The last peaches are in the jars, boiling as I write. I only wanted to can 21 quarts, as I still have some left over from 2 years ago. With what’s in the canner, I have 35. That’s what happens when you are picking peaches and there are a lot of nice ones, and you and you sister keep picking……That should be more than enough with what I have left. We have done 28 quarts and 9 pints of applesauce so far, and I still have another batch of apples to go. Then, I picked a box of tomatoes from the garden tonight. So, the canning is not done, but I’m gaining on it.
The menu plans revolved around the garden produce. Our garden is pumping out the veggies so quickly that we cannot keep up. My sister’s garden is, too, and she shared the corn with us. Rob cooked a turkey on the BBQ at the end of last week. We had that on Sunday for our family dinner with veggies. I froze about 7 quarts of broth after I boiled the bones.
We just had sandwiches and leftovers for Sunday night, and there was a peach and ice cream social after church Sunday night, which we enjoyed.
Breakfasts are always eggs, toast, cereal, fruit, etc. in any combination, or we just eat leftovers.
Monday: We ate leftover turkey and other things for breakfast and lunch, and I went and visited my friend, Harnet, and we ate together up there. J went with me, and the rest of the family was on their own at home. J was a huge blessing, as she spent a lot of energy keeping Danait occupied while us mamas did errands and talked.
We drove around, doing various errands, and found the preschool where little Danait starts preschool soon. She was so happy to see the awesome playground!
Then, we ate at an Italian restaurant. We all had fun there.
Tuesday: Lunch: I had salad, others had sandwiches or leftovers. Dinner: I dealt with the rest of the turkey today. There was quite a bit left, as it was a huge turkey. I filled several baggies with pieces of turkey, and froze them for quick casseroles, soups and sandwich filling. I made crock pot turkey taco soup with some of the broth and some turkey pieces. I also used some cooked, frozen black beans that Rob discovered in the freezer and some home-canned salsa. The turkey broth has a smoky flavor since Rob did the turkey on the BBQ, and that went well with the southwestern flavor of this soup. I made gluten-free cornbread to go with it. There was a lot of soup, so I sent some home with my sister when she picked up Jake, and there is still some left!!
Wednesday: Lunch: Leftover soup, turkey sandwiches, and toast/ciabatta bread for Jake. Dinner: Hamburgers. I have some buns that need using in the freezer, lots of tomatoes, etc. I may make potato salad, if I get time.
Thursday: Lunch: Sandwiches and/or leftovers. Dinner: We are going to a party for dinner. I am to take rice and salad.
Friday: Here’s the best part! I am getting away for the weekend with Rob for our 35th anniversary. I’m very excited. Our times away alone have been few and far between, so it’s a big deal for us. When you have been raising kids for over 33 years, it’s not easy to get away. The kids are going to stay with their aunt and uncle, and will eat there. I will grab some food items from here to take, and wing it! I will certainly take some garden produce. We can eat out, cook in our room, buy some groceries if needed, etc. Rob is going to go crabbing, so maybe we will have crab.
$100 challenge update: As of last week, I had $17 left from the hundred dollars. We spent $10 this week, so there are $7 dollars left. We bought 1/2 and 1/2, celery and bagels. I may need to get a few more bagels, since that is Jake’s preferred food, and maybe some 1/2 and 1/2, since that is Rob’s. Or, I may not use the $7 at all. Either way, it’s worked out nicely. We’ve been feasting from the jars of fruit that did not seal (we had 2 jars of pears, and 1 of applesauce not seal–not bad), fresh fruit before I can it, applesauce, watermelon, cantaloupe, berries, lettuce, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, snow peas, etc. from the garden. I was given corn, peaches, and a loaf of bread. I’ve pulled quite a few items from the freezer, freeing up space for the peaches and berries I’ve put in. And, turkey. Did I mention turkey? 🙂 It was a BIG one.
We have used the excess grocery budget money to buy supplies for canning and freezing over the past 3 weeks, but didn’t need to buy anything else this week. We have so much food on hand, and I love how much I’ve been able to put away for winter. I declare the August Grocery Challenge a success!
I was able to manage nicely during my challenge last summer on $50 per week. The garden was in full force, though, and that helped a lot. So, I’m going to put $50 in an envelope each week, and see how it goes. When I looked through my food items, I was able to find many, many meals that could be made from what I had on hand and many more that would only need 1-2 small items to finish the recipe. So, I anticipate that my end total will be much less than the $50, at least some weeks. I will then save the rest of the $50 at the end of each week. That savings will go towards re-stocking staple items, if I run out, or be saved as cash for summer grocery shopping. Although we have poured over Rob’s pay stubs, looked at the internet, and he has asked people, no one can tell him exactly how much money he will be paid for summer, so we are preparing now in case it is less than he gets each month now. Because he works for the school district, they save out some each month now and give it to him in the summer. We don’t think it’s going to be an issue if we get more than expected. We can probably figure out a way to spend any extra within the first 5 minutes, should that happen:)
