This week has come and gone quite quickly. We've enjoyed good weather, lots of rain for the garden and lots of cups of tea out on the deck together. Darren and I love to sit outside and watch the clouds go by and dream of the day when we can go for trips in the car. In the last 3 months I haven't driven more than 1.5 km away from home. Lockdown has saved us a small fortune in petrol money.
Here's what else we've been up to -
* Froze 1 doz eggs. We were given some eggs plus we have one laying chicken at the moment. We can't eat the eggs quick enough so I froze them in lots of 1, 2 and 3 for future lemon butter making, breakfasts and general baking.
* Darren picked beetroot, all our sugar snap peas and snow peas. The plants have now been pulled out and we'll be planting different veggies in the next few days.
* Darren made a big pot of soup with the last of the bok choy from the garden.
* I bought a couple of solar garden lights from NQR. We bring them in at night to use in the lounge room instead of turning a lamp on.
* Baked four loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.
* Knitted 2 dish cloths using cotton I had on hand.
* Baked cranberry hootycreek biscuits and white choc / macadamia nut biscuits using dough from the freezer.
* Blanched and froze 5 heads of broccoli given to us for free. In the next few days we'll be picking our own broccoli.
* Made dried bread crumbs from saved frozen bread crusts. When needed they will be turned into seasoned bread crumbs.
* Darren did some research on one of our car insurances due for renewal and was able to save over $300 by switching to a ' drive less pay less' policy.
* I did my monthly grocery shopping. This time I shopped at Woolworths to make the most of the 10% discount they offer for having an insurance with them. I saved over $7 for buying my usual generic basic ingredients.
* Gratefully received 3 bags of glass jars from a friend. I will be keeping some that match the jars I already have in the pantry. Jessica will be using some for her pantry and the rest will be passed on to friends who need them.
* Darren gratefully received half a cubic metre of top soil from a family member who couldn't use it. The soil was used to top up our veggie garden beds.
* Darren dug up some daisy seedlings that are multiplying in a new garden bed. He's re potted them and when they are bigger we will be planting them in another garden bed to fill in the gaps.
Here are a few photos of our garden produce we picked this week -
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| Sugar snap peas still in the pod |
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| Sugar snap peas ready to eat ( and freeze ) |
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| Snow peas |
Have you been picking anything from your garden ?
What was on your frugal list this week ?
Hey Wendy you guys have had a very productive week filling in time wisely . Won’t be long now and you can use some fuel money to take a long trip ... here’s hoping x
ReplyDeleteWe went away for a week and came home to find flowers on out tomato plants and capsicum plants. The silverbeet has grown so much and apart from supplementing the food for our 40 odd birds, I am going to bake spinach pie with it. Unfortunately our 8 letteuces, alhtough they appeared to be growing very well were all mush inside from slugs. The English spinach bolted so the birds are also enjoying that. My peas were doing well, although extremely slow growing but gave up whilst we were away.
ReplyDeleteThe spring onions have gone to flower which is fine because you know; bees!! Our mango tree is looking rather happy this year and this morning had a few bees visiting it!!
I find it very hard growing veggies in Western Sydney. We have mild winters though so I am wondering if it is best to grow my spring and summer veg then?! Time to research.
Enjoy the lock down for as long as possible Wendy. We continue to hang around the dozen or so cases state wide which is all community transmission. Thankfully overnight there was no ICU cases!!!
Kind regards,
Vicky
Your garden produce looks wonderful, Wendy. I picked two small cos lettuces and spring onions this week from our garden. Little baby cucumbers are beginning to form on our vines so I hope we get a good harvest of those. This week:
ReplyDelete* made all our meals here at home including stir fry with rice, zucchini slice, spaghetti bolognese, homemade nachos with avocado and a chicken and cashew salad.
(I bought the cashews at Aldi in a big bag ages ago and the chicken strips were marked down when I went shopping this week.)
* made my son's lunches and work lunches for work days; we all take our refillable water bottles to school and work
* used up frozen mashed sweet potato from freezer to make a chocolate cake
* made a batch of oaty biscuits from pantry staples
* made a little gift bag by stamping a small brown paper bag I already had then punching two holes and tying with ribbon from my stash.
* happily received two bags of dog food from our neighbour and gifted her some soap in return
* line dried washing on sunny days and on little racks on showery days
* saved 10% on new school shoes for our son using an online offer
* redeemed $10 off a small shop at Coles where I had purchased some half-price items
* cleaned car myself
Have a great week!
Meg
I have used parsley, dill and spinach in dishes this week. I was saving a ham for Christmas but decided to cut it tonight. It is hot and I don't want to slave too long in the kitchen. At $8 a kg it is much cheaper than buying ham from the deli counter or in a package. I am managing to stretch a tank of petrol to two or three weeks. WE have to travel about 4 km to the supermarket and mum has medical appointments. I always make sure the fuel is a cheap as I can find it.
ReplyDeleteMy granddaughter's car seat has developed a fault with the buckle. I will be contacting the manufacturer as we use the seat once or twice a week and not for long trips. It is two and a half years old and I think it should last at least the lifetime of the child using the seat. But one was found and it was reduced by $270. It needs to be installed but I am relieved that I am not using the faulty seat anymore.
Hi Wendy! I have never commented, but I truly look forward to your positive posts that inspire me to see what more can be accomplished in my home and garden. I live in California so the garden is about dead but still able to harvest basil, oregano, thyme, mint, tarragon, and thai chilies. I am reorganizing my cupboards to reduce all the plastic containers and donate the extras. Thank you for your blog!
ReplyDelete