Tag Archives: menu planning

Saturday bits and bobs

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, cash envelopes, frugalism, home stuff, library, meal planning by

I went to the gym yesterday in Roseville and did upper-body weights. At least it’s something to keep me going. I also dropped off my load of books at the library. The library wasn’t open so I’ll need to plan a stop there next week. I just finished the Anne Hillerman book ” The Stargazer”. It was good although her father was a bit more of a concise writer. Still, it’s good.

When I got home I warmed up the sunroom and then later did my PT exercises out there. The Ikea couch out there folds down and is low to the ground so that’s where I’m laying on my back and side to do the exercises. I still don’t think I can manage the floor because I’d need to use my knee to get up. Maybe in a few weeks, I can start practicing doing that.

I was over the moon that tRump had been told by the jury to pay 85 +million. Of course, who knows with appeals if he’ll ever pay but regardless it sends a message. I heard on the news(NPR) something about Christian evangelicals putting tRump out there as a messiah. crazy, ??? really?? He’s about as far away from Christian values as you can get.

B had an unplanned trip to the dentist for a toothache. I pulled some of the money from home EF and will deposit that next week so I can pay the CC. Fortunately, it’s not an infection so the crown can wait a little longer. We just finished paying that off in December so I need some time to build up that fund. I’ve been watching lots of YouTube cash stuffing. I’ve gotten a few good ideas and enjoy seeing how other people do it. Mine is very simple because we only get $ once a month so it’s a bit different than people who are stuffing paychecks. Still, it’s interesting.

I’m using 4 binders to track spending and to use for cash envelopes. Here’s the small Louis Vuitton. This is the one I take with me as it has my grocery money and coffee money.

We’ve had zero luck getting rid of the quilting frame. None of the thrift stores want it so now we’re stuck with what to do with it. Even Goodwill usually takes anything said no. hmm, not sure, but I guess the landfill unless I can think of something. Maybe the wood could be repurposed. ??

Today is a home day. I want to do the menu for the week, then check the freezer and pantry for ideas. I also want to take the 2 bins I took out from4 under the bed out to the garden shed and see if I need them out there or not.

Frugalwise, we did great this week. B went to Costco using the ‘stock up’ cash envelope. Mostly it was in fact stock ups. It was HP printer ink, AA batteries, toilet paper, eggs and a few other things that came in at $137. We bought our usual wine for the week and that’s it. Tomorrow(Sunday) I plan on going to Winco and TJ’s so that I have what I need for the week and not have to go to Safeway or Holiday. It does save money to plan on those 2 stores.

After Christmas…

Posted in books, California, cancer, cash envelopes, cooking, library, meal planning, seasonal things, Walking by

Today is my 3rd Velcade shot. I have another stye happening from the Velcade so my eyes are bothering me some. No walking this week as I must have overdone the leg muscles on the knee where the torn meniscus muscle is. So, I decided to just call this an ‘inactive ‘week, which drives me crazy because I want to walk and swim.

I’m hoping giving it some rest and stretching will help. Today after the shot, I have to drop books off at the library. I’m not going in because they have holiday hours and don’t open till 10am. Then I need to go over to the bank and then home. I’m considering doing upper body weights but I’ll wait till I’m there( by the library) to decide. ( The gym and library are next to each other).

On the menu plan this week:

breakfast for dinner

quiche with salad

steak bits and broccoli(tofu with broccoli for the veggie)

grilled chicken/ veggie pattie and some sort of veg

soup of some sort

New Year’s Eve will be our traditional sub sandwiches. I’ll get some GF rolls for my daughter. I saw some at Trader Joe’s so I’ll check there first. Her labs came back and she’s not celiac but she says she feels better not eating gluten right now so that’s good.

Our weather has been cloudy and cool. No rain but there might be some this weekend. Typical December/January weather, kind of gloomy and depressing.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, California, cooking, Flylady, home stuff, reading, Uncategorized by

Our beautiful spring weather of sunshine and warmer temperatures is back. It’s so nice to go out into the yard and see spring popping up everywhere. Greengrass, trees budding, the flowering cherry tree is still beautiful despite losing those branches.

Yesterday, I didn’t swim because I had an allergy attack and didn’t feel great. Also, it seems after I swim more vigorously like I did on Thursday, I get a ‘lactic acid’ attack the next day so that may have been some of it. Since I’ve increased my weights to 15-20 lbs, I am definitely swimming harder. Yay to that but then I get the downtime too.

Today, we’ll walk and then I plan on going into the Auburn gym for a bit. Tomorrow, I have labs and then I will go down to the Roseville gym. I have books to drop off. I’ve been reading the Dales Detective series( which is fun reading) and had gotten the 4th one in the series as a zip book. I plan on doing the 5th one as a zip too, but you can only have one at a time.

Yesterday, I washed the Ikea couch covers. I had checked about getting a new set but lo and behold, they don’t make the Ektorp couch anymore. I was kind of shocked. It’s been replaced by the Uppland. So I guess until I plan on getting a new couch, I’ll be washing these covers. BTW, they do wash up very nicely and I love having a white couch. The next couch though I think I want is a bit more modern looking and I think it only comes in a grey color which I do love also. The covers on our Poang chairs are a beautiful grey and look good with the white.

I plan on making up the week’s menu plan this morning. So far I have:

  1. chicken pot pie (shelf stable that I canned) and tofu pot pie with green beans
  2. pizza night
  3. Taco night or Mexican night, BTW, the pressure canned pintos came out delicious.
  4. A stir fry night with the veggies from Costco probably with tofu and rice
  5. I have some cheese ravioli to use from the freezer so I might do that
  6. ,???
  7. I have some tilapia to use too, so I’ll pan-fry that with asparagus and potatoes on the side

This week is the kitchen zone so I’ll start that this morning. I’ve been doing a little every day but still I like to do it one fell swoop so it’s all clean and shining.

B went back down to Costco to buy another pear tree because you need 2 to pollinate. They’re good sized trees so we might get some pears in 3 years. I wish we had planted more fruit trees over the years but we never did. Our apple tree was planted when we first moved here so it is over 25 years old and in a good year produces tons of apples. Last year, sadly, all the blossoms got killed by that very late frost and all the orchard around here lost entire crops of apples.

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, budgets, California, camping, Flylady, meal planning, Pantry, travel, Uncategorized by

Another rainy Sunday.

I went to the gym in Auburn(Anytime Fitness) and did the treadmill and weights. Then I went to Safeway for some groceries to tide us over till we do Costco.

So far the menu planning for the pantry this week is:

Cheese/chile tamales from the freezer( used up the last 4) with refried beans and salad

Beer Brauts from the freezer( the last pack) with peppers, sauerkraut, canned baked beans( my shelf stable beans I canned, and Boca burger for B.

Chickpea curry over brown rice with broccoli( using up broccoli)

Tofu burgers

Chicken noodle soup/ lentil veggie soup

I’ll see what else is in the freezer and add a few more meals. I probably can’t get thru all February but I know I can do another week at least.

I’m back making some sourdough and have done a few loaves already. I plan to freeze 1/2 of each loaf so we have bread ready for toasting or grilled cheese.

I’ll see what else is in the freezer and add a few more meals. I probably can’t get thru all of February but I know I can do another week at least.

I’m back making some sourdough and have done a few loaves already. I plan to freeze 1/2 of each loaf so we have bread ready for toasting or grilled cheese.

There’s nothing on the agenda this week so It’ll just be normal stuff. B did book us a reservation at Napa RV in a few weeks. There are full hook ups which is always a treat and that’ll give us a chance to take Rubi out for the first time this season. It’s only 2 nights but it’s also only an hour and a half away. Maybe with towing. We really enjoyed our stay there last time and knew we wanted to go back. Unless there’s a really terrible storm we’ll go even with a little rain.

The Flylady zone is the kitchen if you want to do Flylady. Just set a timer for 15 minutes and declutter, wipe and clear counters, be sure there are no dishes in the sink or drainer, tidy shelves too. Just do what you can in 15 minutes and then do it again tomorrow. I have a laminated sheet that has my chores for the kitchen and I off each one when I’m done.

The Pantry Challenge

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

I always like a bit of a challenge so I decided to do a $100 a week grocery challenge. That’s for 4 adults. Usually, my grocery bill averages $700 for the 4 of us so that’s a $300 difference. So that means using lots of pantry and freezer items. We’re in a good place to do that as both are filled although the freezer is only about half full that’s ok. I think if you didn’t have a well-stocked pantry $100 a week for 4 adults might be hard.

My plan is to keep a list of what I’m using and where I’ll replenish it like Costco or Winco.

So far I’ve spent $30 at Winco and .48 at Bel-air. The Winco shop was almost all veggies and salad stuff plus milk and a half and half.

The meals this week have been:

Smokey Lentil Soup with cheese quesadillas. The lentil soup is a favorite from NYT.

Sheet pan nachos. This is a new way( for me) to make nachos that I took off of Mavis Butterfield’s blog. She makes her nachos this way in the oven. It’s a great way to do it and very easy and clean up is a breeze.

An Ina Garten recipe for Bouef Bourguignon. I made it in the crockpot and that was a winner too.

Tonight is a big salad and grilled chicken /tofu. We use to call this the Kitchen Favorite because back in the 70’s the original vegetarian restaurant in Auburn was called “The Kitchen’. Of course, it didn’t have chicken but basically, it was salad, grilled tofu, and avocado slices. They made the best blue cheese dressing which I’ve never been quite able to duplicate but Trader Joe’s blue cheese dressing is close.

Tomorrow will be homemade pizza. I have everything I need.

Saturday, I’m planning tofu burgers with all the fixings and fries.

Sunday will end the week out or begin the week depending on how I look at it. Maybe a spaghetti night.

Spring time busy.

Posted in Blood test, cancer, home stuff, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma by

There’s lots going on in the gardens and the yard. Flowers are blooming and all three lilac trees are in full bloom. This has been a really good year for flowering trees. Out Cherry trees maintained their blossoms for weeks which was unusual. Now the lilacs are in full swing and very full. The white roses are just starting to bud and a few have flowers. The Cecil Brunner looks to be ready to explode with pink blossoms.

Today I plan on applying the redwood stain to the new fencing. I’m going to use a small roller so I think it will go quickly but I’m not sure how much/far the gallon will go. It certainly wasn’t cheap at $58 a gallon. The garden shed is nearing completion and I have bought the same house paint to paint that. I’m still not thrilled with the way it’s positioned but done is done. We still need to get some roofing to finish the shingles. We had some left over when we had the roof re -done so we just need to get 2-3 more bundles.

The weather is stellar right now with this afternoon being @ 80 degrees. I plan on BBQ some chicken and tofu.

I need to write up my monthly menu and check the freezer. I know I’ve used up quite a bit and when we were in New Brighton my daughter also used up lots of frozen things so that’s good and I can write a list of what needs to be replaced.

After my doctor visit yesterday, which went fine, I stopped at Trader Joe’s in Roseville. I bought some bread things,bagels,pita bread, sandwich bread, some veggies, some frozen things too. TJ’s is great for snacks like sesame sticks so I got a nice variety.

The doctor visit was fine. He said to lower my Dex( from 16 to 12 mg) so it’s maybe not so intense. That’ll be nice. He also said we’ll just wait and see about Round 6. I think if the Dex is more tolerable he’ll go for round 6. I guess we’ll see. All my numbers were still great and my ratio even went down to 1.3 since Lambda went up slightly. So I’m pleased and plus I feel pretty good overall. I do feel pretty lucky that the cancer is being wiped out by Velcade. Unfortunately, there are always rogue cells left behind and that’s why relapse is inevitable. But that’s not now and I refuse to think about something in the future I have no control over.

The week ahead…

Posted in Blood test, California, cooking, covid-19, Lake tahoe, Walking by

We both felt really awful yesterday. It seemed like an allergy type thing as we know it’s not Covid. ( no fever, no cough,) But still kinda headachey, and low energy. Sometimes I’ve had days like this out of the blue, but not on the same day as B. He just took it easy all day. I pushed thru and did most of the kitchen zone. I thought maybe it was a reaction to the air quality since we had been out walking but I’m not sure. When were out we always have masks on and we use sanitizer. Plus, everywhere we went people were 99% masked. So kinda a question mark.

We both feel better this morning but I still feel slightly off. I had plans to get my labs this morning but rescheduled for tomorrow. If this is allergy thing, my counts will show lower so I thought better to wait a day. I don’t see my doctor till the very end of the month so I have time to get my labs and results before hand. I don’t like the surprise of waiting. It reminds me of when I was first diagnosed and all the tests and waiting and then the dreaded phone calls. Now I’d rather know before hand and adjust my headspace.

I did make a lovely smoky lentil soup( William Sonoma recipe)( you can get from their website.) for dinner but that’s it. Usually I’ll make grilled cheese or have some homemade bread but that didn’t happen. I put together my monthly meal plan. I write it out but I don’t follow the days exactly. So we had the lentil soup Sunday not the frittata. I just use the template as a guide. Then I check off what we have eaten.

You can see I still have a few squares to fill in. I plan on looking at some cookbooks today. I also try to do one or two new recipes a month.

We are in cooler temperatures today and the air looks good. I keep thinking that maybe walking in the park with the air quality unhealthy affected us. On the other hand we’ve been doing it now since the fires started and haven’t been affected so who knows. It’s a mystery.

I was laughing maniacally( joke) when I read Trump was on Dexamethasone. How funny!! As anyone who has been on Dex,off and on for years, you know it masks aches and pains and other ills because it is such a high dose steroid. The problem is what goes up must come down and when he’s off it, then the problems could resurface especially his coughing. Oh well, he deserves it and more. Honestly, driving around in his armoured car infecting others or at least the possibility, is pure evil. Just for a photo op.

The week has B’s video appt with the nurse practitioner and labs. If the air stays nice we might do that drive up to Tahoe to see the lake. Maybe pack a picnic.

It’s Monday!

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It’s Monday and it’s SUNNY! Gee, a few days have gone by and not much has happened. Just my day to life.  BTW, my sister did start her chemo last week. 3x weekly. That’s definitely tough. I hope it goes well for her. I’m still planning to fly to Conn sometime maybe May or June.

I’m needing to find some new blogs to read, any suggestions? Some of the ones I used to read are just boring me ( not you Spo!!), or I’m not interested in seeing them post pictures of themselves constantly. So, It’s been kinda bleak. I do learn so much from other bloggers and enjoy the insight into their lives. Especially minimalist ones. I do like some of the big name bloggers but mostly I enjoy people who have normal everyday things going on.

So I went to Goodwill yesterday looking for a vase for the Farmgirl Flowers and found a lovely milk glass one thats called Hobnail Milk glassIMG_1269.jpg.

Then I like it so much I went back for a small bud vase as I want to dry the eucalyptus.

IMG_1268.jpg

I don’t know if this has a name or not. I got this for .60 ,not bad!!  Now I’m really liking the white of the milk glass so I’ll look for some more to put plants in.

I’m off to shop at Grocery Outlet and then Staples for printer ink.

Dinner is unknown at this point. I guess I’d better work on a menu. Probably tofu something.

 

One empty shelf or one empty drawer

Posted in decluttering, simplicity, Uncategorized by

I love the sound of one hand clapping and I love one empty shelf or drawer.

I’m not sure where I first read that on a minimalist’s blog but it totally captivated me. Now in every dresser, there is at least one empty drawer and in 2 of my bookcases, there is one empty shelf.

It feels good to have that room on those 2 shelves. It lets the space breathe.  The one larger bookcase in our front room does not have an empty shelf, but 3 shelves hold my fiesta ware and 3 shelves hold our Easton press books, and 1 shelf holds my cookbooks and 1 shelf hold photo albums. I may have to re- look at that bookcase and redo the Fiesta ware.

Today is a quiet day with just some puttering around and menu planning for the week.

So far I have:

Sunday was Sunday supper (or something to roast, or bake for leftovers during the week) I did a lovely whole organic chicken.

Monday is pasta night so I might do a mac and cheese or just a simple pasta with butter and parmesan.

Tuesday is taco Tuesday and I’ll use some of the left over chicken and do soft chicken tacos.

Wednesday is Whatever Wednesday so ???

Thursday is crockpot Thursday and I have an organic pot roast to cook. I’ll throw in some potatoes and onions.

Friday is Friday night pizza. so some sort of pizza.

Saturday has been Sammie Saturday but now with the cooler weather, I think I’ll make it soup night.

 

BTW, didn’t see the weird park guy today, but I did carry my pepper spray.  Also, B is gone this week up to the North Coast, so I’ll be walking alone. So if I see the guy I’ll turn around and walk the other way and then the same when I get near him on the other side. The park path is a .5 mile circular path.