Our Make, Bake, Sew and Grow life is a little slower during the winter months. The garden doesn't need too much attention but I do try to pull a few weeds on the milder days. I've been doing some sewing for a new family member coming soon ( photos in a couple of months ). We've been eating some of our morning / afternoon snacks like muffins and slices from the freezer to make room for the next baking day.
Here's how we saved money this week -
* Megan gave me a haircut. It was getting a bit long and the ends were dry.
* Cleaned the kettle with citric acid. It never ceases to amaze me how clean it looks after doing this. It's like a new kettle.
* Fed bread crusts, lettuce plants and grass to the chickens.
* Made 3 loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.
* Made up 2 bottles of surface spray with cooled, boiled water and a small dash of kitchen detergent. One bottle is for the kitchen and the other is kept in the laundry to clean the bathroom sinks and toilets.
* Filled the thermos with boiling water every morning for our cuppas during the day.
* Took my lunch and snacks with me when out and about doing my cleaning work.
* Made sausage rolls and a chocolate brownies for a family gathering. I made a double batch of the brownie so I could put some in the freezer for us to eat later.
* I made a bread pudding in the slow cooker using bread crusts ( heels ) I'd been saving and frozen. It's not very often I make dessert so it was thoroughly enjoyed and warmed us up on a cold night.
* I cooked a 1/2 leg of lamb in the slow cooker. Jessica came over for dinner that night. After slicing it up there was enough for the 3 of us, another 2 serves put in the freezer and I made a big pot of soup with the leftovers. The soup gave us 10 serves. So that was a total of 15 serves from a 1/2 leg that cost about $12 ( bought on sale for $10kg late last year ).
* I picked up some household bargains in Coles. They were clearing out nail brushes, bath sponges, small buckets dusters and cleaning equipment as well as other bits and pieces. Some of the items I'm using straight away and the rest went into the gift cupboard.
* I dug up a few potatoes and carrots, picked a capsicum and Wombok from our garden. The weather has been quite cold so I hadn't been in the garden for a while and the produce was a lovely surprise.
LINKS -
Bread Pudding In The Slow Cooker
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| From our garden |
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| Bargains from Coles |
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| Bread pudding in the slow cooker. |
You achieve a lot with all the making, baking, sewing and growing you do, Wendy. I picked lettuce, parsley, spring onion and tomatoes from our garden this week plus a little posy of flowers.
ReplyDeleteAll the tomatoes sprang up from compost I spread in the veg patch so completely free! In other savings here this week:
* meal planned to include two meat-free meals - fried rice with egg and spinach/ricotta parcels
* filled the oven whenever I turned it on - baked extra trays of roast veg ready for making frittatas which are great for lunches.
* visited several grocery stores for specials, bought dairy products from Aldi which are cheaper
* bought 2x1L discounted full-cream milk - one we'll use fresh and the other I am going to make custard.
* made pots of peaches in jelly using a stray packet of jelly crystals and tin of peaches from my pantry
* began knitting washcloths ahead of birthday and Xmas giving
* saved wrapping paper and gift bag
I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.
Meg
Hi Wendy, thanks for sharing another great week of frugal ideas. May I ask how long it took you to harvest a capsicum and do you grow red ones as well?
ReplyDeleteI also saw those items on sale at Coles. I though the tape measure was a brilliant size….very handy. Have a great week. Take care:) Rachel
We planted the capsicum late Summer and I don't think we've ever grown red ones.
DeleteYes the tape measure was a good deal.
Rachel and Wendy, green capsicums change to red if left on the plant long enough. I do find the birds prefer them when they are red, so a cover over them is sometimes needed. They sweeten up beautifully when they turn red. I’m just at the tail end of my crop at the moment. From Cheryl.
Delete- spent the weekend at Mum's to help with admin and general jobs around the house. She's finding her feet after my Dad passed on 8 May.
ReplyDelete- left dd1 (15) there for the week to help out and spend some quality time with grandma. Also, to learn how to crochet. Plans so far: weeding, grass cutting, crocheting, 'how to email' and 'how to use the tablet' lessons for grandma, daytrip to grandma's hometown, accompanying grandma to have hearing aid fixed and then go shopping in nearby shops.
- did secondhand shopping there; it's cheaper, better quality and better availability than over here. Bought 3 sturdy high-backed foldable garden chairs, a decorative hanging lamp, 2 cd's, 2 soup bowl, 1 glass for €37,45.
- picked from my garden: 1kg of raspberries, 7 strawberries (not a typo...), 2 kg of red goosberries, 3 tiny courgettes/zucchinis.
- dds have sorted through 2 large boxes of assorted stuff, and only a quarter of 1 box could stay; they happily discarded the rest. This helps the house being easier to navigate and my head to have more space to do the things I/we enjoy.
I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad Siebrie. I understand how challenging life can be in this situation.
DeleteThank you.
DeleteMum is 87, but both mentally as well as physically fit. On top of that my hometown has an excellent public transport system, as well as a shared-taxi system for inhabitants with low health/the elderly, where a taxi ride within city limits costs just €3. It may happen that another passenger needs to be picked up or dropped of along the route, but you still get to exactly your destination within a reasonable time.