Tag Archives: menus

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.

Menu Monday on Tuesday

Posted in Blood test, books, California, husband, Political things by

I had to leave early yesterday(7:15) to get my labs, so I didn’t get to this. Then, I headed down to the pool and had a good swim. After that, I had to do a return at the Galleria Mall, so that took some time. All in all, after I got home, I was still dealing with changing my dental appt to a morning. I think I have everything squared away. Then B got an appt for the CT scan Dr. Lee wants in Sacramento, so he had to leave right after I got home. So I was pretty fried by the afternoon.

Last night, I just did a brinner of waffles, scrambled eggs, and veggie sausage. I had put on pinquitos in the crock pot but they weren’t quite done by dinner. We’ll have them tonight.

Tuesday: Pinquitos with cornbread

Wednesday: protein of some sort, probably chicken/tofu with baked potatoes from the freezer.

Thursday: I think I’ll make a homemade mac and cheese. I have a salad pack to use up.

Friday: Pizza of some sort. We haven’t had takeout in like forever so maybe that.

Saturday: some kind of soup

Sunday: Salmon from Alaskian Wildfish Co. with quinoa and?

My meals are not set, and I often change the day of things to fit what we feel like. But like Flylady, it’s good to have a basic outline of what to eat or do.

It’s still raining a LOT!! But tomorrow looks like a break. We need it. I might go to the gym /library, but I feel like it might be nice to stay home if the weather is nice.

I have a few things to tidy up, but the house is in good shape overall. The kitchen could use some tidying up. I went through the fridge and repackaged some stuff for the freezer(cheese) and threw away a few things. I might go do a little more of that.

The news is so depressing. I mean, RFK for health and human services when he’s against vaccines? These Republicans are spineless jerks. Just wait till there’s a full pandemic of bird flu, then what? Will he tell us all to inject bleach?? good grief, charlie brown.

that’s it for me today. Oh, I just finished 2 books. One is the classic Robin Hood that I have in Easton Press.

And then the new Evanovich, which is a real hoot!!

Menu Monday

Posted in budgets, California, cooking, meal planning by

Last night, we did end up having the Costco ravioli. It’s their spinach and cheese ones. Quite good. I grilled baguette slices in some olive oil, and we had a big salad.

Monday- I took out a container of turkey chili, and we’ll have that. B will have the vegetarian barley vegetable soup. I’ll probably do another big salad.

Tuesday- I am defrosting some chicken, so I may do Mexican chicken, and B can have another veg chick patty. Maybe I’ll do a Mexican burger-type thing. I’ll need to check if I have rolls. I have lots of avocados in the fridge. The best tip ever I learned was to put the avocados in the fridge after they just start ripening. Right now, I must have 6 in there, and they’ll be good for a few weeks.

Wednesday- I have some dark rye bread and plan on Ruebens minus the meat. Basically, grilled cheese with sauerkraut with a Russian dressing.

Thursday- My daughter starts back at her librarian job this week so she works late Thursdays, so I’ll just do something for B and myself, maybe blueberry pancakes.

Friday- pizza of some sort.

Saturday- TBD, leftovers??

Well, I’m not sure what I’m planning today. It’s early yet, so I can think about it.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, bread, California, home stuff, Uncategorized by

A cold brisk morning but sunny. We had to take the Santa Fe to the park because Buggie’s starter finally died. Actually, it died yesterday at the park:( so we had to have AAA tow it home). So I guess that’s moved up on our list of what has to be done. Oh well, we knew it was coming. Now though, we’ll have to have it towed to Auburn to the shop. I was hoping to avoid this expense right now but I guess it’s what needs to be done.

I headed out to the gym and did my weights. I came straight home and now am writing this and then do a few chores.

I’m trying get my sourdough active and it seem to be taking a while. The house is on the cooler side so maybe that’s it. I’ll add some more flour a little later and see if that does the trick. I wanted to try the recipe in “The Slow Rise” for baguettes. The author is the guy who started Bread Alone in New York. His recipes are mostly ones I wouldn’t do but the baguette one seemed easy enough.

Tomorrow I have my labs and then I plan on going to the pool if it goes quickly. As long as I can get to the pool by 8:40 it’ll work. Otherwise, the pool closes for lap swimming at 9:25. I’ve never stayed that late so it would interesting to see what happens.

I need to write up a menu plan for the week. last week I used up quite a few freezer things so I want to do that again this week.

Things to use:

a frozen pizza

some chicken

a package of spanakopita

beans

I see what happens!

menu

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 !

Thankful Thursday and Frugal Friday wrapped up together.

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, California, camping, cooking, frugalism, Gratitude, Political things, travel by

I’m thankful we had an uneventful drive to Tahoe. Eastbound traffic for Memorial Day was horrendous. The only real traffic was through Incline and Sand Harbor which had the roads line with stupid people people trying to get to SandHarbor because the parking lot was full.

I’m thankful the camp hosts were so friendly and we were able to check in early at 1pm. Our spot was so nice.

I’m thankful the drive home was safe too and very little traffic.

We walked every day and and I averaged 2 miles but my knee did start to hurt yesterday so I will back off for a few days. We don’t have bikes anymore and I started thinking maybe we should get some again. There are lots of trails in Tahoe and bike paths.

Frugal-wise camping fees were half because we have the lifetime senior pass. Our only expenses were gas to Tahoe and some camp groceries. So overall, it was a pretty cheap getaway. And we’re back the week after this on the 10th.

Today is Friday and I have my labs, but won’t swim partly because I want to do some home stuff and partly because the pool has been closed all week so it’s going to be busy, I’m sure.

We kept camp food basic and didn’t do any Lodge meals or anything fancy. Tonight, I plan on using the Webber and cooking some chicken. I will make a macaroni salad or Greek pasta salad to go with it. I have some veggie burgers for B.

We have quite a few loads of laundry to do but since it’s so warm out I’ll hang dry them and then do an air fluff in the dryer.

The BIGGEST THANKFUL THING IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM WORKS AND TRUMP WAS FOUND GUILTY!!

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, Uncategorized by

We finished painting the kitchen in the semi gloss Benjamin Moore, Simply White. I thought it had been semi gloss before but it must have just been eggshell. For our kitchen semi gloss is best as our stove hood is not the best and grease does get on surfaces. Even doing the once a month kitchen zone when I wipe all the shelves it still builds up. So that was a good choice. We’re going to add another shelf to the one wall and I just ordered the bracketts. They’re not cheap as they are hand forged but they are nice looking. Then I will put my 1 gallon Ball jars there. Things are still disorganized as a couple of shelves are still drying so I can’t put stuff back yet. But tomorrow I will.

We’re headed for a very nice week so I’m planning on a few BBQ meals on the new Weber. Since I’m doing the freezer challenge, I’ll plan on burgers and chicken at least once. I need to work on the monthly menu plan for April too.

I plan on having labs next Friday since I see my doctor on the following Wednesday. The light chain tests take 3 days minimum so I need to do it earlier than I normally do( which is Mondays). Then April will start Round 4.

B and my daughter haven’t started building the garden shed yet so that will probably be the project for this week. Mavis over at ‘one hundred dollars a month’ blog was writing about what containers to use for gardening and she mentioned the big galvanized bins. A couple of people said they work great and there’s less bending involved. I thought I’d check out how much they are. Most of our raised beds are 2×12 boards and they do break down eventually.

Flylady zone is the bedroom. I’ll do that tomorrow.

This looking down the driveway from the barn. Our neighbors now have their tent trailer up there. The sunroom is where we have our 4pm wine and cheese and listen to jazz or NPR.

the week ahead…

Posted in Blood test, Flylady, prepper pantry, simple foods, Uncategorized by

Another quiet week with no appts. I don’t get my labs till the first week of August. I’m expecting the worst with another steep rise but am still hoping to delay treatment till fall or even this winter. Not to be pessimistic but realistic since Myeloma just doesn’t go away and blood work doesn’t magically get better:(

Monday is chore day and doing little things around the house. I cleaned the tub with Comet and I plan on washing the towels which I try to do on Mondays. The Flylady zone is the bedroom. I’d say if you’re new to Flylady, clean everything out of your bedroom except your bed and maybe a dresser. No TV’s, no extra chairs( unless it’s a very large room), and basically remove all distractions.  If you haven’t uncluttered, now is the time to do so. As I’ve said many times, once things are simplified and cleared out cleaning is a snap, and keeping it that way is quite easy. More stuff means more cleaning and it is visually distracting. I do have a Heywood Wakefield bedside table I need for my meds that I take in the evening and my water.  If I could figure out a way to eliminate that I would.  Maybe another wood crate attached to the wall like the one on B’s side of the bed. It’s small but has enough room.

Mondays are also the day we don’t walk but oddly it feels like the day just doesn’t feel quite complete. But since I’m quite OC about it, it’s probably good I break up the routine.

I’ve been researching long term prepper pantry storage and it seems Mylar bags are the way to go. But since I’m using the vacuum sealer right now, I don’t think I’ll add mylar to the mix. Maybe down the road.  But I’m not looking to try and prep for 5 years and those people that do are kinda extreme. So what I am going to do is get a few more 5-gallon buckets and put some of the vacuumed sealed bags in them so light doesn’t affect them. I’ll try and do a bucket for rice, then one for beans, and then one for flour or baking things. Also, I’d get the gamma lids since they screw down.

I do think that in the fall things are going to get worse and so it is good to be ahead of that. I still like the idea of the upright freezer for certain things but we need to kinda regroup from the tree expense.

Meal plan for the week is : ( in no particular order of using)

  • Tacos, bean and some taco beef for the carnivores plus all the trimmings
  • Cobb salad with hardboiled eggs, sliced cheese, olives, maybe some kind of bean like kidney beans, veggie bacon, cherry tomatoes from the garden and we also have cucumbers coming in as well.
  • homemade macaroni and cheese with broccoli on the side
  •  chicken piccata/tofu with corn I froze( from the fruit stand) and maybe potatoes.
  • homemade pizza
  • mystery meal???

Well, that’s a wrap for now.

 

 

 

 

2nd of December

Posted in simple foods, Uncategorized by

Grateful to be able to go the farmers market and buy my beautiful veggies for a week or two. I got rainbow chard, 2 types of lettuce, radishes, local mandarins, red onions, mustard greens, leeks, broccoli and a chunk of local cheese from Petaluma.

I have 10 meals planned.

Stir- fry with some veggies

Broccoli cheese soup

Potato leek soup

tofu burgers

Turkey and wild rice soup (tonight)

roast chicken with rice and salad

taco night

pizza night

breakfast for dinner

? ?????

It’s a chilly damp day.

 

 

 

More thoughts on Simplified eating

Posted in cooking, simple foods, simplicity, Uncategorized by

img_0165 My home made bread.

Simple Foods

I’ve spent the last couple of days thinking about what it is I’m trying to do with Simple Eating. So far I’ve come up with

  • Eating the same foods for meals simplifies meal time and allows me to have what I need on hand. For instance, breakfast. We have chickens, therefore lots of eggs. My go to breakfast is: 1 egg either fried or scrambled and since I make my own bread, a slice of toast. I also make my own granola, granola with yogurt is a go to. I was making my own yogurt but then buying the organic at Costco for 6.49 seemed like a  no-brainer. Making yogurt is pretty easy  to make so that maybe something to try.
  • so, decide what breakfast works for you and that you have ingredients available. Perhaps you do smoothies. Then be sure that’s what you do almost daily and it simplifies the process.

    image

    Our girls lay pretty colored eggs!

    Having what you need on hand makes the difference in a stressful morning or a calm one.

    Bulk buying

  • Buying in bulk such as black beans, pintos, rice, cheese, coffee, meat, butter, let’s me put meals together easily. If you don’t want to make your own beans, buying the organic cans at Costco is a great option too. I keep canned beans as well since once in awhile it’s nice to open black beans and then just cook up some rice.

       Right equipment

  • Having the right kitchen equipment makes some of this easier. A crockpot is essential. You can throw together chicken, veggies, sauce and then 6 hours later it’s done. I do all my beans in the crockpot. I put in @ 2 cups of beans, rinse, and then cook on high for 7-8 hours. The last hour I add garlic cloves and salt. Next is a rice maker.  This is a must if you eat rice once a week. I use to make rice using the Tassajara recipe book. It was fun until you forgot about it and it burnt. With a rice maker, it is fool proof.

 

        Menus

  • Having a menu is essential even if it is just variations of what you do every week.  such as Taco Tuesday can be tacos, but also bean and rice bowls or pizza night might be homemade but once in awhile it’s take- out. So plan for the week wth your menu.
  • Have a theme for each night for dinner ie; the taco Tuesday etc.
  • cook once and then use leftovers. I try and do roast chicken once a week or week and a half. Then I make up menus based on leftovers. Chicken tacos, chicken soup in the winter, chicken salad.

Planning ahead to shop also allows you to figure out what you need and if you buy what in season that makes meal planning easier too.

I think also, simple food eating has a lot to do with what season you are in your life too. Do you have young kids, retired, teenagers? That will certainly make a difference in how you try and simplify meal planning.