The theme for this month's photo challenge, hosted by Eileen at A Bracelet of Days was "Drinks" (which I had the pleasure of choosing).
Here are my drinks:
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| Water |
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| Flavored Carbonated Water |
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| Faluda - from the Sri Lankan restaurant |
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| Faluda - Homemade with my homemade rose syrup |
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| Lemonade - from homegrown lemons |
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| Rose Lemonade - with homemade rose syrup |
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| Passionfruit Nectar |
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| My Cup of Tea |
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| Daughter's Coffee |
I put in an order for groceries on Saturday and it was delivered today (Sunday). This time there were a few mishaps because I was not diligent about specifying no substitutions on sales items. It didn't use to be a problem when the store would substitute for an out of stock item with a similar item and charge the lower amount, whichever that might be. But, now, the store charges the price of the substituted item, which is often higher than the sale priced item I had ordered. I forgot to specify no substitutions on this order and so, substitutions were made. I did receive text messages when items were substituted and I texted back to indicate if I did or didn't want the substitution. I approved of the substitution for the salmon (the salmon fillet on sale for $9.99/lb. was not available and I said yes to the center cut salmon at $10.99/lb.). However, the shopper forgot to return the substituted cans of condensed milk (I wanted the brand that was on sale for $2.49/can) and they were included in the shopping. As a result, I went over my budgeted amount, but, that's a lesson learned and I'll be more diligent to specify no substitutions, next time.
Here's the receipt:
Total = $58.21
My March grocery budget: $250 + $73.64 carried over from February = $323.64
Total spent to date: $69.63 + $57.54 + $56.93 + $85.03 + $58.21 = $327.34
Balance left = -$3.70
Oops! I went over the budget! I will be deducting that $3.70 from my April grocery budget of $250.
Later in the evening, on Sunday, I did some cooking and baking. I cooked the salmon, a beef roast, devilled beef, and kept aside the rest of the beef to marinate for a beef curry. I also baked some banana muffins to have as snacks over the week.
March Week 4 Meal Plan Options:
Brunches: Bagels with butter or cream cheese, scrambled eggs and toast, tuna salad sandwiches French toast or pancakes, milkrice with seeni sambol or curry or jaggery (onWednesday, April 1), garden salads; roast beef sandwiches
Dinners: Sauteed salmon with rice, green beans, peach chutney; Devilled beef with rice, green beans, cucumber salad; beef curry with rice, green beans, peach chutney; Roast beef with mashed potatoes and carrots, green peas or salad; leftovers
Snacks/Desserts: Pumpkin Spice Banana muffins (made from a mix a friend gave me as a gift), fresh fruit, Sri Lankan sweets, crackers, cereal,etc.
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| Pumpkin Spice Banana Muffins |
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| Birthday Card |
It was my half-sister's birthday, this week, and I made her the above card, using leftover papers from scrapbooking and flowers I had pressed, years ago. The flowers are buttercups and a wildflower. Growing up, I had read about buttercups, but, had never seen them. But, when I was in Wisconsin attending university, the grounds around the student apartments where I lived were full of buttercups and I picked a few and pressed them. Later, I glued them to some writing paper that I had. I used a few of them whem I wrote letters to friends, but, I still have a few of them in my stationery box. Some of them are discolored because I didn't separate them and a pressed flower from the paper beneath has stained it. But I found one sheet of paper with pressed flowers that hadn't been too discolored and cut it down to size. The card still seemed to need something else, though, and my daughter gave me a butterfly cut out from a package of cut outs that one of her former supervisors had given her. I think it was just what the card needed to finish it. I wrote happy birthday at the bottom after I took the photo.
Sister's card was mailed to her. She didn't mention receiving it when I called to wish her on her birthday, but, I hope she received it!
Then, it was time to make a card for an engagement party that daughter and I have been invited to:
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| Engagement Card |
Once again, leftover scrapbooking paper, some sparkly "rhinestones" I had in my stash, and a heart I drew with a stencil and cut out.
Daughter made her own card:
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| Daughter's Card |
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| Purple Martha Washington Geraniums |
I made a flan, too, using the box of flan mix I had bought. It used to be that this flan mix came with a packet of caramel syrup to be spread on the bottom of the dish before the mixture of flan powder and milk was poured into the dish to set. Well, apparently, the box of mix no longer includes the packet of caramel! I'd call it a cost cutting measure, except for the fact that the price of the box of mix, even without the caramel, had increased! Anyway, I made a caramel syrup and the flan turned out well.
Daughter made us cold cuts sandwiches to have with our tea in the evening as we had not had a proper brunch (I ate a bowl of yogurt with strawberry jam and daughter ate a bowl of flan!) For dinner, I cooked half of the green beans that had been delivered on Monday and we ate it with leftover rice and curries.
I did a little sewing on the quilt top I am making and watched some videos online. Later, I texted one of my cousins to check on her.
Wednesday was a fairly relaxed, quiet day and I was grateful for:
- A sunny and warm day
- M's help with the garden
- Medications to keep my health maintained
- Emails and texts with friends and family
- Time to sew
Wednesday's joyful activities included tending to the garden with M and sewing.
I'm hoping for another relaxed, quiet day on Thursday, too.
How was your Wednesday? What are your plans for Thursday?
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| The First Tomato Sighting |
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| New Leaves on the Bay Laurel |
There are new leaves on the bay laurel tree that M rescued from another client's garden and transplanted in mine in January. It had been growing in a container in that client's garden and when the container broke, the client apparently didn't want it planted in another container or in the ground and had told M to get rid of it. He texted me to ask if I would be willing to take it and I said yes! I am taking the fact that it has new leaves as an indication that the transplanting was successful and the tree is growing.
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| Feijoa (Pineapple Guava) Flowers |
Daughter watered the garden plants on Sunday and M will be here to water them on Wednesday.
I am grateful for:
- My garden
- Baby tomatoes
- New bay leaves
- Flowers on the fruit trees
- Water for the garden
My joyful activities have included spending time in the garden; there seems to be something new to see almost daily.
Are you starting to see anything new in your garden? Or are you still waiting for spring to arrive?
On Sunday, I put in an order for groceries to be delivered.
As usual, I wanted to stock up on a few items and to take advantage of sales and coupons. Beef chuck roast, for example, was on sale this week for $5.99/lb.(regular price $10.99/lb.) and while that is still a rather high price, I decided to get a piece at that price because the next time it goes on sale, it might be priced even higher.
The brand of bar soap I usually use was not on sale, but, I had a coupon for $4 off the purchase of two packets. I am now stocked up on soap.
I wanted a cucumber, but, the store was out of both regular and English cucumbers. And the 10 lb. bag of sugar I wanted was out of stock and I accepted the substitution of a 4 lb. bag of sugar, instead.
The store notified me when the shopper started the shopping, when she checked out, and when she was on her way. This time, I was on the look out and made sure I was standing on the doorstep to accept the groceries.
The items were delivered just after 5:30 p.m. and daughter put away the items for me.
Here's my receipt:
The total paid was: $99.61
Of which $12.98 + $1.60 tax was for soap, which doesn't come out of the grocery budget.
Total spent on groceries = $85.03
My March Grocery Budget: $250 + $73.64 carried over from February = $323.64
Spent to date: $69.63 + $57.54 + $56.93 + $85.03 = $269.13
Balance Remaining: $54.51
That amount should be ample for the last week in March.
March Week 3 Meal Plan Options:
Brunches: Tuna salad sandwiches; cold cuts sandwiches; bagels; scrambled eggs and turkey bacon with toast; salads; ramen noodles; leftovers
Dinners: Rice, chicken curry, spicy sauteed potatoes, kale mallung, and moringa curry; rice, beef curry, sauteed green beans, peach chutney; leftovers;
Snacks/Desserts: Fruit (bananas, mandarins, grapes, apples, dates, etc.); cereal; kalu dodol; sesame and jaggery candy; cheese crackers;flan
As always, I am grateful for:
- The availability of groceries
- Being able to order online and
- Getting it delivered
- Being able to have a varied diet
- Weekly sales and coupons
How about you? What are you paying for beef in your area? Are you finding good bargains at stock up prices? Are you making a meal plan or meal plan options this week?
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| Spring Roses |
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| One of my favorite pink roses |
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| Pink Rose |
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| One of the roses on the second bush still opening up |
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| This one is fully opened |
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| White "Iceberg" Roses |
