Day Three hundred and fifty-six

This was the day before Thanksgiving. You can see my house is clearly in cooking mode.

Pumpkins: Before.  These went into a pie, bread, and some went into the freezer for future use.  I was fortunate to receive a giant box of pumpkins and squash from my Uncle and Aunt who have a farm in Iowa.  This was only the second time I'd ever cooked w/fresh pumpkin. Definitely worth it!!

And of course, pumpkin seeds.  I made these savory and seasoned them with a little S & P. The next batch were cinnamon sugar.

Roasted sweet potatoes. Tomorrow these will be a part of a casserole.

After: Pumpkins.

Lunch for my little one: Peanut butter and jelly on crackers, and pear slices.

A super easy supper (who has time to cook when you're roasting vegetables all day?!): Brown rice spaghetti with alfredo, chicken nuggets, and steamed veggies.

Shredded zucchini, for the freezer. This will go into chili, meatloaf, and bread.

Day Three hundred and forty-three

Stocking the freezer today...

Shredded zucchini.  Goes into the freezer in 2 c. bags.  During the long winter, this will go into breads, chili, meatloaf, etc.

Hunks of yellow squash, in the steamer, which will be...

Pureed in the food processor, put into 1/4 c., and put in the freezer.  Until they're frozen, then they're...

Popped out of muffin tins, and stored in freezer-safe bags in the freezer.

Oh yeah, and since I was busy processing veggies all day, my husband handled dinner, albeit a very simple one.  Dinner: Breaded chicken pieces, gluten-free mac and cheese, strawberries, and green beans.

Day Three hundred and thirty-four

Lunch: Deli turkey and cheese on gluten-free bread, cucumbers and spinach with ranch, and apple slices.

Three-bean turkey chili (with shredded zucchini and butternut squash puree) topped with shredded cheddar, sour cream, and avocado.  I made a triple batch of this- one was donated to a charity function a friend was running that evening, and another went into the freezer for future use.

Lunch for tomorrow: Turkey on gluten-free bread, fresh mozzarella, spinach with dip, grapes, and pirate's booty.

Day Three hundred and twenty-nine

Lunch: Shredded zucchini, black beans, and cheese inside of brown rice wraps, with sour cream.

Dinner: Broccoli and cheese soup (crockpot; recipe: Make it Fast Cook it Slow).

Day Two hundred and seventy-eight

Dinner: Turkey sloppy joes (with diced apple, pureed butternut squash, and shredded zucchini) on ciabatta rolls, with steamed vegetables and fresh pineapple.  This meal came right out of the freezer, and I'd made a double batch of sloppy joes a while back and froze a bag of it.  Tonight I stirred in shredded zucchini and it was ready to go.  Usually I made whole wheat rolls to go with this, but we were out all day, so there wasn't time.

Turkey sloppy joes:

1 diced apple
1 lb. lean turkey
1/2 small green pepper, diced (I usually omit this)
1 c tomato sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tsbp white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup pureed orange vegetable- (butternut squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, or carrot all work well).

Saute meat, onions, apple, and pepper 8 mins, or till brown. Drain. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and break up meat w/wooden spoon. Simmer on med-low, uncovered, 10 mins, stir occasionally.

Serves 4-6 people, serve over buns, eng. muffins, etc.

Day Two hundred and forty-four

Dinner: Chicken tacos (with pureed butternut squash, shredded zucchini, black beans, and diced tomatoes) with baby spinach, sour cream, shredded cheddar, and strawberries.

Day One hundred and thirty-nine

Vanilla yogurt

Another batch of garden vegetable soup


Lunch: Garden vegetable soup (I threw in some turkey and parmesan cheese for protein), and grapes.

A double batch of Eggplant spinach rollatini-- one for tonight, one for the freezer.



Dinner: Eggplant spinach rollatini (with shredded zucchini), vegetable medley, and apples.

Day One hundred and thirty-eight

Dinner: Turkey and black bean burritos (with shredded zucchini and pureed sweet potato, on whole grain wraps), green beans, and fresh strawberries. This was one of those freezer-saved-me dinners. I was not in the mood to cook what I had planned, and did not want to end up eating take-out. I dug into the chest freezer and pulled out a bag of turkey taco meat of which I had made extra a while back. I defrosted it, along with a bag of shredded zucchini from the summer's garden harvest, and dinner was ready before I knew it. Phew.

Day One hundred and twenty-four

Dinner: Three-bean turkey chili (with carrot puree, butternut squash puree, and shredded zucchini) served over brown rice, with light shredded cheddar and light sour cream; fresh sliced strawberries, and green beans. Perfect for a freezing cold evening!

Day Eighty-seven

Lemonade. Despite it being frigid here, my kids wanted to make lemonade after reading a storybook about a character who made some. So, their loving dad bought them half a dozen lemons, and away they went...

Dinner: Quesadillas (whole grain tortillas with diced chicken, pureed sweet potato, shredded zucchini, black beans, and diced tomatoes), guacamole, sour cream, jasmine rice, and clementines. A few weeks back when I made quesadillas, I tripled the recipe and froze the extra cooked chicken and sweet potato in two bags. Tonight I was fortunate enough to be able to defrost one, add some fresh ingredients, and heat up the griddle. It made for a much quicker dinner, and less mess, which I love!