That’s just my harvest from today! Over the past week, I think I’ve picked around 35 zucchini. I have shared many, many zucchinis, served them frequently, and still have a bunch. Tomorrow, I have a day off and hope to preserve some of them.
We have had mixed grill basket, stir fry, zucchini bread, gf zucchini muffins, and zucchini cake with browned butter frosting (thanks to Lovana).
I found 2 turkey drumsticks in the freezer. They were from our old house! It was time to use them up and then some. I found a recipe in the Fix and Forget It (For Entertaining) cookbook and made it. It was a BBQ sauce with 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/3 cup molasses, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 3 T Worchestershire sauce, 2 T dried minced onion, salt and pepper. I sprinkled the drumsticks with salt and pepper, mixed the other ingredients, put the sauce over the drumsticks, set the Crock Pot to “low” and left. 5-6 hours later, it was edible, and I ate some for lunch, but let it go another 2 hours and it got more tender. I picked the rest of the meat off the bones and put it and some of the sauce in a bowl and put it in the fridge for tomorrow.
On that same trip to the shop where I was digging into the freezers, I found some pork from our old house, as well. I marinated it in olive oil, mustard, salt, pepper and a sprig of rosemary. Rob grilled it tonight, and we ate part of it. He also did chicken drumsticks, and we ate part of them, too. Now, I have main dishes for the next 2 days, and maybe more. There are a few more things in the freezer that need to be targeted another time.
We also got out some beef brisket that we have not known what to do with. When we bought 1/4 beef, it came with it. We’ve bought beef for years, and did not get this cut, but the last 2 times, we have. So, Rob’s been looking on-line and in cookbooks, and is ready to tackle it.
I have been picking lots of veggies from the garden. The potatoes are the ones that grew all by themselves in the compost heap. I cut them into chunks and roasted them. I cooked some garden carrots in a little butter and apple juice for lunch. I’ve been freezing all the little bits of strawberries I collect. I just drop them into the freezer bag. When it gets a bunch in it, I’ll start a new one. I will have lots of strawberries frozen by the end of the summer, if all goes well. I got about 2 Tablespoons of shelling peas today. I’m shocked and amazed that snow peas are still growing, despite the heat wave we’ve had.
I’ve been skimming the beans, and have enough for tomorrow’s meal. I did lose some blossoms in the heat, but am going to have lots. I cut what I thought was tons of lettuce a few days ago, but I realized today that we have eaten almost all of it, due to the many salad suppers we had when it was so hot. I have a few more heads to cut, then will have to wait for some little lettuces to grow. I’m hoping to plant even more seeds in the next couple of days. I’m very happy because I was able to eat or share much of this batch before it bolted. There are a few bolted plants I did leave out there from the first batch–hopefully, they will self-seed and I will have volunteers, or I will collect some seeds.
The tomatoes are just starting. What a treat!
We cooked for the college-aged kids on Tuesday, at church. It is a fun group to cook for. It seems that no matter what we make, it’s “their favorite” and they slick it up. We served salad bar, with toppings for both taco salad and chef’s salad, pork and beans (cold, right out of the can), deviled eggs, zucchini bread and gf zucchini muffins, and watermelon. It went well, and they loved it. It was very hot, and it hit the spot. Of course, we ate with them that night.
This account would not be complete without eggs. Just plain, simple eggs, scrambled with salt and pepper. I was able to get eggs for 99c/dozen and bought 5, just for us. That does not count the 3 dozen I turned into deviled eggs for the college kids. Jake decided he is in a mood for eggs. He has had scrambled eggs more than once this week, and today ended up eating 4 eggs, total–first I scrambled 2, than 2 more on request. When I got him into the car after our early morning swimming excursion, he gravely explained that he had not had a single thing to eat today, and was HUNGRY! The last time he told me that, he meant he had eaten nothing but DONUTS, so I didn’t take him too seriously until those 4 eggs went down the hatch. Rob did pick him up very early, and then took him to the pool….
Jake has still been eating lots of ramen noodles this week, his favorite, but it was really nice to see him eat so many healthy eggs. Other family members have been hungry for eggs, too. Maybe I should have bought 10 dozen……
The one thing you don’t see us eating lately is food from a restaurant. We just aren’t going out, even for French fries. It’s been a few weeks now. It’s been a little hard on Jake and Michaela without the McD’s, but they are getting used to me skipping it. We (their mother and I) agreed before Rob’s job ended that it would be better for them to eat less of that food, and boy was I glad we had already decided that when his job ended. It’s been good for both the budget and the waistline. Rob and I will go out to eat for a date soon, and enjoy every minute of it, and we will take the kids for a treat sometime, but I really want it to be a treat, not an expectation and not too frequent.
it all looks amazing.
Thank you. I’m hoping that by cooking all that meat up, it will be easy to just add some veggies from the garden, and some sides, and cruise through the next week. I can always freeze some of the main dishes if there is extra–which there will be!
yes, it is always to great to plan ahead with meals! thanks for sharing.
I love having Sunday dinner cooked so all I have to do it a few last minute touches when I get to my sisters. Today worked out great. I shredded the cabbage for coleslaw ahead, Rob cooked the meat, and so forth. It was easy to cut up her watermelon and my tomatoes and put the already mixed-up dressing on the coleslaw when I got there.
it all sounds wonderful……….
Thank you.
Your zucchini is beautiful! What a blessing to have all those wonderful veggies from the garden. Our middle son and family were down from Ohio and she brought us zucchini and cucumbers and they were delicious. We still have not had any ripe tomatoes. That is a great price on the eggs. We got jumbo eggs for 1.25 a dozen at the grocery surplus store last week. I have a turkey breast and a spiral ham in the freezer that need to get eaten but need some people to help. We got a $4 package of chicken breasts last weekend and grilled them and have eaten that chicken in delicious sandwiches all week. I mixed the bits with BBQ sauce last night and we will have BBQ sandwiches with leftover baked beans, potato salad and coleslaw tonight. We had to get a new grill this summer and got a small TRU infrared. It has been quite a learning curve since it cooks differently but I am glad we took a chance on it because it makes such moist grilled meat. Our middle son always says that fast food is like crack. Once you start eating it you always want it. I think he is right. I am praying for the job search.
Your chicken sandwiches sound delicious. I’m glad you could have family to enjoy the food with, and how nice of them to bring you all those veggies!
Thank you for your prayers for the job search. At this point, he is keeping very busy with projects around the house, and working with my niece and nephew. Yesterday, he picked them up, took them to the YMCA, where I joined them, then he took Michaela to her volunteer opportunity, while I took Jake home to feed, feed, feed him eggs:). It’s looking like there may be more need for Michaela hours in the fall, as she is done with all her programs and needs more people to hang with than ever before. So, he may do that for a job. We are still exploring options.
It would be great to have him taking care if Michaela so you would see him more! I am glad that option is on the table right now.
Me, too. I’m pretty excited about it. Plus, he has some medical things he could get taken care of. His hip is bothering him so much right now. Something needs to be done.
Could he look into helping someone that isn’t a relative? I know that in my area that is a need for people in that field.
That is an option. We just need to have a scheduling meeting and look over exactly what’s needed, and see if it looks like it will work. We are pretty sure it will, but need to write it all down to get it set in stone, if you know what I mean. I need to homeschool my niece for one more year, but he could do things with this other niece while I do that–win-win. She has certain activities she does, such as volunteering for Meals on Wheels. Then, I could put my nephew through his afternoon routine like always—it’s just a matter of seeing how it would schedule out WHEN we are actually needed by the parents.
Yes, there is a huge need for PSW workers in this area. Still, it’s pretty hard to think about going into a home of someone you do not know at all, to fully care for someone you do not know yet, compared to caring for someone you already know and love…..so this would be our first option.
You are smart! Everything looks so nice and fresh and you used up everything and your cooking looks so good. I have my eye mostly on the zucchini cake with that yummy frosting. And you are getting strawberries….my favorite that tastes good only when locally grown. Since you have such good, healthy meals, you will never miss restaurants. I find they are less appealing each year for us. (Although something in McDonalds does tempt kids!) Andrea
Thank you. That cake, especially the frosting, is SO good that it’s pretty much gone, one day later. Maybe I can get her to make it again:)
The strawberries are coming along so slowly. There was a watering issue, which Rob has addressed now, so now I’m seeing more green ones and the ones that ripen are bigger than a wild strawberry:). I’ll bet I get a bunch later in the summer.
Seriously, kids love McD’s, but I honestly get sick almost any time I eat there. So, I’m really not missing anything but convenience here. I am cooking and cooking and cooking and cooking…..at least it feels like that! Good thing I enjoy cooking:)
WOW. I am so jealous of all of your squash. I haven’t gotten 1 yet but it is early here for them. Definitely freeze some. We use it in our sauce with other leftover veggies to go with pasta. Our favorite way to make them is https://mcoia.blogspot.com/2018/05/non-dairy-zucchini-pie-recipe.html. I make one non dairy(for Hubby) and 1 with dairy for the rest of us. I know Bisquick makes a GF version so you could even eat it. I shred some and cube some for the freezer.
That is great that Jake is trying eggs. They are so good for him. Many times I have gotten 5 dozen eggs and then wished I had gotten more. Not getting fries for them must be tough. It is hard for them to understand. We don’t get them often but they are so good when we do.
The thing about those kids is that once you get them into a pattern, they accept it. So, we had already decided before summer started that we wanted the pattern to be that we did NOT stop for fries every time I took them somewhere. If we hadn’t established that pattern, they would have continued to expect fries every time, and that was going to be too frequent during the summer. During the school year, I am usually at their house helping with chore, etc., and we would only go out once in a while–so it was more of a treat. But, yes, it is hard, because if I even break down once, they will again think it is their “tradition” or “schedule” or whatever, starting up the asking, hinting, and “I’m hungry” all over again. Right now, they aren’t even asking at all because it’s been long enough that this is the pattern now.
It’s so funny because Lovana is on an egg kick, too, and some other have been eating them heavily as well. IF I had purchased 10 dozen, no one would want eggs:). It’s how it goes:) :). No worries, there will be a sale again, and there’s always Costco.
How wonderful to see your garden produce all those lovely fruits and vegetables! I ended up not planting a garden, this summer, and I am kind of glad that I didn’t, because with the heat we’ve been having, even the well established plants are withering!
We are experiencing a heat wave this year as well–in fact it’s supposed to be in the mid-upper 90’s today again–
I have been watering so much. By mid-afternoon, things are looking droopy and I’m having to water them again. Still, they are producing.