April Grocery Shopping

Today, on the last day of April, I picked up an order of groceries in the evening.

This was my first major grocery pick up since March 27, which, at the time, I considered as the first grocery shopping order for April, mostly because I had already spent all the grocery budget for March (I had not increased my regular grocery budget to allow for the fact that my daughter extended her visit to a total of three weeks).  At the time, I had planned to write a blog post about that grocery shopping order, but, I never did.  

I spent $38.07 in the March 27 grocery order and purchased:

Bananas, a pineapple, dinner rolls, half a gallon of whole milk, one pint of half and half, one pound of shrimp, 3 packages of ground coffee (12 oz. each), and there was a $0.30 bag fee for three plastic grocery bags.

Today's grocery pick up consisted of:

1 cucumber, reg. price $0.99, with coupon = $0.49

1 broccoli crown (0.7 lb.) reg. price $1.99/lb., $1.41/lb. with coupon = $.99 

3 bananas (1.11 lb.) @ $0.69/lb. = $0.77

2.16 lb. grapes, on sale for $1.99/lb., $1.75/lb. with coupon = $3.80

3 lb. ground turkey, on sale with coupon @ $3.49/lb. = $10.47

2lb. bag frozen breaded shrimp, with coupon = $7.99

3 cans tuna in water, @$1.02 with coupon = $3.07

1 doz. large eggs = $4.49

32 oz. container yogurt = $4.19

1/2 gal. milk = $2.79

4 cans coconut milk, @$1.99 = $7.96

1 loaf sandwich bread = $2.49

1 box cheerios cereal (10.8 oz box), with coupon = $1.99

1 box frosted flakes cereal, 12 oz., free with coupon = $0.00

1 bottle ketchup (20 oz.) = $2.49

2 jars pasta sauce, @24 oz, @$1.29 on sale with coupon = $2.58

2 x 6 pack lemon-lime soda, multi buy "must buy 4" price of $3.00/6 pack = $6.00

2 x 6 pack cola, part of multi buy deal = $6.00

CA redemption value on the soda, $0.30 per 6 pack = $1.20

Sales tax (probably on the sodas) = $1.07

Less $5 off coupon on grocery order over $50

Total spent, per receipt = $65.84 

Plus, there was another $11.58 spent at the dollar store on a can of corned beef, snacks, and dried chilies, earlier in the month!

Total spent on April groceries: $38.07 + $65.84 + $11.58 = $115.39

So, I went over my April grocery budget of $100 by $15.39, which I will deduct from the May budget of $100.  In any case, much of what I bought today will be eaten in May!  

I was able to take what they call a "sneak peak" at next week's grocery ads, too, today (the store sent me an email with the link; prices effective as of Wednesday, May 1) and whole chicken, thighs, and drumsticks will be on sale for $0.99/lb., which is my stock up price, these days.  Store brand bacon is also on sale, with a coupon, for $3.99/lb. which is as good as it gets these days, I suppose.  So, I do plan to go grocery shopping, again, next week, too.

That was my grocery shopping and spending in April.  Although I went over budget by $15+, I'm happy with my spending.  

How did you do with your grocery shopping budget in April?  

Meal Planning: April Week 4 Review and May Week 1Plan

Sauteed Apples and Custard

This was my meal plan for April Week 4:

Brunches: Ham and bread rolls, boiled mung beans, tuna salad and crackers, scrambled egg and fried potato, toast and peanut butter, muffins?

Dinners: Ham and potato soup (with added vegetables), baked salmon with rice, carrots, and green peas broccoli and potatoes, chicken curry and rice with dhal and moringa curry, baked breaded shrimp, leftovers. 

Here's how that worked out:

Monday:
Brunch:   Ham and bread roll sandwich
Dinner:  Ham and potato soup

Tuesday:
Brunch:  Tuna salad on crackers
Dinner: Ham and potato soup

Wednesday:
Brunch: Leftover tuna salad on toast
Dinner: Leftover ham and potato soup with toast

Thursday:
Brunch: Ham and bread roll sandwich
Dinner: Baked salmon with rice, carrots, and green peas

Friday:
Brunch: Peanut butter sandwich
Dinner: Baked breaded shrimp with tomato chutney

Saturday:
Brunch: ??? I think I had a ham and bread roll sandwich, but, I didn't write it down and I've forgotten!
Dinner: Leftover baked salmon with rice, carrots, and green peas

Sunday:
Brunch: Scrambled egg with the very last bit of ham, diced and added to it, bread roll
Dinner: The last of the leftover baked salmon with rice, etc.

Snacks and desserts included apples (both fresh and sauteed), kiwi (fresh), custard, peanut butter and crackers, and popcorn.  

There were a few changes, but, it worked out quite well.  I didn't eat the potatoes I planned to eat!  

On to May Week 1:

I'm continuing to plan this week's meals based on what I have on hand; however, I am considering putting in a grocery order, sometime this week.

Brunches: Burritos (Monday), scrambled egg and fried potatoes, milk rice with chicken curry and/or seeni sambol, pancakes and sausages, tuna salad on toast or crackers, leftovers

Dinners: Chicken curry with leftover rice, carrots, green peas (Monday), chicken curry with rice, dhal, and moringa curry, "breakfast for dinner" (either eggs and potato wedges or leftover pancakes and sausages), baked breaded shrimp, leftovers.

Snacks and desserts: Fruit (apples, pomegranate, home canned peaches), crackers and peanut butter, maybe a cake or muffins?   

At least, that's the plan!  No doubt there will be some changes as the week progresses!

Are you making a meal plan this week?

The Back Garden in April: The Fruit Trees Edition

The Back Garden in April

As with the front garden, I've been posting pictures of the flowers, etc., in the back garden quite frequently.  You have all been very kind and said you enjoyed seeing the pictures of the flowers, and I thank you for saying that.  There will be more photos of flower, but, this time, I thought I'll focus on the fruit trees. 

Another View of the Back Garden

So, here's a look at some of the fruit trees in the back garden:

Fuyu Persimmon Tree

The Fuyu persimmon tree looked quite dead in March, but, it has leafed out since then and there are flower buds:

Fuyu Persimmon Flower Buds

The Asian Pear tree is slow to come out of dormancy, this year, but, there are some flowers and leaves to be seen:

Asian Pear Tree

The avocado I grew from a seed has new leaves, but, no signs, yet, of any flowers; it might not flower at all, but, I don't mind!  I'm happy to have been able to grow an avocado from seed and have it survive for as long as this one has:

Avocado Tree

The peach tree is coming along well, even with the peach leaf curl:

Peach Tree

M has thinned out a lot of the peaches, this year, in order to have plenty of air circulation around the fruit, not to stress the tree, and to prevent any branches break off as in the past.  I guess it would be better to have fewer, larger peaches than many, smaller ones?

Baby Peach

In previous years, the peaches have ripened by the end of May; I wonder if it would be the same this year, too?

Plum Tree

There are some tiny plums forming, but, I told M that I won't count them until they are bigger, because they tend to drop off the tree as they get bigger.  Last year, there were about a dozen plums.

The Plum Tree

There are oranges forming as well, but, well over half of them will drop off.

Orange Tree

The nectarine tree seems to have managed to escape getting the peach leaf curl:

The Nectarine Tree

Last year, it didn't produce any fruit; I'm hoping we will get at least a few nectarines, this year!

Another Look at the Nectarine Tree

Not a tree, but, the blueberry bushes are full of berries, but, I think we might have to put some netting on them because I'm noticing that the mockingbirds are helping themselves to any berry that looks like it might be ripening! 

Unripe Blueberries 

Well, I really couldn't do a post about the back garden without some flowers, as well, could I?  Here's a look at the self-sown California poppies and phacelia growing under one of the Meyer lemon trees:

Poppies and Phacelia Under the Lemon Tree

I forgot to take a picture of the pineapple guava (feijoa) tree, which is in bud, and the calamondin tree, although you can catch glimpses of them in the background on some of the photos.  

Thank you for visiting the back garden orchard with me!

Project Completed on Saturday

New Crocheted Blanket

The blanket I was crocheting has been completed.  It measures 42 inches by 54 inches, which is a good size for a lap blanket, I think.

The majority of the squares were done using yarn that was in my daughter's yarn stash, with her approval.  I knew it would be rather random, but, I tried to bring some uniformity to it by crocheting the central motif in each square with white yarn and crocheting a border around each square with cream colored yarn.  Except, I ran out of the cream colored yarn for two of the squares (and a corner of one other square) and the store didn't have anymore of it, so, I switched to white yarn.  But, I think it is OK.

I will wash and dry it and donate it to the cancer clinic when I go for my appointment in May.

The Front Garden in April

The Front Garden in April

I feel that I've been posting pictures of the garden almost weekly, if not daily, in April, but, I didn't want to skip the monthly garden overview, either!  The weather continues to be cooler than normal for this time of the year, so the garden continues to thrive.

A Stream of Osteospermum

The osteospermum is starting to spill out into the sidewalk!  Currently, it is not spilling out too far, but, I will have to see if I can redirect it to go back into the garden or trim it back!  

The Succulents Border

I've plans for the succulents border and M is helping me, although he's not quite sure what it is that I am planning to do.  But, being the obliging friend he is, on Friday, he brought me a small tree stump from a flowering mulberry tree that he cut down for one of his other clients:

Tree Stump

I'm going to ask him if he can get me another stump or two; watch this space!

In the meantime, the climbing red rose is putting on a bit of a show:

Red Roses and Purple Osteospermum

One of my friends asked me if I kept a list of all the plants growing in my garden and I had to admit that I didn't!  But, in just this one planting bed, in addition to the roses, there are three types of asparagus ferns, a jasmine vine, the ever present osteospermum, gladiolus, sparaxis (Harlequin flowers), paperwhites, alstroemeria (Peruvian lily), and a pomegranate tree which is just starting to flower:

Pomegranate Flower and Bud

Last year, there were lots of flowers on the pomegranate tree, but, no fruit!  I hope that, this year, we'll get some fruits!

Last, but, not least, we have what I am calling the "rootery":

Eucalyptus Tree Roots and Base

The base of the eucalyptus tree has exposed roots and M and I've been planting succulents in the spaces between the roots:

The "Rootery"

It's a relatively new project and the plants are still settling in, but, the hope is that they will spread and grow into a sort of ground cover at the base of the eucalyptus tree.

Close Up of a Spreading Succulent

Thank you for visiting my front garden in April.   

A Cloudy Thursday

Pink Apples

Ha!  No doubt everyone is happy to see something other than a photo of yet more flowers!  I had one of the pink apples that M had given me sometime ago.  

Thursday was cloudy and cool (for me, anyway); I sat in front of the electric space heater most of the day.

The tree trimmer contacted me in the morning, stating that his records indicated that I had my eucalyptus tree trimmed last in 2021 and suggesting it might be time to trim it, again, and offering to give a free estimate.  I didn't want to tell him that he needed to update his records, but, reminded him that he had last trimmed my eucalyptus tree on January 12, 2024 and the tree didn't need to be trimmed, yet!  He, then, admitted that he had been looking at old records.  Poor guy, he must be trying to find more work for him and his crew.  

I spent a good part of the day watching news, watching online videos, emailing a couple of friends, helping Aunt C with some information she wanted, and joining the granny squares for the blanket I am making.  I sewed them in rows and the next step is to join the rows together and crochet a border.  

I wasn't very motivated to do any housework, today, but, Thursdays are my days to clean the kitchen and I did a little bit in the kitchen - washed all the dishes, scrubbed the sink, wiped down the stove top and the counters, and cleaned the microwave.  

Brunch had been a ham and bread roll; dinner was baked salmon with rice, carrots, and peas.

On Thursday, I was grateful for:

- Daughter had a safe journey back from the conference
- Working appliances
- Being able to help Aunt C
- Exchanging emails with friends
- What I was able to accomplish

My joyful activity was crocheting.  

Plans for Friday include crocheting and tending to the garden with M.

How was your Thursday?  What are your plans for Friday?

 

In the Garden on Wednesday

More White Irises

There are more irises blooming.

Gaura Flowers

The gaura plant is starting to flower, too.

 

Serrano Chili Flowers

The serrano chili plant is flowering, again, too.  This is last year's plant and I left it in the ground over the winter and it is ready to produce more chilies for this year.  

M was here in the morning to tend to the garden.  He brought me more Harlequin (sparaxis) flower bulbs from his garden, mowed the grass, again, and watered the garden, both back and front.  

I spent the majority of the day watching breaking news unfolding on TV, about the protests being held on one of the local university campuses.  My late friend A's younger daughter takes evening classes at that campus as she pursues her Master's degree, and I was concerned enough to text her at work to alert her to the situation and to tell her to be careful.  The campus security officers weren't able to disperse the protesters and eventually, the police were called and, it took some time, but, several protesters were arrested and the campus was cleared of protesters, shortly after 8:00 p.m.  

Brunch was leftover tuna salad on toast; dinner was leftover soup with toast; kiwi fruit for dessert and popcorn for snacking.

On Wednesday, I was grateful for:

- Daughter had a safe journey to the conference she is attending (she was asked to be one of the panelists at the conference)
- M's help with the garden and gift of more flower bulbs
- Water for the garden
- Working appliances
- Leftovers for meals

My joyful activity was being in the garden and admiring the flowers.  

Plans for tomorrow might include putting gas to the car and maybe baking something (I've some wrinkly apples in the fridge that need to be used up).  

How was your Wednesday?  What are your plans for Thursday?