Today, too, it rained practically all day. Heavy rains in some areas, but mostly a light rain in my area and in downtown. Everyone is worried about mudslides in the burn areas, with some mandatory evacuations in effect. Fortunately, I am not in one of the burn areas and have only a few flooded intersections to worry about on my commutes to work and back.
Yesterday, in an adjoining neighborhood, a pine tree uprooted and fell. Today, in another adjoining neighborhood, an eucalyptus tree fell onto a house and the house has been deemed inhabitable. I have been casting an anxious eye on my own eucalyptus tree and hoping it won't topple over! I have been given the phone number of a tree trimmer - I will be calling him, next week to have him come out and trim my tree, before anything happens!
I went to the office, today, and had a productive day. After I came home, I watched news, put away the laundry, and knitted. I finished one sleeve of the blue sweater. Actually, I had knitted about half of it, earlier, then had to unpick it, because it was too big (I am not following any instructions, just making it up as I go). I had picked up 70 stitches along the armhole and that turned out to be too many stitches, so then, I worked with 60 stitches, decreasing to 40 for the cuff, but even that seems too big!
Yesterday, I had the spaghetti and squash I had made and frozen, earlier, for my dinner:
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| Spaghetti and Squash dinner |
Today, I wanted soup, so I made beef and vegetable soup:
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| Beef & Vegetable Soup |
I normally make my soups from scratch, but not today. Today, I found the lazy way to make soup, with items from the pantry! I opened a can of low sodium chicken broth (didn't have any beef broth, bought on sale for $.50), added a can of mixed vegetables, drained, ($.50 from the dollar store), added a few frozen green peas and frozen corn, and the rest of the beef steak I had cooked earlier (which had sauted onions added to it), cut up into pieces (the steak had cost almost $5, but this is about the 5th or 6th meal I am having from it). I brought it to a boil, then simmered it for 5 minutes. I debated adding some tomato to it, but didn't. It was a relatively frugal and easy to prepare meal! There's leftover soup for tomorrow's lunch, as well.
While I was typing this, someone came for a cuddle and decided the cushion behind me was a good spot for him - I had to move to the very edge of my chair! He looks disgruntled in the picture, but he was purring!
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| Dancer scheming to take over the chair! |
Today, I am grateful for:
- A safe commute to the office and back
- More rain!
- A productive day at the office
- A relaxed evening at home
- Easy dinners!
How was your day? What are some of the dinner short cuts you use?
I'm guessing that eucalyptus trees have shallow roots if they uproot easily. Luckily our neighbor took down a dead tree and two other big ones that were on the fence line with our house after the last big wind storm. No major damage from them, but he worried the whole time that one was going to come down on our garage. Needless to say, we're happy with his action. Good luck with your tree trimming.
ReplyDeleteYes, they do have shallow roots. And, unless they are trimmed regularly, they become top heavy! I'm glad your neighbor cut down those trees. There was a dead tree in the backyard, when I first bought the house; I cut it down, myself with a chainsaw a neighbor lent me (he saw me trying to cut it with a handsaw!) I like to think I could tackle the eucalyptus, myself, but I've been told not to even try! LOL!
DeleteThat low sodium broth is handy to keep in the pantry, isn't it? I also add frozen veggies and some leftover meat or chicken, perhaps a little pasta or rice that I saved in the freezer if there is any. Usually it is less than a serving but too much to discard as I hate to waste food, so it gets saved for soup.
ReplyDeleteI see you are doing my favourite trick of knitting everything twice! I am also knitting a sweater with only parts of a pattern to help with dimensions and it is a guessing game half the time.
I was out this morning and there was a cold wind and my fingers are still cold so my typing needs doing twice, too!
We saw our first chipmunk of the year this morning but I think he is a little premature as there is plenty of snow and ice around. However, DH kindly threw a couple of peanuts onto the deck where he noticed him, and I see there is now a mess of shell on the snow so I guess it was worth coming out early after all!
Ha, ha, the early chipmunk gets the peanuts? Hopefully, it wasn't a squirrel helping itself to them!
DeleteYes, the broth is a good thing to keep in the pantry. I tend to use the bouillon powder for the most part, but I bought these cans as an alternative/earthquake supplies. But they need to be used up and I thought that making the soup was a good idea. :)
Yes, I would do better if I actually knitted a sample piece to get the gauge, as recommended, but I rarely do! But, big, oversized sweaters are comfy, aren't they?
Glad you had a good day and lots of rain. I use meal shortcuts a lot of the time. I try something new each week but most of our meals are very simple and easy. One of my biggest short cuts is using jarred spaghetti sauce. Publix has Classico spaghetti sauce BOGO every 6 weeks. Each time they have it I buy 4 jars of the tomato basil sauce and use them as the base for any Italian dish I am going to make for the month. Since it has no meat in it, it works with anything I add to it. (And trust me, I add a lot.) Most months I wind up with about a half of a jar left so I freeze it in an ice cube tray and keep the frozen cubes in a freezer bag. Anytime I need any tomato sauce I grab a cube and toss it in instead of using plain tomato sauce. It works!
ReplyDeleteJarred/canned (cans don't break in an earthquake!) spaghetti sauce is something I use, too, Anne, and, like you, I freeze the leftovers! I've enjoyed reading about your new recipes, each week.
DeleteSoup songs wonderful. Have been asthma sick for 6 weeks, nothing taste very good. Hsv ed been missing your blog post.
ReplyDeleteJudy, I am so sorry to hear that you've been so ill. Hope you are feeling much better, now! Thank you for taking the time to stop by! Lovely to hear from you, again.
DeleteMy mostly "down-in-the-dumps" week pales in comparison to the last two weeks you have been experiencing. I was still reading your blog posts each day but couldn't seem to get past my own "poor me" attitude. *laugh* However, now that I am feeling more optimistic and looking back at your posts to prepare a comment, I am wondering why I thought I was so hard done by. I have reread the stories of your car accident, the no hot water days because of the hot water tank and now the pressure regulator, and finally I have learned of the perpetually parked trailer out on the street in front of your house (what a view) and the ensuing problems of the vehicle blocking your driveway. You cannot complain of leading a boring life, which must explain why you still find gratitudes to list at the end of every day.
ReplyDeleteYour soup looks yummy. It doesn't matter that you used canned broth and veggies with your leftover meat. It is a complete meal. I love soup. Same goes for the previously cooked and frozen meals. Anything that can be heated up as a quick and tasty meal is good to have available at the end of a working day. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.
Aw, Susan, (((HUGS))). We all have those "down-in-the-dump" days that sometimes go on for weeks. That's actually why I started the daily gratitudes in my journal, which I've continued on the blog. It really does help, I believe, to look for something for which to be thankful for, each day. :)
DeleteLots of reaction to this post. 1. Dancer is amazing and definitely a cuddle magnet. He is such a handsome chap. 2. I have deliberately bought frozen chunks of butternut squash as I loathe peeling and chopping it and never seem to do it effectively and it is actually quite cost effective to get it that way for soup. I'm also keeping an eye out for frozen packs of what they call casserole vegetables, which is onion, carrot, parsnip etc which could be kept in reserve and would simmer up nicely in broth with lentils and be a quick soup and 3 YOU ARE MAKING A SWEATER UP AS YOU GO ALONG!!! WOW!!!LM x
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lyssa; I'll tell Dancer he has another admirer! :D
DeleteI often cut up extra veggies and stick in the freezer - onions, tomato, celery, etc., and add these to dishes I make, including soups. But, this was the first time I had added a can of mixed vegetables, and I felt quite pleased with myself!
I rarely follow exact knitting instructions when making sweaters. I never use the yarn they recommend, either, just buy whatever is on sale and go with it. It's always an adventure, when I knit!
Forgot to add to my reactions - Hope that you are okay with the after effects of the rain. I was told that eucalyptus can be very thirsty trees if there is water, so hopefully that will get rid of some of the excess. Thinking of you LM x
ReplyDeleteYes, thank you, I am fine after the rain - nothing bad has happened, due to the rain, thank goodness! :)
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