What We Ate, September 10 - 16

It’s been an odd week at our house:  Our heads and hearts are telling us it’s autumn, but the weather disagrees.  Although our mornings and evenings are cool, are mid-days have been quite warm.  So, although we’re craving fall flavours, we are spending less time in the kitchen than we might.

We did manage a couple of fall treats: I made gingerbread for the first time this season (That’s a flavour and aroma that just shouts autumn :) and I made a quick but tasty pork stew from a jar of cubed pork that didn’t seal when I took it out of the canner.  We enjoyed them both.

I lucked out at the grocery store this week and found, on manager’s special, a package of twelve large garlic and maple pork sausages for just $6.33.  We’ll get a total of six meals out of that package of sausages, providing the meat portion of those meals for just over $1.05 per meal.  I’m chuffed about that!

The most exciting food news of the week, though, was the arrival of a package in the mail.  Janet O’Melia, one of my Facebook friends, was concerned that I had never had grits so she kindly mailed me some, all the way from Georgia.  The package took such a long time to make its way across the continent that we’d both more or less decided that it was lost.  You can imagine my excitement when it did arrive.

I had grits for the very first time on Saturday morning, with cheese mixed in and a poached egg on top.  They were delicious! 

I’ll be writing a post about my first experience with grits very soon.  In the meantime, here’s what we ate this week:

Monday, September 10:

Breakfast – Leftover peach spice muffins, yogurt, pear butter

Supper – Vegetable curry, basmati rice, mango lassis

Tuesday, September 11:

Breakfast – Soft boiled eggs, whole wheat toast, applesauce

Supper – Pork stew, warm gingerbread with lemon sauce

Wednesday, September 12:

Breakfast – Oatmeal and applesauce

Supper – Healthy nachos made with oven baked tortilla chips, vegetarian black bean chili, tomatoes, green onions, black olives, and shredded Monterey Jack cheese.  I served it with guacamole, pico de gallo (fresh salsa), and yogurt (instead of sour cream) for dipping.  Fresh blackberries and vanilla frozen yogurt for dessert.

Thursday, September 13:

Breakfast – Yogurt, applesauce, prunes

Supper – Garlic and maple pork sausages, mashed carrot and rutabaga, boiled potatoes, with gingerbread and pear parfaits for dessert.

Friday, September 14:

Breakfast – Homemade granola, fresh peaches

Supper – Rotisserie chicken, carrot and celery sticks,zata’ar spiced beet dip, applesauce cookies

Saturday, September 15:

Breakfast – Cheese grits and poached eggs

Supper – Soup made with homemade stock, garlic and maple sausage, yellow lentils, and leftover mashed carrots and rutabaga, cornmeal muffins, applesauce cookies

Sunday, September 16:

Breakfast – Boiled eggs and croissants

Supper – Pinto beans and rice, copper penny (carrot) salad, canned peaches