We woke up early Sunday morning and hit the farmers market with my mother-in-law in tow. We got all of our plants for this years garden plus spinach, chives, bacon and a yummy garlic cheese for the evenings dinner. After a quick stop to Home Depot for some dirt, it was time to get to planting. We will be moving at the end of the summer, so I'm a little hesitant to plant anything in my actual garden this year considering I may not get to enjoy the fruits of my labor before they ripen. So that leaves us with container gardening which almost works out better because now we have the ability to move the plants around so they have full sun at all times instead of just the afternoon sun they would have if they were sitting in the container garden in the back yard. Here's a rundown of what we planted.
1 - Brandywine Heirloom Tomato
2 - Jalapeno Peppers
4 - Cayenne Peppers
2 - Bhut Jolokia Peppers (aka The Ghost Pepper)
1 - Thai Pepper
2 - Habenero Pepper (red and orange)
1 - Chiltepin Pepper
Thyme, Dill, Oregano and Chives
Mint, Rosemary, Parsley and Basil
Looking back, I'm kinda bummed I didn't buy the stevia plant that I found because I'm interested in what I could do with it since its a non-caloric sugar substitute. The good thing is that I can always go back!
Next up was a quick stop at the grocery store to return our movie and pick up a few things for dinner. When we got there we noticed there was a pretty good sale on meat happening, so we took this as a good opportunity to stock up on pork chops and chicken breasts. For a family on a budget like ourselves, when we see good deals on meat we buy in bulk and put it all in our freezer that we keep in the basement. Once back home, the hubby was already working on a guajillo pepper marinade for the tenderloin tips we were making for dinner and we had enough to do the pork chops and a few chickens as well.
Both of us are borderline obsessed with the FoodSaver that we bought a few months back so we were pretty excited to let that freak flag fly for a bit.
In total, we got 12 pork chops for $13.01 or 1.08/each and 21 chicken breasts for $16.89 or $0.85/each. Can't beat that with a stick!
But wait, it gets better because I took a pack of the chicken and made some more of the chicken cordon bleu's that I blogged about last month. Here's another fun price breakdown of those:
7 chicken breasts - $0.85 each for $5.95
1/2 lb deli ham - $3.92
1/2 pack of swiss cheese $1.00
1/2 box of panko breading - $1.00
3 eggs and some flour - about $0.50
For a grand total of $12.37 I made 7 cordon bleu's at $1.77 each! That's alot cheaper than you can buy them for in the store and they are healthier since they aren't full of preservatives. Naturally, those got freezer packed too. I love that thing.
All in all, it was a perfect weekend and I cherished every moment of it since next weekend is bass opener so I will be The Fishermans Widow once again. If the weather is nice, I'm going to be re-staining our dresser so keep your fingers crossed!
