January 2018 Frugal Chatter (new calendars & spreadsheets)

[Giseledta]

the weather should be nice here this weekend. I am removing the 2 feet of snow from the top of my bbq so I can bbq tomorrow... I have steak.. really.. I am just being a suck about it . lol

we managed to gt outside for over a hour today. so nice out.
came back.. ordered some stickers, kids tweezers, and large eye droppers for kids science stuff. mostly used sb money , so it worked out. that should be it for the shopping for the day.

all in all a pretty frugal laid back day.

[coupon girl]

popped over to bank this morning got 60.00 from my finish rebate and checkout51 ,so that was nice ,then over to fortinos got 4,000 points for spending 22.00 on fruit/veggies my groceries came to a bit more as I haven't been out in 2 weeks but I also bought a lovely roast gonna have my son/family over for supper
-lunch was my lovely homemade potatoe soup ,supper tonight chicken breast with mashed potatoes and frozen string beans

[lizzie bargain]

Wish us luck as we 3 adults take the 4 boys whale watching this morning. As long as we can keep them all in the boat should be good. I am sure we will have fun.

[Frugalbigmama]

Went to bulk barn to get a few things and use the $3 coupon wus $10. I got almond butter, chia seeds and ground flax seed and a Kind bar that I shoved in my desk drawer for treat down the road when I find it lol.

I went to Food Basics as well and got a few things including fresh strawberries. OMG! They are so nice and really good dipped in Almond butter!! New snack I idea I am loving (think bananas will be good too!)

[SassyAshley]

Not sure how much Almond Butter and Chia Seeds you use but if it is a good amount Costco has the best price for both of these items when you break it down.

Went to bulk barn to get a few things and use the $3 coupon wus $10. I got almond butter, chia seeds and ground flax seed.

I went to Food Basics as well and got a few things including fresh strawberries. OMG! They are so nice and really good dipped in Almond butter!! New snack I idea I am loving (think bananas will be good too!)

[Angela273]

I received a phone call this morning. My MRI is tomorrow morning in Regina. My appointment with the specialist was Jan 5, but his receptionist didn’t send my paperwork off until Jan 11. I guess she didn’t understand the ASAP part of my conversation with the neurologist. I’m still glad to get in this soon. I’m hoping that they don’t have any trouble with my IV. The roads should be good.

I only have one Daycare kid today and it is a Kindergarten day today. We walked to the mailbox, built two snowmen in the front yard, and drew pictures on the driveway with chalk. The kids got tired or the snowmen, so they might get finished on the weekend.

I made another $5 sale today. $110 total sales this week.

[Frugalbigmama]

Not sure how much Almond Butter and Chia Seeds you use but if it is a good amount Costco has the best price for both of these items when you break it down.

Yes thanks I will check it out but I just needed this stuff for this weekend and think I did well with the coupon!

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
So happy it is the weekend, I was so tired last night I just totally crashed when we got home. I make it to Costco before Mom was done work and we did not make it to Wal-Mart, she did not want to go.

I ended up spending a little more than I wanted to at Costco but I found Mom's vitamin's on sale so grabbed those for her, which is exactly what I over spent. Also grabbed some of those do not buy often, grabbed another large roll of plastic wrap as we use this when we bake to freeze individual portions. Also grabbed more foil pans, I love these for cooking no clean up, just fold and recycle. As well after my injury we needed more Robax, we buy the No Name brand from Costco as you cannot beat their price.

Dinner was good, was asking Bro and his gf what is going on with half bro's gf. At our meeting on Tuesday I was sitting at the same table as both bros and I couldn't figure out why half bro was so happy to see a Grilled Chicken Breast but then he said about a month ago his GF has decided she is vegetarian so at home he is no longer eating meat. I personally did not get it but did not want to pry at the table as others were sitting with us and I haven't seen him since. So I asked them and I guess there is no good reason other than it is another fad diet. Both half bro and his gf are always on and off diets, they usually go on a diet to lose weight for a vacation and then go off it, only issue is usually well on vacation they gain back everything they lost and more and so the cycle starts again. We will see where this goes as half bro mentioned last week they had same meal 3 times as it is one of the few meals they have found they both like and has protein in it.

Not sure what the plan for today is yet, I know we have many option of things to tackle but we will see what wins out. I know I need to go and mix up a batch of Chicken Marinade for some of the Chicken Breasts we bought. I think I will let them marinade for a few hours and then freeze then with some marinade in the bag. I think Mom would also like some done in a Teriyaki marinade, she has a recipe she likes so she will need to give me that recipe. Then I need to chop up 2 trays of Chicken Breasts.

Have a great day everyone.

[Ciel]

@Angela 273 -thumbprint cookies would be one way to use up the apricot jelly. Like you found out, it can be used to glaze certain roasts too. If there is a sandwich type cookie with a jam filling, the jelly would work.
https://lifemadesweeter.com/shortbre...ookies-7-ways/
I noticed one variation of the cookies involves making reindeer with pretzel pieces but no jam-saw this version last month on Citytv.

There's a burger recipe that involves using apricot product in the list of ways to use it.
https://www.chowhound.com/post/apric...-792115?page=2

[Ciel]

Adventures with puff pastry-my cake before chilling looked like a leaking stuffed shower cap. I used the runnier of the apricot preserves (it had lovely fruit halves in syrup) plus the chilled almond mixture (I chilled it only 30min vs the 1hr required as the evening was wearing on and the assembled cake had to chill for 30min before baking). However, when it was baked, it looked 80% like the picture in the magazine. I pinched the pastry scraps and cut two long oblong pieces from each pastry sheet and used the thicker preserves (texture was more like plum butter) to make turnovers and used beaten egg with water wash to seal and to glaze them. They turned out well-I could hardly tell I pinched dough on the bottom as I gobbled them (all 4-so good) for Friday breakfast with English breakfast tea!

The cake lost some volume during baking in the centre but the edges needed more time in oven to get somewhat brown past 20min.

I have to wait until Monday to make the scones recipe-today is St. John's Day so another religious holiday after Epiphany.

Happy to say that one of two ordered Ontario Parks calendars came in yesterday's mail so today I have it in the mail to a friend in BC! The Red Plum coupons plus the second MM Food market coupon were sent to my best friend in the mail too.

No walks yesterday--may venture out a little in the afternoon as I made sure to polish and spray my boots for the melting snow today. At least the ice is out of the eavestroughs-Thurs night I struck one downspout with my right thumb area and no wonder I had pain yesterday morning (joint plus three squawking nerves).

[Ciel]

@Frugalbigmama -join me in having a banana with a big pinch of dulse (sea lettuce) as a snack. The lettuce looks like red leaf lettuce that turned a darker red as a fruit leather but tastes somewhat bitter and a tad minerally. The banana will help make the dulse go down (I found my package (from New Brunswick) in seafood on an endcap at Longos). Anthony William says this combo is one of many that helps to support the thyroid in the body. I tried the combo yesterday and will have another one tonight. I much prefer seaweed snacks given the salt and oil in them! @Sweetsparrow -the current Fortinos flyer has T&T seaweed snacks on sale for $1.28. RCSS and Loblaws may have the same offer. I bought two packs on Thursday night.

[saundyl]

Not sure how much Almond Butter and Chia Seeds you use but if it is a good amount Costco has the best price for both of these items when you break it down.

That's things I was just looking at buying here at home and decided yesterday to check Costco next time we go south.

Sent from my ASUS_Z01BDC using Tapatalk

[saundyl]

Wish us luck as we 3 adults take the 4 boys whale watching this morning. As long as we can keep them all in the boat should be good. I am sure we will have fun.

Did you see any!?

Sent from my ASUS_Z01BDC using Tapatalk

[lizzie bargain]

Yes we had lots of whales and dolphins up close to the boat-I think by law you cannot go any closer than 100 yds to a whale-but they haven't read that rule and come closer to you. Saw a baby whale too-lots of fun.

[Ciel]

Value Village Super Savers-the 50% off clothing/bed&bath/accessories/shoes sale starts on Sunday for Club members! Saw the e-mail today. Do I take the bus to Stoney Creek or not tomorrow (even though rain will appear)? Decisions.

Happened to buy a Bachelor Bingo card and have three lines uncovered ($9 win)! Did not know about the diamond ring prize (if you uncover one card's worth of call numbers) but $20K would be lovely too (in lieu of a ring-I'd be able to travel or get new tech). But I did not uncover a box of letters & numbers so another day...

The German Burdastyle site has its February 2018 magazine preview video online and I simply adore the fabric print for the blouse on the cover plus the cupholder craft made from felt.