WIS, WWA | Cabin eats
As you know, I've been at my aunt and uncle's Wisconsin cabin this week. So, I have not been meal-planning or cooking at all.
And I am sorry to say I took exactly zero food pictures this week, except for ice cream cones.
But I can share what we've been eating, and then at least there will be a post up for you all to share your meals!
What We Ate
I don't know if I'm writing these down in the correct order or not...but this is what we ate.
Saturday
We had bratwurst, chips, and broccoli salad.
Sunday
My aunt made enchiladas plus rice, beans, guacamole and chips and salsa.
Monday
Burger night! I'm trying to remember what we had with the burgers...a salad? raw veggies? Something along those lines.
Tuesday
We got carryout pizza from a local pizza shop and I do remember that we had raw veggies on the side.
Wednesday
My uncle grilled pork chops and my aunt made sweet potatoes and green beans.
Thursday
We went out to a little local place for dinner with a trip for ice cream afterward.
And after dinner Zoe suggested a sunset mother-daughter kayak paddle, and I'm so glad she did.
We thought this tree looked like one of Bob Ross's happy trees. 🙂
Friday
The girls and I land at 8:00 pm, which means we will be in the air at dinnertime. So, I imagine we will maybe pick up some fast food on the way home.
In the last two weeks, I have been home a total of three nights, which means I really do not have a good idea of what food is in my house.
So, tomorrow I will take stock of what's in my fridge and make a plan for the coming week.
And I'm pretty sure a grocery run will be in order. 😉
What did you have for dinner this week?
Your photos make me more excited for my first trip back to Wisconsin since 2020 lockdowns.
Your photos make your week look so peaceful and fun. I'm sure it was just what the doctor ordered! Here's the menu re-cap from these parts:
Monday - Grilled Chicken Breast, zucchini, buttery rice
Tuesday - Freezer leftovers - Pork Carnitas with rice, beans, and sauteed peppers and onions
Wednesday - Tilapia, a twice baked, brussels sprouts {working late}
Thursday - Lemony Shrimp, pasta with peas, diced peaches and grapes {working late}
Friday - Chicken Quesadilla on spinach tortillas, salad {working a little late tonight and I'm on call through the weekend}
Saturday - TBD
Sunday - TBD
It might rain here this weekend! So exciting!
Happy weekend!
https://cannaryfamily.blogspot.com/
WWS: $22 fish monger (most veg from the garden)
WWA:
Sat: partner away, I ate snacks.
Sun: Spanish [meets Italy] night! tortilla española, berenjenas con miel, cannellini beans with cherry tomatos (Smitten Kitchen), pa amb tomàquet, cucumber/red pepper feta salad, prosciutto
Mon: old school turkey tacos with all the fixin's
Tues: leftovers
Wed: roasted salmon with capers and cherry tomatoes, sautéed summer squash, red peppers & green beans
Thurs: grilled chicken thighs with gochujang bbq sauce, steamed summer squash, tomato and feta salad
Fri: pork larb, sliced cucumbers, probably more summer squash (hello summer in New England!)
@BettafmdaVille, that Smitten Kitchen cannellini beans with cherry tomatoes recipe looks good. I may try it tonight, now that I've finally got enough cherry tomatoes.
That does look like one of his happy trees! The lake is beautiful - you must have had a great week. How did Sonia handle the menu there?
I got two farm orders last week which always drives my bill up, but I think even so, my average was about $80 per week for the two weeks. Not great, but not horrendous.
I had:
A red-pepper-free sausage from the freezer, cauliflower, and some watermelon on a night I got home late. It wasn't inspired but it was quick and I was fed.
Braised pork cutlets, more cauliflower and mashed sweet potatoes.
Sheet pan spatchcocked chicken and multiple vegetables. I included whole okra pods from my raised bed on the pan, and they turned out well. I had this meal twice.
Roast beef, also with a lot of vegetables cooked with the roast - I know I had celeriac, carrot, onion, garlic and mushrooms. I had this meal twice, too.
Bacon ends, which are the chunks left from slicing smoked bacon. It's a cheaper way for me to get farm-made smoked bacon, since it's almost half the price of their bacon strips. I cooked a store-bought zucchini and a yellow summer squash from my raised bed (I have not had luck so far in raising zucchini, strangely enough) to have with the bacon.
Tonight is probably going to be leftovers of roast beef. It's been a long week and that's all I feel like doing right now.
We are planning on moving in a few months, so I am trying to use up our pantry and freezer.
Monday- Everyone was feeling yucky, so I made instant pot chicken soup from Six Sisters Stuff. It was really good.
Tuesday- Tuna pasta salad with corn and a raw zucchini.
Wednesday- My husband brought home Thundercloud subs!
Thursday- sausage lentil soup with zucchini. One child whined about having soup again but then he started eating and there was no more whining. Yay!
Friday- not sure yet. We have lots of soup leftover but we’ll see.
Mon - Stuffed flounder with cubed candied sweet potatoes and green beans.
Tues - Fried chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli.
Wed - We lost power so I ran through the BK Lounge drive-thru.
Thurs - Spinach & Mushroom pizza with salad, Mama had leftover chicken with hash brown potatoes and a salad. (My mama won't eat mushrooms or spinach.)
Fri - No idea. This is my biggest challenge...deciding what to make. Is there a trick to this? I really struggle to make a variety of meals and my mama has very limited likes which makes it more difficult. (She is 85 and won't eat international foods, most sauces, not a fan of pasta, the list goes on...she is an old fashioned "meat & potatoes" girl.)
As I was making my WWA list, I realized it was a not-so-healthy week meal-wise. Oops!
@sfeather,
If your Mother doesn’t mind leftovers, batch cook what she likes and warm it up. My sister cooks for our Dad this way, and everyone is satisfied. He wants meat, potato, and has a somewhat limited vegetable choice, but doesn’t mind eating the same thing a few days in a row. Hope you find something that works for you. He is also 85. Lol
@Debbie,
I second the batch cooking idea. Then you can just portion her meals out for the week and it's like she has her own personalized tv dinners. Then you can just make yourself whatever you like or you can have tv dinners too. Caretaking is hard work, so give yourself some short cuts wherever you can. Also, when my parents cared for my grandfather, they found he was sort of like a toddler in that he had certain things he wanted and craved his routine, so they just gave him the same things all the time and he was happy with that. He also started to lose his tastebuds, so they were able to give him things he needed sort of sneakily. For example, every morning he would get his "half cup of coffee" which was actually prune juice heated in the microwave. He had no idea and besides the practical purpose, they got endless amusement out of it. Sometimes you just do what you gotta do. 😉
@Becca, @Debbie, and @sfeather, these are all great ideas about cooking for the very old and/or those with dementia. Believe me, I was running out of ideas myself in the last few months DH was at home--and I found myself relying quite a bit on frozen pot pies and other comfort food. As Becca says, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Sometimes when I do these posts I have realizations too...like, ummm, we ate sandwiches four times in a week. Or we had rice-based meals a bunch of nights.
@sfeather, I made tv like dinners and froze them in microwave containers. Like some rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans, all from Costco makes lots of frozen meals. And then I made condensed broth from same chicken and made a bunch of gravy that I froze in ice cube trays. I put some gravy cubes on when microwaving. My parents LURV gravy on anything. Canned peaches and cranberry sauce were big favorites too.dump a jiffy cake mix on a can of peaches and bake till bubbly and its happy times.
@Becca,
Over the 30 years my husband and I had been married, I never heard my MIL curse or use any derogatory language. However, late in life she developed Dementia and she began cursing like a sailor. When we served her dinner, she would take a bite and ask, “What is this s@&! ?”. If you did not tell her, she refused to eat.
@Bee, that story about your MIL reminds me of one about my paternal grandmother--a quiet, meek little woman for most of her too-short life. (She died in 1948, in her early 50s, of a condition that could have been easily treated today.) On her deathbed, according to my mother, she startled everyone by refusing some liquid medication with these words: "Take away that moose pee!"
Wow. You were fed very well this past week. What luxury to eat good home-cooked food without doing the cooking.
That was not the case at our house this week. We ate, but it wasn't too inspired, and it was all me. 🙂
Saturday: Meatballs and garlic bread, courtesy of the oven being on anyway to bake bread. Tomato and cucumber salad straight from the garden, hooray!
Sunday: Steak, mashed potatoes, carrot sticks (from the garden yay!) with curry dip (mayonnaise+sweet curry powder)
Monday: Pork country ribs cooked in the morning then fried in their own rendered fat at dinnertime, leftover mashed potatoes, another tomato and cucumber salad
Tuesday: We went fishing, which always wrecks me for the rest of the day. So I opened a couple of cans of tuna and fried those with some already-cooked and frozen rice and frozen peas, and minimally flavored with mayonnaise and shredded cheddar cheese. Sort of like tuna casserole, but in a skillet, and with rice.
Wednesday: Beef stir-fry meat, except not in stir-fry. I marinated it in the last of some leftover mustard vinaigrette, then fried it in butter and added some barbecue sauce. fresh bread and butter, carrot/cucumber sticks with ranch dip, raw green beans
Thursday: First day of the county fair. After running around the fairgrounds for five hours, I felt about the same as after a day of fishing. So, a can of commodities canned pork fried with spices and put in corn tortillas with cheese, and some cucumbers and canned peaches, was about all I could manage.
Friday: Another fair day, although mostly in the morning this time. So I'm hoping I'll have the energy to make hamburgers from the ground beef I took out, and boil some potato chunks. Standards are pretty low these days, and will not greatly improve in the next couple of weeks, as next week is teacher in-service and then school starts. The fair weekend leading into those two exhausting weeks means survival mode in the kitchen.
@kristin @ going country, we have the same in service and school start dates! It definitely triggers survival mode for a while haha
@Natalie J,
Same in-service and school start dates here too! It's nice to know I'll have company in survival mode for the next few weeks 🙂
Luxury is TOTALLY the word for it.
Bit of sickness in my house, it shows in the food! (they do not feel like eating) But at least we all ate something! this is my week to shop. Last shopping bill was around 250.00 for two weeks.
Monday - French toast, pork roll
Tuesday - dd had leftovers, ds and I had scrambled eggs and toast, dh had left over French toast.
Wednesday - I made chicken Mozzarella pasta (from Pinterest) we all ate that. (second time making this, we enjoy it) always seem to save things and never make any of it.
Thursday- Wendy's
Friday- nots sure yet, going to see what the sick ones want.
That ice cream looks amazingly delicious!
One of the great things about WIS is that it makes me dig receipts out of my handbag: so WIS was $71.89 at Aldi, which seemed at bit high until I realized I'd accidentally spent almost $6 on a bag of apples by picking up the organic ones instead of the regular. Since I was peeling them to cook with them, I made a face at myself.
WWA: Was kind of a disaster, as I was in training at work most of the week and not-healthy-lunches were provided. My husband had leftovers of the delicious pork roast with aromatic veggies I made for him. I came home every evening and ate fruit salad to try to mitigate the salt and fat laden (and lack of fiber) lunch meals.
An unusually high takeout week for us, I have enjoyed the break though!
Saturday - popeye’s chicken
Sunday - homemade pizza, pineapple and mushroom (was trying to use things we had and my son loves pineapple pizza, it was actually pretty good)
Monday - cheesy cottage pie
Tuesday - herb butter chicken thighs, leftover veggie risotto from freezer, steamed green beans from our garden, crescent rolls
Wednesday - kale, chicken and gnocchi soup, corn muffins (it was a box of jiffy mix, but my 4 year old made it entirely by himself, even cracking the egg and scooping the batter into the muffin pan, he was incredibly proud of himself and it did help me out, I could work on the soup while he did that!)
Thursday - Taco Bell, my husband was going to be out all evening and so the long evening ahead of cooking dinner, cleanup and bedtime while solo led me to get Taco Bell to at least eliminate the cooking and cleanup part. It did make me appreciate that my husband is normally always home in the evenings (pre-Covid he was usually at work until bedtime so I always did dinner and bedtime solo, although with just 1 kid)
Friday - Greek takeout
@LB, we definitely go the easy route if we know one of us is going to be doing dinner/bedtime solo. Also, that's awesome that your four year old can make corn muffins by themselves!
@LB, for my of the college classes that I teach, my students have to write food memories. It is striking (but not surprising) how many of them remember the pride that they felt the first time that they cooked/baked something for the family meal, even as young as 4. Just as you are writing about this now, there is a chance that in 16 years, he will also be writing about it!
@BettafmdaVille, that’s such a heartwarming thought, thank you!
@Natalie J, it was very nice to come home and just put food on the table, I definitely would do it again if I had another solo evening!
What a wonderful summer of vacations you've had!
Let's see...
Thursday night we had grilled chicken from the freezer with mushrooms, spinach, some cream of mushroom soup that needed to be used up, onions...all over brown rice with some leftover beans and sliced tomatoes.
Wednesday we had pizza and salad with our pet sitter.
Tuesday we had fish tacos I think with rice and beans.
Monday we had...no idea.
Sunday we had turkey meatball subs and roasted potatoes. I made a huge batch of meatballs and froze a bunch.
Tonight I'm taking the leftover chicken and mushroom stuff from last night and putting it over pasta with extra cheese. Salad on the side!
This is my first menu post, so here goes!
Sunday - BLTs, green beans, potato salad
Monday - Korean Meatballs with rice and steamed broccoli
Tuesday - Supposed to be date night - sick sitter, so Hubs and I grub-hubbed tacos. Boys ate misc. leftovers/cereal/spaghetti o's
Wednesday - Peri Peri Chicken pilaf (recently discovered Nando's sauce - yum!)
Thursday - All my children under one roof (with partners, kids, etc) Spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread for 11! And a full heart for mom and dad.
Friday - I think we will grill burgers and hotdogs, corn, baked beans, and mac and cheese
Saturday - Family photos to document the very rare gathering of all children - I have bribed/promised a restaurant meal out as a reward. 🙂 I plan to take a little sting out of the cost by buying gift cards for the restaurant to earn 4x fuel points.
@Amy, may I ask what recipe you used for your Korean meatballs?
Also: we LOVE Nando's sauce to make peri-peri chicken!
@BettafmdaVille, I was going to ask the same question about the meatballs! Also, what is Nandos sauce?
@Natalie J, Nandos is a fast food restaurant from South Africa that's popular everywhere but the US. Its peri peri sauce is delicious.
Yay! So glad you decided to join us.
@Amy, great first post! And you have little kids and big kids? How wonderful and possibly challenging!
WIS: $13.50 at Price Chopper and $9 at a little pop-up farmers' market I happened to pass yesterday on the way home from an appointment.
WIA: For the most part, the usual "nothing amazing" about my own meals, except that I did have a bacon, wild amaranth, and tomato sandwich for dinner last night. I think I've put that redroot pigweed in everything but pancakes this summer. 🙂
I should also mention what Dr. Bestest Neighbor made for the early birthday brunch on Sunday, since he's quite a good cook. It was a sort of a fretta (Italian sausage, potatoes, and peppers) with poached eggs suspended in it. Croissants and bagels on the side, and (as previously mentioned) prosecco for toasting the birthday girl.
Sunday: Hamburgers and ice cream with friends.
At bedtime that night, we realized that our air conditioning wasn't working. When someone came to look at it Monday, we were informed that the part we need is backordered 11 weeks. So we bought two portable units (used, to save money!) and we've been shuffling them throughout the house as needed.
Monday: This was supposed to be enchiladas, but after the AC debacle we went out to Zupas instead
Tuesday: We experimented making enchiladas on the grill (didn't want to heat up the house), and it worked!
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Leftovers and mac and cheese (toddler request)
Friday: Taco night! We'll be making ground beef tacos, and I'm going to be trying a new recipe for portabello taco filling that I found in a library cookbook. Hopefully it turns out well!
Saturday: Leftovers
Oh my word, this is a horrible time of year to lose A/C. I don't blame you at all for buying the window units!
WIS: 92.07 @ Aldi and we are finally on vacation after all the prep so I am cooking all the easy vacation foods and husband is getting a break from the kitchen!
WWA:
Fri: roasted chipotle and shishito peppers, roasted radishes and turnips, pepperoni and Asiago cheese focaccia.
Sat: cabbage and apple coleslaw, brown sugar and sesame oil kale fried with garlic scapes, assorted leftovers including focaccia.
Sun: coleslaw, brown sugar kale, cubed sweet potatoes, pork chorizo rice and beans, chips with salsa and sour cream.
Mon: coleslaw, brown sugar kale, sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob, Mac and cheese, black bean veggie burgers with cheese.
Tue: coleslaw, brown sugar kale, sliced tomatoes, hotdog scramble and chocolate chip toast.
Wed: salad and take and bake cheese pizza topped with pepperoni and green and yellow peppers.
Thu: salad, broccoli, lasagna and leftover pizza.
Tonight: salad, fish and chips and mushy peas.
Happy weekend, everyone!
Saturday: Turkey Burgers, broccoli salad
Sunday: Pizza
Monday: Steak and risotto
Tuesday: Granddaughter's birthday Pizza, chicken wings, salad.
Wednesday: Spaghetti & meatballs
Thursday: Late lunch Grilled ham, tomato and cheese
Wws: never ending box of salad from Costco 3.59, local corn on cobs and peppers 2 for a dollar.2 bucks.
Oh and a squeezie bottle of water flavoring in black cherry $3. everything else on hand.
Wwa:
M-salad & apple
T-salad & apple
W-salad & apple
T- salad & apple
F-salad & apple
S & S the same
Different proteins, veg, and dressing from freezer, fridge, and pantry.
One night I had sliced hotdog, corn cut off the cob, pepper,and black bean salad and made a mustard vinegrette, totally surprised me how much I liked it.
It is so great you were able to enjoy having someone else cook for you for the week! The cabin looks beautiful, too.
We also had a partial cabin week--we came home on Wednesday, and I still haven't done any grocery shopping. I'm definitely going to need a trip to the store ASAP.
Saturday--My husband made us breakfast for dinner.
Sunday--We barbecued at the cabin. I brought fixings for a foil packet of veggies and veggie sausage, and my husband brought ground beef for burgers. He announced a few days prior to this that he has decided he is not going to eat meat anymore, so he was happy to use up the last of the ground beef for his burger. However, he was sad when he realized there was too much ground beef for one burger, and he would have to have the other burger for dinner the following night!
Monday--Leftover barbecue, and my husband's last non-vegetarian meal 🙂
Tuesday--Spaghetti and garlic toast.
Wednesday--Our first night home from the cabin. I thought for sure we would end up with takeout, but we managed to piece together a salad and some froze Mac n cheese.
Thursday--Again, I didn't make it to the store so I thought it would definitely be takeout, but my husband offered to make omelettes for us. Yay for avoiding takeout two nights in a row!
Friday--Well, if I make it to the store today, maybe we will avoid takeout again! Otherwise, I'm not sure we have enough of anything to piece together a meal. I think the real reason I haven't made it to the store is that I am in denial about going back to work next week, so I'm avoiding meal planning for as long as possible-ha!
let's see....
Cottage pie, green chicken chili, steak, stuffed peppers, tortellini. all with some kind of fresh chopped veg on the side. When my son had steak and little potatoes, my daughter and I have tomato/courgette au gratin instead.
What recipe do you like for green chicken chili? I think that sounds like something I'd enjoy.
@Kristen, It's delicious but you need a pressure cooker (which I think you should get anyway). J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is a great cook and also funny.
https://www.seriouseats.com/pressure-cooker-fast-and-easy-chicken-chile-verde-recipe
Also I always think I should add some white beans to it after pressure cooking to make it heartier but have not done so yet. My kids love it.
That house looks like a painting in itself. Lake dinners are the best. Nothing tastes better than a grilled hotdog by the water after a long day on a boat.
As always, half this week was a rotation week so food was weird and hard to come by, but we are here for honesty.
Sunday- grilled veggies, cheese, salsa and avocado eaten at noon. Then we were on transport until 3am
Monday- baked potato with the same grilled veggies, cheese, bacon and sour cream. With a mini chocolate dipped paleta for dessert
Tuesday- make-your-own chipotle bowl with microwaved rice packages I have and the same toppings as before (do we sense a pattern?)
Wednesday- Home! grilled corn and burrata ravioli I had in the fridge with grilled corn, cherry tomatoes and burrata
Thursday- I canned figs all day so frozen pizza. No regrets
Friday- I am canning tomatoes so hopefully I am not too tired of standing next to stove all day to say screw it. Though my husband and I have been wanting a date night, so we will see.
Saturday- your guess is as good as mine. Whatever looks like it is gonna die in the fridge
Sunday- Probably a curry tofu bowl because I have to get up a 3am to drive up on Monday for training and I don't want to sleep on anything insanely heavy
Yes! We are always here for the honesty. Some weeks we turn out impressive meals and other weeks we just get by. As long as everyone is fed, it's all good.
Kristen,
Your life is fascinating to follow, from teaching us to rehab furniture to creating serene and lovely homes, to adventures. Like most, it contains some significant bumps, of course. But the way you navigate those provides more lessons for us. Thanks for sharing and especially photographing these things.
I just love how your family rallies around you. Your parents providing a lengthy safe haven while helping you rehab furniture big time and find a new home. Your brother and sister-in-law with the treasure house and boat rides to dinners. An aunt and uncle who opened their home to Lisey. And now this uncle and aunt with a picturesque cabin on the lake and such nurturing generosity.
Your own generosity in sharing with us stems from these super people, I believe.
@Erika JS, seconding what you've said. Although Kristen cautioned us yesterday that her family of origin has had its ups and downs like everyone else's, I'm in awe of how the family members you've mentioned have stepped up--as well as of Kristen herself. Three hearty huzzahs for them all!
Although I will say--my ex's family was one in which nieces/nephews were welcome to stay for years if going to school nearby, vacation homes were shared, and so on. But everyone, literally, has been divorced numerous times and spouses (usually women) discarded like old socks, in fact it's considered humorous. Sigh, just being bitter as usual.
Yep! I am so very thankful that I have a good family support system. There are a lot of humans related to me that would step in to help if I needed it.
And there are a lot of people not-related to me that would also be willing to help me. I know that I am very privileged to have such a large safety net of people!
@Kristen, I love this comment, and the ones that inspired it. I feel like I have a great “community”, or non-family family, too, and am SO thankful to them. It takes time and “work” to get connected and stay connected, help and care in a healthy way, allow others to help me (hard!), negotiate human relationship foibles, and draw others into the groups…but so worth it. I’m so thankful for the often-tough circumstances that have gotten me to here, today.
We live in New Jersey and tomato season has begun! We get tomatoes, and other things in our farm box, and our neighbors have been dropping by with more tomatoes and herbs.
Sunday, we went out to dinner for my birthday! We had salads with salmon and shared a side of truffle fries.
Monday, we had tomato sandwiches on sourdough, with shishito peppers from the farm.
Tuesday, we had pasta with basil pesto.
Wednesday, we had…tomato sandwiches again!
Thursday, we had a late sushi lunch with my niece so we had popcorn for dinner
Friday night is always take out and Top Chef (because I can’t work full time and make dinner every night and still be a nice person 🙂 usually we have sushi, but since we had that yesterday I’ll use a pizza gift card.
Saturday will be pizza leftovers and Sunday we are having family over for tacos and cupcakes.
We spent hardly anything on groceries, maybe nothing, but did go out twice.
We continue to eat out of the garden but instead of stir fry every night, this week we had soup and a different kind of bread every night. Basically, I go out to the garden, pick what is about to fall off the vine/stalk due to maturity, add it to some of the chicken stock I have thawed and turn it into soup. My husband likes simple soups--heat the stock and vegetables, whirl it a bit with an immersion blender to thicken it, add a protein like chunks of chicken or fish, and serve. Sometimes some cheese or sour cream on top. I have made fancier soups, the kind that take hours, but he prefers the simple stuff and we are busy harvesting and dehydrating or freezing stuff for the winter so I am glad not to have to take a lot of time to cook right now. So, this week we had cauliflower cheese soup for three nights, potato and kielbasa soup one night, and tomato and basil soup two nights. Tonight we are off soup and on to using zucchini by having zucchini latkes. (I did not plan to do any canning this year but an abundance of zukes pushed me into making a dozen jars of sweet zuke relish.)
It is getting down to 40 at night, so things are beginning to really slow down in the garden. I feel ungrateful for saying it, but I will be glad when it frosts and the only thing i have left to harvest is potatoes and leeks!
@Lindsey, I admire your Alaskan attitude toward an extremely brief summer. As an expat Southerner living in Upstate NY, I can't make summer last long enough.
I'm trying to imagine nighttime lows in the 40s in early August and I just can't. Wow!
@Lindsey,
One of the things that fascinated when I visited Alaska for the first time was the agriculture near Anchorage. It never occurred to me that all the hours of daylight in the summer months would make gardening possible. In 3 months, you seem to grow so much.
Glad you had such a good trip!
We were on vacation as well and not too terribly far from Wisconsin.
Sunday: This was the first day of our trip to (truthfully) Paradise, MI. We had cheeseburgers, baked beans, and chips.
Monday: Foil dinners with ground beef, potatoes, onions, carrots, green beans, peas, zucchini, and summer squash.
Tuesday: My parents (who were also camping up there) and I had to drive back for a funeral and ate all 3 meals on the road that day since we had 10 hours just in drive time. But we stopped at a local place just past the Mackinaw Bridge and I got a whitefish sandwich and a pasty for dinner. I really wanted to have both while we were up there and I figured this might be my only shot. My pasty was huge, though, so I saved half for my husband. He stayed up north with the kids and they had hot dogs and macaroni and cheese .
Wednesday: Mountain pies - we had options of pizza or taco.
Thursday: We were supposed to return home this day, but my leaving for a whole day midweek (and the reason for having to leave) added a lot of stress, so we decided to stay one more night. Even though we had to change campsites, it really did make the vacation more enjoyable to stay longer. We scrounged up food enough for foil dinners with venison steak, potatoes, and mixed veggies.
Friday: Finally headed home. It's a long drive, so we'll need to get dinner on the road when we're an hour or two from home.
@Ruth T,
Aww, you had cheeseburgers in Paradise!
What a beautiful sunset! My phone is filled with photographs of sunrises and sunsets - my favorite times of day.
WWS -$166 which included takeout sushi.
Three meals a day, 7 days for 2 people
WWA - I prepared a slew lackluster meals - roast chicken and rice, tacos, Mediterranean-style fish, hamburgers and burrito bowls.
Things that shocked me at the grocery store this week - Gluten-free bread is now $9-$11 a loaf!
Wishing everyone peace and good health.
@Bee, ouch on gluten free bread. Costco has 2 loaves for 8 dollars here. I buy corn tortillas at the dollar store and make fold overs, quesadillas,soft or fried tacos, wrap around hot dog and fry for corn dog, taquitos, or use like two pieces of bread for a sandwich
@Tiana,
Thank you for letting me know about Costco. They just opened near me this past Wednesday. They are offering $10 memberships. I was planning on heading that way next week when the excitement subsides a little.
Haven't posted in awhile it's been very uninspired.
Sun. Grd beef&pork sausage ball.potatoes &veggie skillet. Turned out very dry so dd &I ate potatoes&veggies. Hubs ate them anyway.
Chicken&potatoes&salad
Burgers .fries&salad
Pork tenderloin baby reds &salad
Burgers again
Cauliflower. Broccoli pasta with tomatoes
It was VERY IMPORTANT to eat brats while in WI!!!
Monday-Wed travel. Pork loin and potatoes. Baked chicken veggies salad and bread. Egg McMuffins. Misc car snacks: apples. Cashews. Popcorn. Licorice. Iced coffee.
Thurs- salmon Patties Asian slaw and cottage cheese
Fri- calico beans in slow cooker
( added lots of sautéed onions and peppers from garden) and creamy red cabbage slaw
We ate well this week. And all meals at home other than potluck.
Saturday - homemade burgers, green salad
Sunday - chicken breasts stuffed with asparagus and chevre, sweet potato mash
Monday - potluck at my sister's lake house, we took Greek pasta salad and fruit salad
Tuesday - vegetable lasagna, green salad
Wednesday - scrambled eggs, toast and bacon with tomato and cucumbers on the side
Thursday - leftover vegetable lasagna, green beans
Friday - homemade pizza
I spent - $82.95 at Nor Frills, earning just over 30,000 PC points which equals $30.00 of free groceries. I am up to $350 on my points card and getting very good at playing the point earning game.
- $28.17 at the butcher
-$21 at the farmer's market
I'm also very well stocked right now and will only need a few things the coming week.
Yes, it is wonderful to be cooked for!
We had nachos, guacamole and salsa one night and several types of salad (potato, couscous) in the early days of the week. Also slowcooker meatloaf with chips and farmer salad, and leftovers later in the week. Burgers and again, salad, the day before yesterday.
Potatoes veg and meat yesterday.
It was a warm and very humid week that wore me out. Still, all were properly fed. And without takeout, so I am giving myself bonus points this week.
Next week will be hot too, so more nachos, by demand of the guys.
I was born and raised in Wisconsin - Go Badgers! - and so am so curious as to where your Uncle's cabin is located and what lake you've been having all this fun on?!
It's at Balsam Lake!
@Kristen, beautiful area! I'm about 45 minutes from there.
@MB in MN, @Kristen - Lovely lake and community! I am just over an hour away and have a good friend who just bought a cabin there a couple of summer's ago. Glad you were able to spend some time in WI!
Your photos are lovely! We were also on vacation (Bend, OR), so we had quite different meals than usual as well. Baked potato bar, nacho/taco bar, picked up pizza from a local place, lasagna, etc. Yesterday, after a flight home, I made a few frozen Trader Joes options, that we often keep in the freezer - veg fried rice + orange chicken.
I love how much you are embracing opportunities like this. Truly, how wonderful to be wanted and supported. My heart is full just from reading this. Thank you for sharing!
On a food note, I made a truly random slaw-like thing to accompany some sausages: tomato, tomatillo, white onion, serrano, avocado, Mas Guapo seasoning, lime juice over shredded cabbage and topped with a dollop of sour cream. It tasted like something that would easily cost $10-15 as a tapas small plate in a fancy restaurant.
Oooh, your concoction sounds like something I would seriously love to eat!
And yep, I love the freedom to say yes to things like the cabin trip. 🙂