August (already) 2017 Frugal Chatter thread

[SassyAshley]

Good morning everyone,
Mom is still asleep but I had to get up as one of my branches needed to call me before they opened as their till ended up off, really wish people would call when they realize they have an issue instead of trying to fix it themselves. To make this even more fun I am working AR next week so I am the one who will have to get the deposit to balance on Tuesday. We have it worked out so they can close off today but on the back end we will not balance so I will discuss with the Controller on Tuesday as it will effect him when he tries to balance the month.

I think we are going to tackle the freezers today. A couple of months ago we cleaned the stand up freezer but since we never cleaned the chest freezer the stand up is now just over run again. As well my fridge is currently over run with meat. This week well grocery shopping we got 2 family packs of Ground Beef for $2.88/lb, 2 more Pork Lions for $1.50/lb, plus one of the local Frescho didn't have any Pork but had the Beef Roasts I missed last week for $2.77/lb so we grabbed 2 of those as well. I want to clean the freezers before we put all this meat in as we need to get the organization back in the Stand up freezer. As well this will let us know how we need to chop up the Roasts based on what we have and what we need.

Think I am going to go and toss some bacon in the oven for Breakfast and go from there. Have a wonderful day everyone

[Ciel]

Intermittent rains have occurred plus a good soaking rain. I got my baking and pop needs plus found my soap on sale. Still have to trek to the library to get my hold item and catch up on newspapers. Did make my banana loaf and it's cooling on the counter. May wait until suppertime to make another cake.

Saw on the library's Twitter account that Lynden and Ancaster branches are opening their Makerspace areas next week! Sounds exciting and I'll have to check it out.

There are food trucks at Ontario Place in case you head out to see the Caribana Carnival events today in Toronto. Lakeshore Rd West is closed for a good stretch and so are some ramps along the way. Check online for alternate routes if you drive into Toronto. There was a 403 situation WB by Ford Drive in Oakville but the lanes are clear now.

[Angela273]

We got rain, so postponed the garage sale until mid-August. I updated my garden veggie Facebook ad and have two people coming to buy a lot of dill tomorrow. They plan on canning. I'll post the $ amount tomorrow.

I'm trying to fight off the beginning of a sinus cold, Dh isn't feeling well either. Our twins started their day at 5am, so they went down for their nap at 11:30am. We didn't have waffles the other day, so I'll make them this weekend.

[SassyAshley]

Managed to clean out 2 of the 3 freezers, still need to do the one in the Kitchen but the chest and stand up are done.

We took out a number of things we are doing to use to have a massive cooking day tomorrow to prep ahead. I am working out of town all week and Mom's manager is off next week so her week is all over the place. We took out
Freezer burnt bagels which will become french toast casserole for breakfast
A small pork lion (no plan yet)
a Small bag of beef Strips (No plant yet)
2 bags of shredded carrots which will become carrot cake
Cream Cheese icing which will go on the carrot cake
Chicken carcass (think we found 5) which will be turned into stock and re frozen
Various small chunks of Breads which will be turned into croutons
Bananas (still in the freezer) but will be turned into Breakfast cookies with some blueberries I need to use up our of the fridge

There is still more in the freezer to be used up but I think this is enough for one day.

Tomorrow is going to be quite busy but I am looking forward to it. I really want to get some homemade meals in the freezers for when life gets insane as I have come to accept my life is never going to slow down.

Have a wonderful night everyone, I am off to pinterest to find some inspiration.

[Ciel]

Admire that you have three freezers, @SassyAshley ! Would like a small standup freezer for heavier boxes of frozen meats or pizza pops. The fridge freezer is most times a rumble for space-s/he who first stocks some things up and gets them into the space before anyone buys club pack anything, usually keeps that space.

Maybe the pork loin in a crock pot with veggies frees up your stove time? Hmm, found a bbq recipe from Longos with Thai flavour-can put some of the shredded carrots to use in this dish. http://longos.com/Recipes/Recipe.aspx?recipe_id=609

This recipe calls for beef cubes which are cooked a bit on stove then in a slow cooker. Maybe the beef strips can work here and again the carrots: http://longos.com/Recipes/Recipe.aspx?recipe_id=565

[Ciel]

Got my library item (40 animated episodes of Valerian and Laureline!) and saw the Friday papers. Did a short shop at Food Basics for (sigh) hot dogs on special and the store brand tarragon. I seem to use up my spices within 5 months and don't like to be out of any one for long ($1.25!).

Upside is that I found 4 months of Consumer Reports (new ones) that I have not read and borrowed them; good for long weekend (libraries are closed in Hamilton on Monday).

Reminder to check your store hours for Monday-not all shops will be open and those that are have shorter hours. Most but not all LCBO stores will be open on Monday in Ontario too.

Mild envy at seeing the stacks of garden soil and other supplies outside of my Fortinos store. Lumpy lawn plus chipmunk condos underground=sore arms from pushing the mower aka mean machine.

Finding the cooler day just right for the weekend. Made an apple/peach/raspberry coffee cake a little while ago. Will hold off on more baking until Monday. The cauliflower is getting curried tomorrow.

Time to post some coupon info in the magazine thread!

[avoncallingu]

My mouth waters with all the baking you people do!
@Ciel -you are definitely the newscaster for us!

BrotherR and I spent some more time at ER today but BrotherB and his wife just got home from their Las Vegas vacation so we had a family meeting about moving forward and then all had Chinese for supper.

JUST in time before RCSS closed to get another prescription filled! Whew-speaking of shortened hours!

Landlady contacted me and new toilets will go in on Tuesday-she's great!

So tonight the water seems ok so I replaced the shower curtains which were causing an issue, have done 2 loads of laundry to send home with BrotherR and he can have a safe shower. And did a load of dishes.

Does anyone know where you can buy those "stick-to-the-tub" slip-free shower thingies -like flowers and stuff. I bought some at Dollerama but they stick via suction cups and am afraid they might give way if he slips.

His prescription was no charge as he is now under the care of CCAC (Community Care Access) which has just been renamed LIHN(Local -something Health Network) I Swear that printing shops love these name changes-but then, who uses stationary anymore?

Got a personal care product on sale while I was waiting for the prescription so I was happy with that.

Well, watching the Blue Jays playing. Have a nice Sunday.
BrotherR will be spending the day with BrotherB tomorrow so I'm off to lunch and then trying to get some shopping done.

There is no carbon-monoxide detector in this house and by law there has to be if gas is involved so I will text landlady again tomorrow and pick one up if I can.
Anyone know if there is a rebate on those?

[Natalka]

avon, what works best for the tub is a mat - you can get a long one so one can move about if having a shower.
Your landlord should be providing the CO2 detector for you.

[Angela273]

Could someone help me find the thread about packing school lunches? I wanted to look for ideas and post my current list. Our son will be starting Kindergarten in September. He's attending a nut free school and we'll be packing his lunch and snacks 2 or 3 times a week. We just bought a school water bottle today and I already purchased most of his school supplies.

[Ciel]

@Angela273 -think I found the threads:

I tried separating the first link that ran the two threads together. So
when you go to the Food and Drink subforum, search School lunch and Frugalbigmama's thread and Anna Michele's thread (the recipes one) appear in the results.

Sorry for the link confusion.

[Ciel]

@avoncallingu -I can answer two questions for you-
1) smoke detector/carbon monoxide detector combo-photoelectric one (won't shriek when you turn gas oven on or boil water like the combo ionization/photoelectric units do-the latter are too sensitive (the printed insert mentioned they cannot be used in steamy areas but Dad did no research when he bought the wrong one). 10 yr warranty-got one this January at Lowes (after looking up Consumer Reports testing on alarms):
https://www.lowes.ca/smoke-carbon-mo...ector-co-alarm

Since you are renting, you should check with your landlady first about the smoke detector (who pays as technically she is supposed to supply a working one for the unit but does she know about the need for a photoelectric unit not a combo ionization/photo one?). See if she'll reimburse you for this battery powered one. Warning-when you do the initial setup/test cycle (2-3 min) and have to indicate language preference make sure you are aware this will be a loud test cycle and have your brother aware beforehand. Our unit is in the hallway between kitchen and living room and boy did the voice recording reverbate in the hall.

The Bay has Rubbermaid white squiggles (18) that peel and stick in tub (no way would family member make effort to dry out any mat after a shower and we don't have space for a rack nor a vent fan) but I only had them in for a week before Dad yelled for me to remove them. The Bay's site may not have corrected the item listing as a Home Outfitters one but it met my need at the time for adhesive strips. When I removed them, I used a plastic blade to pry up a corner in order to peel each one off.
Site incorrectly names them as Home Outfitter brand but package says Rubbermaid (online order item) :
http://www.thebay.com/webapp/wcs/sto...ety-tub-strips

I know last year there was talk of folding CCACs into the LHIN but technically they serve different functions:
LHIN gets the Ministry of Health's funding for the assigned region and the money covers fiscal year funding hospitals, hospices and the CCAC referrals and services they provide under OHIP (plus LHIN operating costs).

CCAC is the gateway for nursing home registrations and home assessments to see what if any services can be provided at home under OHIP for a patient in need and what patient may have to purchase on their own (not everyone gets that home care smoothly after a hospital discharge, etc.).

[Ciel]

@avoncallingu is so right about CCACs now merged with LHINs. Missed that Pacman moment. http://lhinjobs.ca/

There seems to be an error in the list of LHIN locations when I go to choose one in the Job Opportunities list-markham is shown twice.
I don't clearly see which LHIN covers Hamilton but I guess the old HamiltonHaltonBrantNiagara name jumped the shark.
Whoops, the MOH site with links to LHIN is still using the old map and HHBN site seems current. I'm confused.
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/commo...s/default.aspx
http://www.lhins.on.ca/home.aspx
http://www.hnhblhin.on.ca/
http://www.hnhblhin.on.ca/newsandeve...mhnhblhin.aspx

OK the local LHIN updated its Twitter handle in June so CCAC is gone and LHIN is the health boss. https://twitter.com/HNHB_LHINgage?re...ca%2Fhnhb%2Fen

Plan to contact one community organization to run another fall workshop and mention the updated LHIN situation.

[Angela273]

And that's why I tend to post and then go into edit mode in order to keep typing. I was working on a fourth paragraph when everything suddenly disappeared.

I've been up with twin boy since 2am, he's pretty healthy but doesn't want to stay asleep.

I'm waiting for 4 cheques in the mail from 4 different sources. I was frustrated with CO51 recently because of their new produce offers that you can earn. I think they need to take some bugs out of the system, but I finally figured it out. I redeemed offers for berries and mushrooms, which bumped me up to $20, so I redeemed for my next cheque.

I had to laugh when I finally figured out that the two people contacting me for fresh dill tomorrow were buying for the same person. The DIL is picking up $20 worth of dill to bring to the MIL on the farm, who will be doing the canning. Either way, I'm happy to earn more money from my garden.

[Ciel]

Right now, I am looking at aprons and oven mitts on various store sites. See an apron prospect at Cdn Tire. The mitts need replacing and I know Mom got them at CT but I did not see a pair there that I really like. Kitchen Stuff Plus seems to be my dream store with some funny aprons. Want one of Harman's Cucina aprons with adjustable snap neck strap. Fun kids' aprons are shown as well.

Actually will post the coffee themed one here for @cyn88canada 's benefit: http://www.kitchenstuffplus.com/grim...ff-apron-black
BTW cyn88canada I find the Fluent in French and Italian wine apron in celery green rather funny for me (not that I have a lot of wine experience but I can speak some French and love pizza/focaccia).

Curried my chopped cauliflower this morning after making half of the smoothie recipe (raspberry peach celery just works for me) for lunch.

Feel I could use a kitchen towel shopping spree but the urge will subside. The afternoon sky seems to be wavering between full sunshine and weak sunshine. Guess the promised rain is on the move again. Time to scoot for a walk.

[saundyl]

My mouth waters with all the baking you people do!
@Ciel -you are definitely the newscaster for us!

BrotherR and I spent some more time at ER today but BrotherB and his wife just got home from their Las Vegas vacation so we had a family meeting about moving forward and then all had Chinese for supper.

JUST in time before RCSS closed to get another prescription filled! Whew-speaking of shortened hours!

Landlady contacted me and new toilets will go in on Tuesday-she's great!

So tonight the water seems ok so I replaced the shower curtains which were causing an issue, have done 2 loads of laundry to send home with BrotherR and he can have a safe shower. And did a load of dishes.

Does anyone know where you can buy those "stick-to-the-tub" slip-free shower thingies -like flowers and stuff. I bought some at Dollerama but they stick via suction cups and am afraid they might give way if he slips.

His prescription was no charge as he is now under the care of CCAC (Community Care Access) which has just been renamed LIHN(Local -something Health Network) I Swear that printing shops love these name changes-but then, who uses stationary anymore?

Got a personal care product on sale while I was waiting for the prescription so I was happy with that.

Well, watching the Blue Jays playing. Have a nice Sunday.
BrotherR will be spending the day with BrotherB tomorrow so I'm off to lunch and then trying to get some shopping done.

There is no carbon-monoxide detector in this house and by law there has to be if gas is involved so I will text landlady again tomorrow and pick one up if I can.
Anyone know if there is a rebate on those?

Home hardware has them

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