A Month in Review

My gosh...where did September go???  For sure work picked up...which is expected when you work for a school district.  My harvesting of the garden and my hubby's salmon fishing has made time go even faster.  Couponing has been put aside for the past couple of months but I am slowly getting back in the groove.  I found I was able to stick pretty close to my grocery budget though...since I have been stockpiling since February. 

Since so much time has gone by since my last blog entry...I thought I would do a review with some pictures.

My favorite youngest daugthers First Day of School ~ she is an 8th grader!

My hubby got very into fishing for salmon in the Snohomish river.
He caugh lots of Humpies...which he then smoked.

He found a great dry brine that used dark brown sugar, kosher salt and
LOT's of fresh garlic.  Then he smokes it. 
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!  We have a stash in the freezer for the holidays.

Each year I get a bit more out of my garden.  I am actually surprised
that I got anything after the very wet spring and summer we had.
I lost many onions and what onions I did get...are small ~ but still edible.

With wedding preparations and a 10 day vacation...there was very little
couponing.  Then in September...life took off and I am just now
starting to get back into the coupon groove.  I got the above items
at Albertson's using their double coupons.  Full retail would have been
$86.43...but I only paid $16.11!  Gotta like it!

Zucchini never let's me down!  I only planted a hill of them and had
enough zukes to donate to others and make 12 loaves of zucchini pineapple
bread.  This bread is so good...it has nutmeg and cinnamon as well in the recipe.
Smells like fall in this house.

My grocery budget got tight...and we ran out of bread.  However...I did have
flour and yeast so I have been making bread.  Very fun and easy recipe.

My tomatoes did not like our western Washington weather this year and
they have really suffered.  However, I have been able to make two batches
of roasted tomatoes.  All I have to say about this recipe...OMG!

My pumpkins got a late start...but I still got some. 

Fresh tomatoes from my garden roasted with olive oil, kosher salt,
walla walla onions and garlic then mixed with frest basil EQUALS
Roasted Tomatoe Sauce...going into the freezer for a dinner later in the year.

Not only are we harvesting and preserving much more this year ~ we have also decided to get our financial house in order.  We had some very large expenses this year...tires for the truck, braces for my favorite youngest daughter, an over-the-budget wedding for my favorite oldest daughter and my favorite son-in-law plus a 10 day road trip on top of too much spending the past couple of years has equaled too much debt.  We signed up for Dave Ramsey's online debt reducer plan and are now living very aware of where our money is going.  More to come on our journey.

My Favorite Time of the Year

After a VERY wet and cold Spring and Summer...Summer weather has finally hit our area the past couple of weeks.  We are currently experiencing hot days that are reaching 80+ degrees.  The best part is that it is cooling off wonderfully at night. 

I have been busy cutting back my tomatoes so that I hopefully will end up with some red tomatoes.  My plants are loaded but they are all green...EXCEPT one...that just turned orange today.  I have been told to cut back the non-producing stems in order for more energy to go to the tomatoes...I hope it works. I just found a fabulous recipe for roasted tomato sauce ~ and I really want to load my freezer up.

Speaking of recipes ~ Kelsea made dinner tonight.  She found the recipe on www.skinnytaste.com and it used some of the zucchini that I have growing.  It was delicious.  The recipe can be found here:  http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/08/chicken-rollatini-stuffed-with-zucchini.html

The items needed...please note that we did use bottled lemon juice and not fresh
since this is what we had on hand.  Still tasted yummy!

Kelsea, with her pretty finger nails, cleaning up the chicken.

Cassidy girl pounding out the chicken breast.

A pan full of zucchini, garlic and cheese being cooked together.

A work of art!