This week was full of baking.  We tried several new recipes.  The girls made apple galettes on Wednesday.  They each made one.  We found it worked the best to make it in a pie pan, and to roll that gluten-free crust out on a sheet of freezer paper, then turn it upside down into a pie pan before we filled it.

We also baked gluten-free rolls, but I will never be sharing that recipe for what I think were actually hockey pucks, not fresh rolls:)  I’ve had success before, I just have to find that recipe and try again.  I did have success with macaroons dipped in chocolate, and my tried and true recipe for double chocolate loaf cake.

Last Sunday, for family Sunday dinner, we had taco bar.  We did eat leftovers of the refried beans on tortillas or chips all week.  On Monday, Rob barbequed hamburgers.  We had those again another night.  On Tuesday, I baked potatoes.  Wednesday, at noon, Ja’Ana made coconut shrimp, we had bread sticks, and Alissa made salad.   For dinner, I made tacos again.  We were in a big hurry to get dinner made after a doctor’s appointment and before church.   The girls each made an apple galette.  Thursday, I made myself an omelette after work.  I don’t know what they ate.  Friday, Rob and I went out for dinner.  We left all 3 kids home.  It was a rare treat!  Lots of caramel corn was made for the 4H bake sale.  We sent quite a few batches to the sale, and kept some to eat. Patsy made Muddy Buddies last night.  Yum!  Actually, I’m needing to clear some of these sweets out of here, since we are enjoying the extra treats a little too much:)

Today, at lunch time, my Eritrean (Africa) friend made my sister, Ja’Ana and I a delicious meal of authentic Eritrean food.   It was great, as always.  She made us coffee, and I took lots of pictures for those of you who have been curious about that process.  I’ll post that soon, once I get those pictures loaded. All in all, it’s been a great week of eating.  As I type, I’m still stuffed to the gills!

One day, I filled 2 Crock Pots.  The night before, I had soaked a bowl of pinto beans and I divided them between the 2 pots.  In one, I made chili.  Along with the beans,  I used hamburger, celery, peppers from the garden, canned tomatoes, water, onions, 1 pint beef broth, and chili powder, salt and pepper.  In the other pot, I put beans, water, onions, peppers, salt and pepper to make refried beans.  I cooked both pots all day.  In the evening, we ate chili for dinner with cheese and onions on top, along with cornbread.  The beans were pureed and frozen for Family Sunday Dinner. They were a little thin, so I did cook them down some more until they thickened.  I will make more soon, as the kids love them so much.

I pulled 2 packages of pork chops out of the freezer.  They had been in there for quite a while, and I’m targeting older items.  I made an apple sauce with apples, dried cranberries, green onion and apple juice.  It was a recipe I found in a gluten-free cookbook, and it was marvelous with the pork.  I opened 1 can of corn and 1 can of pickled beets Rob had found for so inexpensively a while back and we had 2 or 3 meals out of that combination.

I made quite a bit of white rice last week, and we have had it several times this week.  Wednesday, Rob made Teriyaki chicken, rice and green salad.  I marinated the chicken in the fridge, the rice was pre-cooked and he just had to cook the chicken, warm the rice, and toss the salad, while I was away at an appointment with one of the children.

I did a large pot of chicken noodle soup today.  I just made it very simply–frozen broth and frozen chicken from a couple of weeks ago, 1 carrot, 1 stalk celery, 1 onion, some poultry seasoning, salt, pepper and gluten-free egg noodles.  We had it tonight, and it was great.

Alissa made broccoli soup for Wednesday lunch and used broccoli from the garden.  Those 5 bushes are still sending out some side shoots every few days.  It was very strong when it was so hot, but with all this rain, it’s very mild and tasty again.  Ja’Ana made another batch of cornbread, her second this week. She really likes cornbread, as we all do, because we’ve eaten 2 batches almost all the way up!

I finally got the lasagna made, and it is almost all gone!  There was extra filling left and I froze it for another day.

There are just a few odds and ends of most leftovers left for tomorrow, and a lot of soup.  I hope to cook a few items tomorrow for next week.

We had oatmeal, eggs, pancakes, cereal and fruit for breakfasts.  We had these meals for dinners and lunches during the week.  We made a lot of caramel corn and ate it for snacks, along with some krispie treats.

I feel really good about the fact that I worked on or used up several partial packages of things that had been on the shelves for quite a while and also pulled several items from the freezers and canning cupboards.  I also finally bought 2 boxes of butter for $3/box (fuss, fuss–above my price point) and the kids promptly made a lot of caramel corn with most of it (yum, yum!–so it was worth it)  So, it’s back to the butter search:)

I did do some grocery shopping at last, and spent about $75.  I got my big box of coffee for $20 for 80 coffee pods.  That makes them 25c each and that is a good price for those.  The rest was for things like the butter, dairy products, a head of lettuce, celery, drinks for Rob’s lunch, odds and ends, etc. I still need to do a small Costco run, and will need milk again soon, even though my sister gave me an extra gallon she had.  You just never know around here.  We can go for an entire week on 1 gallon of milk, then go through 2-3 the next week.

Happy eating at your house!

Last weekend, I cooked so much food!  I roasted 2 chickens and made broth, which I canned most of.  I also had leftover roast beef and a few other things still in the fridge and was able to pick a few things from the garden.  My main focus this week was to use that up since I had gone to all the work of cooking it.

Monday:  Each person chose leftovers for dinner.  I had roast beef and veggies.

Tuesday:  Chicken-noodle casserole.  I used cooked chicken, carrots, celery, onion, noodles, and a home-made white sauce.  I used rice flour to thicken it, and gluten-free noodles.  I topped it with cheese.  I picked a few peas from the garden.  There weren’t enough to serve as a side dish, but enough to give this casserole some color.

Wednesday:  We had sandwiches.  I had a package of lunchmeat, and we used that.  I made pesto that day, so for mine, I used a toasted, gluten-free bun spread with pesto, piled with lunchmeat, tomato and topped with cheese and baked in the oven until the cheese melted.

For lunch that day, my mom and aunt come over and Alissa made cheesy-potato soup and Ja’Ana made coconut shrimp with peach-lime dipping sauce.  We have enough frozen shrimp for her to make it one more time and so I froze her coatings.  There was a lot left and as long as no one eats them raw (who would eat bread crumbs or coconut and crumbs anyway around here?), and they are kept frozen, they can be finished up with the rest of the shrimp.  She will just need to crack another egg.  I had purchased this bag of frozen shrimp at Grocery Outlet a while back and it was a really good deal.  ($5/lb) Sadly, when I went back for another bag, they were gone.  I’ll keep looking.  I like to have some around for the holidays or other special occasions, but it doesn’t last long, and I have to get a really good deal to feel like buying it very often.

Thursday:  Orange chicken.  The recipe I found used snow peas, and I’m getting more of those right now from the garden so wanted to use them.  The sauce was basically  cornstarch-thickened orange juice with soy sauce and ginger, and I juiced 2 oranges I got in a reduced bag with 2 grapefruits at Fred Meyers–they needed to be used.  I used other juice to make up the cup I needed, as I don’t have any orange juice on hand right now.  I added some Manderin oranges to it.  I made and ate it at lunch time, left it in the fridge, and then realized that Rob ate potato soup for dinner instead.  Works for me:)

Friday:  Baked potatoes with toppings.  Rob made this.  He had shredded cheese, ham bits, cottage cheese, sour cream, butter, salt and pepper as choices.  I made a lot of white rice in my Instant Pot this morning, so that’s in the fridge for tomorrow, minus the small amount that was eaten for breakfast.

Saturday:  I plan to serve the rest of that orange chicken with the rice.  I also may do tacos for the other meal.  There is still some casserole left and more potato soup.

For breakfasts and lunches we have had refried beans, cheese and chips, rice, cereal and leftovers.  It was an extremely low-budget week, when everything was averaged out, and I have not had to buy a single thing in the month of October yet.  I’m going to check the store flyers on line and see if there’s anything that’s on a great sale that I want, otherwise, I won’t need to go for a few days anyway.

I’m fighting with a cold that we have generously passed around from family member to family member, so haven’t felt like cooking much the past couple of days.  I will figure out a few things to cook tomorrow and Sunday for the week ahead, as I am on the mend. I have frozen spaghetti sauce, STILL, and want to make lasagna, STILL.  Maybe this week:)  I’ve said that for the past several weeks!