Saturday, September 12, 2009

Sunday Dinner, September 13, 2000

It's been another busy week for me, and judging by what I've been reading on other blogs and Facebook, you've all been pretty busy as well.

It's now the middle of September, difficult as that may be to process, and our weather is mild compared to most Septembers in Arkansas. With the cooler weather I've been making more soups, casseroles and heartier dishes. This week's Sunday Dinner is no exception.

I bought a large beef chuck roast last week when I did my grocery shopping. It's in the freezer (I really need to get it out to thaw before much longer!) and I'm going to cube it, brown it and cook it, then thicken the broth to make gravy.

I have a big bag of egg noodles to cook and some sour cream for those who want to add it to their beef, gravy and noodles. Of course that makes it beef stroganoff when the sour cream is added, but for those who just want beef and gravy they can pass on the sour cream. It's kind of do-it-yourself beef stroganoff. ;-) (Thanks to my niece, Mikki, for the idea. :o)

I have some garden green beans and purple hull peas in the freezer that I've put up this week, and I also have some canned corn and a few other veggies I might fix to go with the beef and noodles. I'll take a quick poll when we get home from church to see what everyone wants and make my decision then about what side dishes to fix.

What's for Sunday Dinner at your place this week? If you'd like to participate, just share your menu/plans in the comments.As I mentioned earlier, this milder weather has made me want to cook heartier foods lately. When it's really hot I tend to fix more sandwiches and cold dishes, lighter fare rather than heavy casseroles and hot soups.

With our daily high temps topping out in the low to mid-80'sF and cool nights down into the 50's at times, I'm feeling the seasons changing. Fall is nearly here, and I'm also feeling an urgency to preserve the last of the garden stuff and make jelly, stock up nature's plenty now in preparation for the cold, barren days when this time of fresh produce is just a pleasant memory.

I've mentioned before how blessed I am that dear friends, neighbors and family are so kind to share their garden produce, fruit, other homegrown foods and wild fish and game with us. This Summer I've stuffed my deep freeze with sliced okra, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, green beans, purple hull peas, blackeyed peas, strawberries, deer meat and Mississippi River catfish.

I've also been stocking my freezer with soups and casseroles to take advantage of that fresh garden stuff. Whenever I cook soup or a casserole or other dish, I try to make a double or even triple batch so we can eat supper from it and then I still have at least 2 meals' worth to freeze for later.Friday I made some of MY HOMEMADE PORTUGUESE BEAN SOUP. I made a triple batch and we had it for supper and then I put 2 big bowls in the freezer for other meals. It will sure taste good on one of those nights when I'm just too pooped to think about cooking.

I also made up a triple batch of MY TACO SOUP for supper tonight. I did everything last night except add the browned ground beef. As soon as I finish this blog post I'll brown the hamburger, add it to the soup and simmer it for about 2o minutes. After we have it for supper tonight I should still have enough for 2 more meals that I can put in the freezer.

I don't know if I'm the only one, but I've just got this feeling that this is going to be an early and a bad Winter. I feel the need to stock up not just on food stuffs, but to build up my stores of household goods and make sure I have plenty of everything. Maybe it's just me feeling this way.I used some of those fresh green bell peppers and jalapenos to make some of MY HOT PEPPER JELLY last night, and some dear friends gave us enough golden green muscadine grapes to make 2 batches of muscadine jelly.

I made one batch last night and still have enough muscadines to make one more batch of jelly, but I'm about out of sugar. I'll have to extract the juice tonight and freeze it until I can get more sugar. There are plenty more muscadines left on the vines and our friends told us to take all we want, so Lamar will pick more next week so I can extract the juice and make more jelly.

Muscadines make the best jelly I've ever eaten! These happen to be a golden green cultivated variety. I've never made jelly with this type. We've always picked the wild golden red type and they make the prettiest ruby red jelly and it's delicious!

As Fall progresses I'll be busy stocking up, freezing, storing, putting away, canning and otherwise preparing for Winter along with my usual chores. I hope you're blessed to be able to put something away for Winter too.That taco soup is calling my name. I need to brown the burger and fix the soup, and I also need to get that beef roast defrosted in the microwave so I can get it on to cook for Sunday Dinner. I still need to study my Sunday School lesson and do some more Saturday night chores, so I'd better get this posted and get after it.

Y'all have a great Sunday. May God meet all your needs and may you have enough to share.

19 comments:

Sam said...

Wow, Diane, you've really been busy in the kitchen! I wish I had your culinary skills! :-)

Our weather has also been really cool and windy, and I've definitely been in the mood for soups and casseroles. All those foods that are too heavy and hot in the summer!

I hope you all are doing well and that you have a wonderful week! XOXO

Mary said...

Diane,

I too have a feeling that this is going to be a long winter. I'm glad you're preserving lots of food to get you through. Soups and stews are also on the menu here during the winter months, plus chicken and dumplings. At the first of the month we usually have a roast of beef or pork. In the summer we eat much lighter fare.

Enjoy your Sunday dinner and be sure to take some time to relax.

Blessings,
Mary

Gigi said...

How I wish I had your motivation in the kitchen...I love to cook but I just have no desire anymore. It's take out salads or PB&Js for me these days. Your soups look wonderful! Isn't soup the best?!

I'm visiting my youngest son this weekend and we'll be going for breakfast in the morning to our favorite deli...that's all I know for sure right now!

I wish you and Lamar a terrific Sunday and a blessed week!

Lucy Stern said...

You are not the only one, Diane... I have the same feelings that you do about putting up for the winter...I bought another bag of while beans last week and another bag of powdered milk to put up.....We had the worst garden ever this year so I didn't get to put up anything from my own garden...shame.

Tomorrow we are celebrating TF's birthday so I am cooking a Ham, sweet potatoes, cauliflower/brocklie/carrot medley. Of course I am making him a devils food cake with chocolate frosting and well have some vanilla bean ice cream... The kids are coming so it should be fun....

Have a great week my friend....

Rachel said...

Diane I'm trying to catch up on what I've missed. You have been one busy woman!! How wonderful that you have so many goodies to can and freeze.

You were talking about a bad winter. Today someone was telling me how busy the squirrels had been harvesting nuts like crazy at their house, getting ready for the winter! She wondered if it was going to be a bad one too, based on how busy the squirrels had been. I've seen a couple of solid black wooly worms too! Guess we'll find out before long. Hard to believe it's into Sept. already. Where does the time go?

Your food sounds great as always! Have a blessed Sunday.

Hugs,
Rachel

kkryno said...

It's funny! I've had the feeling that this winter would make an early arrival and be colder too! I think it's because the cat and dogs decided to shed heir winter coat a bit early this year, and also my hands hurt a bit earlier this time. Those are usually an accurate indication, Darn it. I'm going to see the kids in late October rather than December. The worst part of winter hits around the second part of Janurary, so I hope I can tough it out!

I think that I will make some port butt steaks with green chile, flour tortillas and a salad for our Sunday Dinner. That should make everyone happy! :)

Have a beautiful Sunday.

Love, Vikki.

Linds said...

Simple fare here today, Diane - meatballs with mashed potato and brocoli, beans and butternut. David's request! (I think he is checking to see if he remembers how to cook before he goes back to uni this week!)
There is a real chill to the air here already, and I think you may be right re the cold winter ahead. I have managed to freeze a great deal of the garden's produce this year, but have run out of space. It is just a small freezer. I will definitely be canning next summer. It is on the project list!
Your soups look totally delicious. I will be making them both in the coming weeks!

Have a lovely Sunday, my friend!

nancy said...

I know I haven't been by lately. It's been a busy time. But I ALWAYS think of you and when I do I thank God for you and lift you up to Him for blessings. I've been more faithful to Jess's blog lately which is a lot like visiting you, since she keeps us updated.
I haven't been cooking much tricky stuff, but have been enjoying simple meals with lots of fresh tomatoes. It's my only real crop this year. Now, NEXT year, it will be different.
We've done a lot of work to the new yard and some things to the house, so it's coming along very well.
I hope you and Lamar are well and blessed with every good thing.
Love,
Nancy

Dawn said...

I've been thinking winter might be long and cold here, since we had such a nice, pleasant summer. We'll see!

Today we're going to the retirement home to have dinner with DC's mom. She's been there in a respite care room for 10 days while her caretaker (DC's sister) and her husband took a nice long vacation. So at least I don't have to cook!

Have a blessed day with your families - church and "real."

MightyMom said...

well, as of now (11am) it's 68 degrees and has been raining since Wed...(today's Sunday)..due to keep raining for the rest of the week....I'm thinking that it's time to thaw some of hubbys chicken and rice soup!! that taco soup sounds good too.

Betty said...

I love the cooler evenings and mornings. a neighbor has a friend who's garden had to much for them to handle so we were the lucky receipant of some lovely veggies and some wonderful apples. I had some chicken parts in the freezer so I made a big pot of chicken veggie soup with noodles.
~~Hugs,good thoughts and prayers. ~~How is Lamar doing?

Dick said...

We've also been busy, so much so that Pat really didn't argue against it when I suggested we go to Olive Garden for Sunday dinner today.

Carole Burant said...

No wonder I always feel like I want to go over to your place to eat, you make such delicious food!!!! Your soups look so yummy and look at all the jellies you made! If I lived near you, you'd be getting a lot of produce from my garden as well. lol The neighbours here are starting to hide from me when they see me coming because I think they're fed up with cukes, zucchinis and tomatoes as well! hehe xoxo

Lakeland Jo said...

purple hull peas sound interesting, as does mississippi cat fish!

Mountain Mama said...

Speaking of soup, that's what I am slurping as I comment! LOL
Yes, today it's a cloudy and slightly breezy day. It's quite cool and soup sure hits the spot!

You have done a lot of cooking and canning. I still haven't tried making the pepper jelly but I had it once and liked it.

When winter comes you will be ready. Good for you Diane!!


I have beans and corn that need to be picked and frozen but I'm having a low day so haven't gotten them all picked yet. Maybe later...
Blessings

The Old Gray Mare said...

Still a bit muggy here for soup yet, although the mornings are getting chilly.

I have a similar recipe for taco soup, but without the ranch dressing. I'm going to have to try yours out.

My mother-in-law has been canning tomato juice with all those tomatoes we've had. She's 79 years old and almost makes me feel ashamed. Notice I said "almost". ;o)

Blessings to you!

MightyMom said...

off topic:

please come and play Thesaurus Thursday today!

RennyBA's Terella said...

Yea, cooler weather and fall is sneaking up on us in Norway too - so I agree; More soups and stews is on the menu.

On Sunday we'll have Fårikål or Lamb in cabbage - a traditional Norwegian fall dish.

Happy weekend to you and your family with love and hugs!

Jan/lost-strayed-or-stolen.blogspot.com said...

We got a big boneless roast for $1.79 a pound at Brookshire's last week. We made pot roast with gravy Monday, and then yesterday I made stew, with about a quart left over after supper to freeze (if I don't decide to have it for lunch today). I too have been thinking about cold winter weather, and warm, filling soups and stews.