Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for Early April

I don't know what happened to my post. Something caused it to revert to an original draft. I'll do my best to recap what I'd originally written Thursday evening.

Another week of my daughters' cooking, with exception to Easter's main meal (which we did as a late lunch to take advantage of warm outdoor air). This has been a fabulous gift all month, with the two of them cooking the main meal each night. I feel truly spoiled.

So, what did they cook? Here it is:

Friday

pepperoni pizza (using a Great Value  pizza crust mix and canned pasta sauce), kale and cabbage slaw, canned green beans

Saturday (my birthday dinner)

frozen eggrolls, frozen orange chicken stir fry, rice, scratch chocolate cake (the cake that had a layer which wouldn't come out of the pan, becoming 2 batches of chocolate pudding cake later)

Sunday

Easter Luncheon (as I posted earlier this week) -- baked ham, scratch dinner rolls, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, kale-almond-cranberry salad, roasted Brussel sprouts, carrot cake cupcakes, chocolate pudding cake

We didn't cook a dinner on Easter. It was fend for yourself. I had a bowl of more chocolate pudding cake and a cup of tea for my dinner. Others had leftovers from the luncheon.

Monday (sorry, no photo)

reheated leftovers from Easter

Tuesday

bean and ham soup (using ham stock and meat from Easter ham plus beans cooked from dried), scratch biscuits (using ham fat in the dough), mixed green slaw

Wednesday

bean and cheese burritos (using canned refried beans and commercial tortillas), canned tomatoes, mixed green salad

Thursday

hummus (using canned garbanzo beans), crackers, celery sticks, slaw with cabbage and thinnings from the garden

Everyday breakfasts included leftover dinner rolls, toast, homemade yogurt, eggs, milk, fruit, juice, peanut butter, and smoothies. As Saturday was my birthday, I made sure to have exactly what I wanted -- croissants and bacon. Trader Joe's sells frozen croissant dough. I picked up a box of 8. We baked 4 and will save the other 4 for Mother's Day. When I buy bacon, I split the package into smaller packages of 8 or 12 uncooked slices (depending on whether my son and daughter-in-law will be with us, hence 12 slices for 6 of us). I thaw one of these smaller packets in the fridge overnight. I have a good friend who frequently reminds me that if I want something to happen, and I have some control over the situation, to make it happen myself. That's what I did for my birthday.

Our lunches included cream of broccoli soup, cheese sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, eggs, raisins, bananas, juice, carrots, cabbage, crackers, leftovers, and various baked goodies.

That's what was on our menu this week. What was on yours?

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

The Thrill of Saving Flower Seeds

one of several petunia plants I grew from seeds collected from last year's purchased plants--
it's even beginning to bloom!

You all know that I save seeds from one season's plants to grow vegetables in the next season. It's not a huge savings, but it's one of those satisfaction things. But do you know what I find really exciting in the gardening realm? Saving seeds from flowers that I bought in the garden center and growing them the next year into actual flowering plants. It's as if I made something. So exciting!

a bundle of marigold seedlings --
I can already see where they will be setting flower buds in a month or so.

This last year I saved nasturtiums (but those fall into the edible category for our house, so not as exciting), "Patriot Mix" (red, white, purple) petunias, and autumn-colored marigolds. I started the seeds for the petunias and marigolds in March under lights. The plants look wonderful. Last summer, I wasn't even sure what to save -- what was a seed for both of these plants. I looked both plants up online to see what to look for as seeds. And I luckily found them on both plants.

Now I have annual plants for my pots and garden for zero cost! I would have bought the petunias for sure, as I plant these every year in a couple of pots in the front yard. The autumn marigolds will give me end of summer color to enjoy, once again.

Free annuals grown from my own collected seeds -- now this is excitement!