January 2024 Frugal Chatter thread (it's a leap year!)

[Arjon]

has anyone owned or used a food saver or food vacuum? you put food in a plastic bag and the machine draws the air out then seal the bag. I'm looking for one and it ranges in prices. I don't need anything fancy or the capability to do containers. I'm looking for air to be sucked out of the bag then seal the bag. TIA

I barely ever use mine, primarily because I find using ziplocs and the the water immersion method is more convenient whether fr freezing or for sous vide.

[Purdee]

i've been doing that method for the past few years and was thinking i want something that would seal better and look presentable as i'll be giving out food to families and friends

I barely ever use mine, primarily because I find using ziplocs and the the water immersion method is more convenient whether fr freezing or for sous vide.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Yesterday became a super busy day. Mom had her first physio appointment which was actually supposed to happen 2 weeks ago but Mom didn't tell me about the appointment and felt she couldn't go alone and I had a meeting at the exact same time I had to attend. Yesterday became a bit chaotic because I was to go with her but then she didn't want me to go because she wanted to go see her friend but then felt she couldn't go alone. I ended up going with her and the good news is there is a sitting area right outside the Physio place I was able to use a table and get some work done well in physio.

After Phsysio she was going to drop me off at work (it is about 10 minutes from where she does Physio) so I could work well she visited with her friend but it started to snow and they decided to go to Starbucks so again I could get some work done. I did have to work late last night to work on a few things I didn't get done but feeling like I am in a good place to start with a new staff member on Monday. I wanted to try to knock it out last night so I did not have to work over the weekend.

We had a late lunch when we got home so dinner last night was a Blueberry Dutchbaby.

Today I have some house stuff to get done, I cleaned the kitchen after dinner last night so that is done but I do need to wash the floor. The bathroom needs to be done and then I need to work on the Dining Room.

Happy Saturday Everyone.

[coupon girl]

Just went to sobeys
got 4 boxes of special k vanilla with points and checkout 51,i paid 3.00 each (no i never got the newest round of 2.00 cpns for this cereal wish i did.)
Natrel milk 4.99-.50=4.49
Chocolate milk 2.97-.50cpn=2.49
smartfoods popcorn had a personal offer and on sale i paid
3.70 each
5-cans of delmonte peaches and pears 2.99-1.00 each from checkout51=1.99 each to have on hand when i run out of fruit.
tarter sauce on sale 2.99
minute rice large box 8.79-8.79 free cpn from company due to a problem=free
hemp seed 6.99-50 pnts=6.49

plus various other sale items spent 124 so got 1,000 points

At shoppers i got
ziggys salad on sale 1.99
strawberries 6.99-700 points=6.29
p.c juice 3.99-800 points=3.19

then i got gas $1.43 saved .82 from having it linked

now home to relax

[SassyAshley]

Not quite the get it all done kind of day I needed/wanted but slowly getting some odd random things done.

Bathroom has been cleaned except the floor.

I put away the Costco stuff that needed to go in the bathroom, toilet paper, found a place for Mom's pads, and some vitamins we picked up.

Took the chicken out of the chest freezer and put it in it's bin in the Stand-Up Freezer. Well I was down there I put away the few pantry items I bought well grocery shopping this week. I am trying to work on doing things as they need to be done vs waiting for it to pile up, normally the chicken would not have been moved until I needed the space in the chest freezer and the pantry items would sit on the floor until we had a few more bags.

I have started on some of the prep I need to get done, I need to give my fridge a good clean out, I feel like we have a lot of containers with little bit in them leftover from Mom's bday. Mini Cucumbers and Celery have been washed and packaged, plus I chopped up a container of Celery for a recipe I will be making this week.

Also worked on our meal plan well I had my tea this morning, for some reason fixated on Chicken this week, everything I think of is Chicken. I do realize 95% of our meals are Chicken but yeah, everything I come up with is another chicken dish. I will look at it again later and see if I can come up with any dishes that aren't chicken.

Thinking I will roast the whole chicken I bought in the dutchoven for Dinner tonight. It is a one-pot meal you cook the potatoes and veggies in the dutchoven with the Chicken.

[barbis9]

I never see the 50% off in my city in Ontario and for transparency I live in Oakville and shop in both Mississauga and Burlington and don’t see 50% ever. In Nova Scotia I see it all the time and on lots of items. If you time it right you can do most of your meat shopping at 50% off. But like Ontario the Flashfood leaves a lot to be desired.
It’s Friday ignite so DH and ds1 went to the legion with my father in law for fish and chips so I had pasta with butter. And honestly it’s one of my favourite meals. I love the simplicity and I get to have angel hair pasta which is my fav.

@lilo0003 I see 50% off at Fortinos - in the bakery section.

[coupon girl]

I would love to thank flemeth for being so kind as to send me a few coupons .Such a lovely group of people in this forum .

By the way i am feeling better but still have to finish the meds the nurse told me please do.

Daughter called today when she doesnt have sebastian she loves to talk to me on the phone .

[HermanH]

Also worked on our meal plan well I had my tea this morning, for some reason fixated on Chicken this week, everything I think of is Chicken. I do realize 95% of our meals are Chicken but yeah, everything I come up with is another chicken dish. I will look at it again later and see if I can come up with any dishes that aren't chicken.

Spice things up. Tell your kids that it is lizard or iguana, but they won't be able to tell the difference.

Fill their minds with wonder and doubt, for the rest lives.

[Angela273]

Teachers are doing another one day strike on Monday, January 22.

I‘m home for the weekend. I made sweet & sour pork with mixed veggies.
Tomorrow’s plan is puffed wheat squares, my healthier monster cookie squares, fried rice, pork steaks, Weiner & bean soup (I put lots of veggies in it), hot cheese dip with French bread and veggies.

Everyone will get fed here and I’ll take extras with me when I head back to work.

[walkonby]

I barely ever use mine, primarily because I find using ziplocs and the the water immersion method is more convenient whether fr freezing or for sous vide.

OH my good gawd! @Arjon If only I had known about this before I bought my Foodsaver! I watched this video on it and was gob smacked. So simple.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Very slow morning here, I slept in and part of me wants to be annoyed because now I feel like I am behind but I also realize my body needed the sleep.

Although I have a bunch of things to do, I have not started any of them yet. I am enjoying my cup of tea well I watch an episode of Private Practice before I start my day.

I pulled a piece of cooked Roast Beef from the Freezer and plan to make a Sheppard's Pie and Fresh Buns for dinner tonight. This will give us some lunches for the week plus it is warm comfort food which I am craving and I can pack it full of veggies.

Happy Sunday Everyone.

[Angela273]

I picked up more meat clearance deals at Sobeys this morning.

Worth the Sobeys trip this morning.
$3.20/lb regular ground beef - 3lbs
$2.85/lb regular ground beef - 2.5lbs
$2.36/lb regular ground beef - small
$2.99/lb lean ground pork (instead of driving across town to coop)
$2.33/lb chicken thighs - family pack
6x $2 herb Turkey breast sandwich meat - $3 wub2 coupon = $0.50 per 150g package. These were best by February 26.

Dh encouraged me to pick up additional small packages of regular ground beef for $3.60/lb. That’s not the best price, but our childcare provider prefers to cook ground beef related meals when he cooks supper at our house during the work week.

I’m using the family packs of regular ground beef with the lean ground pork. I’m oven baking hamburgers and meatballs to put in the freezer for meal prep.

[Arjon]

OH my good gawd! @Arjon If only I had known about this before I bought my Foodsaver! I watched this video on it and was gob smacked. So simple.

I suspect suction does a slightly better job for some things that have (potential) air pockets. But TBF, I'd probably only use it if I were going to seal a bunch of packages. But I basically never do more than about 3 at once, and getting the machine out plus cutting and then sealing the bags doesn't seem worth it for that few.

[HermanH]

I suspect suction does a slightly better job for some things that have (potential) air pockets. But TBF, I'd probably only use it if I were going to seal a bunch of packages. But I basically never do more than about 3 at once, and getting the machine out plus cutting and then sealing the bags doesn't seem worth it for that few.

Save on water and use the fill-tank of your toilet, to immerse the bag.

[HermanH]

Worth the Sobeys trip this morning. $3.20/lb regular ground beef - 3lbs$2.85/lb regular ground beef - 2.5lbs$2.36/lb regular ground beef - small $2.99/lb lean ground pork (instead of driving across town to coop)

You seem quite enamoured with meat, for your family. Have you considered using lean ground turkey in lieu of all that ground beef? RCSS has their perpetural $10 for 4lb lean ground turkey. The only drawback is that it is sold frozen. However, it turns out to be only $2.50/lb. I use it in my chili, instead of beef, and cannot even tell the difference in taste.