Saving time and saving money

It’s an oxymoron really, I swear! If you want to, for an example, save money on presents, you make them yourself but that takes time. Cutting corners and buying it yourself saves time but not money. I am in the process of reading India Knight’s “Live well and spend less”

 and must say, that book has changed my life. Just one chapter in and I bought seeds, potting dirt and pots to make a small garden (we live in the second floor) so my windowsill is filled and so is half the balcony. If it’s going to work? No idea but I am giving it a try, I have little to loose. I spend a bit of money on the seeds and the dirt and I bought the pots in the second hand shop. I compared prices from Ikea and the local garden center and the local second hand shop: there was no doubt, ok, the pots are not all the same or the same size but they were only between 25 cents and 1 euro instead of 5 to 15 euros per pot.

I have save money but not time, I had to go several different places to get the things I needed and it took quite a bit of time (my bike is out of business at the moment) but I got the things I needed.

I had a small chat with my lovely manneke (the husband) and aired my concern that his family, if I had to give them presents, would find it cheap if I made the things myself. He assured me that spending time was more valuable than spending money (I love him sooo much!) and never the less, if the person receiving the gift was to find it cheap, it was their own problem and their values in life would be all wrong. (I really really love him!)

My mother (a very wise woman) has always had what she called: a gift cabinet. It’s a cabinet, box, shelf (out of reach for the kids) where small items, things found on sale, useless (to you) presents and so on. It’s a place where you go to look when you have a party coming up and you’ve either not had the time or the money to go find something to give to the host/birthday person (or you, like me, simply forgot :p ) And I subconsciously started doing that myself, we got a lot of similar things for the different children for their birth and birthday and I have, I confess, used some of it in presents to other friends who had babies. It saves me both time and money plus in this world, where we buy much more than we need and end up throwing it away, often unused, I find it sooooo important that we think a bit clever at times, save a bit of time, money and lessen the CO2 production – if even just a tiny bit. I do believe that every little thing counts.

India Knights "Live well and spend less" is available at Amazon.co.uk here:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thrift-Book-Live-Well-Spend/dp/0141038233/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368948634&sr=1-6&keywords=india+knight

Waste nothing

The average household in Denmark throws out 700 kg of edible food each year - to me that is a scary amount and such waste - both money wise but also food wise considering we live in a world where people still die from starvation every single day.
My mother (a very wise woman) gave me the advice when I complained about the kiddies never finishing their oatmeal or porridge, to save the leftovers and put it into the dough next time I baked bread. I do that now, a long with the pieces of banana Quinten leaves on his plate that goes brown, the applesauce Lily doesn't finish and the porridge each morning - everything in a container and into the freezer for next time I have to bake bread.
Leftover veggies from dinner also gets saved, put in a container and into the freezer for either to be blended into a pulp and added to the bread mix or added to the pastasauce.
Bread that has gone stale I either bake in the oven until crispy and then ground them up to make breadcrumbs for when making soufflé, crust for the chicken (legs, breast, you name it) OR I make bread-pudding. That's something that Steve has taught me and to be honest, he's the only one that eats it - I find it foul. But never the less, I put all the 'old' bread in a bowl, add sugar, coffee, raisins, half an grated appel and water and let it soak over night, mix it up until it resembles a bread dough. In to a baking pan (bread-style) and bake it for about 45 minutes. Normally I put chocolate on top but Steve does not like that (anymore) because it makes too much of a mess (don't ask)
The presents my kids get, either the ones that a double of something they already have or something that does not interest them, goes in a special cabinet, the gift cabinet, for when I am running out of time to find a little something for a cousin or when funds are low (and let's face it, we've all tried that) But a warning should be given: NEVER let the kids find out where the items are kept OR leave it unlocked. The consequences can be severe.
Clothes to the second hand shop: if it's of such a state that I wouldn't even dress my own children in it (I have only one standard: dry and not in threads) I cut it out to use the fabrics for some of my designs, my hubby's old jeans because some very nice hats for the kids for winter.
(to be updated)

Prepping the week

Sunday is an infamous relaxations day and it should be but taking into consideration how hectic the weekdays are, maybe it would be wise to spend a few minutes, an hour or so to prep for the week to come. A food plan is always a good thing to have at hand, it saves the "what are we going to eat tonight" followed by "what do I have in the freezer?" and the panic "I have to go shopping for milk/potatoes/rice/bread etc"
Potatoes
Sunday night I peal a whole bag of potatoes (bought Saturday morning) and put them in a pot with water, if you have somewhere cool you can put them there but I put mine in the fridge. So Monday, I only have to find the meat and sauce needed for the food, pealing potatoes is a chore anyway and it takes up valuable time. Pealed potatoes in a pot of water is good for 2-3 days, personally I would change the water on the 2nd day.
Meat
Saturday/Sunday: When you've gone shopping, send the kids with daddy to the playground or somewhere else so you can work intensely for about an hour. Brown meat in a big pot, add water and broth, add vegetables - any kind you would like and if your kids are fussy eaters, chop it very finely or boil them first and then blend them into a pulp. Let it all simmer, add flavours, salt and pepper. I normally go very big in this stage, filling my 20 litre pot to the brim because then I divide the meat/veg stew into smaller portions and one becomes pastasauce (for pasta), one becomes a mild chilli (for rice) and one becomes a brown meat-sauce (for potatoes). Often I also take a few portions of the 'raw' stew and put in the freezer, this is good for Shepard's pie. When everything is done, flavoured and finished, it needs to cool off, I take a portion aside for dinner and the rest is divided into plastic-bags (I lack plastic-containers and room for them in my freezer) and one important thing is: label them! Mystery-dinner in this house never goes down easy

Sauce
There is no shame in ready made sauces or powder-sauce. It's quick and easy

Vegetables
I hate tinned or canned foods, I seriously hate them! I buy all my vegetables in frost or I buy them fresh at the marked, clean and portion pack them and stuff them in the freezer, it's easy that way to make sure you add a few greens to the plate, it's important for you and it's important to teach your child to eat.

Cutting corners

I'm busy and with the two little ones around my ankles all the time I am very busy. There is laundry, cooking, cleaning and kids that needs food, clean clothes and attention and I'm at home all the time. I can't start to imagine how I'm going to get everything done when I start working so I've started cutting corners and planning ahead.

Breakfast:
I serve my kids porridge in the morning but the damn thing is warm and kids aren't really known for their patience so what to do? I like adding fruit or berries to the porridge, for a bit of flavour and to make it a bit sweet. I've bought a big quantity of berries, boiled them and added a bit of sugar

I blended them 

Put them in the freezer in plastic-containers (icecube-bags are not recommended, it's impossible to pour the berrie-compot into them without getting a hot mess) I only filled the container about a centimetre and then as they were frozen, I cut them into squares and back in a container, ready for use.
Adding a few cubes cools the porridge so it's ready to serve without you having to blow yourself blue in order to serve your hungry (STARVING! ) child as quickly as possible.
Tip: Pour milk into icecube-bags and use to cool porridge, rice and mashed potatoes