May Meal Plans: Week 2 Review and Week 3

I stated, last week, that I wasn't feeling very inspired when I made the meal plan for Week 2 and that I didn't feel like cooking; I had anticipated that there would be many changes and there were!

This was my meal plan and the changes are in blue:

Brunches: Leftover ramen noodles (Monday)✔, boiled mung beans with katta sambol, egg salad sandwiches (or scrambled egg on toast✔for dinner), toast with peanut butter,✔ waffles✔, salad, muffins (if I decide to bake some), tuna salad sandwiches, lahmajoon (Armenian pizza)

Dinners:  Fried rice with leftover rice, ground turkey, etc.✔; gyoza/pot stickers (from the freezer)✔; rice, chicken curry (from the freezer), dhal, peach chutney, broccoli✔; grilled cheese sandwiches(just toast and cheese and for brunch, instead)✔ soup? subway sandwich, garbanzo beans, cheese filled puff pastry, baked chicken wings with barbecue sauce and cucumber salad

Snacks/Desserts:  Cake✔, yogurt✔, fresh fruit✔, cheese peanut butter and crackers✔, muffins if I make some, tuna salad on crackers✔ Armenian pastries and sweets, Korean red beans and rice cake, macadamia nut chocolates!

Here's how it all worked out:

Monday:
Brunch: Leftover ramen noodles with shredded chicken and stir-fried vegetables
Dinner: Scrambled egg on toast
Snacks: Cake, fruit

Tuesday:
Brunch: Toast and cheese
Dinner: Fried rice (leftover rice, leftover ground turkey and vegetables, a scrambled egg)
Snacks: Peanut butter/crackers, yogurt, fruit

Wednesday:
Brunch: Leftover fried rice
Dinner: Gyoza (pot stickers) from the freezer
Snacks: Peanut butter/crackers, fruit

Thursday:
Brunch: Tuna salad sandwich
Dinner: Rice, chicken curry, broccoli leaf mallung, peach chutney
Snacks: Tuna salad and crackers, fruit

Friday:
Brunch: Peanut butter toast
Dinner: Subway sandwich, tabouleh
Snacks  Sauteed garbanzo beans, Armenian sweets and pastries, fruit 

Saturday:
Brunch: Lahmajoon (Armenian pizza)
Dinner: Sauteed garbanzo beans, cheese filled puff pastries
Snacks: Armenian sweets (baklava), fruit

Sunday:
Brunch: Waffles with chicken curry and waffles with peach jam
Dinner: Baked chicken wings with barbecue sauce, cucumber salad
Snacks: Korean red beans and rice cake, macadamia nut chocolates!

Well, I ate a lot of the things I had planned and quite a few things that I had not planned!  Which is fine, especially as a few of those unplanned things were given to me.  

On to Week 3!  

Brunches: Leftover sauteed garbanzo beans, leftover waffles with peach jam, scrambled eggs or omelet, mini cheese pizza (from the freezer), salad with the last of the lettuce from the garden, muffins (if I bake some), bagels (if I buy some!) 

Dinners: Lavash (Armenian flat bread) with a scrambled egg and katta sambol; chicken curry, rice, vegetables,  chutney, etc.; teriyaki chicken (from the freezer), rice, stir fried vegetables; macaroni and cheese with tuna, leftovers.  

Snacks/Desserts: Fresh fruit, leftover Armenian sweets, Korean red beans and rice cake, stewed apples, crackers and cheese or tuna salad or peanut butter.

How about you?  Did you make a meal plan, last week?  If so, did you follow it?  Are you making a meal plan for this week?  What's on your meal plan?  

Mother's Day Sunday

Voodoo Lily (Dracunculus vulgaris) in Bloom

Guess what greeted me on Mother's Day Sunday?  The fully opened voodoo lily!  It was still closed on Friday when M was here and I didn't check on it on Saturday.  I checked today and there it was!  In all it's purple, stinky glory, with several flies buzzing around it!  The smell wasn't too overpowering to me and was reminiscent of dried fish, but, I'm glad I planted it away from the house!  The showy purple "flower" is a pseudo flower and is a bract or spathe.  The actual flowers are inconspicuous and the darker purple spadix sticking up in the middle contains the actual flowers.  The flies will pollinate them when they walk around the spadix and spathe, attracted by the smell of rotting flesh and they will form seeds.  I'm looking forward to collecting them and trying to grow them.  The plant is also a tuber and will propagate new plants through the tuber, as well.

Another View

A very striking plant and flower, but, most likely not something I'd want to cut and bring indoors to put in a vase!  LOL!

I've had a relaxed day, today.  I walked around the back garden in the late morning and picked a whole handful of blueberries, which I ate right then and there!  LOL.  Yum!  Fresh, organic blueberries for breakfast!  Then, I picked more snowpea pods.  The plants look like they are starting to die, but, still, they keep producing pea pods!  I froze the ones I picked today. 

In the afternoon, I took a nap on the sofa and later, I walked for 20 minutes.  I didn't see anyone during my walk, today.

Later in the evening, one of daughter's friends, who lives and works in the Bay Area, but is visiting his family over the weekend, stopped by to pick up a couple of items to take back to my daughter.  At the same time, he returned some containers I had given with food to his parents, with a piece of Korean bean cake in one of the containers because one doesn't return containers empty, and a box of macadamia nut chocolates (he just returned from a work-related conference in Hawaii, he said).  I thought that was very sweet of him to bring me a box of chocolates.  

I had texts of Mother's Day wishes from the daughter of one of my late friends and from cousin P's daughter.  Later in the evening, one of friend A's daughters called, too.  It's the first Mother's Day after A's passing in November.  Those firsts are always so difficult, aren't they?   

I made waffles for brunch and I baked some chicken wings that I brushed with barbecue sauce for dinner. A macadamia nut chocolate for dessert!  

Today, I am grateful for:

- My daughter, without whom I wouldn't be a mother!
- Family and friends who called or texted to wish me for Mother's Day
- Daughter's friend picking up the items for daughter and bringing me chocolates!
- Afternoon naps
- The garden harvest

Today's joyful activity was video chatting with my daughter.

Plans for tomorrow include:

- Dust & vacuum living room & dining area
- Fresh flowers for the altar

- Clean the fridge

- Take trash cans to the curb for Tuesday trash pick up
- Water the garden
- Start the car
- Meal plan; maybe order groceries?

How was your Sunday?  What are your plans for Monday?

Warm on Saturday

Persimmon Flowers

The persimmon flowers are mostly hidden by the calyx, but, there are two flowers visible in this picture.

Saturday was a lovely, sunny, warm day, with an afternoon high of 78F.  I opened the doors and windows to air out the house and left them open all day!  

I had a very relaxed day.  I texted one of my cousins and spoke on the phone with my aunt.  Wrote an email to a friend and called another friend.  I spent the afternoon repairing my quilt and watching videos.  Later, I video chatted with my daughter.

In between, I did do two loads of laundry, but, the machine did all the work!  All I had to do was put the clothes in and hang them up to dry once they were washed!  Not a hardship at all.  There was a time when I washed everything by hand in order to save the money it would take to operate the washing machine; not so much because I wanted to be frugal as because I had to be frugal.  Today, I washed both loads in cold water and that was being frugal and so was hanging everything up to dry.

In the evening, I walked for 20 minutes.  There was a young woman walking her dog, a beautiful German Shepherd and I admired her dog and asked his name; "Goner", she said.  I was tempted to ask her if I could pet Goner, but, I didn't because I didn't have a mask on and I don't want to go close to people without a mask.  There are two other young women too, who walk together past my house almost daily; they are serious walkers who walk at a good pace.  I always step into my garden if I am on the sidewalk when they pass by to give them room!  I wish I could walk at their pace!  Oh, well, at least I'm moving!

Brunch was lahmajoon or Armenian pizza that neighbor S had given me.  Dinner was a bowl of the garbanzo beans I made and two cheese filled puff pastries that S had given.  I had some baklava for dessert.  

On Saturday, I was grateful for:

- A sunny, warm day
- Washing machines and other working appliances
- Being able to afford operating those appliances
- Phone calls, texts, emails, etc., with friends and family
- Yummy food for my meals

Saturday's joyful activity was video chatting with my daughter.

Sunday is Mother's Day here, in the US.  I am not planning to do anything special, but I might make myself some waffles for brunch and my daughter has told me I am not allowed to use her Mother's Day gift to me (the vacuum cleaner) tomorrow!  LOL

How was your Saturday?  What are your plans for Sunday?  Do you have any special plans for Mother's Day? 

Friday In Review

Osteospermum and a Volunteer Carob(?) Seedling

It's not very obvious, but, if you look closely, there's a volunteer seedling growing (slightly off centered in this photo, to the viewer's left) with leaves that look a little bit like rose leaves.  M is convinced it's a carob seedling.  It's growing under the orange tree and I'm not sure if I should leave it in place or try to dig it up!  

Ever since neighbor S notified me of her mother-in-law's passing, I had been wondering what I could make to take to them.  I had debated making a cake, but, I knew that many visitors would bring cakes and sweets.  I thought a savory, vegetarian dish would be better, as I know that there are a couple of vegetarians among S's family.  So, on Friday, I prepared a dish of sauteed garbanzo beans, which could be eaten as a snack or as a side dish.  I took the dish over and visited with S and her daughters and condoled with them.  I timed the visit well because there were no other visitors (in any case, I wore an N-95 mask).  Of course, S sent me home with more food!  A subway sandwich, some cheese filled pastries, some lahmajoon (Armenian pizza), a bowl of tabouleh her sister-in-law had made, some pickled vegetables her mother had made, and a variety of sweets!  

I shared some of the tabouleh and some of the sauteed garbanzo beans with M when he came to tend to the garden.  He declined the pastries and other items.  

I ate the subway sandwich for dinner as I didn't want to keep it in the fridge, overnight and a few of the sweets for dessert.  Brunch had been toast with peanut butter.

The postal service is having their annual "Stamp Out Hunger" on Saturday:

"Stamp Out Hunger" Notification

The postcard notification was left in my mail box on Wednesday.  I filled a bag with some canned food (tuna, condensed milk, peaches) and a large bag of dried beans and stapled the above notification to the bag; I will leave the bag by the mail box to be picked up, tomorrow.  

Today, I'm grateful for:
- Being able to participate in the food drive
- S sharing food with me

- M tending to the garden
- Emails and phone calls
- Today's garden harvest of snow peas, a few blueberries, curry leaves, and a lemon

Friday's joyful activity was knitting while I watched a musical program on TV.

We are supposed to have some warm temperatures on Saturday!  I'm looking forward to that!

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

In the House

The Dining Table

As mentioned earlier, this week, I am focusing on the dining room, which is located at one end of the living room and leads to the family room and the laundry room, which is off the family room.  So far, I've cleared the dining table (I had my sewing machine and a crumb piecing project at one end and some baking equipment at the other end), dusted the furniture, and vacuumed the floor.  I spread a different table cover - a longer white table cloth and a shorter purple table cloth I had embroidered a long time ago over that.  The purple table cloth was made for a smaller, oval shaped dining table I had, a long time ago.  The larger flowers at each corner have cutwork in the centers and between the outer leaves and the table cloth is hemmed with a drawn thread hem.  There's a set of matching napkins, too, with only the drawn thread hem.  My daughter has told me that I should embroider a smaller scaled flower on them.  I told her I'll think about it!  LOL.  I'll have to find some matching thread in the first place.  I looked through my cookbooks, but, didn't want to declutter any at this time.  This room is "done" for this time around.  I will tidy the laundry area for the remainder of the week.  

This morning, neighbor S called me with the sad news that her mother-in-law had passed away, early this morning.   I was sorry to hear that; she had been a kind lady.  She didn't speak much English and I spoke no Armenian, but, we used to have long conversations with many hand gestures and S's daughters translating from time to time.  I sympathized with S and asked if there was anything I could do to help; she said that family and friends will be visiting and asked if they could park in my driveway if needed (it's hard to find street parking, especially in the evenings, on our street because most houses have several cars and they are usually parked on the street) and also, if they could also have the use of my trash cans.  I said yes, of course, but, I'll need the drive way free for M to park on Friday evening when he is here to tend to the garden.  But, otherwise, they can use the driveway.  I noticed that at least one car was parked in my driveway this evening.

Brunch was a tuna salad sandwich (which was not on the menu plan!) and I had more tuna salad on crackers at tea time (Dancer had a share of the tuna, too, before I made the salad).  Dinner was rice, chicken curry, broccoli leaf mallung, and peach chutney.  There are leftovers for tomorrow's dinner, too.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Being able to help S by letting her guests park in my driveway
- Afternoon sunshine
- The electric space heater and electricity to run it
- An afternoon spent repairing the quilt
- Internet services

Today's joyful activity was video chatting with my daughter.

Plans for tomorrow (Friday) include more housework and tending to the garden with M.  

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

 

In The Garden: Voodoo Lilies, Buddha Heads, and Pavers Turned Over

 

Voodoo Lily Bud (Dracunculus vulgaris; 5/7/2023)

M gifted me with a voodoo lily (Dracunculus vulgaris) bulb (also known by several other names including dragon lily, dragon arum, and snake lily), in August 2021.  I wrote about it here and here.  It grew leaves, last year, but, didn't flower.  Well, this year, we have a flower bud!  It is supposed to open up to display a purple spathe and emit a rather stinky smell!  I've been taking pictures of it every couple of days to see how it is developing.  The photos above were taken on May 7; the photos below were taken this morning (May 10).  I think I can detect the beginnings of an unfurling of the spathe!

Voodoo Lily Bud (taken 5/10/23)

M watered the garden, today, and he planted three more cuttings of the Euphorbia tirucalli along the side yard wall.  His only concern is they exude a milky sap when cut, which can cause skin irritations if one comes into contact with it.  We will have to be very careful when pruning them.

The First Ripe Blueberry

I picked the first ripe blueberry today!  I offered it to M, but, he said it was mine!  It was sweet and delicious!  The other blueberries are still ripening:

Unripe Blueberries

It promises to be a good crop of blueberries; most will be frozen and saved for my daughter whenever she comes home, next.

Elsewhere in the back garden, the red aloe plant is doing well and having a flower stalk:

Red Aloe and Flower Stalk

It is another plant that M gave me.  The first one he gave me was planted in the front garden, in the succulents border, and someone swiped it!  I was very sad that happened and M gave me a replacement plant.  We decided to keep it in the back garden!  The leaves turn red with more sun exposure.  

Just behind the red aloe plant, growing under the peach tree, is a white guara plant:

White Guara (Guara lindheimeri)

It's also known as the butterfly flower and it's another drought-tolerant plant and attracts pollinators.  I've asked M to buy me another guara plant, a pink one if possible.

The fuyu persimmon tree is the last fruit tree to flower, this year:

Fuyu Persimmon Flower

I am hoping to get more than one persimmon, this year, but, even one would be lovely!  When we first bought the plant, we were told that it will not bear fruit for at least five years!  This is the third year after planting it.

With spring being upon us and summer around the corner, so to speak, I am seeing quite a few gardening posts on blogs I read and, having read some of them, I am coming to the realization that my garden is sadly lacking in ornaments!  Garden statuary, in general, and more specifically, "Buddha heads"!  Some appear to be simple plaster or resin heads of the Buddha, placed, I presume, to give an Asian flair to their gardens, or, perhaps, it is meant to convey a sense of serenity?  Which, I suppose, is a compliment of sorts?!

Then, there are others which are planters in the shape of the head of the Buddha; one plants inside the head, and, on at least one blog, there was a discussion about the different "hair styles" that can be achieved with different plants!  Hm.

I can understand wanting to have religious statues in ones garden.  I have seen Buddha statues set up in little outdoor shrines; quite a few Buddhist homes in Sri Lanka have them.  I have also seen statues of the Madonna in the gardens of some Catholic homes, often in a grotto setting, but, sometimes, just set on the ground.  I am assuming that there are statues of Jesus in some Christian gardens, too? 

But, I have not seen a "Jesus head" planter!  Have you?  I did an online search and I found some statues of Jesus and the Madonna (by themselves or of the Madonna and Child) with a planter at the back (although, they seem to be more like candle holders than planters, going by size), but, no planters shaped like the head of Jesus.  I wonder why?  Why only Buddha head planters and not Jesus head planters?  Is there no demand for them?  Perhaps they don't have the same vibes?  Sigh.  Seems like I've had this discussion before, or something similar to it!  

Would I plant in a Buddha head planter if I was given one?  No, I would not.  But, IF I did, then, I would choose a Ficus religiosa (also known as a Bodhi tree) seedling as this is a sacred tree to Buddhists.  Would I plant in a Jesus head planter?  Again, no, I would not.  Would you?  In any case, what would one plant in a Jesus head planter if one wanted to?  Euphorbia milii (also known as Crown of Thorns)?

I think, for the time being at least, I will leave my garden devoid of statues or head shaped planters of any religion!  

By the way, M was very upset about the oil stained paver and asked one of the neighbors next door if they knew who did it and they said no.  Of course, they would say no!  M tried to clean off the stains with some degreaser spray that he had, but, it didn't work, so he turned the paver over:

The Paver Turned Over

The oil stains seem to have seeped to the other side, but, they are not quite as noticeable.

How is your garden coming along?  What do you have growing in it?  Do you have any ornamental statues or interestingly shaped planters?

  

No Longer Pristine and An Early Mother's Day Gift!

Oil Stains on the Pavers and Parkway

You are not supposed to work on your vehicles when they are parked at the curb, but, some of my neighbors do it all the time.  This weekend, they worked on one of their vehicles and spilled oil all over the side of the road (they covered it with some white substance - I don't think it's sand, it looks  more like plaster; some of it might get removed on Thursday when the street cleaning truck goes by) and dribbled it over one of the pavers and the parkway!  I saw containers of WD-40 on the curb when they were working on the vehicle and containers of motor oil.  I don't know what actually spilled, but, I suspect it is motor oil.  M is not going to be happy when he sees it, but, at least it's not graffiti!

It was a cool and cloudy day, today, and I believe there might have been some precipitation in the early morning hours.  It was exactly 60F inside the house and I resisted the urge to turn on the gas heater and pulled a blanket over me while I said my morning prayers.  Later, in the evening, I put the electric space heater on.

Today, I assembled the Mother's Day gift my daughter bought for me:

New Vacuum Cleaner

My old vacuum cleaner resisted all my attempts to fix it after it ate one of the socks!  The motor runs but, there is no suction power.  I took it all apart to the extent possible, but, couldn't find the clog to remove it.  That vacuum cleaner is more than 25 years old.  When the part with the rollers for vacuuming carpets stopped working, even after a new belt was installed, I just removed that and used the brush attachment because I have hardwood floors and only one area rug.  When part of the hook that holds the retractable cord in place when pulled out broke, I managed with the bit that was still left, and when the cord itself developed a tear, I wrapped it up with electric tape, and just kept on using it until the suction stopped.

Since then, I've been managing with the small electric broom type vacuum cleaner we bought for daughter's apartment when she first moved up to Berkely, which she found to be insufficient for her needs (not enough suction, she claimed); she replaced it with a bigger vacuum cleaner and I've kept the electric broom.  It does an adequate job, but, isn't meant for a house this size.  So, I decided that I should buy myself a proper vacuum cleaner and my daughter told me to pick the one I wanted and it will be her Mother's Day gift to me, because every time she's asked what I wanted for Mother's Day, I've said I didn't need anything!  Now, finally, there was something I needed!  LOL.  

She ordered it at the end of April and it arrived last week, but I didn't open the box until last night.  I assembled it, today, and tried it out.  It is a little heavier than the old vacuum cleaner, but, I will get used to that.  It is the same make as the old vacuum (Kenmore) and it uses bags.  I didn't want a bagless vacuum cleaner, because if we ever get another flea infestation to deal with, I want something I can just remove and dump in the trash!  I would not want to risk having fleas jump out when I'm trying to empty the contents into a trash bag!  It also has a pet fur attachment to vacuum upholstery, which will come in useful, I'm sure.  Even with dust sheets covering the sofas, we sometimes get Dancer's fur on them!  

Today, I vacuumed the living room and dining area.  Tomorrow, I plan to vacuum the family room.  Much as I hate to do it, I will be tossing the old vacuum cleaner - I don't want to donate it when it is not working properly.  

I also requested a replacement recycling bin, today.  A portion of the lid had broken off over a year ago and I had tried to fix it with duct tape, with limited success as the tape didn't hold it in place for long.  Not a big problem, except, rain water would fall into the bin and make a soggy mess (we've had a very wet winter and spring, this year).  Today, when the recycling truck emptied the bin, another good portion of the lid broke off, leaving the bin with half a lid.  The bin would still work with half the lid, but, rain water would collect in it and I worried about small animals (cats, raccoons, possums, etc.) getting into the bin and being trapped.  So, I called the City's sanitation department and they will deliver a new bin for me, next week.  I have to leave the old empty bin by the curb for them to pick up.  There is no charge for the replacement bin.  I was proud of myself for not procrastinating on requesting a new bin (after tolerating the broken lid for over a year, that is!  LOL.)

I didn't walk, today.  Trying out the new vacuum cleaner tired me out!  LOL.  

In the evening, I watched a rebroadcast of the Coronation concert and enjoyed that.  Later, I video chatted with my daughter.

Brunch was a cheese sandwich made with toast; it wasn't a grilled cheese sandwich, I just toasted two slices of bread and put a slice of cheese between them (not quite as tasty as a grilled cheese sandwich, but less oily and fewer calories because I didn't use any butter).  Dinner was fried rice (leftover rice, leftover ground turkey and vegetables, and a scrambled egg).  Somehow, I ended up with leftovers from that!  So, tomorrow's brunch will be leftover fried rice!  LOL.  I was watching an online video about 20 things you can do to be frugal and one of the things was to eat all leftovers and I laughed to myself.  Er, yes, we eat our leftovers in this household (I only watched a little of that video - just the first 5 tips and I fast forwarded through them, because I didn't see anything listed that I don't already do).

Today, I am grateful for:

- My new vacuum cleaner!
- It's motor oil and not graffiti on the paver
- Extra blankets and quilts to snuggle under
- Being able to watch the Coronation concert, after all
- Being able to video chat with my daughter

Today's joyful activity was trying out my new vacuum cleaner!

Plans for tomorrow:

- Tend to the garden with M
- Vacuum the family room and the hall way
- Dust and vacuum my bedroom

- Paperwork/filing

- Decluttering

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