Simple Living Values

Sometimes I need to ask myself a few tough questions so I can stay balanced and happy with my lifestyle.  What are my priorities in life?  How am I spending my time?  How am I spending my money?  I sometimes just need a reality check to get back to basics, as we are constantly told by society that we need more, need to be more and will be happier when….

I find if I stay true to my values I feel happy and content most of the time.  Firstly I need to remember what my values are.  Everyone’s are different, just a few of mine are good parenting, meaningful relationships, eating healthy and growing vegetables, managing my money, studying, home schooling,  holidays and time with my family.

Once I have remembered my values I need to take a close look at how I’ve been spending my time.  This usually shows me where I’m getting out of balance.  If I have been racing around for others too much and not taking care of my own health, then I tend to get sick.  If I go on a spending spree that doesn’t fit into my budget, then I tend to regret it, and suffer financially. 

If I divide up my time so I’m getting the rest I need, working on things that need my attention and spending some quality time with people that are meaningful to me things tend to go smoothly.  Life will always have its ups and downs, but I can choose how I deal with it. 

After becoming ill 6 months ago, with an illness that takes time to recover from, I have had to revaluate my priorities and how I spend my time.  My main priority at the moment is to get well again, so I’m spending my time getting the necessary rest I need and prioritising how I spend my day so I can maximise my energy levels.  Making time for reflection on my life helps me see where change needs to take place.

 

 

 

 

Saving Money in the Kitchen

There are a lot of ways to saving money in the kitchen, here are a few of my favourites:

·         Only buy basic cereal such as Cornflakes, Rice Bubbles, Rolled Oats and Weetbix then from time to time treat kids to something special.

·         Collect all the crumbs from the bottom of the cereal packets that no one wants to eat and store them in an airtight container.  Once you have a few cups of cereal make a tasty chocolate slice.  Here’s my favourite simple chocolate slice recipe.  Make the slice, cut into pieces, wrap and freeze for a chocolate treat.

 Ingredients

 

1 ½ cups Cereal

1 cup Self Raising flour

1 cup Coconut

1 teaspoon Vanilla

½ cup Sugar

4 Tablespoon Cocoa

100g Butter

½ cup milk

 Method

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add melted butter and milk to dry ingredients, mix well.  Press into a greased oven tray.  Cook in a moderate oven for 15 – 20 minutes.  Ice while hot.  Icing: mix water, cocoa and icing sugar.  Sprinkle with coconut.

 

 

Here is some more money saving ideas:

 

*Make homemade muesli using oats, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, oat bran and  sultanas.

                    *Use powdered milk for cooking and in your coffee if you like the taste.
                  * Popcorn seeds – place in a saucepan and cover, pop your own seeds and add some melted              butter - another great snack and just as quick as the packaged microwave popcorn.

 

Saving Money on Clothing

Occasionally when I think it’s time for some new clothes, I go through my wardrobe and firstly I check everything to see what actually fits.  Items I really like that don’t fit at the moment I store in a plastic tub in the bottom of my wardrobe.  Like most women my weight can fluctuate and I used to think that that was an excuse for a shopping spree.   I also go through my children’s clothing twice a year (summer and winter) to see what fits and what they have grown out of. 

Clothing that I no longer need I take to the local second hand clothing store, where I get an in store credit or a few dollars for each piece of clothing.   Items they don’t want I then donate to the local charity.

Here is a scarf I recently purchased after taking a bag of clothes to the second hand store.  It’s been handmade and was only $15.  This way of shopping is fantastic as it recycles all clothing for a new owner.

 

Old t-shirts or clothing that is too worn out for someone else to own, I cut up into rags to be used around the house for cleaning.

I am learning how to only buy what I need each season, and I have been surprised that I only need a couple of items.  What a wonderful way to save money and our environment.

I also shop for clothing at garage sales as you can generally pick things up for a dollar or two.  It is sometimes amazing what people sell at garage sales.

 

Home Schooling - Some Practical Lessons

My children enjoy practical lessons and they seem to be a great way of teaching new skills and developing creativity.  They have learnt many useful living skills which will stay with them for life.  Often practical learning will involve Maths, Reading, Writing, Science and Time Management Skills.  I have learnt to think outside the square when it comes to schooling.

Cooking is a wonderful way to be creative, I let my children decide what they would like to cook (within reason) then add any ingredients to the weekly shopping list.  They then write out the recipe and add it to their own recipe folders which they have created.  Once the shopping is done, they have full use of the kitchen to create their masterpiece.  

 

A very blue and unhealthy masterpiece!

The children also help cook the evening meal; my daughter will often ask if she can cook something for dinner, usually a pasta dish as this is her favourite.

Letting the children be involved in the household budgeting helps them to become aware of how much things cost and that money doesn’t grow on trees!  My son has been involved in creating an Excel spread sheet to help compare bills and to   keep track of the household expenses.

 I believe getting children to participate in household duties helps develop their sense of belonging and achievement.  It also teaches children all that goes into running a home. 

 

 

 

Filling Your Kitchen Pantry

I believe a well organised pantry will save you money in the long run as you will be able to see exactly what you have and what you may need to purchase.  This way you should never have to throw out any food items.  I keep all my basic pantry items in airtight containers.  I purchased Tupperware years ago and it just lasts and lasts.  Organising your pantry will create more space and labelling containers is a great idea.

Here’s a list of my pantry basics:

Baking powder, bi-carb soda, brown sugar, castor sugar, chilli powder, cocoa, coconut, cornflour, curry powder, custard powder, dried soup mix, dried beans, dried chickpeas, gelatine, gravy powder, herbs and spices, icing sugar, lentils, milk powder, plain flour, popcorn seeds, rice, sauces (soya sauce, fish sauce, chilli sauce, bbq and tomato sauce), self  -raising flour, sugar, sultanas, vanilla essences, vinegar.

Other pantry essentials:

Canned corn kernels, canned diced tomatoes (I buy these in bulk), canned pineapple, canned tuna, canned salmon, noodles, nuts, parmesan cheese, pasta and spaghetti.

Other pantry ideas:

·         Keep all canned food, sauces, spices organised so you can see exactly what you have.

·         I have a bulk item cupboard which is separate from the pantry where I keep items I may have bought in bulk while on special and other items I buy in bulk.

·         I only ever have three different cereal packages in the pantry for the kids to choose from and the rest I keep in my bulk cupboard, that way you don’t end up with lots of half empty cereal packages.

·         I also have a treats basket in my pantry that the kids can have and offer to their friends when they visit.

·         Inside my pantry door I have a calendar where I keep all details of upcoming events.

 

Attitude Adjustment

Sometimes life just seems to be too hard and it’s difficult to stay positive and focussed.  When life gets me down and I seem to start worrying about every little thing.  I know I need to get things back into perspective.  I try to remember that when the time is right more information will be revealed to help me understand or deal with a certain situation I don’t need to have all the answers at once.  Life is a journey and if I have an easy does it attitude life seems to go more smoothly.  I tend to be able to ride the ups and downs better.  I try to have a gentler approach to the tough situations I find myself in and tell myself I’m doing the best I can at any given moment, this can help things seem more bearable.

Worrying about things too much can alter my perception until I lose all sense of reality.  I try to bring myself back to the facts and separate the emotions.  By keeping my thoughts in the present, as worrying focuses on the future, a lot of my worries don’t ever end up happening.  Today will have enough worries, so there’s no need to pile more worries into today, as anticipating all possible outcomes to situations is just me trying to protect myself.  I need to just take appropriate action as each situation throughout the day appears.  Letting myself indulge in worry is a choice that I don’t need to make.  I don’t need to act out of fear, as I’m learning to do life on a daily basis.  Enjoying this day as it won’t happen again, looking for the good and appreciating the little things.  Life can be simple and easy if I change my attitude.  I do have control over my reactions to things, sometimes I just need a listening ear and sometimes I need to be the listening ear for others.  I feel better already just by writing my feelings and thoughts!  I hope you too are feeling good today.

 

Ideas to Save Money in the Kitchen

Making different homemade snacks, cakes, slices and muffins will save a heap of money.  These treats can be cut and wrapped into individual snacks and kept in the freezer to be taken as morning tea or for when visitors drop in.

I have a household rule – No food can be put in the bin!  The biggest waste of money in a household is wasted food.  Leftovers should be covered and put into the fridge, for lunch the next day or frozen for another meal.  We also feed leftovers to the dog or the chickens.   All fruit and vegetable scraps go into the compost bin or to the chickens.

We have about halved our rubbish that goes into landfill, by not wasting food, cooking from scratch and not purchasing as many packaged food items has also reduced our landfill waste.

Here are a few more ideas:

·         A way to not waste bruised apples that no one wants to eat is to stew them to make a yummy dessert.  Just peel apples and cut into pieces, then place in a saucepan with a small amount of water.  You can also add cinnamon, sultanas and even walnuts if you like.  Simmer apples on medium heat until tender.  I freeze this dessert in individual servings.

 

·         Keep the crusts of bread if no one in your family eats them and put them in the freezer.  Once you have about a dozen crusts, you can de-frost them and blend them to make breadcrumbs.  These are great to use when making homemade rissoles.

 

Planning the Weekly Menu

I come up with 5 dinner ideas for the week, as we tend to eat about 2 meals a week from previously frozen meals.  I tend to cook most things from scratch as it always works out cheaper and tastes better.  I work out what ingredients I need for each meal, adding any ingredients I don’t already have to my weekly shopping list.

A great way to help plan your weekly menu is to ask your mother and grandmother for their favourite old recipes, these are usually cheap and easy to make.  Create your own recipe folder by using a ring binder and plastic sleeves.  Cut out recipes from old magazines or print them off a website.

On the weekend we have a special homemade “takeaway” meal, such as homemade pizzas or hamburgers.

I use Lebanese bread for pizza bases or make dough in my bread machine of course making my own dough is the cheapest option.  Most bread machines come with recipe books and instructions on how to do this.

For homemade hamburgers, I buy buns and make my own patties.  This works out so much cheaper than buying ready-made patties and tastes so much better.

A few more ideas:

Homemade white sauce is extremely versatile and can be used as white sauce on top of lasagne or as a cheesy sauce with pasta, just add onion and bacon for a yummy meal kids will love. This is so much cheaper to make, than buying jar sauce.

By buying a whole frozen chicken and roasting it, you can have meat for sandwiches, for a stir-fry and you can then boil the carcass and make homemade chicken soup.

Mince can be made into so many different meals such as casseroles, rissoles, meatballs etc. all these meals workout so cheap to cook.  Try to stay away from packaged sauces and casserole bases, as you are generally just buying something that could be made from scratch for a fraction of the price and only takes an extra 5 minutes to prepare.  We have been “marketed” into thinking packaged food is quicker to prepare.

 

My 10 Minute Vegetable Garden

 
 I spend 10 minutes in the morning and again in the afternoon to keep my vegetable patch producing wonderful vegetables for my family.  We also keep 3 chickens which supply us with ample eggs every day.  My simple gardening routine began with composting and keeping chickens, that took care of all our kitchen scraps and helped reduce our kitchen waste.

We received a free compost bin from our local council after attending a free one day composting workshop.



Our homemade chicken coop and run, all made from recycled timber.

I then began to sow seeds and plant them out into larger pots.

 

We have fenced off a section of the yard for the garden area to keep the dog away from the chickens. The fencing was recycled from my sisters place when they replaced their front fence.  I then began planting veges in the small garden area.  My routine has developed over time and I really enjoy the complete circle of putting scraps into the kitchen compost, using the compost on my garden, planting seeds and watching the crops grow, then harvesting fresh veges for a wonderful salad or stir-fry for dinner.  It gives me a sense of purpose and creativity, knowing I have had a hand in what's on our dinner plate.