Tag Archives: winco

Thankful Thursday and Frugal Friday on Saturday

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It was a rough couple of days prepping for the colonoscopy. My last meal was 6:30 on Wednesday and then I didn’t eat again till Friday at almost 2pm.

I am VERY grateful it is over and nothing serious came up. I had 2 polyps which was fantastic and I guess they were small. I think they still do pathology because they are polyps but I’m not worried. The worst was being so bored on Thursday, having no energy to do anything and then taking the first prep at 6pm. Then the next worst was getting up to go into the bathroom 5 thousand times. We only have one bathroom so I felt bad for everyone else.

I am grateful though, I slept ok that night. The next morning the prep was at 5:30 am and wasn’t quite as intense. Then no water after 7:30 so that was tough too.

I’m grateful for the nurses and the doctor. He’s the one who did the last one.

The frugalness was not spending any money or even thinking about money. My brain was definitely fuzzy and unfocused. I didn’t even read just laid around.

Earlier in the week, we did a WinCo shop since I did need a few things. I think that came in around$100. Katy from the Non-Consumer advocate was just blogging about the prices at Winco and how great they are. I agreed and we are lucky that our Winco is in a nice area and not too sketchy. I don’t think I’d shop there at 10pm but overall in the mornings, it’s nice.

Today is a home day although I wanted to go to the farmers market, I decided to do stuff around the house and then do a meal plan for the week.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and my kids are planning to do a BBQ for me. That’ll be nice. My son is in the process of moving out so he’ll use B’s truck again to move a few more things. He’s still planning on working from here next week as his internet isn’t hooked up yet. I think in the future he’ll spend a few nights here too as he’ll need to go into the Auburn office 2 days a week.

Our weather is just beautiful. Yesterday, for dinner, we used the Weber for the first time and ate outside. It was in the low 80’s. Today looks the same.

We walked a bit earlier and I think tomorrow we will try to get there maybe 10 minutes earlier. My eyes are very light sensitive which is one reason I walk early.

Frugal Friday Things

Posted in budgets, California, camping, frugalism, ikea, travel by

Well, we didn’t go to Ikea so that saved some money. I can’t decide what exactly I want in my office area so I’ll leave it until I do. I did clean it all out and put back my office wine box( it has a lid that is hinged), my L V boxes I’m using to hold some refill items, my Mac, and my cash envelope binders. It looks better but not quite how I want it.

My only shop was Winco this week. I’m considering going to TJ’s tomorrow for some things for the Napa trip but I’ll wait and see how I feel in the morning. I considered going to the pool but I think I’ll just wait till next week after we’re back.

I stopped at Starbucks and used a gift card to buy a pound of coffee for the trailer. I didn’t even buy a coffee. I only drink plain coffee with cream but I figured I could come home and make some and save me the $3.00 for a tall drip.

After Ortho, which went fine, I came home and made pizza dough for tonight and we’ll have that with salad. Nothing fancy just cheese pizza and whatever toppings I can find to use.

I’m glad this week is over and we can look forward to just relaxing in Napa. Of course, there’s walking, Models Bakery, Rancho Gordo, and Live Fire Pizza but overall we’ll be hanging out in the RV park.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, freezer cooking, knee injury, meal planning by

A big thank you to Kathy for suggesting Facebook Marketplace. I got rid of the quilting frame this morning and am very happy about that. The lady who took it said her mom was a quilter and had recently passed away and left tons of fabric. So I’m thrilled.

We went to Winco first for groceries. I got some stock-up stuff like mayo, ketchup, olives, and some salad stuff too.

From there we went up to Trader Joe’s and also got some stock up stuff but also things like chips. I love their potato chips. They remind me of the chips I grew up on which were called Wise. An East Coast thing.

Then we decided to get a coffee at Panera. It was ok and the bear claw was subpar, unfortunately.

Overall a nice trip out. The rest of the day is just being home and seeing what needs doing. It’s a beautiful day out, almost 70 degrees. I may go sit in the sun for a while.

This week I have PT and then Velcade on Wednesday plus driving from there to Sacramento to see Dr. L. A bit much but that’s the way it is. I totally forgot I’ll be taking Dex because I was planning on going to the gym. But since I don’t drive on dex days that’s going to have to wait. It’s funny how quickly you forget what the routine is.:(

For dinner, I have a white bean soup from the freezer unless something else jumps out.

That’s it, for now, the sunshine is calling.

Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, budgets, California, cooking, reading, simple foods, swimming, Walking by

We have another rainy day forecast. It’s very weird for us to have rain in Northern CA this time of year. Usually, it’s around Halloween. But we’ll take it and it will help with fire season.

After overdoing the walking yesterday,:( I re-evalutated. I’ll just do 2 rounds tomorrow and see how that is for a day or two. I did swim this morning and it felt really great. It was raining a little but I’m in the water anyway so…

Well, I ended up going to Winco after the pool and it was not frugal. I spent about $125. But I pretty much got what I needed for the week ahead. Some salad stuff, fruit, almond butter, rye bread, cheese and misc. But other than that, I haven’t bought groceries. I think so far for the September budget I’m at about $275, and that was the Costco trip. I could put that back on August’s budget but I think I’ll leave it in September.

We didn’t have any lunch dates or coffee dates this week. Next week we might do a lunch date but I’ll wait and see how the week shapes up. I have my oncology appt Wednesday so that day is out. I’m hoping we can come up with my chemo plan for October. It depends on my next labs and what he thinks. We’ll see.

Last night I made a yummy chicken parmigania and spaghetti with some of my canned tomato sauce. Boy, was that sauce delicious. I did pick another big bowl of tomatoes so I may have enough to do another batch. I did another jar of refrigerator jalapenos. I must have 6 jars now:) I’m not sure what we’re doing for dinner but it won’t be a pizza. Maybe I’ll pull a jar from the pantry.

I just finished a library book “ The House in the Pines‘ by Ana Reyes. Yikes what a nail biter. Very scary and suspenseful. Not sure about the ending it seemed to unfinished to me and I don’t like that. I picked up 6 books to read, 3 of them are part of the Lincoln Lawyer series. Right now we’re watching the TV show on Prime and it’s very good.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in bread, California, canning tomato salsa, Gratitude, swimming, Uncategorized by
  • The competition pool was amazing and the water was perfect. The only downside was it’s deep(7ft) almost all the way around with quite a space between the top of the pool and the water. I jumped in and didn’t like doing that. To get out though, I went under the lap lanes and over to where there are stairs. Tomorrow I’ll get in that way I think. They have us using this pool only this week.
  • I shopped at Winco and am so grateful their prices are below Safeway or Bel Air. I haven’t shopped in Safeway for months now.
  • Our weather continues to be beautiful with highs in the 80s.
  • Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes,…I made my first batch of tomato sauce yesterday. I ended up with 7 pints of beautiful sauce. The hardest part is putting the tomatoes thru the food mill.
  • I had an hour alone this morning as my daughter was at the college and B went to Costco. Hurray for a few moments of alone time.
  • I found a sandwich bread recipe that I think works. The only thing is I did the last rise last night so it overinflated this morning. But I punched it down and still had an ok rise after that and it baked up ok. Good flavor. So I will try again but start the dough in the late afternoon instead of the morning. The recipe has 3 rises but the first one is 8-12 hours so that will be the overnight one. Then in the morning, there are 2 more rises at 2-3 hours each. I’ll link the recipe after I get it done without overinflating the dough.

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, California, cash envelopes, cooking, frugalism, Walking by

This has been a frugal week overall. I only went to Winco for King Arthur WW flour, a few condiments, wine, and some eggs. ( $40) appx. We’re having to supplement our eggs with organic eggs from the store. We’ve lost half of the white leghorns to water belly disease which this breed gets and there’s nothing you can do.:( I’m more than ready to be done with chickens. I dislike paying for store eggs but there are plenty of good options as long as you don’t mind the price. Trader Joes’s has good prices on eggs but Costco is probably the best for organic eggs.

I got gas in the Sante Fe and that was $41 and Barclay took both the SF and Buggie to the car wash. I have a cash envelope for car washes so he used that.

Dinners were all homemade with some leftovers like the chicken. Tonight is pizza night and I made the dough yesterday. I’ll keep it simple with cheese ,olives, peppers, and some basil I still have from the farm. I’m going out to the farm later mostly for lettuce. I still have a bag of spinach from last week so I need to use that up.

I’ve been making a few pot holders and another washcloth. It’s just something to do. I didn’t get any books from the library as I felt I needed a break from reading.

The pool was cool again this morning but ok. I started out with a lane of my own but then someone showed up later. I was back home by 8:10. I’ve been tidying around the house and moving a few things around. Nothing major just a few things changed.

I won’t swim tomorrow even Saturday has been my favorite day. The hours are different and I’m guessing it’ll be busier. I’ll walk and then go the Auburn gym Sunday.

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.