The other day I made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I used the cherries and zucchini pineapple that I canned last summer. Yes, I said zucchini pineapple. It’s really simple and tastes like pineapple, because it’s canned in pineapple juice. The texture isn’t the same as pineapple, but in other dishes it really isn’t that noticeable. It’s delicious on pizza, too. It’s a great way to use up all that zucchini coming in from the garden.

Here’s my cake:

I really want another one! Would it be wrong to make one everyday? lol

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….

 

What’s For Dinner?

 

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- Chicken Taco Potatoes with cheddar cheese, peas

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Homemade Bean Soup, homemade bread

Monday – chicken – Baked chicken, baked potatoes, corn, salad

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Chicken spaghetti, green beans

Wednesday – super simple – Homemade vegetable soup, homemade bread

Thursday – beef – Crockpot deer, potatoes, onions and carrots

Friday – Sabbath Dinner – BBQ chicken, rice, peas and carrots

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

While working in the kitchen this week, my daughter learned an important lesson about not wasting ingredients, and making due with what you have.

Hannah made four loaves of french bread for her volleyball banquet last Monday. They came out great!  On Tuesday, I asked her if she would make some more for us to eat with supper as I had some garlic butter left from Monday. We often have to put our yeast doughs in a warm oven to rise in the winter. So she turned the oven on to warm, and put the dough in to rise. Well, I found it an hour or so later with the oven still on, and it not only had risen, but it started to cook. I dumped it out onto a cookie sheet, then she put it back in the oven to finish cooking. Needless to say, a round bowl shaped french bread is unique. lol It actually looked like an artisan bread, so it was ok.

See? It doesn’t look that bad. I cut it in half horizontally, buttered the the cut halves then stuck it back under the broiler. When ready, I cut it into wedges to serve. It was definitely a different way to serve garlic bread, but we were able to use the dough without wasting it. My family didn’t care that it looked different, just that it tasted good.  🙂

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….

 

What’s For Dinner?

 

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- Breakfast for supper- Eggs, homemade biscuits, chocolate gravy

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – chicken sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, homemade pickles

Monday – chicken – Baked chicken, baked potatoes, green beans

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Homemade pizza with homemade turkey sausage, onions, green peppers, and salad

Wednesday – super simple – Turkey soup, homemade biscuits

Thursday – beef – Crockpot deer, potatoes, onions and carrots

Friday – Sabbath Dinner – BBQ chicken, rice, broccoli

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

The kids were kind enough (??) to share their stomach virus with me. ugh….. So needless to say I haven’t spent very much time in the kitchen this past week. We managed to stick to the menu, though. That’s what great about simple, home cooked meals and meal planning. If Mom gets sick, the rest of the family can still feed themselves.

I have no yummy food pictures to share with you this week. Just a reminder to go plan your menu.  😉

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….

 

What’s For Dinner?

 

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- – Baked Chicken, stuffing, green beans

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – tuna sandwiches, chicken sandwiches

Monday – chicken – Volleyball Banquet – we’re bring homemade mac & cheese, homemade bread-french & garlic

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with meat sauce, broccoli

Wednesday – super simple – chicken soup, homemade biscuits

Thursday – beef – Crockpot deer, potatoes, onions and carrots

Friday – Sabbath Dinner – BBQ chicken, peas, corn on the cob

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

I’m going to start doing this a little different this week. I’m going to share my kitchens adventures for the past week, and this weeks menu in one post.

I’ve been on a roll with canning the last couple of weeks. I wanted to get some beans canned up. Since beans take so long to cook, canning them is a real time saver.

On Tuesday, I canned four quarts of kidney beans and two quarts of pinto beans.

On Wednesday, I got an earlier start, so I was able to run two loads through the pressure canner. I canned 7 quarts of mixed beans, pinto, kidney, great northern, and lima beans. These will make a easy, delicious bean soup.  A quart of beans, a can of diced tomatoes, some seasonings. Homemade can’t get any easier than that!  This is the mixed beans before they went in the canner.

 

In this picture, the mixed beans are on the left, along with the rest of the beans I canned that day. One quart of kidney beans, 3 pints of lima beans, and 4 pints of great northern beans.

While I was canning beans this week, I experienced a first. I broke 5 quart jars while filling them. I was so disappointed. They only thing I could figure out was that the water had stopped boiling, and the jars were fresh from the oven. The water must not have been hot enough.

On Thursday, I made vegetable stock from vegetables I had in the freezer. I had some peas, both the kind with the pod and the kind without, and some asparagus that came from my mother in laws freezer along with some frozen yellow squash from our garden last year. I  added a couple of fresh onions and boiled for a few hours. I then strained it through several layers of cheesecloth, then canned it. I canned eight pints. I also have a quart jar and a pint jar in the fridge to use this week. I remembered that I didn’t take a picture after I had put the jars in the cabinet. So I sat on the floor to take a picture. lol It seemed easier than taking the jars back out. lol You can see some of the chicken broth from last weeks canning on the bottom shelf.

Then I ran out of canning lids! The store didn’t have any lids when we went grocery shopping, so I’m going to have to order some online. I have some garbanzo beans to can! And lots more chicken broth, I hope.

Saturday night, we had our oldest daughter and her husband over for dinner. I made cupcakes to celebrate her 25th birthday. It’s always nice when they come over to visit. The cupcakes just made it sweeter. lol

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….

What’s For Dinner?

 

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- – Tacos with all fixings, including homemade taco sauce, sugar snap peas

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Leftovers

Monday – chicken – Baked chicken, rice, green beans

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Wild Game Dinner at church, yuck, lol, I’ll eat whatever I can find here, lol

Wednesday – super simple – Bean Soup and homemade bread

Thursday – beef – Crockpot deer, potatoes, onions and carrots

Friday – Sabbath Dinner – Chicken, stuffing, corn on the cob

 

 

Instead of serving spaghetti last week, like the menu said, I decided to serve stuffed green peppers. I used green peppers than I had cut the tops off of, seeded, and frozen from out garden last summer. They were so good!

I had already served two peppers out of the big pan when I remembered to take a picture. I put the planned extra stuffing into the pan on the right for the kid who didn’t want the peppers.

What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- – Meatloaf, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, peas

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Chicken sandwiches, homemade pickles, fruit cocktail

Monday – chicken – Baked chicken, rice, yellow squash casserole

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – – Homemade Pizza with homemade turkey sausage, carrot sticks

Wednesday – super simple – Crockpot Deer, potatoes, carrots and onions

Thursday – beef – Spaghetti with meat sauce, green beans

Friday – Sabbath Dinner – Turkey a’la mama over rice – Think chicken a’la king with turkey and lots of veggies in the gravy

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

 

We had breakfast for supper last Friday and I thought I’d share a picture.

That would be my homemade egg, sausage, cheese biscuit. Made with my homemade biscuits, homemade turkey sausage, eggs and cheddar cheese. The family ate these in a flash, and if they hadn’t had to leave for church right after they ate, they would have complained I didn’t make enough. lol

I cooked my last turkey that I had in the freeze from the sales last November. I’m going to miss having turkeys in the freezer. I still have a few meals left to make, turkey soup, turkey a’la mama, turkey casseroles. So I have a couple more weeks of turkey meals. Now I’m going to have to start looking at turkey prices. Hopefully, I can find some at a decent price. We like to slice the turkey for sandwiches ourselves. Lunch is so expensive, not to mention the ingredients we don’t want to eat.

Do you buy extra turkeys when they are on sale to use throughout the year?

 

The Menu:

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- – Meatloaf, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, broccoli

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Turkey sandwiches on homemade bread and homemade sourdough bread, homemade tomato soup

Monday – chicken – Turkey soup, homemade bread

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – – Homemade Pizza with homemade turkey sausage, carrot sticks

Wednesday – super simple – Crockpot Deer, potatoes, carrots and onions

Thursday – beef – Spaghetti with meat sauce, green beans

Friday – Sabbath Dinner – Turkey a’la mama over rice – Think chicken a’la king with turkey and lots of veggies in the gravy

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

I watched the Biggest Loser online last week, like I usually do, and I was shocked! They had them go shopping for their own food, and since the “real world” shop on the budget, the contestants only got $10. a day for their food. Seriously? $10. a day?!

I feed 7 people a day all meals and snacks. I also send my father in law supper every night. So according to the Biggest Loser calculations, I should be spending 73. a day to feed my family. That’s $10 for the seven of us, and $3. for my father in laws supper. That would be $511 a week.

What?! I spend only a small fraction of that every week.  I think there “real world” budget is seriously flawed. How about you? Do you think $10. a day per person is a “real world” budget? Or are you like me and can feed your family healthy, from scratch food for a fraction of their budget?

 

The Menu:

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- – Hamburger Gravy over rice and baked potatoes, peas – They got got choose rice or potatoes, they didn’t have both. lol

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Homemade Bean Soup, homemade bread

Monday – chicken – Baked Turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – – Homemade Pizza with homemade turkey sausage, carrot sticks

Wednesday – super simple – Turkey and gravy over stuffing, corn

Thursday – beef – Crockpot Deer, potatoes, carrots and onions

Friday – Sabbath Dinner – leftovers, if no leftovers, breakfast for supper

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday