Category Archives: meal planning

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, California, cancer, canning tomato salsa, meal planning by

We woke up to rain so no walking today. I’m going to the Auburn gym later, so I’ll use the treadmill there.

I did all the canning yesterday and ended up with 9 pints of tomato sauce and 6 pints of chicken broth. One of the chicken broth didn’t seal which is very rare for me, but I think I had wiped the rim with the vinegar solution and left too much on.

It looks like there was some siphoning as well. As long as their sealed it’s fine.

I had both canners going on the stove, so that was new to me. but tomatoes only take 25 minutes in the water bath and chicken broth only 20 in the pressure canner. That cleared out quite a bit of space in the freezer, so I’m happy about that. My goal for the last month or so has been to use down the freezer items, and this certainly helped.

I don’t plan on making any jams this year. We just don’t eat enough jam to warrant it. I can buy a quality Bonne maman, and that will last a few months in the fridge. I do love canning, but it has to be something I’m going to use.

I don’t have a lot of house chores today. Mostly dust, and do another quick vacuum.

I’m planning soup for dinner. I have chicken tortilla soup and vegetable barley. I’ll do some homemade tortilla strips on the side. The rest of the week I’ll have to figure out.

I have my labs tomorrow and will see Dr. L on Thursday this week, so that will change up my swimming and other gym plans.

Menu Monday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, home stuff, meal planning by

Another week another menu. I guess the good thing is it keeps me accountable for what I have in the fridge and freezer/pantry.

Last night we had yummy artichokes, B had the TJ’s quiche and we had a pasta carbonara from TJ’s. The pasta was fair, I wouldn’t buy it again. I do like their frozen fettuccine alfredo though.

Monday- I have leftover rotisserie chicken. I might make chicken enchiladas or freeze the leftover chicken. I pulled some beans out of the freezer so that’s a possibility.

Tuesday- This normally would be taco Tuesday but if I do the enchiladas on Monday then this would be the day I use the BBQ. I have chicken burgers and bean burgers and some fries I can cook up.

Wednesday- I have some quinoa to use so I think I’ll do that with salmon.

Thursday- brown rice and? I could use a bag of chicken Kung Poa or maybe a tofu.

Friday- Another pizza night. I do have a coupon for a free pizza so I’ll either do that or use my frozen dough. I also have one frozen Costco pizza and I would like to use that up. Decisions, decisions,,,,

Saturday- TBD

Because we only have the Santa Fe now to use( the truck we don’t use very often and I don’t drive the truck at all), I’ll stay home while B goes to Sacramento for his scan. Too bad it wasn’t scheduled in Rocklin. That’s about half the time and distance.

I plan on doing my Monday house reset and then painting some window sills. Did you know they don’t sell high gloss paint in California anymore? At least that’s what the Ace hardware guy said when I went in to get a quart. I got semi-gloss but I’m sure that’s going to be somewhat different from the high gloss I’m used to.

Menu Monday

Posted in Blood test, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, Flylady, meal planning by

Happy St. Patricks day!!

We don’t really do the corned beef and cabbage. I like cabbage but mostly as sauerkraut or cole slaw. Tonight I’m planning baked tofu with sauerkraut and something else.

Tuesday- Probably tacos of some sort. I have some taco meat I made last week and froze so I’ll pull that out and open a jar of my home canned pintos.

Wednesday- I want to start using up the fish I have so I’ll either do salmon or cod. I have a box of Near East rice mix so I’ll make that up too.

Thursday- soup of some sort. This is questionable as I’m not sure what I have. I do have lots of ramen packs so that’s probably what I’ll do and add an egg and veggies.

Friday- I still have frozen pizza but I’m feeling like making homemade. I have an unopened bag of 00 flour so I could use that. plus I have mozzarella and some other toppings.

Saturday- I have a Trader Joe’s mac and cheese I want to use up so that may be it.

I’m home today and plan on doing a Monday tidy-up and home blessing day( which is just a few extra chores). Usually I like to go and do a quick clean of each zone and then something extra.

This week is mellow and no appts. Yay!! But I do plan on going to the gym and the pool at least once. I also want to get a few things at TJ’s like chili powder and ancho if they have it.

Our water bill comes out this week and then that’s it for March’s bills. I’m working on April’s budget this week too. I’m also hoping B gets in for that CT. He’ll probably need to go to Sacramento but that’s ok as long as it gets done. The sooner he gets it the sooner we’ll know how serious it is. 😦

Menu Monday on Tuesday and a few other things.

Posted in Blood test, California, cancer, cooking, library, meal planning, Walking by

We got to the park at 6:30 and had to use the headlamps for a bit. So this is an ok time for right now. It’ll start getting light earlier so we can keep backing up our time. My ideal is time is 6-6:30. although in the summer we are often out there at 5:30.

It’s a clear sunny day today but the next storm is expected tomorrow. My plan is to go the gym today, and the library then if the weather is awful later in the week I won’t feel as bad not going. I’m not a fan of driving in the rain.

The pantry challenge is going great.

Last night it was wonton soup except what I thought were wontons were periogi. Actually, it was quite delicious with lots of fresh grated ginger. Now I have to go find the wontons in the freezer. I tried one of the Costco beef burgers for lunch the other day. I only had half because they’re huge. But it was ok. Not great but I’ll try and use the rest up somehow. Not something I’d buy again.

Tuesday- tacos for Taco Tuesday. I have some crunch shells so I may do bean tacos.

Wednesday- Breakfast for dinner -pancake mix that needs to be used and scrambled eggs.

Thursday- macaroni and cheese from the freezer and a big salad.

Friday- one of the frozen pizzas

Saturday?? TBD

The good news is the ultrasound came back on the liver ‘unremarkable’. so that’s a very good thing. But it’s still not good that he’s still having some abdominal pain. I told him to ask Dr. Singhal if it could have to do with the gallbladder?? He’s going for labs either today or tomorrow so we’ll see what that looks like. This has certainly screwed up his surgery( although this is not official at all) but it’s just a waiting game.

Menu Monday

Posted in California, meal planning by

I have the sourdough lemon myer rosemary boule in the oven as I write this. Basically, it’s a no-knead bread that uses just sourdough. It’s not rocket science. I’ve been adding a 1/2 tsp yeast and that’s giving it a bit more of a rise. If you want to make the no-knead bread that was started by Jim Lathery(sp), just google it. He was the one who basically started the whole movement. Sourdough though is just a few folds and turns and then into the fridge for an overnight rise. Easy and delicious, especially as sourdough is better in general, for digestion or if there’s a sensitivity to wheat.

I’ve been making bread since 1975. Of course, those first loaves that were from Laurel’s Kitchen and Tassajara Bread Book left a lot to be desired. 🙂

Last night we had a curry with tofu, potatoes, peas and onion. I used TJ’s jar of red curry sauce. That’s a really good one to keep in the pantry for an easy meal.

Meals are not in any particular order. I sometimes switch meals around.

Monday- pasta and salad. I have a fettuccine alfredo in the freezer to use.

Tuesday- quesadillas with cheese,beans, etc

Wednesday- Soup. I have chicken and wild rice and vegetable barley from Costco. I’ll serve it with bread.

Thursday- TBD but maybe breakfast for dinner

Friday- pizza. I have a coupon for a free pizza from RoundTable so I may use that.

Saturday- YOYO.

Menu Monday

Posted in budgets, California, cooking, meal planning by

Last night, we did end up having the Costco ravioli. It’s their spinach and cheese ones. Quite good. I grilled baguette slices in some olive oil, and we had a big salad.

Monday- I took out a container of turkey chili, and we’ll have that. B will have the vegetarian barley vegetable soup. I’ll probably do another big salad.

Tuesday- I am defrosting some chicken, so I may do Mexican chicken, and B can have another veg chick patty. Maybe I’ll do a Mexican burger-type thing. I’ll need to check if I have rolls. I have lots of avocados in the fridge. The best tip ever I learned was to put the avocados in the fridge after they just start ripening. Right now, I must have 6 in there, and they’ll be good for a few weeks.

Wednesday- I have some dark rye bread and plan on Ruebens minus the meat. Basically, grilled cheese with sauerkraut with a Russian dressing.

Thursday- My daughter starts back at her librarian job this week so she works late Thursdays, so I’ll just do something for B and myself, maybe blueberry pancakes.

Friday- pizza of some sort.

Saturday- TBD, leftovers??

Well, I’m not sure what I’m planning today. It’s early yet, so I can think about it.

Menu Monday

Posted in bread, cooking, home stuff, meal planning by

Last week ended up kind of a mish-mash of my menus. I did some and not others. Oh well, I’m flexible.

Last night I made a Mexican chicken dish and veggie Chicken patty dish. I grilled the chicken and then when it was done dumped the rest of the salsa in the pan and topped it with Monterey Jack cheese. I did the same in another pan for the veggie chicken patty. We had salad on the side. BTW, Wico has these new chicken veggie patties and for the price point, you can’t beat it compared to Quorn or another name brand.

Monday- I’m either doing fish or the Costco Slice beef, which is sous vide. The reason I’m not sure yet is my son is spending the night so I’ll see which he prefers. I have salad either way.

Tuesday: Quesadillas, beans, and cheese. If there’s any beef left over, I’ll toss that in, too. I bought 2 bags of avocados from Costco so if there are any ripe I’ll top with that. BTW, once the avocados start to ripen put them in the fridge. They will last weeks in there.

Wednesday- Vegetable Barley soup from Costco with homemade sourdough

Thursday- ravioli with marinara sauce with salad

Friday – pizza of some sort.

Saturday- TBD

The sun is out today and it’s a lovely day to be home.

I’m still showing ( apple watch)somewhat elevated sleep dist indicating sleep apnea. There doesn’t seem to be any pattern as to why one day it’s not elevated and the next it is. Does anyone have sleep apnea and what did you do? If I could lose some weight I’m sure that would help:)

I probably should start on our taxes, but not today. 🙂

This was my last boule!

Mid week stuff

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, meal planning, swimming by

When I got to the pool Monday, the parking lot was fairly empty. It seems the warming pool was closed because of something so a lot of people weren’t there. Also, the lap lanes were not too crowded. I got my favorite lane by the stairs. I had a good swim and did 950 yards again. My guess is that’s about my limit right now. I was pretty tired when I got home.

I am really enjoying having the Apple watch. I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I do. Usually, I don’t like anything on my wrist but this has really helped me track my steps and swimming and the sleep stuff. I’d definitely recommend it if you’re on the fence.

The baguettes came out GREAT!

The recipe is straight forward and easy to follow. I wouldn’t buy the book though for just this recipe. I took a picture of the recipe to use later. Most of the other recipes are using more unusual grains like Eikorn which I don’t have. Still, this is a great recipe to have. I made this with rosemary and wowza!!

Today is a home day. Usually, I go to the gym but I don’t feel like driving. It’s still early yet so I may go to Costco and get a few things.

Here’s the front room without the rug. We took it up because it seemed every time we vacuumed it was full of lint and fibers. I think it was because the rug was a shag rug and it just had that stuff. I love the fact it’s so easy to clean and when I vacuumed there was very little stuff in the vacuum so my point was taken. I will get another rug eventually but it’ll be something like a Ruggable. I can’t afford that now, especially with the VW in the shop.

My labs came back with my Kappa up some to 19.8 so a bit of a jump from 18.2 but since I’m just over high normal, I’m not too worried. High normal is 19.4. It is what it is and every month there is some variation.

B has his labs today. He’s only going once a week now and all have been good. Tomorrow is the big day with the appt with Dr. Lee so we should have a good idea of what comes next.

The menu plan has changed a bit since I made it up. We had Boca burgers last night and tonight we’ll have the soup( pasta fagioli ). I used some of my canned beans, the Marcella, and kidney. I plan on canning more pintos very soon. It takes some planning and it is time-consuming with the pressure canner going.

Well, that’s it from mi casa.

Menu Monday and miscellany

Posted in Blood test, bread, California, cooking, meal planning, Political things by

The fires in SoCal are so awful. So many people lost everything. The power of nature is amazing and with fire, it’s hard to stop esp with the Santa Anna winds. Plus there are so many crazy people with conspiracy theories it’s enough to make you gag. Republicans keep spouting about not having enough water in fire hydrants. There’s plenty of water you idiots, but when there are dozens of hydrants being used there is of course going to be some effect. Geez, stick with the facts. It is concerning though with the orange man as president, will he be an asshole and withhold funds? Let us hope not for all of those people in LA that need it. Well, I try not to get sucked in but frankly, it is hard not to.

Menu for the week:

Last night we had the last of the breaded cod from the freezer with some fries and a salad.

Monday- I plan on making spaghetti with sauce and salad. I think I have some garlic bread in the freezer.

Tuesday- A freezer meal of chile rellenos, beans, and rice.

Wednesday- Baked tofu, with leftover potatoes from the freezer and broccoli.

Thursday- Soup, if I can get my act together. I wanted to make a Pasta Figlioli soup with Rancho Gordo beans.

Friday-Pizza, I really want to use up that frozen pizza but I haven’t made a homemade one in a long time so I may do that. I have a bag of 00 flour I can use.

Saturday- TBD???

I’m off for my labs and then swim. The warming pool is closed for maintenance so I’m not sure if that will impact the big pool. My backup plan is to go to the gym for a workout if it’s too busy. Mondays are like a box of chocolates, you never know what it’ll be.

My sourdough starter looks better this morning so I think when I get home I’ll make up the dough and then feed the other 2 I have in jars. ( I have 3 containers going to see which one does the best.)

Menu for the week and misc.

Posted in California, cooking, meal planning, Uncategorized by

I had a great swim yesterday except I overdid it so my low back is a little sore. Once I started moving around it was fine but getting out of bed was like,, urgh… Oh well, I surpassed my last swim yardage and got to 950 yards so I’m happy about that.

Sunday night-Turkey with some stuffing, salad, and nut loaf from the freezer.

Monday- leftover lentil soup and salad. I made a salad I saw on Facebook of chickpeas, cucumber, avocado, cherry tomatoes, parsley, and artichoke hearts. quite yummy.

Tuesday- I made a Greek pasta salad and I’m unsure what I’ll have with it. Maybe grilled tofu.

Wednesday- I want to make a turkey and wild rice soup with the leftover turkey. I’ll make B a ramen bowl.

Thursday- Something from the freezer to use up. I have some perogi’s from Costco to use. I wouldn’t buy them again. They were ok but not our usual fare.

Friday- Pizza, either make or get take out.

Saturday- Again something easy to use up freezer stuff.

Sunday- TBD.

I just finished the kitchen zone and I still need to vacuum. I thought of going to Trader Joe’s today but I think I’ll wait a bit maybe till Thursday. The only thing I do need is butter and the Lundberg wild rice and I can get those down at the Holiday.

Oh EXCITING! We scrolled through Amazon Prime and saw on masterpiece, the new season of Astrid. So we watched the first episode and it was very good. They definitely have snazzed it up some.

The afternoons are longer and it was light almost till almost 5:35. Even the angle of the sun coming down our driveway is different from a few weeks ago. Imbolc is Feb 2 so pretty soon it’ll be crossquarter.