Frigid Friday

Before dinner last night, I tackled cleaning and organizing the cupboard under my kitchen sink. That is a huge job done and I feel really good about it. Then before going to bed last night, I put a turkey carcass into my crock pot with some  water and left it on  overnight. This morning I woke up to -17 degrees C and a big pot of turkey stock which I will make into soup tomorrow. The broth is in the fridge so any fat will rise to the surface and congeal, and I have stripped all the meat from the bones. There was still quite a lot of it. I brought this carcass back home from my brother's house from our Christmas Day meal. He took off the remaining meat from the turkey but couldn't be bothered to make stock with it. His loss is my gain.

I began my day with one of the 10 minute decluttering jobs from this week's  list. I cleaned out one kitchen drawer. I emptied it, vacuumed and washed out the inside and only put back those items that I am keeping. I have a pile to donate. I also took the time to go on-line to watch a You Tube video showing how to sharpen knives using the knife and tool sharpener that I gave my husband years ago.  Then I proceeded to use it myself on all the knives before they went back into the kitchen drawer. I also made a note that I am needing to find another storage compartment for that drawer.  I could buy it at the Dollar Store, but I will wait a bit to see if something else in my house surfaces that will do the job.

I brought all my succulents downstairs to set in front of my living room window where they belong, and I watered them well. I took them upstairs before Christmas to make room for my tree and other decorations. I embroidered my mother's name on the wing of the owl that I bought for her birthday. I placed the owl in tissue paper and used a box saved from Christmas deliveries and then I wrapped it up in birthday wrapping paper from my stash. I wrapped it again in brown paper, addressed it and took it over to the Post Office to mail off this afternoon before leaving town for Kingston. Postage and insurance cost me $16.85 Ouch!  Regular postal delivery with no insurance was only 50 cents less, so I opted to be that big time spender. I paid less than $9 for the gift.

I went to Bulk Barn first to buy almond flour, yellow split peas and beef bouillon powder for a total of $21.70  I will have to make a note in my journal to see how many loaves of Keto bread this will make me. I made some beautiful broth before Christmas using a ham bone, so I am going to make a split pea soup with it next week. I am not supposed to eat legumes, lentils or pulses on my new diet; however, when I complained to my doctor about deprivation (ha,ha) she allowed me to partake maybe once a month. Split pea soup with ham will be my indulgence.

I stopped at No-Frills to buy another bag of frozen blueberries and 2 containers of plain yoghurt and paid $14.35  I stopped at Guardian Drugs to pick up the prescription I had phoned in. No oop. And I stopped at the bank to take out $50 for gas, which is my budgeted amount for the month and which I also wanted to keep at home, along with my grocery money, in my cash envelope. I have $45 remaining in my grocery cash for the month of January. Will I make it? Stayed tuned.

Dinner This Week:
veggies with alfredo sauce and fried  peameal bacon
 roast veggies and chicken breast
chicken stir fry
Chili con carne with cheese (but not the beans)
porkchops with cauliflower and broccoli poached in heavy cream and grated cheddar
veggies with alfredo sauce and roasted chicken thighs
and tonight will be the same as last night