Lots of gardening, cooking, baking and blessings has filled our week. We try to make the most of the blessings and use them as wisely as we can. Winter is just around the corner and our busyness has kept us warm. At times we've had to turn the heater off when our frugal tasks keep us active.
Here's what we've been up to -
* Baked a double batch of chocolate choc chip muffins for a cleaning client who placed an order. Her grand daughters love to eat them when they visit.
* Darren picked lettuce to have with his lunches.
* Gratefully received a big tub of margarine from a friend.
* Picked up 12 packets of chocolate wafer biscuits on clearance for 50 cents each down from $2.50. The previous week they were on clearance for 95 cents and I thought that was a bargain. I don't usually buy packets of biscuits but I can't make any batch of biscuits that cheap.
* Made a pot of egg custard to use up some milk that was 2 days past its use by date. We rarely have dessert after our main meal so we really enjoyed this treat. It saved us throwing the milk out.
* Made a big pot of soup using chicken stock from the freezer, our potatoes and broccoli stalks as well as a few other veggies. We got 6 hearty serves from the saucepan and cost about 20 cents a serve.
* Made a menu plan for the next 4 weeks. With meat being so expensive it took some creative thinking to keep variety in our menu with only chicken drumsticks, sausages, beef mince, frozen fish fillets and tinned tuna / salmon on hand.
* Darren picked a few mandarins and lots of oranges from the fruit trees at Megan's place. I've already blitzed quite a few and frozen them in portions for future baking. I also baked lots of little whole orange cakes. Some will be frozen and the others will be eaten fresh. With just the two of us, I try to bake smaller cakes so we can eat them within a few days without gorging ourselves.
* Made a triple batch of sausage casserole using sausages that were gifted to us. The sausages had already been frozen then defrosted when we received them so they needed to be used up quickly. We had some of the casserole that night and the rest was portioned and frozen.
* Planted lots of broccoli and a few mini cauliflower seeds into little punnets for future planting. The broccoli seeds came up within 4 days.
* Bought chrysanthemum plants on clearance at our local fruit and veg shop for $2 a plant. We'll be planting them out in the front garden for some much needed color.
* Took a few cuttings from our Hebe plants and daisy plants. If they all take some with be given as presents and the rest will go into the garden to fill in the gaps.
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| Oranges from Megan's place |
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| $2 chrysanthemums |
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| Broccoli seedlings |
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| Hebe cuttings |
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| Daisy cuttings and broccoli seedlings |
I found petrol at 40 cents per litre less per litre close those. I was grateful for this as the car needed refuelling. I use lactose free milk and now my granddaughter is on a trial for lactose free milk. Fortunately I found that lactose free milk is far cheaper at Aldi and they now have a two litre bottle. My milk consumption had increased so I am happy to find it a little cheaper. There have been several stay at home days and thus nothing was spent. I have been reminding myself that I need to rein in spending and have spent less on my craft stuff. I do admit that I spent on a Spotlight voucher that took $40 if one spent $100. I needed some homespun and using this voucher combined with a sale meant I paid $3 a metre instead of $10. I should be set for quite a while.
ReplyDeleteLike you I am worried about the cost of meat. Both my mother and I have had iron transfusions this year. I working hard at extending proteins with pulses and decent vegetables but it is difficult and honestly who can afford to spend $20 on meat for each meal. Combine this with appetite fatigue, allergies etc it becomes quite a challenge.
God bless.
A very good week Wendy. The weather has been nice here and Ive been in the garden a lot too. I will do some more today as its sunny but I think rain is coming! xxx
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteI have been planting too. I am not growing broccoli though; I've put in silverbeet and beans and more lettuce. I am trying to save on meat as well. This week, I bought 500g each of beef and chicken mince and a dozen beef sausages. I made little sausages rolls and chicken burger patties with chicken mince. I made a dozen small meatballs and bolognese sauce with beef mince. I used up leftover tomato soup, a tin of lentils and grated zucchini & carrot in the sauce to make meat go further. I also made big pot of split pea soup, lots of veg in it. I added parsley and bay leaves from garden to soup. We'll have for lunches with dinner rolls. While soup cooking, I made 2x weetbix and oat slices. The recipe I found uses less butter than one I have for weetbix slice. I also boiled eggs to make egg & lettuce sandwiches. The lettuce for these will come from our garden. Tomorrow, I am going to make yoghurt.
I am trying to save on groceries too.
Have a lovely week,
Meg
Good morning Wendy, I am enjoying the sunshiny days even though the nighttime temps are near freezing. I planted out pots of pansies for some winter joy. Our best frugal tip this week is to check several quotes when you need work done, and we were pleased that the local self employed trades have come out best, as at least we feel our money is helping local families as well as fixing our problems. Have a lovely week.
ReplyDeleteI have potted on the salad seedlings and tomato seedlings, and have resown the green beans. These green beans will form little bushes rather than need a frame to climb up; it's easier for me to look after and I enjoy the hunt for fresh beans, every bean I locate on the bush sparks joy :)
ReplyDelete