This Week's Shopping List

This past week (my apologizes about the lateness of this post) my grocery list revolved almost entirely around Thanksgiving. I knew I needed an easy cooking week early in the week to free me up to make Thanksgiving preparations, and later in the week, I assumed we would have plenty of leftovers to get us by. As it turns out, we did have plenty of leftovers, but not the ready to heat and serve variety. Some creativity was required. The turkey that remained, after the traditional turkey pillaging, were scraps of not-so-palatable, fatty meat and grizzle. And, of course, there was the carcass, which no one wanted ... suckers! We also had lots of stuffing leftover, which we always do, because I just can't bring myself to make less than a whole loaf's worth.

So, this is how the week's menu turned out:

Lunch: Green salad with roasted beets and Ezekiel English muffins (was on last week's menu, but we never got around to it)

Dinner:
- Spinach & Basil Pesto with capellini (frozen from a couple weeks ago, so this was a heat and serve)
- Thanksgiving dinner
- Turkey chili

Thanksgiving prep:
- Sauteed asparagus spears with toasted chopped almonds and parsley
- Whole grain stuffing with apples and cherries
- Roasted butternut squash, purple cauliflower and celery root with sage
- Yams with maple-sugar struesel

The shopping list for the week was as follows (* indicates non-organic):

lemon
asparagus* (3 bunches - 1.99/lb)
shallots (2)
garlic
sage
sweet potatoes (3 1/2 lbs.)
butternut squash
brussel sprouts (30)
granny smith apples (1.69/lb)
tomato
Bosc pears (1.69/lb)
bananas
dried cherries (1/2 cup)
dried corn
rice
Imagine stock (2.19)
capellini
milk
Monterey Jack cheese
Stoneyfield yogurt (89 cents)
Applegate Farms chicken sausage (2.99)
eggs
egg noodles*
Tropicana OJ* (2.44)
seltzer*
English muffins

There were a few items that didn't get bought, some of which were sale items that got rain checked: brussel sprouts, pears, stock, sausage. Some of this I was buying for future use, but others (brussel sprouts and pears), I was buying for current use. We made do with other fruit, and we used some other vegetables already in the house to fill in for the brussel sprouts. I also bought some canned tomatoes that were on sale at the health food store because we had none in our pantry, and the price was reasonable. Good thing, too, because they came in handy when we needed to make out turkey chili.

The bill this week came to $99.58. Nothing to add to that. It's a good thing our bills have fallen short of our max for the last couple of weeks. We will be ordering nuts soon, which will cost plenty. We'll also be ordering from one of our wholesale co-ops, which won't be a fortune, but it also won't be nothing. Next week might enjoy some savings from this week's stuffing, which will become a dinner casserole.

Enjoy those Thanksgiving leftovers!