Tag Archives: cooking

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking by

We are way over our grocery budget but most of that was extra Costco stuff. It’s ok, some months are like that. I think I’m sitting at about $700 right now. I just checked and it’s more like $900 as I didn’t add in the last Costco trip. Oh well, I have a freezer full and will just need veggies mostly to fill in the blanks.

I got gas at Costco which does save almost $1 a gallon from prices in Auburn. I have enough gas to get through next week. B has his chemo on Tuesday and that will be my last trip to Roseville for the week.

I plan on returning the clothes to Costco today. I did find a pair of the Fila I like and ordered them. If they don’t fit I’ll return them too. I think they were $12.99 at Costco.com.

We didn’t have any meals out and stuck to my menu plan. If we do eat out it’s always lunch anyway. But with B having no appetite it’s not worth going out for lunch.

The turkey order showed up so that’s in the freezer til Monday or Tuesday. I have a coupon for $15 off a whole Diestal turkey down at the Holiday but I’m not sure I’ll use it as they are usually bigger than I need or want. But I may check it out.

We’ve got a small break in the rain today and then it comes back in tonight. It’s supposed to be a colder storm too. From the little news I get now, I did see the PNW got slammed by this storm.

I haven’t checked out any Black Friday deals but B said the new Airpods with hearing enhancement are on sale. I may look at those for him as he does need something to help with hearing. I’ll check that out his weekend.

I have my annual mammogram scheduled for next week too so I can cross that off my list.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, Gratitude, home stuff by

Well, I am beyond thankful B has felt good. There is no need for platelets or blood. Whoo hoo!!! He gets labs today, so we’ll see how much more they increase.

We are amid a rain deluge. It’s been raining almost nonstop. I didn’t walk this morning as it was pouring. It looks like next week will be raining off and on. I plan on staying home today but tomorrow I will probably go to the pool. I need to return those sweats so that’s a good reason to go rather than Saturday. Both days will be busy as Thanksgiving is next week. I don’t need anything at this point but I haven’t made a checklist yet. I’ll do that today ( I did it below).

I’m thankful I don’t really stress about Thanksgiving and keep it very simple.

Menu for Thanksgiving:

Turkey roast from Diestal( which didn’t show up yesterday???)

Nut loaf is made and in the freezer,

and mashed potatoes are from Costco and are in the freezer. My son might make homemade made which would be fine too.

cranberry sauce is my canned cranberries from last fall. My son will get or I will a can of Ocean Spray

green beans

rolls, I have a package of Hawaiian rolls in the freezer.

stuffing is just a box of Stouffers. Now that I think about it I need celery and carrots.

I think my son is going to roast some brussels sprouts too.

I have 3/4 of a Costco pumpkin pie in the freezer I’ll defrost. We rarely eat dessert at Thanksgiving but I still want it there.

I’m thankful for quiet times at home. It’s peaceful and cozy.

I’m thankful for my daily routines that keep things running smoothly in our household.

I’m thankful B installed both grab bars in the shower and even though the pan is nonslip it’s best to safer.

Menu Monday

Posted in California, cooking, meal planning, simple foods by

I need to look and see what needs to be used up in both the fridge and the freezer.

Sunday- shrimp scampi with broccoli. I still have some broccoli to use so I’ll plan that

Monday- Breakfast for dinner. I have hash browns to use and lots of eggs. I also need to use up the veggie sausage.

Tuesday—I have some whole wheat tortillas to use, so I’ll make some bean burritos. I have frozen beans, or I can use my canned ones. I have lettuce but no avocado, but plenty of cheese and salsa.

Wednesday- I have some burgers in the freezer that need to be used. They’re from the summer so I don’t know if they are still ok or have freezer burn. But I’ll check it out and if they are ok do a burger night and fries. I have a Boca burger left over in the freezer too.

Thursday- This might be mystery night but I’m guessing soup. Either lentil or white bean. I try and do soup once a week.

Friday- I’ll make a pizza because I have a log of fresh mozzarella to use up. I may stop at the store for a few toppings like mushrooms, pepperoni, and peppers but I’ll wait and see.

Saturday- unknown !

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, home stuff by

Well, another Sunday, and B is going to Sacramento Clinic to have a platelet transfusion. Overall, he is doing much better but his platelets are still decreasing. We see his doctor Wednesday so that will give us time to ask some questions. It’s only one bag. So last time it was just one bag it barely brought his numbers up so we’re a little miffed at the doctor for not ordering 2. Then he ended up having to go BACK to get 2 more bags. It seems UCD would want to be proactive here but obviously not.

I went to the gym and did some weights. After that, I went to Target for hand soap.

I plan on tidying things up and doing a quick house reset. I also need to water my plants and dust.

Last night we had breaded tilapia (from Costco) and potatoes. It was very good. tonight I plan on doing a turkey breast as a warm-up to Thanksgiving. I’m also going to bake some of the delicata squashes with butter and brown sugar. I will go pick some romaine from the garden for a salad too. for B I’ll make some tofu.

Here are some pretty fall colors from Meadow Vista.

Well, I better get to doing my chores.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgets, California, cancer, cooking, home stuff, instant pot recipes, simple foods, Walking by

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.

Saturday, hot and hot

Posted in Blood test, books, California, Myeloma, reading by

That’s it. It will be hot. I have all the windows closed and the thermal blackout curtains closed too. I have one cooler running on 78 so some air is circulating.

As I mentioned, I was planning on taking the 8 mg of Dex and I did that evening. I slept ok so I don’t know if my BP went up but I think not. I took it when I got up and it was in perfect range. I checked all day and it was fine. So I decided to go ahead and do 4mg Friday. And today I did 4mg so that takes me up to 16mg. My BP has been in perfect range so maybe that’s the ticket. I’m still unsure how the efficacy of doing it over a few days will be and I will ask Dr. L when I see him next. I get labs Monday so it may be too soon to tell with these labs. I guess we’ll just wait and see.

I’ve been busy this morning and even with the 4 mg of dex, I feel pretty good. So I put back a few baskets on the bathroom shelves and hung my Japanese block print back up. I love Japanese block prints but really only like the ones with water or Mt Fuji. I’ve checked eBay and they are out there but pricey.

I hardboiled some eggs so B can have extra protein. He’s lost way too much weight and so we’re trying to figure out if it’s serious or just that he’s burning more calories than he’s taking in. So far all his labs are in the good range so no surprises. He has a CT scan scheduled to see if there’s some obstruction and he’s called his UCD transplant team to check in. Hopefully, it’s just calories in calories out.

Then I’m making chicken broth in the crock pot to either can or freeze. I still want to replace my instant pot but it’ll have to wait till we have some spare $.

I made a pesto noodle salad for dinner and added some olives and mozzarella. It’s so hot we’ll want to have something cold I think. We even ate at the table last night because it was too hot outside. We had a shrimp scampi, a big tomato, fresh mozzarella, and bibb lettuce. then I pan-toasted some homemade sourdough with garlic and olive oil. Very tasty.

I think my daughter will drive me to the pet bookstore to check if any Longmires came in. I doubt it though, I scoured Goodwill in Auburn and not one. I guess if I really want them I’ll have to buy them used on Ebay but there not cheap! I guess people keep them as they are very re-readable.

Guster in a small dog harness!!!

Frugal Friday on Saturday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cooking, frugalism, home stuff, Lake tahoe, LLS by

I drove home yesterday after my daughter drove up to Tahoe in the Santa Fe. Traffic flowed along and the usual construction stops were non-existent which was great. Unfortunately, the camp host wouldn’t just let her drive in without paying the $10 extra car fee, so for 15 minutes we had to pay 10 bucks. I was definitely pissed.

It was windy up there when I left and it was windy here at home too. But it was much cooler overall. I was really tired for some reason, so I took a nap, a shower and read some. The beach was overrun with people and I definitely will not go back next year at this time. It may have been somewhat circumstantial due to it being so hot but still.

The new shower head is very nice but it seemed to take an awful long time for the hot water to come out. I’m going to turn it on again this morning and time it. B and my son are planning on moving the electrical outlet and putting up the lights tomorrow. B ordered the grab bars so we will the helper to drill those in place. We don’t have a tile drill so that needs to be done. Then finally the flooring and paint. I think I’m going to look at paint on line this morning and see if I can find a soft gray color.

Since we were camping all week there was little spending except for basics. We treated ourselves to a lunch pizza and that was fun.

I need to peruse the freezer and fridge to gleam what menu I can do for the week and write a list. I know I need salad stuff and some veggies. I haven’t been very food focused lately since my norovirus hit. Plus the weather being so hot, it’s hard to cook. This week is much cooler so maybe I’ll be more creative.

My LLS ended so I have to wait now for funding for Myeloma to open. Last year it took 2 months so I’m expecting it to be at least that long. We would definitely be short of money monthly without my grant covering Medicare and UHC. It’s a huge gift that this organization provides for thousands of people like me. Back when I was first diagnosed(2005) LLS didn’t exist so all my co pays and extras put us in huge debt at the time. So for now, LLS is a real blessing.

I’m planning on doing some tidying this morning before B and S get home probably 2 ish. I also need to do the camp laundry.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, California, camping, cancer, cooking, Uncategorized by

A nice walk this morning and no one was there but us. Sweet! This last week we had some new people show up which is fine, it’s very nice walking early.

Yesterday I did some errands in town. I had my knives sharpened at the grocery store and while I was there, I picked a few things I needed like a red onion. Based on the few things I bought and the prices, I wonder how long Bel Air will stay in business, especially with the new Costco 15 minutes away.

From there I went down to the pet bookstore and was looking for more Craig Johnson but no luck. I might peruse eBay and see if I can get a few there. I picked up a few Sue Grafton, which I’ve read about 100 times but still like them. I found a fun cookbook from a restaurant in Brooklyn called Spuntino.

It’s a fun book to look through and I might make their basic marinara sauce. I checked on Amazon and they have the canned tomatoes they use called Valla from Italy. After we’re back from Tahoe I’ll order some. They also recommend using white pepper which I thought very interesting so I’ll do Amazon for that too. They had a good recipe for gnocchi which didn’t look too hard so I may try my hand at that.

Today I’m going to Anytime gym and that’s it. When I get home I need to mop the floors and tidy the house so it’s ok for when we’re gone. No cooking today and I don’t have a plan for dinner yet. Maybe an omelet with some greens.

I dried another batch of oregano so I think I’m done with drying herbs. BTW, the cilantro did come out smelling like cilantro. I don’t know how it’ll be in cooking but it did dry ok.

Rainy Saturday

Posted in books, California, cooking, home improvement, home stuff, husband, reading, Uncategorized, Walking by

We were able to get our walk in before the rain started. It’s supposed to rain all day and quite a bit. Well, we always need the rain maybe not the wind but certainly the rain.

Today is a home day and not a swim day. I plan on making a big pot of broccoli cheddar soup. I need to use the big bag I got from Costco. We’ll probably have that for dinner plus baked potatoes. I got the bakers at Costco too and plan on doing twice-baked potatoes. I usually start with 12-14 potatoes and then after I bake them, cut them in half and fill them with the cheese, and potato mixture. I usually end up with 12 half potatoes because I mound the filling. These do freeze great and are an easy meal with salad.

B got the new window in yesterday and it looks fresh and clean. We opted for no grids. All of the other windows( except the sunroom)have grids but as we replace the windows we are going for gridless windows.

We’re working our way through watching Inspector Lynley. We have the 3rd season to watch. It’s a great show and Lynley is a good character. I’m reading another Longmire book now. I am so impressed with the way he writes and how he brings in so much cultural stuff about the Cheyenne and Crow. Very different from Hillerman and the Southwest. In this one” As the Crow flies’, he takes part in a peyote ceremony. It was pretty accurate in his description. I’ve done peyote 3 times( B says, he thinks it was only 2) and it is a very mind altering/spiritual experience. Of course, I was in my 20’s and early 30’s and very much into the whole Native American thing. We also have had 2 teepees. The first one was given to us by a friend and it was painted with different Indian motifs. That one finally fell apart and we bought one from a company in Oregon. When we moved here we set it up and used it till it too finally deteriorated. We used to smudge our house and ourselves with sage as a way to cleanse negative energy. I haven’t done that for years but I still have some abalone shells that we used for that purpose. Longmire is in his early 50’s when he does peyote and also the character is very tuned into the whole spiritual side of the Native American, Cheyenne in his case. Anyway, I digress, they are great books!

Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, bread, budgeting, California, cancer, cash envelopes, cooking, frugalism, Uncategorized by

I stopped at Trader Joe’s after the infusion and spent$70 on food. Mostly it was bread, some chicken shwarma( TJ’s has this all seasoned in the meat section and for a great price)my son wanted, pita bread, and a few things I’d been looking for. One was Harrisa and I found it on a bottom shelf. It’s used in some vegan dishes in the new cookbook I got a while back,

Also, the YouTuber Vegan channel, Madeline Olivia, made some black bean meatballs with Harrisa and she said that’s what gives their kick, so I thought I’d try that.

Here’s my copycat Panera Broccoli cheddar soup we had for dinner. this was before I blended it in the Vita-mix. I used most of the leftover Costco bag of broccoli I had in the freezer. It was quite good with this loaf of sourdough. My starter is doing really well after a few days of feeding.

The rain is back and so is the wind so no gym or anything today. Plus Dex is still in my system and my face is still a little red. Boy, I looked like a beet yesterday:)

I bought a pair of Levi’s on eBay at a good price. NWT and only 29.99. On the website, they’re $60 so I thought that was a great deal. Right now I only have one nice pair of Levi’s I use to go out on dates etc. And then only 2 sort of beat-up ones for going to the store or around the house. I never sweat pants at home, only right after getting up and we walk, otherwise, I dress in jeans and Bombas T-shirts or my yoga pants to go to the gym. So I will take that cash and put it back in the bank when I’m in town next.

Next week I have labs so that will give us another picture of what the myeloma cells are doing. I have one more infusion at the end of March before I see Dr. L, so I guess ,depending on this one, I’ll decide to either wait or message him about adding in the second dose. Other than that I have PT on Tuesday and then no other appts. I really do prefer my schedule open and flexible but medical appts are necessary at this point.

I don’t have any meal prep to do today so I think I’ll concentrate on the kitchen zone.