Food That Didn't Happen

 (I know this song has nothing to do with meals or plans or anything else but it was the first song that popped into my pea brain when I began writing this post and was thinking about how I had changed the entire week's meals. Unfortunately for y'all, you are bound to my initial musical thought. Plus I do love this song!)

Once again I made a meal plan and did not stick to it at all, except for the take out thing. I seem to do take out very well. Too well! No idea why I plan and don't follow it. Maybe I am just too wishy washy, busy, or "frankly my dear I just don't give a . . . "

This is what I thought might happen:
1. Crack slaw
2. Chicken Florentine over rice or caulirice, tossed salad
3. Squash croquettes, green beans, sliced tomatoes
4. Hamburger patty, green beans, tomato onion and cucumber salad
5. Grilled lamb chops, caulimash or regular mashed potatoes, broccoli
6. Seared scallops, tossed salad, baked potato (or none) rolls or keto rolls
7. Take out

This is what actually happened: (You will notice except for take out, none of this happened)

Monday: I had cooked some squash and honestly meant to make squash croquettes but when it got time to cook dinner I was not in the mood for that many steps.
Squash casserole, leftover lady peas, dinner roll

Tuesday: I didn't cook, just because. If TheHub wanted to eat, he could have made grilled cheese or we could run pick something up.
Take out from La Fiesta tacos, taquitos, rice, beans and salad

Wednesday: We went to the lake to spend the night so I could meet the security system installer to upgrade the system. I needed a portable dinner  and did not really care if it was really good or not.
Stewed okra, Junky balls, coleslaw

Thursday: When we go to the lake I always grab something frozen to act as ice in my insulated bag. This time I grabbed a pack of cooked chicken, threw in some wild rice and packed some green beans I had cooked earlier.
Chicken and wild rice, green beans, tossed salad

Friday: I had not packed anything that sounded good to TheHub for Friday night. Instead of me grabbing something from town was his idea.
Take out from Granny's Kitchen in Columbiana, Al. (town nearest the lake place) Catfish, okra and green beans (me) Sausage and kraut, mashed potatoes and butterbeans (TheHub)

Saturday: We decided to leave the lake a little earlier than we had planned. It was raining cats and dogs there so why stay?  Additionally we had a few errands we could do between showers. Before we left we made a list of things we needed to restock the lake kitchen, so a shopping trip was in order. Plus there were a couple of other things we wanted to do in the near future so the near future turned into the present. We first went to a local produce market, then drove to Aldi for lake stuff. After that we tried to find a hot tub dealer (Though we had an address we never found it and decided they are selling out of a storage unit. That is just a little too sketchy for me.) Next we drove around a bit looking for a couple of other things, went to Publix, then decided hot dogs sounded pretty good for dinner. Well, TheHub did and as long as I wasn't cooking anything sounded fine to me.
Sneaky Pete's slaw dogs (me) regular dogs (TheHub)

Sunday: We were on the verge of doing take out for the fourth night of the week when the phone rang. I was having a long conversation with my cousin and started looking in the freezer to see if I could find something to make quickly. I found 3 small pizza crusts and threw a pizza together while I talked with her. If the pizza had not finished baking I might still be on the phone.
Veggie Pizza

Since I did not stick to my plan for last week and I still have most of the foods that were to be used then, I am modifying it just a tad and keeping basically the same meal plan.
1. Crack slaw
2. Chicken Florentine over rice or caulirice, tossed salad
3. Peas, okra, cornbread, coleslaw
4. Hamburgers and fixings, tomato onion and cucumber salad
5. Grilled lamb chops, caulimash or regular mashed potatoes, broccoli
6. Seared scallops, tossed salad, baked potato (or none) rolls or keto rolls
7. Take out

Will it happen? Probably not entirely, but some of it might!
Hope you all have a good week staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all.

Back Like a Bad Habit

We left Wednesday for a few days at the lake place. TheHub and I were talking and I am pretty sure we only spent 2 nights there prior to this trip in all of 2020 so far.  We had decided to sell and then things changed so quickly with Mom and we decided to keep it at least another year to see if we will use it like we intended to, or not.

The internet connection is seriously bad there and I am not able to respond to blog posts, but I could read them. So I am up to date reading your posts, but have just been silent where normally I would say something.

Going to the lake is fun but also a bit of a pain in the behind. It is remote so the closest grocery store is about 13 miles away. At the beginning of Covid we rode down and cleaned out all of our food storage there. We had not restocked it and I did not think to buy pantry and freezer items before we went Wednesday.  I also knew we would be getting there about 6:30 or 7 in the evening and who wants to go to the grocery store then and make getting to the lake that much later?

We also had decided we did not want to drive but one car, so I rode with TheHub after he got home from the office. Thursday and Friday he planned to drive into work from the lake place which also meant I was not going to have a vehicle to take to the store. Consequently I needed to pack everything we would be needing Wednesday night through Saturday.

I have also found, over time, it is easiest to have something prepared that just needs to be zapped if we are getting there later in the day. No one wants to unload the car then start rustling around trying to create something for a meal. I will admit most of the time we stop in the town closest to the lake and pick up something to take with us, but Wednesday night we just wanted to get there.

My okra has been producing (slowly) and I just had a large handful of okra pods, along with some tomatoes that needed to be used, and a half of an onion in the fridge. I made some stewed okra and originally thought I would cook some rice and serve the okra over it. I figured that and a side of coleslaw would be an adequate (not delicious but adequate) meal. Then I remembered a pound of sausage I had taken out of the freezer. I thought I would take it down to cook for breakfasts but then I remembered I never cook sausage or bacon at the lake. (The lake house is smallish and arranged so  smells permeate every room and hang around a long time.) I love the way they smell cooking but I don't like smelling cooked sausage or bacon at night when I am trying to go to sleep

I did a quick Google search for some way to use it for dinner and found a recipe using crescent rolls, cream cheese and sausage. Since I had everything on hand it was a done deal. I was talking with Son1 and told him about them but told him I was not crazy about the name and had rather call them something else. Pip was listening on speaker phone  and thought I  called them Junky Balls, so that is the name I will use from now on.

Junky Balls
1 can crescent rolls
4 Oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 pound. sausage
1 small onion, diced
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (optional)

Brown the sausage, onion and garlic powder. Drain well then mix with the cream cheese.
Cut each crescent roll to make 2 triangular pieces. I used Aldi crescent rolls they they are already triangles so I cut them in two. I tried splitting them down the middle but that did not work so I cut the fattest part diagonally into about a 2 inch triangle and used the long skinnier bottom for the other.
Take about a teaspoon of the sausage mix and put it in the center of each 1/2  piece of dough. Start at the fattest end and fold the dough over the filling, then bring the bottom end over to form a lumpy ball. Since all the seas together then lightly roll it between your hands. Place it on a parchment lined baking sheet with about 1 inch of space between balls. Bake at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes. You can remove them form the pans after about a minute and cool slightly on a rack. Then eat and enjoy, or. do like I did, and put them (cooled) in a ziplock bag and store in the fridge till ready to serve.  I just took them out right before we ate and zapped them for about 30 seconds.

They were very tasty and we did not have anything other than the junky balls, stewed okra and coleslaw. It was a very filling dinner. TheHub and I agreed we could just as easily eaten just the junky balls and coleslaw and it would have been plenty.

These would be great reheated for breakfast (in fact I had them Thursday morning) or with brunch anytime. I can even see having them with vegetable soup during the winter, or as an appetizer with a honey mustard dip.
Give it a try and you might find you really like it.

I am going to make a batch and freeze them to see how they hold after freezing. Will let you know later if it works well. If it does, I am going to make several batches and freeze for our Christmas brunch.

Good Things Happen to Those Who Look for Them

If you read this blog you already know I keep a list of the joys I find each day, and if you are new here__well now you know too!
My aim is to re-read these on New Year's Eve and reflect on all the joys the year has brought. And even though 2020 has been a Typhoid Mary type of  year, there are still joys each and every day. I am not saying they are always easy to find, but they are around,. Every.  Single.  Day.  You just have to look for them. These are the joys, large and (mostly) small for the 34th week of 2020.

This song is one of my favorites. I have told Son3 that I think this would make a wonderful song for a funeral after a long and well lived life. So, if I live a long and well lived life, he is to make sure this is sung.

Wednesday:  I decided I will complete two projects each week. I might change my mind  later and do three each week but, for right now, I am aiming for two. Wednesday I painted a lamp I had brought from Mom's house. It was an off white floor lamp that is now hammered bronze. It looks pretty nice in my living room, but now I have found several more projects for the room.  How can adding a single lamp cause an avalanche of "to-dos"? I need to totally revamp the  entire room. I think I will begin with moving the artwork. That is the easiest project I can do and, this week,  I am all about easy.

Thursday: Although I do not love bad weather, we had a massive thunderstorm with winds so high it blew the umbrellas in the pool and blew all the pool toys out of the pool. It did not last but about 45 minutes but the earth was good and soaked and the pool got about 2 inches of water.  I stood at the window and watched nature's fury. I have a great sky view out the den window and loved watching the lightning. (Until it was right on top of us and then I didn't love it so much)

Friday:  Son2 and Dil2 joined us for drinks, dinner, and laughs. It is so nice to see both sons and their wives  having a good time. The downside is TheHub and I realize how tragically unhip we are. So many of the cultural references they were talking and laughing about flew right over our heads.  Another harsh reality check (realizing we are old) was that none of them knew who Roy Orbison was until we said he sang "Pretty Woman".

Saturday: Sat on the screened porch with TheHub and Son3 for morning coffee  and conversation before the day heated up. Later in the morning DIL3 got her proofs from her photo shoot and they were drop dead gorgeous. I don't know if it was more joyful to see the photos or see her reaction to them.

Sunday: I guess my biggest joy was Son3 and DIL3 arriving at their midway destination safely. They were a little over halfway home and it was much easier than driving straight through. Safe travels are always a cause for joy! Laundry and vacuuming residual cat hair? Not so joyful!

Monday: The day was so quiet when I woke at 5:30. WTH! I know there is inherent joy when you wake every morning, but I am just not a fan of butt early o'clock! I much prefer to ease into the morning. By 1 in the afternoon I felt like it was time to start thinking about dinner. I suppose there was joy in doing 4 loads of towels before 9 a.m.  I also found joy by cleaning out the fridge before 8 a.m. I like finding joy in the mornings, but I don't need so much joy so early.
A second joy is technology. I love movies, but hate to invest the time sitting and watching them while doing nothing else. Thanks to modern technology I can enjoy them several ways. I can pull them up on my iPad and take them from room to room as I do chores. Most of the movies I watch I can mainly listen to anyway. I can  also pull them up on my laptop then run the sound through echo (which we have set to run through 3 different areas of the house), turn it up loud and listen, just glancing at it now and then.  I "watched" 3 movies this way on Monday. When you wake so dang early you have lots of time for "watching".

Tuesday: I woke this morning listening to the birds, then got out of bed for steaming hot coffee and cinnamon rolls DIL3 had made and frozen.  Hers are a Swedish version, not as sweet and with no icing. They are perfect for a quick breakfast or an afternoon snack along with black coffee. All I had to do was zap it for 30 seconds and use the keuring for a super quick and delicious breakfast. I usually do not eat breakfast, but the cinnamon rolls were screaming at me from the freezer. I tried to get them to be quiet, but they were relentless!
Mid -morning I had a call from Pip. She is hard at work becoming a writer so we decided to c0-write stories. She decided who and what the characters would be. (2 unicorns named Rainbow and Star and a very tiny dragon named Puddle Hider) and what their special talents would be. She also decided the unicorns hated having their hair brushed. (Transference perhaps?)
I wrote an opening to the tale and emailed it to my son so she can read it and add the next bit to it. Then she will send it back and we can see what develops from there. I am not sure if I will write a conclusion or the story will continue. I guess it is just up to her.
After work TheHub and I went to vote in our local elections, but only one of us got to vote. The other forgot to bring her drivers license. I am very glad this was just an election for one seat, since every other position was unopposed. I don't feel much guilt, but for the next 4 years I can't gripe about anything this councilman does (even though I was going to vote for him anyway) Afterward we ran by a Mexican restaurant and picked up dinner. Joy!


This weeks projects:
1. Painted a floor lamp
2. Repositioned  artwork in the foyer, living room, and den.
3. Found some black spray paint made for plastic and sprayed a white plastic table I found at Mom's. It works well as a small side table for the deck.

All Aboard!

Keto, keto wherefore art thou keto?  I have been so far off  keto  that it is ridiculous. Son3 and DIL 3 had been at our house for nearly 2 months and I have ignored every single law of keto. Grains? Every day!. Peas and beans? You betcha! Sugar? It has been a diet mainstay.   Son3 managed to lose nearly 10 pounds while they were here and I am pretty sure I found them. Well they left Sunday morning to get back to the city, and there is no excuse for me to not jump right back on the keto train.

And yes, I know this song has nothing to do with food, but as soon as I typed the words "keto train:" this is the song that popped into my brain, and would not leave me alone until I posted it here.

As usual my menu plan and reality took a deep departure form each other. Oh well, I tried (kinda)

What I thought might happen:
1. Stuffed baked potato, tossed salad
2. Grilled grouper, squash casserole, salad, green beans, rolls
3. Hamburgers with all the fixings
4. Risotto (Son3 and DIL3 say they are serious this time)
5. White BBQ chicken, caulitato salad, green beans
6. Veggie dinner: peas, okra, tomato slices, cornbread
7. Take out pizza, tossed salad

What actually did happen:
Monday: It was the first day of the meal plan and already I was punting. So much for my planning skills.
Refrigerator stuff. Ground chuck, bits and pieces of leftover veggies, onions, spices, and broth over mashed potatoes.

Tuesday: DIL3 had a photo shoot to update the pics for her portfolio. Turns out a photographer in Alabama (one whose photos have been used in Vogue) and childhood classmate of Son3 is much more reasonable than a shoot in NYC. Imagine that! Since they were out later and Son3 wanted his wife to have a taste of his favorite pizza joint from his childhood, they picked it up and brought it home for a late dinner.
Davenport's pizza, either veggie or pepperoni

Wednesday: DIL3 made us the most wonderful dinner. How nice for me and oh my goodness how delicious! It was almost like going to a restaurant.
Chicken, risotto with onions and asparagus, raspberry tiramisu.

Thursday: I forgot to take anything out of the freezer to thaw for dinner. Fortunately I keep packages of browned ground chuck frozen for nights like this.
Taco salad, black beans, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream toppings, leftover tiramisu 

Friday: Son2 and DIL2 came over to eat with us, bearing ice packs for Son3 and DIL3's departure. We are sending them back loaded with frozen stuff: pulled pork, ground chuck, pork tenderloins, chicken breasts, blocks or cheese, butter and other assorted things. They will have to quarantine for two weeks upon their return, so we figured we could give them a leg up to avoid some grocery delivery fees.
Grilled steak, tossed salad, baked potato, rolls,  pineapple cake

Saturday: Son3 and DIL3 loaded the car for their return trip while we helped them round up any errant items we could find. Meanwhile Son2 and DIL2 stopped by the house before dinner and stayed for the meal and conversations afterward. 
Hamburgers with all the fixings,  chips, leftover tiramisu

Sunday: Son3 and DIL3 left for home at about 11 this morning. TheHub and I spent the day doing odd jobs but mostly reading and watching the golf tournament. When it was closing in on dinner time and I had nothing planned, we did my next to favorite thing. Take out! We are old and we share one entree because it is more than enough for us and is much easier on the wallet. That being said, The Mandarin House portions are very large.
Kung pao chicken from The Mandarin House. 

Possibilities for this week:
1. Crack slaw
2. Chicken Florentine over rice or caulirice, tossed salad
3. Squash croquettes, green beans, sliced tomatoes
4. Hamburger patty, green beans, tomato onion and cucumber salad
5. Grilled lamb chops, caulimash or regular mashed potatoes, broccoli
6. Seared scallops, tossed salad, baked potato (or none) rolls or keto rolls
7. Take out

Have a great week staying on plan, off plan, or with no plan!

Joys

Every week I post a joy that happened each day, Some days it is more difficult to recount a joy at the end of the day than other days, but there is always something joyful. But,  man oh man, some days you really do have to look, hence today's song!   Tuesday officially ended the 33rd week of the year and  it brings us one week closer to 2020 being over. Hurrah!
I look forward to New Year's Eve when I sit down and review every joy for every day of the year. I know there are things  I will forget and this will be a reminder of how joyful my life truly is.   

Wednesday: Met one of my cousins and her daughter at Mom's. She wanted a couple of the sentimental things my aunt (her mom) had made and given to my mom. I enjoyed the visit with them (thank you both for wearing masks) while we reminisced about various family events.

Thursday: Thursday was a fairly uneventful day, but there is still something wonderful about just waking and watching the hummingbirds flit and fight. Those Ruby Throated males are pretty dang territorial!

Friday: Son3 and DIL3 planned a get together with a long time friend of Son3's. The nicest thing about my house right now is the back yard. They could visit and distance outside and jump in the water whenever they got hot. Since he and his wife have a new baby, they have been isolating themselves to  grocery store runs for the past few months, and since I only go to the grocery store ( no more than once a week) masked and squirting hand sanitizer right and left,  both they and I felt comfortable holding with me their baby. There is nothing more precious than a baby who has learned to ooh and coo then break out in a huge toothless grin!

Saturday: Swimming laps brings me great pleasure. There is something so joyful  about the rhythm, the water, silence except for the sound of bubbles from exhaling underwater, and really good goggles Then as a bonus we found butcher made hot dogs that were delicious!

Sunday: My sister and I cleaned the remaining clothes and shoes from Mom's closet and had them sitting on her porch for pick up the next day. She had over 20 pairs of shoes and most had been wore no more than 5 times, though many were still new in the box.

Monday: I moved a very old floor lamp from Mom's house to mine. It does need a few minor adjustments to work with my decor, but I think it is going to look really good in my living room.

Tuesday:  I found that hummingbirds really do like the potatoes than at flowering. They seem to really like the lavender too. I love watching them and obviously have my yard planted with flowers they are fond of.  Other than the bird watching it wa a pretty crappy day, until the evening. TheHub and I went for a nighttime swim and I love swimming at night.

Hope you find the joy in every single day. Just look for it and be sure to Ac-cen-tu-ate the positive

Easiest Cake Ever

I am not sure if I found this recipe or if this recipe found me. Thinking about it, I am pretty sure it was the latter because I cannot imagine a world where I would consciously look for a pineapple pecan cake. Somehow or another a picture of this cake landed on a page I was reading. I guess the genesis does not matter as much as the fact that I actually decided to make it.

TheHub and I do not usually have desserts. It is really a rarity around here, unless I am doing Keto and then I will make one once or twice a week. When I cook or bake something keto there is little damage, since they are usually tasty when you eat them, but not so tasty you want to overeat them.

Since Son3 and DIL3 have been here, I have made them more often, and they have been nothing remotely like a keto dessert.  I think I only tried this because I had everything on hand that the recipe called for and it looked like it was going to be a snap to make.


But first, music! I don't remember when I first heard this and it took me a bit of searching to find it, probably because I had the name of the song totally wrong. Hope you enjoy it anyway.

And now__Cake

For the cake:

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 eggs

1 20 ounce can  crushed pineapple (do not drain)

1 cup pecans (optional, but see below)

For the frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened

2 cups confectioners sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix flour, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl and stir to blend. In a small bowl, beat the eggs then add them along with the pineapple (juice included) and the pecans to the flour mixture. Stir with a fork until it is just moistened. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350°F  for about 35 minutes until it is completely done (use the toothpick testing method)  Cool completely before icing the cake.

Beat the butter and cream cheese until it is nice and smooth and well blended. Add the confectioners sugar and continue beating until it is smooth, then add the vanilla and stir until it is creamy.  Frost the cake and enjoy.

I was surprised that the cake baked so beautifully. It was a lovely caramel color and rose well for a pretty dense cake. The pineapple flavor is not as pronounced as I thought it would  be, but it was pretty tasty anyway. The day after baking it the cake; however, was very moist and the pineapple flavor was a little  more pronounced. I used an off brand of pineapple that was canned in its own juice. I am going to try it again this week (halving the recipe) and use Dole to see if that makes a difference. Additionally I am going to add 1/4 teaspoon of pineapple extract to it just to see if that adds a bit more flavor punch.

TheHub and DIL3 both loved the cake. After  he finished his cake when I asked TheHub for a critique he told me he was not sure yet and needed another piece so he could be a well informed critic. My guess is that he was still not sure because I saw him sneak a third very small piece right before he went to bed.

Son3 did not like it at all. He is a tactile eater and found the cooked pineapple "feel" off putting. I also am a tactile eater and did not find this cake "felt" bad at all, so maybe I am not as freaky about the way food feels in my mouth as I thought I was. That being said, keep jello and bananas totally away from me!

And now following Roberts's Rules of Order, I have additions and subtractions to the reading of the minutes.

I know some of you live in areas where pecans are fairly expensive. I live in an area where pecans grow in every cow pasture I have ever driven by. They are plentiful and during the fall are not terribly pricy. I would have been really teed off to use so many and not get the full flavor if I paid a premium for them.

Do not put the pecans in the cake. They did not add enough flavor to waste that many. Instead use about 1/4 cup and sprinkle them across the top of the iced cake. That way you would actually enjoy the taste and crunch of them better. To be honest the pecan flavor never really came through the baked cake at all. 

When I try it again I will post the results of the changes here.

It's a New Day, It's a New Meal

 If you read my blog previously you probably have surmised that I love music and delicious food, or maybe I love delicious food first and then music. No matter what the order, my joy requires an equal measure of both.  

Just about anytime I write a blog post, a song pops in my head, so from now on I think I am going to start sharing them. This song hits on two levels. First it is a song I like, plus it is jazz, which is my favorite genre. The jury is still out on Michael Bublé, though. I really prefer Harry Connick Jr. as a contemporary jazz crooner.

                                         

If you have been reading my blog you also know I post a weekly list of possible meals mainly trying to use what I have on hand. It is never really a meal plan because I tend to go rogue a lot and rarely have exactly what I thought might be possible, but it does serve as inspiration when it is almost dinner time and I have not even begun to think about the meal.

What I thought might happen last week:
1.  Hot Dogs and fixings, baked beans, coleslaw
2.  Veggie dinner, squash, okra, tomato slices, cucumber slices, cornbread
3.  Pulled pork, corn on the cob, tossed salad
4.  Marinated chicken, broccoli, rice, something else but unsure what
5.  Risotto (Son3 and DIL3 plan on cooking the meal, but this is all they have mentioned)
6.  Grilled grouper, sliced potatoes, green beans, tossed salad, crescent rolls
7.  Smoked brisket, some green veggie, salad

What really happened:
Monday:  I had planned on having just a vegetable meal, but changed my mind at the last minute (after remembering I had ground chuck in the fridge that had to be used right then).
Mini meat loaves, squash, air fried okra, tomato slices
Harvest: 1 lb green beans, 2 okra pods

Tuesday: Son3 and DIL3 had an opportunity to go to an outdoor jam session with a former high school friend of his. They were going to do their own thing for dinner, so TheHub and I decided to run out and grab some take out. Did you know Captain D's makes a pretty dang tasty fish sandwich? Neither did we until Tuesday night! We tried to order one side of French fries to share but the guy at the window kept trying to make it a family size order. (4.59 for fries? No way) After multi tries to explain we only wanted one single side order, we gave up.
Fish sandwich, potato chips
Harvest: 3/4 pound green beans

Wednesday: The day came and went and I forgot to take anything out of the freezer until a little later in the day. I had a package of chicken breasts I had gotten fresh from Aldi and frozen so I took them out, zapped them to thaw quickly, then punted for a less than stellar meal.
Baked chicken (cream of something soup and wine poured over it) mashed potatoes, green beans 
Harvest: 1 pound green beans, few okra pods

Thursday: Thanks to The Big Dude at http://bigdudesramblings.blogspot.com for the inspiration. I had a smoked butt, pulled and ready for a meal. This was a fun and different way to enjoy BBQ.
Red neck pork tacos with coleslaw, green beans
Harvest: 1 1/2 pound green beans, 6 tomatoes

Friday: Son3 and DIL 3 had guests for a late afternoon and evening swim. We wanted to get out of their way so we ran a few errands then stopped at Costa's take-out window for ziti for 2, which really is ziti for 4 plus leftovers.
Baked ziti, tossed salad, Italian bread
Harvest: 1 pound green beans

Saturday: TheHub brought a bag of okra from a work friend's garden and it needed to be cooked. We love lady peas with okra so we went to a local produce market to grab some. It did change dinner plans, but what the heck!
Lady peas, corn on the cob, air fried okra, tomato slices, cucumber slices
Harvest: Another blooming pound of green beans

Sunday: Earlier in their visit DIL3 mentioned that she grew up eating hot dogs made at a butcher shop in Sweden. I don't guess I had ever thought of getting a hot dog at a butcher shop. I have always bought Hebrew Nationals in a plastic pack at the grocery store. Saturday, TheHub and I set out on a mission to find in house made hotdogs and lo and behold! We found them a the first meat market where we stopped. They were delicious and I will be buying those seriously overpriced dogs again!
Hot Dogs with fixings, pasta salad, coleslaw
Harvest: More green beans


Meal possibilities for this week:
1. Stuffed baked potato, tossed salad
2. Grilled grouper, squash casserole, salad, green beans, rolls
3. Hamburgers with all the fixings
4. Risotto (Son3 and DIL3 say they are serious this time)
5. White BBQ chicken, caulitato salad, green beans
6. Veggie dinner: peas, okra, tomato slices, cornbread
7. Take out pizza, tossed salad

Hope you have a good week staying on plan, off plan, or with no plan at all!