Category Archives: simple foods

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, decluttering, seasonal things, simple foods by

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.

Thankful Thursday

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

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.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, freezer cooking, home stuff, simple foods, Uncategorized by

I suppose not going to Costco saved us $ because would have been $300 at least. We still need to go since we do need some basics. I have no olive oil, oatmeal, coffee is low, and other basics. I think we’ll try and do a repeat next week and go after infusion. That’ll save gas at least.

B took the truck in yesterday to a garage in Auburn and got the heat sensor fixed. $500. hummm, oh well, we have to have the truck for pulling Rubi and it would have been a bummer to head down to Napa have that happen and have to turn around.

I had a pretty good Dex day overall but by 3 pm was starting to really wilt. But I had marinated some chicken in ginger and tamari and rice vinegar, so B fired up the Weber, and I BBQed that. We had brown rice and salad too. I should have done two packs of chicken so there’d be some left. There were 3 little pieces left. I might have that for lunch with salad. Preplanning meals is definitely the ticket.

With the weather so warm(unseasonably) the carpets dried quickly and look good. I had windows open and that helped. The little Hoover I have is a great investment for carpets or in my case area rugs.

Today, my son is using the Santa Fe to help a friend move something so I’ll be home. I plan on processing all the frozen tomatoes into sauce. I’m not going to can them because I don’t have a lot of room on the Ivar shelving so I’m going to freeze it in meal portions. I have 5 gallon bags to do. It may take a while.

I am really liking the smaller bread maker. KBS. It fits under my stainless steel counter and is light enough to move easily. Although I love Zojurushi, it was very heavy to move and I had to keep it in the closet. So far just using the dough cycle is great and the loaves have been perfect. I’ll still make dutch oven artisan bread but not as often as what really wanted was just sandwich/toast bread. Spending $5 for a loaf of sandwich bread is crazy. Unless it’s a specialty bread like Dave’s Killer Bread, $5 for Orowheat seems high. I think probably Costco has the best prices since they are 2 packs. They have Dave’s there too.

Tonight is a homemade pizza night. I also plan to have B start the Weber again and I’ve taken out a piece of pork for pulled pork. It might take a few hours but the flavor is better. We can have some tomorrow night and then I’ll freeze the rest.

Frugal Friday

Posted in bread, budgeting, California, cooking, freezer cooking, simple foods, Uncategorized by

Except for regular bills, we didn’t spend much. We went to the co-op twice. One trip was @ $23 and the second $8.00, so not much. I didn’t go to Winco or Costco so that’s a win-win. I also didn’t get gas this week but will need it tomorrow or Monday.

All the big bills are already out of our checking. But there’s still water, PGE, and ATT. But those bills aren’t as big.

We also didn’t do a coffee lunch date so no money there spent. We are planning something right around my sister’s birthday to celebrate her life. Even though for most of our adult lives we weren’t that close, after my diagnosis in 2005 she was very supportive and visited annually. Then she got diagnosed with interstitial lung disease and then later lung cancer. So we want to go out and either do a wine tasting( she loved wine as much as I do!!!!). Or do lunch at a restaurant in Auburn that we went to usually when she came to visit.

I meal prepped 4 frozen lasagnas for those nights just don’t feel like cooking. I also canned 3 more quarts of tomato sauce. I also made 2 loaves of bread. One is a walnut cranberry and the other boule but with some rye flour added.

Last night’s quiche.

Oh, I did buy a sourdough bread book that was recommended by one of the UK bloggers I read. At first, I was going to return it as her original sourdough master recipe is not in it but in her last book, but then I looked at the recipes and decided there were enough interesting ones I’d keep the book. Oh, and my fabric showed up for the back of my Japanese indigo small quilt.

I went to the Roseville gym. It seemed busier than normal. Usually, there are only 1 or 2 people there but this morning it was busier.

Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, budgets, California, cooking, reading, simple foods, swimming, Walking by

We have another rainy day forecast. It’s very weird for us to have rain in Northern CA this time of year. Usually, it’s around Halloween. But we’ll take it and it will help with fire season.

After overdoing the walking yesterday,:( I re-evalutated. I’ll just do 2 rounds tomorrow and see how that is for a day or two. I did swim this morning and it felt really great. It was raining a little but I’m in the water anyway so…

Well, I ended up going to Winco after the pool and it was not frugal. I spent about $125. But I pretty much got what I needed for the week ahead. Some salad stuff, fruit, almond butter, rye bread, cheese and misc. But other than that, I haven’t bought groceries. I think so far for the September budget I’m at about $275, and that was the Costco trip. I could put that back on August’s budget but I think I’ll leave it in September.

We didn’t have any lunch dates or coffee dates this week. Next week we might do a lunch date but I’ll wait and see how the week shapes up. I have my oncology appt Wednesday so that day is out. I’m hoping we can come up with my chemo plan for October. It depends on my next labs and what he thinks. We’ll see.

Last night I made a yummy chicken parmigania and spaghetti with some of my canned tomato sauce. Boy, was that sauce delicious. I did pick another big bowl of tomatoes so I may have enough to do another batch. I did another jar of refrigerator jalapenos. I must have 6 jars now:) I’m not sure what we’re doing for dinner but it won’t be a pizza. Maybe I’ll pull a jar from the pantry.

I just finished a library book “ The House in the Pines‘ by Ana Reyes. Yikes what a nail biter. Very scary and suspenseful. Not sure about the ending it seemed to unfinished to me and I don’t like that. I picked up 6 books to read, 3 of them are part of the Lincoln Lawyer series. Right now we’re watching the TV show on Prime and it’s very good.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, canning tomato salsa, cooking, simple foods, Walking by

A nice walk in the park. We got there right a 6am. One person showed up right after us and then by the time we left it was getting busy. The sun is now cresting the trees at 6:40 right about the time we were leaving.

Today is the Auburn gym day. Sundays are pretty quiet in there so I like that.( the introvert that I am). Then I went over to Safeway to see if they had the petite pork roasts for pulled pork but they had zip. I mean the meat section looked like it did during the pandemic. Strange. I did get the mini cheese cake Z wanted as dessert.

When I got home I started the tomatoes for sauce. B did all the food mill turning and I got everything else ready.

Just look at the beautiful color. I got 4 quarts, so I’m pleased with that. They are in the water bath canner waiting for it to come up to a boil before I start counting the time.

One of my favorite YTers changed the content of her YT channel to homemade items, knitted, sewn, etc. She must have gotten burnt out on the whole minimalism thing. She’s one of the more genuine YTers there is. Another one I watch that I do like is Scandish Home. But she is not quite a minimalist( although I think she does call herself a minimalist). She doesn’t have clutter at all but she still has so much stuff. (mostly kitchen stuff).Now it is all VERY organized and in beautiful jars etc but her pantry is like a grocery store. Still, she is a wonderful cook and loves what she does. She does all gluten-free and dairy free too. She is a really excellent cook.

I wouldn’t say our house looks all that minimalist either partly because it is so small that things always look more cluttered in a small space. But I don’t have any excess or unnecessary stuff.

The week ahead looks nice, no appts so I’ll probably swim 2x.

Frugal Friday on Saturday!

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgets, California, cooking, seasonal things, simple foods by

The day got away from me and I ended up not blogging. I went to the pool and it was great. The water was perfect. I did use the stairs to get in and out. I did see some other people also doing that so I didn’t feel too awkward.

My son’s birthday is Monday and he wanted pulled pork sandwiches. I wasn’t able to find the small seasoned ones so I got a seasoned tritip. That was from Grocery Outlet. I picked up a few other things and that amounted to $50. I might try our Holiday Market and see what they have.

The Costco trip ended up a little more than planned at $250 but that was mostly non-food like laundry soap, dishwasher pods etc. Those all will last months.

I’ve been a bit fanatical working on the sourdough sandwich bread but I think on try 3 I’ve got the right combination. The dough is a soft dough, unlike the no knead bread which is a much stiffer dough. So if I can tweak it just a bit more and get the right rise, we’ll have sandwich bread rather than buying it.

We didn’t have any takeouts or dining outs( which we rarely do anyway). This month is our anniversary so I’ll plan something out. We’ve been eating lots of good home cooked meals though and using fresh tomatoes from the garden and peppers.

My budget is all set for August and accounted for. The only big expense is B needs a crown. He’ll put that on a card and then we’ll pay it off that way.

He’s almost done with the window remodel and it’s already making a difference in the temperature in that space. So it’s probably another$200 to get that done. 😦

We filled up the VW and the Santa Fe and we should be good for a while on gas. Driving to Roseville definitely adds to the gas bill but for now, the trade-off is worth it.

I have labs in a few weeks so I’ll know what my numbers are. I didn’t get the lipid and thyroid test done Monday as their computers were down and they couldn’t access anything. So I decided to reschedule and do it all at once. That way it’ll be just one draw. So once I see the kappa light chain numbers, I’ll know a bit more about the timing of when I’ll start Velcade. Oh well, it is what it is.

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 bread, California, decluttering, Flylady, simple foods, Uncategorized, Walking by

photo from The Nesting Place

I’ve been working a bit on decluttering and changing things up a bit. I decided to iron the linen duvet cover and put the comforter inside. It might be too warm this time of year but I’m trying to keep the comforter clean as it is white. So the big basket I kept that in and our one other blanket I have ready to go to the thrift store or the Pay it Forward group. Honestly, I’ve had very little luck with that group. People say they want something and never show up.

I finally got the second box of peaches from Stackhouse Orchards( Local in the valley), so I waited about 5 days for them to ripen and made a peach pie.

Not the prettiest lattice top but hopefully it tastes good. The peaches were very sweet. update: We had this with vanilla ice cream last night and it was yummy.

We had a nice walk this morning with no one else around except the Canada geese. All the families are grown up and they should start flying lessons soon.:)

I just started the oven to preheat for a loaf of sourdough. I’ll get that going before I go to the gym.

I was thinking back to routines when my children were younger. Since we did Waldorf schooling there is always a rhythm to the day and week. Rudolf Steiner, although weird, did create an exceptional educational model. Each day had a color, and like wise, each classroom in Waldorf is lazured ,painted, a certain color. For instance kindergarten is an orange pink, all the way to 8th grade which is usually a violet blue.

I think the rhythm of the day and year were important in how my kids developed. We always ate dinner together and often did school craft projects together too. My daughter who is an incredible artist often did watercolor painting with Z.

That’s probably where my love of routines comes in. I didn’t start Fly Lady till later, probably around when my son was in 4th grade. It was an instant fit for me to do the 15 minutes a day and that’s how I started decluttering. Most of the major decluttering is done except for keeping up with what’s relevant now in our lives. Things come and go. But the zone cleaning keeps me on track and even though I know it without even looking at a list, I like to have the lists as reference. What I did eventually was write down each of my zones and what needed to be done according to them. That’s what still use today.

We had a ready made meal last night from the pantry. It was the white bean ragout and then my daughter and I had the chicken chili verde with some of the white beans. It was a hit. I need to write up a menu for the week. I know one night I’m doing a spinach frittata. I also have some ricotta to use so I may make a couple of cheese lasagnas.

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!