-
I wanted black bean burgers for dinner, but didn’t have buns or interest in making them from scratch. Instead I mixed up a batch of black bean burgers and and spread them on corn tortillas. I then grilled them over thinly sliced onion in an oiled cast iron pan and served them with cheddar, sliced peperoncinis, ketchup, mustard and lettuce. I would’ve added tomatoes and pickles, but I didn’t have any on hand.
I’ve seen people making these “smash burgers” tacos with hamburger meat, but I thought I’d play around with the recipe. People, they were delicious and a huge hit at my house! Super cheap, (I cooked the beans in my Instant Pot) healthy and yummy. Definitely getting added to the rotation!
-
My husband and I went out of town to celebrate our 31st anniversary and used points to pay for the hotel room. We chose to eat at home before leaving and to grab $1.50 Costco hotdogs for lunch. Dinner was taco cart burritos as we’re being very careful with money right now. It’s okay to be cheap.
-
I picked blackberries at my secret spot in Portland and had enough for seven jars of jam and plus extra for the freezer.
There were tons (and tons) of wild blackberries growing next to our hotel, so I filled a gallon-size ziploc bag and brought them them home for another batch of jam. Have I mentioned that I love free food?
-
• My step mother gave me a bag of fresh figs from her tree.
• I picked up another ponytail holder, which I’ll throw into the dishwasher to sanitize.
• I finally used up the 10¢ boxes of pectin that I bought on clearance at Fred Meyer a few years ago.
• Still rocking the dorky orange sunglasses that I pulled from a neighborhood free box last year. -
I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
* Referral link.
{ 83 comments… read them below or add one }
Yummy food! Gonna try some of your ideas.
Also happy anniversary!!!!
Ok, I’m having a hard time picturing this. The onions are in the pan, and then you put the corn tortillas on top, with the black bean burner mixture on top of the corn tortillas?
Or am I misreading this?
I NEED A PICTURE. 😉
Thank you for this question! I, too, need a picture!
I think I’m going to have to make them again, but with photos of the steps!
I grouped thinly sliced onions in a tortilla shape over a bit of oil and then pressed down a corn tortilla that’s already spread with black bean mix. (Black beans, bread crumbs, egg, herbs and spices.) I flipped it over when it seemed cooked enough and added cheddar slices. I then topped it with normal burger toppings for a “burger” flavor.
Does this help?
I’m assuming bean side down onto the onions, yes? I don’t know why I’m flummoxed by this.
I’m also struggling to visualize this, and would love pics, because it sounds delicious & I’m always looking for new recipes to put into the rotation!
Yes. I sautéed the onions in a single-ish layer and then pressed a tortilla onto the griddle that already had the black ben burger spread onto it. Flip over once it’s crispy and top with cheese until it melts. Top with whatever you like and that’s it!
OMG. What a freakin’ amazing idea. Katy, you are a genius. Long time, vegetarian lurker here, always looking for new frugal and easy dinner ideas.
Happy Anniversary to you and Mr. NCA!
1. My very generous neighbor gave us a plastic bag of tomatoes from her garden.
2. Since the temperature dropped a few days ago, I’ve been in baking mode. I made an angel food cake which I gave to DD and her family, made a batch of peanut butter cookies with my grandson which were sent home with him, made a blueberry crisp with on sale blueberries and lastly a batch of brownies with chopped walnuts. The last two endeavors we kept. As I mentioned awhile back, I’m not bringing sweets into the house due to budgeting and dieting. If I want sweets I have to make them.
3. Finished reading The Jump-off Creek library book. Excellent read. Molly Gloss is one of those authors who can truly put the reader into the time and place she is describing.
4. Still reading my own copy of The Tightwad Gazette, given to me as a gift by my thoughtful DS who remembers me reading the newsletters when he was a kid in the 90s.
5. I’m volunteering at my church’s thrift shop tomorrow. I’m bringing donations of everything that didn’t sell at my yard sale but isn’t nice enough to consign.
1. Made plum jam with plums that had ripened while I was away and I had my husband throw in the freezer whole. I defrosted them, and then proceeded as usual. I have 3 more batches that need to be made. I boiled the pits (with some plum still on them) with some sugar and made a plum puree which is delicious on pancakes or oatmeal. So nothing was wasted.
2. My husband received a dozen eggs from a friend who keeps chickens. We gave him a jar of plum jam!
3. Sold an item on FB marketplace and on Etsy yesterday. I’m aiming to list one item a day and so far I have kept that up.
4. Returned rotten apples to Costco, and bought the exact 4 things that were on my list.
5. Not frugal, but just happy-I’ve always facetimed with my son and grandson and since my extended stay with them this summer my grandson (only 3) is now very chatty on facetime. He loves to be read to, and especially on his favorite topic, the alphabet. My son and daughter-in-law have their hands full with a him and a higher-needs premie and they have taken to facetiming me when they need a half an hour to get something done (with my consent of course!). I read library books to my grandson, which he and I love, and they get a half hour to rest, exercise, eat or whatever. I am thrilled that I can be helping them even from a distance.
How lovely for your last point!
Can or do you record yourself reading to him, or your sessions together? I don’t know if facetime has that capability. He might enjoy watching/listening alone, or like having a recording to look at when he is an adult.
Your #5…What a sweet thing to do! Not only are you and your grandson making memories, but it must also be a God send for your son and daughter in law to get done what needs doing or have a little bit of time for themselves. Time is precious when you have a newborn and I would think especially a premie.
What a fantastic idea!So many families are far flung, and this is a way of building a really strong ongoing presence in his heart and mind! Love it!
Kara,
Ahhh, your #5 is so sweet! I bet you are your darling little grandson’s favorite person. Isn’t it wonderful that technology lets you “visit” with him from far away?
BTW, how is the baby doing? And your daughter-in-law? I know you were so worried about them for such a long time. I hope the little one is thriving now that she’s home — and that her mother is doing well, too.
Thank you for asking. After one month of complete bedrest in the hospital and some days quite critical, daughter-in-law is regaining strength. It will take a bit. Baby is doing well. Premies are extra work, that’s for sure.
It’s so depleting to have been on bedrest. I remember this from my years as a labor and delivery nurse.
I did smash burgers in tortillas before, I liked it but recommend heavily degreasing before adding the tortilla shells if you cook with the tortilla in the pan as some recipes recommend.
This week…
1. I put together a grocery store deal/sale/coupon shopping trip. I spend $44 dollars on four bags of groceries and spent about as much. Oh the grocery store…
2. I bought a BBQ pork roast from the Honey Baked Ham store using $9 in rewards. It was amazing. My son cooked it last night and it was the perfect compromise to semi-homemade that let’s us eat at home and not do everything from scratch.
3. I was able to get a 0% interest offer with a major credit card offer and will be doing a transfer to continue avoid paying interest….long story, but I am trying to manage it all.
4. I picked up a weeding job from a neighbor. She offered me $250 which I thought was very generous, then I saw the yard hadn’t been touched since I weeded it three or four months ago. I have been there several times now including at night with two camping lanterns. It’s been very hot and dry this week so night time gardening seems to be easier on me and work with my day job schedule. I have exorcised two and a half cans of weeds by hand so far. I am off this weekend and will work mornings and nights to try and finish. Still better money than DoorDash as there’s less travel time with miles and gas and it’s straight cash.
5. This Sunday a local barber shop is offering free hair cuts for students. We will be there!
While I won’t touch ham, we used to have a Honey Baked Ham establishment in the large city near me. We’d periodically frequent it (carry out of course). I didn’t know it was still in existence.
After a conversation with the better half, we had Heavenly Ham in our area, not Honey Baked Ham. No difference to me but the rest of the family enjoyed Heavenly Ham.
I thought the sunglasses looked good! Nice bright colors and a frame that works with your face shape. And free!
I noticed your lovely skin in the picture. It is pink and without many wrinkles. I just had quite a few actinic keratosis type spots as well as brown lesions frozen at the dr office. Living in Texas and Florida takes its’ toll. Lots of sunscreen and long sleeves are in my future. “Out damned spot!”
Berries for the win! Not frugal: I needed to replace the 2 humongous batteries out of my Diesel farm truck. I’m short, need to use a ladder, still don’t have perfect leverage to get the batteries out, so I bartered w/favorite cousin and paid him in blueberries (3 gallons) and blackberries (so far 2 gallons). I am also making gravenstein apple cider vinegar. We saved $250 purchasing the batts at Costco and installing ourselves over the 3 bids I got for having it done.
I picked up free compost from a landscaping job in town and have spread it around all of my hydrangeas and roses. The long hot days of summer are great for tomatoes and cucumbers, but hard on landscaping plants.
1. Made pickled radishes and froze a bunch of whole tomatoes that were leftover from the food bank. Brought home really bad veg for the chickens, and freezer burned meat for the dogs. The dogs are currently working their way through a costco size bag of hamburger, that was defrosted and frozen together again. I boiled it up, and they get a little with each meal.
2. School is starting, so summer is over here. And as we have gained weight this summer, we’re combating that with more walking and less alcohol. Both are frugal.
3. Tonight, we’re having dinner with my in-laws, but there’s a gap between when school’s out and when we’re having dinner. So we’re going to a different library, just to be exciting.
4. We’re babysitting my niece’s twin babies tomorrow, so both she and her husband can work (and not have to pay for sitters, and even have the occasional day off together). We’ll go to the park, and maybe even splurge on a $2 bag of duck food. It will be fun, and something different for all of us.
5. The usual: hanging laundry, trying to use up the leftovers around the house, eating down the fridge to avoid food waste, etc, etc.
First, those are not dorky glasses—orange is my favorite color and I would love to have trash picked those!
Second, happy anniversary and I hope you have many more.
Third, I am never going to wish for rhubarb again. Nobody wanted the rhubarb at the food bank and with the weekend coming, they feared it would go bad. My supervisor dropped it all off on the way home (one of those tall kitchen garbage can bags full), so I could start processing it. THEN my neighbor came over, loaded with rhubarb. Her garden is pretty minimal and I think she feels a little awkward that we give her a lot of produce, no matter how often I say it is excess and I really can’t freeze/can/dehydrate all of it so please take it. So, I gladly accepted her armload of rhubarb. We spent all last evening chopping rhubarb and right now I have my slow cooker and a borrowed one making rhubarb/apple sauce. Later I am going to make rhubarb pancake syrup (to die for), and rhubarb chutney. I am also going to try a recipe for rhubarb twizzlers, just for fun. Now I am going to wish for basil, since Clobber Paws ate mine to the nub last week, and hope I get a windfall of basil. I am, however, most thankful for all the rhubarb as we can make very good use of it.
4. Bachelor guy who only eats rotisserie chicken breasts and freezes the rest of the carcass for us, dropped off four of them. I stuck them in the freezer, as all my efforts are on making the best use of produce we are growing or rhubarb.
5. It is raining like crazy so free watering of my carrots, onions and dahlias. It also gives me a day to stay indoors and work on food preservation. I love August: garden produce and the days are finally getting shorter.
6. Gladly accepted fall issue of Bake From Scratch and also Taste of Home from a friend. You can practically small the cinnamon coming off their recipes. I love fall cooking magazines…to be followed by December cooking magazines.
Lindsey, i admire your work on food preservation. I’m inspired!
I too look forward to fall and holiday cooking magazines
I love rhubarb and always aspire to do something with mine, but this year there is so much else going on!! I usually just stew it and #2 son adores it on his morning oatmeal (who knew).
However, I am very curious @Lindsey about your pancake syrup recipe.
I remember my Great Aunt making a rhubarb juice by boiling up the rhubarb in water, straining it, adding sugar (and I have no idea of quantities here) then canning it. We added it to ginger ale and it was SO delicious I can remember the flavour more than 50 years later. Wait, what? how old am I? Oh, well, then, yes… it was over 50 years ago. Sheesh
When I started my daughter on solid food, I would stew rhubarb (with NO added sugar) and mix it with unsweetened greek yogurt, and she loved it. People were shocked she would eat it unsweetened, but she hadn’t developed a sweet tooth yet. I have made a rhubarb and banana crumble (very good), and my cousin made rhubarb compote with ginger, which was delicious. I love rhubarb and am finally growing my own now that I have a veggie garden. Can’t wait until next spring to harvest.
My father’s joke:
Do you think the rain will hurt the rhubarb? Not if it’s in cans! yuck yuck. He loved rhubarb pies too.
Hi Katy,
How do you make jam from small amounts of fruit, say about a quart of blueberries, raspberries or strawberries? What are the ingredient portions as well as cooking directions? I would like to start trying to make a small amount, from scratch, now and then (would keep it in the fridge). The prices of store-bought jams (other than grape) are so expensive nowadays, even at the discount stores. I am sure I can save a good deal by making it myself. Thank you.
One place to look for ideas on small batch canning, especially including jams is foodinjars.com. She also has several canning books out but you will find plenty on her blog.
Thanks Lindsey!
I just looked up a recipe online and it took five cups of berries to make the jam. Seven cups of sugar, (and pectin) but that’s just how it goes.
Thank you!
@Jennie you also can freeze what you have until you have picked enough!
Happy Anniversary!!
1. I sanded and re-painted an open shelf on a bathroom cabinet that got damaged by a leaky can of OFF bug spray.
2. I mended a pair of my daughter’s shorts that got caught on the deck and ripped.
3. I re-used an empty softener salt bag for garbage.
4. I’m reading a new library book on my Kindle.
5. I’m doing laundry and hanging it up to dry.
Thank you — and you have the perfect “five,” as they’re all just everyday acts that add up!
Very heavy on the same-old, same-old here.
Except for one trick I figured out and am quite proud of, (the kind of thing other people usually already know). Our new-to-us vehicle, five years old, has a back-up camera, which I didn’t think I would like. I actually love it and put it second on my list of most-important-luxurious-car-features, after AC and just before rear defrost.
The trick is for when I am parking between the lines at the grocery store and think I might be too close to one side or the other. If I switch to reverse, (without actually moving), the camera shows the white lines, so I can see if I need to back out and try again.
My most important vehicle feature is heated seats! Sometimes I wish I had an errand to run so I could sit in my hot seat.
Heidi Louise,
I did NOT know you could do that with a backup camera, despite having my new(-to-me) car for over a year now, so thank you for sharing!
I completely agree with you on your high rating given to the back-up camera. I don’t think of it as a luxury feature really, more of a safety feature. Great invention.
My Prius had a backup camera, but we gave it to our son and I miss that feature so much!
1. Still ate some chia pudding that was runnier than I wanted. It’s been a new staple food for me so I was adamant not to waste it. It was…fine but at least I didn’t throw it out.
2. Making some very tired looking blueberries into compote once I realized I also have half a lemon in the fridge to use up. We are in desperate need of a trip to the grocery store so these are becoming mini challenges to try and not waste the produce left before I finally grab my bags and head to the store.
3. Calling friends in other countries on Whatsapp for free, which I would not have considered frugal except I made the mistake of actually calling them with my phone plan a few months ago and had to pay a $106 bill for a 90 minute phone call. After that, every time we talk and I DON’T owe verizon an arm and a leg feels like savings!!
4. A friend found a beautiful ukelele in a free box outside her apartment building and nabbed it for me. Looking forward to some good old fashioned youtube tutorials and learning how to play!
5. Taking the train or riding my bike just about everywhere I need to go instead of driving or taking ubers. It’s astonishing how small trips add up.
I love a good “how long can I put off grocery shopping” challenge!
The route to the optical shop, which had my new glasses ready today, takes me past Aldi and the big Goodwill. I stopped at both: Goodwill was badly picked over but I did find a lovely rust-orange shirt that will be great for autumn. Did a strategic grocery shop at Aldi, where the gluten-free stuff and nuts are incredibly less expensive. The route home took me past the Walmart Market, where regular gasoline was an astonishing $2.77 per gallon, so my car got filled up. My cheap-out shopping trip ended at our local grocery store with ice cream, Popsicles and cat food on sale, saving me several dollars.
Yesterday I cooked a very meaty/veggie sauce for spaghetti using peppers and tomatoes from the garden and some frozen marked down ground Italian sausage from a previous Aldi trip, ate the most cucumber from the garden as a snack, and spent a relatively cool and breezy couple of hours cleaning up the garden and re-staking the tomatoes to keep the vines off the ground. Re-used garden twine from earlier in the planting season.
Gotta batch those errands!
Happy Anniversary.
1. Used leftover rice and black beans as a side with our salmon
2. Downloaded Whataburger app. Enjoyed free shake yesterday and will get a free burger over the weekend
3. My sister has been dejunking and gifted me a great set including earrings, necklace and bracelet
4. Sent out two birthday cards from my stash
5. Waiting until we get our $10 each United Healthcare rewards tomorrow so I can use them at Walmart (need trash bags and a couple of other items)
I love everything in your “five,” as no one thing is a huge WOW, but it adds up so perfectly.
1. I took advantage of cooler days to bake two double batches of GF muffins. They went in the freezer for future breakfasts.
2. I bought marked down organic chicken strips and stir fried them then added a bag of Korean BBQ sauce. I ate them on a salad and plain and DH ate them on a potato.
3. I walked with a friend despite the forecast of rain. We had a chance to catch up and she gifted me a cucumber and several tomatoes.
4. I have a weekly get together with two friends. Yesterday we sat outside in a covered area since it was cool but rainy. We’ve had a lot of hot days and we preferred to be outside.
5. I have an email from the library announcing our local branch will reopen at the end of the month. They have been closed for renovation for 18 months. I am excited about the ease with which I will once again be able to pick up books and DVDs. I am near that branch three days a week and sometimes walk there.
YAY for #5. I love my local libraries.
That is huge news! My library is going to be closed for an extended period to be essentially rebuilt and I’m already pre-mourning it.
Love the glasses and the price is right!
So very right!
Happy Anniversary! Love the sunglasses – you rock them beautifully! One of our dear friends is a supervisor for a business that produces microgreens and sprouts. She has been gifting us bags of this wonderful produce, as they must compost excess production. We have been saving so much money on produce and the greens are so fresh and delicious.
Yum — it’s extra special when delicious also happens to be healthy!
1. I was watching my cousin’s 3 boys for her. We went to my favorite thrift store and found a Yahtzee game for their house. They were very excited. I also grabbed a nice can opener for my son. $2
2. My cousin gave me $50 to treat the boys and me to lunch. We got Wendy’s. We all got $5 biggie bags. I have a keychain for a free frosty and my cousin gave me hers too. They were happy with what we got and I was able to give my cousin back $24. I was not spending $50 on lunch no matter who was paying. She doesn’t pay me so she offers to treat to lunch often. I am happy to cook but the boys asked for Wendy’s.
3. My daughter made a bunch of copies of triple Yahtzee board games at her fiancé’s office. His grandfather owns the company so it was OK. I gave a bunch to my cousin’s boys.
4. I made Greek chicken souvlaki and chick pea salad. We used up several cucumbers and lots of cherry tomatoes from the garden. Meals are rotating around what needs to be used from the garden. I also made a triple batch of the Greek dressing we love. All 3 kids ate over since my oldest is visiting.
5. My oldest helped me in the garden. It has rained all week so I haven’t had to water anything. A/C was off for several days which was so nice. Laundry was hung inside on clothes racks.
6. I had my 6 month dental cleaning for free with our insurance. All good, no cavities. I got a goodie bag.
I forgot to say Happy Anniversary. We are also married 31 years.
Happy anniversary to you as well — Having your Baskin Robbins anniverasry!
My sister and I loved Yahtzee when we were kids — great fun!
Yahtzee is great for kids doing addition and times tables. They tried to use their phone calculators the first time but now they know they have to do it themselves. I help them if needed. Scrabble was our spelling game.
Katy, I LOVE the color of your sunglasses. My Subaru is orange (we call her Clementine) and our last house had an orange front door.
1. Received two ginormous sweet potatoes from my sister-in-law.
2. Attended two free events with my sister: a tribute to ABBA concert put on by my suburban city and a picnic put on by our financial advisor.
3. After my husband received his annual exorbitant renewal from Sirius radio, he made his annual call to cancel or see if they could offer him a better price. This time they counter-offered with a lower price than he’s currently paying! That was easy.
4. Submitted a Menards rebate to receive $13 in the form of a merchandise credit.
5. My husband needed new glasses and saved hundreds using the retiree/family vision benefits from my life-long employer.
I guess I referred to them as “dorky” because they have the name of a website on one arm.
And yum on the sweet potatoes!
I had glasses like that once and I was able to remove the website name with something like Goo Gone. Or maybe I was able to lightly scrape it off. Either way it worked, and I was less dorky!
If married or in a long term relationship, let’s play the “how long has it been since you were together for more years than not”? For me, this fall I will have been married 2/3 of my lifetime. Yet it still a bit of a blur.
@Katy – brave lady picking by the hotel. My mother watched like a hawk as the black raspberries near my childhood home were at risk of being in an area sprayed. Always a bummer when she said “no, you can’t pick”. Hard to find “free range” blackberries around here as the black raspberries overtake them. But they are so good (and no snakes here either!).
Garden continues to allow to eat fresh. Plenty of garlic to hold us over until next harvest (soon we’ll be planting for next year).
Climate change is real – this used to be the *hot* time of the year. Tonight it was cool enough to have a fire in the wood stove. Upside is we have plenty of wood for splitting and plenty of standing dead to replenish supplies. Plus what better half removes for neighbors.
We have friends who forage on our property. While we expect nothing in return, they do like to reciprocate. What we can’t use, we pass along.
My understanding is that sprayed blackberry bushes are brown and shriveled and these ones were lush and thriving.
While today’s herbicides “kill” faster than in the 1960s/early 70s, I guess I’m just leery. I also consider pollution (exhaust) but back then, all gas was “leaded”. “Leaded” still exists today but is hard to find.
I’d never pick berries that were next to a busy street, but these ones were next to a walking path.
FFT with many more (how unusual)
1. I spent some time decanting various random bulk foods (that have been lazing about in boxes) from their plastic bags into glass jars, and labelled them. The jars were random canning jars, I save the sealing lids and reuse them when I store dry-goods.
When I buy grains or spices and don’t decant them, they are outtasight- outtamind. This way, they are visible on appropriate shelves. More pantry cooking is on my horizon!
2. Still recovering from my bout with the dreaded C. In spite of that, I have been methodically working through my field garden, pulling out the chest high lambs quarters that are almost at seeding. Time is of the essence, people! But I don’t have enough time to get at everything that has gotten away!
However, each cleared patch is so freaking obvious that I get double the satisfaction when I step back after an hour of fairly easy – if intense – weeding.
3. The bean/rice/lentil/corn/herbs/etc etc veggie burgers that I made a week ago were either eaten or frozen. #2 son got the dreaded C so my meal-prep-filled-fridge was a bit of a waste. I ate what I could, and luckily did have company on whom I fobbed off more burgers and leftovers. Chickens got what I just couldn’t get to. Sigh
4. I’ve had another Instant Pot Black bean event, an Instant Pot Red bean event, brown and wild rice in the rice cooker, quinoa (from the bulk food sorting above) also in the rice cooker – meal prep in the fridge.
My buddy who visited is always needing to be given tasks, so the watermelon on the counter was chopped up and placed in visible glass containers in the fridge.
I also picked up a ten pound box of blueberries that I am nomming my way through with abandon, although I probably should freeze some.
5. The harvested garlic was a grand activity for my busy friend – we cut all the hard long necks off and sorted them into Big, Not So Big, Softneck and USE NOW piles, I left them in the unusually hot sun for 24 hours (YES I KNOW SOME OF THAT WAS NIGHTTIME< LOL), as some were still a bit damp, and there are now three boxes to be dealt with in my kitchen. First time in 3 years I have been this far along in the harvest. I have lots of time to really sort and decide how many cloves/bulbs I need for planting this coming fall (on top of the grown out bulbils and the new bulbils that I am going to be sent, which will also need to be planted out)
6. I have gathered a number of zucchini canoes, and pawned them off on friends and family. I still need to deal with three that are giving me the sideeye from the kichen counter.
7. I cut my own hair after I GOT ANNOYED at it. It really needed about 3 inches off to improve things. Thank you Dad ,for giving me your curly hair – it is very forgiving when I hack at it.
8. I've been doing a lot of volunteering for an upcoming provincial political election – much more volunteering than I had originally anticipated, however I am taking it as a learning opportunity and digging deeply into the resources that the party has available.
Our riding was seriously gerrymandered during a recent re-jigging of riding boundaries. As one result, our old representative is moving to a different city to be nearer her kids and grand-babies (she will run there). The woman who WOULD have been her campaign manager is now the candidate.
Currently there is no Campaign manager. And yes, sigh, I am doing quite a bit of THAT while knowing nothing about it. I have a different role that is much more in my wheelhouse. Thankfully, ads are now out; fingers crossed that we get a crackerjack to fill the role.
Meanwhile, the weeds (above) are growing as I keep ending up immersed in the campaign. Time is of the essence here, too!
9. And finally, my much anticipated FIRST grandbaby has not yet arrived. He isn't due yet, mind you, but his very lovely and patient mother is sure tired of being quite so pregnant.
Ecoteri, asking as a non-Canadian for clarification re: your #8: “riding” = a parliamentary district? I don’t think I’ve heard the term before now, except in regard to the old division of Yorkshire in England into Ridings. (My father’s family is thought to have emigrated from a village called Sprotbrough in the old South Riding.) In any case, good for you for taking a role in the election.
And the mother of your expected grandchild may appreciate this quote from Jane Austen’s letters, about a sister-in-law expecting her first: She “is still plagued with the rheumatism, which she would be very glad to get rid of, and still more glad to get rid of her child, of whom she is heartily tired.”
@A. Marie – We have Provincial Elections to put “Members” into the “Legislature” – and those “Members of the Legislative Assembly” are called MLAs.
My MLA represents a ‘riding’ which is an area determined by Elections BC (my province).
The ridings are areas created to supposedly make things kind of fair – they attempt to keep the population in each riding around the same number of people, hence the newly rejigged ridings. However really rural (and enormous) ridings can have a lot fewer people in them
The MLAs are members of various political parties.
In Canada for a long time we had three parties both at the FEDERAL (all of Canada) and PROVINCIAL (each province) level: a Liberal kind of party (middle of the roadish), a Conservative kind of party (Right leaning but not too far right) and what is known as the NDP kind of party (New Democratic Party) which used to be fairly left leaning and is the reason we have universal health care in Canada, as well as other things.
The Conservative Party, in particular, has undergone a lot of interesting divisions and re-assemblies both Federally and at least in my province, provincially.
We have had a Federal ‘Green’ Party (not affiliated with other Green parties but with similar politics) since 1983, and in 2011 we elected our first Green MP (Member of Parliament – the Federal Government). That MP is one hell of a barnstorming debater, and keeps blowing the hats off of anyone if she is allowed to debate. (We will travel a long way to hear her speak). But I digress…
In my province (British Columbia, we all call it BC), the Conservative-styled party was calling themselves the Liberal Party (yup, it was confusing) and there was an old ‘Conservative’ party that had no MLAs and was kind of on hiatus .
BC founded the first Green Party in North America in 1983, elected its first Green MLA in 2013, and 3 Greens in the 2017 election. (this was big news)
The NDP were elected in 2017 (more below), and are the current Government with a majority.
However, in the 2017 election when the NDP ‘won’, it was a razor edge not-quite-enough-MLAs-to-win, with the three GREEN party MLA’s holding the cards.
The Liberals and the NDP courted the Greens for support (coalition but not really) and the Greens chose to support the NDP for government. This meant that the NDP had to give some concessions to the Greens, they had a ‘supply agreement’ or some such which gave the three Greens a considerable amount of power for a short time.
Then the NDP held a snap election (we are supposed to have set election dates but they ignored that) and got a majority and the Greens were kind of screwed by that as they lost power (and the NDP broke a promise that they wouldn’t do that, but hey that’s politics)
ANYWAY, we have a NEW (set date) election coming, and the provincial Liberal party (who did badly in the last election) has been shooting themselves in the foot by a) electing a goombus for leader and b) changing their name to (get this) First United (what does that mean?)..
So the sleeping old provincial party that still had the name ‘Conservative’ (although they hadn’t had anyone elected under that name for 10 or so years) lifted its head and roared. A ‘First United’ MLAs behaved very badly and was kicked out of FU (like, really? That Acronym didn’t leap out at them when they named the party?)… and they joined the Conservatives, which gave the Conservatives a MLA in the Legislature . (big deal for them)
Then there was a by-election and another Conservative was elected. Then the polls started to show FU plummeting and the Conservatives shooting upward, and other MLAs started to ‘cross the floor’ – in other words join a different party.
Big breath.
So, in my province (people ‘back east’ usually call our politics ‘Wacky’ – I just think our politics are VERY INTERESTING), we currently have 4 parties in the house and a set date election looming in October. The NDP government has pissed some people off, and of course there is always an interest in throwing out the old.
The usual ‘official’ opposition (currently the FU party) is in shambles, The FU party has a useless leader and falling polls. And the newly re-awoken Conservatives have some HARD Right positions which turn off many ‘small c conservative’ people.
Meanwhile, the Green Party is losing one of their two MLAs (he is fabulous) to family obligations so he isn’t running next election, although his riding is considered kind of ‘safe’. The other Green MLA -who is currently my MLA – is moving to Victoria, our Capital City, to run in a newly rejigged riding (her kids live in the city, and she and her husband have a house there, so it makes sense personally and is a challenge).
My riding was cut in half in the most awkward way possible (hence the gerrymandering comment) in order (I believe) to make life difficult for my current MLA. She has made life very difficult for the current government because she calls out a lot of hypocrisy.
So, that is my non-coles-notes version. The big issue here is that the Leader of the Province is the leader of the party that wins, and the party chooses who the leader is (and therefor there are often changes at the top, but those are not accessible to me-the-voter, only me-the-party-member, if I happen to belong to THAT party). We don’t directly vote for our Premier – it is the party with the most MLAs elected who get to pick our Premier from among the elected MLAs – although usually that person is already declared during the election
Huh, as usual, a novel
Ecoteri, thank you for the detailed explanation of what, to a US citizen, is a VERY confusing situation! I honestly had no idea, and I’ll bet most of the rest of us Yanks didn’t either.
“Riding” is an old English subdivision. The county of Yorkshire used to be divided into “ridings” which comes from an old Danish word meaning “thirds.”
Hi Ecoteri,
Good job describing provincial government (and a bit of Federal in there).
It’s interesting how across the globe democracy looks so different in each country.
You did a great job.
T (who lives on the prairies)
@T – whew, thanks. Sometimes I think I get too carried away, but the delight is in the details, baby! And I find the whole thing maddening and interesting and full of potential, particularly right now in BC as the ‘FU’ party (that is currently the official opposition) is polling so poorly they likely won’t elect a single MLA. My how the mighty have fallen!
Long time reader. Favorite quote. “It’s ok to be cheap.” Heck yes. We watch the little stuff so we can do the big stuff. Packed school lunches K-12. Check. Thrift shopping. Check. Drive cars for 15 years. Check. Live off one income for 15 years. Check. Pay for kids K-12+college. Check. Mission accomplished. And lots of thrifty vacations to boot.
The “little stuff” will kill your budget!
You paid for K-12?
First and foremost, I add my congratulations on a good and frugal wedding anniversary celebration to Ms. and Mr. NCA.
And to respond to @Selena’s question above, I will be turning 69 at the end of this month, and DH and I were together for 45 years and married for 43.5. So these chunks of time may explain why I can’t even imagine another relationship, despite inquiries from a few of the nosier neighbors re: whether I intend to start dating. (I respond to these with humor: “Even if I wanted to start dating, which I don’t, how the hell do you think I’d be able to sneak a guy in here without the entire street knowing about it??”)
A. Marie,
Ditto on the no dating. When you’ve been married to your one and only it’s hard to imagine someone else taking that role.
I’m also rockin’ found sunglasses!
Stopped in my favorite thrift. Came out with a new top and a pair of earrings for $10.
A friend is decluttering, she gave a very cozy looking pair of new winter pj’s.
Stopped in the gently used kids clothing store for back to school. Came away with a couple pairs of jeans, a pair of sandals, and a pair of boots I will save back for Christmas. My son has asked for boots several times, he will be so excited 🙂
Our farm note adjusted up 2%!!!! Ouch!!! I’ve been looking around and found a coop that offers a rate 2.5% lower that my banks new rate. I sent the info to my brother who is a banker, but doesn’t handle farm loans. Just waiting to hear back from him before proceeding.
Blackberry jam, especially homemade, is heavenly. My aunt taught me as a kid how to make both plum jam and tomato marmalade. The latter sounds gross but it’s also a slice of heaven!
Happy Anniversary Katy! My very teeny frugal wins are:
1. Returning any and all recyclables
2. Calling to bring down our cable bill – will be saving 76.00 per month.
3. Continuing to declutter my already thoroughly decluttered house and working on my little ebay business. I put my earnings into a savings account without deducting the cost of goods so its fun to watch the account grow.
Big and recurring failure – meals and groceries. My husband often eats a big lunch (almost part of his job) and then doesn’t want to eat much at night. I’m a picky eater and don’t like to cook anymore so it’s a struggle. We’re working on it. Summer is easier with all the tomatoes!
Thanks to all who have mentioned the Fetch app! I finally downloaded it and I’m obsessed!!
It has been a no and/or low spend summer for me as I had little summer work. I made about 25% of my usual earnings.
1. I canceled the Sam’s Plus account.
2. Went on a vacay using hotel points & F&B credit that my CC offers w/ said hotel. Wore clothes I already owned.
3. Found a $5 dollar bill.
4. Gave myself a pedicure, trimmed and painted my toenails.
5. Worked at a community garage sale. The morning shift gifted me with 1/2 of a pizza that was left uneaten at lunch. I also did some shopping at the sale. I bought a like new pet carrier for our second cat that we took in. A like new leather belt pack (The Sac brand), like new Michael Kors handbag, a matelasse
type quilt w/ shams, 2 pairs of pants, 2 nice costume jewelry necklaces, 2 lightweight crocheted ponchos for summer wear, an Anne Klein handbag, 2 a/c furnace filters, a scarf and a brooch. All this was $45.
6. My school offered me fall work. I am grateful. When I found out I had fall work, I treated myself to garage sale shopping.
7. Readers have talked of cooking beans. I too made a pot of black beans in the crock pot. I could not get them to soften adequately after cooking 15 hrs. I pureed them in the blender & used the liquid to make rice. That worked well & added some protein to my rice. I used some of the rice w/ scrambled eggs for breakfast. For dinner I added steamed broccoli to the rice. Maybe I’ll make soup w/ the last of it. I think the beans were old & did not soften due to this.
{ 1 trackback }