I've been MIA for a few days ....

I've been really busy the last week. Sorry for the lack and lateness in posting.

First: Shopping and Menu
Not too many great deals at the grocery store this past weekend. I ended up getting just what we needed to get through the week plus some deli chicken fingers. My menu plan this week is driven by the heat. Everything had to be something that did not require long cooking times or use of the oven.*

Sunday - Chicken Fingers and Mashed Potatoes, Fresh steamed Broccoli
Monday - Grilled Chicken and Rice-a-roni (the chicken ended up being Italian chicken in the oven since we had a hard rainstorm just at dinner time - so much for that plan)
Tuesday - Homemade Sub sandwiches and Deli Potato Salad
Wednesday - Stuffed Baked Potatoes (more Broccoli)
Thursday - Chef Salad Bar and French Bread
Friday - TBD (Maybe a homemade pizza or another sub)


Events:

Well it was a good thing that I planned for an oven free menu. It has been extremely hot here and cooking at 5-6pm just makes everything worse. Saturday morning we woke up to no air conditioning. It was 79 degrees in the house before 9am. Fortunately, DSIL was able to wrangle us up a used part to get the unit back up and running by mid-afternoon.

DH was able to resurrect our old tv after a couple of hours and a new $99 part. We now have a mega screen in our bedroom. DS came by Sunday to help his Dad hang the tv on the wall. (Smart people that we are, we trashed the stand for the tv after a few years figuring that we'd never need it. Ha! I made a second trip to the store to exchange the wall mount after we were assured that the smaller one would work. Fortunately, the store sold us the larger one for the price of the smaller one since they had led us astray and caused a second trip.)

While he was here, DS also took a quick look at DH's car which has developed a leak and a minor problem. I think we have a plan on how to address this problem and hopefully, it won't be a big deal.

School Work:

I turned in my first assignments and test and did well. I just submitted my second set of work today and I will be working on the third section later this week. I would like to get the first half of the work done before Thanksgiving if at all possible.

Busy, Busy.

Menu Planning for Next Week

It is so hot here and at dinner time, cooking - either on the stove or in the oven - just heats up the house. My plan for next week is to severely limit the meals requiring the oven or extended stove top.

Some ideas include a salad, sub sandwiches, grilled chicken, microwaved main dishes, or a Chinese dinner from a frozen bag. Now, I need to go off and think about the menu plan.

All-in-One Post

First the menu:

Sunday - steak, baked potato and italian beans
Monday - Cubed Steak and Herb Butter Rice, Sliced Tomato
Tuesday- Wanchai Ferry Orange Chicken
Wednesday - Fried Rice and Egg Rolls
Thursday - Spaghetti
Friday - Chili Cheese Fries

Grocery Deals:

I only took advantage of one deal this week. I had to squeeze grocery shopping in along with all the other things we had going on this weekend. And, I had a six month old with me.

There was both a manufacturer's coupon and a Publix coupon for the Wanchai Ferry frozen dinner. This dropped the price by $3.50.

Adventures:

We bought and planted a tree to disguise our new satelite dish (or as we referred to it, the eyesore). Our TV died only four days after committing to a two year agreement with Direct TV. Fortunately, replacing was much less than our original purchase price four years ago. (We are hopeful that a part will get the old tv up and running again. If so, we will move the old tv into another room and use it until it dies again.)

If you ever need to hang your flat screen on the wall, I would recommend an OmniMount. They are easy to install, quick to hang and very secure. Having one already on the wall made switching out the tvs very quick and easy.

Menu Monday

Sunday - Chicken fingers, mashed potatoes and broccoli
Monday -BBQ Pork Chops and Mac and Cheese
Tuesday-Garden Salad and Cresent Rolls
Wednesday-Smoked Sausage and Spanish Rice
Thursday-Fajitas with rice, black beans and guacamole
Friday-TBD

Garden Updates

Gardening fun

Well, here we are in July. My original seeds were started in early March. As I recall, I planted (with the help of two four-year-olds) cilantro, carrots, radishes, and lots of miscellaneous peppers (jalapenos, bell, banana).

I tried planting radishes and carrots in both a container and in the raised bed. Ultimately, I pulled the plants because I got lots of greenery but no roots. I think the problem was that the seeds germinated and were trying to grow after the weather got too warm. I believe that the soil needs to be finer as well. I'm going to try the radishes and carrots again after the weather begins to cool along with some other cooler weather crops.

Last year I had awful luck with my cucumbers. I don't remember getting a single fruit before the vine starter to wither away. This year, I planted the cucumbers in the raised bed. The tall plant you see above is two cucumber plants. So far, we've already harvested one tasty cucumber. I planted three more plants about two weeks ago. They should start climbing any day.

I should be able to begin harvesting some jalapeno peppers later this week. I see a couple of banana peppers and no bell peppers yet. The original cilantro has already bolted and gone to seed. I harvested most of the colander seeds today. I'll harvest the rest later this week and find something else to plant in the bowl, maybe some more herbs. Or maybe I'll try some garlic again! Stay away squirrels.

The tomatoes have done fairly well so far. We've

harvested a few fruits and there are several more getting ready any day. I am really enjoying two large barrel planters we received as a gift from a friend. They were moving and no longer needed them. I drilled some drainage holes and used regular coffee filters as a way to hold the soil in. They don't look very pretty but I may paint the outside after growing season is over.

Things I've learned this year. Cucumbers perform best planted in the ground. Squirrels like to dig up garlic - really like to dig up garlic. Spagnum moss is expensive but is worth the money to lighten your soil. I would like a second raised bed for next year. (Maybe hubby could build me one over the winter? :) I'm thinking about designing some kind of cold frame to use over the raised bed. If I could find an old window or a scrap of plexiglass, that would be great. In the meantime, we'll be enjoying some jalapenos with some pico Thursday, fresh tomatoes in our salad and maybe another cucumber soon.

In non-food gardening news, my dahlias are getting bigger every day. I've never grown these before and I don't really know what to expect. They are close to three feet tall and most have had to be staked to keep them upright. I hope to see some blooms soon.

New Long Term Project

I'm working on a new project. This is something that will help me both at work now and will also give me some additional skills for any future jobs.

My project is a self-study paralegal course. I have a maximum of one year to complete the course. (Six months for the first section, and six months for the final section.) Upon completion, I will receive a certificate from a reputable state college.

As a result, I have decided to limit my blog entries to a maximum of three per week. As always, I will post my menu along with any significant grocery deals. If weekly events dictate an additional post, you'll see one.

Menu Monday

Saturday - Leftover Roast Beef
Sunday - 4th of July - Hamburgers and Hot Dogs
Monday - Salmon/Chicken on Grill
Tuesday - Stuffed Baked Potatoes
Wednesday - Pancakes and Sausage
Thursday - Spaghetti and Meatsauce
Friday $5 Pizza, Pizza