Best Laid Plans . . .My Coffee Hour Duty This Weekend

http://educacaoecriatividadeeboasideias.blogspot.com/2013/04/gulodices-bolos-comididas-e-ideias.html

I had the best of intentions and a pretty great plan. Needing 4  1/2 dozen treats, I was going to use some of the frozen chicken legs/thighs, a portion of bread dough, and a bit of tomato paste, garlic, and herbs to make mini pockets for our church's coffee hour on Sunday. I knew this would take most of Saturday to put together, but I was prepared for this -- nothing major on my calendar for the day.

And then it happened. At first, it was just a little itch in my throat on Friday afternoon. Then on Saturday morning, I awoke fatigued and feeling awful, totally blowing my plans to cook some snacks and treats on Saturday. Finding a last-minute sub has proven to be really hard for this role.

I laid in bed and brainstormed all of my options. Both daughters had their own busy schedules on Saturday and cooking coffee hour treats isn't my husband's preferred way to spend a weekend afternoon. So I was limited to something pre-made or super-duper easy to make. 

I knew I could count on almost 2  1/2 dozen gingersnap cookies that I had in a tin from baking earlier in the week. But I would still need another couple dozen snacks. That's when I remembered that Fred Meyer had 8-oz blocks of cheese on sale over the weekend. So I pulled myself together for a quickie trip to the store, where I bought 1 block of cheese and a package of marked down pepperoni. 

I figured that if I just stayed in bed and rested for the rest of Saturday, took vitamin C throughout the day, and made an early bedtime for myself, by Sunday morning I would be able to make some little bites using the cheese, pepperoni, and toothpicks.

a couple of the iced gingersnap cookies

The next morning, I did feel almost like my normal self. The cheese and meat mini-kabobs were quick to pull together on Sunday morning when I was feeling better. (The kabobs looked almost identical to what is pictured at the top of this page, just skipping the olives. Taking photos was the last thing on my mind.) The total cost was $3.28 (cheese and pepperoni) for 32 individual snacks. Considering I was hoping to make something non-sweet, the cost was not too bad and certainly better than any other savory, purchased snack. It all worked out. Maybe not as inexpensive as I'd hoped, but no one is ever perfectly anything.

By the way, I've made mini cheese kabobs on several occasions, and they are very quick to assemble and always a hit on a buffet or snack bar.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for Early November

Before I get into meals for the week, I want to inform other Fred Meyer 55+ shoppers about the bonus discount shopping day next week. Tuesday, November 12, 2019 is another discount day for 55+ shoppers. Yea! I scanned the ads and both house-brand eggs and sugar are on sale at a good-enough price (w/the 10% discount) to warrant buying a couple-month's supply. I'll be at their doors bright and early on Tuesday.


Okay, so for this week -- I shopped at our produce stand's clearance sale last Friday, and spent $26.64. Then over the weekend, I stopped in at our Walmart Neighborhood store to pick up canned pumpkin, vegetable shortening (Crisco stuff), garlic powder, decaf coffee, and frozen orange juice, spending $28.83. On Tuesday, I went to Fred Meyer's first Senior Shopping Day and bought butter, cream cheese, milk, powdered sugar, and my freebie (packet of mashed potatoes), spending $38.21. My total for the month of November, so far, is $93.68. (Grocery list for the month is in this post. I updated it a little to reflect upcoming purchase of sugar, eggs, and milk.)

While we've had frost, the kale in our garden is still doing well. In addition, we have indoor lettuce, lentil sprouts, and very, very soon, kale microgreens. I still have apples, winter squash, and a couple of tomatoes from the garden available to use, plus all of those blackberries. I think we're doing very well on produce.

This week

Friday

Friday
winter squash soup, using assorted squash from our garden
pigs in blankets (hot dog bites in scratch biscuit dough)
cabbage, kale, radish green, and apple slaw

Saturday

Saturday
lentil and vegetable soup
cheese toast
leftover trick-or-treat candy

Sunday

Sunday
eggs with greens and cheese
brown rice
roasted butternut squash

Monday

Monday
this curried pumpkin-peanut soup from Live and Learn's site
Yorkshire pudding
orange wedges
garden salad of lettuce (grown in the window), lentil sprouts, garden tomato, and radish greens

Tuesday

Tuesday (daughter's night)
lentil curry over brown rice
blackberry cobbler

Wednesday

Wednesday (other daughter's night)
walking lentil tacos, which are basically tortilla chips topped with taco fillings
orange wedges
leftover blackberry cobbler

Thursday

Thursday
kale and onion frittata
lentil sprout and brown rice stir-fry
oven-fried sweet potatoes wedges
homemade gingersnaps


The curried pumpkin soup (Monday) was such a hit. I make this 2 or 3 times per fall and it's always loved. My family loves curry, so I doubled the curry powder (maybe even more than doubled) and added a bit of garlic powder. Since this was the main source of protein in this meal, I also doubled the peanut butter, using crunchy and not smooth as we only have the crunchy right now. It was delicious! Check it out - link's in the menu above.


Breakfasts this week
We enjoyed more homemade whole wheat toast and homemade yogurt, plus oranges, apples, and homemade peanut butter granola. 

Lunches this week
Lunches this week were more catch as catch can and included leftovers from dinners, peanut butter sandwiches, fruit, carrots, baked squash, lentil sprouts, and eggs. 

Snacks this week
I made a couple of batches of popcorn in a pan on the stove this week. Popcorn is such an easy snack to make and satisfies my salt cravings. We also tend to snack on the same foods that we have for our lunches. When I roasted some butternut squash earlier this week, I noticed that it disappeared between meals. We also snack on our share of foods like cookies, leftover cobbler, and mugs of cocoa.

So that's what we ate this week. What was on your menu? Did you have a meal that was your favorite?

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!!