Scratch Cupcake Donut Holes Courtesy of My Daughters

This past Saturday was the community garage sale in my area. There will be more garage sales throughout the summer, but this was the big one. I went out for a little bit, but I was feeling tired so only looked at a few sales. I did buy some brightly colored paper napkins to use for picnics and bbq's this summer, still in the sealed package, 50 cents/package. My daughters went to many, many sales. The came home with wrapping paper (25 cents/roll), clothing, a knick-knack or two, and a deep fryer, still in the factory-sealed box. They saw the fryer early in the day and told me about it. We used to have a fryer and I stopped using it because it was more fried food than we should eat, it wasted oil, and it was a mess every time I used it. I told my daughters they'd have to supply the oil if they bought this. (My experience has been that a lot of oil is wasted when deep frying.) They agreed and bought the fryer for $5.

Their first frying project was donuts. They knew they wanted cake donuts, but they didn't want the fried batter mess that can come with pouring batter into hot oil (a lot of burnt crumbly bits after frying). So they had this idea to fry some baked mini muffins. 

They then baked yellow cupcakes (scratch recipe, no papers, non-stick muffin pan sprayed with cooking spray) in the oven. After baking and cooling, they popped the cupcakes into the hot oil in the fryer for a couple of minutes each. Afterward, they glazed them with a homemade chocolate glaze and added sprinkles, chopped nuts, and coconut. They look like donut holes, don't they?

I wasn't expecting them to be that much like donuts, but they really, really were. I was impressed. They were crispy and cake-like. I tried my hardest not to eat too many of them. But like I said, these were good, and well you know how good intentions can sometimes end up.

I did ask one daughter, after the fact, if she would change anything. She said that now she wishes they'd tried frying a little of the unbaked batter (not baked cake) just to see how it would have turned out. She doesn't know if she'd prefer one over the other, but would like to see for herself the difference. Maybe we'll have another batch of donuts soon? I mean, for the sake of experimentation, of course.

Anyways, just some of the kitchen fun going on in our house this past weekend.

Shopping and Meals for the Past Week

I haven't done any grocery shopping since April 23, unless you count the road trip candy we bought last week along the way to Arizona. In case you're interested, I bought some black licorice, 2 Snickers bars (King-size), and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (4-pack) to share. As I mentioned earlier this week, my total for the sharing candy was under $15. I made these purchases as little surprises when I'd go in to pay for gas. We did all cash for gas to get the better prices, so I always went inside to pay. With the first candy purchase, my family was somewhat astonished. Mom doesn't usually make impulse purchases. I like to keep my family guessing about me.

A couple of meals on the road:

The first night away: hotdogs and buns that I grabbed from the freezer, with sliced cabbage drizzled with slaw dressing (packed separately so the cabbage wouldn't wilt), canned green beans, applesauce. Yes, we brought paper plates, small paper cups (for the applesauce), and plastic forks (we washed the forks each night to reuse). I also packed small packets of the condiments we had in the fridge -- ketchup, mustard, hot sauce.

Another night: bean and cheese burritos (frozen homemade refried beans, thawed in 2 days), carrot sticks, canned green beans, raisins, applesauce. I didn't shop for anything new for the trip, instead grabbing foods from our pantry, fridge, and freezer.

At one point we found ourselves driving along historic Route 66 for about a mile. Kinda fun. We decided that if we make this trip again, we'll stay in one of the fun motor inns along 66.

I came home to a full pantry and freezer. I had milk in the freezer and milk is a driving ingredient in my need for grocery shopping.

When we walked in the door last Sunday, the first thing I did after unloading the car was grab a partial gallon of milk, loaf of homemade bread, and a quart of cooked pinto beans from the freezer. After starting the laundry I made an easy soup, using the cooked pinto beans, a large can of Italian-seasoned diced tomatoes, some beef bouillon, and olive oil. I let it simmer until the beans began to fall apart and thicken the soup. I served bread and butter with this simple meal. 

Here are the rest of this past week's suppers:

Monday
taco meat on cooked rice with refried beans and cheese, topped with salsa and bottom-of-the-bag tortilla chips, plus garden kale bulked up with frozen broccoli

Tuesday
chicken breast cooked in leftover pasta sauce (from my daughters' cooking in April) topped with the last slices of provolone cheese from my daughters' birthday picnic in the park in March, stuffed grape leaves, toast, and rhubarb sauce

Wednesday
bean burger patties, canned carrots, radish green-peanut noodles

Thursday
eggs, breakfast sausage, canned pineapple chunks, colcannon (using radish greens instead of kale in the potatoes), canned green beans

It rained a lot while we were gone. And we're still stuck in a wet pattern. I'm hoping this next week things turn around. But one of the blessings to a cool week is the Lilies of the Valley didn't all bloom at once during our week away. I picked a handful on Wednesday to enjoy indoors. Mmmm, so fragrant.

How was your week? What was on your menu? Any surprises at your grocery store this week?