September 2017 Frugal Chatter thread

[SassyAshley]

Does anyone else ever lose time???????

I was working away around the house and it was 2:30, still had tons of time. Next thing I knew it was 4 and I was all of a sudden behind.

I got all of the muffins individually wrapped. Half the laundry is folded and put away. Still so much I wanted to get done but oh well guess that will have to wait for another day. Just waiting on dinner to finish cooking and Mom to get home from work

[Frugalbigmama]

What a beautiful day it was today. Very productive day too. Lots of laundry done. Bedding done too and hung out to dry and all put away. 3 loads of metal dropped off. Including old washer. My honey cut the grass and used the weed wacker and weeded overgrown flower bed. He also cleaned old caulking From big family room window and recaulked it. Then we went for an hour long walk along the water.

We are making dinner now. Chicken souvlaki, rice and grilled veggies. I've made my oatmeal for breakfast. I'm defrosting lean beef now to make meatballs. Will cook them and freeze in meal portions.

Have a a wonderful evening everyone.

[Ciel]

@Frugalbigmama -yes, I read that last issue of Walmart's Live Better magazine but have not made anything from the recipes yet. Still mad at myself for not making the buttertart muffins from an earlier edition. Something for next week to use up the eggs left over from yesterday's cake session (9 eggs for sponge cake). Oh, I love the taco casserole from the spring issue and I know brother would like it too but I have consumed the last of the taco mix shredded cheese. I plan to put the recipe on the menu later in the month. Would rather eat the casserole than hard tacos!

@SassyAshley -MacGyver rep on the faucet work! You did it all. I know what you mean when you start baking before doing the harder cooking. Sometimes it's great to get rice or muffins started like it's warmup time then you get the flow going for the other recipes on the to-do list!
@coupon girl -great deal on the toy for the birthday girl! Keep tabs on the Toys R Us stores-there was news of possible bankruptcy move as chain is having money issues with debt coming due soon. Mmm, pizza supper! What day did Talize have the top sale? I was in the store on Friday and saw 50% off jeans but found nothing for me (scoped the pants and jackets too). I wish there was a list online stating what sales are on which weekdays.
@Angela273 -you will have to explain what fun n' jaggy means. Unfamiliar term. I like that your produce recipients sometimes give you a finished dish in exchange-great way to have ready food! You survived the birthday party-awesome! Sorry about the shoes not fitting as you were looking forward to wearing them.

[Ciel]

Friday I did not get some of the cake ingredients so yesterday I had two separate trips to make. Glad I bought the liquour and berries first as they needed a few hours to macerate as filling for the sponge cake. The cake itself seemed to come together until I poured cake flour (not sifted) and noticed balls of flour forming in the beaten yolks and whites. Then the melted butter added last-thought I folded it in but when I poured the batter into two round pans, I saw a puddle of melted butter at bottom of bowl. Quick mixing and pouring of butter into two pans to try to halve the result. I used 2 and half cake layers for cake and was happy I used Gay Lea whipping cream in a can to top the layers (so what that the cream deflated in the fridge, I added cream to the plates today when I sliced the cake). Not bad for first attempt. Next time, I need to plan better and I need a proper sifter (I bought a very tippy 2.5kg bag of cake and pastry flour-the bag's base has been made quite small so bag seems tall but cannot sit up on its own).

Also cooked a pot of green lentils with peas and mild curry. It is for Monday's lunch.

Today I was in the area of the Upper James at Rymal Shoppers and had Dr. Pepper for my pop special purchase ($2.49) so I did not need to go to the Rexall at Upper Wentworth to get pop there. I was late for the afternoon movie at the library (did not want to watch it partway through) so I read and went online for awhile. Beautiful sunshine and wind.

I really enjoyed the Friday session on Digitizing Your Memories on how to use the scanning device at the library. Plan to book time at my branch to get photos scanned this month. If you plan on VHS transfers, they happen in real time with a VCR with a special adaptor but you can scan things while waiting for the VHS transfer to occur in the program. Other format tapes need the device you recorded them with plus a cord with USB end (applies to cellphone pics as well you may want to scan). Stopped into Talize for a quick look at clothes and picked up fabric store flyers on the way home.

[Ciel]

I was surprised I had a coupon to use for the whipped cream-it happens to expire at the end of the month and the item earned me 50 Thank You Rewards points at Longos. I am 150 points away from getting $10 off groceries. New issue of the Longos magazine is in the stores now. There's a Grocery Gateway code for its 20th anniversary. Will post it in Deals.

[Angela273]

@Ciel I'm sure that was my phone's auto corrector. I made "fin 'n Hattie". It is a family recipe from my dad's family. It is a white sauce with white onion and frozen peas, lastly adding canned fish. I usually use tuna, but my dad loves it with canned salmon. It is served over baking powder biscuits.

[coupon girl]

ceil- I was at talize on sat -the ladies long sleeve tops were on and mens long sleeve shirts but when I took a long sleeve shirt up for my hubby she said not the dress shirts but the more casual ones -a bit confusing so I didn't get his but I do agree would love if they had it online each day what depts are 50% off

oh and I had a peach fritter from monster donuts bought at dennigers on sat $2.99 it was but a bit pricey but oh so good shared it with hubby (monster donuts are a local hand made wonderfull donuts wayyyyy better than timmies donuts for sure )

[Ciel]

@Ciel I'm sure that was my phone's auto corrector. I made "fin 'n Hattie". It is a family recipe from my dad's family. It is a white sauce with white onion and frozen peas, lastly adding canned fish. I usually use tuna, but my dad loves it with canned salmon. It is served over baking powder biscuits.

I will look up this recipe as it sounds easy and uses pantry staples! Thanks for the explanation!

[Ciel]

@Coupon_girl _I know the Union Market at McMaster's main campus has been selling some local donuts. Have not tried the Monster ones-good to know they are at Denningers.
Agree with the shirt sale signage-always have to check which shirts are on sale-I missed the sale by a day. Have had success in the short sleeve men's shirts for interesting fabric at Value Village! Am finding the men's dress shirts rather monotonous in colour options-it's rare to find a rich jewel tone as most long sleeve dress shirts are yellow-gray or yellow-blue. There's the rare print option too in dress shirts-nab it or lose it.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Monday already, this weekend slipped away from me. I have a feeling I can blame the faucet for that I never expected it to take me that long.

I must admit I am feeling removing and installing the faucet, those are not the easiest angles to work on and I feel it now. Probably doesn't help that I ignored the pain yesterday as I had too much to get done, might not have been my best move as I feel like I can barely move today.

Mom is off today so we will see what is going on when I get home before I make a plan for tonight but there are some items in the fridge I need to address that I did not get to last night so hopefully I can get in the kitchen and get these done.

Off to see if I can do some re designing for the company to re create some documents we previously had out sourced but would now like in house editable copies.

Have a wonderful day everyone.

[Frugalbigmama]

Good morning! Was a quick morning out the door today and I have a bag of food to last me through the day! Which is great since I plan to work through my lunch so I can leave early and enjoy this sunshine this evening with another walk along the water.

Meatballs turned out really good. Tried one before I packaged them up. I filled a Tupperware container for the teen and put in the fridge with a sticky note stating what leftovers were available for him to eat. He ate the meatballs last night lol.

So I had a family tray of lean ground beef that I paid $4.80 for (.99LB) and made over 100 meatballs and 6 burger patties. I froze the burger patties in groups of 2 so I can pull out quick when I need to feed my hockey player quick before he hits the ice. I froze the meatballs in a big Tupperware container with wax paper so I can pull out what is needed. Feeling prepared for the next while which is nice!

Our dinner last night was really good and I have leftovers for my lunch today. There is extra rice that I plan to make into chicken fried rice tomorrow night for youngest DS since he liked it. Will hit Foodland tomorrow for the fresh peas on for $2.99 (hoping they have new stock since when I went on weekend they expired in the next few days) I also want the peas for a cold pasta salad I plan to make for DS hoping he will like it. Trying lots of new ideas to make his school lunches different.

[Frugalbigmama]

QOTD: Do you have a list of things you need to do outside/inside the house before winter hits?

[Frugalbigmama]

QOTD: Do you have a list of things you need to do outside/inside the house before winter hits?

I have a huge list in my head that I need to put on paper and tape to the fridge. I will be writing it out today.

Happy he caulked the family room window yesterday since that was on the list! I am thinking we need to take advantage of this sunshine this week and get done what we can.
One thing I do want to do is wash the winter wear and hang it out to dry so it is ready.
One of the basement windows needs to be sealed and I want to put plastic covering on inside and outside to make sure no drafts come in. I would like to replace that window for sure next year. (and I think we can do it ourselves we just need to measure the window then I will be on the hunt for a deal!)

The garage is clean for me to park in it. Will have to have garage sale for sure in the spring then that will free up lots more room (stuff is piled in corner and along wall)

Lots more but will have to start my list!

[Ciel]

Fall list-There are usually some outdoor things that need addressing. Like sibling replacing a missing window screen from last fall (another screen still is waiting on a repair). Thought he had bought wood for it. Also a paint job that needed doing but never does get done (not sure if my bedroom will get painted but it's needed just in case we have my aunt and cousin visiting next year plus some new bedding and pillows).
Right now I'm thinking of soil amendment for the flowerbeds. Don't know if Mom wants bulbs for her back flowerbed-it's full with its annuals and some perennials. Have to snip the rosemary soon (focaccia this week would be idea for it). Have to wash out the green cart tomorrow as last week's load was messy but I wanted to wait for the wood to be gone from the yard cleanup.
Have a feeling I'll be running over leaves with the mower again this fall than raking so I'll have to ensure some of the dampness is gone before I mow or I'll be bending often to restart the mower.
Need to wipe down window ledges and screens-amazing what comes in the air from various properties and sticks around. The birds have been active with their droppings and I am using soapy water on walks with raccoon messes.
Eaves likely need a cleaning now and every two weeks but the ladders are inconveniently stowed away. Will leave it to the guys to deal with the eaves when they are clogged (sibling usually cleans the downspout if he's home).
October-I usually cut back flowers and plants mid-month so I don't fight frost. Usually trim anything that extends over the grass to remove one thing from the mower's path.
The month I vaccuum the back of the fridge and pantry and wipe down shelves too. Polish the wooden tables (semi-annual thing but I did give an extra polish in summer) in the living room. Move sofa/loveseat and vacuum behind-I just moved them this month but will stick to the routine. Dust upper ceiling corners.


@Frugalbigmama -Sept. 23 butter tart contest needs judges in Peterborough! http://buttertarttour.ca/

[Frugalbigmama]

There are usually some outdoor things that need addressing. Like sibling replacing a missing screen from last fall. Thought he had bought wood for it.
@Frugalbigmama -Sept. 23 butter tart contest needs judges in Peterborough! http://buttertarttour.ca/

lol I would die if I had to be a buttertart contest judge! All that sugar yuck