Just more snow .... and food .... and TV

 Yep! That's my week in review in a nutshell. It snowed every day, and last week, the temperatures were bloody cold, so I usually only got out for a short walk. There was lots of TV viewing: this month's favorite is a British/French program called The Tunnel: there are 3 seasons on CBC Gem (Canada); and the series is really, really good. (I believe The Bridge is an American/Mexican adaptation of the same, at least for Season 1.)

My 19 month old grandson loves to go outdoors in the snow. But he had croup last week, so had to stay indoors. I sat with him one afternoon; he'd take me to the front door, touch it, then touch the sleeve of my hanging coat and say "Goat? Goat?" Then he'd touch the door again! I felt like such a bad grandma having to say no. But I found that his nummy and dinosaur rubber boots helped him settle.  Usually I can divert his attention with food, and that day, he was happy to practice putting his puffs into his bottle, shaking them out, and starting again. (The dogs were happy to help with clean up.) I'm glad he's feeling much better this week.

Now that I'm retired, my income is limited to once a month. I don't bring in much, just my Gov't CPP and OAP. My new rent (including heat) is based on income, thank the gods! But once phone, internet and insurance is taken out, it doesn't allow me much for groceries. I began retirement with the larder and freezer full. But as each month passes, the reserves get lower and lower. Thankfully I've always been a frugal food shopper and can make things stretch. But these days, I must be very clever with using what I have on hand to make tasty meals and treats. 

This week's cooking includes mini meatballs for spaghetti night,  Lentil 'n' Beef Sheppard's Pie and, as usual, a pot of vegetable/lentil soup. Soup is so comforting!  I had picked up a discounted steak that I had for dinner last night: I tenderized it a little, sprinkled with Montreal Steak Spice, let sit for 30 min, then fried with oodles of onions. It was sooo good! The leftover steak was chopped and used in todays Ramen; equally delicious!

For my sweet tooth, I used the rest of the Xmas frozen puff pastry and a half dozen apples that were beginning to spot. I made my version of TikTok's apple custard pie; I didn't have cream, so I used whole milk; and the only difference that made was that my custard wasn't set like a traditional custard. But the taste was wonderful!

Today, I made what was supposed to be a healthy rice crispie treat with Medjule dates, peanut butter and rice crispies. Buttttt .... hating to throw out food, I tossed a couple of months-old healthy nut and raisin bars into the processor with the dates. Added crunch, I thought! I was right on that part, but they're more crumbly than should be. Thank goodness I topped these with some melted dark chocolate! Although it doesn't help that much with keeping the squares together, at least you can take any lonely chocolate tops and smush them into the fallen crumbles. Yummy!

If you have any good frugal recipes or if you know of any other bloggers who have good tips, please feel free to share with me. I do love to cook and eat!

Namaste y'all!