Today was a real Tackle It Tuesday project. I made chicken stock. Let me explain. I buy my chicken breasts with the skin on and bone in for a discounted price. I toss the skin and keep the bones for making soup stock. I've had bones piling up in my freezer for a long time now. So today I cracked out the large soup pot and made 10 litres of chicken soup stock.

My stock doesn't really follow much of a recipe. I kind of clean out my fridge and freezer for it. A friend doesn't like celery leaves, so she gives them to me. I freeze them for making stock later. I threw in about 3-4 cups of them.

The book "Why French Women Don't Get Fat" encourages making leek soup to jumpstart weight loss. And suggests saving the green leafy parts for soup stock later. So I had the tops to four leeks in the freezer that I tossed in the stock too.

And then I added a couple carrots (all I had). And some spices - 3 bay leaves, 3.5 tsp. parsley, 3 tsp. basil...and 18 cups water.

I used 3 lbs. of chicken bones with some meat still on them. I'm not too fussy about cutting all the breast off the bone. I like some real chicken in my soup stock.

That was about it. I brought it to a boil and simmered it for 2 hours. Then left it to sit on the stove to cool while I took off for the afternoon.

The net result is a very yummy stock. That 10 litres will probably take us well into the new year.

Edited to Add: I also threw in some whole black peppercorns. No salt. I don't put salt in the stocks I make...the soup yes...the stock no.

I finally finished applying the stencil. I sanded down the drips on the front and repainted them. Paul wants it to dry a full 24 hours before putting the knobs on the drawers and bringing it inside. Fair enough. The longer it dries the better. I'm hoping to use it to store linens. And the linen drawer beneath the china cabinet can be used to store some other fancy dishes, etc. I think I'll look for drawer liner to line the drawers first...

My other tackle thing today had to do with swimming. Yesterday I wrote how challenging I found it last week. Today I really was wondering if I'd make it through all the lessons. But tonight I decided to do something different...partly because I forgot to take my asthma medication. Sigh. Anyway, I figured there are plenty of ways to swim without putting my head in water...I just need to re-learn some and learn new ways.

So I spent the lesson tonight quizzing up the instructor about back crawl, side stroke and breaststroke. Before long everyone was doing a variety of strokes in the pool. I like to think I was a good influence! We all had an enjoyable time and learned lots. And I wasn't waterlogged or exhausted beyond belief when I came out of the pool! And I didn't get bored in the pool either...another victory! I bore easily.

So today was the day.  I had Paul help me haul the dresser we just bought from Lisa and Carl to the patio and I started stripping the old paint off.  I start with a heat gun to get most of it off.  It took 2 1/2 hours!  And I was disappointed in the end.  It's a plywood dresser...cheap fir plywood.  Oh well.  I will finish stripping, sand, fill holes, repaint and buy new drawer pulls. 

Still, I can't complain.  It only cost us $15 plus the supplies to refinish it...about $50 by the time we're done.  Paul and I are discussing if it is even worth it at this point, but I think it is.  We need a dresser for the guest bedroom.  And Paul feels Meghan's should be taken to her this fall.  After all, we gave Lisa her dresser from when she grew up!  He's right.  So we need a dresser.  So this one will be it.  Hmm...maybe I can gussy it up a bit by doing some tole painting on it.

I played around with my paper templates and graph paper and came up with  floor plan for my upstairs studio.  Only one problem.  It requires the use of the dining room table.  So we will need a new table.  This is no hardship.  Our current table is small (27" x 48") and almost 30 years old.  It needs to be refinished too.  Time to move it someplace else.  Paul and I have been scouting on-line for a nice wood table that will seat 6-8 if the leaves are included, but 4 if not.  And it has to have four legs.  None of this pedestal stuff.  Those tables just don't hold up.

I packaged up a bunch of the books from the main floor bookcases for the used book dealer in town.  We'll take them over when we have time.  We also turned up more boxes for packing up books and Meaghan's stuff.

This is the day for tackling things.  I went at the basement with a vengence.  I want to get everything that has to leave the basement on one side by the foot of the stairs.  That way we can take a bit up at a time until it's all done.  Also, when Carl comes to help, it'll be easy to see what to take upstairs.  I switched the art and sewing sections of the studio.  The art section is staying in the basement.  The sewing section is going upstairs.  I've been pretty pleased with how this is working out so far.  I think it's going to work!  I also have a pile of things to sell on-line...if I could only find my digital camera...

Today's tackle is actually a housework kind of chore...the bookcase/filing drawer unit the broken stereo is sitting on. I need to finish going through the filing drawers to totally empty it out. Means I have to sort through homeschool stuff and a large house file.

The goal is to totally empty the unit except for the stereo system. We have a partially working receiver (27 years old), with a working record player (27 years old) and speakers from a newer system that don't seem to pick up sound from the receiver/turntable. At least, not a loud sound. It comes through very quiet when we have the volume up very high. So we are thinking that equipment in the last five years just doesn't like 'talking to' equipment over 25 years old. Time to replace the whole system, but not today. Today we simply clean off the unit. It's one too many things in our living room!

Update: 

The stereo unit is cleaned out.  I was able to toss the entirety of one file, half of another, and I had to refile another for future reference.

As a bonus to my Tackle-It-Tuesday, Meghan phoned and wanted some stuff mailed to her.  I took the opportunity to walk her through what clothing was left in her closet and dresser.  I ended up with a huge garbage bag for the goodwill of clothes that no longer fit her or were no longer suitable.  I walked her through some of the other things in her closet as well.  Another large bag for the trash.  A few things surfaced for re-purposing as well.

I also got caught up with the birthday card ministry.  I've fallen behind on that lately. 

All in all I managed to get a lot done today.

Time to get back on track! Paul is back to work. I need to draw up a summary of everything we discussed and decided this weekend so it doesn't get lost. Then I need to move from our couple goals to doing a refinement of my own personal goals. They are changing rapidly as the month progresses.

I was going to go vegetarian, but I saw a naturopath who advised against it yesterday. Paul and I have still decided to go organic as much as possible. I am now on a low carb diet, so that is going to throw a monkey wrench into things. I will have to make room for more protein in my diet, and we can't afford organic meat.

We're debating making a car trip east to deliver Meghan's stuff to her. We'll see what happens the next few months with she and her fiance now...hmm...guess I officially have to give him a name on my blog. How about Bob? Yes, Meghan and Bob are engaged. Right now they are 1500 miles apart and hating every minute of it! LOL Oh dear. Kids.

We also have some yard work that needs to be done this year...new fence for sure. We did a rough estimate on that and are looking at $4000 for both sides of the yard. Sigh... And that's if we can find someone who will do it for a reasonable price.

We also decided we needed to emphasize our health. Hence the naturopath, and a couple of gym passes for the winter. We need to get up there at least once or twice a week. Just to walk if nothing else. There is so much cold and snow here it is difficult to walk outside.

Other than that, Paul wants to treat Lisa to an event sometime this spring. So we're setting aside money for that.

All of this means we will not be redoing the decor in the house. There simply is not the money for it. Paul and I agree the girls are far more important to spend money on. So much so that he wants to move closer to Meghan when he retires...even to the point of giving up his beloved goal of owning a Toyota Prius. I'm impressed!

I had signed up for several challenges on Frugal Village earlier this month, but now I am going to have to revise my plans and drop some of them. They are simply at cross-purposes with more important priorities in our lives at the moment.

So today is my tackle it day for goals. Pray for me!

I discussed Mom's terminal tax situation with some friends yesterday.  They strongly recommended I get in touch with CCRA (Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency - our income tax department) and talk to them.  The executor is moving slowly, claiming he hasn't got Mom's OAS (Old Age Security) form yet.  I was told by my friends those were sent by the end of February. 

So this morning I phoned CCRA, OAS, my accountant and the executor.  Grrr...!  Executors!  And I thought we had a good one...sigh...

So that was my tackle for today.  I am so thankful for the support and suggestions from my friends yesterday.  It made all the difference to have their advice on what to do.

Update:  I talked to the executor and found out he is not well.  He is not ready to hand over the work to me yet, but was comfortable about the work I had done for him and the accountant to help them along.  I came to an arrangement with CCRA about how to handle the taxes, so that will be dealt with immediately.  That will be a relief!

Today's tackle is the grocery budget, menu planning and grocery shopping.  I have a plan.  I have a list.  Now to go forth into the grocery store!  Today is payday for Paul, so I'm flush and looking for bargains of any sort.  Probably won't find them this week...maybe next.  It's become more and more important in these times of rising food prices, to find good quality, affordable food.  I am resigned to the higher prices, but have adapted my way of shopping.

Today I am going to try cruising the produce aisle to see what's on sale.  I did this last week with great success.  I bought reasonable cheap fruits and vegetables.  There wasn't much organic available, so this made my grocery bill a bit cheaper. 

I have a few crackers I'd like to buy to snack on.  I find I can't eat a lot of them because I am allergic.  But there are some. 

I will be buying chickpeas in the big gallon can and making my own hummus for the crackers and a veggie dip.  That, with fruit and veggie sticks, will be my snacks for the week.

I'll make muffins too, for Paul to take to work.

I also think I'll put off purchasing some things from the health food store until it's 15% off day the beginning of next month.  I will have to buy flour though.  We simply need more so I can bake bread, and even at the horrendous prices it's at, it's still cheaper to buy the flour and bake the bread myself, than to buy a loaf of healthy bread.

One thing I am noticing in the stores...if I buy locally, it's getting cheaper.  This is especially true in the health food stores.  I'm going to keep an eye on this.  I think it will be worth our while to go pick our own food at the U-Picks this summer.

Update:
In the interests of showing you how I shop, I thought I'd run through my list and what I do with everything.  Today's groceries came to $151.35 at Superstore, and $3.65 for eggs at the health food store.

Cocoa - I buy No Name (generic) for $4.48 for 500 g (1 lb.) of it.  I always compare the price with the bulk bin cocoa.  This time the prepackaged stuff was all cheaper than the bulk bins.  this amount will easily last us 6 months.

Haddock fillets - the recipe actually calls for halibut, but it's twice as expensive.  I buy the haddock 2 packages at a time for a $2 discount.  It was $9.96 for both packages.  Each package will serve us one meal with leftovers.  Fish is expensive here.

Baking Powder - I buy No Name (generic) for $2.18 for 450 g.  Someone suggested I try double acting baking powder, but I haven't been able to find it locally.  Guess I'll have to try some different stores.  This is expensive for baking powder from my perspective.  I like to wait until it goes on sale in summer and buy just enough for the year (usually 2-4 containers).  Baking powder tends to lose it's 'umph' after a year.

Crackers - I bought two packages of crackers so I had some snack food I could eat in the house.  It's very tough to find food that fits my dietary requirements.  I picked up Finn-crisp and Rice Thins.  Both products are soy and corn free.

Ground Beef- We're having Mexican Skillet and Tacos this week.  Both require browned ground beef.  I did my usual trick.  I bought the regular ground beef, simmered it in a bit of water, drained the meat (saving the stock for soup), and measured it into bags for the freezer.  It was $7.68 for the equivalent of 4 lbs. of extra lean ground beef...plus there will be 4 cups of beef stock.  So...that's $1.92/lb.  It will last 2-3 weeks.

Jam - I decided to spring for the deal whereby if I buy 3 jars of All Fruit jam I get a discount.  So three jars cost me $9.57.  That's enough jam for 2 - 3 months.  Paul also wanted a jam...his own special jam.  He picked out a blackberry jam for $2.99.

Salmon - I picked up wild Pacific salmon fillets for $4.89 for one meal's worth for four.  Salmon is tricky to purchase.  Seems I always have to be checking fresh against canned against frozen to see which is cheapest.  Come the right time of year, I'll pick fresh again.

Chicken Breasts - I again picked the skin on, bone in.  I have enough for 2 1/2 meals, plus bones for stock.  The last batch of bones went to making stock for chicken noodle soup.  I want to cook up this batch of bones just to have chicken broth to throw in various recipes.  I've run out of chicken bouillon.  No need to replace it if I don't have to!  I'll be freezing the broth and the chicken breasts, cut in half - they were huge.

Currants - periodically I make scones.  And I have a vegetarian entree that calls for currants.  A quick check of bulk versus prepackaged showed the prepackaged to be cheaper at $3.68/ 375 g.

Coriander - I bought fresh and ground dried...the fresh is for a recipe.  It was 68 cents.  The ground was on sale for $1 for 200 g.  I always check the sale racks.

Apples - These are a mainstay in our diet.  We prefer to buy organic, but almost didn't today.  There were organic apples on the sale racks, but they were in bad shape.  As Paul eats most of the apples in the house, I let him choose what to buy.  If it was me, I probably would have bought the ones on the sale table and just had baked apples for dessert tonight to use up the bad ones...or maybe just have them for snack.  But he found a good deal of 3 lb. organic apples for $2.99.  These will last two weeks.

Bananas - I don't really like them.  I keep trying to convince myself I do, but I don't.  These are for Paul.  1.2 kg. for $1.72 (or $1.46/kg.).  I think that's expensive, but then bananas rarely change in price.

Milk and milk substitutes - This is where our grocery bill takes a hit.  We buy a gallon of milk a week for Meghan, her boyfriend and Paul, and two litres a week of Rice Dream for me and any cooking or baking we do that calls for milk.  It adds up to $10 a week.

Peanut Butter - President's Choice Just Peanuts $3.49 for 1 kg.  We're thinking we might try making our own.  I just keep forgetting... I need to price out the peanuts at the store.  This will last a month.

Lettuce - I always check the various lettuces to see which is cheapest.  It really doesn't matter to me whether I use leaf or Romaine lettuce.  Today Romaine was 97 cents a head, so I bought it.

Yogurt - I don't eat it anymore, but Paul does.  I let him pick out his favourite...a Neilsen blueberry yogurt. 

Oranges - Ever since I found out Paul was juicing all of the orange, I've been buying organic oranges.  Today they were $3.99 for 3 lbs.  These will last 2 weeks.

Sour Cream - I buy fat free for health reasons only.  I don't use it, but Meghan and Paul like it on their tacos.  It was $1.98 for 2 cups today.

Almonds - I have a recipe that calls for a cup of whole almonds.  Today we checked the blanched almonds in the bulk bins against the ones with their skins still on in bags.  The bagged ones were cheaper.  With the skins on, they are also healthier.  When good health costs less than less nutritious food, I buy the good health item and use it.  This was a huge 2 kg. bag.  It will last us months.  It was $9.98.  I store nuts in my freezer to keep them fresh longer.

Flour - Flour has gone up in price...period.  I bought organic.  If you have to pay that much for flour, you may as well get the good stuff.  It worked out to just under $1/lb. at Superstore...much cheaper than the $1.75/lb. at the health food store.  I am growing concerned about the price of flour, I must admit.  I am thinking I may just forget the organics of it and buy a couple of huge bags for the freezer.  That would last us several months.  But for today I just wanted to get enough flour to bake up a batch of bread that will last us 3 or 4 weeks.

Corn - I can't have it, but Paul likes it.  We decided to buy in bulk in a 2 kg. bag and then split it into smaller bags to freeze.  The big bags often get holes in them before we get to the corn!  The 2 kg. bag was cheaper than buying 2 smaller 1 kg. bags.  It was $3.98.

Strawberries - They were on the clearance racks.  I like to go shopping first thing in the morning.  The stock boys are cleaning out the produce and putting it on clearance racks.  We hit it just right today.  Those strawberries weren't on the racks when we went into the store, but they were there before we left.  It worked out to $1 per pound.  I picked up 8 pounds.  We're out and I need to put enough in the freezer to last till June, when we can pick some up at the U-picks. 

Dried Apricots - Paul loves these in hot cereal in the morning. I use them in various recipes as well.  We checked bulk bin versus prepackaged here too, and found the prepackaged cheaper.  One kg. for $4.58.  This bag will last a month.

Chickpeas - I make my own hummus.  That way I can make it fat free and salt and sugar free.  The main ingredient is chickpeas.  I buy a big can for $4.59 and get enough for 4 batches of hummus.  It actually works out to 12 cups of chickpeas.  This will last 2-3 months, at least.  Depends how often I make hummus.

Green Peppers - They were on the clearance rack for $1/lb.  Normally in summer they go cheaper than that, but we're out and I need some to get us through.  These will probably last a month or two.  I brought them home, washed them, cored them and chopped them.  I stored them in the freezer in one pepper amounts to toss in recipes.  They were $3.92.

Tomatoes - They too were on the clearance rack for $1.13/kg.  A really good price.  Most tomatoes here are running about $2.60/kg.  I kept one out that I needed to use fresh.  Then washed and weighed the others in one pound amounts to freeze in bags.  I'll use them in recipes calling for canned tomatoes.  There were over 4 pounds of tomatoes.  That's enough for the next 2 weeks at least.

Mangoes - They were also on the clearance rack - 4 for 48 cents.  Paul wanted them for smoothies, so I bought them.  I'm running low at home, now that I'm using them in muffins too.

Canned Peaches - Normally we do not buy this kind of food, but it was on sale and Paul thought he might use them for lunches.  They were those little individual serving packs.  They were dented, and cost 20 cents each.  We bought five.

Capers - for a fish recipe I make.  We bought the No Name kind.  I expect these to last two months.

Ziploc Sandwich Bags - There was an institutional package on sale 150 for $2.  I whisked those up quick for freezing things.  Some people claim they don't freeze things well, but considering I often freeze in those thin produce bags, they are an improvement!

Eggs - We picked up our free range eggs on the way home for $3.65 a dozen.   We use a dozen a week.

So that's it...a day at the grocery store with Jean and Paul.