Category Archives: Pantry

Five on Friday

Posted in Blood test, California, cooking, freezer cooking, Pantry, seasonal things, simple foods, Uncategorized, Walking by
  1. The washer is all installed and I’ve done 3 loads of laundry already. Yay for a laundry machine. It’s definitely been upgraded from the model we had and seems to have a larger bin capacity.
  2. Last night B and both kids went to see Oppenheimer so I had the house to myself, a real rarity these days. I didn’t do anything different than normal but it was nice to be here alone. They said the movie was outstanding so if you’re into going to movies add this one in.
  3. This morning the park path was like a freeway. Ugh, at least the AH seems to be on sabbatical again. Still, when there are 12-15 people at 6am, I’m wondering ‘WHY????’ I guess it’s summer but also there really isn’t anyplace else in this area with a paved path. There is one other park ( there might be 2)in Auburn that has a paved path but I’m not sure if it’s a loop or not, since I haven’t been there. We have tons of dirt paths especially along the American River but that’s not, to me , for daily walking. When we first moved here I walked all the back trails alone. In hindsight, with mountain lions around, that may not have been the smartest thing to do although I did eventually get an alert whistle and spray to carry.
  4. This morning I made zucchini bread, banana bread, ratatouille and, pickled jalapenos.
  5. I’m not going back to the pool till next week probably Tuesday. Monday I have a fasting blood test for my PCP to check thyroid and lipids.

Yesterday I also made turkey chili to freeze. I was going to can it but I didn’t have the amount needed( like 3lbs) so I just froze it. It was delicious though. I ordered more freezer containers in the 16 ounce size. This is very convenient way to stockpile food.

There is something amazing about growing your own food and preserving it. The ratatouille was all either grown by us or from the farm.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Flylady, Pantry by

Another rainy day! At least we had a few days of sunshine which were so nice. We didn’t even walk this morning because of the rain. Usually, I will walk in the rain anyway but this morning I was just done with it. I figured I was going to the gym so I’d get my walking in there.

This morning I started on the pressure-canned split pea soup. Right now it’s in the canner going for 90 minutes. I got the split peas cooked first then turned them off while I went to the Auburn gym. It was nice because almost no one was there. Then after getting home I finished the soup with chopped carrots and onions( thanks B) and let that cook for another 30 minutes.

Our flowering cherry tree is in full bloom. It’s a cheery site on a rainy day. Plus the daffodils are up and in full bloom too.

Tomorrow, I have my eye doctor appt for a macular scan. I’ve been on the fence as to whether to do the surgery and so far it’s been no, I don’t want to deal with it all. I guess as long as my left eye can compensate, that’s good enough. If it were to get worse then I’d have to do something.

The rest of the week is just normal stuff. I don’t have any shopping to do and that’s a relief. We might do a lunch date on Thursday but we’ll see.

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, home stuff, Pantry, reading, Uncategorized by

I guess it’s been a frugal week. By not going to Capitola we saved gas money and food money. So there’s that. But then I wanted to go to Costco and finish getting the extra things on my list like batteries, cheese, canned tomatoes, and some other small items, which added up to another $250. Oh, and B threw in a case of Sierra pale ale. Still, I won’t need to go back to Costco till the end of April when the coffee will need replenishing.

Yesterday, after Costco I picked up my library books. It’s a good haul of around 10 books. I’m really enjoying Phillip Margolin’s books.

When I got home I took the chicken broth I had made the day before, skimmed the fat off, and got the pressure canner ready. The chicken broth only takes 25 minutes at 15lbs of pressure so it went quickly. So far then I’ve done chicken soup, chicken broth, and pinto beans. Next is the split pea soup but I don’t plan on doing that till Sunday.

All our big annual spring bills are done which include property tax, Allstate, and IRS. So now there’s nothing big till Fall and I’ll start saving up for that starting in April. Oh BTW, we found out that the eviction of our neighbor was due to a foreclosure that happened last year but took this long to process and serve the eviction. Amazingly, it sold at auction for $105,000 which for Meadow Vista is shocking. You can’t even buy land for that price so whoever bought it basically ‘stole’ it from her but really she was the one who let it go. Sad… Now why she didn’t sell and make some money, IDK. Maybe her health has declined so much she wasn’t really thinking straight. The owners I’m sure will remodel and flip this house as it’s still redeemable. They have had the junk removal people there at least 3X with a big truck. As I’ve said she was a hoarder! I still feel sad about it.

Today is just home pottering around day. I’m doing some house chores and am working on a thrift store load and food pantry drop off for next week.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in cooking, library, Pantry by

First, The Sun is out!!! It was so nice yesterday to have sunshine. Sitting in the sunroom the temperature was 72 degrees!!! Today looks just as nice.

We got thru the storms and wind with no trees coming down. We still have too many very large Ponderosa pines and they are worrisome. My wind phobia is not what it used to be. I literally had to leave and go somewhere. But most of the problem trees are gone but we still have maybe 6 that need to be taken down. Right now we can’t afford to do that at all.

Yesterday, I pressured canned chicken soup. I’m thankful for the person who passed on their canner to me so I could learn this process. Here are the pintos from the other day.

I’m thankful the library in Roseville is such a great place. I have never ( and will never)gone back to Placer Co library after the whole thing with how they treated me but now I have the Roseville one and it’s right next to the gym!! Win-win.

Here’s Mr. Gus

He’s a funny cat.:)

Wild California Weather or Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgets, California, camping, home stuff, ikea, Myeloma, Pantry, swimming by

We are still getting clobbered. Right now it’s been raining here nonstop and there’s some wind. There are flood warnings everywhere for N Ca, specifically the Sierras and the Bay area. At this point, I’m guessing we’re canceling New Brighton because of the flood dangers in the Santa Cruz Mtns. Plus we’ll be right on the coast so I’m not too comfortable with the whole idea. Also, the day we leave it’s raining nonstop all day in Capitola. Reserving something in March is always a gamble, so we’ll be flexible. I do hate to give up the spot because it was an electric one. Oh well, that’s life.!!!

This week was busy but not too bad. I swam on Wednesday and that was lovely. I went to the gym on Tuesday and the library. We went to Costco on Thursday( yesterday), and holy cow was it busy. We didn’t have a clue as to why. It seemed just a regular Thursday. Weird. Anyway, I got lots of things to bulk up the freezer and pantry. I plan on going back in soon to get a few things more that we need like AA batteries. I didn’t want to add them to the cart yesterday.

After Costco, we went to our favorite pizza place, Celestino’s which is the closest to a NY pizza I’ve ever had out here. Although I left NY in 1970, thankfully, NY pizza has always been near and dear to me since I grew up right next to Pepe and Eddies. Now that might seem strange since I grew up on Quaker Rd in Highland Mills which back then was VERY rural. But right up the road, actually, the end of the road was this Italian family who ran the restaurant. There was the grandmother, Nonnie, Eddie, Pepe, and 2 children, Barbara and Johnny. Johnny was a few years older than me and we did play together occasionally. Anyway, their pizza was the best, ever.

We also spent money at Ikea but I brought cash for that from my ‘home’ money. The Ivar shelf is absolutely fabulous. I wish I had room for a second one. Maybe if I look at the space closer, I may be able to fit it in but that would mean using most of the wall and I’m reluctant to do that. ( at least for right now).

I should have bought another shelf and actually when I did my calculations I had the extra shelf in there but Ikea sells the Ivar as separate pieces. I had figured the 5 shelves( as shown on the website were all together but they weren’t. I got 6 shelves instead of the 7 I had planned thinking that was all I’d need but I can see I need the extra one for pint jars and half pints. I love that I can see what I have left in the canned goods and what I need to do this summer.

This is such a clever system and the total was $115. So a fabulous deal.

Today is a home day and with the rain and wind, I’m glad to be home baking and tidying things up.

Overall, an expensive week but since it’s all stuff we don’t normally do, I’m ok with it.

My labs came in with another 6pt increase. 🙁 so now I’m at 36.7mg/L for kappa Light chains. It’s a bummer but as I’ve said,” your blood is your blood and it is what it is”. I did go back and looked at the graph for my increases in 2019 and they really started doubling at about 55mg/L. So in one month they went from that to almost 100. And then the next month almost to 200mg/L. So that’s what I don’t want to happen this time. The Myeloma cells are clearly on the increase and why wait till I’m at 600mg/L to start treatment. We don’t even know if Velcade will be effective since this will be my 3rd time on it. Lots of unknowns.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, bread, California, camping, Flylady, Pantry, Uncategorized by

More snow!!!

Yikes, we are getting clobbered. I -80 is closed again for the billionth time. Well better that, than tons of accidents, which there still are plenty of.

I made it home just in time from the pool when the rain/snow started coming in. This morning it was snowy on the ground but we still went for a walk.

I did a fairly big shop at Winco and was glad to get that done. I bought lots of produce and some items for the pantry like mustard and jalapenos. The store was very busy which thought was odd since all the Saturdays I’ve been there it’s mostly empty. ???rain maybe??

I just finished the Kitchen zone and have now started another WW bread dough to rise. My order from King Arthur came super fast, and that had the vital gluten you add to your dough and the baker’s dry milk. I think in the bigger picture, I’d rather use the Kitchen Aid to make the dough and let it rise in the bowl. I’ll still think about it but I think maybe the bread maker will go sometime this summer.

I’ve been thinking about where to put more shelves for the shelf-stable pressure canned and regular canned goods. I came up with behind the bedroom door is kind of empty space that could handle a shelf unit. The french door is about 11.5 inches from the wall so a unit would fit. This is the one I’m looking at.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/ivar-shelf-unit-pine-s49248311/

I would get 2 extra shelves because some jars like pints don’t need a lot of room. Since I did the kitchen zone and tomorrow is my day to not do any workouts, I plan to go to Ikea. ( unless it’s snowing:( )

If it works, it will free up the closet shelves. Since we only have one closet in this house, storage is always a challenge. Because it’s open shelving, I may have to hang a cloth or something as I have issues with too many visual things around. Speaking of which maybe I need to remove some things that are on shelves or the wall. Every once in a while I remove some items to see how it looks. What helps me the most is taking pictures and then looking at them with a critical eye.

This week is a fairly normal week with swimming and the gym. We’ll do Costco sometime too this week. Next week is our trip to New Brighton, but again it depends on the weather. If it’s raining here and there, then no. Capitola’s weather is usually milder than here so there’s that.

Five on Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, California, camping, Pantry by
  1. I went to the gym yesterday and that was good. I plan on swimming tomorrow but we have another winter storm coming in. There was a bazillion truck on the freeway this morning. There were also 3 CHP’s out there too.

2. I plan on going to Winco after the pool too. The only groceries this week were from the Holiday market and it was to fill in stuff before a more extensive shop. I saw in the Costco ad that coffee is on sale so we will plan a Costco trip next week.

3. I have the freezer almost empty which is sort of amazing. I’ll start restocking the freezer with this next Winco and Costco shop. I know for sure we need more frozen veggies, hash browns, fries, and stuff like that. Plus I need to make some ready-to-eat meals like mushroom crepes as they do freeze well. Plus tortillas which freeze well and English muffins.

4. This week from the pantry I used my canned salsa, white bean ragout, veggie soup, and a jar of black beans. These were all pressure-canned and shelf stable. This year my goal is to make 6 new pressure canned recipes.

5. My labs won’t come in till next week so I’ll just have to see what they bring. The week of March 15 we have reservations at New Brighton but it’s a BIG??? depending on the weather. We really don’t want to trailer in rain if we can help it.

This is 6 but I thought I mention a new to me author, Phillip Margolin. I like his Robin Lockwood series. Quite enjoyable.

Friday Things

Posted in books, California, camping, meal planning, Pantry, reading, travel, Uncategorized by

Well, our trip to Napa has been on /off again till this morning when we checked the weather again and it looks ok. My concern was for the rain/snow here. But now it seems like that will hold off till Thursday. I guess we’ll see what it is tomorrow because you need 48 hrs cancellation. So I think that will be ok. It’s saying rain here Tuesday but not in Napa.

The gym was good although it seemed there were some new people I hadn’t seen before. I chatted with one of the guys from the pool and it seems he goes to the pool almost every day. The traffic wasn’t too bad for a Friday.

I just finished rereading for the hundredth( okay maybe 10th time) time Mary Stewart’s “The Crystal Cave’. I happened to see this in the Free Little Library at the park. Those books were a huge influence on me. I loved all things Arthurian especially Merlin. I guess I always have had my head in the clouds. As matter of fact, it was around the time when I was pregnant with Sachi that we called the baby “Em” which was short for Emryus, Merlin’s name was g Ambrosius. Fun fact. I’m going to hit the bookstore and see if I can get the second in the trilogy, ‘The Hollow Hills”.

I’m not planning on a pizza tonight so I’ll need to figure something out. ???? The whole pantry challenge has been great to do and we really used up stuff. There are still a few more random things and I still have lots of shelf-stable soups and meals. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do this summer /fall for food storage. Some things worked great and others I won’t do again. It’s a bit of trial and error really.

I did come to the conclusion to NOT get a meat/bread slicer or electric knife. I guess it really came down to not wanting another appliance. So it took a while to process but I’m there now.

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, budgets, California, camping, Flylady, meal planning, Pantry, travel, Uncategorized by

Another rainy Sunday.

I went to the gym in Auburn(Anytime Fitness) and did the treadmill and weights. Then I went to Safeway for some groceries to tide us over till we do Costco.

So far the menu planning for the pantry this week is:

Cheese/chile tamales from the freezer( used up the last 4) with refried beans and salad

Beer Brauts from the freezer( the last pack) with peppers, sauerkraut, canned baked beans( my shelf stable beans I canned, and Boca burger for B.

Chickpea curry over brown rice with broccoli( using up broccoli)

Tofu burgers

Chicken noodle soup/ lentil veggie soup

I’ll see what else is in the freezer and add a few more meals. I probably can’t get thru all February but I know I can do another week at least.

I’m back making some sourdough and have done a few loaves already. I plan to freeze 1/2 of each loaf so we have bread ready for toasting or grilled cheese.

I’ll see what else is in the freezer and add a few more meals. I probably can’t get thru all of February but I know I can do another week at least.

I’m back making some sourdough and have done a few loaves already. I plan to freeze 1/2 of each loaf so we have bread ready for toasting or grilled cheese.

There’s nothing on the agenda this week so It’ll just be normal stuff. B did book us a reservation at Napa RV in a few weeks. There are full hook ups which is always a treat and that’ll give us a chance to take Rubi out for the first time this season. It’s only 2 nights but it’s also only an hour and a half away. Maybe with towing. We really enjoyed our stay there last time and knew we wanted to go back. Unless there’s a really terrible storm we’ll go even with a little rain.

The Flylady zone is the kitchen if you want to do Flylady. Just set a timer for 15 minutes and declutter, wipe and clear counters, be sure there are no dishes in the sink or drainer, tidy shelves too. Just do what you can in 15 minutes and then do it again tomorrow. I have a laminated sheet that has my chores for the kitchen and I off each one when I’m done.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, Myeloma, Pantry, Uncategorized by

It’s almost the end of January and the pantry challenge is going great. I will continue into February. I’ve come in @ $400 in groceries for the month. For the four of us, that’s really good. The pantry and the freezer are decreasing so that’s a good thing. I still have quite a bit to use up.

Last night I made Sole Milanese.(Ina Garten recipe) I made way too much but that’s what was in the freezer bag. Note to self: (portion out the fish better). Tonight is usually pizza night but no one feels like that so I think I’ll just do a simple pasta dish. Here’s the pizza from last week. I’m looking forward to using the Ooni outside when the weather changes.

I have February’s budget done and in place. I plan on looking at starting taxes this next week. It should be quite simple. I think we have all the things I need. We did get a 1099 for the California relief something. I guess that was a taxable amount. Not sure why they’d give you a refund and then expect it to be taxed. Oh well, who knows how anything in the government works.

We had our Date Thursday yesterday at Chipolte. It was ok. It seemed like an awful lot of people getting take out. I guess we don’t go out to eat very often so it’s always a surprise the amount of people doing it. But I am trying to get us to do one thing a week like this.

This was a sunset but my phone didn’t really capture the colors well. It was orangey and pink. this is looking west out our bedroom window.

Well, that’s it for today.