Bring on the spring - chicken pie and pea shoots for tea?

Well I'm bang on for timing, but a little late given I'm heading off in 4 weeks for an extended break.  Today I popped some seeds into seed raising mix and they are now ready to germinate under a plastic shopping bag that is operating as a frost resistant hothouse.

I've used seed gathered from broccoli that went to seed.  Unfortunately I dont know the type of broccoli so I have not idea if the plants will be true to plant I got them from, or revert to some spindly species that is quite simply a waste of time and space.

There was a lot of varience in the quality of the seed.  I'd left them to dry in their pods and some had dried and obviously had no life in them.  Others were black and firm and 'plump', as plump as a broccoli seed can be anyway.

So its a bit of an experiment.  They've got 4 weeks to germinate and then I'll pop them in the ground (under glass for the lucky ones).  I will dig over their patch in the next week or 2 as I have green manure plants in them.  I'm probably a little early, but hey, the seasons are pretty screwed up and this is seeming to be a mild winter.

Iceburg lettuce have also gone in as seeds, but not seed I've collected.  I have to say I am totally experimental in the seed saving business - as I learn more I'll write more.

Happy gardening!!

BTW - its pretty heart breaking to get all the timing right, the plants are growing beautifully (my peas), and the chooks get in and rip it all to shreds!!  Chicken pie for tea??

Whoo hoo! I've saved $3,000 since Feb and it didnt affect our standard of living!!

Well I've done it - I've saved back the money spent on my pets surgery - $3,000 in 5 months!  The plan was to now go ahead and get the bathroom renovated but as we are about to take an extended holiday . . . . well lets see how much extra $$ are in the 'kitty' at the end of the trip.

So here we go, I promised my self I wasnt going to do another entry until the final $496.50 had been saved - so I will start with the modest savings, and keep going on all that's been saved in the last 2 and a half weeks.  Here we go . . .

#71 - $10 saved on hiring DVD's from the State library rather than Video City.  I dont think I'll send Video City broke, but there are some good finds in the State library - and they are totally free

#72 - the spring flowers are now in - even though we are into the thick of winter and every other person seems stricken with the flu.  The mornings are chilly with frost in the yard and snow on the mountain - but the spring flowers - daffodils, eggs and bacon, camilias are optomistic reminders that the spring is coming!  I've saved $25 over the last 2 weeks by finding flowers in the garden, and around the neighbourhood (over the fence).

#73 - I'm still avoiding the bakery - the kids dont even ask anymore - this saves around $15 / week, so $30

#74 - early pickups from childcare over the last week have saved around $25 (picking up 1 minute after 5 costs an extra 30 minutes than 1 minute before 1 x 2 kids - it all adds up!)

#75 - reduced BIKRUM classes again - I've been really enjoying spin classes and bike riding in general - I've missed 3 classes in the last 2 weeks, but 1 was because I was away - so 2 missed classes = $32

#76 - sold some clutter - 1 unused cot (unused for 8 months or so), and 1 bassinet (unused for 3 and half years!!!!)  I was offered less than my asking price, but I help firm and now have $210 in my pocket and more space in the house

#77 - compared business insurance and saved $80 over 2 years (and feel I got a better policy more importantly)

#78 - soft drinks - prepurchased in can form - saves $3 / day instead of buying from the shop - over 3 weeks thats $42

#79 - I went to Melbourne for a business seminar.  I find any kind of jaunt away from home can really blow a load of cash, but with a bit of planning you can save hundreds.  This is what I saved - and these are real savings, because I'm comparing things to they way I used to do things before I decided to claw this money back
I used to taxi to accom - now I bus - saved $33 each way - $66
I used to buy breakfast - now I take muslea with me  saved $10 / day - $20
I'd usually eat out somewhere nice - I got a more than satisfactory dinner for less than $20, so I probably saved $20
(I travelled late, to save 1 meal altogether)
I took my own tea and travel mug - saving $4 / day $8
(and I won $11 at Crown Casino - but I wont count that :))
                                                                                                  $$114 - over 2 days!
Ironically saving money was one of the topics covered at the course - the pay for the next course . . . . I told the presenter I had been blogging ways to save $$ for months now.  He looked at me as if I was nuts!!


NUTS I MIGHT BE BUT I HAVE DONE IT!!  I'VE SAVED OVER $3,000 IN 5 MONTHS, WHICH I MIGHT ADD WOULD GO A LONG WAY TO PAYING FOR THE NEXT COURSE, A NEW BATHROOM, AN AWESOME ADDITION TO A BRILLIANT HOLIDAY, OR SURGERY FOR YOUR BELOVED PET.  The choice is ours, the money is there!

As I sit hear I can hear the contented purr of my 3 legged cat - I really can.  She has a wonderful life, she is much more pampered now - we baby her, brush her, buy her favorite food (which happens to be chicken necks which is great for her health) and generally enjoy her alot more than before she got sick.  I hate my old bathroom, but I love my cat!

Vegetarian Fritatta and rye bread

In the spirit of "eating down the larder" I have cooked this delish fritatta and rye bread.  I dont know how long I've had that rye flour, but I had lovely rye bread in a resturant last night and it has motivated me to cook it up!

This fritatta basically the recipe on the back of the Sanitarium Nutolene product that is a great source of protein should you be a flesh free type

I was going to just add the link to the Sanitarium website - knowing that copyright is an issue when you pop up recipes that are not your own, but the site didn't have the recipe, but the back of the can did.  It's a fairly generic recipe anyway - and you can change the vegies added to grated carrot, zucchini, tomato, mushies, what ever you like, but heres the recipe I used

500 gm sweet potato and 300 gram potato - sliced, chopped and steamed
add to 6 eggs, beaten
cup of spinach (I used asian greens)
1/4 cup grated cheese
small red onion chopped
1/2 can on nutolene chopped

cook in  pie dish or cake tin for about 30 mins

This is enough to feed a family or do you for lunches for a week.

Here is the link to the rye bread recipe I am making

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/22375/rye+bread

Its the second time I've made rye bread and last time it turned out really heavy - this dough seems lovely and light, so I am optomistic it will be delish!

EMPTY THE LARDER!! Save $$

I mentioned last week that as part of my money saving regime and in the lead up to an extended holdiay I was going to try to empty the larder - there's lots of bits and pieces in the pantry that could do with using up - they are not family favorites, so they tend to just sit there . . . . waiting until they expire.  Well its 7 weeks until we go away so I thought I'd have a look through and come up with a 'different' that is, irregular meal for 1 meal / week.  This way we will:

• save $$
• try some new
• waste less and
• emptry the larder

Here's my meal plan.  Incidentally I think the biggest saver of $$ is meal planning.  Dont buy what you dont need over the next week - it reduces waste - particularly of things with short expiry dates, and it means you are always eating fresh food.  All I do is forward plan the main meal for 7 days, and this saves time too as I can forward cook on the weekend, and make sure we have the ingrediants - no last minutes menu changes

Here's what I came up with:
week 1 - cannelloni - I've had these pasta shells for ages - it's time to cook them!
week 2 - gnocchi - likewise - sitting in the cupboard . . . waiting to be eaten
week 3 - dahl - its a tough sell with a carnovoric husband, but once over 7 weeks is do-able
week 4 - something with green lentils.  Hubby bought green lentils when I went flesh free over Feb - I've never used green lentils, ever, so I'll have to find a recipe
week 5 - falafel - Falafel has its origins in  . . . .(forgive me if I'm wrong - Lebanon??)  Its a delicious chick pea based ball, you can have them in a roll up kebab with salad, cheese, yogurt + garlic dip - that'll be popular.  You can buy the mix boxed up, add water, roll into a ball, lightly fry.  YUM!
week 6 - Vegetarian Frittata - also a leftover from my flesh free Feb, a can of soy based product that can be turned into a Frittata.  I Might even cook that up for lunches one week
week 7 - spring rolls - we have the casings - and some vermacelli, - it'll make for a fun dinner as you can lightly fry them, or not.  I also have a box of prawn crackers - they can be friend up for a special treat too.

I'll post up each recipe in the "KITCHEN" page.

How to save $3,000 . . . . so close!!

With $650 to save before I meet my target I wanted to think up a few new ways over the next few weeks.  Here's what I came up with.

#66 - dont you love fresh flowers!  I decided it would be a lovely thing to have in the house so I popped around the garden, into the bush, over the fence (not stealing) and came up with a lovely bunch of native flowers that are bright and cheerful and havent set off anyone's hay fever
Saved $13 last week, and I'll do it again this week - so thats $26

#67  -  I'm off on a 2 day conference in a few weeks time and as I bought my discount tickets a few things happened - the price kept going up - extra baggage i didnt want, extra insurance i didnt want . . . it added up to an extra $30 / flight.  So that's $60 saved, because I didnt want / or need it.  I also saved $8.50 by using direct debit rather that credit.  But when the direct debit info did not come through I used my credit card before my flight on 'hold' was released - and yipee for me - no $8.50 charge :).  $8.50 just to use my credit card on an $85 flight!!  Seriously!  so that's $68.50!

#68 - another made lunch on a mega busy day - Saved $10

#69 - bypass the bakery, dont buy any takeway drinks - $27

#70 - more than anything I'm far too busy - missed bikrum x 2 this week - saved $32 - but did make it to spin x2 @ no charge cos that membership is given to me as part of my job  :)

So this week I saved $163.50  -   off my balance of $650  -  $$496.50 to go

Using up the spuds - potato pie

This week is use up the spuds week - they were dug up in Feb and despite proper storage in a dark dry space they are starting to shoot and wrinkle.  So this week instead of spag bol, its potato pie

You need
1 onion
1/2 kilo mince
a few vegies suitable for a pie (I used mushroos, silver beet and tomato)
enough spuds to cover the pie - once mashed
1 beef stock cube
gravey
relish
garlic - if you like garlic

Lightly fry onion, add the garlic (about 1 tabs), add mince and fry until brown.  Add vegies as you go, choped nice and small.  Add gravey (I used 4 tabs and about 1 1/2 cups water mixed first, then added.  At this point to me it didnt really taste yum, so I added 1 stock cube and empied some older relish jars (about 1/2 cup or relish all up) and now its very tastey.

Cook spuds, drain and mash, add some milk and cheese. (dont let the pot boil dry :))

Pop the meat in a pie dish that has been lightly basted with oil.  Spread the spud mix on top and lightly grill so it browns off.  Eat with vegies!