Tag Archives: trader joes

Simple Sunday

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

We’re back in nice fall weather again. Highs in the low 70s, just where it should be.

I had a great swim yesterday, and the pool was not busy. But I probably overdid it as my knee is just a bit sore this morning, so I’ll take it easy today.

After the pool, I went over to Winco and then Trader Joe’s. Maybe that’s why my knee is sore with all that walking. Anyway, I mostly wanted TJ’s eggs as I find them to be the best, even over Costco’s. So I picked some other things as well, a frozen quiche, salad packs, chips, and a few bottles of 3.50 TJ’s chardonnay. It used to be two buck chuck, but not any more. 😦 So for dinner we had greek salad and a broccoli cheddar quiche. It was good. I might make some soup for dinner and have that with some bread. It’s definitely soup season.

This morning, I’m not going to the gym as my daughter and I will go to Home Depot to get the gutter stuff. Plus, we need some deck stain and or sealant. I also want to get the car washed, so we can do that first.

This will be a busy appointment week for me, and as you know, I don’t like having a lot of appointments. It’s definitely going to mess up my swim/gym schedule. Oh well. I’m also planning on reducing my dex. I’ll ask Dr. L, but he was in favor of it last time. Plus, I believe there is research that says taking Dex doesn’t really add to OS or stop progression. So I’ll drop the dose by half and see how I feel and how my numbers get affected.

The news weighs heavily on me, and I just feel so sad about it all. Plus, I’m scared we’ve gotten to a place of no return with Frump and his allies. Democracy is in peril.

Frugal Friday

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

I spent $88 at Trader Joe’s, which included some of their wine( Charles Shaw, which is no longer 2 buck Chuck). I went in to get their brand of chili powder, but they didn’t have any, which I thought odd. So, I’ll need to go to Winco to get some next week.

I got gas at Costco and it’s down to $4.43 a gallon so that was a savings.

I was planning to go to Costco today but B has a video appt with the nutritionist so either I go alone or wait. I’ll think about it. We need a case of water and some miscellaneous things. Mostly I need help lifting the case of water. The other stuff I can handle like the TP.

Other than that I didn’t spend $ on anything else. All of the bills are done for the month so that’s good. I have written up a tentative April budget. We are in limbo on Stanford till the CT comes in although we haven’t heard from them so I’m taking that as a good sign. Or it could be that UCD hasn’t communicated with them about what’s going on. Either way, we should know more next week.

With the hotel costs plus gas and food we need to not spend any extra because that’s going to be a fairly big CC bill. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.

Today is a cloudy day but then by Sunday we’re going to be seeing mid-70s temperatures. Spring will really pop then:)

Here’s a couple of Gus pictures!! it’s a rough life!!

He has his own Poang chair.!!!

Winter Solstice

Posted in books, budgets, California, Walking by

Winter begins.

Finally, the shortest day of the year. And the longest night but then we shall start to see more light. Already the afternoons are showing a bit more light around 5pm so that’s a big plus.

We had a nice walk this morning. It wasn’t too cold at all. The rain is supposed to start around noon. Today is just a home day. Yesterday I went to the gym and the library. I got the newest Baldacci book so I’m excited to start that today.

I didn’t go to Trader Joe’s so I may stop in there Monday. I still need a few things for Christmas eve and Christmas dinner. If I don’t I will go down to Holiday which I may do today anyway as we are out of half and half and milk. No one drinks or uses milk except B but since he’s really trying to gain weight milk is important to have.

I realized I didn’t have any Hannukha candles left so I ordered some from Amazon. After Christmas, I hope to only buy necessities from Amazon. Some things I just need to get from there like Simple human garbage bags. I buy these in a 4 pack. But I still want to try and not support Bezos.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgets, California, cooking, home stuff, husband, ikea, swimming, Uncategorized by

We’re finally getting sunny days. It’s still very cold(32′) this morning but at least there’s sun!!

It’s been a good week. Barclay had his port out and that all went well. It was almost 4years to the date he had it put in. Lots of blood transfusions.Whew, what a story that was. But he’s 100% better and has no lingering GVH issues.

I had my annual Well care check with my PCP. It was fine although maybe a slight waste of time as I didn’t have anything to discuss and he didn’t have a lot to say. Oh well, it’s fine. I did say I still had some pressure in my left ear and he just said to go see the ENT doctor. Er, okay then.

After that appt, I went down to the Roseville gym and then the library. I also swam on Wednesday and it was busy but I did get a lane. Near the end of my swim, some guy came and shared the lane.

This morning I’m making some sauerkraut and doing a general tidy-up. I’m making a pizza for dinner and need to defrost the dough. Last night I made my first ever meatloaf and it came out really good. I did follow a recipe and I suppose that does help. I decided to make this since I had a lb of local pork sausage I had bought at the farmers market this past summer and as part of the pantry challenge wanted to use it up. I also had some organic ground beef to use up too. I topped it with my canned BBQ sauce and it was excellent. The pantry challenge is going splendidly and I may continue into February. There are 11 more days in January so I’ll decide then. I do plan on doing an Azure order in February so that will be some pantry restocking.

I got the new Marie Kondo book from the library. What a waste. It’s mostly repeat stuff but there’s so many photos of her. It seems the book is really about how many photos can she have taken of herself.

And here’s a shot of the sauerkraut wilting and about ready to go into a jar with the fermenting lid on.

This was one head of cabbage. It does shrink down.

I haven’t spent a lot on groceries this week except $80 at Trader Joes. Since I was going in for a few things I added some extras like pita bread for falafels, OJ, micro greens, and some other random stuff.

I also tackled washing the couch covers and saw that one corner at the bottom was ripping so I will need to get a new cover eventually. I’mgoing to pull some embroidery thread out and sew it for now. I think these white covers are over 5 years old probably more. I’m not ready to buy a new couch so a new cover will be fine. Next time I go to Ikea I’ll check it out.

Friday things.

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgets, cancer, Myeloma by

I had my consult with my PCP about my slightly higher LDL #. My HDL was very good and the ratio was good but he wanted/needed to tell me to try and cut out some higher fat foods like butter. 😦 I love butter but I told him I will do my best and he said we can test in another year. So that’s that. I will try to cut back on butter and cheese and some carbs. I cook with a lot of butter but usually in combination with olive oil. I’ll just try and be more conscious of using butter like on toast and bagels etc. Also, my thyroid numbers came back normal. Last time when my LDL was slightly high it must have been about 6-7 years ago, I started eating oatmeal for breakfast 4-5 times a week and within 6 months my cholesterol dropped 60 points.

My Myeloma labs came back almost the same as last month. So hurray on that. Another month of freedom so to speak. All my other labs were normal and the same as before. So all in all, it’s good.

Our anniversary is next week and B said I should go buy the Louis Vuitton. I said I’ll think about it. It’s not a cheap purchase and I’m quite happy with my Coach bag I bought that is similar in size to the Neverful. Still, a Louis is a Louis. I think my obsession( sort of) is that it’s French (although not many are made in France anymore) and the quality of workmanship. I only love the LV monogram and the black ones. The others are really quite gaudy in my opinion. Well, I’m certainly not getting younger:( That purchase would definitely NOT fit into Frugal Friday!!!

Today is a home day and I’ve done my morning reset, bathroom swish and swipe, and kitchen tidy. I plan on going to the farm this afternoon for a few things. I also am feeding my sourdough starter and plan on putting it into one jar instead of 3 1/2 jars. I might make some sourdough bagels this weekend. If I’m cutting out some carbs I might make bread with whole wheat as that is better on the glycemic scale.

Tomorrow after swimming I’m planning to go to Trader Joe’s for a few things. I know they have Ezekiel bread which is good and whole wheat tortillas too. I’m certainly willing to switch things up a bit. Besides, I always like a challenge.

Our hot weather continues. It’s very depressing after what seems like forever of 100 degree days. The nights aren’t cooling off hardly at all. Next week temperatures are all in the mid 90s so maybe that will be a little better.

I’m waiting for the next batch of tomatoes to ripen so I can process them. I’ll probably just do the tomato sauce again. I don’t think there’s too much else I’m interested in doing except getting some corn to quick freeze. Last year I did about 12 bags of corn and we used them all. Safeway usually has the best prices. I’ll check their flyer later.

On the spending side, I put an order into Rancho Gordo for 8 bags(1lb). Since they are in Napa they arrived in record time. If you haven’t tried their beans, you should. They are all heirloom and absolutely delicious. I ordered a new one to try called Whipple bean. I also added on a jar of Mexican oregano. When I opened it, it didn’t smell too much different from my oregano. So I’ll have to see how it is in recipes. Let’s see, I ordered falafel mix from Amazon because TJ’s doesn’t carry it in their stores anymore and finding it in the regular grocery store is a PITA. I bought some salad stuff from Holiday Market too. Even with cash envelopes, I’m still spending @ $700 a month on food. I guess that’s just the norm. At Costco, I did mostly cash and then the rest on the debit card. Costco is always more than I think it will be, of course!! Well, B did buy Sierra pale Ale beer but it’s really the best price for it if you drink beer. I also picked a few bulk items like sugar and some more flour.

Midweek catch up.

Posted in California, MDS, Uncategorized by

Yesterday we went to Sacramento to Clinic. Barclay is doing well but still has to stay on the Steroids and the new immunosuppressant. I was hoping the doctor would take him off but not yet.

I didn’t go in with him but instead went over to the Trader Joes for more stockpiling. This time I did some frozen food, teas, snacks, and wine. Then I sat in the car and read on my iPad. It’s always so busy down there I was glad to just sit it out.

Today, I’m not going to the gym but have to go smog the VW.  We didn’t walk either so maybe I’ll walk later in the park or use our exercise bike. ( It’s my daughters but we all use it occasionally).

It’s supposed to be lovely the next couple of days and then SNOW???? What the heck is up with that. To go from 70 degrees to 32 in a few days??? Weird.

 

Midweek Musings

Posted in cancer, cooking, MDS, medicare, simple foods, Uncategorized by

We had a nice drive to Sacramento yesterday for B’s clinic appt. Traffic moved fairly well thru the usual difficult areas( where I -80 merges to Business 80) and the downtown area.  His appt went well and the good news is they have reduced his Tacrolimus to every other day. This is the biggest drug that targets keeping at bay Graft vs Host. So we need to watch for any flare-ups but the NP was pretty confident that this is the time to start. So that means maybe by February he can go off Noxafil which is the Tier 5 that we are holding on to paying the Cobra for. Actually, with the plan set to restart in January, we’re not sure if the Cobra co-pay will reset( I’m assuming it will) and that means, well, I’m not sure how much the co-pay will so that’s a big question mark.

We are set up with Plan D medicare for him but that’s not what we’ll use as that immediately goes to Tier 5 and the 25% start. So way to much $. I guess we will just need to wait and see how it plays out. I’m hoping we can drop the Cobra by March.

After clinic we went to Trader Joes and OMG it was a madhouse. I almost walked right back out. But we managed thru and I got what we needed for Christmas( fondue, and ham) and lots of good food( french fries, they have the best frozen) and other things including TJ’s wine!

We stopped for a pizza slice and then headed home.

Today is a gym day. And then I need to hit Home depot for a bulb for my salt lamp.  Then home to bake some more cookies and maybe make the fudge.

Tonight is a new recipe for a spinach pie. One of the very few memories I have of my mother and this was not when I was young but @ 16, she made a spinach pie that was like a pizza. My sister doesn’t remember it so I’ve been trying to recreate it. This recipe calls for ricotta so maybe that’s what she used.

I’ll update after it’s done and give a review.

 

Simple Sunday

Posted in cooking, Flylady, simple foods, Uncategorized by

A calm and rainy day ahead. Rain is indicated for most of today but at least it’s not too cold yet. We managed a walk in the park yesterday between storms and it was pleasant. I’m not used to being there in the late morning so things looked different:)

Yesterday, the baking bug hit and I made some chocolate chip cookies, the dough for sugar cookies( in the refrigerator now) then I prepped dinner, which was chicken with mushrooms and finally assembled two casseroles of enchiladas for tonight’s dinner.

 

The week ahead is not too busy. B has clinic on Tuesday and then after that, we’re going to shop Trader Joes. I plan to do Costco later in the week.  I plan o getting what we need for Christmas dinner. Our tradition is fondue Christmas eve and then cheese lasagna Christmas day.

60455E5D-6548-4017-B8FE-95F6378392A4.jpeg

B5AD247D-08C5-43C9-BE6E-4D5290B35B47.jpeg

0BA53772-2A48-4FDE-A688-E735CA59946E.jpeg

Today is a gym day.

Plus it’s the kitchen zone for those that follow Flylady.  I’ll do some today and some tomorrow. It’s raining so no walk this morning.

Simple Sunday

Posted in cooking, Uncategorized by

Well, it has been a very involved week.

From last Monday when we decided to switch to UCD because it will be in network for the transplant to today when I went to Trader Joe’s.

I haven’t been to TJ’s in a while and there were some specific things I wanted. I read that their mahi-mahi burgers were very good, so I got some of those and lots of other things I’d been keeping a list of.

B had a platelet transfusion and my daughter went and picked him up as I was still down the hill as they say.

It’s supposed to rain off and on all week. I hope that changes as I’m completely done with rainy weather.

This week is the living room zone for those of you following Flylady. I did most everything in about 10 minutes. Last week I had washed the couch covers so they are fresh. I vacuumed yesterday so I’ll do that tomorrow. I like to vacuum every other day.

Dinner is a new recipe of green chile chicken. I’ll bake that not use the IP and have coleslaw on the side.

th.jpg One of my favorite quotes!

No Results yet…

Posted in Blood test, cancer, Uncategorized by

So we are incredibly disappointed by the non results. B got a call from the nurse at 4:30 yesterday with the news that the biopsy sample was inadequate. WTF???? The doctor said it was a good marrow sample. So now we’re in limbo again till something else is scheduled.

He will go in for another transfusion as his platelets are very low. So as long as this can stabilize him till the next appt. Right now we have a pretty good idea that it’s MDS but without a biopsy confirming it’s still unknown.

He’s worked from home most of this week so at least that’s good. Next week will be the same as he shouldn’t go out in crowds too much. We might try and go out for a coffee date but we’ll see.

We did go to Trader Joes and did a huge grocery shop so that will last at least 2 weeks.  A few things we bought that we’re fun is their Candy Cane green tea! Go get some!!! It was delicious. Plus I did get some frozen meal items to make some evenings just a little easier.

Sunday night is the first night of Hanukkah. I plan on making latkes and using my homemade applesauce.  Of course, we are not Jewish, but any excuse to have candles is ok by me.

It’s a rainy Saturday and a snowy one in the Sierras. My daughter is driving up today and I suspect it will take a while. She got home fine last night without any delay.

I think I’m making Breakfast for dinner but not sure.