Happy first week of August! Is it just me or has this summer just flown by?
Here in the Northeast, it almost feels like fall - we've had a few days in the high 70's and nothing in the 90's. In fact, I don't think there's been a heat wave all summer. Before August is over, I'd like a little hot weather, if nothing else so our tomatoes start ripening faster. I'm itching to make salsa! :)
A few updates:
Last week we did something a little out of character for us - we made a decision to buy a new (to us) car. We had received a couple letters in the mail from the dealership, offering a bonus on the trade-in for used Rav-4's like ours, so we decided to take it in and at least see what they would give us. Hubby and I had talked about eventually getting a car with more seating, with the plan that we would wait a couple more years. But the dealership made us an offer we couldn't refuse - and they had a used 2011 Honda Pilot (with a bunch of fancy features) for a great price. We had enough money in our savings to cover the net cost without dipping into our emergency fund, so we went for it. I have to say, I really love it so far. A few family members and friends have Pilots, and they all rave about them. Now that we have one, I can totally see why.
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| Blurry cell phone pic. :) |
This Week's Menu Plan: 8/4-8/10
Monday: Salad Night
Tuesday: Hot Dogs, Green Beans
Wednesday: Tilapia, Baked Potato, Kale
Thursday: Zucchini Lasagna, Green Beans
Friday: Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken (Freezer Kit), Rice, Broccoli
Saturday: Venison Burgers (similar to these Turkey Cheddar Burgers), Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes
Sunday: Leftover Zucchini Lasagna
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| A yummy summer meal complete with grilled local corn, plus green beans and chopped tomatoes from the garden. Yum! |
Garden Update:
We did more canning and freezing this week. Here's a list of everything we picked:
- Green Beans
- Broccoli
- Kale
- Tomatoes (Roma and Cherry)
- Peppers (Green Bell, Sweet Banana, and Hungarian Wax)
- Zucchini
- Yellow Squash
- Lettuce
- Basil & Oregano
- Blueberries (Almost done. Blackberries should be coming in this week!)
Last Week's Posts:
Are you taking advantage of all the fresh produce this time of year? What yummy summer meals are you making?
Your garden sounds amazing! I've never had much luck with planting a garden, but we just moved to a new house, and I'm hoping we'll have better results here. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kate Marie! Gardening is pretty much our hobby. If you want a full tour of the garden, you can check it out here: http://pinspiredhome.blogspot.com/2014/06/pinspired-home-garden-tour-2014.html.
DeleteGood luck with planting a garden at your new home and thanks for the comment love!
I keep thinking that I will pickle the cucumbers, but I'm enjoying eating them sliced either with a bit of pepper or dip to round out meals. I added a few of our jalapenos (which seems to be the only of our pepper plants that produced) to our chili and Texas Hash on the meal plan for this week. I did a quick Asian pickle of two of our cukes for dinner one evening which was good (rice vinegar, bit of shaved onion, Asian five spice powder, bit of pepper flake, sesame seeds, bit of oil). I love reading about the productivity of your garden!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan! We love raw cukes too. Yesterday I ate some with homemade hummus (so, so yum!). We FINALLY got a few cukes so I didn't have to buy any. I missed garden-fresh cucumbers!
DeleteThose Asian Pickles sound yummy? Did you refrigerate it? How long?
Finally, did you know you can freeze jalapenos whole? They thaw pretty quickly to be chopped and added to chilis and the like. Just a thought if you're over-run. :)
Thanks as always for the sweet comments. :)