Welcome back to another post on frugal living. I really hope the tasks I list help you to save money, especially when times are tough and many people are struggling.
Darren and I had a quick trip to Tasmania over the long weekend. We took our oldest grandson Luka ( almost 5 ) with us on his first plane trip and to meet his Pop ( Darren's Dad ). We avoided the heatwave here in Melbourne, but it was unusually humid in Tasmania. We've learnt to pack clothes for all seasons even if it's just a 4 day trip.
Our Summer veggie garden is coming to an end. The sweet corn is not growing too well due to the lack of consistent heat. We still have zucchinis growing and silverbeet to pick. The potatoes are at least another 8 weeks away from digging up and I'm hoping my second planting of beans will produce.
Here's how we've saved money around our home and garden -
* I made more raspberry jam using fruit from our garden.
* I baked wholemeal bread and rolls with extra goodness for our breakfasts ( as toast ) and for Darren to take to work at the hospital.
* I made a couple of big trays of zucchini slice using zucchinis, carrots and potatoes from our garden.
* We saved water in the kitchen from drink bottles, rinsing dishes and from the thermos. This was all poured onto the pot plants and strawberries on our deck.
* Saved the kitchen scraps and paper for our compost bucket. Every few days Darren emptied it into the compost bin outside.
* I picked a beautifully scented rose from the garden. It gave off a beautiful perfume in the kitchen.
* We filled our thermos each morning with boiled water for cups of tea during the day.
* I washed and reused ziplock bags for freezing fruit from our garden.
* I baked choc chip biscuits and cranberry hootycreek biscuit to take to Tasmania with us.
* We picked raspberries, lemons, silverbeet, corn, pears, a few potatoes and zucchinis from our garden.
* I bought a couple of Winter tops from Savers op shop and used a discount voucher to get 20% off.
* I made 2 lasagnes ( 1 large and 1 medium ) using 750 grams of beef mince and stretched it out with TVP, grated carrot and lots of shredded silverbeet. I portioned it out into 18 hearty serves. We had some for dinner that night and 16 serves went into the freezer.
* Dried all the washing on clothes horses outside. Our weather has either been hot or wet, so standing outside hanging washing on the line was not a great option.
* Reused bread bags over and over again for storing bread in the freezer, double wrapping meat in the freezer and then as bin liners in the bathrooms.
LINKS-
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| Homemade bread and raspberry jam |
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| From the garden |
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| Beautifully scented from our garden |
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| Using our thermos to save money |
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| Drying and reusing ziplock bags |
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| Luka on the plane with his little buddy |
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| Pears from our tree. |
How have you saved money this week ?
Have you bulk cooked any meals lately ?
I've had a few people ask for a picture of the solar lanterns we use. They were purchased from Bunnings but they are out of stock at the moment. They are really garden lights but we took the stake off them.
Luka looks so much like Darren. This would have been a great adventure for him! So lovely you could take him on the trip. That rose is Devine! Wendy your bread looks perfect. I have been re arranging, cleaning and a lot of cooking. I have apples from the tree and pears that have ripened. I am eating from the freezer mostly. Today I will figure out my goals for this week. xxx
ReplyDeleteI have always washed and reused my zip lock bags. I remember 50 odd years ago, my mum used to wash the flimsy vegetable bags and have them hanging on the line. When I do the washing up, once a day, I collect the getting warm water into a 3 litre milk container! This I use for my various inside and outside plants. I am just about to give dehydrating apples a go as we had such a bumper crop. Usually, I just stew and freeze but there are just so many! The zucchini, I either grate or slice and into the freezer.
ReplyDelete