Category Archives: bread

Monday menus, And Simple sunday late.

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, home improvement, home stuff, library, meal planning, Walking by

The day got away from me yesterday. I was doing some house chores, baking a sourdough loaf( jalapeno cheddar), and sitting in the sun. It was a very nice day.

I had a nice walk in the morning. Sunrise is now 7am, so I’ve been getting to the park at 6:30. Since sunrise is going to keep getting earlier, I’ll have to decide what my cutoff is for getting out. In the past I’d jump out at 5:30 am but I’m feeling too old for that.

Last night we had a frozen pizza and watched some more of Stranger Things. This season(4) is really intense, and the episodes are quite long. Still it’s keeping my interest.

Tonight, I might make a chicken tortilla soup as I made broth the other day. I also have chips I can use on top along with avocado.

Tuesday- this is my daughter’s later night at work, so usually I do something easy. I might do a grilled cheese. I also have leftover curry from the other night, I froze.

Wednesday- I need to look in the freezer and check what should be used. I know some pot stickers could be used with rice. I also have some tilapia I can grill up.

Thursday- Spaghetti and meatballs,salad

Friday- I might get takeout, tacos?

Saturday- Something from the freezer. I think I have some other soups frozen, so I’ll go check that out, plus I have lots of Souper cubes frozen of beans, chili, etc.

My son was here on Saturday and built the railing for the stairs off the sunporch. He’s been working on making sure I have handrails and grab bars for safety. It looks good. I just need to have him buy a piece of lattice to make it more attractive, and I can plant a vine of some sort to make it even nicer.

I went to Ace and had them match the house trim paint as the one I had saved must have deteriorated, as the color was definitely off. I haven’t opened it yet to see, but from the color on the top, it looks like a match. It looks like we have rain coming in so painting will have to wait anyway.

I have my labs this morning, and then it’ll be too late to get to the pool, so I plan on going to the gym and then the library. I have a few books to drop off and a hold to pick up.

I also see Dr. L this week, so that will change my routine as to the pool. I think I’ll plan Costco after I see him on Thursday. As usual, it’s coffee that I’ll need, plus some non-food things like toilet paper, paper towels, etc. I might pick up a ready-made meal there.

Here’s the jalapeno loaf. It looks good. I haven’t cut it yet, but I will slice it up this morning.

I finished the taxes, and it all looked good, and we didn’t owe, so that’s a win.

Friday things

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cancer, home improvement, home stuff, velcade by

I didn’t post anything yesterday as I had my Velcade shot, then went to Winco, and then met up with my library friends for coffee. So by the time I came home, I wasn’t into it. I did get my sourdough started, did the folds and turns, and got to bulk fermentation. So it’s in the fridge doing a cold rise.

I had a nice visit with my friends, three of them are widows, so they understand. One of them just got a mammogram with something showing, so that is causing a lot of stress and anxiety. Why is it always something? One of them is quite wealthy and was showing us her brand new Honda CR-V. I’m thinking nice, gee, I just wish I had some extra money to pay my annual bills.

I lay down for a while after I took Dex and rested. I had some defrosted chicken to use up, so I made us a chicken curry with noodles. I used some of a recipe from ATK’s Easy Meal Cookbook, but I didn’t have garam masala, so I just used other spices like curry, ginger powder, and cumin. It came out very tasty. There’s some left over for lunch or another dinner.

After reading that Bezos fired all those WP employees, I checked whether I had cancelled my subscription, and I had, but it doesn’t go into effect till April. I read a few articles, both in the Atlantic and the NYT, about how this is a tragic thing for the WP and very sad too. I haven’t ordered from Amazon in a while, but I do have some camping stuff to get for our one night out in Tahoe in June. It’s only a night, but I still need a porta-potty and porta potty tent. I think my son said he had one, so I’ll check. Hindsight is always 20/20, right? WE had just bought a deluxe porta-potty for the tent trailer right before we sold it. Since we now had Rubi, we didn’t need it. Ha! Oh well, that’s just the way it goes. There are bathrooms at Nevada Beach, which are quite nice, but at night, I’m not trekking to a bathroom to go pee. 😦

Since today is a home day, I’ll probably keep it low-key till the dex wears off. I’ll bake the bread and tidy up. I did get out my low platform massage table to do some PT, so I’ll set that up and do a few. I wish I had room to leave it up, but in our very small house, there isn’t an extra place for it.

I started painting some trim on the house while it was so nice out, but once it was done, I could see that the paint had lost some color, as it is over 5 years old. So I need to get the color chip and get a fresh quart. I won’t do that today as I don’t drive on dex but maybe tomorrow if I can find it. Ace said they can match it, as it is a Kelly Moore paint, and they went out of business. Then I can finish some touch-ups.

Simple Sunday & Happy Imbolc

Posted in bread, budgets, California, Uncategorized by

A nice walk this morning, and wow, is it getting light early. By 6:30, it’s predawn and almost light enough to walk. I waited a few more minutes, though, and got there about 6:40. A pretty sunrise was starting with pink and orange streaks. The Canada Geese are back, getting ready to have babies. It’s always fun to watch. Circle of Life.

Today, I’ll go to Auburn to the gym and then get some cash out of the teller for the week. I know I need some salad stuff, but I think that’s it. I have a full pack of spinach to use up. I plan on making a creamy spinach filling for some puff pastry I had in the freezer. I’ll serve that with some tilapia, I think.

Imbolc starts this evening and :

It celebrates the beginning of spring, the return of light, and purification.

I’ll have a fire outside and enjoy the stirrings of spring. It’s always noticeable around this time as the grass is growing, and I even saw some flowering trees( probably a flowering cherry) in Auburn.

My sourdough loaf yesterday came out near perfect. So I’m pleased. Last night we finished up some orange chicken from TJ’s. It was ok, not great. I bought a different brand at Costco that was on sale, so I’ll see how that one compares.

Well, that’s it for now. What spring stirrings are you seeing??

Someone asked about the chair Pilates so here’s a picture of the book.

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Midweek Musings

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, swimming by

Well, I did a SWIM, and it went well, so I’m encouraged. I am a little sore this morning( stiff), but I think I’ll try and swim one more time this week.

I’m almost done with the new Dan Brown book,‘ Secret of Secrets’. Not impressed. Too wordy and seems to just go on and on. But I’ll finish it.

My daughters back to work this week at the library, so I have some days alone. I’d like to make a list of some things to do and be a little adventurous. I might drive up to Tahoe and scatter a little more of B’s ashes. Last time we went up. I actually forgot to bring them with me. 😦

After the pool, I went into Costco to return some sweatpants I bought. They were not a comfortable fit. So I got a few things we needed: eggs, shredded cheese, tortillas, and my daughter wanted some Kombucha. Chicken was on sale with a $5 coupon, so I picked up a pack. Anytime there is a deal at Costco that I like, I get it because that’s where the real savings are.

This is a watercolor my daughter did. I might go over to Goodwill and see if I can find a frame. I also have my old Apple monitor that no one wants to drop off. I tried listing it on Marketplace, but no one was interested.

This was the latest loaf from yesterday. This is after slicing it. I use a Krups slicer I found at the thrift store. I’m freezing quite a bit of bread, it seems. 🙂 I slice it first, then put it in freezer bags. I might feed my starter today, but I won’t mix to start a loaf. I did this one in a banneton. (Well, it’s cold fermentation that uses the banneton). You don’t bake in it.

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, California, cooking, Flylady, simple foods, Uncategorized, Walking by

A cold walk this morning. The temperature is 36 degrees, but it’ll warm up to about 65 today, so still nice.

Today is a gym day in Auburn and then a few errands. I need to get gas in the VW, drop off a package at UPS, and stop and do a propane exchange down at the store. I’m sending my old MacBook to Apple to recycle. I had put in a request to send back a monitor, but I can’t find a box big enough, so I’ll have to find another way to recycle that or try giving it away on Pay it Forward.

I’ve been doing my FlyLady zones a little differently. Instead of just one zone, I try to do 2 and then just do a quick tidy of the other zones. Today, I’m doing the bedroom zone and bathroom. Both are very minimal, so it doesn’t take very long. Of all the zones, the kitchen is the biggest to do. But even that is timely because I’ve decluttered so much, it’s just essentials.

I try to do a check of each zone to see what can be decluttered. This time, in the bedroom, it was some ribbon I hadn’t used. Plus some Ball jars that are the regular mouth. I’m only keeping wide-mouth jars, as they are useful for pantry items.

I have another loaf of sourdough in the oven before I head out to the gym. It should be done shortly.

It’s getting there!

Friday Things

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, frugalism, Uncategorized by

My budget month is coming to a close, and overall, I did well. Groceries came in at a little under $400, so that’s really good. Other bills were just normal things, I think. Most of my bills are on autopay and are generally fixed or close to it. The water bill varies by season, and so does PGE.

Today is a home day, and I’m doing another loaf of sourdough. It’s so weird that after not baking bread for a good while, it’s like starting over. But I did get my starter nice and active. The other trick I started using was to turn on the oven light and put the starter in there at first to double in size, and then later for bulk fermentation. It worked brilliantly. I guess there’s always something new to learn.

I had my first real-life experience with AI. I had a message about reordering some of my CPAP stuff. So I called the number, and it was an AI named Brenda. It asked all the pertinent questions. It was both weird and ok. I didn’t have to talk to anyone, so that was positive. On the other hand, this was not a real person, and there was no option to do so. I guess the future is here.

I do hope there’s a special place in HELL for the ICE agents that murder innocent people and use children to trap others. I’m not religious and am an atheist, but there has to be a HELL for them in some shape or form.

I do need to work on next month’s budget and see how far I can get with that. I started our taxes, but not everything comes in till the end of the month. I felt good about starting it. February has another Allstate payment and the Fair plan installment too, so that will be a challenge. I think that’s all the unusual stuff. Also, keep trying to get the last CC finished. We shall see, or maybe I should start singing” We shall Overcome”. ???

What things are any of you up to? What about that huge storm heading East? Are any of you in the storm’s path? It sounds awful.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, bread, California, camping, Gratitude, Uncategorized by

I’m thankful to be walking, even if it’s not what I used to do. I guess age catches up to us in spite of all that we do to stay healthy and active. I’ve always exercised and eaten mostly vegetarian my whole life, and still, things creep in. Until I get moving in the morning, I am pretty stiff but then my joints loosen up after walking around.

I am thankful that adjusting to my CPAP was so easy. As resistant as I was, it is a good thing. I’ve had zero sleep disturbances, so I guess it’s doing what it is supposed to do. I still need to buy a battery pack if I camp.( questionable at this point).

I’m grateful for the beautiful weather we’ve had with mild temperatures. Also, it’s getting light early again, and sunset is later; there’s a lot more light. These are the times I miss Barclay when we would start to sit out in the afternoon with our wine and talk about the day, or camping, or whatever. 😦

Today, I plan on going to the library and the gym for a short workout. I want to get home and bake the sourdough loaf I have in the fridge.

Midweek Musings

Posted in books, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, reading, velcade by

I started reading Clavell’s Noble House. I read this back in the 80’s, but he is such a good writer, I wanted to reread it. The books are hard to find(any by Clavell is), but my son, who frequents thrift stores, found a first edition for me. Whereas Shogun takes place in ancient Japan, this is set in Hong Kong. I have a library book to pick up, and it’s one that’s been on hold for quite a while, Dan Brown’s Secret of Secrets. Have you read it? I’m curious about it and whether I’ll like it. I did like the action in his other books, so we’ll see.

I’ve had a flare-up of my IBS, so I haven’t been to the pool or down to the Roseville gym. I have walked and done the Auburn gym, but I want to keep track of what foods may be triggering this( pizza? dairy?). I checked with Dr. Laptalo, and he thought it might be connected to my Velcade. (Remember my chronic diarrhea started way back with Revlimid, like in 2010. Most of that is over with, but occasionally I get a period where it seems to flare up. He suggested some OTC Imodium, so I’ll check that out. I do have Lomotil, which I take when needed, and that was an absolute game-changer for me, so I could go out to eat, travel, etc. But these flare-ups make it hard to go out. Todays Wednesday, and I’ve been fine the last few days, so I’ll see how it goes for the rest of the week. This is a common side effect of chemo, but with Velcade, I haven’t noticed much. On the other had I didn’t develop IBS with Revlimid for 3 years, and then the last 2 when I was on it were truly awful.

So, as such, I haven’t decided if I want to get my book or not. I plan on making another sourdough loaf as I fed my starter. The whole wheat loaf didn’t have a very good rise, so I think my starter was too weak. I did get some organic flour to use as opposed to the whole wheat I had used. Whole wheat is great for a yeasted bread, but much harder with a sourdough starter.

I need to work on next month’s budget, too. I have Allstate as an extra expense and part of the house insurance, too. I need to check if there’s something else too. Property taxes are coming due, so I need to figure that out.

That about sums it up!

MLK Jr. Day and menu for the week

Posted in bread, budgeting, California, cooking, meal planning by

It makes me so sad to have this be MLK Jr day and all that he stood for and died for, and to have our country deteriorating in front of our eyes. I still believe in the ‘dream’ and that somehow we will find our way back to decency, truth, and democracy.

I read an article in the NYT, I think it was on a reporter in Minneapolis, and how on the ground there, it is much worse than it appears. She gave a couple of examples, and it was horrifying. I just checked, and it is the NYT and the reporter is Lydia Polgreen. You should read it if you can.

Like Samwise Gamgee says, ‘that there is still some good in this world’.

Onwward to the daily stuff in one small persons life.

Last night we had ham and Swiss cheese sliders while we watched ‘Stranger Things’. I think there’s one episode left in Season One. It’s better than I remember.

Monday- a freezer meal of one of the Souper Cube meals. I have a mac and cheese and a wild rice soup out to use.

Tuesday – I have some corn tortillas to use up, so I might make enchiladas and beans.

Wednesday- I have one frozen pizza left in the big freezer, so I want to use that up.

Thursday- I have some tamales in the big freezer, too, so I may do those as well.

Friday- Breaded cod and potatoes. I have 3 or 4 russets to use in the fridge, so either I’ll make some French Fries or do home fries. Plus, I have a baggie of cut-up bell peppers in the freezer, so I could add some if I do the home fries.

I am using the veggies I used the vacuum sealer on, and it seems as if it’s working great. I opened the shredded brussels sprouts, and they looked great. So I have lots of salad to use up this week, too.

Today is a home day, and I started some sourdough bread. The YouTuber I’ve been watching for sourdough tips is Kelly Welk. Very practical and useful information that she gives, plus she demonstrates how to do things. I didn’t have enough bread flour, so I added in White Wheat, so I’m not sure if that’s going to affect the density. For me to run out of flour certainly says something about where my priorities have been. I guess I haven’t made any bread in a while, except in the bread machine, and I wanted that to be half whole wheat. I’ll go to Costco to get their flour sometime this week.

I hope it’s a good holiday for you, and we must believe that good will always win out over evil.

What plans do any of you have today? In California, all the state parks offer free admission. That would be fun to go do.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, bread, California, camping, home stuff, Walking by

A night of not sleeping well got me off to a slow start. I’ll see how I feel in an hour or so. I started my sheets in the laundry and watched a clip on YouTube on how to revive your sourdough starter. I got my starter out of the fridge and did the measurements. She suggested 15 grams of each, but I had 18 come out of the jar, so I used that. But I did follow through with all 3 measurements the same. So water, flour, and starter all were all 18 grams. I’ll see how that works when I go to feed it later this afternoon.

I’m heading out to the gym, and I’ll use the treadmill since I didn’t walk in the park. Mostly, I want to keep to my regular Sunday schedule, which is the Auburn gym.

Update: back from the gym. It was really empty, weird. I did use the treadmill for .5 mile and then my regular weights.

From there, I went into BelAir for some salad dressing, bread, and wine. After that, I went to the Auto Zone store for antifreeze for the VW. So now I’m home and finishing this up before I get going on other stuff.

My son is off camping on the coast as he has MLK Day off from work. It should be nice over there. He wanted to get out his camping stuff and see how it all is, so this was a good opportunity. He has a big canvas tent, but I’m not sure that’s what I want to sleep in when we have our camping trip( if I ever get a reservation). I was able to get a spot at New Brighton, but it’s still iffy whether he can come with me on that.

I mostly need to do a sweep around the house and tidy things. The kitchen needs some attention, too. After that, I’ll probably read and maybe take a nap! I plan to stay home tomorrow.