In my kitchen January 2015

I'm really happy to say that my blogging mojo has come back from it's hidding place and I'm loving the process and the way it makes me live more mindfully purely by the process.  Last year I felt paralised by judgement, I'm not sure if putting a blog page on facebook was what started the feeling but I've put an end to that and I'm not worrying about keeping up with others blogs and more invested in how it makes me feel.  And that is, happy.  It really gets my creative juices flowing in a way I've never felt, other than my new love affair with crochet.  I guess this is what people have been trying to explain to me for some time about living your passion.  

I did also have a ripper of a year health wise and not in the good sense, you can read about what that is here and that still plagues me daily, but I'd rather not dwell on that here.

I did also struggle with content last year as I felt I had said so much of what I believe and the way we live.  None of that has changed.  I didn't want it to be stale and the same old types of photos, so I've been looking at joining in some other blogs with a kitchen or crochet theme for inspiration.

I've come across this link up with in my kitchen with Celia from fig jam and lime  that I thought would be fun to do each month.  I'm also a closet voyeur so the thought of looking into other peoples kitchens appeals to me!!  

I'll pop the lid on the crochet one soon....

So here is my first attempt at "in my kitchen at the moment"...although a lot of the goodies have been eaten from Christmas that I was given but heres a peep!!! 

In my kitchen at the moment....I am crushing on this coconut oil big time.  I'm having it mixed in yoghurt, on rice cakes with banana and peanut butter (trust me it is my favourite indulgence), cooking with it as it has a high smoking point, adding to steamed greens and I've popped a jar of it by my bedside table to put it on my dry hands and feet before bed.  I also love the jar and it's a reasonable price at just under $12 from my local GoVita health food store.

After all the Christmas over indulgence, my body is craving healthy food.  I'm not gluten intolerant but I just am less bloated if I limit my intake.  I'm into rice cakes with everything from the above mentioned peanut butter, sliced banana and a smidge of coconut oil(there's a picture of this with some home grown sliced strawberries for a breakfast below), to these that were hummus, avocado, grated carrot, slivers of christmas ham, cos lettuce and a squeegy of balsamic glaze.  I'm also having a few miso soups on the side instead to limit my caffeine intake.

On a shelf in my kitchen is a picture of my husband and daughter in Grieve in Chianti, Tuscany many years ago.  It keeps my memories alive.  We had coffee, many gelato, cakes, biscuits, pasta dishes, Chianti wine, salami's, breads and conversations in this town square we called home for a week.  There is also a little bird that I brought for a friend and I to share one each as a symbol of our friendship no matter how far apart.  A stack of inspiration cards sent to me by another dear friend, I change them everyday with a shuffle and see what that day's words will inspire me with.  Today's say "derive strength from those that love and support you".  There is also a vintage bowl and tiles that just make me happy sitting up there too.

In my kitchen are these words that are mounted on the wall....not that I need reminding, surprise surprise!!

In my kitchen is a Christmas foodie gift of red onion marmalade and chutney...I'll save these for a rainy day slow cooked casserole in winter I think.

In my kitchen fridge are a few of my condiments of the moment.  From left to right: The last of my chutney, some chutney from another dear friend - beetroot and raspberry, my absolute must have is lanas garden rhubarb sauce.  It's like a really, really good bbq sauce.  I add it to everything, and lastly this aioli "Blessed and lucky" made with free range eggs.  Oh and can't forget some of hubby's red onions.

In my kitchen there is some crochet paraphernalia, a spin cushion I made for the darning needle I kept losing and my latest project slowly taking shape, an elephant I picked up in Thailand last year and a few sentimental things. 

In my kitchen, sitting up high, are my nan's old scales that I cherish but don't use.  I thought it deserved a sepia photo seeing as they are over 70 years old.  I'd love to know their cooking memories.

And lastly in my kitchen are a jug of freshly picked basil leaves from the bountiful crop outside.  I love the smell of them, but they are also added into lots of my salads at the moment.

So that's it for this month, that was fun...until next time.

Ciao, Jan x

garden happenings and the last of the December photo a day challenge

Short and sweet ramblings today....Here is the final days of the photo a day for the month of December.  I've noticed it has gone from a month long challenge to a weekly one.  You can check it out here if you are interested.

Day 29:  "I need less of this" I will be trying

Day 30:  "us"

Day 31:  "my best bit of 2014" learning to be a hooker :D

I thought I'd also share some special garden moments that happened over the past few weeks.

There is no picture of the first tomatoes as they were greedily eaten before I even thought of getting a photo of them.  Gosh, I wish you could taste them.  They were picked on a hot summers day, still warm from the sun and even though it had a hint of orange, not the perfect red hue, it was sensational-juicy and sweet as a lolly.

First of the zucchinis and the last of the parsnips - these were made into sea salt and chilli chips as a little appetizer before dinner one night

my first apricot....I've been lovingly nurturing these along, covering from the birds but the winds we experience over the Christmas period I couldn't control.  Nevermind...walking out and picking my breakfast never tasted so good

 a new lot of beetroot, cos lettuce, and leeks coming on

I spy with my little eye....

the next lot of spinach coming up

Cavolo nero my fav leafy green...I've been lightly boiling it with other leaves (beetroot leaves, spinach, kolrabi), drain, get as much water out as you can and mix with a good tablespoon of coconut oil, salt and pepper - delicious and something I'm never tired of

I can't wait to go out and pick tonights dinner, what ever that may be :D

Ciao, Jan x

making stock

Making stock isn't rocket science but it will save you both time and money in the kitchen.  If you have a local butcher, if you ask nicely, you might even get your bones for free.  I made around 4 litres of chicken stock for around a dollar that's far cheaper than the liquid stocks available ~ it would be around $12 for the supermarket variety.

Leave it for a day when you are home for awhile and let it bubble away doing the work for you.

Chicken stock

4-6 chicken carcasses or a big load of chicken necks

2 carrots roughly chopped

3 stalks of celery and the butt end roughly chopped

3 brown onions, skin and all, roughly chopped

2-3 dried bay leaves

small bunch of fresh thyme or rosemary

10 peppercorns 

• Place all ingredients into a good sized large saucepan. Cover them with water.  For a darker stock, you can roast the bones first if you have time.
• Bring to the boil and allow to simmer away for 4 hours or so.  
• Skim off any skum/fat/impurities that rise to the surface.
• Strain and place into zip lock bags or containers into the freezer or of course use straight away

This basic recipe I will be using for my slow cooker which will be getting a strong workout this winter.  I've created a 'slow cooker' side bar which I'll be adding to over the coming weeks.  I get asked a lot for! slow cooker recipes and advice on how to use them, so I'll get cracking.  For those of you who are scared of them or haven't dusted your old crockpot off in awhile, get them out.  Just think of them exactly the same as a casserole dish sitting in a low oven, they need time and do all the work for you.  

Ciao, Jan.

P.S. It's week 24 of the 52 week money challenge :D

this simple life - Part 5 lunchbox dazzlers

How many of you are dreading school going back next week? Or is this your first school year? If so, good luck!! Or it could be going to work and wanting to take your own lunch and snacks.  I know I've loved these long school holidays of lazy mornings and no rushing or thinking about being organised for school lunches.  Party is over, lets get on it.  This is the perfect week to start your stockpile in the freezer for real savings with school lunchbox dazzlers, or work lunches.

When I was working I would eat out for lunch one or two of the days when I worked full time, then when I went part time I ate out more as I saw it as a treat.  It was easily $20 a day, more if I brought a bottle of water, a few coffee's and then went to buy lunch.  Some people I know buy their lunch everyday, opting to spend over $100 a week just on lunch, coffee & water/fizzy crap.  That's where being organised and more mindful can really help with your budget.   $100 a week translates to $5,200 a year.  A quick google search of an accelerated mortgage payoff calculator showed that on a loan of $300,000 over 30 years, this $5,200 could save you $131,985 in interest and have you debt free 10 years and 8 months earlier.  That's quite sobering isn't it, still need your pad thai and double shot latte?

So now I have your attention, lets get down to it. 

School lunches are a no brainer as most primary schools, kinders and some daycare centres don't have canteens/tuck shops so you need to pack their snacks and lunches for them.  High school is different and when you work it's easy to just duck down the street and grab something quick.  I guarantee you that if you just allow a bit of thought on the weekend as to what's coming up, and turning the oven on to do the work for you, you will save real money.

Firstly lets tackle school lunches.  Small labelled containers and some old cutlery are you're friend when it comes to packing any lunches and snacks so go and stock up at the reject shop and get labelling.  When I'm packing my daughters lunch I always have a wrap/sandwich/roll, 2 pieces of fruit (or 1 fresh fruit and one container of tinned fruit), cheese and bikkies, dip and a muffin or biscuit.  The fruit is dictated by what's in season as it's always cheapest.  I looked at the pre-packaged bikkies & cheese slices at Aldi yesterday, 1 box of 6 packets of 3 dry biscuits and 3 slices of cheese for $5, I could buy 500g of cheese for $5.99 and a box of dry biscuits for $1.50 and make a few weeks worth.  It's these little things that will make the difference.

Here's a list of lunchbox ideas we use that are all homemade.

• wraps/sandwich/roll with your favourite filling.  We do ham/chicken/tuna with grated cheese, mayonnaise/avocado/hummus, curried egg.
• fruit, fresh, tinned or dried
• rice crackers with cheese or cream cheese
• sweet and savoury muffins
• biscuits and slices
• muesli bars 
• hard boiled egg
• left overs from dinner like chicken drumstick, meatballs with dip & flatbread, fried rice, noodles, pasta, homemade chicken nuggets
• pasta or rice salad using left over roast chicken, bacon, peas, and fried egg
• mini frittata
• apple pancakes 
• yoghurt

You get the drift.  Also have a look at the label lunchbox dazzlers and you can also read this article here on nude food and the impact on your kids lunchbox packaging and some other filling ideas.

You need to rethink muffins, frittatas and main meals.  They are a great way to use up some cheap fruit or vegies or whatevers in your cupboard or freezer without forking out for expensive pre-packaged muffins or muesli bars.  I brought a 6 pkt of apples from aldi for a few $'s this week which will all become cooked treats.  I think this batch of a dozen cost less than $3 and will last over 2 weeks allowing one each weekday, pretty good I'd say, oh and one or two as tasters just out of the oven.  Freeze them to add to the lunchbox and they will be defrosted in time for morning tea, your kids will love you for them.

I personally go for a thermal lunchbox and a freezer brick/ice pack to keep the inner goodies cold.  Frozen muffins, cakes and yoghurt can also be pulled out in the morning and popped in to help the thermal crunch.  

The trick to turning these kiddy lunches into adult ones, is become a double batch queen or king.  Taking last nights dinner for your lunch will make you the envy of every lunch room as who doesn't want to chow down on something scrummy like spag bol over a vegemite and cheese sanga?

Also, make friends with salads and your nuts and seeds store.  Wash all your veg on Sunday and have it prepped, cut and ready to go for the next few days to throw together lunch in seconds.  Buy some tinned salmon and tuna to take to protein up at lunch.  Lettuce mixed with walnuts, some feta and a tomato with a side of last nights frittata will be a gorgeous lunch anyone would be pleased to have and at a fraction of the takeaway price.  Making stirfry, then make extra.  Have a look at the links to my labels down the right hand side of the blog for categories by ingredient for more simple, easy and quick ideas.  It's not rocket science, it's just some thought and thriftyness that will help save you those rainy day pennies.  

I hope some of these things help lessen your load for the coming school year and leave you less frazzled and more calm and organised, and save you a penny or a thousand :)

Ciao, Jan.

My super food immune boosting smoothie and week 4 of the 52 week money challenge

Every morning for awhile now I've been slurping on a smoothie for my breakfast.  I love walking out to the garden and picking the ingredients for this, and the herbs and spinach benefit from the daily picking as it encourages more growth. I've been unwell of late so have been drinking this to gain the  myriad of health benefits that are packed in it instead of taking an expensive handful of vitamins I feel I must be lacking.  It may not look pretty, as it is blended in it's pure form but it packs a mean punch which I actually really like and it keeps my tummy sated from breakfast until lunch. 

So whats in my super food smoothie?  A very generous handful of spinach, a small banana, a small handful of blueberries, a few stawberries that may be ready, a handful of both mint and parsley, 1 tspn of chia seeds, 1 tspn of flaxseeds, and filtered water.  Occasionally I will add a dollop of yoghurt also.  Pop it all into a blender and go your hardest.  If it's too thick just keep adding more water until you get it to a drinkable consistency.

Spinach is a powerhouse of nutrients, namely protein, vitamin A, K, C, B, iron, folate, magnesium, manganese, fiber and antioxidants.

You do need to use it up quickly as little as 8 days after harvest it loses a lot of these super food qualities.  For this reason, grab yourself a big pot and grow some perennial spinach, it will save you $'s and be ready for you to keep picking for weeks and weeks each morning as fresh as a daisy.

Chia seeds are an amazing little seed.  They contain lots nutrients and lots of protein so keep you fuller for longer and is great if you are trying to move some of the Christmas cheer off your belly.  When a chia seed is hit with water, it forms a coating of gel, increasing it's size and weight without adding calories.  It is easily added to lots of your cooking~baking-sweet & savoury, salads, smoothies, cereal and anything you would use nuts or seeds for.  I love to dip a banana into them for an afternoon snack that really satisfies.  

Berries are a powerhouse of antioxidants and nutrients that aren't lost when frozen which is great as I buy an organic frozen brand of my blueberries.  They are low GI, improve heart health, high in Vitamin c, potassium and fiber and they have been linked to protecting your cells from damage that can lead to cancer and it helps that they look and taste great too.

Parsley has the potential to help keep your immune system strong, tone your bones and heal the nervous system as well.  It is packed with Vitamins A, B12, C and K, folic acid and is known the help with joint pain as it has anti-inflammatory properties.  Pretty amazing huh.

Mint has soothing properties that help the digestive tract and severity of stomachaches.  It is a strong diuretic and therefore helps eliminate toxins from the body.  Mint is high in Vitamin A & C, iron, magnesium, manganese, iron, zinc, calcium and copper.

Flaxseeds are another amazing little fella.  They are hailed as being a fat burning seed as they can fire up your metabolism.  They have omega 3's, very high in fibre, rich in antioxidants, B Vitamins, potassium and protein.

Are you keen to give it a try?  Do you already drink 'green' smoothies? Your insides will thank you!  If you really can't stomach this type of smoothie for breakfast, you can have it for lunch or add all of these ingredients to a salad for a flavour packed bowl of deliciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Week 4 of the 52 week money challenge so go and add your $4 to your money box.  It's not to late to start!!

Ciao, Jan.

this simple way of life~ Part 4 Thrifty green cleaning.

I really do think that we are a marketing persons wet dream of germ phobes.  We as a consumer driven society have gone anti-bacterial mad and the supermarkets are rubbing their hands with glee all the way to the bank.  My reasons for going green and thrify with my household cleaners was a desire to stop coughing up a lung of fumes each time I cleaned the shower, and of course to save money on these high priced antibacterial supermarket varieties.  I knew from reading many blogs on eco-friendly cleaners and making your own was and option, so I decided months ago now to just give it one try and if I didn't like it, I could always go back to buying the over priced stinkers.

You might be surprised to learn that good old vinegar could be the answer to our money saving prayers.  It has all the properties you need to kill off mould, bacteria and germs due to its acidity levels.  It is also easy on our environment and as cheap as chips. Cheaper even.   This, some bi carb and a frugal objective will give you all that you need for a basic cleaner and at a fraction of the price.  You can get the easy peasy recipe here for the citrus vinegar that I use.  This link has 1001 uses for vinegar that will make your head spin.  Why have we given good old vinegar the flick? If you really are pushed for time and/or cash and you don't have a lemon tree to pillage, just use the vinegar as is, in the raw.

I now use this citrus vinegar diluted with a ration of 50/50 water to vinegar in a spray bottle as our antibacterial spray, as a floor cleaner, straight as a room deodoriser, window/mirrow cleaner with newspaper, or mixed with borax or bi-carb soda as a heavy duty cleaner in the shower, kitchen stove, and sinks with a bit of elbow grease and a scrubbing brush.  You can also read here how to clean your oven using this vinegar, some napisan and bicarb too.  This citrus vinegar I make for next to nicks.  A 2 litre white vinegar from Aldi is $1.09 and made into my citrus vinegar will last for months and months with this one product replacing at least 3 or 4 cleaners that I use to buy for approximately $25 every few months.  The lemons I get for free off friends trees or I use the skins off the oranges we eat as fruit.  I store the skins in an airtight container in the fridge until I have 3-4 oranges worth of skins and put them into a jar and top up with vinegar.  Leave for 3 weeks and Bob's your uncle. To make it even better it's as green as green can be.  Our environment will certainly thank you.

I thought it would be interesting to show you in cold hard numbers how much moolah we are really talking.  So I did a comparison with Woolies online on the price of their cleaners, keeping in mind it's costing me one dollar approximately to make the citrus vinegar.  They had over 1,000 products listed under household cleaners, what are we a bunch of micro-organism freaks!? Next time you are in the supermarket, just consciously have a look at the cleaning aisles, they are mind boggling.

Heres just some of their list

• Airwick automatic spray $21.92 
• Orange power manual spray air freshener $4.25 (FYI~I am using an empty bottle of this that I use to use to put my citrus vinegar in to spray in the toilet and other rooms)
• Orange power bathroom cleaner, shower & tile 750ml $5.26
• Pine-o-clean disinfectant 1.25 litre $5.34
• Windex glass cleaner trigger 500ml $4.48
• Ducks Fresh discs toilet cleaner 2x36ml $10.74
• Earth choice floor cleaner wooden surface $5.36

Ok you get the drift.....so thats a total of around $65 and I could buy 4 litres of vinegar and a bag of lemons for under $10, under $2.50 that will probably last me 6 months, if I got the lemons off a friends tree.  Thats $60 every 3 months I could be either paying down credit card debt, mortgage or other debt. Thats an extra $240 a year to use for something other that cleaning products.  I know to some out there they will be thinking whats $240, well its better in my pocket than in the supermarkets and that's all that matters to me!

Do you spend a fortune on cleaning products or are you open to changing to vinegar?  I dare you to give it a try and tell me honestly what you think  I know what I'm sticking with and that $240 will help with my 52 week money challenge!

Ciao, Jan.

this simple life ~ Part 3 My top 17 reasons to shop at Aldi

One of my darling nephews has a bit of a silver spoon in his mouth and won't go into Aldi and will hide slouched down if his parents dare to take him in to the car park for fear of being seen.  For Christmas one year I got him an Aldi shopping token and wrapped all his presents in their plastic bags, I don't think he thought it was very funny. Hehehehe I obviously did.

Firstly, let me just say, this is not a sponsored post.  I am posting of my own free will and am unfortunately not receiving any money or free products off Aldi for this post. I am a self confessed Aldi lover and have been since it graced our town many years ago.  

You don't have to be Einstein to realise you can save some good money shopping there.  Here are my top 17 reasons to shop at Aldi apart from saving money.

1. They have a green conscience  and proudly support environmental sustainability with a no bags given policy, you take or buy your own and they have in place a green action plan which includes being the only Australian supermarket to stock only Australian made and phosphate free laundry products and using environmentally friendly packaging.  
2. It saves on brain power as there is only one or two choices of any one product and they are always in the same spot.
3. They have a growing range of gluten free products without a hefty price tag.  
4. They offer a double-back guarantee on most food items.  If a product isn't up to scratch, they'll replace it AND refund your money.
5. The shopping trolleys are free and take a token or 1 or 2 dollar coins.  This also makes everyone take their trolley back to its rightful place.
6. Aldi have won a host of awards for many of their products mainly their dairy and olive oils.  
7. They have big aisles of fuss free shelves and not a multi-buy in sight.   
8. They have consistent quality, in my opinion.
9. They don't rob Peter to pay Paul and so have genuine low prices each week.
10. Their growing Organic product range is great and at an affordable price.
11. Aldi have a committment to supporting Australian suppliers.  One example is they have supported SPC Ardmona by making their entire range of 825g tinned fruit to Australian made.  There are other examples you can read about here,
12. No artificial colours for the vast majority of products, except pet food and some non-food items.
13. They have a product range of MSC certified labelled fish to support sustainably caught varieties.
14. Aldi have a partnership with Planet Ark to recycle batteries.  They are the first supermarket in Australia to offer free recycling of batteries in every store.  Batteries are toxic monsters and need to be disposed off properly and not thrown in the bin.
15. They have reduced their own energy consumption throughout existing and future stores by fitting them out with eco friendly lighting, refridgeration, air conditioning, heating and freezers.
16. Its quick and easy to get out of! Their checkout operators are like speedy gonzales.
17. Their carpark is big, free and in my experience a road rage free zone.

I read a great article by Jo at Down to earth mother about the eco buys from Aldi with a smile on my face.  They have a very good growing 'Just Organic' range that I add to my shopping and stockpile each week.  

Organic produce comes at a high price but I understand why.  What I do think now is I try my best to make my shopping dollars count.  When I can I buy as much Organic as we can afford.  I started by just switching to a couple of items each shopping trip where I could.  Below is an idea of what I've been buying on the organic front.

I've  struggled with the whole to go organic or not go organic guilt trip.  Give me another spoonful would you!  The answer for me, at this stage is this.  On one wage, I'm  incorporating organic into my shopping trolley as often as I can. Organic and Australian made is the bee's knees for me.  If I can't afford organic then the next best option for me is Australian made.  I don't compromise on eggs or chicken~they are always freerange and/or organic. If I can I get my eggs direct from a local farmer I'm happiest, until that special day when I will have my own girls clucking away in my yard.

What I have been trying to do is when I run out of something, say extra virgin olive oil, I will pay that bit more that week for the organic version or at the very least Australian made.   Slow and steady will win my race.  Knowledge is key, but you have to be realistic too if you are trying to be frugal and get the most from your shopping dollars.  Do what works best for you and your family, don't worry about anyone else as you really could go crazy worrying about it all.

Here are some price's for any of you non-Aldi shoppers to think about. Aldi prices
Vinegar 2 L $1.09 (product of Australia)
Organic butter  (made in New Zealand) $2.89
Freerange whole chicken 1.870 kilo $10.63 (product of Australia)
Organic pasta  $1.65 (made in Italy)
Organic tomato paste 140g $0.99  (made in Italy)
Organic diced Italian tomatoes  $0.99 (made in Italy)
Organic fair trade milk chocolate 100g $1.99 (made in Germany) 
Organic extra virgin olive oil (made in Australia!! Yay!!!) around $6 
Organic soy milk 1 Litre (made in Australia!! double Yay!!) $1.79
Organic natural yoghurt $5 per kilo (yep made in Australia)
so 5 out of 10 are Aussie made.

I have to admit to shopping at my local independant or one of the other big boys to do about 5% of our top up groceries and luxury items, but it's becoming more and more less frequent.  It's usually for cold meat like a hunk of ham or sliced freerange chicken breast as I don't like the cold meat of Aldi's nor do I like any supermarket chicken 'meat' as I hate to think of whats in it.  

So what are my favourite items from Aldi? Here is an idea.

• dippits, wholegrain rice crackers, rice cakes, sao's and cruskits
• all their nuts
• tinned peaches and pineapple
• gluten free almond crunch cereal
• all of their organic range
• their hommus is the best apart from yummi's but at half the price
• greek honeyed yoghurt and squeezy yoghurts for lunchboxes
• free range whole chicken
• 1kg raw frozen prawns at $10 are a bargain
• organic butter
• bags of 5 or 6 avocados, bananas, truss tomatoes, bags of carrots, sweet potatoes, purple garlic and zucchini's
• wholegrain wraps
• face wash and moisturiser
• glad wrap, foil, baking paper, garbage bags, freezer bags
• toilet cleaner, vinegar, baby wipes

So tell me my dear readers, do you shop at Aldi? Or are you a duopoly big boy supermarket only shopper?

Ciao, Jan.

this simple life ~ Part 2 The beautiful benefits of baking

It isn't any secret that cooking and baking from scratch will save you money and give you a new world of pleasure.  Making your own bread alone can save you $10 a week, then add to that making your own cakes, muffins, lunchbox snacks and you are probably up around $20 a week, if not more.  I know some of you out there will be thinking who has the time? Seriously, I challenge you to put aside 2 minutes at night to get your bread mixed, less than 5 minutes in the morning to get it in the oven, 20 minutes on the weekend to get a banana loaf or 2 while you are at it,  mixed and into bake and some cookies or muffins made and you are done.  Two trays of muffins (if they are 12 capacity) will give you a muffin a day for nearly a month.  Not only will your family love you for it, it will be healthier for them as they will be preservative and additive free.  There are many easy recipes on my blog, look under lunchbox dazzlers or sweet treats and go your hardest.  I promise you the recipes are so super easy and quick, you will never buy a $5 muffin again.  

Baking snacks for your child's lunchbox instead of buying pre-packaged ones, making one large slab of cake cut up into portions and frozen or a few dozen muffins or biscuits will surely save you money.  Not to mention, they are just as convenient in the freezer as they can be grabbed at a moments notice at the shops or supermarket and can be defrosted in time for snack/recess or lunchtime at work or school and act as a freezer brick to help keep other things cold in the lunch box.  

I bake bread every other day, something that is now a lovely ritual that never ceases to thrill me each time a gorgeous loaf comes out of the oven.  

I love that going from this 

to this

to this

becomes this

or this

or this! Just remarkable.

I really have fallen in love with baking.  The gentle act of measuring, mixing and then baking I'm finding addictive.  I think too, not working for money or a boss, baking provides me with an outcome of the day, a sense of completion and purpose that goes with paid work.  

Until my introduction to the simple life, I rarely baked sweet treats.  I never dreamed I'd be making breads or even pizza dough for that matter.  A voice in my head had convinced myself that I couldn't do it or it was too hard.  But that story wasn't true.  To this day since I took those first steps at getting out of my comfort zone, I've baked most days of the week and I've only had one failure.  My first step was bread.  Bread is one of those things that provides us with breakfast, lunch and dinner if we want it too.  

It is the cornerstone of our lives really isn't it.  It was the thing that got me started on this simple life (you can read more about that in Part 1 of this series here) as I'd wanted to try it but was stopped by fear of failure.  It seems silly now, who cares if we waste a bit of flour and water in the name of trying something new?   After many trials I've settled on the Laucke Multigrain 10kg bread mix.  It contains the yeast as well (with enough over to make my pizza bases too! as its right purpose is for bread machines and recipes that call for more yeast then I need for my recipe :)) to make around 10 loaves of my double batch or 20 loaves of the original  no knead bread recipe.  

I double this recipe now, as making a bigger loaf works better for hubbies beloved toasted sandwiches.  So its 6 cups of flour, 1/2 tspn of dry yeast and almost 4-5 cups of water. (the salt is already in the bread mix, I learnt that quickly :)) It works out to being $2.30 a loaf, so around a dollar for the single recipe which I think is a bargain for bread that has no preservatives  and is a pleasure to make.  I can tell you I genuinely smile every time I get that bread out of the oven and I must have made dozens and dozens by now.  At the risk of sounding like a preacher, it is so simple I feel a bit of a fraud when friends and family ooowww and ahhh over it.  I can make a white version using organic flour for less than $5 a loaf which isn't bad considering I've seen them fetch up to $8 or $10 in speciality stores. 

Baking is also a way of sneaking in some fruit to your blissfully unaware cherubs.  I micro-plane, blitz or chop apples, bananas, pears, frozen berries, rhubarb, oranges, lemons or whatever is in season into as many sweet goodies as I can.  I do try and buy organic as much as I can but, if I'm honest, its hard justifying spending big $$'s on a box of organic fruit that will only last a short amount of time as much as I'd love too.  I know the obvious benefits health wise but, but, but....if you are like us and on one income, you understand my dilemma.  What I try and do, is when I get my organic produce I make the most of it by eating some raw and baking cakes and muffins with some for the freezer...but its hard to go past a big bag of over ripe banana's for $2 at the fruitier that I can turn into a banana and chocolate loaf, muffins or smoothies to feed us in snacks for a week.  i just try and do my best, thats all I can do.

Baking from scratch will provide not only a monetary winfall but also the aromas, sense of pride and satisfaction on feeding your family will linger as long as the smells from the oven.  They will be preservative and additive free and thats certainly a huge incentive to crank the oven up and get baking!
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It's also week 3 of our money challenge so get too and plonk you're $3 in the money bank.  I've added an extra $20 this week to it and marked it off one of the later weeks in the year.  It's not too late to start if you haven't already, you can read about it here.

Ciao, Jan.