Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for a Week With Tough Moments

Friday 

Friday

While my husband drove me to and from an appointment this afternoon, one daughter made dinner for the 4 of us. We swung by where my other daughter was cat-sitting for the week to get her to join us for a dinner and movie. We watched Death to Smoochy, a Robin Williams comedy, while eating a mac, beef, tomato, and cheese skillet dinner. Tasty and a relaxing evening.

Saturday

Saturday

Just 3 for dinner, my cat-sitting daughter's last night with the cats. My husband made scratch flour tortillas with refried beans, for those eating beans. We also had garden carrots, frozen peas, and some cheddar cheese.

Sunday

Yay! Both daughters here, so we had a cookout. 

My husband made hot dog buns for us and got the fire going.

Sunday

We had hot dogs/buns, garden tomatoes, sauerkraut, sautéed cabbage, and cooked garden apple bites, plus all the condiments including this year's sweet relish. 

The couple my daughter was cat-sitting for texted mid-way through dinner to ask if she could go back and give the kitties one last snack, as the couple's train was delayed and they wouldn't be home for a couple more hours. Both daughters went to the cats' house. While they were there, we had a small earthquake. A lot of people in the area didn't feel it. I felt the chair I was sitting on jolt. My daughters thought a door in the house had slammed shut. My husband thought something happened but didn't know what it was. And my niece in the city didn't feel it at all. Both daughters came home shortly after.

a plate of garden potatoes and carrots from Monday's pot roast

Monday

Monday

I made a pot roast with gravy, garden carrots, garden potatoes, and garden tomatoes. One daughter and I dug potatoes in the morning. It was nice having an hour with her after her week away with the cats. Both daughters love helping with this chore. It is a little like a treasure hunt.

Tuesday

Tuesday

I had just about finished putting dinner together as I began to feel worse and worse. My family was very concerned so we headed to the ER when my husband got home from work. It was a long and hard evening. But just so you know, I'm okay. 

My blood sugar plummeted at one point so my daughters found the vending machine and brought back some crackers for me. That and a piece of cheese, plus 2 cups of juice from the nurse's station was dinner for me. By the time we returned home very late, we were all too wiped out to eat anything substantial. So dinner would wait until the next day.

Wednesday

Wednesday

This is what we should have eaten on Tuesday -- chopped leftover pot roast in gravy over scratch biscuits, along with garden tomatoes and our own tree stewed prunes. It hit the spot and didn't suffer by waiting an extra day. One daughter very kindly reheated and plated everything for us.

Thursday (I'll add a photo later, posting this early)

I'm roasting a whole chicken this afternoon. Meanwhile, my daughter will make sides of garden potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cabbage roasted on a sheet pan. She'll also make a gravy to go with the chicken.

That was my week in meals. What's been happening this week with you? Anything special on your menu this week?

The sun came out about an hour ago. So now I'll go get a bit of vitamin D and take a walk.

Stovetop Pumpkin Pudding for a Delicious Fall Treat

 

I didn't plan on making pumpkin pudding this past week. It all came about as a batch of botched spiced pumpkin puree that we were to have with dinner one night. I had my daughters helping me in the kitchen that evening, and we seemed to get very distracted with our conversation. Story short -- a mistake, bug mistake was made in measuring the ground cloves. The pumpkin puree was simply too strong to enjoy with the meal. That spicy pumpkin sat in a container in the fridge for several days. I wasn't sure if I'd bake pumpkin bread, make a pie, or do something else. Then one daughter reminded me how much our family enjoys pumpkin pudding, the kind you make on the stove.

Thursday afternoon I turned the too-spicy thick pumpkin puree into a tasty pudding. I used a basic cornstarch pudding recipe, omitting the vanilla extract. I think I used about 1 cup of spiced pumpkin puree for a "2 cups of milk" recipe. Otherwise I followed the cornstarch pudding recipe as usual, blending cornstarch, sugar, salt together, then stirring in milk and cooking until thick. Near the end, I stirred in the pumpkin and finished cooking. My family loves this stuff and so do I. I made myself a batch using soy milk and about 1/2 cup of the spicy pumpkin, so I could have some too.

My guess is you could also make a tasty pumpkin pudding with a box of pudding mix, which would even be simpler. Simply stir in a 1/2 cup to 1 cup of pumpkin puree into the finished pudding plus a bit of spices like cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and/or nutmeg.

Sometimes I want the taste of the filling of pumpkin pie without making the crust. Stovetop pumpkin pudding is an easy way to get that taste I crave.

A brief update -- last week I had 6 separate medical/dental visits. Those appointments wiped me out. My doctor has asked me to delay having the extraction for a couple of weeks. I have some health complications right now that need to be figured out and mediated before using anesthesia of any kind. Whatever is causing my symptoms, I am hopeful will be easy to treat. More soft food for me.