This Week's Frugal Tasks

Christmas Day is drawing nearer and we've almost finished our Christmas preparations.  It's been busy here as I filmed a story for tv and recovered from laryngitis.  Here's what I managed to do this week -

*  Saved some bread bags to recycle. Jessica uses them to scoop out the kitty litter.

*  Topped, tailed and cut up two colanders of beans from the garden.  I've frozen them in freezer bags.  I don't bother blanching them.  They taste ok by just freezing them

*  Made up some more foaming hand wash for both bathroms. The recipe is here  Foaming Hand Wash

*  Cut up the rest of the ham I bought last week.  I bagged it up into sandwich portion sizes and pizza sizes and froze it for future meals.

*  Started saving water from the showers again. We couldn't do it with the bathroom renos and then the big clean up.  It feels great to be in the routine again.

*  Made two big pots of vegetable soup.  I had lots of zucchinis from the garden and some vegetables from a tv story to use up.  I don't like wasting food so this is a great way to turn them into something delicious.  Most of it was frozen into single serves...

*  Made vanilla yoghurt using a starter I'd frozen previously.

*  Kept the curtains closed on the warmer days.  By doing this I didn't have to turn the evap cooling on until later in the afternoon.

*  .We were abundantly blessed with an enormous ham,  a leg of lamb and some vegetables this week.  This was so unexpected and came at a time when I didn't feel well enough to go shopping.  I also.haven't had a car all week as it's finally being repaired after the hit and run we were involved in a couple of months ago.  I won't open the ham for a while as we are using up the other ham that I froze into meal sizes.  We used the lamb for two main meals and sandwiches the following day.

*  I started picking raspberries and freezing them for future use.  I'm hoping to get enough to make some raspberry jam.  SOOOOO good  !!!

*  Made more peanut butter choc chip biscuits.  I'm so glad I had the dough in the freezer.

What frugal tasks did you complete this week ?

What Makes You Happy ? December 2014

With December being so busy for many,  it's still important to take time out and reflect on the things that make you happy.  It will bring you a sense of peace,  contentment and joy to your life.

Here's what makes me happy -

*  Christmas decorations.  I look forward to getting them out each year.  I also like to make some and they look great on the tree ( if I do say so myself ).

*  Our chickens.  They are such funny creatures to watch as they run around fighting over a strawberry.  It's almost like watching a cartoon but in real life.

*  A good home cooked meal.  It warms me up inside knowing I'm feeding my family good food that will help them to stay healthy and strong.

What makes you happy ?

Christmas Table Decoration

Do you ever get stuck trying to work out how to decorate your Christmas table ? Here's a great idea for a decoration that won't cost you a cent.

Find a clear glass bowl or vase that you already have. It doesn't matter what shape or size although you don't want it to take up too much room on the table. 

Fill the bowl or vase with leftover Christmas ball decorations. We took a few from the back of the tree - no one will notice. I used smaller balls to fill in the gaps made by the bigger balls.  If they still have hanging loops on them, hide them underneath.

All our decorations are bought on sale after Christmas and we have lots to spare.  Each year we change the color scheme of our tree.  This year it's pink,  purple,  blue and silver.

I've teamed up the bowl of decorations with a beautiful blue table runner I made years ago.  Add a few silver tea light holders and it's complete.

This Week's Frugal Tasks

This week's frugal list will be a short one.  I've been sick all week with laryngfitis.  I've had to cancel all my cleaning jobs and a day of filming for tv ( hoping to do it next week ).  As lousy as I feel I'm trying to stay positive.  I rarely get sick and haven't had a cold in over 18 months.  Both my girls have been home all week and have been helping out with the cookng and cleaning.

Here are the few things we've managed to do -

*  Baked a big batch of peanut butter choc chip biscuits with dough from the freezer.

*  Used less water with the washing machine.  I haven't done as many loads but we have still saved the rinse water for each next load.

*  Gratefully received turkish breads from a friend at church.  For tea on Sunday night we used some of them to make pizza with chicken Jessica bought home from work and cheese we also received from a friend. The meal was very yummy and almost free.  The rest of the turkish breads were frozen for future use.

*  Megan made chicken noodle soup from scratch using homemade chicken stock from the freezer.  She only used a recipe to get ideas from then made it her own way.  It was so yummy and for about an hour I felt a little better.

*  Picked more beans and strawberries.

*  Dried the washing on the line and clothes horses ( when it rained ).

*  We purchased our first ever Christmas ham.  We've never been able to afford one before but this year I had a little extra money in the food slush fund.  Tasman Meats have Bertocci hams for $6.99 kg.  I picked half a ham with no bone.  We'll be slicing it thinly and freezing as much as we can.  Darren spoke to the butcher and found out that they last five days in the fridge once opened but can be frozen.

*  Cooked all meals from scratch.  It can be tempting to get takeaway when the cook is sick. So far we've avoided the temptation.  We have plenty of food in the house so we may as well use it.

*  Continued to collect eggs each day.  Four out of five chickens are moulting to some degree so we feel blessed to still get between 2 - 4 eggs each day.

*  Purchased beef ribs for $3.99 kg from Tasman Meats.  This is a great price and Darren will enjoy them when we have bbqs.

*  Bought legs of lamb for $6.99 kg from Tasman Meats.  They have all been frozen and we now have enough to ration them out for special occasions over the next twelve months.

*  Megan picked five small bunches of flowers from the garden to cheer me up.

My gingerbread people in the kitchen

Megan's chicken noodle soup meal.

Flowers for me

Christmas decos in the loungerom

Our girly Christmas tree

Christmas present decorations

All lit up.

What frrugal tasks have you completed this week ?

Family Meat Pie

2 sheets of puff pastry
400 grams of beef mince
3 tablespoons of gravy powder
3 teaspoons of onion flakes or one small onion diced
Salt, pepper and parsley to taste
2 tablespoons of corn flour
1 1/4 cup of water
2 medium / large potatoes peeled and diced into small cubes
1 egg beaten

Cook mince and drain off any fat. Add onion, salt, pepper and parsley. Sprinkle gravy powder over meat and mix in well In a cup mix the corn flour and water. Add to the mince and stir until meat thickens. Let the meat cool.

Place one sheet of puff pastry into a greased round pie plate. Cut the corners off the second pastry sheet and place these triangles onto the edges of the first sheet to give it a more rounded look. Spoon the meat onto the pastry pushing down and evening it out. Place cubed potato on top. Add the pastry lid and roll and fold the edges down. Brush the top with egg and spike the lid with a skewer. Cook in an oven at 190 degrees celcius for one hour.

Serves 4 people with vegies on the side. Can be frozen if fresh meat is used and cooked.

The meat for the pie can be made in bulk ahead of time and frozen into portion sizes.

 

Pie straight out of the oven

Meat I'd already cooked ,  frozen and defrosted

Cutting the potato into small cubes

Please take note of the pastry for the bottom.

Ready for the oven

It is really filling

A close up.  Sorry,  there was lots of steam.

This Week's Frugal Tasks

The bathroom renovations are now complete and our house is getting back to normal.  Our vegetable garden is thriving wilth all the rain we've been blessed with.  I just love to go outside and look around the garden to see what's happening.   At this time of the year it seems that the vegetable plants grow by inches each day.  There are weeds to pull,  plants to feed and produce to pick.  My heart swells with happiness when I bring a basket of food into the house.  It's pure joy.

Here's what I've been up to this week -

*  The heater has been off all week.  We've only had the evap cooling on a little.

*  Picked our first two zucchinis for the year.

*  Continued to picked strawberries and beans every couple of days.

*  Gratefully received some bread and croissants from a friend

*  Sold four dozen eggs to our nrighbour and a cleaning client.

*  Made strawberry and apple jam using strawberries I bought for 50 cents a punnet a few months ago.   I'd frozen them with the idea to make jam.  Some will be given as presents and the rest we will use ourselves.

*  Baked a triple batch of chocolate lunchobx muffins.  Most of them are for the freezer.

*  Baked four loaves of wholemeal bread.

*  Started saving water from the washing machine again.  When the machine was reconnected, last Saturday  we were so pressed for time with our busy week last week we couldn't save the water.  All is right in my world again. 

*  I started sorting out the birthday and Christmas presents for next year.  I've purchased or made about two thirds of the presents already.  When I know who I'm giving the present to I write the name,  occasion and year on a post it note and stick it to the present.  Then I record it in an exercise book.

*  Picked some lettuce from our garden.

*  Darren and Jessica made white christmas to give as presents.  Some were gift boxed and others were placed in cello bags.

*  Made more Anzac biscuit dough and peanut butter choc chip biscuit dough for the freezer.  GEE,  the freezer gets fed well doesn't it ?  I'm trying to stock up on dough and other baking for the busy Christmas season.

*  Saved some bread bags from a charity bbq and reused them.



This is what I picked from the garden on Monday

The gift boxes for the white christmas

White Christmas for presents



Our dining table flowers.  Megan took this photo for the blog.

The lettuce we are picking.

What frugal things have you completed this week ?

Making Your Own Yoghurt

About 4 1/2 years ago I met a lady at a bakery.  It was closing time and we were there to pick up the left over bread to give to needy people.  It was the first time I'd met this lady.as she was filling in for a friend.  We started talking about things we make from scratch.  I said I had a yoghurt maker and loved making yoghurt cheaper than store bought.  She told me about a website called The Cheapskates Club where you could find a recipe for making one litre of yohurt for about $1.  As soon as I arrived home I just had to check out the website.  I've been a member ever since and the rest is history. 

I never saw that lady again but I'll be forever grateful for passing on such valuable information.

The recipe below is my adapted version of the Cheapskates one.  I hope you enjoy it.

2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt
1 1/2 cups of full cream powdered milk
dash of vanilla extract
4 tablespoons of sugar ( optional if you don't want t sweet )
tap water
boiled water

As you boil the kettle, put tap water into the Easiyo container up to the 500 ml mark ( the one you make the yoghurt in, not the thermos part )
Add milk powder, natural yoghurt, sugar and extract.
Blend with a hand blender
Top up the container to the 1 litre mark with tap water
Put lid on and hand shake
Fill Easiyo thermos to the top of the red insert with boiled water
Put cthe yoghurt ontainer in and put thermos lid on
Leave on the bench for 10 - 12 hours
Take container out and put in fridge. 

NOTES -This yoghurt keeps for up to two weeks after it's made. 

 If you are making it unsweetened,  once it's set,  save two tablespoon of the yoghurt and freeze it to start another batch.  

 Flavour can be added by using jams,  toppings and pureed fruit once it's been made.

Full cream milk powder must be used for it to set.  Low fat milk powder doesn't have enough fat.  

The Easiyo system retails for about $20 and can be bought at Big W and Woolworths.  It makes a fantastic present for all occasions.