January 2021 - Frugal Chatter (New Year, New Goals?)

[Giseledta]

hi all,
did my click and collect on friday. picked up lean gr beef, used some tonight..... it was not lean gr beef..... i am highly not impressed.

today was productive. and i think i figured out a bit of my crochet. all in all a highly productive weekend.

i would love to have another day in the weekend. mental health wise i think that would be good for me. but it is not happening.

i am leaving work stuff till tomorrow. I should figure a bit out... but i am just not doing it tonight.

have fun all be safe

[lilo0003]

Younger son asked for fried chicken for dinner, so he did all the work except the cooking in hot oil. The older son did that part. Had another no spend day today. It’s one of the advantages of this lockdown. Went for a long walk and did not do much else. I am on day 16 of my 30 days of yoga. I am starting to see some improvement but still have a long way to go to be that bendy.

[SassyAshley]

@Giseledta kind of odd question but was the ground beef marked as Lean but was not or did Click & Collect grab the wrong one?

I ask because last time I bought Ground Beef on sale locally it was marked as Lean but when we cooked it off, it was not Lean. The amount of fat that came out was unreal.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Got off to a slow start this morning, I am still struggling with sleep. I woke up at 2 am wide awake and fell back asleep right around the time I should have been getting up, grrrr. Oh well, I am up now and have knocked out my work to-do-list for today so now I can move on to other projects.

I have to work again tonight, tonight shouldn't take too long (I hope) so I am hoping to take a break and get some stuff done during the day. I need to clean our bathroom and clean the Kitchen floor.

Last night's dinner was good I have to say the Smashed Baked Potatoes were so good and a nice change. They take a little work to make but totally worth it, will make them again.

Now trying to decide on Dinner tonight, I am thinking either Garlic Ginger Pork in the Slow Cooker (my original plan) or maybe Homemade pizza (I have some mozzarella I need to use up). When Mom gets up I will present the two options and see if one appeals more to her. Kind of leaning towards Pizza only because I have time tonight to make pizza where is other nights this week it would be more tricky.

Alright, time to tackle the never ending emails of this morning.

Have a great day everyone.

[Frugalbigmama]

Morning!

Since I had the fresh hamburger buns I cooked up the old burger patties in the freezer(instead of making new ones from the fresh ground beef) that have been kicking around. They disappeared quickly! I am starting to see space in the freezer in the house and I just got started. So many meals will be made this week using the stuff up!

I will bundle up soon and go for a walk. Taking good use of my working at home to keep me healthy and sane!

[Frugalbigmama]

DS had a break from online school so in exchange of me making him breakfast ( fried egg and cheese on a toasted bagel and English muffin)
He did my laundry run. Had him take the clean baskets to the 2nd floor from basement. Take all the hanging clean stuff upstairs. Then had him strip his bed and bring it to the laundry room. His bedding is in the washer now.

Made him his breakfast. Now I am cooking up a tray of the lean beef and will make taco meat. DS can have for dinner tomorrow night then I will put in the freezer for another night. Kitchen will be clean after the meat is cooked.

The sun is shining so will go for my walk soon.

[Frugalbigmama]

Cleaning out the cereal/snack cupboard. Posted 13 fruit cups for free on mom swap. My sister gave them to us and the kids don't seem to be eating them so out they go.
Tossing 1/2 opened chips that have been kicking around. Junk food they don't need anyway. We had 2 glass jars with 1/2 full brown sugar. Hasn't been used in years lol. now its in one jar. Feels good to get this cupboard cleaned up.

[HermanH]

Tossing 1/2 opened chips that have been kicking around.

Watched Food Network channel and saw the chefs use potato chips as a condiment layer in sandwiches. Never tried it, myself.

We had 2 glass jars with 1/2 full brown sugar. Hasn't been used in years lol. now its in one jar. Feels good to get this cupboard cleaned up.

My brown sugar really dries and hardens into huge lumps. Any ideas on how to prevent or fix this phenomenon?

[Ciel]

A slice of white sandwich bread or apple in the sugar jar might do the trick. Or run a fork through the sugar before you pour out sugar for a baking recipe. There's also a microwave method:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/a...en-brown-sugar

Crushed potato chips make a great topping on pantry surprise (when you use a can of tuna, some cooked pasta, random cooked or frozen vegetables, some kind of sauce plus seasonings)casseroles, instead of using cracker or bread crumbs.

[Ciel]

Nordstrom.ca has an extra 25% off clearance prices promo ending today (I think the additional discount is reflected in the total discount showing on items on Sale). Free standard shipping.

I am just looking at women's clothing. For those of you who have little kids/grandkids, I suggest you check out Nordstrom's Kids' long-sleeved garments for winter (not all on sale) or window-shop for spring/Easter/Summer right now, as sizes are selling out. Some brands to look for are Habitual Kids, Miles, & Peek Aren't You Curious--they seem to be like the old Young Canada clothing store options (stylish, with sleeves and some variety in prints/colours). I noticed some girls' garments have pockets but not always! If you are adventurous, there is a black Moncler hooded sweatshirt dress with ruffled skirt for girls in the $400+ range (no pockets; styling is cool but I think other colours and pockets would benefit the garment).

Sport Chek also has some Kid's clothing on clearance including dresses and activewear. Worth a look as some winter accessories are also on sale too.

[Ciel]

Some light housekeeping is today's major to-do (laundry is almost done), with a walk to the library and to a mail box to send mail on the list. Two wool sweaters need ironing to get them back into rotation for chilly days.

Such a gray Monday. Light covering of snow on the ground. Nothing major. It was good to see the ice melt away over the weekend!

I did not purchase a weekend paper for the tv guide as I don't get around to watching shows on time when all three of us are in the house. Thus I have some more DVD movies for the week to view plus some books waiting for an hour of my time each day.

[coupon girl]

Afternoon -i went on my stationary bike today 10 minutes and used leg weights to wrap around my ankles and did a small leg workout -its a start.

I got my gap pkg all the kids clothing is beautifull and cheap will put some away for easter and the winter clothing away for fall for their birthdays .Alas the gap softspun top for me was too wide and way to plunging for my liking,so back that will go when the stores open down the road .

I have more luck at talize ,back in the summer i bought 2 fall tops and yoga pants .

Hubby and i are still waiting on our new couch ,yes i bought a new couch back end of sept (special order) as we wanted more firm seating.So we will wait til the stores open for that too.

I just did a 20 minute walk,the snow falling is ever so nice .

[Arjon]

Watched Food Network channel and saw the chefs use potato chips as a condiment layer in sandwiches. Never tried it, myself.

Plain chips basically add crunch and a bit of saltiness. In the few times I've tried this, it takes quite a bit for the chip flavor to be more than a relative background note.

Using flavored chips might be more interesting and provide more flavor for the same amount used. I've occasionally thought about using them; e.g. BBQ flavor in a pulled pork sandwich, but haven't made a point of actually seeing how they are..

[crafter]

I used items from the freezer today and reorganized it. I had enough room to fit my magic bag in (cold/heat pack)
I was quite surprised at how many frozen veggies we have now, it will be great to get us through until the prices drop down a bit on fresh veggies.
I tried my first pieces of Romaine lettuce from my aerogarden. They are delicious. I can't wait until they get a bit taller to start harvesting for salads. I have one more bin of store bought greens and I hope that's all I'll need.
I made a lasagna for tonights dinner. DH is really looking forward to it. He's not a fan of store bought ones but homemade, yes.
Have a wonderful evening!

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening Everyone,
Got the kitchen floor done but not the bathroom. You win some, you lose some LOL, but hey I will take it as today was not a good day. Just feeling extremely overwhelmed with everything I have on my plate right now and it seems like they just keep putting more and more on right now. My boss was busy today but I will need to talk to him, there is no way I can keep up right now.

Dinner was homemade pizza only because I got distracted and did not get the pork going. Plan is to make the Pork tomorrow. I will put it in the slow cooker on my lunch so it will be ready for dinner.

I am working again tonight as we need to do another mass upload/download so I am going to aim to take Friday afternoon but we shall see. As much as I want Friday afternoon off I just cannot do it if it will cause me to be further behind so we shall see.

Alright let's see what I can knock out tonight and my plan for tomorrow is to get up early and start working so hopefully I can get everything I need to do in between training sessions. Maybe March will slow down for me LOL

Have a great night everyone