April Showers of Savings the sequel - 2015 Frugal Chatter

[MrsSunshine]

mornin ya'll.. its snowed here... geezzzz
supposed to be 13++ by the weekend... is it Friday yet..
guess i'll wait to get my summer stock out..

Avon so good to hear.... doing a little happy dance for you..and your hubby.. yaya 65!
I remember when my guys were young.. everything was back to back, colds/flu it sucked..

so Dad isn't healing as well this time.. praying he recovers.. can't imagine . don't even want to go there.. really wish mom would consider moving to an AL place...there lives would be so much more enjoyable..

i've now got 3 projects on the go plus i want to start 2 more.. my word who knew crocheting would become so addictive..

well off to plan my day.. enjoy yours all.

[Ciel]

@Sweets parrow -if you can tolerate it, make something with garlic, like the garlic bread Frugalbigmama's making or roast a head of garlic and spread the paste on toast. Croutons too-bash a clove of garlic, add to melted butter then spread the lot on toasted bread (if you have a toaster oven, usually you can squeeze 4 slices into it), and dice the bread. You might like adding a bit of dried or fresh parsley to the spread for colour and that chlorophyll will help with garlic breath.

I hear you about the coughing. Seems Mom has the cough again that was her winter buddy for a few weeks. Time for bulk bin caramels and tons of tea or whatever warm beverage you favour.

OK, time to enter those recipes I had promised to post:

Southwestern Pork & Bean Salad - Serves 2- (Cooking for 1 or 2-Pork Recipes, Canada Pork Inc. 1992)
Per serving: 428 calories, 17g fat, 29g protein, 12g fibre, 45g carbohydrates, 893 mg sodium, 1081 mg potassium

*I usually make a double batch because I want to use the 540 ml can of beans

1 can (14 oz/398 mL) red kidney beans, rinsed or drained
1 can (7oz/199mL) corn kernels, drained (cooked frozen corn works as well)
1 small carrot, chopped
1/2 cup/125 mL sliced celery
2 green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp./15 mL chopped fresh parsley fresh parsley OR 1 tsp. dried parsley
1 cup/250 mL cubed cooked pork (I've cooked two or three small pork chops in a toaster oven to get about 1 cup of meat)

Dressing:
dash hot pepper sauce (Tabasco)
pinch freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup/50mL red wine vinegar (I use regular vinegar as less scented and it's always in the pantry)
1 Tbsp./15 mL vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp./1 mL salt

In bowl, gently toss together beans, corn, carrot & red pepper, celery, onions & pork.
In separate small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Pour over salad and toss gently to combine.
Chill salad for 30-60 minutes, occasionally stirring lightly.

[Ciel]

Freezer Meatballs (makes about 80 meatballs) From Good Food for One by Margo Oliver (aimed at seniors but good for those living alone who want to cook smaller recipes for their own needs)
This basic recipe can be finished in one of three ways (but I've only saved two of them) when you decide to use up a batch of meatballs.

Preparation: 15 minutes; Cooking time: 20 minutes (Plan on an hour just to ensure you have time/space/attention to get the cooking done and cleanup underway).

1) 2 lbs lean ground beef (I use regular ground due to cost)
2) 1 cup finely ground dry breadcrumbs (I make cracked wheat toast and tear it to handgrind in a device that attaches to a table)
3)1/2 cup finely chopped onion
4)2 eggs
5) 1 cup milk
6) 1 tsp. salt
7) 1/8 tsp. pepper
8) 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
9) 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (ketchup would be my pinch hitter or pizza sauce)
2 Tbsp. cooking oil (you'll probably need more)
2 Tbsp. flour
1 can (10 oz/284mL) beef consomme
1 cup water

Combine first 9 ingredients in a bowl and mix well. The soft texture means that the finished meatballs will be extra tender. Shape into small balls, about 1 inch in diameter. (You should have about 80.) Don't worry if the meatballs aren't completely round.

Heat oil in large heavy skillet and brown meatballs, lifting them out as they brown.
Sprinkle flour into drippings left in skillet and stir to blend (add 1 tsp. oil if skillet has gone dry). Remove from heat and stir in consomme and water. Return to high heat and stir until boiling, slightly thickened and smooth. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. You will have about 2-1/3 cups.

Divide meatballs into 4 small containers (about 20 in each). Divide gravy evenly, pouring about 1/2 cup into each containers. Seal containers and freeze. Thaw meatballs and use for any of the following recipes, one container for each recipe. Each portion of meatballs makes one large serving or two smallish ones.

Note: You might want to check one meatball in the skillet you intend to brown them in before you add others.

[Ciel]

Two ways to finish off Freezer Meatballs as a meal:

Meatballs Polynesian
Preparation: 10 minutes; Cooking time: 25 minutes

1 tsp. cooking oil
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp. chicken stock mix (substitute chicken bouillion cube)
1 container Freezer Meatballs (20 meatballs), thawed
1 small green pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
1/3 cup drained pineapple chunks (I might cut them into smaller pieces)
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. pineapple juice
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar (I use regular white vinegar)
1 Tbsp. soya sauce
1 small tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped coarsely
Hot cooked rice or noodles

Heat oil in a medium saucepan (or Dutch oven). Add garlic & ginger and cook gently 2 minutes. Add water, stock mix, and meatballs. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add pepper and pineapple pieces, cover again and simmer 5 minutes (green pepper should be crisp).
Mix cornstarch and sugar in a small bowl. Stir in pineapple juice gradually into the small bowl, blending until smooth. Stir in vinegar and soya sauce. Add the mixture into the boiling liquid and continue stirring until thickened and clear (the cornstarch will cause a caramel brown colour to appear). Add tomato pieces and serve immediately with rice or noodles.

(Note: I usually cook the entire batch (80 meatballs) in this way so there is food for a meal or two; enough for four servings. Quadruple the Polynesian ingredients to get enough to use up the meatballs).

Creole Meatballs
Preparation time: 10 minutes; Cooking time: 47 minutes

I tbsp. olive oil
1 small piece bay leaf
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (or use a smaller quantity of dried parsley)
1 tsp. chopped celery leaves
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1/3 cup regular long grain rice
1/4 tsp. salt
dash Tabasco sauce
dash cayenne pepper
1 cup canned tomatoes
1/3 cup water
1 container Freezer Meatballs (20), thawed

Heat oil in medium saucepan and add the bay leaf, parsley, celery leaves and green pepper. Cook gently 5 minutes, stirring. Add rice and stir until rice browns lightly. Add salt, Tabasco, cayenne, tomatoes, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and cook gently until rice is tender and most of liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes. Add meatballs and stir until everything is very hot, about 15 minutes.

[Frugalbigmama]

Did I mention the other day when walking to my car from RCSS that I noticed a cart near my car with 2 cans of Allen's apple juice on the bottom? Someone forgot to load it Good thing my youngest likes it!

[jasperandchar]

@Andit where are you vacationing, I'm sure you mentioned but I forgot (lol)

[jasperandchar]

@Sweets parrow hope you feel better soon

[jasperandchar]

@Natalka hope you are feeling better, woman problems are no fun and certainly not comfortable, take care of yourself, I don't know if a heating pad or hotwater bottle would help relieve some discomfort

[Crochetlady]

It snowed all day yesterday...ground is still white today.
Yesterday a friend came and did some cleaning that I can`t do. She is between jobs right now so it worked for both of us...I got cleaning done and she earned some $. She is coming again next Thurs.

On Tues I saw my rheumatologist. Things were good but he put me back on a 3 month schedule. Much as I hated being on prednisone, it did work. My inflation levels are lower than they were a year ago.

Hope you feel better soon sweetsparrow.

Andit hope your BFF`s dad gets out of the hospital soon.

Natalka I had very painful periods my whole life. When I hit menopause, it was all good. Went 11 months without, had one more and I was done. Didn`t even have hot flashes. I always say something had to make up for all those painful years. BTW I was 51.

MrsS Will keep your dad in my prayers. Oh yeah! crocheting is very addictive. My day isn`t complete unless I do some.

[jasperandchar]

Hello all,

Geez I have never been so happy for dh to leave....grr....he has been extremely grumpy the last week AND he was getting on my last nerve. They are (BIL & DH) supposed to spend 1 night but I told dh not to worry if his brother decides to stay another AND I can only hope . they do because if he's grumpy when he comes back I think I am going to explode. What makes it so bad is that we only have the 1 vehicle, dh's big truck which I do not feel comfortable driving because of it's size and who can forget the OCD with vehicles . Even if I wanted to go for a drive, dh doesn't want me driving his baby .

Last week dh met with 1 of his specialist for his back and was referred to Kingston for a new procedure which has been quite successful with other patients. If he is able to do the procedure or is a candidate the specialist feels that dh could be almost pain free, the procedure is known to relieve pain for 1.5 to 2 years (so fingers crossed he is a candidate) and can get back to work and out of my hair .

Yesterday dh commented on the boys accounts being depleted as we were closing all but 1 bank account at Scotiabank, we used to put $100 a month into both boys accounts but stopped last October as we couldnt' afford it AND the boys purchased the waterfront property in October 2013 and we borrowed from the LOC to cover the amount still needed. So of course we were not putting funds in their accounts because technically they still owed us the balance for the cottage lot AND we don't have the $ to restart this. I told dh once I calmed down that I really resented the fact that he implied I had just done this on my own and his demeanour was quite offensive and rude. He didn't apologize which still bothers me as I pointed out that -
1) the boys still owe us $
2) we can't afford to put $200 aside for them at this time
3) that we (dh & I ) have a been doing the budget together for about 6 months now and we have not been contributing to the boys accounts since last October and he should have noticed that we have not been putting the $ aside, so why blame me

so I got him together all the figures of what the lot cost, what the property taxes have been for the last 2 years, what each son had in their accounts when the lot was purchased back in October 2013, what the balances were in their accounts in October 2014 when we stopped contributing to their accounts AND I told him to figure out whatever the hell he wants to figure out.....so frustrating as he gets me all upset and then doesn't bother to look at the figures, my guess is he realizes his mistake and/or approach of the subject was wrong. He wants to play catch-up to their accounts for 1 year period BUT he's wrong as no funds are needed to play catch-up atleast not in the youngest account.

end of rant....

I have a planned pick up tonight for $25

Well off to enjoy my 1 hour alone before the teenager with the hollow leg walks through the door

[Crochetlady]

@ Nancy I hear ya about the hubby in your hair all the time. I wish mine could go somewhere for a few days. I get that he`s frustrated because of his sight and he has no hobbies but don`t take it out on me...seems everything I do is wrong I can`t wait til the weather warms up and he can go sit outside.

Hope DH is a candidate for the new procedure and that it works for him. It`s no fun being in constant pain.

[SassyAshley]

Good Afternoon All,
It seems like another one of those weeks, been super tired but that may just be me adjusting to forcing myself out of bed at 5 am (I had been allowing my self to sleep till 5:15 or 5:30 and maybe even a few times 5:45 or 6 am , but no more the busy season is upon us). The good news is very little money spent as I do not have the ambition to go out and even better is I see very little in this weeks flyers. I am kind of hoping to go a few weeks under budget and maybe I can find some room to set aside some money for a Costco Meat shop. I feel like buying Meat is what is really hurting our budget so if I can get some money set aside and and just do a meat shop maybe that will take some pressure one. Oh how I miss meat sales. Although I see Freshco does have Ground Beef for $3/lb starting today so might swing in a grab some as I would really like to make some burgers and meatballs for the freezers. I found a recipe online for Meatballs in a Mushroom Gravy which was a huge hit (only used the gravy part of the recipe as at the time I had some homemade frozen meatballs to use up) and since we cut the ground beef with pork for meatballs it is win win in my eyes.

Not much getting done around the house as I am just too tired after work, or I have work to catch up on. I found my energy level went way up when we had that nice weather but has dropped again this week, so hoping once the nice weather returns so will my energy.

I have to take Mom to drop off her car for service tonight and she has been avoiding the budget talk (I think it is because she has no money for the budget, not saying this is okay but at this point it is what it is but I would like her to see where I am coming from when it comes to covering everything and why these little things are what is messing us up) so I think well she is stuck in my car coming home it will be the perfect time to discuss the budget. Maybe this will also distract her from commenting on my driving, I am not a bad driver she is a bad passenger, only person who complains when I drive.

On a huge plus note Mom seems to be embracing not eating out, tonight would typically be grab something on the way home but instead Mom had made a pasta bake and put it in the fridge so when we get home we can just pop in the oven.

Hope everyone has a great day.

[coupon girl]

-popped out to giant tiger spent 57.00 but stocked up on lasagna that was on for 4.99 I got 3.00-fruit of the loom individual socks were on for 1.00 got 3
-oh course for you ladies with babies huggies wipes were on for 2.00 -2.00 snapsave =1.00 each bought 2 for "ashlyn"
-oh an duracell batteries 2.00 a pack
-anyway gonna do a bbq hamburgers and fries and broccoli
oh and the school that my hubby drives for (inner city elementary) -the principal is recommending" my hubby for bus driver of the year " that is nice for him

[Frugalbigmama]

My pickup for $7 tonight just messaged asking me to add another item ($3 for Spring coat that is too small for DS) Yeah! Good idea to keep posting/bumping items

[Natalka]

Hi, all - I am feeling almost like myself now - just left with some residual back pain, which is 'my normal' after dealing with this. Oh, and being exhausted is gross...

Those of you not well, you are in my prayers and I surely hope you are feeling better quickly!

My husband's head is fine, he says it just hurts a bit at the cut site.