Eating in Season & Meal Plan - Grocery Spending Challenge Week #3

If you haven't figured it out by now, we are a family that tries to "eat in season" as much as possible. I've been thinking about that concept a lot lately...

I LOVE eating strawberries in June, green beans in July, and corn & tomatoes in August. In the late spring/early summer, we eat one kind of salad right after another. We gorge ourselves on whatever is locally grown and fresh. This has produced an interesting side benefit...

Although I love eating food when it's in season, I'm ready to say goodbye and welcome the next food when a season ends. One great example is corn. We eat corn-on-the-cob for one dinner after another while it's ripe. But after those few weeks are over, I'm quite content to not eat corn again for a while. Despite having loaded the freezer with frozen corn, I generally avoid it for a time, instead welcoming green peppers or winter squash to the table. I'm not tempted by the strawberries shipped here from out of state. Tomatoes from Mexico in the dead of winter don't interest me. I've had my fill and am happy to move on to recipes that suit the season.

I think I've changed my outlook on seasonal eating. I used to feel deprived of certain non-seasonal food...as if eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, was a God-given right. But I'm more satisfied now, having gotten my fill of foods at the peak of flavor.

And the effects on the budget 'taint bad, either... :)

Grocery Spending Challenge $ spent this month, so far:

$74.47
(not including $5.96 for salsa makings and $41.99 for take/bake pizza & Chinese food birthday out...canning & eating out tracked separately)

This week's menu:

Monday
Breakfast: leftover hash browns/eggs/sausage from Sunday breakfast (this was an experiment that turned out great--recipe to follow!)
Dinner: Zucchini Casserole, tomatoes, green peppers

Tuesday (tomato canning day!)
Breakfast: remaining breakfasts will come from this list
Dinner: Garden Tomato Soup

Wednesday
Dinner: Eggplant Burgers (Simply in Season, p. 140.)

Funny postscript on eggplant...
Prior to dinner, LilDude said that he hated eggplant. Doubtful that he even knew what it was, I asked him to describe it. "Purple outside, white inside." Hmm. So he at least knew which vegetable he was talking about. Then I served his eggplant burger. Then his second burger. Then his third. Then his fourth. (Kids sized, obviously.) And he requested the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Thursday
Dinner: Tomato and Basil Pasta

Friday
Breakfast: Granola (More With Less Cookbook, p. 92)
Dinner: Pakistani Kima (an easy hamburger curry from More With Less Cookbook, p. 131...great use for tomatoes/potatoes.)