and potato soup (like leek and potato soup), rhubarb-strawberry sauce, bread, peanut butter, cheese, carrots, salads made with cabbage, watercress and radish greens, raisins, eggs, and leftovers. I'm trying to use up the frozen remnants from last year's garden. Earlier this week, I found a gallon-size Ziploc bag of chopped chives in the freezer. I decided to make a pot of chive and potato soup for lunch one day. This was a hit with my family. With the smoothie blender and potato flakes, it was a snap to make. I can make this soup several more times with the frozen chives. Then I'll move on to the garden chives, which are also about ready to begin cutting.

I have a birthday coming up in April. My daughters came to me today and said they'd like to do all of the dinner cooking for the month of April as their gift to me. So, for the next few weeks, I don't have to cook everyday suppers. I will cook Easter dinner and keep up with baking, though. But this will be such a treat to not cook dinner for several weeks. This will be the longest stretch of not cooking daily evening meals in literally decades. They may spoil me, and I may never want to cook dinner again!

Those were my meals for the week. What was on your menu?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Early Spring Picnic at the Park

one of the large frogs in the center of the photo

Although my daughters' birthday was two weeks ago, we finally celebrated with our whole family this past weekend. The two of them had wanted to go to the park for a picnic. The day we originally chose was slammed with rain from sun up to sun down. So, we rescheduled.

While we normally get a lot of rainy days, here, this March has seemed unusually rainy, cold, and dreary. But this past Saturday we had a sort of break in the rain. It was cloudy and cool, with sprinkles here and there. We bundled up and took a picnic lunch to the park anyway. My son and daughter-in-law were able to join us, making us a party of six.

For our picnic, I took the easy way out and picked up sandwich meat, cheese, buns, chips, deli salads, and fresh strawberries. We brought coffee and punch from home. You friends all know me by now, and know that I usually do things myself and rarely buy pre-made foods. Buying the picnic meal meant that I could mostly relax and not fuss over anything that day, which is not only a gift to myself but makes me a more pleasant person to be around. The lunch was delicious, easy, and less expensive than eating in a restaurant.

After our lunch we toured the large park. There are trails, native growth areas, and a large pond at the bottom of one of the hilly areas. The highlight was watching these huge frogs sitting on logs, hiding in the tall grasses, or poking just their noses up above the water's surface. I'm guessing the frogs were about 5 inches in diameter when all bunched up. One frog swam away from our peering eyes, and I estimate he was over a foot long with his legs stretched behind him. The frogs we see in our own backyard are tiny in comparison. So this was exciting to see large ones so close to home.

After enjoying ourselves at the park for a couple of hours we returned to our house for some cake and ice cream. When you're a twin, you wind up sharing so much in childhood. For their birthday cakes I always tried to incorporate both of their favorites. Sometimes I let one daughter choose the inside of the cake while the other daughter chose the outside. One year I even made two separate mini cakes so they could each have their own. This year, like a few other previous years, my daughters wanted to combine two types of cake and frosting, specifically a brownie bottom layer, topped with chocolate frosting, then a funfetti top layer of cake. The sides of the cake were frosted in chocolate icing, while the top was frosted in neon green and purple icing. The cake really did reflect both of their favorites.

For such a low-key birthday celebration, the day was really quite fun. We have spent so much time at home in the last two years that a day at the park seemed like a real treat.