What Meal Plans?

 

Rice with Pork Chop and Vegetable Stir-Fry

The week of May 11 to May 17 turned out to be a "no meal plan" week!  Not by design, but, I neglected to make a list of meal plan options at the beginning of the week and it turned out to be a make it up as you go sort of week.  Partly because I had gone to the Sri Lankan store on Monday and while I bought some frozen meals and stocked up on some ingredients like curry powder, red lentils, mung beans, etc., plus a lot of treats, I didn't buy any regular groceries. Instead, I cooked from what I had in the freezer, fridge, and pantry.  

So, here's how that worked out:

Monday: 

Brunch Late Lunch - Frozen rice and seafood curry meal from the Sri Lankan store
Dinner - Sri Lankan "roast pan" - a type of pull apart bread that gets "roasted" in the oven and eaten with curry or seeni sambol or butter and jam; I had half of my piece of bread with seeni sambol and the other half with pineapple jam.  Delicious!

Frozen Rice and Curry Meal

Tuesday:

Brunch - Leftovers from the frozen rice and seafood curry meal
Dinner - Macaroni and cheese from a boxed mix with canned chicken breast amd chili sauce and leftover broccoli from the weekend.

Wednesday:

Brunch -  Assorted leftovers - I had leftover friedrice from Friday's early Mother's Day meal and daughter had leftover mac & cheese

Dinner - Fish curry  (from the freezer) with rice and leftover broccoli

Thursday:

Brunch - Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, fresh sliced peaches

Dinner -  Teriyaki pork chops (from the freezer) with rice and a carrots, onions, broccoli stems stir-fry 

Friday:

Brunch -Pancakes, with leftover bacon and fresh peaches

Dinner - Leftover fish curry with freshly cooked rice amd okra (from the freezer - what I grew last year) sauteed with curry powder and curry leaves, etc., and peach chutney

Saturday:

Brunch - Leftover pancakes with fresh peaches

Dinner - Leftover pork chops with the vegetable stir fry and corn (from the freezer); peach pie for dessert

Sunday:

Brunch - Leftover breadpudding with fresh peaches (me); leftover mac & cheese (daughter)

Dinner -  End-of-the-week Fried Rice (leftover rice, leftover smoked sausages, leftover vegetables from the stir fry)

End of the Week Fried Rice

The fried rice was my attempt to finish up bits and pieces of leftovers from the week, but, of course, there was more fried rice leftover to carry into next week!  LOL.  Just enough for one person's brunch.

The week's snacks and desserts included peaches and lots of treats from the Sri Lankan store.

I ordered groceries to be delivered on Monday afternoon: a tray of chicken drumsticks, more broccoli, green beans, and a cucumber, bread for sandwiches and toast, half and half for my daughter's coffee, rice, and bottled water.  I hope I will get everything I ordered.  If not, I will make some adjustments to this week's meal plan options:

Brunches:  Scrambled eggs, sausages, and toast, Uppuma (Indian style cream of wheat/semolina), Onion pancakes (with frozen onion pancakes), Waffles, Mung beans; Tuna salad  or egg salad sandwiches; Leftovers

Dinners:  Rice and chicken curry with dhal and vegetables; Ground beef keema curry with rice or onion pancakes; Omelet curry with rice and vegetables; Smoked sausage and kale stir fry with rice; Leftovers.  

Snacks/Desserts: Fresh peaches, avocado pudding, peach pie, Sri Lankan treats

Meal plan options are subject to change and that's fine, too.  

As always, I am grateful to be able to have a variety of meals.

Are you making a meal plan for this week?

The Great Peach Race is On!

Peaches 

The birds have discovered the peaches!  The peaches are not quite ripe, yet, but, the house finches and the mockingbirds don't seem to care!  They will peck at a fruit and if it isn't quite to their taste, they will move on to another to see if that one has reached the peak of ripeness!

On Friday, I was sitting in the garden and I watched at least half a dozen house finches and several mockingbirds perched on the higher branches of the peach tree, enjoying the peaches.  Later on Friday evening, when M came to tend to the garden, I told him it was time to pick the peaches before the birds got them all and the great peach race was on!

M brought out the ladder and we might have picked some peaches:

Friday's Peach Harvest

I gave M some peaches to take home.  The rest was brought in, washed, and spread out on towels to dry off.

Today, Saturday, I gave neighbor S a dozen peaches and we set aside another two dozen peaches to give daughter's friends A and V; her friend A is on her way to collect her peaches as I type this.  

Then, I cut up enough peaches to make up 3 lbs. of diced peaches to freeze to make into jam or chutney, later on.  

I also cut up some peaches to make this:

Peach Pie

Daughter helped with the pie making, cutting up the last few peaches to add to it and adding the sugar and cinnamon, etc. to the pie filling while I made the pie crust.  

A Piece of Pie

We were too impatient to wait until the pie cooled to try it!  Still no ice cream or whipped cream to serve with it, but, the pie was delicious.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Peaches from the garden
- M's help with picking the peaches
- Being able to share the fruit with M and friends
- Daughter's help with the pie making
- Fresh peach pie!

Today's joyful activities included sharing the peaches with friends and baking and eating peach pie!

Plans for tomorrow (Sunday) include processing more of the peaches for the freezer and accompanying my daughter to the open gym at the community college in the evening.

May Flowers

 

Iris 

I took a stroll in my own garden, this week, on Tuesday, to see what was in bloom.  No sculptures of pollinators or model trains in my garden, but, the majority of these flowers have a story behind them (many of them are rescued plants that M has rehomed in my garden) and sometimes, a flower can hold a secret!  

Neptune Rose  

The Neptune Rose plant was a birthday gift to me from my gardener friend M.

Iceberg Rose 

The iceberg rose grown as a standard was rescued by M and rehomed in my garden.

And Friend (Earwig)

Rescued Pink English Rose with Anise Scent

This is the first flower to appear on the rescued rose that M rehomed in my garden.  I found the rose  on the ground when I was watering the garden on Tuesday; it had not broken off, but, it was blooming on such a slender stem that the flower was too heavy for the stem.  I propped it up on another stem to take this picture.  The next day (Wednesday), when M was here, I saw that there was a second rose on the same plant, but, I didn't take a picture of that one.  M doesn't know the name of the rose.  I am wondering if it is a climber and might need some support?

Double Petalled Kalanchoe (another rescued plant)

Daylily

Chive Flowers

Nasturtium

Four O'Clocks/Mirabilis

Scaredy Cat (Coleus Caninas)

The flowers on the scaredy cat plant (which doesn't seem to scare any of the garden cats) are nearing the end of their blooming period, but, there are still enough flowers to keep the bees happy.

Gaura

Potato Flowers

For the first time since I've tried growing potatoes, I've flowers on one of my potato plants!  I am thrilled to bits!  I've three potato plants growing, this year, from some supermarket russet potatoes that started to sprout before I could eat them.  

Calla Lily

And Friend (Grasshopper)

And those are some of the flowers blooming in my garden in May.

I am grateful for:

- May flowers

- For M bringing me bulbs and rescued plants

- For M's help with the garden
- For the joy these flowers bring to me
- For water for the garden

Sculpture in the Gardens: World Pollinators Display

 

Pygmy Possum and Banksia Flower

When we visited the Descanso Botanical Gardens, last week, we were fascinated by the artwork we found in the model train area.  It was called, "World Pollinators" and featured sculptures created with various plant material, depicting a selection of pollinators and their host plants. 

Yucca Moth and Yucca Flower

Black and White Ruffed Lemur and Ravenala Flower

Day Gecko and Trochetia Flower

Long Tongued Fruit Bat and Banana Flower

Euglossa Bee and Vanilla Orchid

Male Mosquito and Blunt Leaf Orchid

Chocolate Midge and Cacao

Red Milkweed Beetle and Butterfly Milkweed

Honeycreeper and Lobelia Flower

Display Sign

I don't usually put links on my posts, but, I am providing a link to the website that provides additional information about the sculptures, the pollinators and their host plants here.

I loved this display.  My photos aren't the best, but I hope you enjoyed the sculptures.

My Favorite Store

 

Curry Power (above) and Jaggery (below)

On Monday, I had another dental appointment for a consultation to go over the rest of my treatment options.  Daughter took the afternoon off from work to accompany me.  Afterwards, we drove to the Sri Lankan store and restaurant which are located fairly close to the dental clinic.  The restaurant was closed (I hadn't realized that it was closed on Mondays), so my plans to get some lunch to go from there didn't work out.  Instead, we went to the Sri Lankan store only.  It has to be my favorite store!

Pappadam

I had a list of items I wanted to buy from this store, including red lentils, mung beans, chick peas/garbanzo beans, dark roasted curry powder, my favorite extra strength Ceylon tea, Lemon Puff cookies, ginger biscuits, and dried pandan leaves.  Red lentils at the grocery store sells for $4.79/lb. while red lentils at the Sri Lankan store sells for $1.49/lb. and comes in 2 lb. and 4 lb. packages.  I bought two of the 4 lb. packages.  

Crushed Red Chillies, Curry Powder, Spices

I bought two of the 500 grams packages of crushed red chillies shown in this picture for making chutney, but, I forgot to put black mustard seeds on my list and I would need that for chutney making (that will be my excuse for a return trip another time!)

Jars of Pickles and Bottles of Fruit Cordial

I bought several small bottle of fruit nectar and a large bottle of rose syrup to make faluda.

Jars of Various Sambols

I didn't buy any jars of sambol this time because I still had some I had bought earlier.

Vegetables in Brine
Winged Beans (above)
Young Jackfruit (below)

I didn't buy any of the vegetables in brine, although I considered buying a jar of breadfruit in brine.  Instead, I bought two containers of fried breadfruit chips which my daughter loves.

Mango and Pineapple Jam

I usually make my own jams, but, I did buy a jar of the pineapple jam as it is one of my favorites.  

The Sri Lankan store also carries a small selection of British specialties

British Goodies

This display is near the entrance to the store. 

A Closer Look 

 

But, if you don't find what you are looking for on those shelves, you might find them on other shelves inside the store:

Marmite

Vegemite and Horlicks

My mother used to love Marmite on bread and she enjoyed a mug of Horlicks at night.

Baked Beans

Of course, all the imported goods are pricey, but, some of us are happy to pay the price for nostalgia, aren't we? 

Frozen Meal - Sri Lankan Style

Since the Sri Lankan restaurant was closed, I bought two of these frozen meals for a late lunch for us.  Rather pricey at $9.99 each, but, a rice and curry take out at the restaurant would have cost more and one frozen meal was enough for two lunches for me.  The food was delicious and had an authentic taste (and was quite spicy!)  My daughter loved it and thought it tasted better than the food at the restaurant (then, again, she has always maintained that my rice and curries taste better than the restaurant's rice and curries).  We will definitely buy more of this frozen meal on our next visit.

Sesame and Jaggery Candy 

I bought two packets of these sesame and jaggery candy for dessert and snacks.  

I bought a lot of items from the store on this visit, including a treat for friend R which we dropped off at her place on our way home.  Many of the items I bought were groceries, but, quite a few items were treats.  I am afraid I spent most of my May grocery budget at the Sri Lankan store this time, although I don't usually consider the treats I buy at the Sri Lankan store as part of my grocery budget.  

At least I didn't buy this tea set, although I thought it was beautiful:

Tea Set

Yes, definitely my favorite store!  And shopping there is a joyful activity! 

Celebrating Mother's Day

 

At Descanso Gardens

On Friday, May 8, my daughter and I visited Descanso Gardens as an early Mother's Day activity.  The Gardens had sent an email stating that they were having a Mother's Day celebration over the weekend with snacks available for purchase at the Rose Garden pavilion, etc., but, we weren't interested in over-priced snacks and crowds.  On Friday, it was not crowded and we were able to enjoy wandering around the gardens.  Not too much wandering as I am not quite up to it, but, we spent about two hours walking around.  

We went to the Rose Garden, first: 

In the Rose Garden

I loved the rose arbors and these apricot colored roses:

Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the name of the rose

From the Rose Garden, we made our way to the Mulberry Pond, passing by this waterfall:

Waterfall

Along the way, we sat for a bit on various benches and just took in the peacefulness of the place and listened to the birds:

View from a Bench

And admired some of the plantings of other flowers:

Foxgloves

Violas

On our way out, we visited the model train area:

One of the Model Trains

Model Trains Passing Through the Landscaped Area

There was a new art installation in this area, named World Pollinators, with sculptures of several pollinators and plants.  I took some pictures of them, but, that will be another post, I think.

By this time, I was tired.  We went to the central courtyard area and I sat down at one of the tables they had set up there and daughter bought me an almond croissant and bought herself a piece of guava tea cake and a rose and vanilla latte.  We enjoyed our snacks in the car as we didn't want to remove our masks to eat.  

On the way home, daughter treated me to some fried rice and drunken noodles from our favorite local Thai food place, for a very late lunch as part of our Mother's Day celebration.  We brought the food home to eat and had leftovers for dinner.  

It was after we came home that I got stung by the carpenter bee!

On Friday, I was grateful for:

- A lovely afternoon at the botanical gardens as an early Mother's Day celebration
- Daughter gifting me with a year's membership so we can take our time exploring the gardens
- Daughter treating me to lunch and an almond croissant
- A safe drive there and back
- NOT getting stung by bees when we were at the garden!  LOL!

Friday's joyful activity was the visit to the botanical garden with my daughter.