Looking at Options

Hi Everyone,

Tonight was another frugal night. I played my Santana CD from the library and read my Money magazine also from the library. I placed sticky tabs on all the articles I want to revisit, copy or action before I return it. Once that was done I looked at last months Real Estate newspaper insert and Employment opportunities.

Quiet Time Readings.

I'm not job hunting right at this moment however it's good to look once in a while to see what is out there and what skills, experience and qualifications are required. As for Real Estate prices, they have really risen in the past 4 years but my pay packet hasn't. And from the Money magazine I learnt that Australia's Real Estate is very high in relation to our salaries and comparing to other countries. Boo-hoo :-(

I gotta keep being frugal if we want that simple house and early retirement. So at 10:30pm I decided to make 1 more batch of Organised Castles' fish patties to use up left over rice, fish and a small piece of spring onion. Tomorrow all of our lunch boxes will have fish patties and I've put some aside for my mum too. (The Rambling Expat has caught another fish that we will need to eat in the next couple of days.)

Another 16 Fish Patties Made.

It's just past midnight now. So a quick look at my fellow bloggers and bed it is. Chat to you tomorrow. Have a great evening or morning or whatever... depending on the time you are popping in :-) Goodnight...

Thanks For The Advice!

Hello all my Wonderful Blogland Friends,

I want to thank everyone for all the great ideas for the men's shirts. I'll be making a few things and I'm glad I didn't toss them out. So stay tuned :-)

A few days ago we had Barramundi for dinner and there was plenty left over. Organised Castle said I should try making fish patties. At first I thought "Nah - I'm too busy and it just seems too labour intensive for me". However as I had 30 minutes spare to cook dinner I decided to get my hands dirty and give it a go. I also didn't feel like doing my Sunday weekly menu plan / grocery shopping and we had leftover fish that needed eating. To top it all off The Rambling Expat was out fishing so there was a high chance of more fish coming through the door any minute. There was nothing to do but get to it, as I had all the ingredients on hand.

Fish Patties with Tomato, Cucumber, Avocado and Lime Salad.

I tweaked the recipe by substituting lemon for lime and adding turmeric, fennel, spring onions and extra rice. I took me 45 minutes from start to finish as I am a beginner "chef" and they were superbly delicious! We all loved them, had second helpings and would like to make more this week. I have even popped 2 into Dolly's lunchbox for school at her request.

Have you outdone yourself with a delicious meal made of leftovers lately?

Keep Me Rich, Keep Me In Butter

The Rambling Expat went curvet fishing so Dolly and I played with cream.

Dolly LOVES butter but HATES cream, so I showed her how to make beautiful rich butter in 15 minutes with half a small pot of full cream and 2 marbles.

Mmmmm - Who Ate The Butter!? Half Gone In A Flash.

We placed 2 clean marbles in half a pot of cream (plastic pot). And then we shook vigorously, counting for fun and taking turns when our arms were tired.

The cream got whipped and then it changed colour and separated. We emptied the buttermilk out and shook again. Emptied more buttermilk and rinsed our butter with water. We spooned it into our smallest Pyrex bowl and gently folded in a little grinded rock salt. We then placed it in the fridge to harden.

We've had it on toast, we've had it on potato. It is delicious and a great way to use up cream purchased at bargain prices. Also it's a fun and fascinating activity for children.

Are you ready to make some butter just for fun? Go on have a go and spread it thick!!!

Kitchen Cook Up

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all had great frugal fun day. As for me it was a long day... I returned to work, after 4 weeks of recreation leave. It was hard getting my brain focused on the job. I can't believe 2011 went by so quickly and my 4 weeks off went even quicker. I didn't do all the jobs on my To Do List. I actually hardly did any of them at all as I dashed from one activity to another for Dolly's enjoyment or experimented daily with procrastination.

Last night was a hive of activity in our home. Dolly, The Rambling Expat and I cooked as a family. We made potato and bacon frittatas for dinner. We've never made these before but wanted to see if Dolly would like them in her school lunchbox. While Dolly cracked the eggs and stirred, The Rambling Expat and myself chopped and grated to keep her bowl topped up with all the needed ingredients. Once in the oven Dolly and her Papa got onto to the business of playing.

While they played I chopped up left over choice pieces of chicken from the previous nights dinner. I added chopped tomato, cucumber and a dash of mayonnaise, salt, pepper. Mixed and stored in the fridge for the next days lunchtime sandwiches.

Lunch Prep

I placed the left over chicken bits and carcase in my slow cooker with water, ungrated potato ends from the frittata making, celery tops, 1 spring onion, 1 brown onion and a dash of salt/pepper. After 6 hours it was ready to be divided. Half went into a pyrex dish as stock to cook rice this week, the over half in another dish to be eaten as chicken/veggie soup.

Slow Cooking Stock and Soup.

Stock and Soup

Playing over, table set and the frittatas were sampled. They were a hit with the three of us. Unfortunately we used muffin baking trays which I did not grease beforehand so the frittatas stuck, causing angst in getting them out and Oh the drama of cleaning the trays. However as we made double quantity, half of the mixture was placed in a glass pyrex dish and into the oven. These slid out beautifully, no waste and cleaning was a breeze. So I think we will stick to using our pyrex dishes in the future.

Dolly's Dinner, Sampled and Loved. She ate it all!

I Love My Pyrex. Easy Cooking, Storing and Cleaning

2 hours of cooking and cleaning has resulted in 4 dinners and 1 lunch for us three. 2 frittata dinners (just add salad), 1 chicken soup dinner (just add carrot and beans), 1 chicken lunch filling (just add bread) and 1 chicken flavoured rice meal (just add rice).

One happy frugal productive evening :-)

How about you? Any additional cooking lately? Have you been bulking? Cooking any new meals?

Frugalicious Lunch

The party is over, the gluttony of the festive season has ended, The Rambling Expat had his birthday and now there are no more excuses until Dolly's birthday at the end of February and that will need to come from the weekly groceries budget.

Penny pinching does not mean unhealthy bland foods for us if we keep gardening. I want to show you the delicious lunch we had which cost us 1 cup of Rice, 1 table spoon of Olive Oil and 3 cloves of Garlic, the rest came from the garden.

The photograph is not magazine beautiful but the meal was an explosive taste of delicious flavours and extremely moorish. When I finished weeding, pruning and planting, I filled my basket with with just enough produce to make lunch for 3.

I stir fried in a little olive oil:

• garlic (shop bought)
• lemongrass (my plot)
• ginger (communal plot)
• chili (communal plot)
• chocolate mint (my plot)
• snake beans (my plot)
• brazilian spinach (my plot)
• basil (my plot)
• eggplant (my plot)
• malabar spinach (communal plot as mine has died)
• sweet potato leaves (friends plot)

Served on a bed of rice. (My rice bag was shop bought).

For dessert we had pawpaw with lime. The pawpaw was from the communal plot and the lime I found on top of our green waste pile. I don't know who threw it there or where it came from as I don't think there is a lime tree in the botanical gardens. But it was in perfect condition so I took it. And happy I was to do so, as I love lime squeezed on rice, fruit, veggies and in a glass of water.

Lunch for 3 cost about 50 cents and was delicious. Cutting back on food costs means we can still have a great lifestyle, be healthy and save for the important things in life such as Dolly's future education, retirement, cutting back on work hours and a house.

Are you doing some penny pinching too?

Christmas Day

Today was relaxed. Dolly woke at 7:30am and said "Do you think Santa has come yet?" I said go and see. So she ran into the lounge and found many small parcels from us and from Santa. Dolly played with her Papa, The Rambling Expat while I squeezed in a bit more sleep.

Then the 3 of us made a batch of fresh pesto for my mum's Christmas present out of yesterdays basil harvest. We used basil, chilli, Parmesan cheese, garlic, toasted pine nuts and virgin olive oil. Simple luxury that is delicious on pasta, rice, veggies and by the spoonful. Mmmmmmm. Cost about $10 to make a jar full (pine nuts and parmesan are expensive here).

We then headed to my mums house for a left overs lunch from last nights dinner of Roast Pork, potatoes and veggies. Simple and delicious. On our arrival Dolly discovered Santa had left her a present at Grandma's, her beloved Rapunzel! Dolly jumped up and down on the spot about 20 times in her overjoyed excitement.

As you can see from the tutu I did not craft as planned. I decided to tell Dolly, that Santa had given a plain tutu for her to embellish herself. This worked a charm and she is looking forward to crafting her tutu into a work of art. This will be a fun and frugal holiday activity.

We had a simple, stress free, easy day just hanging out with my mum eating and watching French TV. On our return home we did a bit more cyclone preparation in the back yard as the winds may affect us tomorrow however it's believed we will not be directly hit. Tonight I will curl up with a book or watch a DVD that I picked up FREE from a Giveaway box at the office. Frugal life is good.

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates this time of year. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my ramblings, inspiring me and making my late nights fun.

Dolly Made Dinner

Sunday afternoon was unpleasant as I have had a red puffed up irritated eye. I was hoping to just relax at the nice cool clean library while Dolly played and looked at books. But I had asked Dolly early on in the morning if she wanted to cook in the afternoon and she happily shouted "Yes!" So the library was ignored and cook she did!

I gave her the ingredients and talked her through the process. She rolled, cracked, grated, measured, stirred and poured. (The Brazilian Spinach from our garden was placed uncooked in the mix).

All Mixed and Ready to Bake.

Mmmmmm, Dolly on Her Way to Master Chefdom.

 2 hours from her commencing, we ate and it was delicious. The spinach leaves peeking out of the quiche were thin and crackly. Just divine.  The best part is she said to me "I don't like spinach". To which I replied "But you LOVE spinach quiche you make yourself" and to that, my influenceable daughter replied "Oh yes, that's right" and gobbled it all up :-)

It then rained, so to end our day we went puddle jumping and umbrella twirling. It was so much fun. Loving the simple things in life and the changes in weather. The library was not missed. My eye was irritated either way and my 4 year made our family the most yummy frugalicious dinner. I am living the good life on days like this and Dolly is skilling up for life.

Do you have tricks to get your family to eat their greens? Any skills your children are eager to learn? Have you been jumping in puddles lately?

School Outing

Tonight, Grandma, The Rambling Expat, myself and our Dolly headed to her school for 2 hours of fun and feasting. The teachers and teacher assistants organised a evening of active games for kids and parents alike. Fun was to be had.

Each family was asked to bring a plate to share and everything was spread on 2 large tables. (Delicious, there were many talented cooks.) Being time poor, as the event started at 5:30pm and I didn't get home from work until 5:30pm, I made these in a jiffy - they only took me 20 minutes.

Shaped Up - Ham and Cheese Sandwiches.

I had purchased the freshest bread I could find in the supermarket just a few minutes earlier. I filled them with sliced cheese and champagne ham. One side was white bread the other wholemeal bread. I cut a few triangles but mainly stars and hearts for the littlies enjoyment. The ham was expensive as I wanted good quality - this plate of sandwiches came to roughly $12. Just a little over my aim of $10 but super quick to make and my plate came home empty, which is always a relief.

The best bit of the Evening. Dolly and I entered a Piggy Back Obstacle Course Race. I being the loud show off I am, yelled out a few times, as I ran "We are the Crazy Cowgirls". Dolly laughed in loud giddy excitement all the way. That makes my heart very Happy. I wasn't a dainty pretty sight (all that weight piled on in my office job and non stop grazing) but I'm soooooo happy I've got the guts to let loose and be silly with my favourite girl.

We Are The Crazy Cow Girls.

Do you still have the guts to do silly stuff too? Sometimes I forget to just let go and have childish fun :-(

My Dolly Has Caviar Taste

This week 4 year old Dolly asked me for caviar sushi for her morning tea lunchbox. So I obliged. I calculated it cost roughly $7 to make 3 full nori rolls. One for each of our lunch boxes. A special treat and much cheaper then a take away shop.

A Life Of Luxuries on the Cheap

Mmmmmm.

I know sushi is not really a morning tea item - but it's healthy and Dolly loves it - so why not... Her lunch box never comes back home with sushi left overs. They also don't take me long to make. Once the rice is cooked and cooled, they only take me a couple of minutes to fill and roll.

I have also discovered that I don't need the extras such as the bamboo mat. I just place my seaweed sheet on a chopping board. Press the rice down with a wide plastic spoon. Top with filling and roll. Easy Peasy.

In the next couple of weeks I will post photographs of me making sushi. I will also try and attempt a You Tube video! Now that is a Super Big Aim.  :-)

Any Scary Big Aims in Your life?

Junk Food Dinner & Great Homemade Lunch

Hello everyone. Thanks for popping in and reading about my highs and lows in my frugal eco quest. I love comments and questions so feel free to click on the comment link. I enjoy Blogging, its a fun creative outlet and as for reading blogs - It's bordering on an addiction!!! But I learn so much from everyone and take on some peoples tips into my own life. So thanks for being readers and thanks also to those who have blogs, this is a very cool community to be part of.

Tonight we ate rubbish. We had McDonald's. We wasted our money and health. But we don't do this weekly as we used to. It's roughly a once a month affair now. I should put it on the calendar to keep real tabs on it and make sure I'm not tricking myself. Since we started the 40 minute clean up every night, better calendars and organisation are becoming possible and achievable.

Even though our dinner was rubbish we did have nice lunches to take to work and school. I make quick easy simple sushi in just a few minutes. I simplified the recipe and made it super basic. I just filled the Nori Rolls with rice (sprinkle of vinegar), tinned tuna and mayonnaise (with a dash of chilli for the adults). Dolly was so thrilled she said "No ones ever taken sushi to school in their lunch box! I'm going to be the first one ever!!!" I also added a snake bean and some berries from the Botanical Gardens for vitamin and colour in her sweet 2 tiered lunch box from Grandma.

Child size portion for Dolly.

Pleasing my family makes me happy. And pleasing myself with some inexpensive sushi for lunch is an extra bonus.

Any quick simplified exotic delights in your lunch boxes or dinner table?

When I'm Tired

Yesterday I felt deflated, tired and run down. No everyday is a rosy day and sometimes it all seems hard. And it is hard... to be a grown up, managing a home, organising a child and going to work everyday. Especially when you want to lead a life with minimal take out meals and a reduced ecological footprint - it takes a little bit more of an effort to not be wasteful.

Due to feeling blah and overwhelmed I decided to make a healthy dinner of salad only, instead of following my menu plan. So with a Lebanese cucumber from my garden and a green cucumber from Lesley's garden plot as a salad base, I chopped away and made a scrummy super healthy mood enhancing salad. I included with the 2 cucumbers:

• half an apple, 
• 1 large tomato, 
• 1 carrot, 
• 2 snake beans and
• a tiny bit of grated cheddar heese. 

From my fridge I used some tasty left over olive oil from a jar of feta cheese and a little left over vinegar from a jar of pickled onions. (Don't throw these out when the contents are finished - the oils and vinegars can be tasty and handy to use). The 3 of us really enjoyed the refreshing scrunchy salad and it's a great way to get raw veggies into my family.

Fresh, Quick and Healthy.

Lesley had kindly given me one of her green cucumbers because someone had taken one from my garden plot. It's frustrating and disappointing to have my limited produced taken by botanical garden visitors but that's what happens with gardens in public areas and I knew this would happen so will just need to try and grow more. And hopefully people who visit the gardens will be inspired to grow their own too just as I was.

My Lebanese Cucumber

Here's Dolly's lunch box number 2 for preschools morning tea. Butterfly sandwich with cheddar cheese and vegemite, a snake bean, a bit of chopped up carrot and 2 strawberries gifted from our neighbour Mr T. This term her class will be joining the main school for assemblies to get them into the habit of sitting and listening and integrating. My girl is growing so so so fast. I can't wait for next year where I will cut back my work hours by 2 hours per day so I can spend more time with her. At present she has been fighting me on nearly everything. It's exhausting and makes me feel sad. I never had any trouble or terrible 2's with her but boy-oh-boy is 4 turning her into a rebel (just with me)! I need to see it as her testing her own voice and hopefully she will turn into a leader and not a push over with others.

Morning Tea.

Oh and by the way, the snake was back on my eggplant again!!! He likes me and seems to want to stay living at my plot. I have found out from The Rambling Expats Snake Expert friend that he is definitely a tree snake and non venomous.

Snake in my eggplant. Here to stay?

Are some days hard for you too? What do you do if it's all just too hard?

Wednesday Night's Dinner

A put a little olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and raw peanuts in my wok. I sliced up a left over cooked lamb chop and mixed it in. Added left over broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. From the garden I added purple spinach (still don't know it real name) and some Rosella (Hibiscus Sabdariffa) leaves (which I recently learnt I can eat - And I LOVE them!)

Woked it all Up

Plated up for the 3 of us, with a cup of rice and garnished with eatable Rosella flowers that are full of vitamins.

Dolly's Mini Portion.

I'm happy when the left overs are used up and the fridge looks tidy. Less waste is so much better for our environment and my purse is much happier too! 


How have you been going with your left overs?

Gardening and Cooking

I'm always so busy with my active 4 year old, but I was able to get some minimal gardening and cooking done today. I say minimal because one of my stitches is infected, red and sore - so I didn't want to put extra strain on it by moving and stretching too much.

There was a meeting and Working Bee at the Botanical Gardens Permaculture Garden Plots. It was great, I learnt a whole lot from the Botanical Garden staff and the other "plotters" on what I can grow and what is eatable in the garden.

The "plotters" are a varied bunch of people. And varied means that everyone has different techniques and styles and best of all grow different things. I love it so much. I'm really enjoying this new project in my life. It makes me feels very happy indeed to grow some of my own food! Here is a pic my stash that I was gifted or that I harvested to cook up this week.

• Lemon grass.
• Basil.
• Thai Coriander.
• Brazilian Spinach
• The green - purple leaf (a type of spinach).
• The lush green vine and leaves (another type of spinach).
• Ginger root.
• Turmeric root.
• The 1 vine with a few green leaves Chinese Allspice.
• Pumpkin vine tips.
• Sweet potato vine tips.
• 1 Chili.

You can click on the image to see it bigger. I will eventually learn all the correct names for the vegetables and herbs and let you know the correct names as I progress.

Lovely Lush Garden Stash.

I also made and cooked 2 kilos of potato and pumpkin gnocchi. Tossed it with butter, olive oil, rock salt, garlic and Garden Basil. I'm slow at everything so this took me HOURS to make.

Cooking from Scratch

My partner the Rambling Expat was also frugal active today, he went fishing and was stalked: Read about it HERE.

What frugal activities have you been up to? Did you get stalked too?