Frugal on Friday

With Christmas fast approaching, it can be easy for money to flow out faster than usual. My strategy has been to minimise the expense of this festive season by making many of the gifts we will give to our loved ones, teachers and neighbours. Little gift tags have been made from scrap paper and old Xmas cards. Gifts that need to be sent to family far away are ready to send and I will post these in the first week of December to avoid paying express post costs which can be very expensive. (I have not always been this well organised!!) I have been planning what we will have for Christmas lunch and simple homemade salads, cold roasted chicken and a delicious dessert will be shared around our old wooden table.  

There is too all the little things that we do, that regularly save us a few $ here and there. We don't stop doing these things just because the "silly season" is upon us. I really think it is these small things, done often, that keep more money in our pockets. Here's a few frugal things from the past week:

Meat Free Meals

It has been very hot of late so we have mostly been having salads with quiche or cold meats.  Though, on a cooler evening, I made a meat-free meal to use up a tub of ricotta (close to its use by date) and the remnants of a few veg - a sweet potato, a piece of pumpkin, a chunk of zucchini and one lone carrot. Drizzled with olive oil and roasted, it is just delicious!

 Baked ricotta and roast vegetables.
(Ready to go into the oven.)

No Waste

I bought a tray of 20 mangoes from a little local shop. When I calculated the cost, per mango, it worked out cheaper than buying them singly at a local supermarket. So none of these gorgeous ripe fruits were wasted, I peeled, sliced and then froze most of them for smoothies and desserts to enjoy during Summer. The peel was composted.

Delicious mangoes ~ peeled, sliced & frozen.

I also discovered an open packet of Mountain Bread in our freezer. Just a few thin sheets but they had split and broken under the weight of what had been stacked on top of them! So, I defrosted them, finished the process of breaking them in to bits, and then baked them until dry and crispy. Now we have a container of yummy bread chips to dip into the half bottle of salsa in the fridge.

Bread chips

(Made from Mountain Bread I found in the freezer.)

Handmade Gifts

I have continued making small and simple handmade gifts to give for Christmas. I am on a roll with these tea towel tote bags:D  The bag below was made from a touristy tea towel I found in my favourite little antique shop, it cost me $8 which is more than I would normally pay, but I was after something very specific for a beautiful lady who is a proud New Zealander.

A  tote I made from an op-shop tea towel.

(I love the flax linen!)

Op-Shopping

Next year, I will return to permanent, part-time work. Rather than spend lots of money on new work clothes, I have been sewing my own and rummaging through op-shop piles. This flow-y, versatile top cost just $3. It just needs a good iron!

A dressy new-to-me work top.
(Bargain!)

I love reading about what others do on the frugal front. I get so many ideas about different ways to save money. Have you done anything particularly frugal this week that you can share?

Meg

Little Lazy Apple Pancakes

One lonely Granny Smith apple, half a pot of forgotten plain yoghurt and a rumble-y tummy on a Sunday morning, wanting something different to our mostly usual omelette and toast, inspired what turned out to be, as I am calling them, Lazy Apple Pancakes. Not quite an Apple Dutch Baby, but delicious all the same!

Perfect for Sunday morning breakfast.

Lazy Apple Pancakes

1/2 cup white spelt flour

1/4 cup wholemeal spelt flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 small eggs

1/4 cup natural plain yoghurt

1/4 cup milk

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored and thinly sliced into rounds

2 Tablespoons brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed together

butter, for frying

maple syrup (*to serve*)

1.   Sift flours and baking powder into a large mixing bowl.

2.   Whisk eggs, yoghurt and milk together in a measuring jug.

3.   Make well in centre of flours and pour in egg mixture.

4.   Mix until combined and there are no lumps in the batter. Try not to overmix!

5.   Heat skillet or frying pan over medium heat and melt a small knob of butter.

6.   Place large spoonfuls of batter into warmed skillet. (Don't overcrowd your pan.)

7.   Peek under each cooking pancake and ... 

8.   ... gently place an apple round on top when the bottom of the pancake becomes firm and             before bubbles appear on top.  

9.  Sprinkle each apple slice with brown sugar and cinnamon mix. Continue cooking and ...

Flip and cook the apple on the other side.

10.  ...  Flip pancakes when little bubbles appear on surface, around edge of the apple slice.

11.  Cook, apple-side down, until apple softens, the brown sugar and cinnamon become 

       caramel-y and the pancake is firm and springy.

12.  Serve warm with a swirl of maple syrup or some extra dollops of a thick yoghurt.

The tartness of the Granny Smith apple works well with the sweetness of caramel-y brown sugar and maple syrup too. Not quite an Apple Dutch Baby but perfect for a lazy Sunday morning breakfast all the same.

Meg

The Little Red Wheelbarrow

I have potted up a small succulent garden in the little red wheelbarrow my once-small boy would push happily around full of mulch, soil, weeds and the occasional worm. The memory of him, hands in his tiny gardening gloves, pushing his little barrow around our lawn and from garden bed to garden bed, "helping", warms my heart so. Spending time outside together, in our garden, was a favourite part of our days at home together.

 A succulent garden in a child's wheelbarrow.

As it holds such lovely memories, I kept his little red barrow. I have grown flowers in it previously but recently decided I wanted to make a little feature of it, up in the new garden bed we've been creating where our son's old sandpit used to be. So, with extra drainage holes drilled into the bottom, some potting mix with a little leftover sandpit sand mixed in, and some small succulents gifted to me by a good friend, I planted it up.

Gifted succulents potted up  in the wheelbarrow.

One of the succulents has a pretty flower spike. I love the red in the buds as it matches the red of the wheelbarrow. A couple of the other succulents have tinges of red and pink too which I think, once they grow and fill up the space, will look lovely with the fire-engine red of the wheelbarrow.

Flower buds on one of the succulents.

While he has apparently "lost" his enthusiasm for gardening, in favour of hitting cricket balls and kicking footballs, I still point out things of interest in the garden to my boy. A certain plant flowering or going to seed, the scent of an open bud or a herb, a bird splashing in the birdbath or another creature making its home here. While he may not push his little red wheelbarrow anymore, I know the time I spent with him in the garden planted much within him. 

A little red wheelbarrow that holds succulents as well as memories. I am very glad I kept it and that I will see it often in the garden. 

What memories have you got planted in your garden?

Meg