Starting on the Second Half of the Year!

 

Passionfruit Flower

The first half of the year is behind us and it feels to me like it went by in a blink of an eye!  I spent a little time, this morning, reviewing the previous six months.  I started out the new year with the aspiration of focusing on my physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing and while a lot was accomplished towards that goal, I think a lot can still be done!  There's plenty of room for improvement, I think.  It's a good thing that I have six more months left in the year to work towards that!

On the 1st of July, I made milkrice for brunch as is my usual custom to celebrate the start of a new month. We had it with seeni sambol (a spicy onion relish).  

Gardener friend M was here to tend to the garden in the early afternoon.  We chatted a bit and I served him some of the chocolate chip cookies that my daughter had baked on Monday.  

Chocolate Chip Cookies

We also decided that it was time to pick two of the Berkeley Tie Dye tomatoes because they have a tendency to split when they ripen.  They are just turning color, as you can see, but, the bigger one is already beginning to split near the stem end:

Berkeley Tie Dye Tomatoes

They do look a bit like they've been tie dyed, don't they?  Neither daughter nor I like to eat raw tomatoes; instead, we add them to various dishes when we cook them.  Or, I make a tomato curry.

In the evening, I picked up friend R and we went to the viewing of one of our friends who passed away after a two year battle with cancer.  Afterwards, I dropped friend R off at her apartment and came home.  Daughter and I had rice, ground beef keema curry, dhal, and green beans for dinner:

Wednesday Dinner

On the 1st of July, I was grateful for:

- Monthly rituals
- M's help with the garden
- Homegrown tomatoes
- Friends
- Being able to give friend R a ride to the viewing and back

Joyful activities included spending time in the garden, picking homegrown tomatoes, chatting with friend R in the car on our way to the funeral home and back, and enjoying a chocolate chip cookie.

Plans for Thursday include:

- Attending my friend's funeral
- Some housework
- Maybe some baking

How was your first day of July?  

June Monthly Photo Challenge: Broken

The monthly photo challenges are hosted by Eileen and the theme chosen for June was Broken.

Here are the photos I took for this month's challenge:

An Egg

Tea Cup Handle

Blue and White Vase

Pendant of a vine covered elephant my daughter made

Jade Candle Holder

And last, but, not least:

A Chocolate Chip Cookie

Thank you, Eileen, for hosting the monthly photo challenge.  I have enjoyed participating in this month's photo challenge.  I am not a photographer and have only my cell phone camera, but, I'm truly enjoying taking these photos for the monthly challenge.  

The theme for July is Black and White, I believe, if anyone else wants to participate in the monthly photo challenge.  The rules are few and simple - all photos must be taken during the month (no archival photos) and there has to be a minimum of five (5), but, no maximum.  

Meal Planning - June Week 4 Review & July Week 1 Options

Monday Dinner: Rice, Chicken Curry, Broccoli

My June Week 4 meal plan options were as follows:

Brunches:  Tuna salad sandwiches✔; Pancakes✔; French toast; Boiled Mung beans with lunu miris✔;  Leftovers, Bagels

Dinners: Chicken curry with rice and vegetables✔;Stringhoppers with chicken curry; Ground beef keema curry with tortillas rice; maybe patties (savory turnovers) and salad; Ham fried rice✔; Chicken pot pies

Snacks/Desserts: Patties if I make some; Cheesecake;✔ Crackers with peanut butter; oranges✔; bananas

Here's how that worked out:

Monday:

Brunch:  Tuna salad sandwiches

Dinner:  Rice, chicken curry, broccoli
Dessert/Snacks:  Oranges, cheesecake

Tuesday Brunch: Pancakes and Sausages

Tuesday:

Brunch:  Pancakes with sausages and syrup

Dinner: Rice, chicken curry, broccoli, carrots
Dessert/Snacks:  Ice cream, cheesecake, oranges, cereal

Tuesday Dinner: Rice, Chicken Curry, Broccoli,
Carrots, Peach Chutney

Wednesday:

Brunch:  Boiled mung beans with lunu miris

Wednesday Brunch: Mung Beans and Lunu Miris

Dinner:  Ham fried rice 

Dessert/Snacks: Oranges, cheesecake

Wednesday Dinner: Ham Fried Rice

Thursday:

Brunch:  Tuna salad sandwiches (me); daughter had leftover mung beans

Dinner:  Tuna salad sandwich, again (me); rice, chicken curry, kale mallung, peach chutney (daughter)
Dessert/Snacks: Oranges, cheesecake

Homegrown Breakfast Potatoes
(potatoes, tomatoes, and chives, all from the garden)

There were only three small potatoes I had harvested from the garden and one small tomato, but, there was enough to share with my daughter for brunch.

Friday:

Brunch:  Scrambled eggs, fried potatoes (homegrown) with tomatoes (homegrown) and chives (homegrown)

Friday Brunch

Dinner:  Chicken pot pies (from the freezer)

Dessert/Snacks: Oranges, olive oil chocolate chip cookies (daughter baked to take to her friend's dinner party on Saturday, but, we had to do a taste test, first!  LOL)

Ground Beef Keema Curry
(Ground beef, onions, celery, carrots)

Saturday:

Brunch:  Bagels and creamcheese

Dinner:  .Tortilla and ground beef keema curry  (me); daughter was invited to dinner at her friend's home)

Tortilla and Keema Curry

Dessert/Snacks:  Sesame candy, bananas, ice cream

Sunday:

Brunch:  Tortilla and ground beef keema curry (me); daughter went to a friend's home for a brunch gathering (and stayed to dinner, too!)

Dinner:  "Breakfast for dinner" - Blueberry pancakes (me); daughter had pizza at her friend's home

Dessert/Snacks: Banana, Lemon Puff cookies

Well, that worked out well enough, I think.  I went slightly off plan, but, it was fine.  

Moving on to this week - I am calling it July Week 1.  Here are my meal plan options:

Brunches/Lunches:  Bagels; Egg salad sandwiches; Tortillas with eggs and lunu miris; Milkrice with seeni sambol; French toast/Waffles/Pancakes; leftovers

Dinners: Ground beef keema curry with rice and vegetables; Chicken curry with rice and vegetables; Tortillas with either ground beef or chicken curry; Macaroni & Cheese (boxed mix) with tuna (or hamburger patties from the freezer); or, maybe hot dogs for 4th of July (if they go on sale, later this week, for a 4th of July dinner)

Snacks/Desserts: Oranges, bananas, mandarins, flan, patties, apple pie?

As always, meal plan options maybe subject to change depending on the chef's inclinations!  LOL.

I am grateful for:

- The availability of food
- Whatever homegrown produce I am able to harvest from my garden
- Variety in my diet (although, it might look like I'm always making curries)

- Convenience foods (boxed mixes, frozen foods, etc.)  in moderation

- Being able to cook/having the facilities needed to cook

Are you making a meal plan this week? What's on your meal plan for this week?  If you are in the U.S., are you planning a special celebratory meal for the 4th of July?  

June Grocery Shopping Part 4

June 27 Groceries
(Not pictured: Half & Half and Sparkling Water)

I ordered groceries on Friday night and they were delivered on Saturday.  In addition to what is pictured above, I also bought a half gallon of half & half and a dozen bottles of sparkling water (daughter put them away for me as soon as the groceries were delivered, while I was still getting the rest of the groceries out of the bags).  

The tortillas were on a buy 1 get 1 free sale and I used digital coupons for the breakfast sausages and the bagels.  The sparkling water was on sale, too.

Here's the receipt:

Order Summary

Original Item Total$44.91

Item Coupons/Sales-$7.82

Fulfillment Fee+$0.00

Other Fees+$0.50

Sales Tax+$1.23

Order Total$38.82

---

Item Details

12 Items

CA Redem Val$0.60

1 x $0.60 each

Cucumber, 1 ct$0.49

1 x $0.49 each

Farmer John Classic Pork Sausage Links, 8 oz$4.00

2 x $2.00 $2.79 each

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.29

Item Coupon/Sale: -$1.00

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.29

Fresh Bunch of Bananas – 5-7 Bananas, 1 bunch$2.00

2.9 lbs x $0.68 each (approx.)

Kroger® Fresh Uncooked Chicken Drumsticks, 4.5 lb$5.00

1 x $5.00 each

Kroger® Half and Half Half Gallon, 1/2 gal$5.49

1 x $5.49 each

Kroger® Plain Bagels, 6 ct / 18 oz$2.04

1 x $2.04 $2.79 each

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.30

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.45

Kroger® White Bread, 20 oz$1.99

1 x $1.99 each

Mission Super Soft Soft Taco Size Flour Tortillas, 10 count$3.49

2 x $1.74 $3.49 each (approx.)

Item Coupon/Sale: -$3.49

Sparkling Ice® Summer LTO Lemonade Variety Pack (Pack of 12), 12 ct / 17 fl oz$11.99

1 x $11.99 $13.99 each

Item Coupon/Sale: -$2.00

---

Other Fees

$0.50

Bag Fee$0.50

5 x $0.10 each

My total came to $38.82.

June Grocery Budget (for food items only) = $250 - $26.13 (spent in May) = $223.87

Spent to date = $59.60 + $57.80 + $56.14 + $38.82 = $212.36

Balance left in June Grocery Budget = $223.87 - $212.36 = $11.51

I had been concerned, at the end of my previous grocery delivery (on June 16), that I had only $50 and some cents left in the budget for the rest of the month's groceries, but, I managed to keep my spending under that amount! 

Of course, there are three more days left in the month and there are some really good deals at a couple of other grocery stores which will end on Tuesday (10 lb. bag of potatoes for $1.99; pork chops for $1.99/lb., whole tilapia for $1.99/lb.)  I am tempted!  I could get a bag of potatoes and up to 4 pounds of pork chops and still have some change leftover!  What do you think?  Should I go for it?

Crocheted Vampire Squid and A Blanket

 

Vampire Squid

The real life Vampire Squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) is a deep sea creature.  There is, also, a children's animation show in which there is a character based on the Vampire Squid and, apparently, it is a favorite of daughter's friend V's older daughter H.  Friend V wants to get a Vampire Squid as a gift for Little H's upcoming 4th birthday.  She asked daughter if daughter could crochet a Vampire Squid for her; V would be happy to pay her.

Tentacles on the Underside

Daughter said she would be happy to crochet a Vampire Squid.  She didn't want any payment for making it, if V would buy the yarn and other supplies.  She and V went shopping a couple of weeks ago and bought the yarn in the colors that V chose.  They couldn't find the appropriate safety eyes, so daughter said she could sew yarn eyes.  V chose the crochet pattern, too, and was willing to pay for the pattern, but, daughter found a free pattern online.  

Vampire Squid Hiding

Daughter finished crocheting the Vampire Squid on Thursday night and sent the above pictures to V for her approval.  Apparently, V is very happy with the crocheted version that daughter made.  She had also told daughter that daughter could keep the leftover yarn as daughter is more likely to make good use of it than she, V, would.    Daughter will be seeing V on Saturday and will give the crocheted Vampire Squid along with the felt activity book she made for V's younger daughter.  

In the meantime, I have finished crocheting the blanket I was making:

Stash Buster Blanket

The central black square is something that my neighbor S's mother had included in the yarn she gave me.  I decided to incorporate it into the blanket and crochet around it, using mostly the yarn that I was given and adding a few odds and ends that were in my stash, as well.   The yarn used is all acrylic

The blanket is more or less square and measures approximately 60 inches on each side.  I've spread it on the love seat and the throw pillows to photograph it.  I need to weave in all the yarn ends and give it a wash.  I don't normally block my blankets; I'm fine with the little bit of ruffling caused by the different thicknesses of yarn in the stash.

I'm glad I was able to get the blanket finished before it got too hot to sit with a lapful of blanket!  I look forward to continuing to piece my hexagon quilt top. 

June Meal Planning - Week 3 Review and Week 4 Options

Wednesday Dinner: Baked Chicken, Pasta-Roni,
 Sauteed Green Beans

First a review of my meal plan options for June Week 3:

 June Week 3 Meal Plan Options:

Brunches:  Tuna salad sandwiches; Scrambled eggs with tortillas and lunu miris✔; Cold cuts sandwiches✔; Peanut butter toast✔; Salad; leftovers✔Pancakes

Dinners: Baked chicken drumsticks✔ with rice pasta and mixed vegetables (green beans); Chicken curry with rice and vegetables✔  (broccoli, green beans, kale mallung, etc.); Chicken pot pies✔; Ham fried rice, Leftovers✔

Snacks/Desserts: Fresh fruit; Cookies; Crackers; Yogurt; Ice cream; maybe Flan, cheesecake!

Here's how that worked out:

Monday:

Brunch:  Toast with peanut butter (me); daughter had some leftovers

Dinner:  Assorted leftovers
Dessert:  Yogurt with jaggery (me); last piece of peach pie (daughter)

Tuesday:

Brunch:  Banana and cold cuts sandwiches (after the grocery delivery)

Dinner:  Chicken pot pies
Dessert:  Ice cream bars, grapes

Tortillas with scrambled eggs and lunu miris
(while cooking)

After cooking on both sides

Wednesday:

Brunch:  Tortillas with scrambled eggs and lunu miris (the egg mixture is poured on the top of the tortilla, cooked for a bit, flipped over and cooked on the other side until the egg mixture is set)

Dinner:  Baked chicken, pasta-roni parmesan pasta, garlic sauteed green beans

Dessert:  Ice cream bars; bananas

Thursday:

Brunch:  Cold cuts sandwiches (me); egg salad and cold cuts sandwiches (daughter)

Dinner:  Chicken curry and rice with the last of the sauteed green beans and peach chutney
Dessert:  Sliced apples with peanut butter; bananas

Friday:

Brunch:  Egg salad/cold cuts sandwiches

Dinner:  Chicken curry and rice with peach chutney

Dessert:  Cheesecake (me); daughter had a graham cracker crumb crust baked separately for her as she doesn't like cheesecake

Cheesecake: Just before taking out of the oven
(Forgot to take a pic of it after it had cooled)

Saturday:

Lunch:  Sri Lankan rice and curries at a friend's house (mutton biriyani with boiled eggs, chicken curry, spicy sauteed potatoes, mint sambol, gotu kola (Centella asiatica; sometimes known as Indian or Asiatic pennywort) sambol with grated coconut and minced red onions, and peach chutney)

Dinner:  .Leftovers from lunch (which we brought home)

Dessert:  Tiramisu (which my friend had made), another type of cake from a bakery; oranges

Sunday:

Brunch:  Pancakes

Daughter's with Peach Compote

Mine with Fish Curry Gravy

Dinner:  Assorted leftover rice and curries

Dessert/Snacks: Cheesecake (me); graham cracker crust (daughter, who doesn't like cheesecake); oranges; bananas with peanut butter; crackers with peanut butter

Moving on to June Week 4, here are my meal plan options:

Brunches:  Tuna salad sandwiches; Pancakes; French toast; Boiled Mung beans with lunu miris;  Leftovers

Dinners: Chicken curry with rice and vegetables;Stringhoppers with chicken curry; Ground beef keema curry with rice; maybe patties (savory turnovers) and salad; Ham fried rice

Snacks/Desserts: Patties if I make some; Cheesecake; Crackers with peanut butter; oranges

Or, I could go off the plan and have something quite different!  That would be fine, too.  LOL.

As always, I am grateful for:

- Having enough (more than enough, actually) to eat
- The luxury of variety

- Leftovers and planned overs
- Daughter is not fussy about leftovers
- Being able to go off the plan if I so please!

Are you making a meal plan for this week?

My Third Weather Vane!

 

My Third Weather Vane Sighting!

On Saturday, my daughter and I were on our way to a lunch at a friend's house and I spotted another weather vane on top of a commercial building.  I was stopped at a traffic light and my daughter was able to take a couple of pictures of the weather vane for me.  The weather vane features a flag with PL written on it (for Penny Lane, I believe) and a bird with a wide open beak.    The building is rather interesting, too, and has been described as, "fairy tale Tudor".

"Fairy Tale Tudor" Architecture

The lunch at my friend's house was lovely.  In the invite, she had stated that the theme will be Sri Lankan and to come in Sri Lankan attire (although, she had also stated, "No pressure", in parentheses).  Well, I don't need a second invitation to wear a sari, so, I happily wore one of my saris to the gathering.  I took a jar of my homemade peach chutney to the gathering and it went well with the Sri Lankan rice and curries my friend had prepared.  It was a small gathering of eight people, including two of my cousins, another good friend and her husband; I felt comfortable enough to be without my mask.

After lunch, we were all given containers to take leftovers home with us and I received a bag of oranges that were freshly picked from my friend's tree.  

I might have caught a glimpse of yet another weather vane on the drive back, but, I was in a construction zone with the road narrowed to just one lane and I wasn't able to find a convenient spot in which to park.  Besides, I would have been rather conspicuous traipsing around in my bright purple sari, so, I will try to drive past that building another time and be prepared to take a picture, then.

In the meantime, I am thrilled to have found the weather wane pictured above!

Do you see many weather vanes where you are?  Are they fairly common in your area?