Stress free meals during December!! Now who doesn't want a piece of that??

Buy yourself some time and spread the cost by doubling up on meal cooking during the lead up to Christmas.

Planning is the key to a stress free Christmas, I plan meals week by week during the whole of the year, but by the end of November I try to not only have the December meals planned, but hopefully have most of them prepared, frozen and ready for reheating!!

I have printed out a calendar page for December from a word template, I stick this to the inside of a cupboard door and use it for my meals schedule in December.   While I am cooking meals during the lead up, I am doubling up on everything, so last night we had Beef Casserole, this was cooked in my slow cooker during the day whilst I was at work so it was easy to do twice as much, I have now frozen half of it in a foil container, allocated the meal on the December Planner and written the allocated date on the lid of the tub, all I will have to do for the meal is take it out of the freezer the day before then put it in the oven to heat through. I also peeled and cooked twice as much mashed potato as I needed, I have frozen a tub of that and stored it next to the Casserole, stress free meals on the run up to the big day have got to be a bonus!!

I know you still have to spend the money on the food, but if you can eek out the money a bit this month, it will save on next month’s outlay, that might be useful for extra’s and last minute buys, the Beef was bought because my butcher had an offer on so I saved by buying twice as much.

Keep a lookout for offers and plan double meals around them.

Led there be light!! (for a quarter of the price)

This week I am sharing a great money saver.

LED light bulbs are the new kids on the block for eco lighting, but as always with new tech these things come at a price. Though some would argue that you get your money’s worth with the energy savings and potential life span of the bulbs, replacing as many bulbs as possible in a home can rack up some serious spending, unless………………..

You take a trip to your nearest Poundland!! – Yes really they sell led light bulbs for £1.00, the best that can be done by places like Aldi is £4.00 and if you go to a place like B&Q they can be as much as £7.00 each, you might not be able to get every sort that you need, but so far we have managed to replace quite a lot of the bulbs in our house with great success, especially those in table lamps.

 Mr W keeps coming home with more of them to see what else he can replace, there were mutterings last night of him seeing if they had some suitable for replacing the bulbs in my cooker hood (I hope they have because there is an air of disapproval whenever I have them on, they are expensive to run apparently!!)

Some of the ones available are :-

Bayonet Candle BC22

Bayonet Golfball BC22

Edison Screw E14

Edison Golf Bulb E14

They sell quite a selection of Halogen bulbs as well, sometimes with 2 in a pack.

So with darker nights drawing in, light up your life for less

18/11/2015

Guess what.............I have new bulbs in my cooker hood and I can have them on as long as I like!!, The infection has now spread to my mums house most of her bulbs have been replaced too!!

DIY Washing powder and Toilet Fizz Bombs

Fresh, Clean, Cheap and better for you

Over the last couple of months I have been running a laundry/Loo trial and hey, I have to say they work.

Homemade washing powder is number 1

After reading about this stuff on Pintrest I thought I had to give it a try – I have and I hereby declare it a success.

3 simple ingredients, and not much time and you have washing powder that just costs a few pence for each wash, not full of nasty chemicals either.

OK so how??

4 cups of Bicarbonate of Soda (Wilko’s sell this for £1.50 a box)

3 cups Soda crystals (about 70p in most supermarkets)

1 bar of Knights castile soap (4 bars for 99p in Home Bargains) this needs grating (Very therapeutic!)

The blog I took this from:-

 http://www.bouvardian.com/diy-laundry-detergent-for-sensitive-skin/ advises that you put this in a processor which I did, it didn’t affect the processor at all and didn’t leave a smell.

The washing powder in itself is a great money saver but then if you then use white vinegar instead of conditioner (about 40p a bottle available in most supermarkets)……..Yes that’s right put it in the conditioner slot of your machine, and no it doesn’t leave a smell on your clothes, in fact it fluffs up towels etc a treat.

Super cheap effective wash days available to all.

Secondly the Loo trial

Again after seeing them on Pintrest I have also made a batch of toilet bombs for our downstairs toilet http://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/pins-procrastination-11988173/how-to-make-homemade-toilet-fizz-bombs-only-3154472165/

Not only are they fun to make – My son came in from collage and said the house smelt like a science lab (Don’t know about you but my school science labs didn’t smell of lemon, peppermint and lavender), they use basic ingredients they are easy to pop in the loo when you are passing, keeping it clean and fresh whilst you get on with something else, they look pretty in a jar on top of the toilet, and small nieces find them highly entertaining (Just don’t leave them unsupervised they might throw the whole lot in!!)

How?

1 1/3 cup of our old friend Bicarbonate of soda

½ cup Citric acid (available online and I think in places that sell home brew items, though I get mine online)

And lots of drops of your favourite essential oils.

Mix the soda and acid in a bowl then gently start adding drops of oil (this will fizz so you have to take it slowly) as you add more drops you will finish up with a damp clumping mixture, this can then be pressed into silicone moulds and left out in the open to set/dry out, you will notice them puffing up as they dry, I just kept on squishing everything down until they were hard (overnight should be enough)

All you need now is a pretty jar, keep them handy for a quick toilet freshening blast.

Befriend your freezer (and save time as well as money)

Most of us have a freezer these days, but how many of us use it to its full potential?

Well anybody that has their freezer crammed full of ready meals is guilty of wasting money and space, September is harvest time, and for me time to squirrel, even if you don’t grow your own produce you can take advantage of floods of veggies at low prices, before the winter sets in and everything is imported and the prices hiked.   Aldi’s have a range of cheap fruit and veg every week, and local markets will have loads of good offers, buy extra and make up into sauces, jams and pickles!   I’m not going to lie and tell you that no effort is required, because basically, effort is required!!!   I personally feel that the effort is worth it.

Use freezer space wisely, I have seen many recipes for freezer meals that yes are a great idea, but I think you have to be choosey about what is useful and what isn’t, for instance do you really need to fill up the space with cooked rice and pasta? Both rice and pasta are easy to cook and really don’t take that long.   As they are both dry goods, is it not better to have those stored in a cupboard or pantry and use freezer space for things that aren’t as sustainable, like sauces for the pasta and rice, whip up some large batches of your favourite sauces and pack portions in boxes or bags, you can have a meal ready in no time especially if you can be super organised and remember to take them out of the freezer at the start of the day (though you can cheat and defrost them in the microwave if needs be!!)

Here are some of my favourite freezer basics

Bolognaise Sauce             One lot of washing up, lots of meals, keep an eye out for offers on mince and hopefully save money as well as time.

Pasta sauce                        Again less washing up, and a great way to use up a glut of home grown produce, lots of markets will have tomatoes etc at good prices at the moment, take advantage!

Sliced green beans          I do freeze other veg but as we grow these I always have a loads, wash slice and blanch in boiling water for 4 minutes cool quickly and dry, pack them into freezer bags (sucking the air out with a straw as you close the bag)

Soup Starter                       Snatch up any cheap onions, leaks or celery, wash/peel and dice, hey presto ready for freezing, either in individual bags or if you are prepping all three at once , mix them up making up bags of some of each, the thought of making a soup or sauce is less daunting if you have a head start.

Braised Red Cabbage     Well if you are going to the trouble of braising one cabbage, you may as well do two or even three, once cooled the braised cabbage can be packed into boxes or bags (not a good idea to use foil containers here as the vinegar can affect the metal), defrost and heat through as required.

Cheese                                 Always handy to have a stash of cheese in the freezer especially if you happen to have dropped on a great offer or reduction, you can freeze it in a block but mostly I pre-grate mine I add a smidge of cornflour (shake it through in the box or bag – this helps prevent clumping when defrosting) I pack a variety of quantities, so I have grab and go bags for toppings, sauces toasted sandwiches etc.

Crumble topping              Just like the cabbage If you are going to the bother of making one batch, why not make more – multiple batches is still only one lot of washing up, that’s got to make it worth it for a start. No need for any prepping either just make up as normal, put into usable quantities and pop it in the freezer.

When you come in from work and have a meal on the table in less than an hour, you will know that the effort was worth it

Cooker top cleaning, cheap and easy!

Hi

Today I am sharing a couple of time and effort saving tips that are also cheap and better for the environment than harsh chemical cleaners.   I know some people love cleaning but it just isn’t my favourite way to spend my time so I am always on the lookout for idea’s that will speed processes up/save time and if possible money as well.

I have a gas cooker and use this method of cleaning the burners (not often enough but hey I do my best).

My cooker burners had got into a bit of a state and I knew I shouldn’t ignore them any longer so I finally got a spurt on this weekend and got them done.

Firstly I mix a paste with some Bicarbonate of soda (Wilko's sell Bi-carb in 500g boxes for £1,50) and white vinegar (you have to add the vinegar slowly or you just finish up with a cup full of fizz – even adding it slowly it will fizz slightly so don’t worry about that).   I dampen the burners a with a little vinegar rubbed round with my finger, then I smear on the paste, usually with my fingers as well– at this point it is perfectly acceptable for you to wander off with a cup of tea/coffee and a magazine or whatever because you now need to leave it alone for 10 to 15 minutes (isn’t it great when a cooker can almost clean itself!!) I was an absolute angel though and went upstairs and cleaned the shower area, sorry to brag but it’s nice to tell somebody, I don’t know about your house but it is one of those invisible jobs at my house, I am sure if I didn’t bother people would notice, but somehow they seem oblivious when I do, do it!!!!

When you return to the job, slowly dribble vinegar around the burners letting it fizz away, I do this until most of the paste has washed off.

Now sprinkle salt (regular salt that you use on food) around the burner cut the end off a lemon and use the lemon the rub the salt around the burner, (the grime should now be lifting and the metal be clean and shiny underneath), rinse with hot water, dry and place back on the cooker!

Now about that shower cleaning, get yourself one of these:- (they sell these in Wilko's too for £1.50 and I have even seen them in Poundland - but get a sturdy one, you will need to apply a bit of pressure)

Half fill it with a good washing up liquid, fill to the top with white vinegar, dampen the sponge and give your tiles a good scrub around - now this doesn't take long or much effort, really! you don't even have to get your hands wet, rinse the walls down with hot water then once dry buff up with an old towel, it's really quick and easy, again cheap, also better for the environment than fancy shower cleaners full of goodness knows what!!!

Sugar Sweet

I was baking (again) at the weekend and it crossed my mind to mention something that I have been doing for ages – I’m not going to pretend that this is going to make you rich, it’s just one of those “little things” that help with the overall grand plan, in fact it started off as more to do with the waistline than the purse!!

For most of my usual baking recipes I reduce the amount of sugar by one two or even 3 ounces, after all the sugar is a taste thing and doesn’t affect the way most things turn out.   For example a recipe calling for 4 ounces of sugar I either reduce to 3 or even sometimes 2 depending on what else will be added, in the case of fairy cakes, if you are icing them once cooled, or adding buttercream you won’t even notice the missing sugar in the cake.   A cake with fruit such as Date and Walnut has added sweetness and sugar from the fruit so again won’t be noticed.

Another thing about sugar, on most occasions I ignore the call for Caster Sugar and use ordinary Granulated, Caster is more expensive and there is no difference taste or texture wise and sometimes I mix an ounce or two of granulated into the brown sugars, just to help them go a bit further as these too are more expensive than ordinary Granulated.

As I said this is no “Get rich quick” plan, but it does help stretch things out a little and hopefully has a positive effect on the waistline!!!

Save at least £12.01 and get ahead!!

Hi and welcome to my new blog!!

I didn’t really mean to start things this way, but here is an opportunity that money savers mustn’t miss – getting ahead and saving money, win, win if you ask me.

Ted Baker Heirs and Graces gift sets are currently £18.00 in Boots and can be bought on Amazon for a cool £26.00!!!

HOWEVER if you have a Poundstretcher store near you, they are currently selling the same sets for £5.99 that’s a saving of at least £12.01 – grab yourself a handful as Christmas gifts, save money and get ready early!!!