Saturday 9 August 2014

This Week's Frugal Tasks

It's been another busy week for many reasons.  Monday I was at work as well as the A Current Affair story going to air .  Tuesday was my milk,  fruit and veg top up day and answering lots of emails and messages on this blog.  Wednesday I had washing, vacuuming and mopping to do as well as the radio interview.   Thursday and Friday I was at work.

In all of this busyness I found time to do the things that give me the greatest joy - looking after my family,  keeping my home tidy and finding ways to make my dollars stretch a little further.  I'm happy when I'm making things myself.

Here's what I did this week -

*  Dried the washing on the line when possible.

*  Accepted some glass jars from a friend.  These will be used to make jam when the stone fruit comes on sale in Summer.

*  Made three loaves of wholemeal bread for the freezer.

*  Made fruit icecream with fruit that was cheap in Summer and a little bit of cream that needed using up.  I had the fruit stored in containers in the freezer until I had enough to make a decent sized batch of icecream.

* Made a double batch of chocolate choc chip muffins.  Some went to a family in our church whose Mum had been in hospital.  The rest went into the freezer for lunchboxes.

*  I did some weeding yesterday as the weather was lovely.  I fed the weeds to the chooks who gratefully received them.  Yes,  even my chooks are grateful  !!!.

*  Saved water from the showers and poured it into the washing machine.

*  Saved two slices of roast beef to make a chunky beef and vegie soup for tea tonight.

*  Instead of filling up the dinner plates too much last night,  I portioned some of the food into a container to make a freezer meal.

*  We still had some corn from last year's crop in the freezer so we ate it with two of our meals.

*  Picked some silverbeet to put in a chicken flan for dinner one night and as a side dish for another night.

*  Cooked lots of pumpkin that was bought a few weeks ago for 69 cents a kilo.  I've portioned it into containers and stored it in the freezer to make pumpkin scones at a later date.

*  Made pita chips for snacks.


Frozen fruit,  cream and honey for fruit icecream


Ingredients ready to be wizzed in the food processor.



Portioning into containers for the freezer

Yummy icecream

Pita bread dried in the oven to make chips

Draining the water out of the cooked pumpkin


Cooked pumpkn portioned and ready to be frozen

Chocolate choc chip muffins
 
 

What tasks have you completed this week that made your dollars stretch a little further ?

13 comments:

  1. Bought my daughter a textbook 2nd hand at opshop. Shopped at Coles using calculator on phone to keep track of total to qualify for $100 bonus. And got milk on discount due to near "use by date" Rinsed out PB jar and Chilli sauce bottle to make peanut laksa. K

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Wendy, my goodness you are keeping up with title of "Super Woman" what a week you've had! I made sure that my laundry was dried on the line (but I am very spoilt as my husband has put a line up in my garage) it rains a lot in Sydney and sometimes you can get caught out, but this way it dries overnight, I rarely use my drier. Used up every bit of left over (yes even the stalk of broccoli) to go into my curry this week, made sure the temperature of the heater was set at 19 deg. Thanks Wendy Simone x

    ReplyDelete
  3. I grew pumpkins last summer and have had enough to supply us over winter. One plant produces quite a few pumpkins. I even tried my hand at a pumpkin pie dessert, and that was delicious. I still have two pumpkins left to use :-)
    I don't have trouble drying our clothes where we live, have not owned a dryer for eighteen years. I like the sound of your ice-cream and I must try those pita bread chips.

    My frugal attempts this week were; saving the water from my hot water bottle that I use every night to keep warm and watering my plants with it. Also collecting the run off water from the hot water service and using it on the garden. I washed my hair with a homemade shampoo and conditioned with apple cider vinegar. Made all our meals from scratch, and did not go to the shops at all last week. Cooked a big orange cake from homegrown oranges and eggs and froze in slabs. Squeezed our mandarins for juice at breakfast time, have been doing this for weeks now. No need to buy juice. I have made some of your cleaner, ready for the week ahead. Picked a big lot of quandongs and stewed for dessert. I have been doing some more reading on the cheapskates site, have been a member for many years but never really utilised it to it's full potential...
    I am consciously thinking frugal in all that I do these days. I want our house paid for in under two years, on only one wage :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am really enjoying your blog Wendy & wanted to cheer when your last story was on ACA, well done you are making a great contribution.
    My efforts today were; I made up & froze the lunch box fillers for the coming week, listened to an audio book from You Tube rather than buy it (love audio books), when my dinner didn't go to plan (as I was running late) I was able to check my menu plan and swap it for a quicker meal, found an answer on the internet rather than racing to a professional & enjoyed reading my library book & watching movies we recorded on the Tbox.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for sharing your food prep tips! Hoping to see you on a regular segment on ACF!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Keep watching A Current Affair. You'll never know when I'll pop up again.

      Delete
  6. Congratulations on being on television again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thankyou Brandy. God has provided us with amazing opportunities to share our family's story with others. We feel so very blessed.

      Delete
  7. Hi Wendy any chance of sharing your menu for the month ?
    Piroska

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I posted my menu plan on Tuesday 19th August

      Delete
  8. thank you for your menu plan. what I have done this week is 1. made waffles with homemade oat flour and froze.
    2. made egg and bacon breakfast rolls and froze.
    3. baking bread every day.
    4. went to the local church cheap food place, nothing was expired and all good food.
    thanks for your inspiration

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Wendy! Please can you tell me what are the blue lidded containers called????? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

This blog is designed to be a source of encouragement and inspiration.

Negative comments will not be published. Comments advertising businesses or goods for sale will not be published.

Please include your first name in your comment so that I can respond to you.

Comments are moderated manually. Please allow a few hours for them to appear.