April 2020 Frugal Chatter Thread

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening Everyone,
Okay, I turned this day around.

Mom used the Prime Rib bones and leftovers to make Beef Barley soup.

Well she was doing this, I cut up:
Cantaloupe
Pineapple (a little disappointed doesn't seem very juicy, might has to bake with it)
Cucumber (to be eaten as a snack of tossed in the Salad)
Carrots & Celery (to be grabbed as a snack, we have dip in the fridge)
I also washed up half of the grapes in the fridge, me and Mom disagree on this, she says they last longer if you do not wash them but my point is if we do not wash them and have them ready to grab we do not eat them.

I also had some apples on their last legs so I made an apple cake.

Well Mom did the dishes, I cleaned the bathroom, although I do still need to do the floors but that sounds like a job for tomorrow. I also took out all our garbage, I admit with the snow this week I have been putting it off.

I also made Garlic Garlic dip. We are having Rice with Dinner so I made extra so I can make Rice Bowls this week for lunches. After dinner we have some veggies we need to use up so we will roast them and I will use them for my veggie bowls. We have some peppers and tomatoes that we need to roast and will also roast some Mushrooms, Asparagus and Onion to add some more variety.

I am pretty happy with what we got done, it felt more than a normal weekend, prepping for the week to come, let's hope this helps us to eat better this week.

Have a great evening everyone.

[Scottishgal]

SassyAshley....it sounds like I had the same kind of day. Lol.

Made up a huge tossed salad this morning, two big containers of fruit salad, cooked 2 packages of bacon, cleaned up celery and carrots that I cut up and put in containers so easy for snacks plus made a huge pot of split green pea soup with red potatoes and bacon. It turned out yummy....I haven't made it for quite some time.

I have some buttermilk to use up so decided on Oatmeal Apple Cinnamon Muffins for Sunday Breakfast with scrambled eggs and bacon. I can't wait. Yum...yum. Yum...yum. Every Sunday I make a new dish for brunch and supper is left overs so no cooking after noon which makes for a nice day. Plus I stay in my PJ's till noon. Lol.
Monday to Saturday I'm up and dressed by 7:00 am. I tried to stay in PJ's a few days since being at home but my late Mom's words came back to me....If your not sick you get up and get dressed for the day. Lol. She would be proud

Have a nice evening every one.

[Giseledta]

my day ended up this way... worked on ceiling in entry way, got it about three quarters done. then went and did a contactless pick up for soil for the container garden. popped over to FIL1 grave, it would have been his birthday today. then home.. spoke to a dc child . she is so beautiful. mom implied she would not be back , or rather . she expected the province not to be up before ... sept....

i crashed after that. the idea of being down till sept... sigh... ok. i need to wrap my head around that for a bit....

i am not being mature. i am having chicken wings and fries for supper.

[SassyAshley]

Okay, after dinner Mom did not want to roast he veggies so they are back in the fridge. My plan will be to do these in morning, hoping having something I need to get done might get me up and out of bed tomorrow. I am miss my get up and go ambition I normally have, lately my morning are slow going and I have lost that let's get up let's get at it ambition I normally have.

Mom has started a batch of No-Knead Ciabatta bread, it is now sitting in the dinning room where it will sit for 18 hours.

I wanted to make Bagel Bombs but I need the filling to be cold so I mixed up the filling (Everything Bagel Cream Cheese) and it is the fridge. In the morning I will put a batch of dough in the Bread Machine. You are supposed to use Pizza Dough which I tried once but I did not enjoy the texture of biting into a big ball of Pizza Dough so instead I use my Potato Bread Dough. I will turn half the Dough into Bagel Bombs and the other half I will make into Buns.

I am trying to come up with a meal plan using some different recipes, I feel like we keep eating the same things over and over. Not to mention this eating 3 meals a day at home is kind of weird. I am not good at eating Breakfast and Lunch when I am home so not trying to eat 3 meals each day is not going well. I need to find a way to get more variety but keep is simple during the day well I am working.

Off to work on my meal plan.

[SassyAshley]

I am really torn on how I feel about things re opening in the province. I know we need it for the economy but I am scared we may re open too soon and the virus continues to spread.

York Region closed all of the trails and forests but they will re open this weekend. I realize this is some of the only activity some people get but is scares me the way people are interrupting this move. A lot of people feel this is the first sign that everything will be re opened and that we have successfully flattened the curve which we have not.

A lot of people feel that within the next 2 weeks, the boat launches and parks should re open and a lot of people feel come May 12th everything will be back to "Normal." I see a lot of people making plans for the may 2-4 weekend, people commenting on going to their cottages and trailers. A lot of people feel Ford has done this on purpose so everything can re open on the 13th and give everyone a few days to get ready for the May 2-4.

I personally have come to terms with the fact that I highly doubt I will be back in the office before August or September.

I know some may disagree with me but I would prefer to see us stay closed and stay safe vs re opening too soon and see a second wave of the virus this year (Yes, I know they say a second wave will come) and almost feel like everything we are doing now was for nothing.

I just feel like right now we are putting the cart before the horse, we have not flattened the curve, we do not have the spread under control so talking about re opening is premature. Not to mention there is no guarantee further shut downs will not happen.

[Ciel]

Yahoo News posted an item saying that the coronavirus does get tackled by sunshine,high heat and high humidity. Guess you can understand why people are keen to be out for daily walks when possible.
I doubt our three levels of governments can afford to take on more debt to keep people at home by paying them special benefits beyond what has been offered. City of Hamilton declared a state of emergency yesterday and the city's mayor has been vocal the past two weeks saying residents need to pay their property taxes if they can this month-the city has spent $$$$$$$ dealing with Covid-19.

Happily, we are getting partial restoration of leaf and waste pickup-the areas outside the old Hamilton boundaries get collection next week; old city boundaries get leaf collection the week after. My bag will be at the curb!

Today-buddy headache returned, I managed to make a small amount of frosting for the cupcakes (too runny but good-popped cupcakes into freezer for a short time as I recall the Great Canadian Baking Show contestants did that with their cakes), got a version of Potatoes Anna made in a small cast-iron pot (saw reviews suggesting more seasoning beyond the salt and pepper so I added smoked paprika and it did some wonders) and made my apple-cherry coffee cake in cupcake form. In other words, I kept it easy. Mom decided to give me the kitchen in am and early pm then she had her turn for her baking and then roasting the lamb shoulder ( I added a small pan of various veggies we had on hand to the last 35min of oven time and that was such a good idea). Managed to decorate 8 of 9 eggs (red dye from Greek food store-super colour but it lasts on surfaces...) and so there are eggs to crack for tomorrow.

Mom was trying to me or sibling to trek to bank to pay the phone bill (it's due Monday but only came Thursday in the mail). Sibling paid it online. I've been trying to get Mom to mail the property tax cheque all week and one excuse or something everytime. Might have to make it an issue on Monday as I don't know how often the City picks up its mail during the week. Bank will charge something to process the payment and given that lineups are a thing, seems Mom does not want to be in one. My application of the carbon tax credit to the property tax account still irks both family members and I'm getting two months of this attitude (but the City got some of its April tax money so win-win there).

I ran out of energy before 6pm while Mom kept going (she overdid some things but it's her day before a holiday routine and I avoided saying much about it), and had to rest for 90min. I'd like there to be some harmony effort by all three of us this weekend (not to push each other's buttons) and sibling has been warned not to have a friend over tomorrow for yet another repair job (he can afford to go to a car dealer-not sure why he does not give it the business). There was never a question of me going to a store today. Learned my lesson about Saturdays...

[Ciel]

Thinking of @cyn88canada whenever I see smiling produce -even on socks! https://www.simons.ca/en/women-acces...12&colourId=40

Is anyone watching the online concert or tv concert led by Lady Gaga? Mind kind of blanked about it until I got online tonight.

[coupon girl]

I watched some of the online concert .it was on t.v .I was singing along with the rolling stones plus a few others ,then daughter called and we chatted for a bit .

I knocked this sore throat out of me ,so maybe a walk is in the plans for sunday .

Hubby and I are watching a 38 episode series on netflicks "money heist" its actually really good ,its subtitled .

[Giseledta]

i cannot see may 13. just cant wrap my head around that one at all. nope. however ....... i know people are pushng the boundries as it were. .... all i need to do is look out my front door...... neighbour having company over, neighbour having grandparents drop off the kids and hang out outside.... nieghbour kid running down to another house to play with her friends.......

I am really torn on how I feel about things re opening in the province. I know we need it for the economy but I am scared we may re open too soon and the virus continues to spread.

York Region closed all of the trails and forests but they will re open this weekend. I realize this is some of the only activity some people get but is scares me the way people are interrupting this move. A lot of people feel this is the first sign that everything will be re opened and that we have successfully flattened the curve which we have not.

A lot of people feel that within the next 2 weeks, the boat launches and parks should re open and a lot of people feel come May 12th everything will be back to "Normal." I see a lot of people making plans for the may 2-4 weekend, people commenting on going to their cottages and trailers. A lot of people feel Ford has done this on purpose so everything can re open on the 13th and give everyone a few days to get ready for the May 2-4.

I personally have come to terms with the fact that I highly doubt I will be back in the office before August or September.

I know some may disagree with me but I would prefer to see us stay closed and stay safe vs re opening too soon and see a second wave of the virus this year (Yes, I know they say a second wave will come) and almost feel like everything we are doing now was for nothing.

I just feel like right now we are putting the cart before the horse, we have not flattened the curve, we do not have the spread under control so talking about re opening is premature. Not to mention there is no guarantee further shut downs will not happen.

[Angela273]

Upon DH’s insistence, I just cut his hair at home for the first time. We joked that it took 18yrs in our relationship and a pandemic for him to want a haircut at home. I would have cut it longer on top with the clippers, but I did as Dh insisted...it looks ok, but it’s shorter than his usual.

[SassyAshley]

Angela, your post made me laugh only because my one brother had a bad experience. He had mentioned to us that his wife kept saying "you know, I think I can cut your hair" well finally he let her try and it did not go well. He sent the family a photo and we figured for the time being we would always see him wear a hat. Well that was not the end of it they tried to fix it, that did not work so my brother now has a buzz cut because as he put it "only way to save it." This brother is very particular about his hair and I know he won't admit it but having a buzz cut would be driving him insane, he hates buzz cuts.

Giseledta, I feel the same. With it being a nice day yesterday I noticed a lot of people in the neighbourhood that do not live here. I saw a lot of people dropping by and I feel like people have a false sense of being safe if they are outside. I see people come over and they "hang out" outside, including letting kids play together. Not to mention we have some people who have never changed their habits, people coming and going, people having guests for the weekend.

If I am being completely honest I actually see further restrictions coming because people cannot follow the rules. As the nice weather has come a some restrictions are lifted I feel like this saying is becoming very true "give them an inch, they will take a mile." People feel like we have spent more than 2 weeks inside it is safe and it is not. Honestly if people do not smarten up I see a full shut down coming.

[Ciel]

Ms. Sunshine was playing hide and seek with rain clouds in sky and clouds have won-it's now raining.

I took a few pictures of Easter eggs and table setup with the laptop (which spent the night downstairs as usual). Used a computer wipe on the screen and laptop keyboard. Connected laptop to power and to USB hub and eureka, battery went from 94% after taking pics to 100%. Must have been the static electricity from the other wipes I used that messed up the charge capacity. Scary five days as I was thinking do I have a repair coming soon? And how to pay for it? Whew. Mr Case order for the win (where I got my wipes for hands and different ones for computer).

Another lesson learned-my Joseph Joseph soap dispenser does not like creamy opaque liquid soaps (brother suggested watering down the soap but that defeats its purpose); dispenser has hard time being pressed down and soap comes out like its some kind of Vaseline product in squiggly mess. The wide opening on the Nature Clean soap dispenser has no issue with an opaque soap. There will be dispenser cleanup once I can get more clear liquid soap refills.

Breakfast was a big bowl of Mini Wheats and milk, followed by sweetened mug of ginger peach matcha tea (which woke me up very well). I feel like a cat in need of a nap, however. My side sleeper pillow is not doing much for rest. I'll put the back sleeper pillow back on the bed and notice whether I have to scrunch it for sleep or can nod off within 5 minutes.

A coupon question-the Cineplex 2 admissions for 1 coupon from Canada Dry expires at the end of the month. Is it unlikely that the offer will be extended into May, given that theatres are closed? The movie website lists a few May event tickets but I think given that mid-May is when we learn of what is open and what may still be closed gets updated.

[Giseledta]

last night was rough for sleeping. very rough.
going to go spend a hour on a ladder... finish off the celing scraping... then mud areas.
then clean the kitchen. and prep pizza dough. we are having pizza for supper.
curently it is raining out.. and doesnt look like it will stop ... so inside day it is.

i s hould find hte paint for th e walls in the entry as well... that should go fast.

[Angela273]

Successful Sobeys trip. I was able to get almost everything on my limited grocery list. We really needed milk.
$55 with my gc, $2.50 in coupons, 2AM, 50c CO51.

[Frugalbigmama]

Hi all.

We made a nice dinner last night. Bbq'd steak/tofu, asparagus, baked potatoes amd mushrooms and onions. Watched our Netflex show and went for a walk at 10pm at night. Not a person around it was perfect.
My guy made us a nice breakfast this morning.
I drove by GT and parking lot was empty so buzzed in quickly. We are set for the week.
I started to do dishes when i got home and my oldest told me he was taking care of it