Tag Archives: recipes

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, swimming, Walking by

I feel mostly back to normal after our 2 days at Stanford. I was quite tired yesterday but today felt good enough to go to the gym. I did weights and some treadmill.

I also got some sourdough going and I’m trying a new baking method using a Pullman Pan. Everything in preparation is the same, fold and turn, bulk rise, but then you place the dough in the pan and put it in the refrigerator overnight. The pan has a lid that you put on to bake and it gives you a square loaf that is great for toast or sandwiches. I’ll post some pictures and give an evaluation. If the sourdough doesn’t work out I’ll just try a regular yeast bread.

I made up an apple tart using apples from our small tree. The big apple tree had lots of apples but the bugs got into them so most of them went to the deer. I have to go check the Rhode Island Greenings because I think there were a couple of them. Those trees are still fairly young so it’ll be a few years before we see any crops.

We have a few hot days coming up and hopefully, we can close all the windows and it won’t get too hot. I think I saw 99 and 97 so fairly warm:( Well, it is that time of year when it can be cool or hot.

We had a good walk this morning and I plan to keep walking my regular days even when B starts his chemo. I figure the first week he won’t feel like it but by week 2 he should be able to.

I plan on swimming tomorrow and then maybe going over to Winco for a few things. I don’t need a lot but would like to get some Bubbly water and that’s the cheapest place to get it. Depending on how Wednesday shapes up, I could go to the library and the gym while B is in chemo. We need to find out from the nurse how long she/he thinks it’ll be. the doctor seemed to indicate that it’s a fast infusion but the pre-drugs can take some time. That’s like Benadryl and saline.

I scheduled my flu and covid shots for this week too so I’ll be glad to get them done.

I’ve cooked some baked potatoes for dinner and I will make a spinach salad to go with that. I’ll have to check what kind of protein I have because I know I used the tofu up. I need to make up my menus for the month tomorrow so I can plan out what to use up or what I may need to buy.

Menu Monday

Posted in Blood test, California, cooking, swimming by

I think I’ll do a mix of from scratch meals and then some pantry/freezer meals this week.

Last night we had a broccoli casserole that used broccoli, chicken and tofu on the other side, ranch dressing and then cheese on top. I used up all the broccoli so that was good. It was ok. Not great but ok.

Soup night of some sort. Last week I made homemade mushroom soup ( to use up the Costco mushrooms) and it was quite delicious. I want to add some new soups to my rotation so I’ll be checking out recipes. But if I don’t find something, I’ll just do lentil or minestrone.

I have a meatloaf and mashed potato dinner planned. It’s enough for one dinner and then I’ll freeze the other half. B can have a veggie burger with his potatoes.

I think I’ll plan a brinner this week too. I have lots of eggs so I could do pancakes, eggs, and veggie sausage.

I have a freezer lasagna to use one night with a salad.

I feel like a curry as well, so maybe red lentil curry with rice.

Probably a pizza night but that’s still TBD.

The freezer is low on meats as I haven’t restocked anything so I need to plan a Costco trip for some beef, chicken, and maybe fish.

I got my labs done and was out the door within 10 minutes. Then, I went to the pool. It was crazy busy for some weird reason. Usually, now when I go later, it’s pretty empty so I don’t know if it was just a one-off or what.

I’m home and chilling for the rest of the day. I’m almost done with Fellowship of the Ring.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, Gratitude, home stuff, knee injury, Political things, swimming, Walking by

Still no biopsy results. My guess is someone dropped the ball as to who was going to call. Tomorrow is his NP video appt so we’ll know then. Still, I hate to go into the things uninformed. Because he doesn’t have the oncologist yet, and his PC didn’t do anything, I’m guessing the results are just sitting there waiting for someone to release them.PITA>

I’m grateful at least he has the appt tomorrow. I’ll sit in and hear what is being said.

My doctor is on his way to Croatia so I think my labs are going to be stuck in cyber space too. He’s gone for 2 weeks. I may call down there and ask that another doctor release the labs.

I’m thankful our temperatures are finally dropping out of the 100’s. since we just had the 2 hottest days on record, I think heat waves like this will be the norm:( But wait, Republicans think climate change is a hoax. Remember the movie ‘Day after tomorrow’, when it’s too late, it’ll be too late.

I’m grateful my sourdough starter is working perfectly. I had made at least 3 loaves that didn’t bake right and looked up why. First, the starter needs to be robust and second, the bulk fermentation phase is the most important. So I was underproofing the dough. I’m quite pleased with the loaves I’m getting.

I am thankful I had a good swim yesterday. I got there a little later than usual, and it was mellow. I still shared a lane but that’s ok.

I’m grateful my daughter loves gardening and right now I’m processing another pan of tomatoes for sauce. Since this is a water bath process, I don’t worry too much about exact quantities because it’s just tomatoes. If this was a meat sauce or a pressure canned recipe exact measurements are necessary. I like the baking of the tomatoes as the skins come right off.

I’m grateful to be walking in the park. It’s been almost a year since my torn ACL and meniscus. So I’m really happy to just be walking. It’s still not a lot but that’s ok. On any given day I do between 2-3 miles. So I’m good with that. If I could do more I would.

Here’s giant Gus and his momma, Ciri.

Finally, I’M INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL THAT KAMALA HARRIS IS THE NOMINEE. I THINK WE CAN BEAT THE ORANGE GUY, WHO NOW IS THE OLD MAN:)

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, camping, cooking, Lake tahoe, Myeloma, simple foods, Uncategorized by

I guess my daughter brought home a cold from work this week and now I have sniffles and a runny nose. It’s not terrible but still, my head feels like it has cotton in it. I’m not sure I’ll go to the Auburn gym then. I did walk this morning so at least I got some exercise in. This is probably the first time I’ve had a minor cold in maybe 3 years. I do get seasonal allergies which is what we all thought my daughter had but then by the next day you could tell it was more like a cold.

I want to swim tomorrow so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how I feel then. I have Velcade Thursday so I don’t want to push it.

Yesterday I started drying oregano in the dehydrator, which still needs at least another day. I plan on doing a few batches as I use quite a bit of oregano in cooking. Then I’ll move on to thyme. I wish there was a way to keep cilantro but it doesn’t dry with any flavor, I’m not sure why exactly. I just looked up drying cilantro and it says you can and it will keep its flavor so I think since we have so much I’ll do ie batch to test it out. I recall I dried it in the oven and not the dehydrator so maybe that was the problem.

I decided not to go to the gym since I don’t want to be blowing my nose and then using weights:( I really dislike seeing people do this so I don’t want to be one of those people.:)

Yesterday I made a pot of minestrone for dinner it was quite good except the reason I was making it was to use up the zucchini we had and of course, I forgot to put in the zucchini. So maybe I’ll make a zucchini bread. My son brought up a dozen Noah’s bagels and they are delicious. He lives right near one so that will be fun for him. ( and us).

Our cooler weather is moving in and today looks like temperatures in the 70’s so we won’t need to use coolers. I think it’s supposed to be like this for the next week or so. Tahoe may end up cooler than we thought but we’ll be fine. We have the heater in Rubi. This is a shorter trip than we’re used to, only 3 nights but it’s a start. Then in June, we’re there for a week.

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!

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cooking, Gratitude, knee injury, pets, pets,cats,dogs,, swimming, Walking by

I’m so thankful my knee is doing so much better. I’m able to do almost everything without pain. I’m still only walking 1 + mile but I’m grateful for that. This morning on our walk, I added one extra loop around the school parking lot. That put me 1.2 miles, so I’m jazzed about that. I went to the pool yesterday and swam for @35 minutes. I’m not back to 45 but 30 is a good enough time in the water.

I’m thankful for the beautiful morning with sunrise quite early.( 6:21). It was almost too bright for my eyes which is one reason I walk in predawn light. I guess since sunrise is going to continue getting earlier, we’ll need to adjust and walk maybe 15 minutes earlier.

I’m grateful to be able to do some canning this morning. I have kidney beans I’m pressure-canning. I also plan on doing cannellini (white beans) soon. Beans seem to be the thing we’re using the most. It does take some time and you never want to leave a pressure canner unattended. I usually sit where I can hear the juggle and make sure it’s doing its thing. Pint jars take 75 minutes after the 10-minute air valve release.

I’m grateful to be where I am at this stage of life. My life is simple and filled with just the right amount of activity. I’m grateful I started my decluttering /minimalist journey years ago and don’t really need to do the Swedish Death cleaning. I’m sure after I’m gone there will be still lots of stuff my daughter/son won’t want. They may not want the 1950’s Heywood furniture. That’s ok, it’ll be primarily my daughter’s house. The barn is pretty much my son’s hoarder, oops, craft, tools, and everything else place. He does have a lot of bins of things:( Oh well, that’s his choice.

Here’s some fun photos of the kitties enjoying the Birthday box from Chewy!!!

That’s Bean!

Very strange Cherry!!

Project: Cooking thru my cookbooks or else…

Posted in books, cooking, project cooking thru my cookbooks by

Next on the chopping block.

This is a signed Alice Waters book. It really is a lovely cookbook with linocut images. Quite beautiful. But I’ve never made a recipe from this book or unfortunately never went to Chez Panisse. Probably the time to have gone would have been the 1970’s right when we moved here. Probably it could have been one of those Berkeley trips we made to visit our friend Jim. Also, when we had our bookstore later in the 1980’s we would drive down to Berkeley to go to

Bookpeople and buy literally $1000’s of inventory. It was a huge warehouse and fun too. But never ventured into town where Chez Panisse was.

So, I might look one more time if there is a recipe to make but I doubt it.