What We're Eating

I've been cooking up a storm again this week. In fact, Butch said I was cooking too much and that the food would be going to waste!

I always build in a leftover night not to mention the leftovers we eat at lunch. Plus, I am dividing any recipe that I can. We haven't wasted a thing yet. Well, we did waste one thing last week. I made strawberry shortcake and planned to have that twice. Butch didn't eat his second helping. I asked him twice if he was going to have it. He kept saying "yes" so I didn't eat it. Those strawberries went to waste.

I've been enjoying the cooking and making things I haven't made in a long time---mostly because I forget about some of our favorites. And, there are plenty of pre-packaged, really easy things to make too. The only reason I've decided to do this post every week is to give you some new ideas, or spark a memory of dishes you may have forgotten about. Plus, I like to share those quick and easy meals too.

Saturday we got barbecue from Corky's. $20.20 for a slab of ribs, 4 sides and rolls or corn muffins (the best). We've designated Saturdays for "take out" to help support local restaurants. Certainly can't get any easier than that!

Sunday we had these:

If you've never tried them, you should. They are so good and so easy. Publix still had plenty in several varieties. Sam's carries them in bulk, but then you only get one type. Each package contains 2. This time, we ended up splitting one.  I made fresh Brussel sprouts and parslied potatoes. I like to have bread, but try to resist unless we have pasta or soup.

On Monday, I wanted to make good ol' Southern tea punch. My friend, Nancy A. makes it pretty frequently and usually shares with me.

We weren't able to get the frozen  orange juice concentrate, so we had to improvise. I had Butch do the squeezing. It turned out pretty good. Not exactly like The Picnic's recipe, but still good.

Picnic Tea Punch

8 cups water

4 tea bags or 1 family style

1 cinnamon stick

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

1/2 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

*8 lemon slices

*8 mint sprigs

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Remove from heat and add tea bags and cinnamon stick. Let stand 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and mix in other ingredients (I don't bother thawing the concentrates as they easily dissolve). Chill 4 hours and discard cinnamon stick. 

*These are for garnish, so I never bother with them.

Using the fresh orange juice was not exactly the same, but I did like the pulp.

For dinner, I made the Ham and Scalloped Potato Casserole. One of my favorites. A few weeks ago, the Honey Baked Ham store had a sale on their ham bones for $2.99. I bought two and put them in the freezer. When I use these, I always plan two different meals with them. They have plenty of meat---more than a single recipe calls for. 

I used to request this sometimes for my birthday dinner, when I was growing up. A couple notes about this recipe. As you can see, there are no amounts except for the white sauce. Basically, you just peel and slice as many potatoes as you want. I used a 6x9 baking dish. I cut the white sauce in half. Also, I add a little minced onion to the white sauce---not too much. I don't like raw onions (except in salads and on burgers) and am not convinced they would cook "soft" at such a low temperature. Also, you MUST use American cheese slices. I don't know why it matters, but it does. I've tried using shredded cheddar on top and it wasn't nearly as good.

I served fresh asparagus with the casserole for something green.

Tuesday, I had planned to make split pea soup with the bone. But, since Butch made the comment about me cooking too much, I made this the leftover night. Mitchell came over to pick up food---he's still quarantined from being sick. Even though the doctor said he could go back to work on Thursday, his work said to wait another week. He's doing some work from home. Anyway, I sent him home with plenty of food and gave him the leftover Corky's ribs we had on Saturday.

Wednesday I baked banana nut muffins. We like our bananas before they get all speckle. Once they are like that, I put them in the freezer to use for these muffins.

I packaged them to make some deliveries the next day.

For dinner, I made the split pea soup with cornbread. Really good and easy. Just buy the Honey Baked Ham pea soup mix. All you have to do is add celery, carrots and onions for a nice hearty soup. I like thick soups. Most of mine are more like stews. We couldn't get celery, so I left that out and it was still good.

On Thursday, Butch and set off to make some deliveries and see Stephanie, Mindy and some friends. More about that tomorrow. The day was so gorgeous! Butch came home from golf and found me reading on the front porch. We ended up having happy hour and drank our dinner!! 

On Friday  I made some egg salad to have for dinner. We just had a salad with some frozen butterfly shrimp for lunch. 

So that's what we had this week. What about you? Have you tried anything new? Feel free to share!