The Week that Was - 23/02/2016

I didn't post an update last week, it was a busy week, with the Adelaide workshop happening on top of  a lot of other things. Let's just say it was a very busy week and I'm glad it's over.

This past week has been busy too, but usual busy.

I've made lots of pasta sauce. So far I've cooked 30 kilos tomatoes and bagged and frozen it in two cup lots.

We've continue to save shower water for plants, or adding to the washing machine or washing the floors. Someone asked me about using cold water to wash the floors - it's not! It goes into the steam mop to do the kitchen, bathroom and laundry floors on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On the other days I either tip it into the washing machine or use it to water the pot plants.

Cooked all our meals from scratch.

Bought broccoli for 99c/kilo. Five kilos blanched, portioned into meal sizes, vac sealed and into the freezer for winter.

Bought bananas for 39c/kilo. We're eating them this week instead of the other fruit. The apples will keep in the fridge for another week.

Bananas for 39c a kilo, a welcome bargain and blessing for our grocery budget

Used my mad money to buy a leg of lamb from Tasman. At $6.99/kilo it's the cheapest lamb has been around here for a long time. And it was a treat for Wayne. Sliced and froze the leftovers in gravy for another roast lamb meal next month.

Gratefully accepted some rosemary from Joy. I used some on the lamb roast and it was delicious. I keep opening the jar and smelling it. Freshly dried, it smells so much better than what you buy from the shop.

Carol brought us a big bunch of rhubarb and made Wayne's day. I used it to make a rhubarb crumble last night and Wayne has called dibs on the leftovers.

Wendy brought two big bags of groceries with her on Saturday. Some yummy cereal for me (and I'm keeping the single serves for when we travel for workshops ;) ), and my favourite tea (no longer available in Australia :( ) and a real treat that the boys just loved - kabana.

A gift of groceries from Wendy, including my very favourite tea that's no longer available in Australia

Maureen very kindly brought Wayne a gift of a Puffing Billy DVD, a train magazine and a beautiful model steam train that was her father's. He's still overwhelmed at her generosity and kindness and he's watched the DVD twice already. I know it will get at least another screening when his Dad arrives in a fortnight :)

Spent the day on Saturday with six wonderful friends, lots of talking, drinking tea, and laughing and a little card making done.

Some of the cards made at the February card making day

What I'm hoping to accomplish this week:

Pull out zucchini plants
Process any zucchini that are left
Trim the tomatoes
Finish making pasta sauce with tomatoes from garden - done at last!
Baking - whole orange cake, choc chip muffins, Lunchbox Cookies, boiled fruit cake
Make fig jam - waiting on figs from Mum's fig tree
Trim the roses along the driveway
Sort and tidy the kitchen dresser. Donate unwanted/no longer needed items. - done
Sort and tidy the spice cupboard - this is a priority job, it really is out of control
Sort and tidy the craft drawers - started. I keep getting distracted by ideas for blog posts and stopping to jot them down!

February Card Making Day

I've given in - no more straight sentiments on my cards :)

Last Saturday was the second card making day for 2016 and it was full on.

We started at 10am to give everyone time to work on current projects, do some embossing, punch some shapes or use the die cuts.

Pamela as always did a brilliant job of teaching us how simple materials we'd normally throw away can be turned into the most beautiful embellishments or even stand alone gift cards and tags. Maureen's were just gorgeous and she's posted photos of them in the Members Forum.

We had grand plans to get four cards made - oops.

I think we all managed to make at least three, including this cute pop-up balloon card. It was so easy to make, and quick too the second time. I've made three all together, that's how easy they are. No special tools required although a balloon shaped punch helps.

I've since finished this card with a stamped "happy birthday" sentiment on the inside

The scrap cards are anything but. They may be made out of scraps but they all looked sensational. I loved Carol's fan shaped card and have copied her idea using up scraps of pink and green paper I had. It's easy to do, just rectangles cut in half on the diagonal and stuck to a card starting at the centre and working out. Once all the paper pieces have been stuck on trim the edges with scissors or a blade. Add your embellishments and a sentiment and it's done. Working quickly it takes less than 10 minutes, working slowly you'd be hard pressed to stretch it out to 20 minutes, perfect for those times you need a quick card.

I've added a sentiment and some bunting to this card to finish it off - I'll post an updated pic soon.

The swap table was overflowing this month. Joy brought some beautiful rosemary that I used on Sunday night, our lamb was delicious. I keep opening the jar to smell it, much nicer than bought from the supermarket.

Anne gleefully received a huge salad/mixing bowl Carol put on the table, I can still see the smile on her face.

Pamela was able to take some glasses for her grandchildren (and I was glad to see them go, so much more space in the cupboard now).

Lots of groceries courtesy of Wendy.

Joy and Maureen brought lots of coloured paper and off cuts of cardstock and I think we all took a share.

Lots of embossing was done. Wendy and Pamela brought their Big Shots and I had the Cuttlebug out. Everyone brought along punches and dies to share. I think that may have been the most enjoyable part of the day for a few of us ;)

But really the highlight of the day was Maureen's sponge. We all enjoyed it and Wayne was a little excited to see there was some left that he had for dessert.

There were only seven of us this month, but we certainly produced a lot of work, especially considering the amount of talking and laughing we did.

I think this "scrap" card is my favourite from the day

And now I'll be waiting patiently for the March card making day, I'm just busting to learn some new techniques courtesy of Pamela.

Modern Take on a Needleworkers Chatelaine

Trash or treasure? In this case an old fashioned mug tree can be a Cheapskate's treasure - paint it to match your sewing room

Today's tip of the day is one that will help keep sewing and embroidery projects organised, even if you don't have a permanent sewing/craft table set up. I don't, but when I'm sewing I try to do a few things at once so the sewing machine, overlocker and sewing box are out and set-up for a few days.

This tip helps to keep track of my scissors, unpickers, tape measures etc. and it helps to keep the table tidy. I found my mug tree at the op shop for $1. A sheet of sandpaper, a tin of spray craft paint and some pretty decals from the $2 shop transformed it into something I am happy to look at.

Modern Take on a Needleworkers Chatelaine

This is a great hint for sewers who have a sewing room or craft table permanently set up. Use a mug tree (yes one of those horrid old fashioned wooden things from the '70s) to hang your scissors, tape measures etc. on. If you can find one of the older wooden ones with the knobbly end it stops things slipping off quite so easily. The more modern ones have either turned up ends or a rubber stopper type of thing on the end. You can often find them in op shops but they are also available in most department and homewares type shops too.
Contributed by Penny Pinchin' Mum

Update: How we're Managing on our New Budget

Home grown tomatoes cooking down slowly to become pasta sauce for winter

We're doing really well. So well in fact that somehow there's money left over!

My grocery budget is tight - $103.30 a month! That's half what it was when disaster struck and I was feeding two adults and two toddlers. And yet we haven't gone without anything, and while the stockpile is a little depleted, it's still looking very good.

Summer is helping. The garden has been a huge blessing. I've picked lettuce, capsicums, cucumbers, silverbeet, tomatoes, beans and eggplant every day for weeks.  That tonne of oranges I bought for 5 cents a kilo has meant I haven't had to buy much fruit either, just a couple of different pieces each fortnight for a little variety.  All those potatoes I bought have kept well too - we're on the last bag. Once they're gone I'll be shopping around but if the spuds are too expensive there is 35 kilos of rice to see us through.

This year we've had cucumbers,tomatoes, lettuce, capsicum, beans, parsley, basil and zucchini in abundance

I was talking to Wendy about the meat supply. I've bought a little mince and some chicken fillets since we started this challenging new budget, but nothing else. The freezer is still well packed with meat, chicken and fish though.  Every time I lift the lid I am amazed at just how much is left in it. We are eating from it regularly, I'm not skimping on  food just to save some money, and yet the freezers are still jam-packed full.

The new budget has changed my way of shopping. I go each Thursday and buy two bottles of milk and two loaves of bread. Once a month I've been doing my regular pantry/fridge/freezer inventories, checking the meal plan and writing up a shopping list of just what we need. If there's anything I have that can substitute something on the list, off it comes.

Shopping day is so easy, mainly because I'm only buying fruit, bread and milk - about two bags of groceries. So far the stockpile has supplied all our grocery needs just as I planned and it's still looking good. It was boosted by a gift of rice, noodles, seasonings and canned tomatoes before Christmas for which I am very, very grateful.

The stockpile pantry is still looking healthy - I haven't added to this pantry since mid-December.

I am out of dried onion flakes, so this means I'll either have to buy some (Hindustan sell onion flakes for $2.10/100g or $6.05/500g packet) or buy onions and dry them myself. The last time I bought onions they were 40c/kg - I saw then for $1/kg earlier this week. I'll shop around and see what they are at Pellegrinos and Bushy Park, then decide which way to go. I think though for the purpose of the exercise in this case buying the dried onion flakes will be cheaper.

The boys are pulling out some of the summer veggies and digging compost into the veggie beds for me so they'll be ready to plant for winter veggies. We eat a lot more veggies in winter and they will be expensive. I just know my budget won't stretch to give us the variety I like so we'll be growing more than usual this year.

The plan is to grow:

• Parsnips
• Swedes
• Peas
• Beans
• Silverbeet
• Broccoli
• Bok Choy
• Cauliflower
• Cabbage
• Chinese Cabbage
• Potatoes
• Spring onions
• Brown onions

Of course planting will be staggered throughout the rest of summer/autumn/winter. It's far too early to put potatoes and onions in, but I can get the beds ready and in the meantime grow something else in them.

Getting the winter veg started will take the pressure off freezer stocks (and me!).

All in all, so far this super-tight grocery budget hasn't been super-tight at all.

Teach Yourself to Crochet

I taught myself to crochet years ago, before YouTube was even a thought. I wish YouTube had been around - it would have saved me a lot of pulling out (of yarn and hair!).

Teach Yourself to Crochet Using YouTube!

Approximate $ Savings: $65 for lessons + $$$ for handmade clothing

I wanted to learn to crochet - though I wasn't sure if I wanted to outlay the cost of learning to crochet at a craft store in case I didn't like it. I Googled 'Learn to Crochet' - and came across some great You Tube videos teaching all the basic stitches! So I sat in front of the computer with You Tube playing and taught myself the different stitches for free! I then Googled "Easy Crochet Patterns" and came across some great websites. I bought the yarn at discount stores to begin with - in case they didn't turn out. So far I have made a scarf for myself for $3, and child's beanie for $5 and a baby blanket for a gift - which will cost me $12 in total! I am currently making a pair of baby 'ugg' style boots - again about $3 to make and made in about an hour! I get the patterns for free on the Internet - and if there is stitching or terminology I do not understand in the pattern I Google the name of the stitch with 'how to crochet' following it and I always find a website with photos on how to complete that stitch. I am definitely hooked on crochet now!
​Contributed by Nicole

Meal Plan Feb 14 - 20 2016

The discussion around the table this week has been mostly about what's for tea tonight seeing as I am actually in Adelaide for the You'll Fall in Love with Aldi workshop. Of course there were suggestions of fish'n'chips, kebabs, Indian takeaway - none of which are on my meal plan.

We compromised: I made a huge pasta bake and a green salad and left them in the fridge ready to be heated (the pasta bake, not the salad) and hopefully with leftovers and everyone is happy.

This week we will be eating (thank goodness for a cooler weather forecast):

Sunday: Roast Chicken

Monday: Vegetable moussaka

Tuesday: BBQ  sausages & salads

Wednesday: Satay chicken & fried rice

Thursday: MOO Pizza

Friday: Curried tuna slice & salad

Saturday: Muffin surprise

Dust African Violet Leaves

I'm trying this, I'll let you know how it goes. I have one African violet and I'm hoping to be able to strike more from it, so I need to keep it healthy and happy.

Dust African Violet Leaves

To keep your African violet plants healthy and help your plant to breathe through its leaves dust the leaves off periodically with a clean paint brush. When the plant's leaves are full of dust it cannot breath through its leaves and it cannot stay healthy. It really works! I have had no luck in getting blossoms on my African violet plants and now that I have been doing this they are full of blossoms.
Contributed by Jenny, Diamond Creek

​An Easy Way to Sort and Treat Stained Laundry

With a tradie husband and kids who play sport and me being a very messy cook and gardener, stains are inevitable. Unfortunately they always seem to happen on good clothes so I'm always looking for ways to treat them. I use Miracle Spray on most stains and fabrics (test it first if you're not sure) and Stain Removing Soap for those stubborn, older stains and the yellow underarm area on t-shirts.

A big help in getting rid of stains is finding them early. Jena's advice works - I've been doing this for years. I even have a stain bucket in the laundry and everyone knows to drop any stained laundry straight into it.

​An Easy Way to Sort and Treat Stained Laundry

Approximate $ Savings: $2.00 per week

​ Stains on clothes are much easier to remove if you find them before you wash, so hang a bag in the laundry for clothes with stains. The stain can be treated at once and not found after washing and drying. Even small children can recognise a stain and put their dirty items in the special bag. This saves double washing and allows stain treatment before it sets. Ordinary dish detergent is great for removing grease stains and some diluted in a spray bottle will make pre-treating easier.
Contributed by Jena

Baked Italian Salad

We love eggplant and this year the crop has been amazing. I've made lots of moussaka with it and frozen lots of diced eggplant for winter casseroles, but still it grows.

This salad is delicious and is a nice way to use garden produce. I love being able to pop out to the garden and pick fresh capsicum and eggplant and then use them straight away.

Baked Italian Salad

Ingredients:
1 medium yellow capsicum
1 medium red capsicum
1 medium green capsicum
1 medium eggplant
coarse cooking salt
1/4 cup olive oil
250g mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of extra olive oil
2 tablespoons of shredded fresh basil

Method:
Quarter capsicum, remove seeds and membranes. Grill capsicum, skin side up, until skin blisters and blackens. Peel skin away carefully. Cut eggplant into 5mm slices. Place eggplant slices on wire rack, sprinkle with salt, stand for 30 mins. Rinse slices under cold water, drain on absorbent paper. Place slices on oven tray, brush with oil, grill until browned on both sides, brushing occasionally with oil. Layer capsicum, cheese and eggplant in overlapping slices on ovenproof serving plate, drizzle with extra oil. Bake uncovered in moderately hot oven about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and capsicum heated through. Serve sprinkled with basil. For an interesting twist, replace the capsicum with Roma tomatoes and enjoy!

Doiley Dishes

A completed doiley dish - so pretty and so simple to make

I love doileys. I have them all over the place. Under photos, under vases, under the old scales on the kitchen dresser. I have them on our bedside tables and on top of the tall boy in the hallway. I've added them to pillowslips to pretty them up. I've cut them in half and used them to trim hand towels. Doileys are very useful decorative items.

One really cute way I've used them is to make dishes. Yes, real dishes. They can be used for sweets or nuts, they can be used in the bathroom to hold guest soaps or cotton balls. They can be used on your dressing table to hold jewellery (this is what I use mine for).

They are really easy to make, inexpensive and lovely.

If you're following Annabel's Christmas Challenge over at The Bluebirds are Nesting then they make gorgeous, unique and budget friendly gifts too.

You will need:
A doiley - lace or linen
A glass bowl
White glue (PVA glue)
Water

Step 1. Make sure your doiley fits over the upside down bowl.

Step 2. Measure equal quantities of PVA glue and water to make a thin paste. The quantities are going to depend on the size of your doiley, the bigger the doiley the more mixture you'll need.

Step 3. Soak your doiley in the PVA mixture. Gently squeeze the excess out so it's not dripping but still wet.

Step 4. Drape the doiley over the upturned bowl, situating it so it's even.

Step 5. Put the doiley draped bowl somewhere safe to dry. Allow to dry for 24 hours.

Step 6. After 24 hours carefully slip the doiley off the bowl and there you have it - your very own doiley bowl.

Get adventurous with your bowls. I love the doiley dish I made using a ridged bowl - the shape is just stunning and it was so easy - just make sure you press the doiley into the design on your bowl so it sets completely.

The week that was - 7th February 2016

These gorgeous birds and 13 other members of their flock kept us amused the last evening of our trip.

Back into the swing of things after our lovely week away.

Picked lots of tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant and beans from the garden.

Made a big batch of moussaka using the veggies I picked. Froze two large casseroles and six individual serves (these are great for the nights Hannah works late). These are totally free meals, a real blessing to us and our budget.

Donated another two boxes of kitchen items (glasses mostly) to the op shop. We have glasses coming out of everywhere. We've been married 27 years and I still have boxes of unopened glasses we were given as gifts. It's time to move them on.

Pulled the lettuce that had bolted out of the garden. Had AJ dig in some compost for me. I'm getting this bed ready to plant parsnips for winter.

The weeds went crazy in the paving while we were away so I put some vinegar in a spray bottle and I've been spraying them every second day. They're well and truly dead, ready to be swept away tomorrow.

Cooked all our meals from scratch using ingredients from the pantry and freezer.

Wiped over a cereal bag and then cut it into squares to use as freezer go between.

Made a double batch of burgers and used the cut up cereal liner to separate them while frozen.

Used veggie peelings to feed the worms.

Made a batch of yoghurt and flavoured it with passionfruit pulp - yum!

Rinsed a raspberry jam jar out with some milk, poured it into icy pole moulds and froze it. We had raspberry "ice-creams" for dessert on Wednesday night.

I've given in and now have an ironing lady. Well not really - my mother has early dementia and she is very bored. She's forgotten how to knit and sew, two things she has always done to keep her hands busy and is finding the days long. To keep her busy I take some ironing over to her and pick it up the next day. It also gives me the opportunity to check on her without "checking" on her. She's been much happier this week and I think it's because she feels needed. We don't really have a lot of ironing but it's an easy thing to do and it saves one of us a chore.

Filled both cars up with petrol using discount dockets when it was 95 cents a litre.

Caught the shower water and used it to water pot plants, floors and scleaning.

Re-hemmed some towels that had frayed on the side hems.

Tried a new recipe - Lime Chilli Chicken Wraps - family liked them so I'll add it to my regular recipes. Didn't have to buy a thing for it either - huge bonus to find new recipes that use ingredients on hand.

Downloaded 14 new free ebooks from hundredzeroes.com.

What I'm hoping to accomplish this week:

Finish the cards for the February card swap and get them sent off
Make three "thinking of you" cards and get them sent off
Pull out the finished beans
Trim the tomatoes
Make pasta sauce with tomatoes from the garden
Dice eggplant, capsicum and zucchini from garden and bag for casseroles
Give the citrus trees a spray with white oil
Dig more compost into the  gardens
Trim the roses along the driveway
Plant more lettuce and spring onion seeds
Make fig jam
Make riccotta
Baking- Whole Orange Cake, choc chip muffins, Lunchbox Cookies

That's what I hope to accomplish. What actually gets done may be totally different, but it's a starting place.

Meal Plan 7th - 13th February 2016

I use MOO tortillas to make soft tacos, filled with chilli mince and baked beans and topped with lots of fresh salad.

This week I've somehow managed to plan meals that will keep everyone happy.

Wayne loves his Sunday roast.
Tom loves his Tacos.
AJ loves kransky and potato bake.
Hannah loves cream cheese patties and salad.

As far as meals go I love that they're all easy and quick. Dinnertime in our house this week is going to be really, really easy.

This week we will be eating:

Sunday: Roast beef & baked veggies

Monday: Tacos

Tuesday: Kransky, potato bake

Wednesday: Cold roast beef & salad

Thursday: MOO Pizza

Friday: Cream cheese rice patties & salad

Saturday: BBQ  minted lamb chops & salads

You'll Fall in Love with Aldi

You'll fall in love with Aldi Adelaide

The Art of Aldi Shopping the Cheapskates Way Workshop

At last I can announce the details of this extra special workshop in Adelaide.

When: Friday 12th February 2016

Where: Aldi Hallet Cove, Hallett Cove Shopping Centre, Lonsdale Road, Hallett Cove

What time: 8:00pm - 9:30pm

Cost: $30 per person

What makes this workshop so special?

Well, apart from Wendy and me, we'll actually have the store to ourselves from 8:30pm!

Yes, you'll be able to shop.

Yes, there will be gifts and handouts and other fun stuff for everyone who comes along.

Yes, there will be someone from Aldi there to answer your questions.

Yes, places are limited - we can only have 30 participants at this workshop.

Yes, it will be worth it. Trust me - you'll fall in love with Aldi and if you're already an Aldi fan you'll fall even more in love with Aldi before the end of this special workshop!

Click here to book your seat!

Earning Pocket Money

Teaching our children about money and how to handle it to their benefit is hard! Children don't understand abstract ideas until they are in their early teens, so a concrete, hands-on, physical teaching aid is essential.

We've always encouraged our kids to earn their pocket/spending money and they've done so from an early age. We started them on pocket money and work around four years old, with simple, age appropriate chores that weren't things that should be done because they're a part of our family i.e. making beds, clearing tables, cleaning the bathroom etc.

Instead they had to do other work such as washing the car, gardening, helping with extra household tasks and so on.

I love Gary's idea of teaching his children to earn their pocket money, and encourage their entrepreneurial talents, they'll grow up with a wonderful worth ethic and a good appreciation of just how hard it is to earn the money they spend.

Earning Pocket Money

We have three children aged 6,8 and 9. One of my frustrations had been the weekly handing out of pocket money. Earlier this year I let the children know it would be a good idea to do something towards their pocket money, or even better still earn it themselves.

The kids threw in a few ideas of what they could do, most of which required mum and dad to pay. I then told them about the people in my office who daily buy coffee and cookies from a nearby coffee shop. As they were paying $1 for the cookies, I told the kids I was sure they would be happy to pay half that (50 cents). I told the kids I would ask my boss if it was OK to make cookies and put them in a container in the lunch room with a note asking for 50 cents towards the cost of each cookie. He said it sounded great to him.

Since then the kids (with help from dad) have been baking a selling about 60 choc chip cookies per week. The cost of the each cookie is about 20 cents, leaving 30 cents from each one to go to the kids. We are now experts and can make and bake them (60) in about 40 minutes.

We see three benefits:
1) have now saved on paying out pocket money
2)  the kids have extra money to spend or save
3)  the kids are learning that money is earned.
Contributed by Garry

Lemon Chicken and Parmesan Rissoles

These are delicious hot or cold, with veggies or a salad. Put them in a bun with lettuce, tomato and sliced red onion for a delicious chicken burger. They are quick to make, browned in hot oil before being baked in the oven.

Lemon Chicken and Parmesan Rissoles

Ingredients:
500g chicken mince
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs (fine - I whizz the bread in my food processor; white or wholemeal)
1 tbsp finely shredded fresh basil leaves (or 1 tsp dried basil)
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup plain flour
1 tbsp olive oil

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Combine all ingredients except plain flour and oil. Mix well. Divide the mixture into eight patties about 2cm thick. Coat in the plain flour. Chill for 30 minutes. Heat oil in a frying pan. Lightly brown patties on both sides. Transfer to a baking paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until cooked through.  Serve hot or cold.