February Frugal Chatter 2022

[harbie]

I’m sorry your struggling @SassyAshley

You have a busy day @crafer enjoy

Just the usual suspects on todays to do list. LOTS of laundry and it’s bedsheet charging day. I’m going to try to finish my taxes up today and finalize our RRSP contribution and get outside in the sun and then a ride again.

Happy Saturday!

[coupon girl]

After noon -changing bed sheets as daughter and sebastian are coming ,along with my ashlyn and cara and daughter-in-law after their gymnastics .My son is working so he will come after work.

So excited to have my 2 grown kids and grandkids together today as we didnt celebrate xmas and the kids havent seen each other in 3 months .We will have take out havent decided til they get here.

I even splurged and bought an ice cream cake (used a 5.00 cpn)for my son as his birthday is end of this month .

I treated myself to a new puzzle xmas one with santa and kids in it (ravensburger 1,000) at mastermind 24.99-70%=7.50 plus tax.As we are all kids at heart .lol

[Angela273]

Our second hand store had another 50% off sale, so I went there today. I picked up a few items of clothing. I also bought a Yonanas maker with the manuals for $5.

[Giseledta]

ok... all the shopping done.

used 50.00 off dog food
39.00 on costco re rebate
got .. 4.00 co51
52 200 pc points. ( bit more but it is still pending...)
submitter to sb and R hog.
1.50 in coupons and 12.00 ish in price matching.


plan for the afternoon is laundry... i have so much to do . .lol
supper is chicken and salad. always yummy.
and i want to work on my big course .

[Angela273]

I’m looking for meal planning inspiration. Anyone willing to share their plans as inspiration?

[lizzie bargain]

Well Angela I haven't planned too far ahead yet-tonight is take out but tomorrow I am planning to make a beef stew which I think I will serve with garlic toast. I am also thinking about a lasagna later in the week. Not sure if your family likes tacos or homemade pizza but those might be possibilities if they do-the nice thing about both of these is that each person can assemble their own according to their likes. I also made porcupine meat balls the other week and perhaps your family might enjoy those. I know my husband did-we had them for dinner one night and the leftovers rapidly dwindled. Perhaps a hearty homemade soup put in the crockpot in the morning-and bread in the bread maker or from the freezer on busy days. Ham and scalloped potatoes if your family enjoys that. Or baked potato bar with all the toppings.

[walkonby]

Good Morning Everyone,
Ugg, ups and downs.

I had a post written out but decided nope. I had an amazing week this week, work stuff is in process, I got to focus on my job it was nice. House stuff, I got most of the day to day stuff so I do not have to spend the weekend doing it. Dinners were on track we only had one quick meals this week. It was amazing.

I got an email last night and that on top of a few other things that happened, I broke a little last night. I just felt like the universe was knocking me backwards a few things were falling apart. I was overwhelmed, I was spinning and in came the anxiety.

Real life, this morning I woke up and was still in that same place mentally. I did not sleep well and honestly I wanted to spend today being made at the world.

But, I have had a cup of tea, my post that I deleted got my rant out and not I have decided I am going to shift my focus and I am going to spend the day in the kitchen cooking and baking because that is my happy place. I have no plan for today but I am going with it, today is a me day.



Happy Saturday Everyone

@SassyAshley I support the way you shifted the negativity.
You got the words out and then deleted it. Perfect! Happy baking!!

[SassyAshley]

My kitchen day has come to a close because my back and feet say so LOL. Partially my own fault, I did not have my shoes on today when I was working in the kitchen. I love the new mat we got, it is so nice to stand on but I think all day in the kitchen is too much without my shoes.

I decided to start my day by prepping dinner because I knew when I was done, I would not want to cook and seem so weird to have a kitchen day and then order take-out. Plus I really did not want take-out so I made Shepherd's Pie with Mushroom.

I am really loving homemade snack mixes, today I did not make a snack mix but instead flavoured some pretzels. I made Garlic Parmesan Pretzels, yum.

Then I tried making a new cookie but they did not turn out the best, the dough did not want to come together and was crumbling but I went with it since I had followed the recipe. They aren't bad but actually the odd thing is, they do not have a lot of flavour, they have both Peanut Butter & Coco Powder in them but they lack flavour.

Well I was working I put a batch of Homemade Dinner Rolls in the bread machine so it could do the work well I did other things, those are done and we will have some with dinner.

I had a bunch of apples I needed to use up so I made an Apple Crisp for dessert.

It wasn't a ton but it was enough to shift my focus and ease my anxiety.

I cleaned as I went so the kitchen is clean. I do still need to do some ingredient and meal prep tomorrow but first I need to finish my meal plan.

Just waiting for dinner to come out of the oven and then it is time to relax. We are watching the new Netflix series Inventing Anna, about the woman who pretended to be a german heiress. It is different, not bad but different. I think I will see if there is another else out there about her, I am not sure if this is how Anna really acted in some cases or the writing. We are about half way through, see what we think at the end.

[harbie]

I’m looking for meal planning inspiration. Anyone willing to share their plans as inspiration?

When I “meal plan” , and I say it that way because I don’t always stick to it or be consistent, I start with trying to shop the sales if possible.

I also try to make things that can be morphed into something completely else later in the week instead of just plain leftovers. For example if I make a bolognese sauce the leftovers are changed into chili with the addition of beans , canned tomatoes and chili spices. I will also use the chili if I have leftovers to make Cincinnati chili except mine has beans in it.

I make a dahl and then I can add some stock and some extra veggies to make it more of a lentil soup. Anytime I roast a wack load of veggies I’ll make a pizza with it later in the week. To make it easier I use naan bread as the pizza crust. Easy, inexpensive and fast.

When I make tofu scramble I use leftovers to make quesadillas, same goes for roasted veggies from previous dinners. If you make stuffing for peppers you can make them into burritos with the leftovers.

Hope that might help a bit.

[barbis9]

Good morning. Laundry, kitchen cupboard culling and indoor rowing and cycling on the schedule today. Seed sorting will happen at some point as well this weekend.

Tonight is movie night mixed with Olympics. We signed up for a year's subscription with the Disney Plus channel (note $12.50 cashback offer via Rakuten). The sound and picture quality is phenomenal and we are super excited to watch new movies and shows that we almost rented online. phew...lucky we procrastinated. I'm looking forward to making a giant bowl of popcorn

Think it's pasta for dinner tonight with peppers and sausage.

@crafter Thanks for the Rakuten tip

[Angela273]

@harbie I like the idea of using naan bread fir pizza crust. Where do you usually buy yours from?
we have limited grocery stores in my community, but I have bought some from No Frills in the past.

I’ve been enjoying the ease of roasts and try to make plans for the leftovers. Our kids don’t like much in terms of sauces. They love steamed cauliflower and broccoli with absolutely nothing on it.
@liz xie bargain Thank you for the suggestions.

[harbie]

@Angela273 I usually buy them at RCSS so I’m sure No Frills carry them too. I used to use the PC ones ( they were my fave ) but since we are plant based I had to change brands. Surja is the ones I use now. I usually have a few in the freezer.

Roasts would be great as a pizza, quesadilla, wrap/burrito with any roasted veg you have. Even as a breakfast for dinner in a scramble or hash.

[harbie]

I didn’t get around to finishing my taxes but I did a deep clean. It felt so good to have the windows open and the fresh cold air inside, plus the sun shining was a huge bonus. All laundry done except the clothes Dh wore at work today but that’s ok. Having a late dinner but better late than take out

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Ugg, this sleeping thing. I am still having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep and I am not someone who handles lack of sleep well but I have sleep issues. Oh well, slept in a little today till 7:30am. I am really trying to be up and at it in the morning as that is my most productive time but my body just isn't having it.

Feeling slightly better today, a few things are still up in the air but I will call my boss tomorrow to discuss. I found after we closed Friday a staff member is leaving and the only other person who knows how to do their job is me so that might get interesting. This is supposed to be the year of me focusing on all staff in all locations and not spending long periods in time in one location and now this, so yeah not sure how it will play out.

Back to the kitchen I go to get this week's ingredient/meal prep done. Although it is going to be a little difficult, I am struggling with this week's meal plan, nothing is jumping out at me, there are no cravings, I am at a bit of a loss. But we always need shredded cheese and I have some veggies that need to be packages or chopped up so I will start there.

One thing at a time, knock out the kitchen stuff and go from there.

Happy Sunday Everyone

[Giseledta]

meal plan for week...

Sunday - chicken sandwiches.. assorted leftover apps ect from freezer
Monday - homemade hamburgers for Valentines day.

rest is loosely this
freezer meal - i think its baked ziti. sloppy joes and salad, roasted chicken breast , rice , veggies and pork snitzle with home fries and veggies

that gets me to friday.. might do pizza on the weekend.. hmm. or calzones.. hmmmm