Sunny Side Up Sunday

Hello Dear Reader,

Today I am grateful for my trusty slow cooker. It is many years old now and the digital read out hasn't worked for ages but it does still work perfectly, so, I guess that is the main thing. I just need to take note of the time I press play. This morning I have started out a Slow Cooker, Chicken Pot Pie Soup to have for dinner tonight, here is the link to the recipe if you're interested. 

What are you grateful for today?

Have a lovely Sunday, you lovely people,

💛Fi

One Year Ago-This Weeks 5 Frugal Things on a Friday 

Two Year Ago-Day 3

ThreeYears Ago-Pumpkin, Lentil and Spinach Coconut Curry

Four Years Ago-Pea and Ham Soup

What we bought, spent and ate this week

Hello Dear Reader,

And just like that another whirlwind of a week has flown by, I truly don't know where the time goes. I may have mentioned this before but I remember when our kids were young and I wasn't working outside the home, my darling sister and I would quite often spend the day together, getting our kids together, spending time with Mum and Dad when they were still with us, we'd get some housework done and the shopping done often while the other looked after the kids and have some lunch together, back then, there seemed to be plenty of time to do all of that in a day. Times have certainly changed, not really for the better I feel.

Everyone seems to be time poor, especially the next generation, I truly wish we could all slow down and get together more often and make it a natural, easy thing to do instead of an entry in our crowded diary where we must put in a lot of work to bring the get together, together. I'm probably just a bit emotional as I'm bone deep tired, every morning I feel as if I could sleep till noon, but then I remember the little woofs waiting patiently (read...not patiently at all, there is whimpering and scratching involved at exactly 6.30 am, every morning and 5 pm every afternoon) They keep me going and also keep me to an exact schedule.

On another subject I have been using the new version of Blogger since yesterday morning, I hope that it has solved the delay in the time it take my blog to load for my readers, I understand the frustration as it takes me an age to unload photos and to link old links from years gone by even with the new version. I think it is time to move over to Wordpress.

Now on with the food of last week-

What we bought

Combined shopping from Coles and Aldi

F & V from the Northside Discount Fruit Barn

What we spent

Coles-$7.50

Aldi-$84.70

Northside Discount Fruit Barn-$19.30

TOTAL-$111.50-I'm happy with that

What we ate

Friday and Sunday-Salmon and Sweet Corn Chowder

Saturday-Prawn Stir Fry 

Monday and Tuesday-Veggie Chilli 

Wednesday-Honey Prawns and mixed Stir Fried Asian Greens from the garden 

Thursday-Thai Inspired Peanut, Sweet Potato and Spinach Soup 

Join in the fun, tell me what you cooked for your family this week.

Have a splendid Saturday,

💞Fi

One Year Ago-Chicken Pesto Pasta-Thermomix Style 

Two Year Ago-The Start

Three Years Ago-Whole Lime Cake with Lime Mascarpone Filling

Four Years Ago-Super Easy, Super Tasty, Flour Tortillas 

This Weeks 5 Frugal Things on a Friday

Hello Dear Reader,

I'm running so late this morning after sleeping in way past the alarm...again, I'm just so tired at the moment and can't wait for a slow weekend. So I'll just leap right into how I saved money this week, sorry to be so monotonous but as usual it's all about food-

1. Picked more herbs and veggies from the garden, this lot went to work to share the love with my co-workers 

2. Made 2 veggie based meals this week, this veggie chilli 

And this lovely soup

3. My yoghurt failed this week, like completely failed, the only thing I did differently was I didn't pre-heat my Thermoserver with boiling water. It was late at night by the time I had finished making the yoghurt and I was so tired I couldn't even wait until the kettle boiled. So I just poured the, yet to be yoghurt, mixture into the cold Thermoserver thinking it would be alright. Lesson learnt, it was far from alright, it looked exactly the same 12 hours later as when I poured the mixture in, it hadn't set at all. So I made pancakes last night and we are having them for breakfast with fruit, butter and maple syrup this morning.

I have frozen the other 2 cups of the failed yoghurt for next time we feel like pancakes

4. LH made honey prawns for dinner on Tuesday which we shared with our Son and his lovely Partner, we have run out of all the prawns that LH had caught so these prawns were bartered for from a friend.

5. Made another batch of muesli, I can only imagine how much a bag of this kind of gourmet muesli would sell for. 

Your turn, how did you save money this week?

Have a lovely day,

💓Fi

One Year Ago-Buying and Planting out the New Citrus Trees 

One Year Ago-The Best Mashed Sweet Potato 

Two Years Ago-Quick Bacon, Tomato and Broccoli Penne 

Three Years Ago-Creamy Potato Bake with Garlic, Spring Onions and Cheese

Wednesday Roundup

Hello Dear Reader,

Firstly, I want to say I am having lots of issues with Blogger which is the blog platform I am using at the moment. There is a new version of blogger which is not as easy to navigate as the original version, I find it very difficult to insert photos and at this stage am unable to insert a video that has been processed by Vimeo. As I am still using the original version it is taking forever to load a page and I have heard from quite a few readers via Instagram PM that they too are having issues with the length of time each page is taking to load. That is probably why readership is down to 600 per day as it used to be over 1000 a day up until very recently. It may be time to switch to another platform...Are there any other bloggers out there reading this? If so, what platform do you use and if using Blogger are you having lots of issues?

And also thank you for sticking with me despite all the wait time issues with my blog, I am truly grateful to everyone that pops by and reads my ramblings, without readers, I would just be sending unwanted words out into the blog-a-sphere.

Now on with today's actual post-

On My Mind
I am trying to settle the icky feeling of choosing to eat meat again. It wasn't my decision to buy meat but it was my decision to eat it. I have to stop pushing the blame onto LH and take ownership of it. I mentioned last week that LH had had enough of having no meat on the menu so he went and stocked up at our butcher who specialises in free range meat. So far we have had and enjoyed sausages, ginger and pineapple chicken, some Peking chicken wraps and a pasta bake using beef mince. It feels wrong but I also enjoyed the meals, how on earth can I reconcile those two?

On the Breakfast Plate
But wait there is more to the great meat debate. We also had bacon with our breakfast on Sunday morning and it was delicious...

What's Growing Well in the Garden
The mustard green, dill and rocket are the superstars of the garden at the moment, I picked big bunches to take into work to share the love. You can't even see where I have picked from

What Project Have I Been Working On
I finished the little woofs new winter dog coats. They look so cute

I had some treats in my hand the whole time, that is why they sat still for so long!

On the Menu This Week
My favourite meal this past week was this delicious Salmon and Sweet Corn Chowder

From the Camera
I made "cake in a mug" for the first time on Saturday night, holy chocolate, they were so good. As with a lot of things I am very late to this whole "cake in a mug" thing, but now there is no stopping me. It takes about 5 minutes from start to finish to make one of these amazingly simple desserts. This was a double chocolate variety, who want the recipe?

Looking Around the House
Unfortunately there are many spots around the house that have become clutter magnets, like this bench outside of our bedroom. Once one thing is put here it then becomes a magnet for other things. What is that saying "Don't put it down, put it away"

Housework I'm Not Looking Forward To Today or This Week
It is time to dust again

Would you like to join in? Simply cut and paste the titles below, fill in the details and post them in the comments.

On My Mind
On the Breakfast Plate
What's Growing Well in the Garden
What Project Have I Been Working On
On the Menu This Week
From the Camera
Looking Around the House
Housework I'm Not Looking Forward To Today or This Week

Have a lovely day,
💖Fi

One Year Ago-See You Tomorrow
Two Years Ago-Sunny Side Up Sunday
ThreeYears Ago-What we bought, spent and ate this week
Four Years Ago-This Weeks 5 Frugal Things on a Friday

Tuesday Tip

Hello Dear Reader,

Todays Tuesday Tip is bought to you by my love of pineapples. As I mention in the little video, taken by me, hence the terrible cinematography, I have always loved pineapples, from when I was very young I adored pineapple sandwiches with plenty of butter. But there were two conditions, it had to be fresh wholemeal bread from the bakery AND the pineapple had to be fresh, non of the tinned stuff would do for my sandwich, oh, and the butter layer had to be substantial! 

I learnt from my Nan to use a bread knife when cutting up a pineapple, it just does a better job than even the sharpest of chefs knives, there is less waste as you can sculpt out the flesh easier with a serrated knife and the long blade makes easy work of even the biggest of pineapples. 

I know many of you have been lying awake at night, wondering what is the very best knife to cut up your pineapple with, well, wonder no more...You're welcome.😜

Have a lovely day,
🍍

One Year Ago-Sunny Side Up Sunday

Two Year Ago-What we bought, spent and ate this week

Three Years Ago-This Weeks 5 Frugal Things on a Friday

Four Years Ago-No Blog Post Today

It is so funny to look back on these videos I take, I made so many bloopers, like pointing to the base of the pineapple instead of the top when talking about where the spiky top would be...I don't understand what is taking Hollywood so long to ring me....

Ricotta Hotcakes

Hello Dear Reader,

I had a little bit of ricotta left over from a recipe a little while ago and didn't want to waste it so I went looking for a recipe, to use it up. I stumbled upon Queen Nigella's recipe for Ricotta Hotcakes and I knew immediately, it was the one I'd been looking for. As I didn't have enough ricotta for the full recipe, I simply halved the original recipe, it made five lovely fluffy hotcakes which we had for afternoon tea one cold Sunday afternoon. I served them with butter, mixed berries and maple syrup.

The ricotta adds a wonderful texture to these hotcakes, think sturdier that a pancake but still light and lovely with an unusual but still delicious blandness to them, they are a yummy blank canvas of goodness ready to take on whatever flavours you throw at them.

Ingredients fro Ricotta Hotcakes, clockwise from right-125 grams ricotta, 65 mls of milk, 1 egg, separated, the white of the egg whisked until foamy, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 50 grams of plain flour and a pinch of salt

Add the ricotta, egg yolk and milk to a medium sized bowl and whisk well

Now add the flour and pinch of salt and whisk again until flour is incorporated 

Now gently whisk in the foamy egg white and the batter is ready. Cook in the usual way 

And serve with whatever your heart desires

Have a lovely day,

💛Fi

One Year Ago-What we bought, spent and ate this week 

TwoYears Ago-This Weeks 5 Frugal Things on a Friday

Three Years Ago-How I Roast Capsicum

Four Years Ago-What we bought, spent and ate this week

My Sunday/One Second Everyday June 2020

Hello Dear Reader,

And hello to a really cold Sunday morning here on the Redcliffe Peninsula, yesterday afternoon was so cold and I said to LH that I thought tomorrow morning would be freezing, this mornings low was 10 C which is really quite cold for here but at least the icy westerly wind from yesterday has dropped. The sky here this morning is crystal clear.

I have written up a list of things that I need to get done today, as always it's a mixture of house work and projects I am working on. In no particular order here is what I want to get done for my Sunday-

-Brush the dogs and clean their eyes
-Wash their bedding
-Plant out another row of mustard green, beetroot and spinach
-Water the citrus trees and potted plants
-Wash the bed sheets and towels
-Plant out the spring onion and celery bases I have saved and re-sprouted
-Finish the new dog coats for the little woofs
-Tidy sewing room

And also here is last months video mash of "One Second Everyday"-
It is a little snap shot that honestly reflects my life, it is a mixture of house work, preparing good food, gardening, our little woofs Lulu and Pippa, sunsets, sewing and walking into work.



What are you up to on this glorious Sunday?

Have a lovely day,
💚Fi

One Year Ago-This Weeks 5 Frugal Things on a Friday
Two Years Ago-What's in my Utensil Holder

Three Years Ago-Carrot and Coriander Soup

Four Years Ago--Chicken and Chorizo Tray Bake

What we bought, spent and ate this week

Hello Dear Reader,

I mentioned on Wednesday that we now have some free range meat in the freezer, last week LH bought 3 kg's of beef mince, 3 kg's of chicken thighs, a few lamb chops, some bacon and 3 different types of sausages (6 of each) it was something I had been putting off, preferring to eat a lot less meat and more fish and veggie and pulse based meals. All was going well until LH announced he was ordering some meat and that was that. I know it is my decision to eat less or even no meat and I can't force that kind of lifestyle change on anyone but I feel completely torn. I will continue on the path of eating much less meat, like one meal a week, hopefully that will appease my meat eater.

I was told during the week that I am needed in rehab for one more week as we had no backfill, so I will have to cool my heels for one more week until I start my new role in the acute setting. The more I read about this program the more I can't wait to start it. As this is a new program I am going to take the gently, gently approach that will, hopefully, win them over.

Now on with the food of last week-

What we bought

F & V from the Northside Discount Fruit Barn 

Shopping from Aldi, you know I really think that Aldi have a special person that picks the very best berries and avocados as I find they are always perfect.

A few items from Coles, LH bought the roast chicken and rolls to have when out fishing

What we spent

Northside Discount Fruit Barn-$22.01

Aldi-$36.94

Coles-$30.40

TOTAL-$89.15

What we ate

Friday-Left over Beef Ragu pilled into a baked potato with sour cream and pickled jalapeños 

Saturday-Fish burgers 

Sunday-Ham and Salad on Turkish Bread

Monday-(I forgot to take a photo, so this is an old one)Tempura Whiting (our last packet) mustard greens and steamed basmati rice 

Tuesday-Ginger and Pineapple Chicken 

Wednesday-Sausages and Colcannon 

Thursday-Salmon and Sweet Corn Chowder 

Your turn, what was on the menu at your place this week?

Have a lovely day,

💖Fi

One Year Ago-Right Now, I am...

Two Years Ago-Lovely Quinoa and Chickpea Salad

Three Years Ago-Old Fashioned Corn Fritters 

Four Years Ago-Food Waste-It Starts and Ends with Us

This Weeks 5 Frugal Things on a Friday

Hello Dear Reader,

And welcome to another Friday, after another, fast forward, rinse and repeat kind of week. I have spent my time, as always, between work and home and it's been busy at both, I've also been extremely tired this week so I am really looking forward to the weekend. Over the weekend I want to make a batch of muesli, there is washing to be done including the bed sheets, I'll do a quick vacuum of the tiled areas as well as the lounges, I say lounges as little Ninja insists on trying a new spot everyday, her black hair seems to be everywhere this week.

I also want to get out into the garden on Sunday, I need to add a bucket of goodness to the compost bin, I need to water the garden and the few potted plants and I also want to plant out some more seeds for mustard green, spinach and beetroot. This year I am trying to do successive planting so I'll be able to pick more for longer.

This week I tried another little experiment on growing another veg from the end the old veg, this time it was celery and it worked so the little celery plant will also be planted out this weekend. Here's what else I did to save money this week-

1. As above, grew a new little celery plant by immersing the cut off base of a bought bunch of celery, it took about a week to get it to this stage.

2. Popped the bottle of cream into the microwave for about 5 seconds to get the last dregs of cream out when I made a big pot of Salmon and Sweet Corn Chowder for dinner last night. It always amazed me just how much there is left clinging to the bottle, you paid for it, you might as well use it all. 

3. Made another batch of thick and creamy vanilla yoghurt, the little video is of the scolded milk cooling to 37C before inoculating it with the yoghurt starter (just 100 grams of yoghurt from the previous batch)

4. Walked the little woofs twice a day as usual. Why is this frugal? Can you imagine if we had to pay to have the dogs walked twice a day? I would be working just to pay for it. It also give me a little exercise and I get to see glorious things most days.

The rays of sun through the trees yesterday morning 

And this glorious sunset 

5. Packed my lunch for work everyday, this week I have been having toasted fruit loaf with peanut butter (I also used up the last of the maple cinnamon butter earlier in the week) for morning tea and crackers with hummus and tomato plus my one piece of dark chocolate.

Over to you, how did you save money this week?

Have a lovely day,

💖Fi

One Year Ago- Look at This 

Two Year Ago-Monday

Three Years Ago-Golden Circle Factory Outlet

Four Years Ago-Cleaning the Showers Take Two