Menu Monday, Recipe, and Trip Day One

 A new month for me, and I was spoiled not having to cook for a number of days. Hmmm, wonder if I could hire a cook?????

Monday

Eggplant Parma using eggplant that I picked on Saturday and items from the pantry and fridge.

Tuesday

Leftover pork roast made into a stir fry and served over rice. Should be enough for another meal on Thursday.

Wednesday

Chicken strips with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and sour cream in wraps.

Thursday

Leftover stir fry served over rice.

Friday

Fish fillets, creamed potatoes, yellow or green beans from the garden and a cauliflower/broccoli/red onion/salad with Greek dressing.

Saturday

Smoked hamburgers, homemade fries, and the remains of the salad.

Sunday

Baked ham, mashed potatoes, baked beans.

I was asked to share my recipe for Cherry Pie filling so here it is. 

Cherry Pie Filling

8 cups pitted cherries

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

6 tbsp of instant tapioca 

1/2 tsp almond extract

Mix all together in a pot. Bring to a full boil while stirring. Ladle into freezer containers. Since this recipe makes filling for two pies, dividing it among 2 containers is ideal. I also let it boil for a bit before ladling it into the containers.

Now on to our trip.

Day one saw us getting on the plane in Regina at an early hour and flying to Vancouver. Our layover there was not very long at all and at one point I was a bit worried since we were slightly late taking off and landing, that we would make our flight. I had visions of me needing to phone Viking to get them to reroute us. 

We landed in Germany in my not so favourite airport. To our utter surprise as we came off the plane after going through security there was a representative from Viking there waiting to lead us to where we needed to go for our next flight. Believe me we would never have found the terminal or realized we needed to take the bus to reach it. The gentleman even told us what stop to get off at. 

We reached Budapest and were once again met and taken to the bus for our journey to the hotel. We were only supposed to say there for one night and then catch the boat for the cruise. However the water levels on the Danube were very low so we ended up staying a couple of nights with some free excursions thrown in. 

The hotel we were staying at... The Marriot in the Palace district was built around an old monastery. Our window opened up on much of the ruins.

We ended up resting until it was time for dinner and then going to bed early as we had our first excursion very early in the morning.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

 

Home Sweet Home

 

We got back to Canada late Thursday and stayed overnight at Kris's home. We did leave there fairly early on Friday, but were just plain tired right out. 

The flight home was uneventful really, but being awake for 29 1/2 hours is not at all fun. We both tried to sleep on the longer flight, but neither of us can get a very good sleep when flying. 

Also it didn't help that we were both coming down with colds and once home kind of crashed. 

Then came the fun of trying to get the garden harvested and processed. That is moving along very slowly, but it is moving ahead. Yesterday I picked cucumbers and cherries. Pie filling made, and the cucumbers will be eaten as we will be getting many more over the next while. 

Cherry pie filling in the molds and ready for the freezer. This is supposedly enough for three pies, but I hope to get more cherries on sale and make a few more containers.

Today picking continued.

Harvey picked beans and I washed, clipped, blanched and packaged for the freezer. I managed to get 7 bags of beans packaged from this lot. He also picked four cobs of corn, two of which we will eat tonight. 

I picked these.

Some eggplant to make our first Parma for the season. There are a few smaller ones on the plants and more flowers as well. 

Tomorrow, even though I still feel slightly punk I will need to go shopping. It will probably be the only shopping trip this month. Considering how spendy our trip was this is probably a good idea. However, as we were eating down the fridge freezer and the pantry the list is long and probably very costly. 

I will be getting my pictures together of our trip and will share them with you all starting a bit on Monday. I will say that even though the cruise was changed due to very low water on the Danube, we treated it as an adventure and Viking treated all the passengers like Kings and Queens.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

Thrifty and Frugal

Just a quick update. This has not been a frugal week at all. Little things needed to be purchased for our trip.

The few frugal things I have managed to get done are hopefully enough to keep spending down.

1.  I forgot to get our allowances out on the 15th of this month so a bit of a cash saving there.

2.  Purchased a new tablet for our trip, but it was bought on sale and really so much less expensive than when I purchased the old one. I just did not want to take the notebook with me and all the cords that come with it. I found out that the cord that charges the tablet also charges my cell phone. A bit of a save on packing.

3.  Groceries were low, but mostly because I was using up leftovers. I am going to have to do a big stock up over the months of August and September.

4.  Made cherry jam, dehydrated herbs, and made a 1/2 batch of relish. Hope to pick some more cherries tomorrow and make pie filling.

5.  Hung the clothes on the lines to take advantage of wonderful drying weather.

6. Eating cucumbers, potatoes, lettuce and corn on the cob from the garden.

7.  Pulled stock from the chest freezer and made lots of chicken veggie, barley soup for meals later. Still more stock to use (ham and beef) that will be made up when we get back.

8. Mended a top that I want to take with me on this trip.

I will probably be too busy to post over the next few days, but I hope to post something about our arrival in Budapest on the 3rd.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. I will try and catch up with all of you when we are at Kris's on Saturday.

God bless. 

Around the Garden or As We Say The Backyard.

 Just a tour around the backyard or garden.

Our back deck, we have an area for plants and an area for sitting here.  Notice the bird feeder that Harvey made and extended over the yard so as to keep bird droppings to a minimum.

The BBQ and smoking area that Hubby really needs to clean up.

Firepit area that I need to do a bit of work on once we get home.

Plantings around the deck and around the firepit. Ignore the peeling paint on the cement, another thing that needs repairing when we get home. Deck needs painting as well this fall.

My Kiwi vine is finally taking off. It is probably three times as large as last year.

The perennial bed, which can be a never ending source of weeding.

Just behind the bed you can see our two dwarf cherry trees. One has been picked and the other is still netted.

Most of the veggie garden.

Our two pear trees. One is about 8 years old and the other small one was purchased last year.

The Haskap bushes are just behind this smaller pear tree.

This last picture is of the Moonflowers which opened yesterday evening. There were four of them and all were bigger than my hand. 

So other than the Goji berries you have made a trip around my yard. Hope you enjoyed the visit.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 The week has started off with a bang. Busy getting things used up, harvesting, canning, freezing, making jam and of course doing the usual tasks around the house.

I promised you all pictures of my projects that actually got finished (of course there are a few that haven't).

The reusable facial cleansing pads.

This is the bag of mittens I sent back with Kurt. And the following picture is how full 100 pairs of mitts make it.

Glad that is out of my sewing/craft room.

Scraps cut and ready to be stored away for future use.

My two shift dresses for the summer. Very simple pattern and I find this pattern one that is very cool to wear.

Cherries were picked and jam made. Hoping the second tree ripens before we leave so I can make cherry pie filling.

Dehydrating continues and I may actually be caught up on that until we return. 

I hope to make a half recipe of relish tomorrow. Must get out and pick some green tomatoes, and another cucumber or two.

I even pulled chicken stock out of the chest freezer and made a big batch of chicken veggie soup.

This is now in the molds and once frozen will be vacuum packed and put in the freezer. 

I hope to give you a tour of our backyard (or garden) tomorrow. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

 

This is going to be another week of trying to either clear things out, can items from the garden, or freeze leftovers for use later.

Monday

Chinese noodle soup, and grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Tuesday

Spaghetti and meat sauce, salad (need to use up some lettuce, cukes, and one pepper. May throw in some black olives to get those used up as well).

Wednesday

Chicken Parma, mashed potatoes, and the remains of the salad.

Thursday

Leftover spaghetti and meat sauce. Probably sliced cukes to go with (dip as well). Any leftovers will be put in a tinfoil container and frozen.

Friday

Fish fillets, leftover potatoes made into patties and fried, along with some frozen veggies (just not sure what).

Saturday

We plan on taking corn on the cob, 3 hamburger patties that need to be used up, and some lettuce with us to Kris's for supper. That will clear a bit more out of the freezer.

I also plan on trying to make some soups from the broth in the chest freezer probably tomorrow or more likely Wednesday. Then we will have some ready made soup for meals when we are home. There is ham broth, and chicken bone broth as well. I think there might be some turkey broth as well.

This week is going to be a busy one, even though I have really managed to get lots done, there is still lots to do. I think I will probably crash once we hit the ship.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. Pictures tomorrow of projects I have managed to complete, and perhaps some of the garden as well.

God bless.

Towards A Simple Life

 

Sometimes the difficulty in living or moving towards a simpler life are the obstructions you or others seem to put in your way. 

I get questioned quite often on why we don't go out and eat or order in more often. I usually say it is because I love to cook and we have a full freezer and a full pantry. I also know what is in the food I prepare, and we do go out for a meal or order in every so often, especially when I have been extremely busy in the garden or cleaning the house.

Sometimes I am asked why we don't travel more. I usually say it is because I love my home and enjoy spending time with my flowers, processing the garden, or working on projects inside. It isn't that we couldn't, but I do find the lead up to traveling to be a bit overwhelming at times. Traveling to visit our sons is different and easy. Traveling to a cottage in a National Park here in Canada is easy as well. It is traveling overseas that causes me angst.

Then of course there is the obstacles I put in front of myself. There are times I find it very difficult to rid myself of those things we no longer need or use. I also find it hard to rid myself of bits and bobs of yarn (getting better as I can use those to pull my warp together, make mittens or toques for Kurt's school). Still I have yarn enough to last another decade, fabric to last at least a year, and other craft supplies that would probably last years as well. Still I am slowly working my way through everything and things are slowly being cleared out bit by bit.

Still both of us are working towards a slower, more intentional life. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

P.S. 

Photos to be put up tomorrow over what we have been accomplishing so far this month.