February - Week Two

Monday - leftovers. I had flan and coleslaw. Al had left over pasta, canned salmon and tomato, Oldest child he ate with my mum and the youngest child had noodles -punishement for being last to have dinner and the kitchen was closed.
Tuesday - Home made hamburgers
Wednesday - Savoury muffins
Thursday and Friday - both take out nights, i know, i know. Cannon starjam group was performing at the Halberg awards and then Friday I worked O/T and we got home very late from the game.
Saturday - Chicken nibbles and hot chips, it's so easy just to pop down to the local takeout and we jus surrounded by them. My will was weak and I couldn't resist...lol. Sad but true
Sunday - no take out, simple meal of eggs on toast...yummy

Review:
Yes we fell of the wagon...and it's so easy and so wasteful to be spending hard earned cash on takeouts. Next week we are back on the wagon, a few lapses doesn't mean we should give up completely.

Simple Savings - War on Debt: February

Simple Savings - War on Debt.
I've decided if I'm going to work towards financial independant I need to start NOW. The other week I printed off the War on Debt calender for 2011. Each month you are faced with a challenge and asked the same three questions but the answers are based on the challenge for that month.

February is: "NO SPEND CHALLENGE" - this will be a tough one for us so I decided to pick one thing that we waste money on and for us that's Takeaways. We are totally guilty of not prepping dinner before we go out.
What will we do? - No takeaways for dinner
How will it improve our lives? Reduce impulse spending and improve our overall health
How will we remember? Discuss what we are going to have the following night and prep what we can before hand.

The story so far.... Week One
Tuesday - Stuffed Peppers, I used the "food in a minute" recipe, very delicious but next time I'll use a meat based filling instead.
Wednesday - Lamb rissoles, coleslaw and potato salad
Thursday - Sliced paua, veges, pasta in white sauce
Friday - Fish and Chip pack (B) $5.50 to go with the left over salad
Saturday - Scrambled egg salad in a bread roll
Sunday - Tomato and Cheese Flan and coleslaw; I adapted a recipe from in the Recipe Mag
** We slipped on Friday but any other week we would have spent way more than $5.50.

REVIEW -
After only one week I feel more in control and it helps having the family on board with the idea. I said to a friend the other day - how can I expect my children to be financial independant if I can't do it myself. I definately not rushing things as it's going to take sometime to break the habits of a lifetime.

2011 - Bucket List

Since turning 40 a couple of years ago - recently I've had lots of OMG moments where I could see myself sitting in a chair with a crocheted lap blanket staring out a window thinking, where did the time go.

Sooooooooooooooo to that end this year for me is one of action or at the very least the start of some action and I've created a Bucket list - like the movie, but no I'm not dying anytime soon. I want to have one of those lives like the male character in the movie "Death becomes her" - a must see you haven't. I won't go into the plot - would take longer than the time it would take for you to watch it.

A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you die or in my case a list of things I want to achieve in 2011. Thats's why I said "I'm not dying anytime soon - paragraph two.

I'm not sure how much of the list I will get done by the end of the year OR which order it will be done in. I may add things or take things off, it will be a work in progress.

What is on my Bucket List?
* Sowing a Winter garden - been meaning to but never got round to it
* Clearing the back section or my new orchard with dwarf fruit trees - I want Aiko and any grandchildren to experiencing the joy of picking and eating fruit straight from the tree.
* Total make over of the area leading to my front door.
* Making my own cheese
* Making more jams, relishes and preserves
* Make my own butter
* De-cluttering - this will be forever on the list
* Reduce debt
* Get to Vegas not Rotovegas Las Vegas - U.S.A
* Get more paid photography work

Wholly Cow

On our way home from Hamilton after Cannon's Starjam performance. We stopped in a local Farmers market for a look-see. As we walked around Al couldn't resist this stand with its "Flinstone" sized meat products. After buying his T-bone steak he cheekily asked the owner if he could have a photo with him so he could remember this manly moment forever.

Flowers

The girls from my Better Scrapbooking group got together and brought me some flowers when my father passed away, it also came with a really nice tag which I've put away with other memorablia that I will some day make mini album with with. That's if I can stop crying long enough to make it.

Papa Ted

Ted had come from Raro for Dad's Funeral which also gave him a chance to do a little of grandpa and grand-daughter bonding unfortunately Aiko didn't warm up to him until the day he was leaving to go home.

Gingerbread Christmas trees

This idea I found in last weeks Lucky Break magazine. Except they use white icing and those edible silver balls that I forget the name of. I had found an easy gingerbread cookie recipe online and then coloured the trees using red and green icing. The major problem I had was battling the heat as the dough was too crumbly (added more butter and then popped them in the fridge) and then the icing wouldn't set and my trees keep falling over...lol. But I'm please with the final result. I never used to taste my baking but after watching soooo many cooking shows I understand how important this step really is.

Bucannon's class and teachers really liked them.