It's been lovely Spring week here in Melbourne. Yes the birds are singing, the bees are humming and the fresh air has done a world of good to our bodies and state of mind. Since I last posted our frugal tasks last Saturday we've had a 2 week extension added to our stage 4 lock down across Victoria. This time round I'll admit I found it hard to deal with. I'm ok with the lock down, I'd just like to drive to a beach and sit in the car.. I have no idea when I'll be allowed to return to work either. At this point cafes will open with outdoor dining late October so it could be late November before cleaners can work in private homes. Who knows !!!
Each morning I wake up with a clear plan in my mind of what I'd like to achieve that day. This keeps me motivated and I tend to get more done. My fridge is covered with shopping lists for department stores ( when lock down is lifted ) as well as task orientated lists.
Here's what we achieved this week -
* Made butter twice using the free cream I'm storing in the freezer.
* Darren made a timber planter box for our grape plant. He used leftover timber from other jobs around the home.
* Wrote out a menu plan for the next two weeks. I included some freezer meals so we can start making room in the freezer for garden produce later this year.
* Used a recycled gift bag for presents recently. I also saved a few blank envelopes and recycled the recycled gift bags again. They really are the gift bags that keep on giving.
* Knitted a new dish cloth for my kitchen ( apple green of course ). It took a few days while watching tv.
* Made a plan for planting our Spring / Summer veggie seedlings. Now we know what to plant in each garden bed.
* Picked a few sugar snap peas from our garden and ate them straight away. Very yummy and fresh.
* Hand washed a few clothes using the shower water. This will save me having to split the dark washing into two loads.
* Dried all washing on the line or clothes horses.
* Fed lots of weeds, grass clippings and old fruit to our chickens.
* Made a batch of pumpkin scones using the last of the cooked , frozen pumpkin. Some scones were eaten fresh with lashings of butter and the rest went into the freezer for future morning teas.
* Made a batch of dried, seasoned bread crumbs from scratch. Every time I make bread I save all the loaf ends and freeze them. When they build up I turn them into bread crumbs. This time I was able to bless Megan with the bread crumbs.
* Bought 2 kilos of beef mince on clearance for $9.34 a kilo. It usually sells for $11 a kilo so not a huge saving. But it is a saving to our budget.
* Sorted out all the freezers and did an inventory. Although there were no real surprises in there I was able to see what I needed to top up on and what I need to stop buying ( beef mince ).
* Gratefully received 4 large heads of broccoli. I cut, blanched and froze them.
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| Sugar snap peas from the garden |
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| Blanched broccoli ready to freeze |
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| Butter made from scratch |
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| Dwarf lavender. |
Wendy a friend has given me lots of sweet potato
ReplyDeleteCan I chop and freeze it without blanching? I do that with pumpkin as we love it in risotto with a little chicken
I just don’t want it to go brown x
Cathy
Hi Cathy and we blanch and freeze our sweet potato and dip them in a lemon juice mixture to stop them going brown.
DeleteHere is a link to how we do it -
http://pickyourown.org/freezing_sweetpotato.htm .
Hope this helps.
Lorna.
I have been using the produce we bought extremely cheaply last weekend. I am almost down to the stuff that lasts longer now. I have had to not use a few spinach leaves but they were cheap at 12 cents a bunch. I have been able to take mum for two drives this week. Once for fish and salad on Moreton Bay and the other to an antique shop. My peas are almost done Andy granddaughter has so enjoyed watching them grow and picking them. Sadly all the play was not encouraged her to eat the,
ReplyDeleteGod bless and stay safe and I hope and pray your lock down eases soon.
Wendy you have done so well for the week and lockdown is hard and we did the same as you when we were in lockdown here and concentrated on getting tasks done that needed doing around the home which helped. We also did lots of early spring cleaning in March and April.
ReplyDeleteHoping lockdown ends for you shortly and you are able to go back to work. The snap peas look lovely and good you are making the most of the gifted broccoli to freeze and planning ahead for your garden planting.
Our savings added up to $110 last week.
In the kitchen -
- Cooked all meals and bread from scratch and concentrated on cycling through and using older grocery stock in our walk in pantry for meals.
Grocery purchases -
- Bought some bulk quantities of blocks of chocolate on half price special saving $30 on usual prices.
- Saved $12 by picking up 4 free samples as a supermarket taste tester.
Electricity savings -
- Been using most power to charge electronics and cook during the day to take advantage of the free power coming from our newly installed solar system. Our feed in tariff will get switched on next Tuesday so we will then be earning money off the excess power we feed back into the grid at night.
In the gardens -
- Harvested 8kg of turnips and a kilo of potatoes from the gardens saving $51.50 on buying them in the stores. We have blanched all the turnips in meal sized portions for the freezer.
Internet listings -
- Listed 10 items on a free listing eBay promotion saving $16.50 on usual prices.
Earnings -
- DH made $150 from 2 gardening jobs he did.
Finances -
- Added a little money to our home maintenance fund.
Have a wonderful week ahead everyone :) .
Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).
I hope the lockdown in Victoria will ease soon Wendy, so that you can take that drive to the beach that you are longing for. I know I would crave nature if I we had similar restrictions here.
ReplyDelete* checked half price specials at supermarkets before doing shopping; added
multiples of a couple of items we use to my pantry
* picked lettuce, silverbeet, spring onion and rosemary from garden
* received three new plants from a gardening friend (I gave her some seeds in
exchange.)
* received a huge pumpkin from a friend...some of it will be used in
pumpkin scones too!
* made large banana pikelets (served with ice-cream and strawberries) to have after
we got home late from a school event rather than buying takeaway
* borrowed lots of books from our local library for us to read over school holiday
break
* bought a hardcover book for $2, a floaty Summer top for $3 and a
lightweight cotton shift dress for $3 at a local opshop. (I am replacing t-shirts
with lighter cottons as the Summers are just so hot up here in Qld now.)
* hemmed a brand new black polo shirt, that my son was gifted, so that hem can be
let out as he grows even taller...(it is a Mens small and fits except was too
long)
* dried all washing on line on finer days and on racks on verandah when overcast
* did an extra day's teaching at supply teacher rate - extra $
This week, I need to buy some car seat covers for our second-hand ute that we purchased earlier in the year. I am hoping to find a good bargain on those. Fingers crossed!
Stay well and safe, Wendy.
Meg