January 2016 frugal chat thread

[SassyAshley]

Could be bad news coming, when I was in No Frills last week the dairy manager was saying in February is when dairy providers can put through an increase for Milk which will more then likely effect all dairy products. He said based on everything going on Milk will go up but as he put it the good news is they are only allowed to raise the price once a year which is in February so I guess soon we will see the new Milk costs will be.

[Natalka]

I have been seriously been thinking about getting something too @coupon girl because I have had this awful ongoing dry nose, try to blow, bleeds, crusts over, cycle repeats....for over 2 months now. I kept asking DH if a humidifier would help. ( sorry about graphic nose detail )

If you don't want to go with a whole home one right away (which we always found a pain) - I use a cool mist humidifier in the bedroom - have had it a few years, so the model may not available any more, but it's a Honeywell and was just over $30 on sale at Home Hardware. A good thing is that there's no 'white dust', which I've heard some can emit, and we have quite hard water.

Looks similar to this - easy to fill, the jug part is removable.

[Angela273]

Could be bad news coming, when I was in No Frills last week the dairy manager was saying in February is when dairy providers can put through an increase for Milk which will more then likely effect all dairy products. He said based on everything going on Milk will go up but as he put it the good news is they are only allowed to raise the price once a year which is in February so I guess soon we will see the new Milk costs will be.

When NF did a price increase on milk in the past my local NF forgot to change the price on the big signs at the front of the store so I got free 4L milk for about 2wks. I just thought I'd point this out in case it helps others.

[lilo0003]

I find I need to make sure the bags are 4L. Some company's are selling 3L bags for the same price. My teen drinks lots of milk.
i did not do much shopping today as we still have a full fridge. I did go to Costco for a few things and OMG what a madhouse.

[Natalka]

Good morning!

Back ribs are boiling to make broth; we'll have the ribs tonight for supper - soup will be another day.
It smells absolutely heavenly in the house!

Hope everyone has a great day!

[Frugalbigmama]

Morning! My honey is making home fries right now then we will have breakfast. Then cleaning and getting ready for week. Will make eggs and oatmeal for breakfast the next few days. Going to put the oven on self clean today too. It is bad! And finish laundry. Always
sundry to do so never completely done.

[jasperandchar]

Supper tonight is whole chicken ($6.86) with massed potatoes and green & yellow beans (from the inlaws garden - which were free to me) and homemade gray.

I love whole chickens as they really stretch meals out, there will be enough for supper and 2 meals for dh's lunch with the leftover potatoes & gravy) plus enough for 2 sandwiches so overall pretty pleased.

We are changing the interior pipes on are woodstove as the key no longer works and is quite the neusance, we will not be putting in a new key. Pipes purchased last night and it will be paid for by the renovation account.

Wishing everyone a wonderful day

[Natalka]

Wow, J&C, that sounds like lots of work.

You're lucky a chicken goes so far - with us, just the two of us, a chicken pretty much disappears - just usually some breast left for a sandwich. Husband is a big eater - and drat, still hasn't gained enough weight!

Just took muffins out of the oven - appley cinnamoney type - new recipe, which looks good.

[Giseledta]

I need to cook 2 chickens at a time to get leftovers. family of 5 , with a 18 yr old boy, 13 yr old girl... anda 23 yr old girl.


any hoo.
yesterday I found a grocery store with decent prices. Scary... I know. I am actually taking my mom there today. it was clean, and yea. same distance from the houseas going into London. so ... yep. shopping there more often. then spending the day doing housework. Joy.
Menu is planned for the week.
doing my swagbucks,andmy perk.

[Frugalbigmama]

Supper tonight is whole chicken ($6.86) with massed potatoes and green & yellow beans (from the inlaws garden - which were free to me) and homemade gray.

I love whole chickens as they really stretch meals out, there will be enough for supper and 2 meals for dh's lunch with the leftover potatoes & gravy) plus enough for 2 sandwiches so overall pretty pleased.

We are changing the interior pipes on are woodstove as the key no longer works and is quite the neusance, we will not be putting in a new key. Pipes purchased last night and it will be paid for by the renovation account.
M
Wishing everyone a wonderful day

bought 3 whole chickens for the freezer yesterday. Put in my moms freezer since I have no room and need to use up other stuff 1st. Dinner tonight is pork chops, rice, salad and canned corn ( need to use up corn lol)

[Ciel]

Made tea biscuits with some shredded unsweetened coconut (yesterday) but it was a wet dough so had to add back some of the flour that I reduced to add in the coconut. Sort of a cross between biscuit and macaroon but oh boy, the results were delicious with a mug of decaf Earl Grey tea! Likely to make more biscuits this week-overdue return to quick successes in baking.

I was keen to get a copy of the Black Forest cake that Ricardo magazine has on its current cover. Tip-it's available online in the French version of the magazine website, not the English version. Don't know when I'll make it but I WANT THAT CAKE!

Will hold onto my 4000 bonus birthday Optimum points and work up to the 8000pts for redemption so I can get something that I did not buy at start of month.
@jasperandchar -benefit of having doors on rooms: can close off rooms, control noise/sounds better (great for those of us sensitive to sounds and wanting more peace and quiet), and privacy. The only matter might be door handles/knobs-as we get older, some hands might want lighter or easier to open handsets. Some doorstrike plates sure make a lot of noise depending on who is closing the door.

[lecale]

Made tea biscuits with some shredded unsweetened coconut (yesterday) but it was a wet dough so had to add back some of the flour that I reduced to add in the coconut. Sort of a cross between biscuit and macaroon but oh boy, the results were delicious with a mug of decaf Earl Grey tea! Likely to make more biscuits this week-overdue return to quick successes in baking.

I was keen to get a copy of the Black Forest cake that Ricardo magazine has on its current cover. Tip-it's available online in the French version of the magazine website, not the English version. Don't know when I'll make it but I WANT THAT CAKE!

Will hold onto my 4000 bonus birthday Optimum points and work up to the 8000pts for redemption so I can get something that I did not buy at start of month.
@jasperandchar -benefit of having doors on rooms: can close off rooms, control noise/sounds better (great for those of us sensitive to sounds and wanting more peace and quiet), and privacy. The only matter might be door handles/knobs-as we get older, some hands might want lighter or easier to open handsets. Some doorstrike plates sure make a lot of noise depending on who is closing the door.

Oh @Ciel , black forest cake is a budget-buster! I love the stuff and have made it from time to time but it's really cheaper to buy a $20 cake at the bakery.

I want to try making this eggy clementine cake next http://news.nationalpost.com/life/fo...now-you-do-too

None of the grocery stores carry orange extract anymore so I'll have to make a trip to the Bulk Barn, which is a money pit for bakers Maybe I'll try Walmart first - it's safer!

[bobbiegirl2010]

J & C I love making whole chickens too! I bought 2 @ No Frills yesterday. I would have bought more but we already had 2 in the freezer along with a turkey lol.

This afternoon I made 2 dozen blueberry muffins and 2 dozen banana muffins.

Now for dinner we're making pork tenderloin (bought the week before for $3/lb) along with acorn squash stuffed with rice and mushrooms (we still have squash from the garden )

[jasperandchar]

Supper is done and there is 2 lunches for dh (mashed potatoes with gravy and a leg each). I tried a new spice today on the chicken and wowzer everyone loved it.

The reason why 1 chicken stretches so far is the kids love hot chicken sandwiches, they take the gravy and top on bread add the chicken and voila. They've been doing this the last couple times and well it stretches the chicken out not mention it's super filling.

I kept the potato water and water from the beans, tossed in some frozen veggies, some tortellini and added the chicken carcass and the results are a very yummy soup. Decided to toss in the white meat leftovers (which I would have used for 2 sandwiches) and there is so much soup that I will be freezing most of it. Sure will be handy though as dh is not feeling well.

Well off to put the soup in the freezer as it's not cooled enough.

Wishing everyone a great evening.

[coupon girl]

jasper homemade soup is awesome -I had it 4 days in a row when I had a cold and I am sure it lessons the cold
-had steamed fish tonight -I have a silicone rubber tray that goes in the microwave with green beans /carrots and fresh broccoli from last week
-hubby had pasta