Category Archives: simple foods

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, budgets, California, cooking, Flylady, home stuff, minimalism, Pantry, prepper pantry, simple foods, social security, Uncategorized, Walking by

A sunny Sunday but cold again. Still at 32 degrees and frosty on our walk this morning. The park was all frosty but it was a nice walk. It seems Great White Duck is now missing so we’re assuming it got taken by a predator. She/he has been around for maybe 4-5 years so that’s sad.

I worked on the bedroom zone and I plan on shampooing the carpet this week. I probably will also add in the LR zone too as there’s not a lot to do in that either. I do need to dust everything though.

I popped into the Auburn gym and felt the same about it as last week. The assisted weights are old and really dated compared to Roseville. The treadmills are also ‘dated’ to some degree. I was the only one using wipes on the equipment and it seemed most of the people there were ignoring wiping anything. I saw one old guy sneezing and snotting into his tissue and then go use a machine. Ewwww:(

Tomorrow I have my labs and then I might go down to the Roseville gym. I’m not committing yet because I may want to just come straight home and do some house tidying. The thing about being more minimal is it takes way less time to clean, tidy, or organize with a decluttered house. Still, things need to get done. Yesterday I washed the sunroom windows and washed the barkcloth cover I use on the couch out there. So everything in that room is done.

I also think having routines and daily to-do lists helps keep things organized. I almost always have my menu in place for dinner and I always keep my kitchen counters clear. If I had more storage space I definitely would keep my Kitchen Aid in a cabinet. Also, I think when our small microwave gives up the ghost I won’t replace it. I also keep the tea kettle on the counter. I really can’t change that as we use it a bazillion times a day.

The pantry challenge is going well and we are definitely using up things. This week I have some Dover sole to use up and from the big freezer, I’m planning on using the last ground turkey to make chili. I’m slowly bringing in all the pantry things from the prepper pantry and putting them in rotation. I’m pretty sure I won’t do a huge prepper pantry again. But I do want to keep doing pressure canned shelf stable foods. I don’t think I’ll do tons but I do enjoy the process and it is very convenient. So far the big winners are the BBQ sauce, enchilada sauce, chicken pot pie filling, and vegetable soup.

The pantry challenge also helped with my budget and I’m coming in way under what I planned. Our next month’s budget starts next week with our SS checks and then I’ll do a final tally. Let’s hope this debt ceiling shit doesn’t affect SS as that is all we’ve got!

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, Flylady, Pantry, simple foods by

The rain keeps coming but it looks like the sun will come out by Tuesday. Yeah!!! Fortunately, right now it’s raining but not a lot of wind. Almost no wind.

I went out to Auburn to get my Target order which was only Swiffer dusters( because I forgot them at Costco and now I had to pay Target prices for a few to get thru), and 2 Oxo that was on sale. Then I headed to the gym, used the treadmill, and did some weights. Their weight machines seem dated and old compared to the Roseville Rec center. Plus there weren’t a lot of choices. That’s ok, my primary reason to use this gym is the treadmill and a few weights to fill in between when I go down to Roseville.

B started the laundry and sheets so that’s done and he vacuumed.!!! Thank you!! He’s a keeper:) This week is the bathroom zone so I’ll get that done later or tomorrow. B gets his port out on Tuesday so my daughter is going to take the Santa Fe and drive him to UCD med center. It’s under anesthesia so he needs a driver. But that means I won’t go down to the pool Tuesday. I thought of going tomorrow but it’s MLK Jr day and I don’t want to be in traffic.

Last night I used up the last of the double-stuffed baked potatoes and tonight I plan on opening a jar of shelf-stable chicken pot filling. I made a pie crust so all I need to do is put it in the pan with the crust on top. I’m not sure what I’ll make for B maybe a different soup.

We’re watching a Britbox show, “Why didn’t they ask Evan?”It’s quite good and Hugh Laurie is in and I think he produced it.

All the Holiday stuff away and a photo of the dining area.

Here’s a photo of our ‘new ‘cat’ Chester that showed up out of nowhere. We don’t know where he came from but he’s very sweet and all the cats get along with him.

He does look like Gus so maybe the same father??? We’re pretty sure he’s fixed as he has the notch in his ear. But here he is laying on my lap. NONE of the other cats do this so it’s very sweet.

Winter Solstice

Posted in California, cooking, seasonal things, simple foods, Walking by

Yesterday was the Solstice and I am glad the longest night and shortest day are over. Of course here in California, it doesn’t really start to turn around and be that noticeable for a few weeks or so. Still, we will notice the increase in light probably in the afternoon.

Today is a run errands day. First to Safeway to get the fondue stuff for Christmas Eve. Then Target to get a calendar. I also will stop at Holiday Market( if I have any energy left) to get their coupon specials for the week.

I have one more night of beeswax Hanukkah candles left and then it’ll just be regular beeswax candles. My daughter has been reading out loud ” A Christmas Carol” while the candles burn down. Charles Dickens was a very flowery descriptive writer. It’s been fun.

I ended up with 10 1/2 pints of Seville marmalade. Some are more runny than others and I’m guessing it’s where the pectin was in the pot. I don’t mind it that way and it’s great as a sauce for chicken or tofu. Then the pear chutney ended up with 8 1/4 pints and we had one the first night and it was delicious.

Frugal Friday

Posted in California, cooking, simple foods, swimming by

We are in for another big storm later today and thru the weekend. I’m not going down to the pool or the gym since the rain is supposed to be heavy and with wind. Not my favorite combination. 😦 I figure I need to just accept I’ll swim when I can and if something comes up where I can’t go, just relax with it. I am already though thinking of how to swim and get my Velcade shot when the time comes. Lap swimming is only till 9:25am. so If I go later @ 8am I can swim and then go to infusion by 9:30 or so. I’m a planner so I need a plan in place or at least a tentative one.

Today is just a potter around the house day. I want to get some Hanukkah candles out and put out the dark blue star cloth I use every year. I don’t plan to do gift things every night for the first few nights. I plan on making some banana choc chip bread too.

Costco went well and it was busy but we found our way around and were out in 30 minutes. We kept it fairly tight without throwing lots of extra stuff in the cart and we came out at just over $300 so I was very happy about that. We bought 2 bags of coffee so that should get us thru till mid-January.

As far as Christmas shopping, I have a few more GCs to get. One for the garbage guy who works incredibly hard in rain, snow, etc, and one for each of the kids. I’m really terrible about thinking of gifts for them when they get whatever they want. I guess with a gift card they can just get something they want.

Gas prices are dropping and that’s very exciting. We got gas at Costco for $3.99 so wow, what a difference.

Here’s the recipe for the banana bread I’m using. It’s from a cookbook I got from the library.

The cookbook is “Bake” by Paul Hollywood.

Friday Things

Posted in California, cooking, freezer cooking, seasonal things, simple foods, Uncategorized by

I’m in the middle of making spinach and mushroom crepes. I had to go down to the Holiday Market for gruyere and ended up spending $77.00. Food is really expensive and it seems every time I’m in the store it’s almost $100. I haven’t totaled this month up but I’m sure it’s going to be VERY high. Both Costco and the Azure order(which will be here next week) were around $300. So right there that’s $600. Oh well, I’ll just blame it on the holidays and inflation. sigh^^>>^^.

The kids took off in the Santa Fe for Hollywood this morning. Hopefully, it’s a good trip for them and fun too. My daughter, whose an author of Gay/lesbian Vampires, Werewolves, and other unworldly beings books, is there for the Whatpad convention for paid writers. I think there are awards being given and she is up for one. Her books are read worldwide and she has a big following. My son and his friend are going to the world tour concert by Elton John at Dodger stadium.

I won’t be going to the gym or pool unless I have B drive me in the truck. I could use my daughter’s Honda Fit but it’s such a small car it makes me nervous. So that’s ok, I can wait til next week if necessary.

Our days continue to be beautiful. There are still leaves on the trees so probably in the next storm they’ll all come down. We had a tree person look at the snags on the bottom of the property and he quoted $1500. I just laughed and said they can fall. I would prefer they don’t fall on the neighbor’s fence again but I’m not paying that kind of money for 2 snags. I’m hoping we can find someone who’s a logger( and needs work) to drop them for $100.

Next week is Thanksgiving and I plan on having most of our simple meal prepped and done by Wednesday except for the turkey, I made the nut loaf yesterday and froze that. I’ll use the canned cranberry sauce I made and then make mashed potatoes, green beans and, stuffing. I’m sure my sister’s family,which is quite large as she had 5 kids and they all have kids, will miss her. We never spent Thanksgiving together but I’ll miss talking to her. We were never really close but in these last 15 years she has been there for me and my family. So I’ll raise a glass to her. 🙂

Simple Sunday

Posted in cooking, Flylady, meal planning, simple foods, Uncategorized by

Our fall weather continues to be beautiful but changes are coming this week with rain Tuesday and Wednesday. Hurray for some rain! I guess we’re ready. We still need more firewood but have enough for the immediate future.

Yesterday, I made the pressure-canned enchilada sauce.

I ended up with 6 pints so I’m happy about that. I kept one out to use this week in a recipe and test it out. Last night we had one of the white bean ragouts I canned it was delicious. Overall, I am very pleased with trying pressure canning. This morning I prepped some onions, celery, and B peeled carrots and potatoes for a beef stew. I had two packages from Costco in the freezer that needed to get used up. So I got everything into my new All Clad stock pot and heated up. I had to wait to actually can it because I wanted to check out going to the gym on Sunday. So that’s what I’m doing now. The canning time is 90 minutes and you really don’t want to walk away from the canner( at least too far).

There wasn’t a lot of traffic on I 80 and the gym was basically deserted until 10:00am when I was leaving. So I might consider this more often. I’m all about going to the gym( or anywhere) when there are no people around. Introvert here! 🙂

We’re planning a Costco trip this week to get a bunch of things but mostly coffee. I think it’ll end up on the more expensive side as we need batteries, coffee, organic chicken, dairy, etc. Just the basics but everything is so expensive now. 😦 Increasing our food budget to $800 though has made a difference and I had both kids add some extra on their ‘rent’ to cover food costs( and everything else).

This week I have my annual mammogram and that’s it. Just my regular routines.

This week Flylady is in the Living room and then the entryways since it’s the beginning of the month. I need to tidy the patio anyway because there’s left over garden stuff all around. It’s time to get it all put away. I have some garlic to plant too. I read up on it and so you use your biggest bulbs that you had harvested and that’s what you plant. The ones I picked are so nice I hate to use them but I want garlic next year.

On a political rant, I read in the WP that Musk was contributing to the right -wing conspiracists that Pelosi’s husbands attack was all staged. I mean how sick is that. They even went so far to say he was drunk and this was his male prostitute. Such evil thinking. And to think now Musk owns and controls Twitter is down right scary. I have never used Twitter although I think I set up an account years ago. I probably should see about completely deleting that. It really makes me wonder where it will go or end. Misinformation is rampant about everything. Voting fraud, this attack on Pelosi, everything seems so out of control. Well, I voted and I’m very glad I live in California even if I do live in a very red county.

September 30th and another turn around the sun.

Posted in budgeting, California, camping, cooking, home stuff, simple foods, travel, Uncategorized by

I’ve got to say it is VERY Weird to turn 70. I’m not sure if that means anything at all since you can’t stop time unless you’re dead and gone, I suppose. Well, I’m at a good place in my life. I’m swimming and doing the weights(although I’d like to be at the Rec center more), walking, and going out with the RV whenever possible. We have our SS and that covers most of what our monthly bills are and our 2 children pay us ‘rent’ and that covers the incidentals. I feel very grateful to have what we need at this point in our lives. Down the road , who knows really.

Yesterday I used the pressure canner again and made vegetable soup. For my birthday, my daughter bought me the ALL-Clad stock pot which is 16 qts and needed to make large amounts of prepared food for canning. I also got from her the new Alexa which is fun. My son got me a Lodge loaf pan which looks great. Very sweet of him. He really always thinks of the greatest gifts. I’m terrible at coming up with ideas.

I’m getting more comfortable with the pressure canner. This recipe made 7 qts and processed for 85 minutes. I bring a chair into the kitchen and keep an eye on it although nothing seems untoward. This morning I’ll wash the jars and label. I had one jar ‘siphon’ a little which is some seepage. It doesn’t make the canned product unsafe just slightly lower liquid in the jar so I’m planning on using that in the next few days. I’m really excited about learning this new skill. The Mirro canner seems to be working fine. I went and checked out the All American but still not ready to do that. Maybe next year. I ordered another pressure canner book so maybe they’ll be some new recipes to try. Ball has a few in their book and online but it seems limited.

B bought me some lovely flowers too.

On to Frugal Friday…

We went to Costco last Sunday and stocked up with coffee, bagels, bread, and lots of other stuff I can’t remember and,non food stuff like AA batteries, laundry soap, dish soap, TP etc. This all goes on October’s food budget. I decided to up our budget to $800 and I think that will be the right amount. We’ll see:)

We took Buggie in for that alignment that was needed but the mechanic( a different garage) couldn’t do it because he couldn’t get the bolt or something undone. So I guess we’re going to just leave it for now. He said it would be @ $900. After the expensive other garage stuff, I’m kinda done for now. I only use Bugs to go to Auburn and maybe drive 1500 miles a year at the most. So I’m not too worried. We did get the 2 new front tires though.

We were able to get a reservation at Nevada Beach for next week so we’re heading up there for a few days. The weather looks perfect. I also booked New Brighton for March. It might a little early to go there but you never can tell with March weather.

Simple Sunday and we got RAIN!!!!

Posted in California, cooking, covid-19, Flylady, husband, ikea, simple foods, Walking by

We woke up to rain and more is forecast for today, tomorrow, and Tuesday. The Mosquito Fire is still going but probably this is the boost the firefighters need. Yay. We walked with umbrellas but it was only a drizzle by then.

I started some minestrone for dinner in the crockpot using the cranberry beans from Ranch Gordo. Plus lots of veggies, onions, garlic, tomato sauce, and water. I think I might make some cheese toast on the side. This week’s menu will probably include some chicken, tofu, rice, and maybe a pasta dish. I reordered from amazon the freezer containers ( which were definitely worth it) and so I want to do some lasagnas and cheese enchiladas. I’ve tried freezing the mac and cheese and it just doesn’t freeze well. ( my version). I think you need to use Velveeta or maybe evaporated milk. Homemade mac and cheese is really easy. There’s a blogger on Youtube that thinks Wincos mac and cheese is real ‘home’ cooking. I don’t think she’s ever made homemade, probably too much work.

My arm is still sore from the Omicron shot but no ‘real’ reaction. I kind of felt off but that’s about it.

Tomorrow, I plan on going to the gym although if it’s raining too hard I won’t. Roseville is usually milder than here so that’s positive.

This week is the bedroom zone and closet. I will move my canning jars out to the garden shed as I’m done for the season except for applesauce. I’m planning to over to Apple Hill near Placerville to get apples, probably 20lbs. I’d like to get some heirloom apples but I’m not sure that’s what they have. There is a farm over in Petaluma that has heirloom apples but that’s 2-3 hours over there. Then I would like to put up the winter curtains but then I thought maybe I’ll do a between season one in a light linen. I’ll check if Ikea has any.

I have my appt with Dr. Laptalo on Thursday which happens to be B’s birthday. Not sure what he wants foodwise but usually the birthday person chooses their favorite meal.

Well, that’s a wrap.

Friday Things

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, California, cooking, home stuff, seasonal things, simple foods, Uncategorized by

It’s been a weird week. It started off with me having to take Buggie back to the garage because my fan speeds were not working. The girl at the desk became very defensive and I was also defensive that my fan wasn’t working and I wanted it fixed. It boiled down to when I brought my car in my fan was working when I picked it up(well my daughter did),the fan speed was stuck on high. I asked Sachi and she said the fan was on when she picked it up and just thought with the smoke and fires the garage had it running high. So the whole escalated the next day with the owner calling me and really ripping into me about how I was rude and ‘an awful person’ for confronting his daughter. Of course, I said look at it from my side,that I just spent $3000 on the car and I get home and my fan is not working. Well, it volleys back and forth that no way did they do anything to my fan and it must have been my daughter driving it home( which is 10 minutes folks) and cranked the fan on and broke it. Really??? are you kidding me.? no I didn’t say that. I just said, I don’t know what happened but she said the fan was on high when she drove it home and she didn’t touch the dial. I apologized that I offended his daughter but again, my point was my fan is not working. So, in long run, he said he spent ALL DAY fixing something( the switch??). I said thank you and took my keys and left. Obviously, I will never go back for service there. It’s always so weird to me how things can turn into an event when I simply went in saying I want my fan fixed since when I brought it in it was working and when I drove it next the fan was not working. I’m sure I was intense to a degree but not ‘rude’. Oh well, I thought of doing a negative Yelp review, but then just figured why bother?

Other than that, Tuesday I had my labs and my CBC, CMP are all the same pretty much and my Kappas just came in this morning and went up to 22.3 mg/L from 20.1. so an increase but not too dramatic. It seems my numbers are holding steady for the time being.

This morning is my covid booster so I’m planning on doing that and then going to Safeway for a few things and then home. Usually, Saturday is my swim day but I’m leaving that open as I don’t know if I’ll feel lousy or not.

Budget-wise, it was a good week with nothing extra spent except some salad mix, wine, and bananas. bb

I’ve been doing some batch cooking for the freezer. I made beef stew in the Instant Pot and then froze 2 quarts, lentil soup, and froze 2 quarts. A yummy quiche from Le Creuset cookbook. It came out really good with fresh thyme.

I got a lot done around the house yesterday and felt good about that. I changed the shower curtain, we put the rug back down in the bedroom, made the lentil soup, and washed all the couch covers. So everything is fresh for fall. I’m having B take out the cooler in the bed room this weekend and I’ll put up the fall/winter cutains soon.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, camping, cooking, Flylady, Lake tahoe, simple foods, Uncategorized by

Our day started with a lovely walk with no one else until our last round. This past week every day we walked there were way too many people for me. I don’t mean just one or two but probably 8-10 people and that’s at 6am. Oh well, today was nice and the temperature cool.

We only have a week till we head up to Tahoe and I’m sure looking forward to it. We don’t have any plans to do anything yet but we’ll do a lot of hiking, beach time, walking, and just camp stuff. I’m working on our menu and know we’ll do a few meals on the Weber. I’ll also use the Staub for a few meals too.

This morning I’ve done some meal prep for the week. I’m marinating the tofu for the “Superiority Tofu burger , this is from a restaurant in Greenwich Village NY. It’s marinated overnight in a pickle brine and then fried. Then I’m soaking some black beans for a recipe my daughter found of’One pot Rice and Beans”, I made up two w.w wraps with cheese, spinach, tomato and, a slice of ham.( no ham on the veggie one). And finally, I made our favorite chard soup. ( there are 2 jars of this in the fridge).

I think I may still grill the chicken up and then we could have that in a few dishes like tacos, or bean bowls.

Yesterday I made another batch of tomato sauce. I cooked it down for about 2 hours and it had a lovely consistency.

I prefer not to use the quart jars as it takes more water in the canner to cover them but I wanted the larger size this time. I think I have close to 12 jars of sauce right now down.

I’ve been having fun with a few house projects. One is simply using one of my vintage tablecloths to make a curtain to cover the one opening under the counter. Who knows if we’ll ever be able to afford a kitchen remodel so trying to make it more functional and yet less cluttered is important to me. Behind this curtain are all my cooking oils and vinegars.

Then I’ve been enjoying knitting some dishcloths. I really like the repetitiveness of knitting. It’s probably a right brain/left brain thing.

This week is low key with only my regular gym and swim days. Barclay is going to take the truck to Costco to fill up with gas and then get a few items in Costco. If I need to get anything, I’ll go into Winco which is across the street from the pool.

Flylady is the LR zone and the entryways. I bought this really lovely Tartan print runner from Target and love the fall colors of it.

The napkins are a nice linen blend which is always my favorite.