Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 While I did have a wonderful sleep last night, for some reason I am extremely tired right now. It could be because the sun never really came out today until just a short while ago, and it will be disappearing in about an hour or so. I do notice the sun sticking around longer in the evenings.

So far no call about picking Bob up today, so I think he will be with us for another day. I do hope he gets picked up at some point tomorrow as that is the last day I have wet food for him, and man does he love his wet food first thing (actually he only licks the gravy out of the mix). 

I forgot to clear Harvey's jean pockets out and of course this time there was some change in one pocket. The change fell out and one of the coins got stuck in a small area of the washer. Yesterday he couldn't seem to remove it, and I was very worried we would need to phone someone. Today he managed to get the coin out and now the agitator will be able to move freely. 

I have decided that a great way to stretch meat, especially with stir fry is to add more veggies to the mix. So along with the usual veggies, I have added more mushrooms, more peppers, more celery, and some cabbage. Should make a great amount to be eaten tonight and later on. I plan on using my mold or molds to get some frozen for one hopefully two ready meals. Freezing this in the molds and popping them and use my Food Saver to keep them fresh. 

I think I will add some frozen corn so as to add a bit more colour to the mixture. 

I got two more fronts done on the totes I want to make, the sewing machine was out to do some mending, and I thought may as well get those done as well. I managed another 30 rows of weaving as well. 

Tonight I hope to get more of the embroidery completed. I have come to the conclusion I will not complete my project list this month, but I can push to be closer to being done and that is what I am going to try for.

Off to get the meat in the wok and then the rice warmed up in the microwave. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Plan Monday

 

A new week and even though the temperatures will warm up a bit, it is still winter here in the southeast corner of Saskatchewan. We did get a bit of melting today, but this will not last long at all. Mother Nature just loves to tease us prairie dwellers.

So what are we eating this week?

Monday

Spaghetti and meat sauce along with a salad. I am going to make enough of the spaghetti and sauce to make a few tinfoil meals for later (baked spaghetti is awesome).

Tuesday

Leftover pork made into our favourite stir fry meal. There will be enough left over for another meal this week. I will make some rice to add to the leftover rice in the fridge. Probably try and use up some more salad as well. I will freeze what is left of the stir fry for meals later on.

Wednesday

Soup and sandwiches. I think I will pull out some chicken broth and make some chicken veg soup and probably some salmon salad sandwiches (need to use up some of those tins in the freezer).

Thursday

Small sausage casserole. Lots of veggies in this meal already.

Friday

Glace, potatoes and eggs. 

Saturday

Leftover small sausage casserole.

Sunday

Steak (bought on sale many weeks ago) in mushroom soup. I will make mashed potatoes and probably some coleslaw.

So that is my menu for the upcoming week. I have gone through my fridge freezer and there will be lots of meal in the month of March to use the older bits and bobs up. 

I was asked what I did with what was frozen in the molds. I pop the blocks out and either use my Food Saver or zip lock bags to store the items. That way I can use the molds once again. I also did not bring these into my home until the plastic containers I used for freezing were getting old and not suitable any longer. I will still be using a few plastic containers until they get to the point of being kind of yucky.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Questions

 

I have been asked about the molds I have been speaking about, the past while and thought I would share the ones I have purchased over the past year.

The ones directly in the front of the picture are very small ice cube trays. Each section holds approximately 2 teaspoons. 

The yellow ones each have 4 sections and each section holds two cups if filled totally. I use these to the 1 cup mark for things like the lentil taco mixture I made. 

The longer blue/turquoise ones hold 4 cups. I have not used them as of yet, but figure they will be excellent to use for broths when I make bone broth from carcasses or roast and ham bones. 

The turquoise ones at the very back are the ones I use most often. They also hold 4 cups but usually I only fill them to the 2 or 3 cup measure. Perfect for a soup meal for the two of us with a bit leftover for a lunch. 

I would really like to get a few more for summer sauce making days. So much easier to freeze, pop out and put in a bag.

Got my new keyboard and mouse. Loving the ease of typing now.

Yep, it's pink and I love it!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Weekly Roundup

 

No real projects completed, instead this has been a week of trying to keep ahead of a cat that likes to cause problems, and doing a bit of cooking ahead for meals later on.

I am really liking the molds as they make freezing and preparing for the chest freezer so much easier. I think that this will be an awesome way to prepare items for future meals.

Mushroom soup was made (yes finally got on sale mushrooms) and frozen in those molds. Popped out and they now reside in my chest freezer.

Gathering the ingredients to make the lentil taco filling.

Cooking that filling.

Freezing that filling.

Popping the extra hamburger soup portions and the red lentil taco filling out. Getting them ready for the chest freezer. In the bag are the prepared pork loin and few chicken breasts I managed to purchase in my grocery shop this biweekly visit.

Next week it will be Sweet and Sour meatballs and probably another soup or two.

This isn't to say I haven't been working on my various crafty projects. I have but not a great deal to show any progress on them. Part of the reason is Bob. He is taking up more of my time than I ever thought a cat could. 

I have broken down and ordered a new keyboard for use with the computer. I had wanted to hold out a while longer, but I am tired of posts disappearing every so often.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Friday Shopping and Wow

Harvey took me shopping this afternoon, and now he gets to see how much prices have risen since the last time he shopped with me. Let's say about 5 or so years ago. I think he was a bit flabbergasted by costs. He also got to watch me put items back on the shelf because there was no way on God's green earth I was going to pay that asking price.

I did manage to get a few items at a decent sale price, but many of the items we needed were just not discounted very much at all.

As for the items I added to the pantry for $10.00 I managed to get 3 cans of mandarins for $1.50 each and three cans of evaporated milk to use in baking for $1.27 each. Hoping to get some canned meats and more canned fruit next time. It was a bit less than the amount, but anything more would have put me over the pantry shopping limit.

While checking out the beef roasts, I got into a conversation with a beef rancher. He told me that they had sold all their steers and only kept the heifers, mainly because they were worried about the lack of moisture on the pastures. He said beef prices are going to probably get much higher over the next while. I have also noticed that once prices go up, the very rarely come down. I so wish that we had yellow stickers, or some of the ways that easterners in bigger centers have to save. Heck our youngest son can sometimes take advantage of yellow sticker meat as well.

I have added some tins of salmon and tuna to the bag that will be donated to the Food Bank here at the end of lent. Next time I go shopping in two weeks, I will pick up some pasta and pasta sauce. I am trying to put together enough to perhaps feed a couple of families. Thinking some treats closer to the end of Lent would be a nice addition.

Changed my mind on supper tonight. As we have lots of softening potatoes in storage, I am going to use up my homemade perogy and then next week use up more of the softer potatoes to make a batch or two for the freezer downstairs.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

 Thrifty and Frugal

The sun is shining and while we are once again back in the deep freeze, I am happy to say that I have been keeping busy around the old homestead. 

My shopping list is ready to go, and I believe that as the day goes by I will be using more bits and bobs up and getting the fridge cleared out a bit more. Getting meals into the freezer to be used this spring when we are busy in the yard is a priority right now. One that sees me using up those bits and bobs as well as leftovers from other meals. 

So how have I been frugal and thrifty this week around the house? And have I added a new thrifty/frugal measure to my plans?

1.  Found $0.20 in the basement beside the washer and dryer. That went in the change jars.

2.  Emptied the bottom of my purse and added another $8.55 to the change jars.

3.  Added $100.00 to the savings envelope.

4.  Paid bills on line once again and will continue to do that with as many bills as possible.

5.  Used my cash back on my Visa to pay the groceries from two weeks ago. 

6.  Collecting veggie scraps and freezing them to make veggie stock. Never done this before so I hope it works out. I use lots of veggie stock in my recipes.

7.  Made the grocery list using flyers and looking online for coupons.....

8.  Still using bits and bobs from my craft stashes to make things to either give away, for gifts or for the family auction raising money for the next get together.

9.  Hanging what I can on the lines downstairs.

10. Drapes open to take advantage of the solar heating.

11. Getting some new recipes that don't use meat to try.

So a couple of new things going on, lots of old, tried and true. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Midweek Ramblings

 I should also be saying stay calm it's almost the end of the month and I have many more projects to try and at least start, not perhaps finish. As usual this month like most, I have listed more projects than I can actually get done. Why won't I ever learn.

The storm came through last night and into mid afternoon today. Once the snow stopped and the sun came out, Harvey got the snowblower and set to work. Now we just need the city to do a better job of cleaning the street.

I don't like driving on these messy, icy roads (it did rain before the snow came) and so Harvey has said he will take me shopping on Friday and take me to pay any bills that need to be paid in person. There are just two and one is right near Walmart, the other is on the way either to or from that area of the city.

Slowly getting some meals in the large chest freezer. Yesterday it was Cream of Mushroom Soup, today it will be at least one meal of Red Lentil Curry. I may make some Lentil Taco filling first thing tomorrow morning, and then later Hamburger Soup and I think some either BBQ meatballs or Sweet and Sour meatballs. I want to be prepared for spring and yard work, or even a day I just do not feel like cooking. It saves us ordering in or going out.

It is Ash Wednesday today and since the roads are all but impassible, this will be the first year we have not gone to the church. I do believe we will be forgiven though, as we age things are becoming a bit more difficult. Our driveway, which really isn't long or convoluted, used to take perhaps 20 minutes or less to clear. Now Harvey gets about halfway and needs to rest before finishing it off. Today the driveway took him about 1 1/2 hours to clear, and getting the truck into the driveway over the 2 1/2 foot drifts was a job in and of itself. 

The beginning of Lent already and I am unsure what I will do for the season this year. Leaning towards getting some donations each day for the Food Bank. I have heard they are running low once again.

I was asked what Saskatoons are. Hmmm, they are the cousins of blueberries. Not quite as good in my opinion, but Harvey and other southern Canadian prairie people love them. They grow wild or can be planted. Those that are planted are a bit larger and a bit juicier. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.