Dinners September 16-21

Well, my husband and I made it through our first full five-day week of school. We also managed to eat healthily (just don't count the cupcakes in the staff lounge yesterday) and used plenty of homegrown produce (thank you whomever left the tomatoes for the taking in the staff lounge). We also managed to keep our sanity. Now I am facing a weekend of a long, long to-do list that includes housework as well as "homework", and despite the incredibly enamel-thinning coffee I am consuming, I don't exactly feel perky. Thus, the lazy list of dinners below.


Sunday
Pizza from the grocery store. Seriously, they make the best pizza EVUH! (Well, not as good as homemade, but it is pretty darn good in a pinch.) We'll get fancy and make a accompanying salad.

Monday
We never ate our Vietnamese Noodle Wraps, so we're going to eat them on Monday. I have some excellent wax beans from the garden to throw in.

Tuesday
Arepas with Avocado and homemade Salsa
When I helped move my friend out of her house (she moved to Mexico with her husband to be closer to his family), I inherited many items from her pantry one of which was an unopened bag of Pan. It is basically corn flour and when mixed with water and salt becomes heavenly corn cakes. I'm going to throw in some corn kernels from fresh-picked garden corn, make a salsa from some tomatoes and our one-and-only jalapeno, and slice up some fresh avocado (not homegrown, although we do have a sizable avocado tree in a pot which has never fruited). They are super easy to make and super quick: perfect for a tired Tuesday.

Wednesday
Grilled Summer Veg with feta and grilled Sausage
I have no recipe to link to, because this is so simple, I don't think a recipe is necessary. Anyhow, in case you really, really want a recipe:
Ingredients
- Picked vegetables from the garden
- Feta
- Sausage links of your choice

Chops vegetables into sizable strips/chunks large enough that they wouldn't fall through the grill. If you have a grill basket, even better. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill on medium-high heat until done.

Drizzle 1/2 inch slice of feta (or more) with olive oil. Toss on the grill and flip after a minute. Watch it carefully; otherwise, you'll have a serious disastrous mess on your hands.

Grill sausages to your liking.

Chop sausages and feta into bite-size chunks. Toss with vegetables. Throw in about a tablespoon of fresh rosemary. Eat.

Thursday
Open House - no that's not a meal. We have Open House which means we won't be leaving the school building until 8pm. It also means we'll be dead tired on Friday which means...

Friday
Going out! Where? I don't know...

Shopping List

From the garden/pantry

lettuce

tomatoes

carrots

cucumbers

string beans

summer squash

beets

potatoes 

peppers

corn

jalapeno

rice wrappers

bean threads

chili sauce

soy sauce

ginger

Pan

feta

rosemary

From the grocery store

avocados

pizza

sausage

Plus a few other items (not dinner related) which will equal to a bill of $30. WOW! I'm sure we'll realize we need other things before we head there, but that's what I'm looking at right now. Not too shabby. Of course, we'll be grabbing a bite to eat on Thursday ($20) and then again on Friday ($40), so...not that inexpensive, but sometimes, you just got to go out and enjoy life!

Bon appetit!

And just in case life isn't interesting enough, I decided to turn this:

into apple cider. I'll let you know how it turned out in about...oh three months or so.