My Abundant Life: This Week's Frugal Tasks 19th September 2015

We've had a wonderfully frugal week in the kitchen and around our home. Our garden is coming to life with the fruit trees blooming and growing. So much is happening outside that we need to take regular " tours " to keep up with it all. Here's what else we got up to this week -

* Gratefully received some tomatoes. I cooked and froze them into meal sizes for spag bols and pasta bakes. I filled 11 takeaway food containers. Tinned tomatoes were on my shopping list for my Summer stockpile. I've now crossed them off. Very grateful for the saving.

* Baked two banana cakes with bananas given to us. I took one to church on Sunday for morning tea and the other one is in the freezer for a future morning tea.

* Used the lamb bone from a roast to make a big pot of soup in the slow cooker. There was enough soup to feed the four of us for two meals.

* Fed the compost bin very well this week with banana skins, lettuce leaves, and other veggie peelings.

* Defrosted one of our freezers. It's a 120 litre that was given to us as a wedding present and is the only one that isn't frost free. It needs defrosting a few times a year to help it run effectively. I find it helpful in sorting out what's in there and restacking it better.

* Jessica bought a top from the op shop for her Year 12 muck up day. They are dressing as film characters and Jessica is going as a pirate. The top only cost a few dollars but had a rip on a seam which was easy to fix.

* Darren needed a new pair of troussers for work. He found some in the op shop for $8.50. They needed to be taken up so my sewing machine was put to use again.

* Blanched lots of broccoli bought for $1.99 kg. I'm trying to build a small stockpile of broccoli bought cheaply so that when the price goes up, we'll be eating out of the freezer. We try to eat broccoli with most hot meals.

* Started my Summer stockpile by buying extra toiletries and cleaning supplies. I'll be writing a post on this shortly.

* Darren chopped and froze lots of bananas given to us. We'll be using them in smoothies, fruit icecream and banana cakes over Summer.

* Ate freezer meals one night and continued to eat out of the freezer where possible. I'm gradually getting more room.

* Had the heater off for three days and nights in a row.

* Darren baked some Cranberry Hootycreek biscuits for his sister's birthday present. We also gave her a tote bag I made for $2. She loved her presents and I loved how budget friendly it was.

* Gratefully received a plate of sliced cake from a friend.

* Had shorter showers. Saved the washing machine water and dried most of the clothes on clothes horses and the line.

* Juiced and froze a big bowlful of lemons off our tree.

* Picked silverbeet for two meals.

* Froze two single serves of Tuna Pasta Bake.