Tag Archives: winco

Five on Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, California, camping, Pantry by
  1. I went to the gym yesterday and that was good. I plan on swimming tomorrow but we have another winter storm coming in. There was a bazillion truck on the freeway this morning. There were also 3 CHP’s out there too.

2. I plan on going to Winco after the pool too. The only groceries this week were from the Holiday market and it was to fill in stuff before a more extensive shop. I saw in the Costco ad that coffee is on sale so we will plan a Costco trip next week.

3. I have the freezer almost empty which is sort of amazing. I’ll start restocking the freezer with this next Winco and Costco shop. I know for sure we need more frozen veggies, hash browns, fries, and stuff like that. Plus I need to make some ready-to-eat meals like mushroom crepes as they do freeze well. Plus tortillas which freeze well and English muffins.

4. This week from the pantry I used my canned salsa, white bean ragout, veggie soup, and a jar of black beans. These were all pressure-canned and shelf stable. This year my goal is to make 6 new pressure canned recipes.

5. My labs won’t come in till next week so I’ll just have to see what they bring. The week of March 15 we have reservations at New Brighton but it’s a BIG??? depending on the weather. We really don’t want to trailer in rain if we can help it.

This is 6 but I thought I mention a new to me author, Phillip Margolin. I like his Robin Lockwood series. Quite enjoyable.

Wednesday’s musings

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, home stuff, Myeloma, swimming by

Well, a disappointment with my labs. Kappa went up to 30.7 mg/L so a 3-point jump. And the ratio went up to 1.96mg/L from 1.76 so also a jump. I’m disappointed but such as it is.

The pool was busy but I did get a lane right away. It’s sort of hit-and-miss most mornings. But it’s still worth the effort. I went to the gym yesterday, which was pretty empty although I saw some new faces. Probably new years resolutions kicking in.

Today I’ve been playing around with a spreadsheet I downloaded for the budget. It’s taken me 6 different tries but I think I have it down and I like it as long as it works the way it’s supposed to. I bought it off Etsy on the recommendation of Minimom on Youtube. I do most of my budgeting in a notebook but I wanted to add something new.

After the pool, I went over to Winco for a few groceries. Honestly, you cannot beat the price of things there. It’s a bit of a learning curve because of the layout but I know it well now so I can just go to the areas of food I need. Their bulk area is amazing. Lots of bins of snacks, spices, grains, everything you could want bulk, even honey.

Today I need to vacuum and dust and then fall into a heap depressed about my light chains. It’ll take me a day to regroup.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Flylady, minimalism, reading, simplicity, swimming, Uncategorized by

We lost power for about an hour last night but I’m surprised it wasn’t more. It’s still raining so we decided not to walk this morning. I actually like walking in the rain as long as the wind isn’t blowing and today it is still windy. It looks like we’re in for rain all week. There have been many trees down so I hope ours can hold on. Even along I -80 I saw some pines that had fallen over.

I did go swimming yesterday and got a lane fairly quickly but by the time I was done lots of ‘new ‘ faces were showing up and the high school team again. I imagine it’ll slow down after a while with NY resolutions fading away.

Then I popped into Winco for salad stuff and other veggies. I didn’t buy a lot of anything else as I’m doing the pantry challenge which is to use up what I have. So far it is going splendidly. Last night we had some salmon I had in the freezer so that’s used up and we had a salad with it. I also used my last acorn squash from the farm stand I bought this fall. So overall I’m pleased with the challenge. This week I plan on using 2 pressure-canned soups, and some enchiladas from the freezer, and then see what else needs to be used up.

I just finished reading an excellent book called ” The Longing for Less” by Kyle Chayka. It is quite the essay on minimalism. I’d highly recommend it. I’m not planning on writing down the books I read this year as last year once I hit 150, I didn’t bother anymore.

Today, I plan on doing the Kitchen zone and then read some more. This week is a mellow week, with no appts. Depending on the weather though, I’ll go down to Roseville to swim and to the Rec center at least 1x.

Five on Friday on Saturday!

Posted in California, cooking, social security, Uncategorized, Walking by

Yesterday completely got away from me. I went to the rec center, came home, and got busy doing chores and pottering around.

Our weather is still freezing with mornings quite frosty and temperatures in the low 30s. We walked this morning and the fields at the park were all white with frost. Today’s high should be around 55 so that’s something at least.

After my walk, I started in on the Meyer Lemon marmalade and which is now ready to come out of the canner. I got the lemons at Costco and they are only seasonal. I’ll try and get another bag next time I’m there in January. Then I made the pumpkin chocolate bread batter and put that in the oven to bake for an hour. Next up is a gingerbread scone mix I had from last year so I thought I’d better make those too.

This past week was pretty mellow although B had 2 appts. One for his port flush and one for a bladder scan (urology). Nothing wrong except he doesn’t empty his bladder all the way. This goes way back to when he was working and on the road for hours at a time and didn’t go pee and just held it. We’ll see what the urologist says. ????

I went to Winco after my swim and bought most of the Christmas food I needed( like ricotta for the lasagna) and other misc. stuff. This has been an expensive month all the way around. Prop. tax, DMV, food, a few gifts, etc… I’ll be glad when January rolls around and a fresh start to the new year. I won’t do a No Spend but I will do a low spend of only essentials. I’m working on the amounts for our annual bills so that from each SS check we can set aside something. It isn’t a lot as we live on the SS exclusively but I’ll try. We do have the small amount from B’s 401K that is in fidelity but it’s not much:( I think it was laura over at the occasional nomads that said that the amount of SS increase they were going to save, so I think I’ll do that too. I’ll just have to look at the two amounts and subtract them. One thing that is worrisome is that when one of us dies we would only have one SS check and that wouldn’t cut it. I’m not sure if I add in the money both kids pay for rent if it would be enough. 😦 Probably if we increased it some.

Meyer Lemon marmalade

Pumpkin Chocolate chip bread from pureed pumpkin.

Simple Sunday

Posted in cooking, Flylady, home stuff, meal planning, prepper pantry, Uncategorized by

Well, the HOT weather is back and will be with us for about 10 days. I try and hold off turning on the coolers till about noon. The one we added last year in the entryway/ B’s office space actually helps the house the most as there’s no air circulation there and it gets really warm. The cooler moves the air in there and into the kitchen. I also close all the windows by 8 and close what curtains/blinds we have and that helps.

This week is the Flylady bathroom zone and I just finished that. I tidied the kitchen and other rooms too. I was going to make the bagel dough for tomorrow a little later. ( will see if that happens.)

I’m planning to go in to Auburn to go to Michaels as I need some black embroidery thread. I’ve been having fun doing some embroidery. Usually, I just like to do borders on napkins and things but I found a cute Neko cat one on – line for free and I’ve 2. One is just on a linen bag I have and the other I left in the hoop for my daughter to put in her space. It’s meditative and like knitting is a good mind exercise. I might pick up some cotton to do some wash cloths too. I can only knit so long as my hands have some arthritis and after a while cramp up. Still, it’s fun to do something creative.

I did end up going into Winco yesterday and spent a little over $100. I got a few extra pantry things so that was good. One thing I told B when I got home was all the shelves and bulk sections in Winco were all full. No gaps or empty shelves. So I think this is a good time to look at what I need to restock in my prepper type pantry.

I think dinners this week will be around a salad theme because of the heat. I plan on making a Greek pasta salad for tonight, maybe do a sandwich or wrap night too.

Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, bread, budgets, California, camping, cooking, library, swimming, travel, Uncategorized by

It’s been an okay frugal week. Nothing great but just ok. Most of our big bills for the month are out and just a few more are scattered later in the month.

I had a good swim on Tuesday and the pool was very unbusy which is very unusual. I came straight home afterward. Then Thursday B and I decided to do Winco for a few camping things and at the last minute added in Costco for some camping food as well. I needed Raos to bring and Costco has the best price for the 2 pack. I also got some WW bread for sandwiches. I spent about $175 between the two stores. We also filled up the truck with Costco gas which is the cheapest around. We’re definitely looking at traveling with gas prices. Next week, going to Capitola shouldn’t be more than 2 tanks of gas and the same with Nevada Beach in June. But we’re definitely reconsidering Refugio because that is much farther away. For now, we’ll keep the reservation but still think about it. Then I went to library and got a nice selection of books. Oh, and then we had a lunch date at Celestino’s pizza, which is the best New York pizza around in my opinion.

I went to the nursery with my daughter and bought all our tomato and pepper plants and a few ornamentals for her back garden area. That was her birthday present. We were trying to get a birdbath for her but they didn’t have any affordable ones. The cheapest they had was $110. The last time we were there they had a nice one for $80. I guess we should have bought it then.

I had my labs this morning so I should get results next week. Fingers crossed. I’ve been having some pain in my right leg but I think I over-stretched it doing some yoga. It was better this morning but then the ache comes back ( kind of in the hip and upper thigh area) by afternoon. It’s always something.

After we’re back our next big expense will be having the septic pumped. We’ll call once we’re back. As far as expenses for Capitola, it’ll be a few stops at Gayles bakery and probably one grocery store shop. We generally do not eat out but I thought maybe we’d find some place for a lunch near the Santa Cruz boardwalk. We’ll see. I know we’ll go walk the beach trail so that might be a good day to do that.

Oh, the tree guys came and ground out the stump so now there’s no issue with going out or coming in with Rubi. Yay! He didn’t charge us which was really nice.

Frugal Friday, again NOT!

Posted in medicare, Uncategorized by

Oh well, It’s not like I’m spending money for Christmas because we are not doing gifts this year. But it’s annual bills and life stuff that keep the money flowing out. I got a dentist bill this week so that’ll need to be paid. We have Delta Dental but it only pays a portion. It’s too bad Congress couldn’t pass the spending bill with the addition of vision and dental for us older folk. I’m not sure it’s worth paying the Delta Dental but I guess it does pay for cleanings. Same with the VSP(vision plan). I’m sure we are getting any big benefit. I guess next year I’ll check it out as to cost-effectiveness.

I went into Winco yesterday after swimming and spent $180. Not bad considering I bought holiday wine and beer for B. We’ll need to do Costco before Christmas mostly for coffee. Of course, all manner of things will jump into the cart no doubt.

Today, I’m going to get my Tdap shot because I haven’t had a tetanus booster in like, forever. From there I might do a few errands. I want to get into Target for a large bin for our down sleeping bags.

Update: I just got back from the worst experience at Walgreens about the TDap shot. My appt was for 9am. By 10:30 am I was still not called and there were about 20 people in line or waiting. So finally she calls and says there’s a co-pay. And I’m like what?? why didn’t you tell me that a 9am. So I said, forget it, I’ll check with my provider. Well, as it turns out medicare doesn’t cover the Dtap so Uhc won’t either. I’m fine with that except don’t make me wait an hour and a half to tell me. ARGGGG…..

Anyway, I’m home and ready to do a few chores and potter around.

Frugal Friday( for the most part)

Posted in budgets, home improvement, Lake tahoe, swimming, Uncategorized by

I suppose the biggest save this week was shopping at Winco . I haven’t been in quite a while and ,once again, really shocked at the low prices as opposed to Safeway/BelAir.

I probably saved $50 at least on what I bought. I didn’t really go item by item but it was significant. What happened is, after swimming I decided to go over there and it wasn’t too difficult at all. Usually after my swim I come directly home. No stops. So this time I swam 35 minutes so I wasn’t too wiped out and it was perfect. Plus I was in there at 8am. So there were just a few shoppers( big bonus for me who dislikes people). All in all, I was quite pleased and will do it again, probably before we head to Tahoe ( if it is even open).

The truck AC we as fixed, we think, at no cost to us as we have the warranty. I’m still not sure it was just the freon but I’ll wait and see.

We haven’t done any take out in a while and that always saves money. Just haven’t been interested in other people’s food. Tonight is pizza night and I’ll do an Ooni. I’m down to 4 more and it’s paid for itself. If I were to order it again, I would definitely go for the gas one so if you’re thinking about an Ooni do the gas one. The pellets take more work and getting the temperature right is tricky. Not hard, you just have to keep adding the pellets at the right time.

I’m planning on going down to Ikea this morning as I have a 10% coupon I want to use. I tried to do the click and collect which is nice and easy but the item I wanted they said they couldn’t do that due to low stock. Oh well, it shows 4 in stock so I hope it’s there.

The laundry room is still torn apart but getting there. I decided to buy the less expensive window to replace the one that broke and was all fogged anyway. That hopefully will go in this weekend. I want it all done including being painted by the time we leave for Tahoe so that should give my son and B a timeline.

Blue Skies

Posted in California, cooking, freezer cooking, home improvement, husband, prepper pantry by

It feels like a miracle that the sky is blue. We even ate dinner out on the patio. A miracle!!!

I do hope that’s the last of the smoky skies and that the tired overworked firefighters get a break.

We both got our flu shots and both had headaches for most of the day. But it only lasted 1 day so not too bad. B also had his IGIV on Tuesday and I dropped him off and my daughter went 4 hours later to pick him up. After I dropped him off I went to Winco and spent $130. Not really prepper stuff, just food to use and eat now. Bread, cheese, canned chilis, Amys enchiladas,spinach, tofu, tea, and 3 different kinds of trail mix to snack on. There was other stuff but I can’t remember.

This morning I’m making a zucchini bread from one of the last zucchini from the garden. Most things are done although I have maybe one more big batch of tomatoes to cook and then put thru the food mill. If you ever have an abundance of tomatoes and want to can or freeze a food mill is the way to go. I think I bought mine years ago at Crate and Barrel maybe for $50. But it removes the skins and most seeds.

Yesterday I made applesauce from apples from our one tree. They are a Golden delicious. Again I cut and quartered and cored, then just cooked down. Then I put thru the food mill. I ended up with 5 pints and tomorrow I will do the next box. The apples aren’t as big as we’ve had in the past and I think one trick is to remove some apples when they are small so that the tree can put more energy into the remaining. I don’t know if this is true but seems logical.

Tonight is pizza night but no one feels like a pizza so we are maybe going to do sandwiches. This week I did make a few newish recipes. One was from Tassajara cooking,it was mushroom stroganoff. I had a lot of mushrooms to use up. It’s a good recipe. Then I made a chili relleno casserole that used eggs. It too was quite good. Right now we are getting an abundance of eggs from the girls so that recipe used 8 eggs. They are on the small side. Also, I’m experimenting with freezing the beaten eggs. I guess this is a real thing so I’ve done a few baggies and will defrost one this weekend and see how it goes. You basically do a light whip of the eggs. You don’t want a lot of air. Then you do add a pinch of salt. I’m quite curious if this will work for scrambled eggs.

The pine floor has been a complete PITA. Honestly, I told Barclay, I don’t remember it being a problem last time at all. This time, he’s had to redo 4 boards, then plane them down and now sanding. If I knew it was going to do this I would have just done a laminate in a pine pattern. Oh well, he’s almost ready to do the Varathane on top so that’s that.

Well, that’s all the news.

Oh wait, I just got the Woodward book from Amazon, so excited to read that today.

Anything new?

Posted in California, cooking, covid-19, prepper pantry, Uncategorized by

No, not really. It’s just same ole same old.

On Monday we went down to Winco, which is @ a 25-minute drive. We went early like at 6:15 am. It was fairly empty and we got everything I was after for the prepper pantry. Extra pasta, salsas, instant potatoes, and lots of other stuff to put out in the barn where the prepper pantry lives. We have stainless steel restaurant shelves out there and I’m using bins to put things in. The bins are to keep things clean and to keep bugs or other things out. We haven’t had any problems out there in a while but better to err on the side of caution. Some things I don’t keep in bins like the canned goods. Plus we will need to be rotating stuff into the house so some stuff I want to be able to see. I have labeled most everything. There’s a little more to do but mostly it’s done.

In the house, I have my closet pantry and then in the kitchen, I have some wine crates dedicated to canned goods as well. Overall, I’m happy with what I’ve done. I think if I planned meals, I have at least 3 months worth at this point.

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I’m still spending ALOT on food but as it is prepper pantry stuff, I feel okay about it. I have a very bad feeling about what the second wave of Covid-19 will bring. People are going a little crazy going out and so many are not wearing masks. Go figure.

Tomorrow I will go to my eye doctor’s appt. I’m planning on wearing a mask. This is my annual eye exam and my macular pucker scan. I probably should do the surgery but honestly, I don’t want to deal with it. I can’t really see out of my right eye but my left compensates so I guess for the time being ( unless it’s worse) I live with it.

It’s really hot here for the next few days so the coolers are in the windows. By Saturday though the temperatures are expected to drop again. last year at this time I was driving to Sacramento every day and it was also a heatwave. By the time I was in the RV it was sweltering.  So I guess its par for the course.

I made a chocolate cake last week.

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It was very chocolatey… I ended up freezing half as we weren’t eating it all.

Our daughter’s birthday is Friday. Wow, 35 years ago!!! We were so happy!! And had waited a long time for her. We’d been married 15 years so, a pretty long time to wait for a kiddo!!