February Frugal Chatter

[Ciel]

@SassyAshley Thanks for the reminder about the ON hydro rate changing on Monday. Just about forgot! Hard to believe 2/3 of February is over.

[crafter]

Happy Saturday! We had a good week and are still plugging away at supplies in our cupboard and freezer. I'm getting bolder and trying to creatively make meals. Last night we had chicken breast (pre cooked a few weeks ago) stir fry using frozen asian veggie mix. It was so good with a spicy schezuan sauce. My goal as I use items in the cupboard eg rice sidekicks etc are to replace with basic ingredients only and use my own herbs and spices for cooking in the future. DH has been great but I don't know how he'll feel having a bowl of quinoa and grains with lentils...I'll have to transition very slowly.
I took the plunge today and went through my baking supplies. I found a few items that had expired, my baking powder was 2 years over bb date. I swear I just bought that from Walmart a while back ...I used it for muffins and it worked. I did however pitch the bran that was BB a year ago, not good to eat rancid grains.
We have a very busy week coming up, we need to dust/clean prep the main living area for the painter coming in a week or so. Have a wonderful day everyone!

[SassyAshley]

Saw on 680 new that Canadian Tire will be closing all National Sports locations:

https://www.680news.com/2021/02/18/c...thern-ontario/

[HermanH]

My goal as I use items in the cupboard eg rice sidekicks etc are to replace with basic ingredients only and use my own herbs and spices for cooking in the future. DH has been great but I don't know how he'll feel having a bowl of quinoa and grains with lentils...I'll have to transition very slowly.

Have you tried to mix/blend them with other food/vegetables? I bought some parboiled rice for my mother, but she didn't like the harshness/roughness of it. She prefers the plain white rice. So, I used it up slowly by just adding a bit of parboiled rice into the majority of white rice. It took awhile to use up, but she eventually ate it all and none was wasted. If she detected any difference in taste, it was only momentary.

[HermanH]

Just back from grocery shopping-No Frills has the Costco olive oil on cheaper-only 4.97 per litre for members.

Does anyone know of a method to determine the quality of olive oil? I have read that much of it is adulterated (diluted with other oil.) One method I read about was to refrigerate and see if little round balls form (indicating purity.)

Glad to see I can book my Mum's Covid shots next week-she will turn 89 next month so it will be great to have her protected.

I am having the vaccine argument with my 87-yr old mother. I am trying to get her innoculated, but she doesn't want the shot.

[SassyAshley]

Good Afternoon Everyone,
I found some ambition but not a ton but that is okay that is what weekend are for right????

I made a batch of Cake Mix Cookie bars, I used to make these all the time for work when I had limited time to bake but needed a treat to take in (no more treats with Covid), I could whip these up and pop them in the oven well I was making dinner. I have been craving some so I made a batch using White Cake Mix and Chocolate chips. They are cooling on the stove.

Dishwasher has been emptied and reloaded

Stole a recipe from next week's Meal Plan:
Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms - I am a sucker for anything with Balsamic and I have some mushrooms I need to use up, win win. I will serve this with leftover Mashed Potatoes and a vegetable . I feel like we are in a veggie ruit, I am missing not having the variety we had when shopped more often and I was chasing the sales. With that being said we do have a ton of veggies on hand I just need to pick one.

I am thinking about changing my shopping plan, I got an email from one of our managers last night asking me if I could come in on Friday and work with their crew as they need Friday off. I have to check with my boss that I can go into a branch but since we moving into the Red, I think I can. This branch is kind of close to Costco so even though it will make for a super long day maybe I will run into Costco on Friday and do out shopping. Only downside to this would be fitting everything fridge as I know Friday night I will not have the ambition to process what is bought. It is an idea I will mull over some more.

Think I might look for a movie we can watch tonight and just have a chill, relaxing night.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday

[Giseledta]

shopping is done. sigh... it is very very evident that people are totally over the whole 6 feet apart thing... sigh.
any hoo...
rcss done, 1.00 ecispa, 4.00 co51, 19 000 ish pc points. and airmiles for dogs special treats. those i got at global pets.

spent a solid hour, reorganised the whole fridge... i am hoping it stays ... neat... really.. really hoping... sigh. i dispise my fridge, it is not the one , or the size i wanted.

natchos for supper tonight. i will finish cleaning the kitchen in a bit....

[barbis9]

Good evening. Well DH snowblew and shoveled the driveway today. Many of the people in our neighbourhood pay up to $30 per snowblow for their driveways or pay a set price. Years ago we purchased a snowblower for $199 plus tax and tracked the savings for each snowblow snow. We paid off the snowblower the first year, saved $180 last year and this year we're at $150 savings. DH asked if our savings can go towards the home expenses, since we're getting some renos professionally done.

I'm still working on cleaning out cupboards and the freezer. Things are definitely emptying and I might have a spot for my bread machine and Instant pot soon (I honestly can't believe the size of the Instant pot that our minimalist daughter gave us lol). I had a lump in my throat about all of the baking supplies I had for Christmas and didn't use. We simply don't need extra sweets in the house or should I say...on our hips. I may be objective and donate anything that can't be incorporated into bread, muffins or a salad/stir fry (ie nuts)

Tomorrow is a very important day. It's my ONE YEAR anniversary of being a non-smoker after way too many years. I officially get to declare myself a non-smoker on our private insurance. It's quite a nice savings each year that I'm going to put towards my gardening hobby. I really like growing from seed and enjoy the aerogardens.

ok off to play with my puppy! Have a nice evening!

Congrats on your one year smoke free anniversary!

[HermanH]

shopping is done. sigh... it is very very evident that people are totally over the whole 6 feet apart thing... sigh.

Don't despair. Sometimes, they are only temporarily forgetful. At my local RCSS, they often forget that it gets busier on the weekends and they need to resurrect the lane and traffic controls to avoid congestion at the checkout lanes. A little reminder can be helpful and will allow them to escape a visit from the health department.

[HermanH]

How quickly do they freeze in your freezer? The longer it takes, the more cell damage occurs, which means more mushiness. Basically, home freezers take much too long to produce results that are comparable to commercially-frozen broc or cauli.

I miss my flash freezer. Too bad the cold snap just ended. Otherwise, I could have tested the technique with Mother Nature's help. Guess I'll just have to wait for the next Polar Vortex.

[barbis9]

I’m annoyed with Walmart’s ever changing return policy. I was told I could return something, but was unable to return it even I went to the store with the receipt this evening. Wasted $40. Ugh.

I picked up 4 boxes of Valentine’s for next year, on 50% off clearance. I checked my receipt before leaving the store. I was charged full price for all of them. I went to customer service and was easily refunded the full amount. All 4 were SCOPed.

Some varieties of Always Infinity pads were on clearance, others were discounted.

I SCOPed Royal tp at NF on the weekend.

Try another Walmart if you can. I noticed return policies vary. I hope there hasn't been a change as I have a top to return Monday.

[Ciel]

@HermanH It won't be too long for the next polar vortex. Give it a week.
@SassyAshley I was looking at the National Sports site. Noticed that Pickering store seems to be the only one with size 11 or 12 footwear! Under Armour white beach sandals with aqua details-size 11. Mizuno Women's Wave court shoes Size 12. Did not spot any women's jackets I want. I did see socks-Columbia has some lovely yarn colours/patterns. SIGH.
The only things I'd want are Fox 40 whistles-this is about the only store where you can buy them in colour and in singles. Cdn Tire used to sell single Fox 40 whistles in neon yellow or orange but now may only come as part of boat safety kit or in pairs.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Not sure what it is but apparently my new time to get up is 7 am, even when I wake up at 6 am I fall back asleep until 7 am. I still miss being that morning person up early and a whole list of things done before everyone else is up, especially for work. Sometimes those first 2 hours are my most productive. But oh well, right now my bigger focus is just sleeping once I am back on a good sleep schedule I will worry about my wake-up time.

Last night before bed I tackled the pile in front of my closet door and realized just how long a lot of that has been living there. Over a year as I found all my stuff from my bro's wedding in the pile and they celebrated their one year anniversary in September. I dug out all of the clothes and they are now down in the basement to be washed. I think about 80% of what I am washing now will be donated or maybe sold. I am still trying to figure out how I feel on selling again.

On that nore first load of Laundry is in, figure I will take advantage of the last day of lower hydro rates and get a few extra loads of laundry done.

The Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms was a hit last night we both enjoyed it and said we would make it again. Now to decide on dinner tonight, original my plan was a Pork Roast in the Slow Cooker but it is a Balsamic Pork Roast and as much as I love Balsamic I would be pushing my luck to make 2 balsamic recipes back to back.

Time to come up with a plan for the rest of the day. Have a wonderful day everyone.

[coupon girl]

I am so happy today,we are going to watch our 2 granddaughters ice skate on a man made ice rink in a park .Everybody has to wear masks which is fine ,but just to watch them at an outdoor activity is making me soo happy .I just hope i dont have to go to the washroom,so no tea for me .

Then on the way home son will help hubby move the old couch into the garage .I already called the city for bulk pick up next week -we are allowed 3 items .

[Angela273]

Covid staycation. We booked a room at a hotel in town for last night. Took our kids to the attached swimming pool and water slide for 2hrs. We booked the pool and were the only ones in there. We got them showered and changed into pjs. Then we picked up Dominos pizzas on the way home. Our babysitter spent the night with the kids, at our house. Dh and I picked up sushi and spent the night at the hotel. Last night was our first night away from the kids since they were born. Ds is 8.5yrs old, our twins are 5.5yrs old.

I do not count my hospital stays as time away from our children.