Round-Up of Posts Week of August 26

This week . . .

We've had more cool and cloudy than sun and warmth this week. It sure feels like fall just slid on in. The cool weather made a great excuse to spend time in the kitchen cooking and baking. My family was pleased with this turn of activities while we're still technically in summer.

The figs ripened later this year than last. Last year we enjoyed ripe figs in late July, sharing with my son and daughter-in-law. This year, the figs didn't ripen until mid-August. That's an indication of our cooler summer weather this year. Anyway, I picked a bucket full the other day, using some fresh in meals and dehydrating the rest to enjoy later. 

After my last grocery pick-up, I made several jars of salsa. This week I've added more jalapeños and will be cooking up another 8 jars of salsa this weekend.

Our summer garden has provided almost all of our produce for this past week. But summer is fading, so I've continued to work on my fall garden. I transplanted a few more seedlings and planted some radish seeds. I'm hoping to have fresh fall greens and new root vegetables through mid to late November. 

This week, I have 2 posts for your weekend reading.

1) Making my grocery budget stretch during this period of food inflation is on my mind. In this post, I discussed my 3-pronged approach that helps me maximize our grocery budget.

2) What did you eat this past week? Anything especially stand out? In the second post, I've written out our meals for this past week, again eating all of our meals at home. 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers This Past Week

Friday
homemade pepperoni pizza, medley of sautéed summer squash, tomatoes, green pepper, Swiss chard, apple wedges with homemade caramel sauce

Saturday
beef and bean tacos (with homemade salsa), cabbage, carrot sticks, rice, blackberry pie

Sunday
pancakes, breakfast sausage, sautéed Swiss chard, cookies

Monday
meatloaf and gravy, rice, roasted zucchini, fresh figs, blackberry pie

Tuesday
chicken and vegetable soup, biscuits, cookies

Wednesday
hotdog cookout, potato chips, sweet potato fries, carrot sticks, apple wedges

Thursday
chicken and gravy, rice-stuffed grape leaves, sautéed Swiss chard, cucumber salad, brownies

Tonight -- homemade pizza again. I love our homemade pizza more than restaurant pizza. In fact, more and more I am loving home-cooked meals more than restaurant meals.

Breakfasts this week included homemade yogurt and blackberries, homemade granola, homemade instant oatmeal, raisins, applesauce, bananas, toast, eggs, milk, coffee, tea.

Lunches were more varied as I tried to use what I could from the garden. Most days, I set lunch fixins' on the counter for each of us to put together our own lunches on our individual timetables. These lunch components included cream of sorrel soup, Italian vegetable and lentil soup, white bean and vegetable sandwich spread with homemade bread, various leftovers, cheese and peanut butter sandwiches, celery sticks, carrot sticks, fresh blackberries, apple & kale salad, squash blossom salad, crackers, cookies, brownies, ice cream.

One of the commercial items that I hope to use less of this next week is crackers. My family loves them and can go through a box in a day or two. I'm planning on making some different types of buns and biscuits this next week to go with soups or salads instead of getting out another box of crackers. Baking scratch breads would stretch our supply of boxed crackers a little longer.

What was on your menu this past week? Are there commercial foods for which you try to find homemade substitutes?