Tag Archives: meal planning

Menu Monday

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, meal planning, Uncategorized by

We did very good with meals last week. I did cook the tilapia, and followed through on some of the other meals. We didn’t do a pizza or the baked potatoes. The night my daughter works late, I had broccoli cheddar soup for dinner. We also had turkey burgers one night because I finally found them in the freezer:(

Last night I made a beef stew with things I had on hand and wanted to use: carrots, potatoes, and a piece of steak. So there’s a little leftover that I put in the Souper cubes to freeze. I also had made the night before a turkey and wild rice soup because I had stuff in the freezer to use: 3 containers of turkey broth that each had turkey chunks in them. I added some cream to make it creamy and it was very good. I froze some of that too although rice doesnt always freeze well so that might be a wash.

So this week:

I have a Costco rotisserie chicken to slice up, and I’ll do some potatoes or stuffing and a salad.

Tuesday- Still planning on burritos or tacos, maybe with leftover chicken. Maybe I’ll put together chicken enchiladas.

Wednesday- Something from the freezer to use, maybe spaghetti and sauce.

Thursday- Again, a freezer meal, maybe enchiladas or soup.

Friday- try again for a pizza

Saturday- TBD, it depends on what I have to use up.

Today, I was planning on the pool but decided to come home after labs and do stuff around here. I feel a little stretched thin, so it’s better I do home stuff to regroup. Monday used to be my home blessing day of tidying up areas that I didn’t get to during the week, so I think that’s what I’ll do. I also started a loaf of sourdough to bake this morning.

I’m glad the appeals court ruled against the orange, evil, cruel man. Time to help people, not hurt them. Honestly, what evil person takes food away from children?

Menu Monday

Posted in Blood test, bread, California, cancer, cooking, meal planning, Uncategorized by

Last night we had the TJ’s kung pao with rice, and B had the vegetarian Pad Thai from Costco. The TJ’s K P is quite excellent and a good freezer item. The Pad Thai was okay, but I only had a bite to try.

Monday- I’ll probably do something simple, like salad and tofu. Probably a tofu scramble since I have celery, carrots, mushrooms, etc to use.

Tuesday: I’ll make a pot of Rancho Gordo beans and serve them with tortillas, cheese, avocado, and salsa.

Wednesday- I’ll probably do Brinner with eggs and pancakes or maybe waffles would be fun.

Thursday- Soup of some sort. I need to look through the fridge/freezer and see what might need using up.

Friday- pizza, of course, but I’d like to use the free coupon that’s still in my wallet.

Saturday- TBD, if it’s nice out, I’ll use the Weber outside.

The cheddar olive loaf came out delicious.

Toasted, it is yummy.

Well, today is another home day, now that I’m back from my labs. I need to vacuum, mop, and I’ll do a few inside windows.

Tomorrow is a busy day down in Roseville with B getting his 2nd immuno and I plan to get gas, and go to Costco for a few things, and I’d like to hit up Winco for salad stuff. Buying the salad stuff from Costco is probably cheaper in the long run, but it’s just too much for us to get through. Plus, Winco’s prices are so low and so reasonable. His infusion is only 2 hours or less, so that’s perfect timing for me.

Menu Monday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, home stuff, meal planning by

Another week another menu. I guess the good thing is it keeps me accountable for what I have in the fridge and freezer/pantry.

Last night we had yummy artichokes, B had the TJ’s quiche and we had a pasta carbonara from TJ’s. The pasta was fair, I wouldn’t buy it again. I do like their frozen fettuccine alfredo though.

Monday- I have leftover rotisserie chicken. I might make chicken enchiladas or freeze the leftover chicken. I pulled some beans out of the freezer so that’s a possibility.

Tuesday- This normally would be taco Tuesday but if I do the enchiladas on Monday then this would be the day I use the BBQ. I have chicken burgers and bean burgers and some fries I can cook up.

Wednesday- I have some quinoa to use so I think I’ll do that with salmon.

Thursday- brown rice and? I could use a bag of chicken Kung Poa or maybe a tofu.

Friday- Another pizza night. I do have a coupon for a free pizza so I’ll either do that or use my frozen dough. I also have one frozen Costco pizza and I would like to use that up. Decisions, decisions,,,,

Saturday- TBD

Because we only have the Santa Fe now to use( the truck we don’t use very often and I don’t drive the truck at all), I’ll stay home while B goes to Sacramento for his scan. Too bad it wasn’t scheduled in Rocklin. That’s about half the time and distance.

I plan on doing my Monday house reset and then painting some window sills. Did you know they don’t sell high gloss paint in California anymore? At least that’s what the Ace hardware guy said when I went in to get a quart. I got semi-gloss but I’m sure that’s going to be somewhat different from the high gloss I’m used to.

Frugal Friday and other random things.

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, California, cash envelopes, decluttering, Pantry, prepper pantry, Walking by

Another low-spend week. We spent $53 at Holiday Market. It’s way more expensive than TJ’s or Winco but it’s also 1 minute from our house. We used to walk down all the time but now we drive mostly because our driveway is very steep. So going down is fine but coming up is not. After I figure out what’s going on with the knee I may start going up and down to strengthen the muscles. We’ll see, I’ve been saying that for years and haven’t done it yet. ( haha).

We filled up the VW too. And we went on a coffee date.

I did order some things from Amazon. A different knee brace, some hangers to add to the ones I got my daughter for Christmas, cream for my knee, and 1 set of candles. The 4pk of candles I usually buy from Blue Corn Beeswax were out of stock. I also ordered the tuna in olive oil in a 12-pack because it’s easier than going to get them at the store. the price is almost the same as Winco, maybe 10 cents more. What I’m doing is using a virtual envelope for Amazon and giving myself $100 a month for household things. I won’t include the tuna as that’s food.

Saturday is my MRI and after that, I plan to go to Trader Joe’s and get a few things. Eggs, bread, cream, bagels, maybe some chips and a few frozen meals to add to the freezer. Last week we had the Kung Pao Chicken and it was very good.

Next week I have my labs and the appt with the PC about the next step with the knee once the MRI comes in. I guess I would hope that it’ll just be PT to help strenghten it but it’s anyone’s guess at this point. That’s it for the week. I doubt I’ll be going to the pool or the gym till I have a plan in place. Although, if the knee brace stabilizes my knee I will go do upper body weights. I’m pretty depressed about it all since I hate not being able to be active. But as always I’ll get through it.

We have a good size load in the back of the VW to drop off at Goodwill and Assistance league. B will do that today. It’s always a good feeling to great rid of stuff. I did put all the Mountain House dehydrated meals in the bag for the food bank and I’ll do that either today or next week. I still have some other food out in the ‘barn prepper pantry’ so I need to get that first. I do not plan on restocking any of that out in the barn. I’m just going to have my pantry boxes and what I have on the Ivar shelving unit. ( That’s for the pressure canned goods and jams, salsas, and tomato sauces.) I’ll always have some stock up pantry because I’ve always bought in bulk starting back in 1975 but I won’t do the same thing as when the pandemic hit. Having bulk rice and beans etc just makes sense for how I cook plus I hate thinking about what I need so I’d rather buy bulk and be done with it for months at a time.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Flylady, home stuff, meal planning, Uncategorized, Walking by

A cloudy but not too cold of a morning walk. The park had a few people showing up to do things Christmas related at the community center.

We are expecting quite a bit of rain this week so we’ll see how the driving to Roseville goes. The only day I have to go is Wednesday for infusion. If it’s miserable out, I probably won’t drive down to the gym/library.

On the agenda today is to tidy the house, vacuum, do the bedroom zone(done), and do a meal plan for the week with freezer /pantry meals. So far I have cheese tamales, mushroom spinach crepes, the meatballs from Costco, and baked potatoes. I might do a spaghetti night too.

I plan on doing some decluttering around the house. Mostly, misc stuff that just needs to go or seems to be unneeded. The end of the year is a perfect time to look around at what is being used and what is just in the way. Especially since I’m neurodivergent when it comes to visual clutter or even just visual things around me. I don’t like and/or get stressed at too much color, and patterns or things on the surfaces of things. Right now with Christmas, I’m stressed about the added stuff around which is probably why I put some of it away already. Well, it’s always a good idea to look around our homes with a fresh perspective.

Friday things

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, cooking, home stuff, Uncategorized by

It was a fairly frugal week with money things. I went to Safeway and spent @ $70 on groceries and at Trader Joe’s @ $40. That was just groceries. Wine purchased was $25 approx. I’m not sure what I’ll do next week. Costco is still out there as we need some things there like dishwasher pods, and some other non food things. But I’ll wait and see what’s on the menu, then decide. Actually I need to do an August menu.

I didn’t make the Ikea meatballs, shrimp/potstickers, or cobb salad. We had take out only once for Taco tree tacos. I like this planner I got off etsy. It has nice clean minimal look and could be used for Flylady too. when you look at my menu you can see the themes plainly. Pasta night, taco tuesdays, rice Sundays,pizza Fridays, soups, and BBQ’s. Actually with it being so hot his month I don’t think I fired up the Weber once.

I have most of August’s bills in except the UCD one which they send the notice in the mail around the 15th. Otherwise, everything else is in. Our PGE was a nice surprise at $239 and that’s with running window coolers all thru the month. I’m guess the BIG reason is we’ve been line drying laundry and not using the dryer which is 220 so that must the energy user. I may try to continue the line drying into the fall and maybe winter if I get a drying rack that’s big enough. The only problem is I dislike seeing laundry in the front room on clothes racks. I’ve done it before and it’s just messy looking. But normally our electric bill would be in high $300’s so it does make a difference.

Today, B is going to declutter the Karastan rug up to habitat for humanity. We’re not sure they will take something that old or big but it’s worth trying. If they don’t take it, I’ll try putting it on Craigs list for free.

I always find it fascinating that at one time ,even a few months ago, I would not have imagined getting rid of it but after unrolling it the other day it’s obvious it doesn’t fit in with any of our decor. Most of my front room is Heywood birch, greys and whites. So the karastan is tans, burgundies, navy blue and other colors.

This when we had it in the bedroom. You can see the color scheme. Anyway, I hope someone will love it as much as I did. 🙂

Then I’m going to home depot to pick up some high gloss black paint. I’m going to paint the claw foot tub this weekend. I also ordered the garden gate so B can work on that.

BTW, his MRI did show some nerve stuff going on @ L 3 or 4. He hasn’t talked to the PC yet but the results were in his portal. It isn’t clear as to what’s to be done.

My labs came back in the normal range but it was a 3 point increase from 12.3 to 15.5 . I certainly hope this won’t be the trend as that means there is no remission except this very short period. I’m not going to worry about right now as there’s not much I can do anyway.

Weekend stuff

Posted in Bone marrow transplant, California, cancer, Flylady, Uncategorized by

We had another big earthquake in California last night. We didn’t feel it here but some people in Sacramento did.  7.1 is a big quake. Scientists are saying there could be another within the week or at the least aftershocks.  We have an emergency kit in place and directions. Usually, up here it’s fires but who knows?

Mother Earth is not happy!!

Out weather continues to be quite lovely with yesterday being a little warm at 94 degrees.

I’ve been going out to the pool and floating and it’s been nice. My daughter has done a great job keeping the pool crystal clear as B can’t do it yet. Maybe by the end of summer, he’ll be able to take over.

Today, I’m going to the gym and then straight home. Not sure what I’ll do later. I started doing some knitting again and it’s a good meditative thing to do.

Next week we have 3 appts for B including the MRI for his leg.

The doctor is reducing one of his anti-rejection drugs so that’s like 6 fewer pills a day and a few others. He will be of the one anti-rejection drug completely next week. That’s a good thing!!

I need to meal plan for the week and I’d like to use a bunch of things from the freezer and do a clean out. I made homemade pizza last night and it was perfecto!! I did use my instant pot yesterday for hardboiled eggs. It is an easy way to make them for sure.

I’m in the kitchen zone next week, so I’ll start that Sunday as it is my biggest zone.

Meal Planning and budgets

Posted in budgeting, budgets, cooking, simple foods, Uncategorized by

I like having a meal plan if only for the simplicity of it. I know what the week will bring and then it’s just simpler.

This week we’ll be having:

Monday: is usually fish or pasta / so we’re having cod from Costco, asparagus and spinach with a sprinkling of goat cheese

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday but we’re having Amy’s cheese enchiladas with beans or rice

Wednesday: pasta night so I think we’ll do spaghetti with sauce and a salad

Thursday: Crockpot Thursday, so I’m thinking a nice soup in the crock pot maybe lentil.

Friday: Friday night pizza, I’ll either do homemade or perhaps we’ll order. It depends on the mood. Usually, I prefer my pizza plus the price of ordering is fairly steep but sometimes it’s a nice change.

Saturday: I thought of grilling something as B got the gas grill ready to go, but I think it’s supposed to rain. Maybe some grilled chicken then or I still have a few cornish hens in the freezer and B bought a lentil loaf from a natural foods store he services in Nevada City.  I guess we’ll see how it goes.

B is gone most of the week traveling for work up to Eureka so he won’t be here. Dinner will just be my daughter and me. My son is at school late so doesn’t eat dinner with us.

Generally eating vegetarian and B has been one for over 50 years, we eat lower on the food chain. I think it’s healthier overall. I’m fairly skeptical of food fads like Paleo, keto, Vegan, whatever. Back in our youth, it was macrobiotics. I remember going to a cooking class in Macrobiotics back then… interesting… but later he died of some sort of cancer fairly young ( 40ish) so that didn’t help much.  I think all things in moderation.

I do like Michael Pollan’s take on using meat as a side, organic and harvested ethically.  I generally always buy organic meat( chicken, beef,) but sometimes bacon slips by and it’s not organic.  Well, I guess if one is trying.

Budget wise, food is still our biggest variable.  Although, total with animal food, Costco, nonfood, wine, we’re still averaging @ $800 for 4 people so I don’t think that’s too bad.

I finished the entryway zones and even washed the front door.

We went to the gym and it was nice to get back to the rhythm. It was closed yesterday for Easter.

 

A new year

Posted in Blood test, cooking, decluttering, meal planning, Uncategorized by

I’ve been busy meal planning this morning and working on checking what’s in the freezer and pantry. Since we’re doing the Frugalwoods uber frugal month, I plan on eating out of the pantry and freezer as much as possible. I’d like to set a food budget of $400 for the month. I started a spreadsheet, thanks to my tech-savvy daughter for setting it up), that I’m separating food, cat food, nonfood. So the $400 will be food only. So I still need to decide on how much for the other stuff.

I’m making a shepherd’s pie for dinner and then a veggie ham that B got. We haven’t tried it so, I’ll post how it is.

1727-Albert-Einstein-Quote-Out-of-clutter-find-simplicity

I’m trying something new and taking a video of each room. So far it is a great tool and I redid a few things in the entry way and it looks better. I think seeing it objectively is a such an amazing tool.

This week is the entry way zone and laundry room. So I’ll work on those two areas.  Not a lot to declutter but simpler on the eye by removing a few things and repositioning a few.

This week I have a fasting blood test for insurance and then next week is my regular labs. We’ll see.