I was a slacker this week, and didn't even make up a menu plan. Granny's Garden Dinners became Granny's Dinner Fiasco(s). That basically means we ate a lot of leftovers. Hey, that refrigerator has to be cleaned out to make room for all the beans and summer squash that are coming in from the garden! Of the few meals I did cook, taco night found me scorching the taco shells, and pizza night gave us burned pizza. It must have been the 100-plus degree weather, added to the normal heat of the oven, that caused two dinners to turn into charcoal. It certainly couldn't have been the fault of moi! So, that being said, here are the two presentable meals from this past week. Garden and pantry items are in (parentheses).
Saturday
Hamburgers on Buns (lettuce, relish, tomato)
Baked Beans
French Fried Walla Walla Sweet Onion Rings (onions)
Tuesday
Pot Roast with Potatoes and Gravy (potatoes, onions)
Mixed Garden Vegetables (beans, carrots, summer squash)
Salad (lettuce, cucumber, tomato)
Ranch Dressing (garlic, chives, dill, parsley)
Preserving the harvest went a bit better than cooking this week.
Rhubarb
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Zucchini bread, sauerkraut and green beans.
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Yellow crookneck summer squash.
Broccoli side shoots.
Dried onions moving to the garage for storage.
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Any strawberries that were not immediately consumed were individually frozen and bagged for future smoothies. This week I managed to save just over a pound.
Hop on over to Robin's place at The Gardener of Eden and link up to let others see what you've been using or preserving from your garden and/or pantry!
Sorry you burned dinner, but at least it shows you're HUMAN. Here I've been thinking your some Homemaking Goddess. Not to worry , though....you're still a Garden Goddess. And maybe Mr. Granny has other ideas-LOL!
ReplyDeleteSue, I am THE HOMEMAKING GARDENING GODDESS. And don't you ever forget it, gurl. ;-)
DeleteOh thank goodness Granny. You were making me look bad! Though I do only occasionally burn things (usually chili) I haven't been all that great recently about eating all my produce as it comes in. Your meals makes me think that I've been slacking.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, so far I'm keeping up pretty well with the produce, but it's bound to get ahead of me yet. I tried to get my youngest son to come for potatoes, but he said he hadn't yet eaten the last ones I sent. He's the one I can count on to take the extra crookneck squash though. I'm going to try to be better with the meals this week, but it's hard to get enthusiastic about cooking when it's over 100 outside. Even with central air, I still KNOW it's hot out there.
Deletewow looks like you got a lot done!
ReplyDeleteMrs. P., it will soon get out of control. The excess beans are creeping up on me ;-)
DeleteLooks like you have been very busy putting things up! Just curious. Do you have an extra freezer? My husband says we need one and I have resisted. I am starting, however, to wonder if he is right.
ReplyDeleteAgriburbia, I have two chest freezers. A small one and a smaller one. Of course, there is also the one in the refrigerator. I try to keep all the meat, breads and prepared foods in the smallest, the fruits, veggies and jams in the larger one, and ice cream and the week's supply of food in the fridge freezer. I have to can most of the tomato sauces, even though I prefer those frozen. I have more room for jars than I do for frozen foods, and the green beans and (hopefully) corn will probably take up the small amount of room that is left in the freezer.
DeleteYou certainly have been busy preserving your harvests!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you burned two dinners! I'm sure it was the heat and not you :)
Well, Robin, if it happens again I think I'd better get the oven temperature checked! These ovens are over 30 years old!
DeleteSo of course I am reading this on an empty stomach and feeling very, very hungry! Those onion rings look scrumptious! Then I saw your broccoli "side shoots" each one of which is as big or bigger than my main heads have been. My side shoots are just that, little tiny shoots good for throwing in salads, not the freezer! So you burnt a few dinners, lol! It all looks good to me!
ReplyDeleteNutmeg, the onion rings were very good. I used a seasoned flour and then a beer batter on them. I had a few left over, so I refrigerated them. I reheated them in the toaster oven, (set to toast), and they reheated really nice and crispy. I'd like to try freezing a couple of them, fully cooked, then see if they would also heat and crisp up in the toaster oven.
DeleteHi Annie, I am sure it was not your fault those two dinners burned! lol Those onion rings look so delicious and that squash cut up in circles sure is pretty! I tried freezing some last year but didn't know a yummy way to use them so they became Coco's treats! Nancy
ReplyDeleteNancy, I'm not a big fan of frozen summer squash, so the two trays I froze will probably be the last for the year. I do like it mixed with other veggies, but just during the last few minutes of cooking, only long enough to heat it through, or it just falls apart.
DeleteYou said you weren't in the mood to cook and yet you have multiple loaves of bread and meals and some serious work on getting things prepped and frozen. I think you still get your many miles in the kitchen star of the week!! :)
ReplyDeleteAgree the dinners look great and onion rings=yummo! My walla wallas are FINALLY showing above ground and their green tops are looking more strong and big. I was beginning to think they'd be Walla Walla Pearl Onions. lol
What about grating your extra potatoes and freezing for something like hashed browns? I'm envious of your freezer. Mine is full of strawberries for jam that needs to get made THIS week or next b/c my mom put in her birthday present wish of some jam. zoikes! That's good timing though b/c I'll be getting my beans in just about the time we're done with the jam (I hope).
Amy (fleur), I am almost out of freezer space already, so I don't think potatoes are a priority. I'm picking the Fortex now, but we are eating the first ones, I'll freeze the next ones. I still have a lot of strawberry jam in the freezer from last year, so that's one chore I won't have. Speaking of potatoes, yours looked really nice. I'll bet you're proud of the harvest!
DeleteSome weeks are just like that in the kitchen. Looks as though you're going to have lots of future ingredients for weeks that work much better.
ReplyDeleteStefaneener, when my kitchen is bad, it's very, very bad. Some days my kitchen is horrid ;-)
DeleteI can almost smell those onion rings. They look sooo good!
ReplyDeleteDavid, they were really good. That batter stayed crisper than the one I normally use, but I think I'll make it a bit thinner the next time. I could taste the batter more than the onion.
DeleteAnnie, your garden is really nice! I have a question, how do you prepare the zucchini bread? I have a lot of zucchini in my garden, but I have never made bread or any cake this vegetable. Is it sweet or salty? It looks very good!
ReplyDeleteMelinda, it's a sweet bread. The recipe can be found at:
Deletehttp://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2008/07/july-25-2008.html
You can add raisins or cranberries, or blueberries, too.
A really good chocolate fudge cake can be found at the bottom of the post at:
http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2009/09/september-6-2009-yankee-doodle-kevin.html
I am amazed at the energy you have. The onion rings look fabulous BTW. And now I'm sad that I didn't freeze more of my berries, they just didn't last as long as last year. I may have to buy some for freezing this year.
ReplyDeleteAnywhere, that's the nice thing about freezing the berries individually and tossing them in a bag (I use a bag in a bag so they don't freezer burn). You can freeze one berry or a hundred, and just add them to the stash. I love my slushie smoothie of orange juice, yogurt and frozen berries.
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