Tasty Mince - Many Frugal Meals

As part of the ongoing challenge of 'How Little Can You Spend' in our house I decided that some tasty mince was in order.
I used a few basic vegetable that I had on hand as well as some items from the garden and stockpile to make some tasty mince that can be eaten on it's own or combined with pasta, rice or potatoes to make different meals.
There was 1 kg of mince, 2 carrots, 1 capsicum, 2 onions (one of the ones in the photo had gone bad) some silverbeet and garlic chives from the garden, and I used 2 jars of diced tomatoes from the panty.

There was also this strange looking ball of frozen mushrooms that I found lurking at the bottom of the freezer.  Sure they were not much to look at a past their best but in a dish like this they just added to the flavour.

I also added celery salt, pepper and garlic and some red lentil at the end to thicken the mix and soak up some of the juices.

I am sure everyone has a recipe for tasty mince so I won't write one out here but I will say that my tips for maximum flavour are as follows:
Cook the onions until soft and translucent over a medium heat without browning so that they become sweet then remove them from you pan
Brown the mince in batches so that it gets lots of colour on it
Once the mince is browned add you tomatoes or liquid so that you can lift all of the tasty bits off the bottom of the pan
Add the rest of the ingredients and cook till done.

I have frozen this in smaller amounts and we will use it over the month to make a variety of meals.  It is easy to turn it into something new by just adding additional spices.

Do you make tasty mince?
How do you keep it interesting?

Blog Hop Around The World - Creativity

The Lovely Lynda has nominated me to be part of this blog hop around the world and I am please to be able to join in.  Thanks for the nomination Lynda and if you are reading follow this blog hop back in time as there are some excellent blogs out there to enjoy.

A couple of my cards

The theme for this blog hop is creativity and like most blog hops there are a few basic rules/guidelines to follow.  The ones for this blog hop are:
Within a week of your nomination answer the following questions:

• Why do I create what I do?
• How does my creative process work?
• How does my work differ from others of it's genre?
• What am I currently working on?
• Who inspires me to create?
• Finally provide a quote 

Well time is ticking so I guess I better get on with this, other wise just like many of my creative pursuits it might just get set aside.

Why do I create what I do?
I create because it gives me balance in my life.  As soon as I stop being creative I start to feel all out of sorts and I feel irritated without being able to put my finger on why.  I also create because life is all about creation. Everyday there are situations in life just waiting for a creative approach to come along and take things in a new direction, to do things in a different way and find a creative solution to a problem.  Lets face it without creativity we might still be clubbing mammoths for dinner.



When it comes to what I create my interests vary.  From traditional crafts such as knitting, cross stitch and crocheting, painting, card making and scrapbooking to creative writing and blogging to all things cooking, baking and preserving.  Then there are all the crazy projects for around the home that I dream up that poor hubby gets roped into helping with.

How does my creative process work?
For the most part my creative pursuits are about relaxing and unwinding, letting my imagination take over are allowing my thoughts to just flow.  My job is very structured and I find that I need to specifically set time aside and give myself permission to be creative.  Otherwise because I am a very task focused person I feel guilty and like I should be doing other things.  There is also a practical side to it.  I like to make things for others and I feel that handmade gifts show a deeper sense of caring and giving that just going out and buying. I also like to learn new skills and try new things like knitting, crocheting and darning.
So sometimes my creative process is driven by the need to find balance in my life and sometimes by need or a desire to learn.  There are many practical old fashioned skills out there that I really want to master too.

How does my work differ from others of it's genre?

Well because I like to try everything and anything it often means that I have multiple projects on the go at once.  This means that I do not always perfect the skill before I move on.  So I would say I differ from others in the sense that I am probably not as dedicated to any one thing as I need to be to become a master of that task. 

What am I currently working on?

Well lets see... there is a cushion cover kit that I have been meaning to paint (the kit comes with fabric paint) for a long time now, a cross stitch book mark nearly finished, a crochet dish cloth that I have been making to practice my tension, a few different scrapbooking albums I am working on, a hand made garden journal and a handmade recipe book that are in progress, I have started making this years Christmas cards, I have about 35 draft posts that I have started, there is a large blank canvas waiting for inspiration (and paint) to hit, granny squares that might one day become a blanket and then there are all the sewing projects and I will not even start on the things in the kitchen.

Practicing my crochet tension on a dish cloth - based on those wonky sides
I'd say more practice is required.

Who inspires me to create?

Well this is the point where I get to nominate two other bloggers who inspire me.  Both of these ladies inspire me to learn new things and to come up with creative solutions to problems.

Liz over at Eight Acres is always coming up with practical and creative solution to the things she needs. She makes her own soap and just recently she made her own dressmakers dummy from duct tape which I think is fantastic.



Liz also inspired me with this post to make our dog Jessie a dog coat.  Liz has also taught her self to knit which is something I admire (and hope to one day master myself) and she had knitted up some practical items such that you just can't buy.

Linda from Greenhaven is creative in the way she thinks and deals with problems so it stands to reason that she is also creative in a practical sense too.  Linda Knits socks and beanies makes lovely gifts for her family and friends, she makes soap and looks for crafty ways to dress things up at home.



More than anything both these ladies inspire me to see creativity as part of everyday life not just something you do as a hobby (although for now that is what a lot of mine is and that's ok).  It is a way to make gifts, devise solutions, clothe yourself, decorate, provide for your basic needs, celebrate and add a few more strings to your bow in terms of the things you can do for yourself.

So the final thing I have to do is offer you up a quote.  This is a quote I love because it applies in so many situations.
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” 
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Stay tuned for what Liz and Linda have to say in the next week when they have their turn.

How Little Can You Spend - Stretched Sausage Pasta

For the Month of August I have declared it "How Little Can You Spend Month".  This basically means that I will try and spend as little as possible on all things groceries.  Hubby is less enthused about this plan but I figure if I keep baking tasty treats for his lunch and dinner he will come around to the idea.

Tonight I managed to turn some very basic ingredients ad two lonely sausages in to 4 serves of pasta and meatballs.  If you are not someone who normally uses anchovies I encourage you to give them a try like this. They dissolve way to nothing but impart a rich salty flavour to the meal.

Pasta Sauce

1 Large Onion, finely diced
1/2 red Capsicum, finely diced
6 Anchovies, finely diced
2 Cloves Crushed Garlic
2 Cups of Quartered Cheery Tomatoes
2 Good quality flavoured sausages ( I used Lamb and Rosemary)
1 Tsp Fresh Thyme

Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a large frypan and gently fry the onion  on a low heat until it is soft and nearly translucent.  Add the capsicum and cook until soft then add the anchovies and garlic and cook for 2 minutes before adding the tomatoes and 1/2 cup of water and stir to combine.  You then need to pinch off little portions of your sausages, roll them into balls and drop them into the sauce mix to cook through.
Cook some pasta and once cooked add the cooked pasta to the fry pan with a little of the pasta cooking water, mix together and serve.

Plastic Free July Wrap Up

Well Plastic Free July is over for another year and here is almost all of the single use plastic that we accumulated over the month.  In addition to what you see here there were a few pieces that I did not save as they had contained meat.  There were also a few bread bags but in our house these get washed and used at least one more before being put to their final use of picking up the dog poop around the yard.

Some of the things that were in the dilemma bag that I am not so worried about were the packages for the home brew ingredients which make 25 litres of beer, the coffee pack with locally made coffee and I am not sure what I could have done about avoiding the band-aids since I decided to try and slice the top of my finger off.

There was also this little pesky thing that came around the top of a jar.  I am not sure what the manufacturers put it on for because it does not actually do anything functional from what I can see. Does anyone know what they are supposed to do?

Then there were the packages that the pet medication comes in and the lid from the home brew mix.

Finally there was the empty bag of dog food which we replaced during the month.  The old ones get used for bin liners so they do get a second use but they are a really good example of a form of plastic that we just could not avoid unless we made our own dog food.  making it is something I have considered, but of all the things that I want to do for myself it is a long way down the list.  Sometimes when you strive for a simple life you have to look at where you will get the most benefit in terms of making things yourself.  For me the 1 bag of dog food we buy every few months saves me what I imagine would be a number of hours which I could put to better use so in this case I am happy to buy it.

Overall I am happy with how the month went and now that I have found some where to take all my soft plastic for recycling  it makes me feel much better about the small amount we do end up with.  I will still work at reducing what comes into our house where I can and I really hope that everyone who reads this will at least start to consider how much plastic enters their home and what they do with it.
Yes it takes a bit more effort to save it up and take it to a location where they accept it for recycling but I would rather do that the send it to land fill.

How did you go during the month?

Slow Living July 2014

Linking up with Linda who has taken over from Christine in hosting the Slow Living Nine.  I am so glad this is continuing as it is great to hear what everyone is up to.

Nourish -Make and bake as much as possible from scratch. Ditch over packaged, over processed convenience foods and opt for 'real' food instead.
There has been heaps of cooking and baking in the house over the past month and since we were also participating in Plastic free July it was all home made food for us.

Prepare - Stockpile and preserve. Freeze extra meals or excess garden/market produce. Bottle/can, dehydrate or pickle foods to enjoy when they are not in season.
Mostly we are making use of our stockpile rather than adding to it but I have been but I have been adding lemons and limes to the bag of them I have in the freezer.   I just throw them in whole and when citrus season is over I have them on hand.

Reduce - Cut down on household waste by re-using, re-purposing and repairing.
This month we participated in Plastic Free July and this again made us focus on the waste we create.

Since I found out that soft plastics can be recycled  out rubbish volume has dramatically. We now have only 1 supermarket bag sized bag of rubbish in out bin most weeks.  We are dropping all our plastic off once a month and it is shocking to see how much there is even when you try not to bring plastic into the house.  I think that in generally we will have about 1/2 bag of plastic and 1 bag of actual rubbish each week.

Green - Start (or continue!) using homemade cleaners, body products and basic herbal remedies. The options are endless, the savings huge and the health benefits enormous.
Just the usual happening on this front.  As it is citrus season I have a catch of citrus cleaner on the go but since there is just the two of us we do not go through that much of our cleaning products.

Grow - plant/harvest. What's growing this month? What's being eaten from the garden?

The garden is producing lots of Silverbeet, cherry tomatoes and herbs, we also have plenty of citrus.  I am having another go at broccoli and mini cabbages but I may have gotten them in too late and I am growing spring onions, beetroot, fennel and celeriac. I also have some peas in but they do not seem that keen on growing so we will see if they amount to anything.

Create - To fill a need or feed the soul. Create for ourselves or for others.

Creations have been on hold this month and reading has taken over.

Discover - Feed the mind by reading texts relevant to current interests.
I have been reading lots over the last month.  Liz lent me some great books and I am working my way through them.
This month I read about 10 different books including A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of the Night and The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness which I really enjoyed.  I will talk about some of the other ones in another post.

Enhance - Community
It is all systems go in organising the car show that I am involved in and things are just getting busier and busier in this area.

Enjoy - Life! Embrace moments with friends and family. Marking the seasons, celebrations and new arrivals are all cause for enjoyment.

Both Hubby and I celebrated our birthdays in July so we had a nice meal out with his family but other than that it was pretty quiet.

This is the goats milk and date panacotta I had for my birthday breakfast when we went out.
It was as good as it looks.

What have you been up to?