Category Archives: bread

Friday Things

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, cancer, cooking, Death, frugalism, husband by

I had a good day yesterday. After infusion, I went over to the fancy Nugget. It is beautiful, but I could definitely not AFFORD to shop there. I was going specifically to check what RG beans they had. They didn’t have a big selection, but I did pick up one bag. Interestingly, the price was the SAME as on the RG website.

I haven’t tried these, so I’ll check them out. Then I also bought a fancy sandwich to share with my daughter, Texas hold ’em. I had my half after I came home. Also bought some milk and half and half that I needed. Overall, it is a beautiful store, but way out of my price range. I picked up some radishes that at Winco would probably be 79 cents, and they were 1.99, so yeah:( I’ll stick to Winco, TJ’s occasionally, and Costco, and now using the month free trial ( actually $1) at Walmart.

I do like the Walmart delivery, and my daughter did a pickup after work( it’s right there on her way home). She wanted some Bubbly water and apples, plus she threw in a few other things. She said it was super easy, so we may do that going forward. My daughter hates shopping, so this works well for her.

After I came home, I started on some freezer meatloaf and some spaghetti sauce. Not too sure about the meatloaf. I followed a NYT recipe, but it kinda looked weird, so I won’t know till I bake it.

Since today is a DEX day, I don’t drive or get on step ladders, so I’ll just potter around and see what I get done. I have a load of laundry to fold and a loaf of sourdough to bake. I’m using a loaf pan to see how I like that rather than the dutch oven.

Some more California poppies and the loaf pan.

Wow, it’s May 1st. A little over 10 months since Barclay died. I miss him every day. I miss our life together. 🙁

Simple Sunday

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

Even though it was sprinkling, I decided to go for a walk. The park was mostly empty except for the park worker who came in at 6:30, driving a big truck and maybe a little too fast. sigh!

We had a fun day yesterday at Sierra College’s time capsule event. It was well attended. We were going to go into Grass Valley and walk around, but the streets were closed for a vintage car event. We decided to go down to Colfax to Il Pizziaoli for their wood-fired pizza. It was delicious, and we had leftovers for dinner. yeah!!

I finished Untamed about Yosemite. I’d give it a B. The scenery was beautiful, but the story was not very developed. Just ok.

Today, I’m actually going down to Roseville because I saw a print of ‘The Great Wave’ by Hokusai on the marketplace. I’ve wanted this forever, and it’s framed. I’m going to meet the person at Trader Joe’s and then get a few things in the store. If I’m energetic, I’ll go down to the gym; otherwise, I’ll just come home.

I plan to make Rancho Gordo beans today in the crockpot. These are ‘eye of the goat’ beans, which I don’t think we’ve had before. I also plan to make some polenta as well. Other than that just home stuff and plan the week out.

I have Velcade on Thursday, so that means it’s Dex time again. sigh….

There’s a brand new Nugget market right by the infusion center, so I plan on going in and checking it out. I know they are carrying Rancho Gordo beans, so I’ll pick some up. I’m hoping they have RG’s Mexican oregano, which is absolutely delicious.

Oh, and my random loaf of sourdough.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get any cake:(

Saturday happenings

Posted in bread, budgets, California, cooking, Death, Walking by

The estate planner meeting lasted all of 5 minutes to just sign the papers. She was going to record them that afternoon. Then the county mails back the paperwork to me. All good.

I walked this morning, and no one was around except the geese. It was nice. I did feel sad that one little gosling had been separated from its family, and the 2 adults it was trying to be with kept attacking it, which I’ve seen happen every year. Sad, it won’t make it.

Today I have a plain sourdough to bake, no inclusions.

This one is the everything bagel seasoning. The blueberry cream cheese one was interesting. I like the blueberries, but not the cream cheese. I froze most of it, thinking it would make a good breakfast bread /egg casserole. I wanted to bake this one in a loaf pan, but my cast-iron one is too small. I will need to buy a USA loaf pan to do that. I do have my pullman pan so maybe I’ll try that today.

The archive stuff my daughter has been doing is having an exhibit today. It’s for Sierra College’s 30-year time capsule. So we are going to go see that and get lunch out.

I finished watching Season 3 of Resident Alien. There is a season 4, so I’ll start that at some point. I then started Untamed, which takes place in Yosemite, and I like it so far. That’s on Netflix.

It’s cloudy today, and it looks like there is some rain forecast for tomorrow. But then next week looks really nice.

Rain is back!

Posted in books, bread, budgeting, California, cooking, home stuff, simple foods by

I woke up to rain and did not walk. I may use the treadmill later just to get some steps in.

Yesterday, though, was really nice and sunny for most of the day. My son took the day off and came up to weed eat, and he also did a bunch of tidying up in our driveway. Later, we got sandwiches at the store and had a nice chat. He’s a great person. He said his work schedule will be busy with a trip to San Diego and then his annual board meeting. He’s so lucky to have a job he loves as is my daughter.

My daughter wrote a novella for a contest with Wattpad. She let me read it, and wow, it was great. It’s a historical fiction set in 1926 in Philadelphia and is about a young gay artist. I encouraged her to, at some point, expand on it and self-publish or try to find a publisher, as it is that good.

Today, I’m staying home, unless I go to town to get some $ for my envelopes for the week. I need to get gas in the VW, too, so I could do that as well. I’ll see how the morning goes.

I got the new tag for the Santa Fe yesterday, and then I realized I hadn’t gotten the tags for the VW. I went back and double-checked that I paid it and what date that was. So it was March 12. We can only assume either it got lost in the mail or was stolen from our box. Our mailbox is on the street and accessible if someone wants to do that. Most of my mail comes to the PO Box, but the DMV is in her name, and she gets her mail at the street box. So I got online and ordered a replacement. I was pissed I had to pay $28 for it. My daughter suggested we get a locking mailbox for the street, so I think I’ll check Amazon for that. She’s also had 2 things recently that she ordered that said delivered, but weren’t in the box. So either the post office is screwing up, or someone is taking mail out.

I might switch out my meal plan tonight for beet soup. I had bought some beets at Winco and haven’t used them, so since it’s raining, it might be a good soup night. I grew up eating borscht and have memories of my great-grandmother BaBa eating borscht in her apartment in the Lower East Side of NYC.

I probably will start another sourdough loaf today, too. The cranberry pecan is now my favorite!!

Menu Monday

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

I did get a lot done yesterday so I’m glad I just stayed home and focused on things.

The cranberry pecan bread came out great, too. The right side shows where I cut off a piece to taste it.

The ears on this got a little brown, but it may have also been the cranberries. Still, I’m super happy with how they are coming out. Today I have a jalapeno cheddar one to bake, but I’ll do that later after I get back from Roseville.

I still don’t have the feeding the starter and than make the dough down yet. What I tend to do is feed the starter in the morning, and then by the time it doubles in the afternoon, it’s too late to start the dough, so usually I wait till the next morning. It seems to be ok, but I could try feeding the starter in the evening.

Menu ideas for the week:

Last night we had Tuscan chicken in a pan. I think the Tuscan reference is that it had oregano and basil in it, plus parmesan. It used up the whole clamshell of spinach( which was what I was trying to do) and some tomatoes, too. It was good. When I cooked the chicken, I didn’t put all of it in the final dish, so I can use some of that for chicken salad.

Monday- I have some tortillas to use up, so I may just do quesadillas. I could add some chicken in too.

Tuesday- This is my daughter’s later night working, so I usually do something easy like scrambled eggs, waffles, or soup.

Wednesday- something from the freezer to use up. I have some french onion soup from Costco so maybe I’ll do that.

Thursday – I have a piece of beef in the freezer, so maybe fajitas. I also have frozen bell peppers to use also.

Friday- We didnt have pizza last week so maybe a homemade pizza.

Saturday – Again, a pantry or freezer meal of some sort.

I have some salad to use up today as well. I don’t plan on any big shopping except for fresh salad stuff.

Simple Sunday

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

I woke up with a headache. I think it was because I had some ice cream last evening. I rarely eat anything after dinner, so I think it threw my metabolism off. Anyway, I took some Advil, and it’s better.

I wasn’t going to walk, but then I powered through and did it. I really need to up my walking, too. Right now, I do about a mile, so I think I’ll try for 1.25 and see how that is. I haven’t decided on the gym yet, but I will soon. I went to the pool yesterday, so I got that workout in. If I’m going to Mahany gym this coming week, that’ll get my weights in.

Update: I decided not to go to the gym today and have a home reset day. 🙂

After the pool, I dropped off my Goodwill donations. That felt good as it’s been in the back of the car a while now. Besides misc stuff, I gave away 2 space heaters we weren’t using. It always feels good to declutter stuff.

We’re supposed to get rain tomorrow and Tuesday. My son was going to come up and weed-eat, but that won’t happen if it’s raining. He might just come up and work out in the barn. He’s done a good job organizing his stuff out there and getting rid of a lot too.

My starter is quite active now, and this was a kalamata garlic loaf. It came out really nice. Today, I’m going to make a cranberry-pecan one. I’ve been using my Krups slicer to slice the bread, then freezing about 6 pieces in a zip-lock bag. I plan on giving some to my son. The slicer is one of my better thrift store finds.

Frugal Friday

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

A mostly frugal week.

Both my daughter and I went to Costco. Hers was pretty much all non-food, and mine was mostly all food. It will probably put me over my $400 budget, but once again, a lot of what I buy is for LTFood.

It’s ok, as I’m sure we’ll use it up.

I did stop and get gas at Costco yesterday, and it was $4.95 a gallon, so it went down a bit.

I was going to drive down today, but figured I would wait and conserve my gas a bit. There’s always next week to go down to the pool and the gym. I had a book on hold come in so I want to get that.

No other bills are due right now. In May, I have Rubi’s insurance and DMV. I suppose I should have been a little more on top of it, as I wasn’t sure when the insurance was due, and then I checked.

Today, I have just been pottering around. I cleaned under the sink and organized it. I am also working to get my sourdough starter stronger, so I fed it this morning to use tomorrow or later if it doubles in size.

Other than that a nice, slow day.

Menu Monday, a little late!

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, freezer cooking, medicare, Uncategorized by

First, a thank you to a subscriber who donated to my’ Buy me a coffee’. I was quite excited as this was unexpected and, of course, welcome. So thank you, very generous of you.

Last night we had nachos with beans, some beef, sour cream, avocado and salsa.

Tonight, I’m doing a Costco Veg barley soup with a cheese toastie.

Tuesday, not sure. This is my daughter’s late night, so something easy, maybe quesadillas. I still have some avocados, so that could work.

Wednesday, I have a freezer meal to use up, of orange chicken with rice.

Thursday, I think I’ll do some pasta with meatballs. I’ve been feeling like spaghetti. I have sauce I made in the freezer.

Friday, we did the takeout last week, so not doing that again. Maybe if it’s nice out, I can BBQ some chicken.

Yesterday, I went down to Mahany gym and did my weights. Then dropped off my books at the library. I considered going to Costco, but didn’t feel like it. I came home and baked the sourdough that was bulk fermenting in the fridge.

Today, I need to go to the bank and get my LLS. I’ve been putting it off, so today is the day. I might stop at Goodwill, which is in the same area.

I have some beans soaking, and I plan on processing them today. I soaked pinto and black beans, so we’ll see how it goes. We do like our beans, and especially Rancho Gordo beans. They have a new storefront in Napa if you’re in the area. I’m looking forward to going. Napa is only an hour and a half away, even a little less when there’s low traffic. So it could be a day trip. That would be fun for my daughter and me to do.

Menu Monday

Posted in books, bread, budgets, California, cooking, meal planning, Uncategorized by

We did really well last week, and I made most of the meals planned.

Last night I made a chicken parmesan because I had defrosted a pack of Costco chicken. I had to run down to the store for panko as I didn’t have any. Then I made a batter and fried the chicken breasts. I cut them in half first, but it was still a lot. They were really crispy when I took them out of the pan, but after I finished them in the oven with tomato sauce and mozzarella, they didn’t hold their crispiness. Any ideas? Maybe I should have just heated up the sauce and plated it right then?? Have you made chicken parmesan, and how did you keep it crispy? I followed the NYT recipe.

Anyway, probably leftover chicken today, and I may do some spaghetti on the side.

Tuesday- I want to use up some souper cube beans, so beans and cheese enchiladas( frozen).

Wednesday- tilapia and some side dish. Maybe a macaroni and cheese.

Thursday- Freezer cube meal. I still have some chicken and rice cubes.

Friday- I might make homemade pizza, although we had pizza this past Friday, so I may do something else. I do have leftover mozzarella, though, so ??

Saturday- something easy, maybe just some sandwiches.

I finished watching the first season of True Detective. It was absolutely great. Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey were incredible. It’s on AMC, so if you have prime you have to add it. Each season is a different crime and detectives.

I didn’t read anything this week except a Mauve Binchy book, A Week in Winter. It was okay. I don’t have any holds at the library, so I might look at what’s new and put a hold on something.

I have another admin thing to do to change our Home insurance policy over to just my name. It’s showing Barclay as insured even though I’m on there too. So I guess I’ll brave the phone and see if I can get it changed. I do hate doing these things.

Like I said the other day, I’m not going to the pool because of the parking issue, but I will try either tomorrow or Wednesday.

20 years ago

Posted in Bone marrow transplant, bread, California, cancer, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, swimming, Uncategorized by

March 1, 2006, I received my stem cells back. It’s a very anticlimactic moment that goes very quickly. One IV bag. But what it takes to get there is very involved and stressful. A few days prior, I was given Melphalan, which kills everything, and that’s what really takes your body down. Then it usually takes around 10 days for the ‘new cells’ to start to take hold.

I didn’t really eat, but the diarrhea was very real. I remember it was a very rainy and stormy March because I would look out the window, and the rain was going sideways. Barclay was there every day, bringing me clean clothes, at least bottoms. I spent 17 days there in the BM transplant unit at Sutter in downtown Sacramento.

He took care of all the hospital stuff and home stuff. What a guy!! So history, and through that and then Revlimid, Pomalyst, and finally Velcade. And here we are.

This week is my Velcade shot, but I won’t be taking the Dex. It’ll be interesting to see my labs. Will they go up a lot? Well, we won’t know till we do.

I’m so upset at the useless war tRump is doing. He’s like a madman for war or killing, or both, really. When does it stop? Where is the country headed? It scares me, that’s for sure.

I plan on going to the gym this morning. I haven’t been for the last 2 Sundays, so I want to do that, and the VW needs gas. If I’m super ambitious, I’ll go to the car wash too.

Then home stuff is bake the sourdough loaf, tidy things up, and do the LR zone. Next Sunday is Spring Forward with daylight savings. I just wish they would change the law and it would just be one time.

I know I’m not going to the pool tomorrow or Tuesday, as there was a notice up of Roseville Parks and Rec having meetings in the building, and parking was going to be limited. So probably on Wednesday, I’ll go down.

Other than that, same old, same old.