Cutting Corners

I'm going to cut corners this pregnancy and beyond. A few days ago, I "discovered" home delivery from a grocery shop we shop at. This is new to this shop chain, and maybe to this part of the country. However, my husband and I've used grocery home delivery service in the UK quite a bit. This is exciting!

During the final weeks of each pregnancy, I stress about prepping enough meals into the freezer for when the baby arrives. I don't usually get many made, and we end up cooking like we normally would be. This time around, I'm not interested in standing on my swollen feet and piling meals into the freezer. My feet swell in the heat and I find the idea overwhelming at the moment.  Maybe when the weather cools down a bit, I'll have more of a desire to do so.

What can we do to make the last few weeks of the pregnancy and the first few weeks with the baby, easier?

This is what we're going to do,

•  find affordable and healthy take out options

•  use home delivery

I asked my husband, what he thought about budgeting our food in a way that would allow us to eat take out more, and instead of doing major food shops (with the kids!) on paydays, we would use the home delivery service? He said, YES!

Home delivery has a cost to it, of course. But I think not only will it save us time, stress, and gas... it will save me from putting stuff into our trolley that we didn't menu plan for.  So to me, the delivery cost is so worth it! I mean someone goes around and shops for you and brings it to you!!!

What do you think of getting your shopping delivered to you?

Menu Planning

I've tried several ways to menu plan and be frugal. I've only menu planned once I know what's on offer, I've menu planned according to our cravings, I've menu planned for boosting our immunity and now I am menu planning for the summer.

I don't write down every detail, some things are just a given in our diet, i.e vegetables, salads, super foods, hemp hearts etc. So when I write down a week or two week menu, I keep it simple.

First I plan out our weekly schedule. I need to know when we're home and out. Since I've booked a few evenings a week to hit the gym, and the kids in gym care, I plan out a "lunch box dinner" and iltapala (evening snack) for them to have there.

I will be using my crock pot a few times a week, just so that I can organize and de-itemize the house a bit more during the day. Since it's summer, the bbq will be used quite a bit as well. 

I guess this menu is more for my kids than it is for me. I am not a big fan of hot dogs or other stuff I have on the menu, so I will make a few dishes just for me (which the kids usually don't like) during the week.

After writing out our menu, I write out the shopping list to go with it. Besides fresh produce, I think one shopping trip will do.

In about two weeks, I'll throw in a few new dishes and take out a few.

How do you plan your menu, and how do you shop for your groceries?

More on 'Cooking on a Budget' HERE

Recipes HERE

DIY Create-a-Meal Fridge Magnets -Homeschool

Here they are! DIY Create-a-Meal Fridge Magnets, by Cathy Rose! The coolest thing ever! :) What a great way to be creative, meal plan, and teach your kids how to create healthy wholesome meals. This is how I made them.

You'll need

• scissors
• card stock
• small magnets (elmer's)
• sharpie, colours
• creativity and inspiration (you ALL got some!)
• laminating sheets and a laminator (borrow one!)
• double sided tape
• a fridge :)

1. I  made a list of the foods we eat. I kept it as healthy as I could, this way we automatically plan good nutritious meals for the whole family. I just started drawing, nothing fancy, just plain lines and even gave my veg faces!

No rush with the drawings. You can't think of the meals all at once, take your time, even days.

2. Name them and colour them in. And again, let your kids do the colouring, no stress.

3. Cut out the pictures and laminate.

4. Cut out the pictures. Stick the pictures and magnets together by using double sided tape.

Teach your kids how to create healthy meals, using a correct food pyramid. 

 

(I.P stands for "ILTAPALA" which means evening snack/bite in Finnish)

VOILA!

Need help in creating healthy meals? Check out my recipes here!

Need help finding an healthy food pyramid? Click here!

Don't forget to ENTER to WIN A FREE BOOK!

Gardening 2013 Part 2

My Garden "Highs and Lows". 

Some of my seedlings didn't survive the transplanting, even though I had hardened them prior. So, I lost some plants, some altogether, but some are thriving, thankfully!

The plants that I will start growing again and more of, are watermelon, giant pumpkins, grass pampas', cabbage, cilantro etc.

The plants which are thriving are, methi (fenugreek), dill, broccoli, strawberries, raspberries, courgettes, cucumbers, radish, spinach, tomatoes, basil, lettuce, carrots etc. Also, all of my herbs and chili peppers are doing well.

I have neglected the weeding and pruning for a few weeks now and, I can really see consequences in doing so. After the rain stops, I will start my weeding-blast and hopefully, I will stay on top of it. It needs prioritizing in my weekly tasks. I'm still learning!

I collect eggshells throughout the weeks and grind them small enough for plant protection (against slugs) and, also I use them as good fertilizer.

I'm waiting for my plants to really blossom lusciously, so I can take a whole garden shot and post it here. I'm thinking mid July, IF our summer is anything like last year's. Hot and sunny, perfect for my vegg!

You may want to read more about us growing our own food this year and the year before. Click on the link! http://holytempleunderrenovation.blogspot.ca/search/label/Growing%20vegetables%20and%20herbs

What are you growing this year? How is your crop coming along?

A Yummy Light Lunch Raw or Cooked!

Hello Darlings! Here is a yummy light recipe for you guys! x

 

Ingredients:

2 small zucchinis/courgettes halved

2 tsp pesto

4-6 cherry tomatoes halved

10-20 pearl mozzarella balls

basil for ganish

Brush the pesto onto the zucchini halves. Garnish with tomato, mozzarella and basil. Season. Grill under the broil (HI) untill cheese has melted and looks cooked. Approx. 10-15 minutes. For raw foodists, don't cook and omit the cheese!

YUMMY!

Gardening 2013 Part 1

It's here, finally! Growing vegetables and herbs of my own, organic, with love! Below are a few pictures of what's going on and ideas and advice to share with you guys.

 Our little strawberry patch. We used lime to keep the slugs out and also sprinkled eggshells around the plants.

 Little ones. Hope they produce lots! 

 Crushed bay leaves repel ants...

 My oregano. How beautiful, even if I say so myself...

 Chives. They always remind me of my Mummo (Gramma)... Miss you so much! 

 Hubby toiling the soil. He does the hard labour and I do the detailing of the garden... Thank God! 

It's hard work! Catching his breath! And burning...

Getting ready for zucchini and cucumber plants.

I want to share with you a few ideas which we've applied into our growing vegetables and herbs this year.

1. Egg shells. We collect, crush and sprinkle them on the soil beds and garden for "slow release fertilizer" (brings flavour and sweetness to your berries, especially!) and to keep away slugs. Apparently, they repel slugs!
2. Basil and Tomatoes are buddies! Planting them side by side enhance the flavours of your toms, yum yum!
3. Plant Tarragon and Marigolds freely around your vegetables. Smart and pretty pest control.
4. Strawberries like "sandy" soil. This I have witnessed with my own eyes. They went from floppy-droopy to "OH HELLO!" in 10minutes after transplanting them.
5. Create a ring around your garden with lime (alkaline) to keep slugs and snails away, completely.
6. Make a wasp trap out of water, sugar and rice wine vinegar. For how to, click (HERE)

That's all for Gardening 2013 Part 1

Savour the Valentine's Day Season Part 4

  This morning, we savoured the season by making and eating heart shaped omelettes! yummy!

I don't have a heart shaped cookie cutter, so I had to improvize....

For my two oldest monkeys...

DIY Tooth Paste

I've been wanting to post about DIY Tooth Paste for so long now but, I had to go through some trials and errors before I could.

I found a recipe online for DIY T-P and ordered the ingredients online. After about 2 weeks, I finally received the last potion for my toothpaste I could now give it a try. Well, to my dissapointment the toothpaste was horrid! I couldn't finish my teethbrushing and with the few first strokes I nearly vomited! It was BAD (for me).

I then did some research and came up with a *cathy version* yet a healthy version!

Ingredients

• 2 T Coconut Oil
• 2 T Baking Soda
• 1 T Magnesium-Calcium Powder (emptied approx. 8 capsules)
• 1/4 C fruit flavoured TUMS (grinded) -it's calcium! (optional)
• 2 T xylitol powder
• 10 g stevia powder
• 20 drops of peppermint oil (other minty oils are available)
• 10 drops of trace minerals  

verdict: Good enough. :)

Beet and Swede Soup

I only happened to have these vegg in my fridge. The kids loved the colour of the soup and they had seconds. Serve it with Rosattis (link)

Cut up equal amount of

Beet
Potato
Swede

approx. 1-2 C of each

Put to boil in 0.5-1L of water, so it is covered. Add an OXO cube, bay leaf (remove later), 1T dried basil, parsley, 1t dried thyme, 1/2 T dried chives, dash of salt and pepper, 1 t oregano

While it's boiling, fry up an onion, 3 garlic cloves in olive oil until the onions have turned golden, at which point remove it from the heat.

Once beets have soften up, pour the soup and fried onions into a blender, blend till smooth, adding 1/2 C cooking cream as it blends.

  Garnish with cilantro

"Rosatti" Flat Bread

Well, I can't say enough about how much we love Indian and African food. More accurately, the wonderful types of bread that are served up with each meal. As a family we decided to create our own. African chapatti are somewhat oily and Indian Roti too dry, so we opted for somewhere in the middle. Our little experiment soon became known as the 'Rosatti'. I hope I don't need to explain the name? Anyway, ROti, chapATTI, and family name ROSE. Pretty clever, eh! 

They are just fantastic with Indian curries, African stews, as tortillas for Quesadilla, or just with peanut butter and jelly.

Ingredients:

3 1/2    decilitre Water
6-8      decilitre Flour
1/2 t     salt
3 T       olive oil

First mix the wet ingredients together and then add in the dry ingredients little by little until you have slighty tacky dough.

Divide the dough into 16 equal sized dough balls and place them under a towel, so they don't dry out.

On a floured surface begin to roll out each dough ball, adding a sprinkle of flour to aid the rolling process when required. Roll the dough until you have nicely sized, thin Rosatti.

Place the uncooked Rosatti onto a preheated (medium heat) skillet. Once the dough has gained some beige colour spots, flip it over and repeat. Flip the Rosatti again, which often results in the bubbling effect of the bread. Simply take the cooked Rosatti out, place it onto a plate nearby and place a towel over. Then repeat the whole process for the remaining dough balls.

Coming Up With Meals, -NOW!

I have found this particular site very helpful in those times where I feel that my brain is mush and I cannot come up with a basic, simple meal to make for me and my family. A few years ago, I stumbled across THIS site which helped me tremendously during those rough times, where I felt overwhelmed with having to come up with what to eat, especially when my pantry was pretty empty!? Having a newborn and a toddler running around, the idea of getting dressed up (mid winter for example) to walk to the shop to buy something was not appealing in the slightest!

This site is awesome! All I did was type in the ingredients I already had and it would give me several recipes and options I could make, from desserts to main entrees! From all around the world. Today I am making a Maleysian rice meal. Since my main ingredients (in my pantry) are onions and rice... :)

I am pretty good at improvising and throwing in a few extra items to make it more "ME"

Have a play! Makes my life a bit easier from time to time.