July 2021 Frugal Chatter--treats for the heat!

[lizzie bargain]

Still 36 here but luckily not humid. DD and BF and dog arrived last night for a few days-that should liven things up around here. Her BF was able to get his second Pfizer on a cancellation today and DD has hers booked for tomorrow. They will leave for Ontario in a few days and work there for a few weeks over the summer. DD will be back for DH's surgery later in August.

[Angela273]

I spent 1hr weeding this morning. I finally quit when my hands hurt. Our twins were very happy to harvest their first handful of radishes…which they planted. Dh and ds mowed the lawn.

We picked up free dilly bars from DQ this afternoon. It was sponsored by our local Kinnettes. We will drive out to watch the fireworks tonight.

I did 2 loads of laundry today. We are thankful for our central air.

We have a pretty large storage area above our washer and dryer. I used a chair to check for something for Dh. I was happy that I found a full bottle of sunscreen and another jug of scent free dye free Sunlight laundry detergent. Good thing because I thought I started the last jug last week.

I’ll need to inventory our chest freezer. We are running out of certain cuts of meat.

[Ciel21]

Our area had an almost 2h power outage just before 6pm and lights on back just before 8pm. The rain fell around 6pm and a light storm was around as well.

Community paper landed in the afternoon, so I had reading material after my nap. The flyers look light. No gift card offers were spotted. Have to load my Sobeys and PC Optimum offers. No sign of a contest e-mail, so I assume Chop Steakhouse has contacted the winner of the $2K visa card sometime today (rules said draw was today).

Made a point to cook some lentils in the morning while I was the only one up. Appreciated the cooler wind today as it helps keep the air comfortable indoors too. Some fireworks are going off right now.

Am looking around online at website deals/Canada Day offers. Depending on the store site, could be offers for today only or a sale lasts until the weekend.

[lilo0003]

My mom, brother and sister-in-law came down for a lunch time bbq. It was so lovely to see them, in two weeks we will drive to London and they will host with all their kids as well. I have not seen my niece in 18 months. Thankfully the rain held off until after we were done eating and the new gazebo kept us all dry while we had our visit. Now our neighbourhood is crazy with fireworks and my poor dog is hiding in the basement.

[Angela273]

We’re parked in my minivan while we wait for it to get dark enough for the fireworks. I’m going to continue working on my grocery lists and meal plans. What’s on your menu?

[Ciel21]

I know grilled hamburgers will appear now and then on the menu as Bro bought a bag of Kirkland Burgers. He did not share last night, however.

I probably want a few casserole (using spices or taco seasoning!) or soup options for the cooler days, plus cereal (sometimes the thing I want most in the mornings). Watermelon is making a comeback this weekend for juicy heat relief. Maybe one pantry surprise casserole using up some of the frozen veggies (not mine, Bro's) collecting ice in the freezer with some cooked pasta and whatever protein I find.
Hadn't thought about coleslaws or other salads. I am avoiding buying a salad mix box because then I get stuck using it up before the lot turns bad in the fridge. Question: do I feel like chasing the PC Optimum bonus offer of 1500 pts to buy US strawberries and 2.5kg Robin Hood flour to make strawberry shortcake? The flyer features ON strawberries at Fortinos but they are not part of the bonus points offer.

[coupon girl]

Who in their right mind did fireworks at 4.a.m this morning and woke me up ?Darn it i didnt fall asleep because of them last night til later plus my arthritic knee was killing me (just the one knee)so i iced it .

Off to babysit the girls for 8.00 a.m and hubby will watch them at 12.15 when i go for my much needed haircut .
Groceries can wait til sat morning .

[SassyAshley]

@coupon girl I am with you on the fireworks

Wednesday night one of our neighbours started lighting off Fireworks at 11 pm in a small walkway between to house

Last night it was super windy here after the storms and the same neighbour was now setting off fireworks in their tiny backyard and you could hear them yelling as the fireworks blew in the wind.

Then at 11:30 last night someone decided to start lighting off fireworks right in front of the houses. They were the really loud ones that shock the whole house.

Some regions have put bylaws in that fireworks can only be set off one night of the long weekend, I am hoping our town follows suit.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Not the best night sleep, I think the fireworks finally stopped around 12:30. I swear someone was doing it on purpose as they were spread out you would just start to fall back asleep or fall asleep another one would go off.

Not sure if it is the bad night sleep or the weather but woke up with a headache.

Just after I got up our power went out, good news I had already poured my cup of tea. It ended up only being off for about 10 minutes but feeling a bit paranoid it will happen again LOL.

I had been thinking of going out today, we live in between 2 Costcos but always go to the one south of us but lately a number of people have said you have to go to the one North of us. It is about an extra 10 minute drive but thought it might be a fun trip out (Can we say Pandemic Living, Costco is a fun day out LOL) but don't feel like shopping in the rain.

Thinking I might take advantage of the cooler weather and do some baking, thinking i might make some muffins and that, that we can freeze and pull out as needed during the warmer weather.

Have a wonderful day everyone.

[Frugalbigmama]

TGIF!!!

My oldest is feeling much better after his dental surgery and plans on working tonight. So that is good. Youngest works this weekend as well.

Think I will work on cleaning my room and continue decluttering. I did well last time getting rid of clothing (and selling it all!!) so I should do a 2nd round. My closet is just full of stuff.
I also think I may wrap the Christmas gifts for my niece My new thing is to wrap all her gifts and then put them in a big box and wrap that. (then I'm not making it look like 100 gifts I am bringing to her
I have 2 under the bed storage containers to use so I think I will put the wrapped gifts in that and put under one of the beds.
No grocery shopping this weekend. We have lots to use up.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

[Ciel21]

Rain clouds or ones suggesting rain have been passing overhead all morning. After I left Walmart, there was a serious-looking blue gray cloud behind me but no rain fell. Picked up Food & Drink magazine and 5 cans of cold drinks at LCBO.
Laundry left outdoors had mostly dried by time I came back from errands, while the sun decided to stay beaming on the walk home. Bought a Pepsi with contest cap and enjoyed half of it on walk and the rest with lunch after I put groceries away.

Have Walmart watermelon mostly sliced but noticed sweetness varies depending if slices are at the ends (paler and less taste) or from the middle (darker pink/red and sweeter). For $3.97 that is the trade-off. STocked up on Band-Aids at $3.97 x 4-should be able to get to end of month with that supply but many go back for one more of the Waterblock toughstrips. I could not find the Baby Brezza food maker in the small kitchen appliances area so I will have to look in baby section next trip.

Decided to apply Coppertone Sport sunscreen (face and neck) and was surprised at how runny the clear gel is. Maybe due to the heat in the house of the past week? Smells like regular Coppertone sunscreen (the opaque white lotion) but is clear and light! Next time, I'll coat the back of my hands when I don't have the cart behind me, just my shopping tote and cane.

Nap time after I post about the F&D magazine highlights.

[SassyAshley]

Well today did not go as planned but I feel like that should be my plan. My plan should be my plan not going as plan.

I went to Pinterest to find some recipes to make and ended up down a rabbit hole, I did not find anything I wanted to bake but I found a ton of dinner ideas. I also found quite a few air fryer recipes I can try, I feel I am getting comfortable with side dishes but have not ventured into Main Dishes in the Air Fryer.

Not sure what it was but all of a sudden around 11:30 I just crashed, ended up taking a 15 minute nap on the couch.

This afternoon, I decided I need to take advantage of the cooler weather to get some baking done. I was craving a Pineapple Upside Down Cake so I went to get some Pineapple out of my freezer and found multiple bags of Bananas.

I pulled one bag of 4 bananas and 2 bags of banana which gave me enough bananas to make a double batch of Banana Muffins. We will not eat a double batch so tomorrow I will wrap and freeze half of them.

I also made my Pineapple Upside Down Cake, although this did not go as planned, the timer went out off to day it was done, checked it and it needed a couple more minutes. I was in the kitchen prepping dinner and noticed smoke coming from my oven, the caramel sauce over flowed. Luckily the cake was done so I took it out and Mom helped me and cleaned the bottom of the oven.

Also took advantage of the cooler temps to make Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Bake with Caesar Salad and Garlic Bread for dinner.

We have had Thunderstorms rolling through out area most of the afternoon, thankfully we have not lost power again. Looking at the radar it looks like one more system should be rolling through within the next hour.

Now to write a meal plan for the week, I am going to be a bit all the place this week So I will plan a mix of quick dinners plus a few slow cooker meals.

[lizzie bargain]

Finally-after a week long heatwave it is raining and cooling down! What a relief.

[lilo0003]

We took today off as well as Monday for an extra long weekend. So this morning we took the kids out for breakfast and then puttered around the house getting odd jobs done. It was a fairly relaxing day and we have a reprieve from the heat, I am not sure how long it will last but it’s nice to sleep with the window open.

[Ciel21]

We had the downpour/light thunderstorm roll in just after 5pm. The lights flickered half-off twice but power remained! To think I had contemplated heading out for a bus then rethought it as I can go next week to the store that had that food tray I want (in stock too).

Ladies-if you can shop before midnight tonight, Rickis has free shipping/no minimum and lots of clearance deals on its website. Free shipping ends tonight!