Meal planning has been going well. We had a fun ‘ Tim Walz tator tot hot dish’ last week. I didn’t use ground turkey but a sprinkle of sausage on the meat eaters’ side. Then there was cheese, eggs, and a can of fire-roasted diced chilies. It was a fun meal.
Last night we had the brown rice bowls with black beans( my home canned ones), salad toppings, cheese, sour cream, avocado, and some steak tips.( for the meat eaters)
The rest of the week will include;
grilled mushrooms over egg noodles and salad
tofu burgers
egg salad sandwiches( I think) this may be optional
pizza of some sort, either homemade or takeout
grilled chicken with baked potatoes( I have in the freezer)
a soup of some sort.
I want to go through my pantry boxes and pull out anything that might be close to expiration. Most of my pantry boxes( those are the Far Niente wine crates) are half empty since I’m not really doing any stockpiling. I think keeping the basics like pasta etc, is good but I don’t need to go over board. If there is another pandemic, then we’ll live with what have or live without it. That about sums it up.
Exciting, the debate tomorrow. Let’s hope tRump makes an ass of himself!!!!
A nice Sunday walk with cool temperatures. This coming week looks really nice with highs in the 80’s, finally!
This morning I’m processing more tomatoes and will water bath them tomorrow. I am also making some chicken broth in the IP. If anything, the IP is worth the money just for chicken broth and beans!! After it cools, I’ll put it in the fridge and then pressure can later.
I tried a new recipe from Cooks Illustrated, where you roll the lasagna noodles to make a mock manicotti. I thought it was ok but both B and my daughter liked it and I thought it was better the second day. I’m not sure I’ll keep the book, but I’ll see if I want to try another recipe in it.
I’m not going into the Auburn gym as I feel tired this morning. Probably from swimming yesterday. I often have a down day after a swim day I guess, because I’ve used a lot of muscles.
I did the bathroom zone and with the new tile and floor it’s super easy to keep clean. I’m hoping we can get the bedroom and closet done in the same flooring next month. I do love the Wabi Sabi-ness of the old fir floors but they are impossible to really get clean. I suppose if we were ambitious enough we’d rent a floor sander and redo them and seal them. That’s what we did 30 years ago. But I think I’d rather have the laminate.
This week is my Velcade shot and the B’s biopsy on Friday. So a few appts, but manageable. When we get too many appts. I get anxious. Based on the last biopsy, it’s going to be at least a week if not more to get results. Last time it was 2 weeks. I have a feeling it’s going to be inconclusive again, but what do I know.
Here’s one of our dinners this week. A spinach tomatoe frittata.
What have you been cooking? One of my favorite bloggers, Sue from A simpler life, always posts her shopping and food. I really enjoy seeing what she buys. Plus the prices seem way cheaper than here.
We have some smoke in the air due to the Chico fire. That’s the one where the guy pushed a burning car into a gully. He has been arrested so there’s that. But our temperatures are cool and today’s high is only in the mid 80’s.
We had a nice walk. A few other people showed up but we were leaving by then. The other day B found a dollar bill by where we parked and that was fun. He’s going to buy a lottery ticket with it. 🙂
Yesterday was very busy around here. My son came to do some things in the barn. He’s over Covid and feeling good. He helped B take the last load to the dump and also they did cardboard. I think he’s quite concerned about his Dad and wants to help here where he can. His birthday is August 7, so he’ll come over after work. We’ll have some kind of dinner and then cake.
After getting home from the pool, I started the pressure canner for black beans. I got 5 pints done. Then I had to process the tomatoes from the other day so I water bathed them and got 4 pints. So, it was a busy kitchen day.
Today, I’m trying out the Instant Pot for French Onion soup. It’s a simple recipe so we’ll see how it tastes. I didn’t have any sherry(it called for cream sherry??) so I just did the vegetable broth. I’ll make some croutons from leftover sourdough and I have some gruyere cheese.
We finally have a cooling off period so I’m thankful for that. Unfortunately, next week looks worse than this week with Wednesday being 110. Yikes! I’m supposed to go to Sacramento to see Dr. L but I’m going to reschedule this morning after they open. I’m not driving into Sacramento when it’s that hot.
I’m thankful for a day to just potter around and do some extra things. I want to steam-mop the studio and vacuum. We moved the Ikea sofa out to the studio so I want to vacuum that too. Plus the windows need washing. I may not get to it all but some.
I’m grateful for my swim yesterday, It was not too busy so that made it nice. After that I went over to Winco for strawberries. I think Winco has the lowest prices so I bought 5 containers. They were $1.48 ea. I have seen them as low as.99 but not yesterday.
I’m thankful I was able to come home from that and still have the energy to make strawberry jam. I used 4 containers, so that was $5.96. I ended up with 10 half-pint jars plus 3 quarter-pint jars. So overall a good savings. I don’t plan on any other jam-making so this will last the year.
I’m thankful that B has his medical things organized and is going for a CT scan to see if his weight loss is related to something intestinally. He’s actually eating much better so that’s an encouraging thing.
I’m not so thankful that the bathroom now has another issue. We thought the floor would be done yesterday but when B pulled up the tiles, the floorboards had water damage around the toilet. So we are now in stop, regroup, plan phase again. He’ll need to take the toilet out and repair the floorboards. All I can say is Fuck, it’s always something. At least it was discovered now instead of 10 years from now. The area is pretty small so hopefully, it’s an easy fix. Still, it means removing the toilet, putting in a new ring, etc.
I plan on making my sourdough bread this morning. I added more flour to my starter so it should be ready around noon.
Here’s one of our dinners this hot week. Scambled tofu with spinach.
This was an interesting book with lots of recommended reading.
this is little Cherry Rat. She’s the only girl besides mama cat.
Here are pressure canned beans, Rancho Gordo pintos, and Marcellas.
Two of the 10 half-pint jars. I skimmed as much foam off as I could but there’s always some left. Any canners out there with hints. I seem to remember something about adding a teaspoon of baking soda??
I guess my daughter brought home a cold from work this week and now I have sniffles and a runny nose. It’s not terrible but still, my head feels like it has cotton in it. I’m not sure I’ll go to the Auburn gym then. I did walk this morning so at least I got some exercise in. This is probably the first time I’ve had a minor cold in maybe 3 years. I do get seasonal allergies which is what we all thought my daughter had but then by the next day you could tell it was more like a cold.
I want to swim tomorrow so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how I feel then. I have Velcade Thursday so I don’t want to push it.
Yesterday I started drying oregano in the dehydrator, which still needs at least another day. I plan on doing a few batches as I use quite a bit of oregano in cooking. Then I’ll move on to thyme. I wish there was a way to keep cilantro but it doesn’t dry with any flavor, I’m not sure why exactly. I just looked up drying cilantro and it says you can and it will keep its flavor so I think since we have so much I’ll do ie batch to test it out. I recall I dried it in the oven and not the dehydrator so maybe that was the problem.
I decided not to go to the gym since I don’t want to be blowing my nose and then using weights:( I really dislike seeing people do this so I don’t want to be one of those people.:)
Yesterday I made a pot of minestrone for dinner it was quite good except the reason I was making it was to use up the zucchini we had and of course, I forgot to put in the zucchini. So maybe I’ll make a zucchini bread. My son brought up a dozen Noah’s bagels and they are delicious. He lives right near one so that will be fun for him. ( and us).
Our cooler weather is moving in and today looks like temperatures in the 70’s so we won’t need to use coolers. I think it’s supposed to be like this for the next week or so. Tahoe may end up cooler than we thought but we’ll be fine. We have the heater in Rubi. This is a shorter trip than we’re used to, only 3 nights but it’s a start. Then in June, we’re there for a week.
Our drive home yesterday was rainy part of the way. Traffic was not too bad and we made it home by 2pm. Everything was good at home and the house was tidy. Of course, it was mostly only my daughter home because my son was off camping with his partner. He got home Wednesday.
We woke at ‘camp time’. Err, later than normal. I woke at 6am which is normally our walk time. I just figured,’ Oh well’, tomorrow is another day. I planned on doing the kitchen zone, bathroom zone, and bedroom zone. They are all done now.
I also did not plan to go to the Auburn gym as I wanted to do the zone cleaning.
I planned some meals for the week. Spaghetti with sauce, turkey chili with home canned beans, a soup night, a pizza night, a fish night, and a taco/burrito night. I’m keeping my menu plans that I write out and will write a monthly one soon. The monthly one is really for reference only as I pretty much plan many of the same meals over and over. Occasionally, I like to do a new recipe but most of them don’t make the cut for regular rotations.
This week is a mellow week with no appts. I plan on the gym, library, and swimming. Next week I have Velcade/Dex, so not looking forward to the Dex again. BUT, GREAT NEWS!!! My numbers came back in the normal range even with a tiny drop. Kappa light chains at 18.6. I’m over the moon and will continue to persevere. If my numbers stay in range by fall, I might ask about going completely off Velcade, but for now, it is what it is.
Right now it’s still cloudy but the rest of the week looks sunny and beautiful. All the trees are leafed out and I’m sure more will be out this week with 70-degree weather. the wisteria is ready to burst into bloom. All the daffodils are done. But other things are starting to bloom, rosemary, apple trees, redbuds, and the cherry tree.
I’m off to make some banana bread and then look at what books I have left from the library to read.
It’s raining this morning and is supposed to keep going till tomorrow. There’s also a wind forecast. Let’s hope it’s not too bad. Southern California especially Santa Barbara is really in for huge amounts of rain.
Everyone is hanging out today so I probably won’t get the kitchen zone done. Everyone’s in and out of the kitchen cooking or making coffee/tea. It can wait till Monday or Tuesday.
I don’t feel very motivated this morning anyway. I plan on cooking the turkey breast a little later and then heating up the frozen potatoes. I have the leftover nut loaf for B defrosting as well. That should make an easy dinner. We’re not big leftover eaters except for lunch the next day.
I’m trying to refine how we’re eating and what works right now. We generally eat very simple meals and I want to simplify that even a little more. I do love cooking but I’m definitely not into complicated meals. We’ve been making brown rice once a week and using that in things.
Also, I don’t think I’ll do too much pressure canning of meat meals. The beans have been a huge success and we use them weekly. Also, salsas and tomato sauces are used a lot. I guess it’s a bit of a learning curve and trying to decide what works and what doesn’t. Some frozen prepped meals work brilliantly like lasagna. Others like pulled pork not so much. That’s okay. I’m working through what I have and taking notes.
Tomorrow I have the very early PT at 6:45. yikes! Then I have the annual well care appt with my PC. I was going to cancel but then thought I should keep it and go over what happened with my knee etc.
My big question this week is will I go to the pool ? If I do I’ll go around 8:45 and do 20 minutes or so. The pool closes at 9:25 so that’s why I’m shooting for 8:45 and hoping all the regulars are gone and it’s only a few stragglers left. Since I’ve never gone that late it may be a whole other group of swimmers.
The rest of the week is open and I will go to the gym at least once. I don’t need any groceries except if we need milk or eggs or some misc item. I’m feeding my sourdough and it should be ready tomorrow. It does take a while after it’s been in the fridge.
I’m thankful I thought to call the ortho’s office since I hadn’t heard from them. It seemed like I wouldn’t get a call at least for a while:( So I have an appt to meet the doctor’s PA next week. I’d rather meet with the doctor but I guess it’s better than nothing.
I’m thankful I could go to the gym and even though I have the brace on I can do some upper body weights.
As always, grateful for the library where I got a bunch of old Tony Hillerman.
I’m grateful for LLS helping with insurance. I guess funding has been closed since I got my award and that’s over 6 months.
We’ve had a break from the rain and that’s always nice.
Frugal Friday Stuff:
We went to Trader Joe’s after the gym and I spent only $95 which included some wine. So that should get us through till the next budget starts.
We had another few meals from the freezer: mac and cheese, some breaded shrimp with veggies, grilled chicken/ tofu with rice. This coming week I’ll try and use at least 3 more freezer/pantry meals. I took out a frozen pizza dough to make pizza tonight. I have some extra red lentils that need using so I’ll probably do a curry with that.
Gas usage was low again as I’m not driving to the pool 2-3 times a week. I might start a cash envelope with gas money I think I’m saving for when I will be able to get back in the water. 
Today is a home day and I plan on doing more pantry consolidation. I have 3 bags ready to go to the food bank of stuff I probably won’t use so I’ll pass it on. I emptied one bin under the bed and the second one needs to be gone through. That one has foil, wrap, dried beans, and some oatmeal. I think some of the oatmeal ( Bob’s) is dated so I may need to use that in something or toss. I also have way too many boxes of pasta so I’ll throw a few of them in too.
Simplifying meals and food prep is a goal for this year. We basically eat the same thing week after week with just a few new recipes added in. But overall, that works best for us. I do love cooking so there’s that.
It’s Christmas Eve day. We had a nice predawn walk. The sky was quite lovely.
I had a nice swim yesterday and by the time I was leaving it getting crazy busy?? Why?? Anyway, I got there right at 7am and had a lane to myself the whole time. That was nice. Traffic wasn’t too bad on I-80.
I’m not going to the gym this morning even though it’s probably empty but I just don’t feel like it.
Today I’m making the zucchini lasagna and I guess we’ll see how that comes out. Since S is trying a gluten-free diet, I’m trying to do alternative things. So far, it’s not too hard to swap stuff out. The rest of us will have the regular lasagna and the cheese manicotti.
I’ve done a little decluttering before the new year starts. I had a pair of Merrell slip-ons that I loved when I first got them but now every time I wear them my feet don’t like them. Then the only other shoes I have besides my Birkenstocks and Hokas are a pair of Noat shoes that are black slip-ons. I bought them back in 2016 for an event that needed something dressier than Birkies. I’ve only worn them a few times and when I put them on they throw my back off so off they went to Goodwill. There were a few other random things as well. I certainly get ‘clutter blindness’ and just don’t see things that are sometimes just sitting there in plain sight. 😦
Christmas Eve dinner traditionally for us is fondue. So I’m heading down to the Holiday to pick the veggies for that, a baguette, and some other condiment things for a salad tomorrow.
Have a Merry Christmas everyone!!!
I may post tomorrow about ending the year but I’ll see how I feel then.
My 4th shot went well, and now I finished Cycle 1. The nurses are very kind and competent.
I decided to try and swim before my shot so B dropped me off at 7:50 so I could be done by 8:30. The pool was great. I got a lane all to myself and it definitely was not busy which is so nice. I may try and do this again but probably not on Saturdays because there are a few regulars that show up later being, Saturday I suppose.
After infusion, we went over to Costco( which we were supposed to do last week) and it went well. I spent more than I expected but got things that were on coupon and pantry stock-ups, so I’m okay with it. I bought a rotisserie chicken and some of their Yukon gold mashed potatoes so dinner was handled. When we got home I had to do some rearranging in the chest freezer and the refrigerator freezer. It took a while.
I’m grateful I’m handling dex better although I do have some snarky/bitchy moments usually a day or two after. Generally, something very ordinary will just set me off. I’ll try and get a grip on that for my next cycle.
I had some broccoli languishing in the refrigerator so I made a lovely broccoli cheddar soup. The bread is whole wheat sourdough from the bread machine and then baked in the oven.
I've been married for nearly 20 years to a wonderful husband and I'm a mom to three great kids ages 17, 16 and 14. Oh, and I just happen to have cancer. Multiple Myeloma is a cancer of the blood that is currently incurable but IS considered highly treatable! My goal is to make people laugh, cry or feel a little less alone whether you are a mom, cancer patient or BOTH!
Tahoe Girl 