This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 9th November 2024

It's been a busy week in the kitchen.  Megan and I went to Costco on Monday and I decided to purchase 5 cooked chickens.  They sell for $6.99 each which is a bargain compared to supermarket prices of $12.50.

With all this lovely chicken on hand Darren and I spent some time pulling all the meat off,  portioning it then freezing most of it.  I think I have enough chicken meat to see us through Summer.  Then for the next two days I had both the slow cookers going with the bones in to make delicious rich chicken stock.  This has been frozen too so I guess you could say that I'm all stocked up on stock.

Here's what else we've been up to -

*  I made just over 2 jars of lemon butter using lemons from our tree ( the juice came from the freezer ).

*  Every couple of days Darren emptied the kitchen compost bucket into the compost bin outside.

*  We saved the shower warm up water each day and used it to water many plants outside.

*  I picked silverbeet,  sugar snap peas and lettuce from our garden.

*  On Cup Day ( Tuesday ),  we made a trip down to Phillip Island with Megan and our three grandchildren.  We had fun at the beach climbing rocks and looking into rock pools.  Luka made a little pool in the sand while Bryson had fun splashing in the water.  We took my homemade wholemeal rolls and picked lettuce from the garden to add to the lunch ( salad rolls ).  I took water bottles and ANZAC biscuits for everyone.

*  I dried all the washing outside either on the line or clothes horses.

*  I cleaned a couple of pairs of sneakers ( runners ) that were looking a little rough and soaked the laces in bleach.  While the shoes don't look new,  they certainly look much better and cleaner.

*  I made about 8 litres of chicken stock.  This has been portioned up and frozen for future soup making during the cooler months next year.

*  I bulk cooked honey mustard chicken and chunky chicken soup.  Both have been portioned up and frozen into single and double sizes.

*  I baked ANZAC biscuits for morning teas and the day trip.

*  I donated a bag of unwanted items to Savers and received a discount voucher.  I then bought a few items of needed clothing and used the discount voucher to get them cheaper.

LINKS -

Lemon Butter

ANZAC Biscuits

Honey Mustard Chicken

Chunky Chicken And Veggie Soup

Wholemeal Bread With Extra Goodness

Homemade lemon butter

Portioning up the chicken meat

ANZAC biscuits for morning teas and picnics

What homemade treats do you like to take on picnics ?

How did you save time,  money or energy this week ?

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 2nd November 2024

 We've had some beautiful Spring weather this week. It's been wonderful to get out in the garden to pull weeds,  plant more seeds and pick bunches of flowers.  Darren and I feel truly blessed to have a backyard to grow,  sow,  pick and eat from.

Here's how we saved money this week -

*  I  made up a bottle of surface spray using water from the kettle and a dash of dishwashing liquid.  I keep one bottle in the kitchen and another in the laundry ( for bathrooms and toilets ).

*  I spray painted a serviette holder that had turned yellowish with age.  It now looks like new.  I also spray painted a blue trinket dish that I no longer liked the color of.

*  To start being prepared for the many occasions in the lead up to Christmas,  I made a double recipe of chocolate brownies.  Most of it has been frozen.  In the coming weeks I plan to make and freeze lots of biscuit dough,  cakes and slices.

*  I made three loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.

*  Darren and I staked up our tomato plants.  We reuse the same stakes year in,  year out.  When the stakes start to split with age,  Darren saws off the split end to make shorter stakes.

*  I've planted zucchini,  cucumber and Jap pumpkin seeds as well as more sprouting potatoes.  I've also planted more dwarf bean seeds where there were gaps under the tomato plants.

*  The kettle was cleaned with citric acid to get rid of the mineral deposits.

*  While I had the oven on for the bread,  I baked 10 wholemeal rolls for Darren's lunches.

*  I made 10 bars of lemon verbena scented soap.  I love anything lemon scented and this soap smells amazing.

*  Because it's the start of the month,  I've cleaned the dishwasher with bi carb and vinegar.  I also used the homemade surface spray to clean around the door.

*  I  made up a big bottle of foaming handwash to refill the soap pumps around our home.

*  I mended a pair of sandals that were starting to fall apart.  The glue I used is called Shoefix and works really well.

*  We picked lettuce,  silverbeet,  sugar snap peas and lemons from our garden.

*  I made a bulk amount of spag bol sauce and added silverbeet,  TVP and grated carrot to bulk it out.  From 750g of beef mince I got 15 serves of the sauce.  Most of it has been frozen for future meals.  This will be great over the Christmas / New Year /  Summer period.  

LINKS -

Wholemeal Bread With Extra Goodness

Chocolate Brownies

Spag Bol

Planting sprouting potatoes

Cleaning the dishwasher filters

Lemon verbena scented soap

Bulk chocolate brownies

Have you started baking or freezing extra goodies for the Christmas period ?

How have you saved time,  money or energy this week ?