Monday 28 November 2011

Experiments in Baking

I’m afraid we’ve fallen off the wagon a little lately. Hubby and I recently found out that we are expecting our second child, and pregnancy has not been kind to me. We’re still saving money on our grocery bill, going to markets when possible and using our own laundry liquid etc. But constant nausea is not really conducive to hours in the kitchen baking, and when most of the food that you eat doesn’t stay where it’s supposed to, you tend to just buy whatever food is appealing.

As a result, we’ve slipped back into some naughty habits; buying take away and convenient snacks. Not only that, but all my Christmas planning has gone by the wayside, we actually had to buy supermarket bread because I couldn’t stand the smell of it baking, my vegetable garden is still unplanted (although it is fertilized and dug thanks to my darling hubby!) and the fabric for LL’s dress is still uncut and unsewn.

I have to be honest. We are not perfect. All of our good intentions are still there, but pregnancy has taken over my body so completely that my main focus has been to simply try and get through the basic day to day tasks of running a household and looking after a toddler.

However, a bout of gastro recently put all of this into perspective. Little Lady came down with it first and then I caught it. I have never been so sick in my life. For two days I quite honestly wanted to die. But since then, regular morning sickness doesn’t seem quite so bad. So, the time has come to “suck it up” and get back on the wagon again!

So, this week I have started baking again.

Firstly, I decided to try my hand at baking bread from scratch. As in, not using the bread maker. I found a recipe for a cob loaf on the “Taste” website. It was delicious! And actually quite a bit easier than I thought it would be. I did find it to be a bit cakey and it dried out quickly, so I prefer to eat it toasted. The only special ingredients that you need to purchase are a bag of bread flour and some yeast sachets. Should you wish to try your hand at this recipe, you can find it here http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/24208/cob+loaf


The other day I really had a craving for chocolate cake. Nice, moist chocolate cake with chocolate butter icing. I found a recipe in an old issue of The Australian Womens Weekly. This particular recipe is great because it uses cocoa instead of cooking or dark chocolate, making it nice and reasonably priced. It does call for buttermilk, but I tweaked it so that you don’t have to use it. I hate buying buttermilk. It’s not cheap and it never gets used before expiring. The cake turned out to be beautiful, exactly what I’d been craving, and I’ll definitely be making it again.

“Tweaked” Chocolate Cake recipe:

1 cup water

¼ cup vegetable oil

150g melted butter

1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted

1 ½ cups self raising flour

1/3 cup milk

3 eggs, beaten lightly

2 cups caster sugar

1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla exctract

1.       Pre heat oven to 180 (160 ff). Grease a 26cm square can pan and line base with baking paper.

2.       Combine water, vegetable oil, butter and cocoa in a medium saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until just boiling.

3.       Meanwhile, combine flour, milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl, stirring to combine. Whisk in hot cocoa mixture, mixing until mixture is smooth.

4.       Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 30-40 mins, or until cooked when tested. Allow to cool for 5 mins before turning cake onto a wire rack.

Choc icing:

125g of butter, softened

¼ cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup milk

3 cups sifted icing sugar

1.       Whisk all ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth. (I found an electric mixer was quicker and easier).

2.       Spread icing over cooled cake.

This cake is delicious on its own if you don’t wish to make the icing.

Enjoy!

Friday 18 November 2011

A Dress for Little Lady

I’ve always told myself that I’m a crafty person. On further reflection though, I have decided that I’m more creative than crafty. I have good ideas and good intentions, but when it comes to actually making things, my skills are poor and my patience is low.

Last year I made all of my Christmas presents and it nearly killed me. The first cushion cover was fun. The other seven were just plain annoying. And, full of gaps in the seams, which I didn’t discover until I was wrapping them. I made a bracelet for my brother’s partner; it took four attempts before I finally created something that looked wearable. I made my brother a case for passports etc, as they were heading off to Scotland for Christmas; it was just a basic pencil case with a zip, that somehow ended up wonky and with a hand sewn zip because for the life of me I couldn’t get it to work on the sewing machine. The only gifts that I made that I was really proud of were; a patchwork quilt for my baby niece (thanks to lots of help from a lovely girlfriend) and some hampers of baked goods and jams. Everyone was gracious and full of compliments, but I quietly swore that I would never do it again.

And so, I think you can understand why my latest project feels a little daunting. I am going to make Little Lady some summer dresses. This time, however, I have help, in the form of my Grandma. Grandma is the daughter of a tailor and has been making garments for years.  All of my dresses when I was a child were made with love by Grandma. She doesn’t sew much now, but she’s willing to teach me.

So, last week we headed off to Spotlight to buy patterns and fabric. This is what I brought home:


The total cost of the fabric was $15, this is enough for two dresses, and the pattern was $10. Patterns are not exactly cheap, and this is a relatively simple one, but patterns can be re used. In fact, I already have plans to re-use this pattern and make LL a couple of pinafores for winter using corduroy instead of cotton.

This pattern is a perfect little dress for summer. It can be worn on it’s own on a hot day, or with a little blouse or tee-shirt underneath in cooler weather. I predict that LL will get lots of wear out of these dresses, and at $13.50 each, plus a little work, I’m quite happy with my savings!


So, why not try it yourself? Start with something simple, and ask for guidance from someone who knows what they’re doing. I’ll post some photos of the finished dresses soon..

Wednesday 9 November 2011

A Very Frugal Christmas

It’s that time of year again! The weather is getting warmer, the thunder storms have started, plans are being made, magazines are full of festive recipes and Christmas crafts, and the shops are stocking up on turkeys, ham and other goodies. Christmas is on its way!

Anyone who knows me at all knows how organised I like to be. I have 2 diaries, I always know exactly what I’m doing each day of the week, and I am an avid list maker. I have lists for everything- shopping lists, appointments to be organised, phone calls to be made, errands to be run, jobs to be completed, wish lists for the house and garden, birthday and Christmas present ideas- you name it, I probably have a list for it. My list making goes into overdrive during the Christmas period. It’s such a busy time of year, with so much to organise, I have to get everything written down.

Last year, I have to admit, I bit off more than I could chew. I decided that I was going to make all my Christmas presents. This decision, on top of all our family Christmas dos, dinners, lunches, catch ups, concerts, visiting relatives, a heavily pregnant SIL and subsequent arrival of my niece, and general motherly duties with a 9 month old, meant that I ended up with too many late nights cooking, sewing and wrapping and ended up at the doctors, a week before Christmas, sick and burnt out. I saved money sure, and everybody loved their handmade goodies, but it wasn’t worth the stress and effort.

This year I have gone with a different approach. Knowing that I have a little added stress this year, hosting our traditional family Christmas lunch for the first time, hand made gifts have gone by the wayside. Instead, anything handmade will be in the form of baked goods in hampers and a delicious Christmas lunch. That’s it.

I love Christmas. It’s my favourite time of the year, but it does tend to stress me out. So, after much thought, I have produced another list; my tips for a very frugal, yet stress free, Christmas…

1.      Start planning early. Start your Christmas shopping as early as possible. Start in January! Buy things on sale and put them away in a cupboard. As an Advisor selling books and games for The Learning Ladder, I get a substantial discount. So, for the last six months I’ve been buying up presents for my family. I have most of my Christmas gifts already, stored in Little Lady’s wardrobe. Don’t leave your shopping until the last minute. You’ll end up stressed and cranky, wandering the shopping centres with other stressed and cranky people, you’ll overspend and end up impulse buying. If you still haven’t done any shopping for this Christmas, I recommend making a list, setting aside this Saturday for shopping, get the kids babysat and just go and do it. There are still sales on, and you still have time to shop around.

2.      Same goes for hosting any Christmas celebration. Plan early, make lists of the food and supplies you’ll need, pick things up on special and store them in the freezer or cupboard. I made my lists a couple of weeks ago and have been buying one or two Christmas items each week. That way you won’t blow your budget.



3.      Start cooking NOW! Bake and freeze. Make one thing each week and pop it into the freezer. Christmas cakes, puddings and mince pies are better when made in advance anyway. Another good idea is to make a few casseroles and other dinners and freeze them. These are handy for those nights when you race home only to race out the door again for another Christmas drinks party or supper. At least you know your family will be fed something healthy and substantial with minimum effort.



4.      You will save money by making your own Christmas presents. However, this will take a lot of time. Only attempt this if A. you are a crafty person and B. you are able to start early. Like, in June. Otherwise don’t bother.



5.      Two words- Kris Kringle. Every large family should do it. I’ll be suggesting it for next year.



6.      You do not have to provide all the food for Christmas get togethers on your own. Work out how much food you need and get everybody to bring one thing to contribute. For example; this year on Christmas Day at my house Grandma will bring the turkey (already cooked), Mum and Dad will bring potatoes for roasting and mixed berries as an alternate dessert, Pa will bring ham, Uncle 1 will bring salad veggies from his garden, Brother and Partner will bring cheeses and crackers, Uncle 2 will bring drinks. Which leaves me to make ice cream, shortbread, mince pies and some dips (which can all be made ahead of time) and some other roast veggies for the main meal. I’ll also make up 2 large bowls of punch, much cheaper than buying bottles of soft drink.



7.      Take your time, spend your money wisely and organise your time so that you’re not run ragged with other commitments.



And enjoy this special time of year!

Sunday 6 November 2011

A Sensitive Issue...

One thing Little Lady has inherited from me, is extremely sensitive skin. The poor little mite breaks out in red, flaking, itchy, bleeding excema if anything artificial or chemically enhanced touches her skin. This means that we have to be vigilant with body washes, shampoos, moisturisers, sunscreen and washing detergent. Most kids love a bubble bath. Unfortunately LL doesn’t get to enjoy these little pleasures, because it’s the foaming agents in soaps and body washes that affect her the worst. So, she has baths with essential oils, sulphate and paraben free body wash and shampoo, almond oil and paw paw ointment for moiturising and sunscreen specially formulated for sensitive skin.

Washing detergent is another matter. Luckily, we have a front loader, and front loader detergents have less foaming agents than top loaders. We also use one of the more natural detergents. However, LL always has a couple of patches of excema that we can never seem to get rid of. She also suffers from nappy rash.

When we started this experiment, I read about a recipe for making my own washing detergent. I started making it because I knew it would save me money. I didn’t realise that it was going to help LL’s skin as well. Her excema has almost completely disappeared, and the nappy rash is no more!

This Laundry Liquid recipe (thanks again to Rhonda Hetzel of down---to---earth.blogspot.com) works out to $4.50 for 10 litres. 10 litres of a leading brand detergent will cost you up to $50. That’s a huge saving!

I wasn’t sure how well it would work. After all, we have a toddler in the house! A toddler whose clothes are constantly covered in food, dirt and bodily fluids. Usually I add a scoop of Napisan to every wash I do. With my home made laundry liquid, I rub some into the stains, leave it for half an hour and then wash as normal. The clothes are coming out beautifully clean! Little Lady’s cloth nappies were the real test. I popped them into the washing machine, with half a cup of my home made laundry liquid and set it on a hot wash. They came out spotless!

Yes, it requires a little more effort on your part, in terms of finding the stains and treating them accordingly, but the effort is worth it for the savings! And the fact that it has cleared up Little Lady’s skin.

It’s not difficult to make and all the ingredients can be found in the supermarket. Take 1 cup of lux flakes OR 1 bar of laundry soap grated on a cheese grater, ½ cup of washing soda (not bicarb or baking soda!) and ½ cup of borax. In a medium saucepan add 1 ½ litres of water  and the lux flakes/ laundry soap. Stir over a medium heat until all the soap is dissolved. Add washing soda and borax and stir until thick.

Pour the mixture into a 10 litre bucket, then add another 8 litres of water. Stir to combine. Store the liquid in clean bottles and shake before each use, because the ingredients will separate. Use ¼ - ½ cup of liquid per load.