Hey- just thought I’d share with you the latest update to the F & E blog thanks to my work colleague Theresa!

I’ll be posting daily updates on stuff such as Frugal & Greenish hints and tips etc and you are welcome to join in..

The permanent location for the Frugal & Greenish Twitter is in the PAGES section to the right under LIVE CHIT CHAT

Baking soda- the green alternative

I worry sometimes when I read the label on household cleaning products, I worry sometimes when I bimble down the supermarket isle and look at the prices on ‘eco friendly’ cleaning products..

I want to be greener but sometimes it seems that to be green you have to be wealthy…

Not so my dears…through trial and error I will be bringing you some everyday products that you can use to clean your home cheaply and greenly (that is not a word by the way but sounds quite funny so thought I’d use it).

Thought I’d share some grocery bargains each weekend…I always try and support the Organic farmers/ producers when I can. My limited budget means that I only buy organic sometimes but when prices are reduced I make sure I do..

This week I noticed that there was over 50c off a 760ml jar of Presidents Choice Organic Apple Sauce and this made it 30c cheaper than the stores cheapest non-organic….BUY ORGANIC!!

It’s unlike me not to be blogging for 10 days…

Lately my blog has offered me a gentle diversion therapy as I adapt to a new personal stage in my life. It’s not something I will be discussing in detail on here as it is private to the children and I but it is fair to say that as we approached that little commercial date in the month of February, where red roses become terribly expensive and men frantically run up credit card bills with Interflora, I realized that it would be a first time in 1/4 of a century I would not receive the obligatory card festooned with a stylized heart (minus an aorta and gunky bits)..

It didn’t make me sad but nevertheless it did feel strange not to have one..

And then while at work on the day of love that was named after a Catholic Priest, a dear sweet work colleague appeared with a bottle of ‘Yellow Tail’…

Having read my blog, knowing my enthusiasm for ‘Yellow Tail’ as the drink that cures all, Angie (cos that is her name) offered me the bottle as a little something for ME for Valentine’s..

So that evening, I opened the bottle, fell in love with bubbly wine all over again, drank every drop, felt pleasantly squiffy and went to bed with a grin on my face..

Thank you Angie… Thank you Yellow Tail!

Sorry- it will be a couple of days before I get my ‘egg experiment’ up on my blog…the batteries went in my flip cam and I’m too much of a Tightwad to drive 15 minutes to the nearest store to get some more.

To make it up to you I cooked a fresh thyme loaf, quartered it, filled it with mayo and green leaf salad and topped it off with hot bacon slices, gave it a big squeeze and devoured it..

The perfect bacon buttie has to be 1/4 of a round loaf of bread gently seasoned with dried thyme. Filled with lots of mayo, salad and bacon.

I took some photos to make your mouth water

NOTE: The health concious please turn away right now!!

Ok- so here I am this morning cleaning my kitchen knowing full well that my son will be let loose with the flip cam tomorrow to film the ‘Great Egg Experiment’ (see below)..

Anyone that knows my kitchen probably would like to forget it or possibly wouldn’t even know it was a kitchen as its usually filled with a variety of household items spewed over onto what should be counter tops….I guess this is to be expected with kids, teenagers, dogs, cat and a kitchen only big enough for a family of hobbits (actually we are giant hobbits- you just need to study our feet)

As you come into my kitchen I have all my recycling containers, first there’s the garbage bag, then the recycling container for plastics, the recycling container for glass bottles, cans and cardboard and then a box for rolled up newspaper and flyers…

This morning my plastic recycling box was overflowing…it hadn’t been emptied for 2 weeks.

After I had emptied out the contents into a GIANT BLUE BAG (which it nearly filled) I took a moment, stood back, looked at the HUGE amount of plastic containers and thought HOLY CRAP! If we as a family can produce this much crap (so Ok its all going to be recycled thank goodness but still it had to be made via petroleum in the first place), and there must be many more families out there who do the same, what happens if only a small percentage recycle?

Only if everyone recycles then it becomes more sustainable but this is not reality- the reality is most of us chuck the stuff away and buy the same thing again in its plastic container without a second thought..

How does one address this problem? Can anything be done? Is it possible to live life with less plastic? How am I going to reduce the amount of plastic stuff we bring into our household?

A friend of mine back in the UK once tried to live for a month without buying anything wrapped in plastic- I think she found it very challenging.

So here in the Frugal and Greenish household we have decided to try and buy less items that come contained in plastic if we can……at least it’s a start

Stay frugal, stay greenish

C xx

You know how difficult it is to remove egg shells from boiled eggs right?

Some come off easy but most pull away chunks of your beautiful boiled egg leaving a surface like the crater of the moon! Not only is it wasteful and time consuming peeling the shell off but doesn’t look great either..

Today I received a short movie clip from a friend in the US showing a guy able to remove a boiled egg from its shell by simply blowing…!!!! Ok so there is a little bit more to it than that but it sounds and looks too good to be true..

People say ‘seeing is believing’ and others say ‘don’t always believe what you see’..

So this weekend I am going to flip cam this ‘great egg experiment’ from the Frugal and Greenish kitchen- see if this REALLY DOES work..

Watch this space!

C xx

Everyone needs a bible..

Mine is different than most. It may not talk about turning loaves into fishes but it sure does help you work some magic on making those pennies stretch further..

Let me present to you… The Complete Tightwad Gazette.

Anyone who enjoys laughing, crying, reading letters from weird and not so weird people and who wants something to do in the evening (when you don’t have cable) should read this book.

The penny pinching ideas in the book range from insane to inspired but they all work- there is a level of frugality for everyone.

My copy has been in my possession for at least several years. It’s missing it’s front cover thanks to a devious goat with a look of Satan in its eye (its a long story), the pages are yellowed and it is safe to say my bible is homely looking….but in Tightwad style- I like it that way!

I have used many tips from the book over the years when I am going through a phase of thrift

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FRUGAL AND GREENISH- TIGHTWAD LESSON 1

Are you interested in knowing where your money goes and just how much you spend?
I challenge you for 1 full week to write down every single thing you buy with cash, debit card or credit card and I mean every single penny..

Doing this for one month would be more beneficial but a week is good to start with.

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When I did this I was absolutely horrified- and I thought up until then that I pinched a penny fairly well….NOT!!! I was very surprised just how much those little things added up.

It can also be difficult trying to be ‘frugal and greenish’ too….Organic foods or environmentally friendly products are of course more expensive so I swing between purchasing a bargain and being ethical. I do find that quite often organic food, when on special, can be as cheap as store brands or non- organic foods so I will try and buy organic when money allows..

I do however now spend a little extra on unperfumed, environmentally friendly detergent for laundry purposes but it was recently suggested to me by Erin (who left a comment on a previous blog post) that I try ECO-BALLS ( no they are not some sort of green sex toy) which essentially are a cost effective and green way to clean your laundry without buying detergent…I think I will look into those.

PS Remember to check out my recipe page —————–>> CLICK HERE

Stay Frugal, Stay Greenish

C xx

I know, I know….it’s way to early to be making strawberry jam but NOT too early to be thinking about making it!

With another miserable old storm coming and the never ending winter smothering everything green I needed to cheer myself up with some colour and fond memories so dug out some photos from jam making session a few summers ago..

Sit back, imagine the smell, imagine the taste…are you smiling yet?

SUMMER STRAWBERRY JAM ( instant foodie winter cheer up remedy)

A delicious recipe for strawberry jam which will make around 6 standard size jam jars full. the jam tends to disappear very quickly so best to make at least two batches to last you the year! For best results use strawberries freshly picked from your garden with a good mixture of over rip, ripe and not so ripe fruit. For quickness ‘liquid pectin’ can be used or your own homemade pectin for that really fresh taste!

Ingredients
925 mls crushed strawberries
50 mls bottled lemon juice
1750 mls granulated sugar
85mls (1 pouch) of liquid pectin or powdered
* pectin not needed if following long boil method.

Utensils
Clean jam jars or screw top mason jars
Spoon (non- metallic)
Masher (non-metallic)
Jam making funnel
Large saucepan or preserves pan for cooking jam
Large saucepan or water canner for boiling jars

Method
Remove strawberry leaves. Wash strawberries and then crush with masher. Add strawberries into the pan with lemon and warm. When warm add in the sugar and stir slowly until dissolved.

Meanwhile, place clean empty jars and lids, fully submerged, into hot water and heat to a simmer. (If using Mason jars then only boil the rings and just place the snap on lids in hot water until ready to use.)

Option 1 Bring strawberry mixture to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat and then stirring constantly boil hard for 1 minute. remove from heat. Stir in liquid/powder pectin (homemade or shop bought) immediately and mix in well and skim foam off if any. (this is my method)

Option 2 Bring strawberry mix gradually to boil stirring thoroughly until sugar dissolves. increase heat and boil vigorously until mixture thickens remembering to still stir so as not to scorch. A gel test can be carried out by dropping a teaspoon of mixture onto a saucer and if after a minute the mixture feels quite firm to the touch then it is at setting point. remember to remove saucepan from heat while carrying out this test to avoid burning mixture. For this recipe setting point should be reached in around 30 mins.

When pectin has been stirred in or setting point has been reached, then it is time to ladle or pour mixture into jars.

Remove jars from water canner or saucepan. Ladle or pour in mixture into hot jars using a jam making funnel as this makes things a lot easier! leave 1/4 inch of headroom.

Wipe jar rim if sticky before placing lids on firmly but not too tightly. Return the jars, upright to hot water in canner or saucepan and continue to simmer for a further 10 minutes.

Remove jars without tilting and cool upright. when cool the jars can be labelled and stored in a cool dark place and should keep for a year or two!!

Do you have a favourite jam recipe you would like to share? Please post it here on the blog!

I’m still very much on the economy drive and I spent some hours today cooking muffins, cup cakes and soups for school and work lunch boxes. Here is a delicious recipe I used today for Cheese Muffins and as I speak already the ‘hobbits’ have devoured 2 each. The rest have been locked away!

Cheddar and Black Pepper Muffins
Serve with salad or soup- yum!

Ingredients
All purpose Flour (plain flour)- 2 cups (500 ml)
Baking powder- 1 tablespoon (15 ml)
Salt- 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml)
Black pepper 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml)
Large egg- 1
Milk- 1 cup (250 ml)
Cooking Oil- 1/4 cup (60 ml)
Granulated sugar- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) * NOTE- in the UK this would be 2 dessert spoons
Dijon Mustard- 1 tablespoon (15 ml)
Grated sharp cheddar cheese- 1 cup (250 ml) + some extra to top off mixture before cooking.

What to do..
Measure the first 4 ingredients into large bowl, stir and then make a well in the middle.
Combine next 5 ingredients in a bowl and then add to well.
Add cheese and then stir until just moistened.
Fill 12 greased muffin cups or paper cases 3/4 full.
Top off with a little sprinkled cheese.
Bake at 375 F (190 C) oven for 18-20 mins.
Let stand in tray for 5 minutes before moving to wire rack to cool.
Makes 12 large muffins.