My Frugal Tasks 22/3

Mr 13 came down sick this week, then passed it on to me and Miss 21. Its taken me a few days to feel right again. I had a blood test recently and got my results back which showed that everything was fine except my iron which was 5 out of an ideal 20-30. The doctor told me she doesnt know how I cope! I told her I feel tired a lot of the time and manage my time so I can have an hour nap in the afternoon! I've done this for the last few years and just thought my exhaustion was due to the medication I am on. I started taking some iron supplements on Monday and I am already feeling less tired during the day. 

The world is an uncertain place at the moment with the Corona Virus. Here in Western Australia, universities have closed and have switched to online only and we are advised to stay 4  square metres away from others when outside of the house. Pubs, clubs, churches, cafes, theatres and the casino are now closed and public transport has stopped. School is still open for now, but the Premier will be making an announcement tomorrow regarding this. The Australian borders have closed and all flights have been cancelled indefinately. Things are changing on a daily basis and the number of sick keeps rising which can be really overwhelming. Store shelves are still empty. Pasta sauce and sugar is now added to the list of items which are hard to find. Along with flour, yeast, rice, pasta long-life milk, tinned fruit, vegetables, meat, toilet paper, tissues and napkins. 

We will all have to make the best of this situation and think of what we can do for our families and community. Whether that is sewing washable toilet cloths, planting a vegetable garden, avoiding the shops and eating out our pantries or checking up on friends or neighbours. We are not powerless and there are many things we can do to right now. Try and keep busy and productive around our homes. 

Here are some of the ways I got ahead this week: 

-Made a pot of lentil soup to eat for lunches during the week. This was lovely when I was sick! 

-Hubby bought a meat pack from the Foodbank truck. 

-Went to the Foodbank which was very empty, though we did get some pumpkin, peaches, mango, yoghurt, bean dip and vegan cream cheese. 

-I cut the peaches and made some into a peach crumble and the rest were dehydrated. I also cut the mangoes and put them in the dehydrator.

-Baked a sugar free banana bread for afternoon teas.

-Planted some kale and thyme seeds which we found on a verge collection.

-Took advantage of the sunny weather and washed the bed linen.

-Cooked a batch of rice and vegetables for the dogs. This will accompany their dry food and meat.

-Colored my hair at home.

-Sewed some more fabric face masks for my family. 

-Gratefully received some nuts, muesli bars, and lollies from a friend.

Please try and stay positive healthy and safe xx

My Frugal Tasks 15/3/20

I'm glad I managed to get some things done earlier in the wee as by Thursday, Mr 13 and I had come down sick.  The last few days have been spent catching up as I slept most of Friday and although I tried to listen to a lecture and write notes, I was just too sick. Miss 21 has now come down with it.

I managed to stock up on some essentials like long-life milk, oil, panadol, rice, pasta, soap, dish liquid, washing soda, laundry soap, vinegar, panadol and ibuprofen. Though I had to go to Coles and Aldi to be able to get everything.Oh, and I managed to get toilet paper! I'm glad there are finally limits in place as I think this makes it fairer for everyone and should have been done earlier. When I was in Coles I was chatting to another lady while we were both putting long-life milk in our trolleys. I heard a man say to his wife "look at that, people are buying trays at a time! It's not the end of the world". Now I had 10 cartons and the lady had about 24, but she had small children with her. There was still loads left and we were hardly wiping the shelves clean so his comment really bothered me! 

I think the Coronavirus situation is only going to get worse because of people panicking, I'm not worried but I am listening to my intuition and am preparing as much as I can. We also went to Kmart and bought a gas cooker for $20 and some butane bottles which were $4 for a pack of 3. This seems quite cheap to me. 

Here's this weeks list of tasks

-Went through my fabric stash and started making some face masks for when we travel overseas later in the year. Proper masks are now unavailable so these will have to do! 

-Picked up some free bread, hot cross buns, pikelets, bananas, zucchini, kale and capsicum from the community centre. I've put the buns in the freezer for Easter, hubby grated the zucchini and diced the capsicum which was also frozen to use later. I sliced and dehydrated the good parts of the bananas, the rest was frozen for smoothies or cake. I also dehydrated the kale and chopped and froze the stalks for my next batch of dog food.

-Made a big potato and spinach bake for dinner and put half in the freezer for another meal.

-Hubby bought 2 meat packs for $30 from the Foodbank truck. This really helps us get ahead with meat.

-Baked another banana and blueberry cake for the week.

-Thinly sliced and baked some sourdough, these are great to use as "crackers."

-I also shopped around online and placed an order for the cheapest vitamins. I bought selenium, vitamin D, elderberries and vitamin C. 

I hope you are all well and I'd love to find out how you got ahead this week? Xx

Sugar-free Banana and Blueberry Muffins

For the last 6 months or so I've been on a health kick, aiming to feel better, have more energy and lose some weight. So far I've lost 16kg by cutting back on processed foods and using portion control.

This is a recipe I created one afternoon when I felt like a sweet treat with my cup of tea! I have also added substitutes for some of the ingredients. This recipe can also be baked in a cake tin and cut into 16 slices as it is quite filling

3 mashed bananas

1/2 c of fresh or frozen blueberries
2 TBS coconut oil

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1 beaten egg

2 pouches (160g each) of YoPro blueberry flavoured yoghurt

1 and a 1/2 c of PowerCakes protein-enriched flour

Mash the bananas with the egg, vanilla, and cinnamon. Add the yoghurt and mix well then stir through the flour and blueberries.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for around 20-25 minutes or until cooked. 

These need to be kept in the fridge and eaten within a couple of days. They also freeze well.

Substitutes- 

I used frozen bananas as I had some in my freezer. You could use a different yoghurt instead, whatever you have just make sure to use the same quantity. In place of the PowerCakes flour, you could use any self-rasing flour-like wholemeal, gluten-free etc.

My Frugal Tasks 8/3/20

This week has been interesting to say the least. With the coronavirus spreading, many in the world are panicking and have been bulk buying toilet paper, hand sanitizer, disinfectant, soap and long life milk. It was my shopping day on Friday and I normally shop for the fortnight. It was a shock to see these items sold out in all of the 3 shops we went to. 

People are panicking. I am relieved I've been stockpiling for a couple of years and have enough food and cleaning products to keep my family fed and healthy in an emergency. However, hubby and I also realised there are some gaps and we aim to look at how to improve this. 

At home we have a volunteer butternut pumpkin vine growing. It has taken over the veggie garden! 

Some ways I got ahead this week were:

-Picked the last of the grapes and gave some to friends.

-Baked some sugar-free banana and blueberry muffins for snacks.

-Updated my food inventory and "shopped" from my freezer and pantry to save money groceries.

-Meal planned for the next fortnight. 

-Received half a fruit cake, gingerbread and lovely plants from a friend.

-Bought a yellow egg dish from an op-shop for $2. This will look nice on display with Easter coming up.

-I also bought a 10kg bag of potatoes which was on sale for $2.99 and there was also magic erasers at 2 boxes for $3. These are great for cleaning the glass shower door and are large so I cut them in half! 

How was your week?

My Frugal Tasks 1/3/20

This week was the first week of starting university. I am studying full time for my Bachelor of Psychology and Counselling, which will take 3 years to complete. I never thought this would be possible for me and I'm excited and nervous about the prospect. 

I am doing my degree through Edith Cowan University which offer online study as campus is quite a distance from where I live, so this is the option I took and I only go in to sit my exams twice a year. I completed my certificates in an online format so I kind of know what to expect and how to be disciplined with a study schedule. Plus I don't have to spend time and money travelling and have more time and energy to reach my frugal goals. This week I also installed a free app called Olio which is for food sharing and helps prevent food waste which is something I'm very passionate about! The way it works is you list an unwanted item and someone in your area can message you if they would like to pick it up. I got some cold tea infusion tea bags from a fellow Olio'er and I gave away a box of T2 flavoured tea. Normally I give things I don't want to friends or neighbours but occasionally I have something obscure I know they wouldn't use so from now on I'll list it on Olio. Plus its a great way to meet like-minded frugal peeps in your community! This week I managed quite a few frugal tasks:

-Picked up some Twinnings rose lemonade flavoured tea bags from Olio.

-Went to Kmart to buy a diary for uni which they didn't have so instead bought a calendar style planner and new highlighters for $5. I also found some clearance items. A unicorn ornament for 70c, 3 pack of rainbow foil balloons 70c and contact for 50c. I'll put these in our party box.

-On Wednesday night while cooking dinner, I also made a spinach and chorizo fritatta as I needed to use up some not so fresh spinach. We had this for dinner on Thursday night and I also made a banana and choc chip slice from some over ripe bananas. 

-Bought a second hand psychology textbook from Gumtree for $60. This was a bargain because it sells new for $130.

-I cleaned out the fridge and used up some grape tomatoes, capsicum red wine and mushrooms by making a pasta sauce. I cut the tomatoes and capsicum and baked in the oven with a drizzle of oil first and I think doing this really contributed to the sweet taste of the sauce.

-Got some free bread from our community centre.

-I also had some bread rolls which I cut and made into garlic bread. Mr 13 declared the pasta, homemade sauce and garlic bread "the best dinner ever!"

-Hubby cut up some kiwi fruits and bananas and put then in the food dehydrator.

-We packed sandwiches, coffee, water and snacks and went for a walk along the dam. 

Hope this week was a good one for you.