I'm just back from the dentist. Thankfully all the work is finished now because I feel like an elephant has jumped all over my face.
It'll be fin later once the numbness wears off but for the minute it feels like both my cheeks are really swollen and I imagine I look like Pob or Buzz Lightyear.
I can't complain really. All in told I've had about £2,000 worth or work done completely free of charge, yet another benefit of being a SAHM.
Anyway, today's Works for me Wednesday is a themed edition. Best frugal tip.
I've loads, most of which I do now out of habit so when I'm asked what I do to save money usually my mind goes completely blank.
Still I'm sure I can manage a few.
Children
Buy second hand clothes where possible. Kids grow so quickly that it would surprise you just how many brand new clothes, still with the labels attached or worn but in perfect condition clothes you will find in your local charity shops. Also consider buying in advance, if you spot a beautiful winter coat that won't fit them until next year, buts it an absolute bargain, buy it and store it.
If your own kid's clothes are in less than wearable condition when they're finished with them because of rips or tears or whatever, salvage the buttons and any cute patches or appliques before using the remaining cloth as rags or cleaning clothes. Kids are forever losing buttons off clothes and quite a lot of the time you can replace it with one from your stash or cover a little worn patch or hole in the knee of their jeans with one of those little appliques.
Limit day trips for little ones to free places such as the beach or forest, some museums also have "free" days (but please do leave a small donation) and pack a lunch from home when you're going on any trips out with the kids. Have you seen how excited a four year can get when allowed to play with your wooden spoons. They don't need all that paid for entertainment, besides an over stimulated child is a miserable child come bed time.
Learn to knit and pick up a few basic sewing skills and you'll be able to alter your kid's clothes to get an extra season out of them. Trousers getting a little short in the leg but still plenty of room in the waist, turn them into a skirt or shorts. And how many pairs of mittens, scarves and hats does your child lose throughout the course of a school year? These are all very simple things to knit which you can work on in your spare moments (?) so that you have a stash ready for emergencies.
Household
Make your own household cleaners using bicarb, vinegar, lemon juice and salt. I usually just add a couple of tablespoons of cheap dish soap and roughly the same amount of vinegar to a large spray bottle and fill with water. It hasn't failed me yet. But do bear in mind that buying a huge bag of lemons out of season to clean your home isn't frugal, its green but it ain't frugal.
One of the higher ups at Barclay's Bank was once quoted as saying that he would never consider having a Barclay card because of the high charges. Now that guy was being very well paid by Barclay's and if he isn't brand loyal why should you be. Shop around, make sure you're getting the best deal and on larger items always ask for a discount, especially if you plan on paying cash. Everybody gets this idea that haggling is limited to market stalls but I don't think I've ever paid full price for anything and I've saved a hell of a lot over the years. £100 off our bed, £310 off our kitchen appliances isn't anything to be sniffed at.
Food
If you happen to have the freezer space, bulk buy when the opportunity comes up. Throw a few £££ aside somewhere when you have it so that when you spot a good offer on meat or berries who can stock up without putting a dent in that week's budget.
Learn to make jams, chutneys and relish so that you can take advantage of a glut of produce such as strawberries, raspberries or tomatoes to name a few. Also if you happen to have a "pick you own" farm close buy pack the kids up and head out. You'll get a cheap day out in the sunshine, the kids will fill their bellies with good things and learn where food comes from and at the end of the day you'll have a mountain of lovely fresh fruit and veg to take home.
Use dried beans instead of the more expensive tinned variety. Yes they're more convenient in tins, but they tend to have virtually no texture left whatsoever. Take a bit of time at the weekend and boil up a huge pot of dried beans, whichever ones you tend to use the most often, once they're cooked rinse with plenty of cold water from the tap and then divide into sandwich bags and freeze for later use. You can even use them straight from the freezer, just allow ten or so minutes extra cooking time and you can do the same thing with rice for quicker meals, just very slightly under cook the rice, separate into bags, add a tablespoon or two of water to each bag and freeze. when you need them just open a corner of the ziplock bag and microwave from frozen for 2 or 3 minutes for perfect fluffy rice every time.
Bake your own bread. There really isn't anything to learn, bread is one of the easiest things in the world to make. Even a bad loaf can be whizzed in the processor and kept for breadcrumbs.
Showing posts with label WFMW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WFMW. Show all posts
A tip for kids and getting ahead
Its time again for Works for Me Wednesday over at We are THAT Family.
I only have a couple of quick little tips which have worked for me in the last week or so.
Toots has had a bit of a stomach upset since having her booster shots last week. We haven't had any really big dramas but she has been off her food a bit more than usual so she needs to take a supplement. Its designed for kids, recommended by doctors if you kid has been off food for more than 24 hours and its supposed to taste of orange. If an orange fell down the back of the sofa and was forgot about for, ooh say, a month or so.
Now if I pour the stuff into a glass and hand it to her there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of her drinking it (she only fell for that once) and all bets are off as to what she'll actually do with it.
Although, if I freeze it in an ice cube tray apparently the taste isn't just as bad and she'll happily crunch away on it. I haven't tried yet, but I would imagine it'll work for an other medicine she needs to take.
Score one for mommy.
The second tip isn't really a tip at all, just something I've noticed.
I like to keep a bag of frozen cookie dough in the freezer. The recipes I have which I like make about a hundred or so cookies and if I baked that many in one go, well, I'd probably sit down with a glass of milk and never get up again.
Anyway, usually I make peanut butter cookies and little coconut cookies which we like. I just roll them into balls, flatten them a bit and stick them in the freezer on a cookie sheet until they're frozen and then throw them all in a ziplock, but a while ago I tried chocolate chip cookies.
For the first couple of weeks they were absolutely fine and baked perfectly either defrosting first or from frozen with a minute or two added on to the baking time, but for some reason they've changed a bit.
I don't know if its the addition of chocolate or something about the recipe but they just aren't right anymore, they get very dark very quickly while still being uncooked in the centre, which makes me think that the sugar in the dough or chocolate has somehow leached out onto the surface of the dough and it caramelizes almost as soon as it hits the heat of the oven making them quite bitter once they're fully cookies.
Anyway, frozen cookies = great idea, chocolate chip = not so much.
WFMW - The (not so) rainy day kit
Its time again for Works for Me Wednesday over at We are THAT Family.
Hi there.
I live in Ireland.
It rains here. A lot.
Our rainy day box is basically just the daughter's normal toy box, legos, crayons, that kind of thing.
However, I also like to keep a (not so) rainy day kit. You'll notice I'm not using the "S" word. It's such a fragile thing and I don't want to frighten it away.
I like to keep it packed and tucked into the boot of the car. There isn't much in it but the way I see it, 20 minutes spent gathering a few bits together is 20 minutes of not so rainy weather wasted.
Obviously an M & S bag.
I keep a couple of beach toys, a change of clothes, a jumper and rain coat (Ireland), a bites and stings kit (paranoid).
I also keep a pack of wet wipes in there. Do kids ever grow out of the need for these things?
And it doesn't hurt to have a few small books in there for long drives. And Toots likes to have her little bunny pillow so that she can tuck it in at the side of her neck if she happens to fall asleep on the way home.
I always keep a stash of snacks and bottled water in the car so this means that if we wake and the weather looks like its playing ball, we just grab the car keys and go.
And the child too. Obviously.
Help!!!!! Fresh Yeast
Its time again for Works for Me Wednesday over at We are THAT Family and this week is a backwards edition.I had a completely different post all planned for today, but it'll just have to wait because my lovely daddy paid a visit yesterday with a large quantity of fresh yeast.
He works in a large bakery, somebody made a pig's ear of the order and they were told they could take as much as they wanted.
Yay for me.
The thing is, he brought me enough for about forty loaves of bread which would be about 20 of my usual batches and I have no clue how long it can be stored for.
My dad doesn't know either because they tend to run out and reorder every week.
Does anyone know how long yeast can be kept and still remain active? Can it be frozen, or will that completely kill it?
I was thinking of making one huge starter and stashing it somewhere to dip into for a few weeks (although using yeast is cheating, I know).
I haven't the faintest.
Can somebody please help me.
And please, NO APRIL FOOLS, I'm a smidge on the gullible side and tend to believe everything I read on the internet.
WFMW - Flat Pack Tools
Its time again for Works for Me Wednesday over at We are THAT Family.If you're anything like me and you love Ikea and all things flat pack, chances are you've gathered up a fair few of these little tools over the years.
And chances are that you will need them again at some point, especially for kids furniture.
You know the pieces I'm talking about.
That fantastic crib you bought which can have the mattress up nice and high to make it easier for you in the early days and then nice and low once your child seems ready to
So you're going to need to be able to find those tiny little tools at least twice, long after you've put the bed up in the first place, three if you count taking the thing down to get it out of the room once your child outgrows it. And all of this over the course of about five years.
So what's the easiest way to guarantee that you'll be able to find exactly the tiny little tool you're looking for three years after you last saw it.
Simple.
Once you finish building your beautiful new piece of furniture
Only you will know its there, safe and sound, ready for the next time you need it.
Now won't you sleep better tonight.?
I know I will.
WFMW - Frozen Yogurt Pops
So you've bought two dozen yogurts for the kids.
Because the kids have been eating yogurts like they're going out of fashion for the last three weeks and you thought you'd take advantage of that huge pack of yogurts because they were only £1.99 and they'll last at least a week without you having to run out and buy more every night because the stash in the fridge has mysteriously disappeared.
Cut to a week later, you still have a fridge overflowing with yogurts, there's only three days left before they go out of date and your kids are eating grapes like they're going out of fashion.
What do you do?
You could eat every tiny pot yourself.
You could strap the kids down and force feed them yogurt through a funnel.
Kidding.
Besides a funnel probably wouldn't work. Its not like I tried or anything, I'm just guessing.
So what's the one thing that kids will eat without complaint?
Frozen treats
I don't know about your kids, but my daughter will eat iced lollies in the dead of winter.
So take your huge stash of yogurts, make a hole in the lid and stick in a handle. If you happen to have lolly pop sticks, then use those. The ones I have are for crafts and are coloured so I'm not really fussed on trying to use them for food.
I do have a stash of plastic spoons though...
Just stick a spoon through the lid and into the yogurt and stick them all in the freezer. These little yogurts are usually ready in about an hour or so.
So now you don't have to eat three squares of nothing but yogurt everyday and your kids will love* you for letting them have all the frozen goodies they can eat.
And it works well with that monster bunch of bananas too. I usually peel the banana (they're a bugger to peel after they're frozen), cut it in half and stick wooden skewer in the cut end. Pop a handful of banana pops in a freezer bag and throw them in the freezer for an hour or so. They're great for birthday parties or barbecues in the back garden. You can even get fancy and melt some chocolate before dipping the frozen bananas. The cold bananas set the chocolate almost straight away so that the kids can crack through the chocolate layer.
For more Works for me Wednesday tips, head over to We are THAT Family.
*Not that the love of a child can be bought with frozen dairy treats, it's just a figure of speech.
Recycleable - Paper Doll House with Update
I originally posted this tutorial at the start of the year when the weather was miserable and I needed a quick fix for a bored preschooler. It seems the idea went down well and I wanted to post it again in honour of Kristen's "Best Of Theme". I have updated the tutorial at the end of the post and if you want to jump straight to the update, please feel free to do so
We were all set this morning, coats, gloves and hats on and ready to head out the door until...
Snow...and rain...and icy winds...and...no
So back inside and now I have a three year old who was desperately looking forward to a walk around the town this morning,
Because this morning we were supposed to be going to get her some new ballet pumps.
Ah well, such is life I guess. I'll measure her feet and run down tomorrow while she's with Nana, come hell or high water.
So I needed something to take her mind off the fact that she still wanted to go out regardless of the weather.
Hmm, crafts with nothing planned.
A paper doll house.
All you need to complete this very simple project are;
You need to have a quick flick through the catalogue or magazines and tear out any pages with a room which pretty much covers the majority of the page (its easier to manage this with the Ikea book trust me, but then beautiful glossies don't have huge prices printed in the middle of the kitchen, so). Then with the scissors cut a very narrow slot halfway along the long side of the card and halfway through the card. Slot the two pieces together to look like this.
Then you want to give the three year old a glue stick and swan off into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Now you'll need a damp sponge to quickly sponge the (hopefully) still wet glue off the carpet because you weren't intelligent enough to put a mat or drop cloth down first.
Or if you're that way inclined you can sit and watch to make sure she "stays within the lines".
It's much easier if you keep the two pieces of card slotted together and then lie the whole thing flat on the floor, that way all you have to do is make sure that the magazine pages you stick to the two facing sides are both of a kitchen, or bedroom or whatever.
Like this.
Carry on around all four sides (you'll need eight magazine pages in total) and it should wind up looking something like this.
Doesn;t she looked pleased with herself. I cut two small slots near the corners at each side of the "kitchen" and strung a length of silver cord across, before hanging up a little t-shirt and trousers I cut from some old fabric. I'd picked up those tiny clothes pegs to use for hanging cards at Christmas and I've been trying to think of something else to use them for.
If you're feeling particular inspired and creative you could always colour the pieces of card yourself, then cut out individual pieces of furniture, chairs lamps that kind of thing and have fun designing your very own rooms.
I'd love to know if anyone does this their child.
For more great WFMW tips and ideas, head over to We are THAT Family.
Update
The paper doll house went down so well in our house (it has become Toots "go to" toy) that we decided to make it more of a permanent fixture. We are still in the process of decorating her house but basically we replaced the pieces of cardboard with sheets of balsa wood. You could also use thin sheets of plywood or fibreboard (just make sure to seal all the cut edges and wear a dust mask while cutting). Best of all we're finally using up all the paint and wallpaper leftover from decorating our own home.
Oh yes, we're making her a mini version of our house, so she'll be able to play in her bedroom, in her bedroom.
I've wanted a doll's house for Toots for a long time now but just couldn't bear to part with around £100 to buy something sturdy enough to l ast, plus some of those things are a fair size and take up a lot of space while not in use. The real beauty of this house is that you can simply slide the pieces apart and slip them in under her bed.
Now THAT definitely works for me.
I'm also linking this post to the 6 o'clock stich's Make and Tell Monday carnival. You should head over there and check it out, there are some fantastic tutorials.
We were all set this morning, coats, gloves and hats on and ready to head out the door until...
Snow...and rain...and icy winds...and...no
So back inside and now I have a three year old who was desperately looking forward to a walk around the town this morning,
Because this morning we were supposed to be going to get her some new ballet pumps.
Ah well, such is life I guess. I'll measure her feet and run down tomorrow while she's with Nana, come hell or high water.
So I needed something to take her mind off the fact that she still wanted to go out regardless of the weather.
Hmm, crafts with nothing planned.
A paper doll house.
All you need to complete this very simple project are;
- 2 pieces of stiff card (or a cardbox box will do).
- A glue stick (or PVA or Mod Podge, whatever's within reaching distance)
- Some sharp scissors (for you)
- And the Ikea catalogue (or home inspiration magazines like Ideal Home).
You need to have a quick flick through the catalogue or magazines and tear out any pages with a room which pretty much covers the majority of the page (its easier to manage this with the Ikea book trust me, but then beautiful glossies don't have huge prices printed in the middle of the kitchen, so). Then with the scissors cut a very narrow slot halfway along the long side of the card and halfway through the card. Slot the two pieces together to look like this.
Then you want to give the three year old a glue stick and swan off into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Now you'll need a damp sponge to quickly sponge the (hopefully) still wet glue off the carpet because you weren't intelligent enough to put a mat or drop cloth down first.
Or if you're that way inclined you can sit and watch to make sure she "stays within the lines".
It's much easier if you keep the two pieces of card slotted together and then lie the whole thing flat on the floor, that way all you have to do is make sure that the magazine pages you stick to the two facing sides are both of a kitchen, or bedroom or whatever.
Like this.
Carry on around all four sides (you'll need eight magazine pages in total) and it should wind up looking something like this.
Doesn;t she looked pleased with herself. I cut two small slots near the corners at each side of the "kitchen" and strung a length of silver cord across, before hanging up a little t-shirt and trousers I cut from some old fabric. I'd picked up those tiny clothes pegs to use for hanging cards at Christmas and I've been trying to think of something else to use them for.
If you're feeling particular inspired and creative you could always colour the pieces of card yourself, then cut out individual pieces of furniture, chairs lamps that kind of thing and have fun designing your very own rooms.
I'd love to know if anyone does this their child.
For more great WFMW tips and ideas, head over to We are THAT Family.
Update
The paper doll house went down so well in our house (it has become Toots "go to" toy) that we decided to make it more of a permanent fixture. We are still in the process of decorating her house but basically we replaced the pieces of cardboard with sheets of balsa wood. You could also use thin sheets of plywood or fibreboard (just make sure to seal all the cut edges and wear a dust mask while cutting). Best of all we're finally using up all the paint and wallpaper leftover from decorating our own home.
Oh yes, we're making her a mini version of our house, so she'll be able to play in her bedroom, in her bedroom.
I've wanted a doll's house for Toots for a long time now but just couldn't bear to part with around £100 to buy something sturdy enough to l ast, plus some of those things are a fair size and take up a lot of space while not in use. The real beauty of this house is that you can simply slide the pieces apart and slip them in under her bed.
Now THAT definitely works for me.
I'm also linking this post to the 6 o'clock stich's Make and Tell Monday carnival. You should head over there and check it out, there are some fantastic tutorials.
WFMW - The Humble Cocktail Stick
Poor little cocktail stick, taken for granted.
This little wooden stick has really come into its own in the last few weeks. Toots has been off her food since coming out of full time daycare. She's a very social eater and was always a lot happier eating in company, especially if that company happened to be kids her own age so its been a little difficult to get her to eat regularly since the start of the year.
I was at the end of my tether, although I knew that she would eat when she was hungry I felt awful watching her eat a quarter slice of toast for breakfast or three mouthfuls of pasta at lunchtime and claim she was full up.
I'd tried everything, sandwiches cut with cookie cutters into cute little hearts and stars, painting smiley faces with an edible ink pen on the side of cherry tomatoes, I even resorted to that novelty convenience food, you know the ones turkey dinosaurs and such. 1% turkey, 99% water and sawdust.
Then a little over three weeks ago she went to a birthday party with my mum and she noticed that the mother of the birthday girl had made a load of mini cocktail sausages, red Leicester and cheddar cheese cubes and big bowls of fruit salad. The thing is she had set out a big glass full of swizzle sticks for the kids to skewer the food and Toots was absolutely hoovering it up. My mum said she completely stuffed herself and almost wasn't able to play on the bouncy castle.
For a few days I put it down to the fact that she had been surrounded by other kids and her social eating had kicked in again, even though my mum kept insisting it was the swizzle sticks. After a couple of days of being back to square one I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a go.
I took a few bog standard cocktail sticks.
Then I made little balls of playdough and stuck them on top of the cocktail sticks, leaving them over night for the dough to dry. The little balls work perfectly, they dried solid with a little hole to allow me to replace the cocktail sticks.
Best of all Toots is back to eating what I would consider to be a full meal for a preschooler and she's also asking for snacks in between.
It also seems that the old saying "the more you eat, the more you want" is very true for Toots because once she was eating larger portions with the cocktail stick, she started to actually enjoy her food again and hasn't really bothered with the cocktail sticks in the last few days, she just wants the food now.
And I'm a very happy mummy again.
All thanks to that little cocktail stick.
Cocktail sticks definitely work for me.
Its Kristen of We are THAT family's first week hosting Works for Me Wednesday, hopefully with many more to come. Head on over (or back) and say Hi.
Freecycleables - Valentine Hearts Tutorial - WFMW
We spent today making some very simple gifts for Valentine's Day. The gift pictured above is a paper mache heart for my mum. It will be a present from Toots.
This actually turned out to be pretty quick to finish, aside from the drying time it only took around 30 minutes, which is a pity because I'd planned on keeping a slightly bored preschooler occupied with this for most of the afternoon. Ah well, c'est la vie. It just goes to show, when kids are involved, plan, plan and plan some more.
Bear in mind that it is messy so its best to throw down an old tablecloth or sheet to catch any drips.
You'll need to start off with some old newspapers, magazines, catalogues, just whatever you happen to have handy.
The newspapers I used were copies of the local paper, so about the size of an average magazine. Take two sheets of paper and roll up into a ball then cover with tape. I used decorators tape because I had quite a lot handy but any tape could be used. Repeat this process so that you have two balls.
Take one sheet of newspaper and fold in half lengthwise. Place one ball of paper close to the side of the length of paper and roll up so that you have a tube of paper with the ball close to one end.
Fold the ends of paper in and tape to the ball, cover the rounded end of the tube with tape to give it a slightly smoother appearance and make sure its well secured.
You'll end up with a basic torpedo shape like the one above.
Flatten the empty end of the tube and fold each side of the paper in towards the middle to make a point and completely cover with tape.
Make another teardrop shape the same as the first and one smaller one, beginning with half a sheet of newspaper for the ball. This should help give the right size for the small piece.
Tape all three pieces together with the smaller piece in the middle and again completely cover with tape, add some scrunched up strips of paper if you think there are any obviously "holes" in the heart shape or any sunken sections which will be difficult to fill out later.
Next comes the messy bit. You'll need to shred some newspaper and get some glue. I used 2 parts PVA and 1 part water. You can also make a very good paste using 1 part flour to 2 parts water. Start to completely cover the heart shape with strips of newspaper dipped in the paste. You'll need to build up about 4 or 5 layers.
I then added a final layer of pink tissue paper. This is necessary I just had it in the craft box and didn't realise until the last minute that I didn't have any pink paint left or even any red paint so I couldn't make pink.
You'll notice from the first photo that i changed my mind again and recovered the heart in a darker shade of pink tissue paper.
And then of course once the kids are in bed you can some fun all by yourself and go slightly nuts with the embellishments.
I have an absolute ton of buttons so I super glued a few on there, as you can see and then I cut some hearts and circles from some offcuts of craft paper I had in the box, placed them together, added yet another button and sewed them together with embroidery thread before gluing them on in the same way.
And all the craft supplies have been gathered over the years from my local £ shop (dollar store equivalent) and stockpiled.
For more great tips, crafts, recipes and loads more head on over to Rocks in my Dryer. And if you're interested I also have a great bread recipe posted today. Its also linked over at Rocks in my Dryer and I've listed some delicious additions to the main recipe.
Basic Bread Dough Recipe - WFMW
As promised my basic bread dough recipe. I've been fiddling with this for a while and I'm pretty sure its as good as it going to get.
I use this dough for a lot of things, not just plain white bread, but we'll get to that.
About lb plain white flour
About 300ml luke warm water
2 tbls olive oil
2 tsp salt
2 tsp honey
2 tsp dried yeast
Put flour, oil and salt in a large bowl
Add yeast and honey to lukewarm water to reactivate and make a cup of coffee while you wait 10 minutes.
Tip water mixture into flour and combine with your hands. You may think at first that there is too much water but just keep mixing and squeezing together it will be a soft dough. The idea behind good bread is to get as much liquid in there as possible and still be able to handle the dough, even if you can just barely handle it.
Flour your counter top and tip the dough out. Knead the dough for as long as you can manage, you'll start to feel a difference with this dough very quickly after a couple of minutes and because it is a soft dough with plenty of liquid it is very easy to knead*. If need be take a break for a couple of minutes, nobody ever said you had to knead the dough for a solid 20 minutes.
Once you're happy that the dough is soft, smooth and elastic, add a little bit of oil to the original bowl (it will be relatively clean), cover with cling film and leave to prove**
Once proved, knock back slightly, shape, preheat oven and bake.
* I think the easiest way to knead dough is to hold onto the piece of dough closest to you and stretch the rest of the dough away from you, then roll the dough back on itself, turn and repeat. The first few stretches the dough will break, then it stretches more and more easily. This way seems to me to be much easier on the arms, much quicker and theres something very rhythmic and relaxing about it.
** In my house there are three ways to prove bread. Sometimes I'll make a double batch of dough and prove half of it in the fridge for 24 hours or so, that way I only have to make dough once. It can be proved at room temperature for about two hours, you can easily make a batch after lunch and have fresh baked bread with dinner. 3.00pm and not a crumb in the house, stick some washing in the dryer while you make the dough, put it in the bowl, switch off the dryer, flatten the clothes slightly, set the bowl on top and close the door while you preheat the oven, 20 minutes later, perfectly risen dough.
I always bake bread at 180C (350F) in a fan assisted oven.
Sandwich Rolls divide dough into eight pieces, shape into rolls, scrunching and twisting the ends of the dough into the base of the roll, brush with milk - bake for 15 minutes. Or make about 20 smaller rolls, flattening the dough into a disk before wrapping around a knob of frozen garlic butter or mozzarella before baking. Make a dozen medium rolls stuffed with chicken breast, marinated and cooked in soy, garlic, ginger and spring onion, wrap the dough around, brush with salted milk and sprinkle sesame seeds on top for Chinese style chicken buns.
Plait divide the dough into four pieces then each piece into three, roll into a long strip and plait starting in the middle and working out to each end, turn the ends under, brush with milk and bake for 15 minutes.
Tin Loaf - Tip entire batch of dough out onto a flour surface, flatten slightly, roll the dough into a short fat sausage shape drop into a 2lb loaf tin and bake for 30 - 35 minutes. You'll have to give the loaf a second prove for about 40 minutes with this option. Don't be afraid to add flavours here, when the dough it flattened, before rolling up, spread with basil or tomato pesto, Dijon or wholegrain mustard, cover with chopped steamed spinach, tomato or onion relish, all very good additions.
Bloomer - Again use the whole batch of bread and prepare as for tin loaf, except prove the bread on a greased baking sheet. You can knead in other flavours here and give the loaf a longer second prove, chopped sunblush tomatoes, fresh green grapes and brie, Parmesan and chopped spinach, grated raw beetroot (wear gloves) bake for 30-35 minutes.
Pizza - Yes it makes great pizza, tip dough onto a pizza sheet or just a regular baking sheet (pizza doesn't have to be round), push out to the edges of the pan with your hands, add toppings and bake for 25 - 30 minutes or part bake dough on as it is for 10 minutes, cool and freeze for later use. This recipe will make two 12inch deep dish pizza bases or four thin and crispy (although you're going to have to bake it on a pizza stone or a large untreated terracotta tile placed in the oven works just as well for a fraction of the cash).
Focaccia - The recipe makes two, drop half the dough into the base of a cake tin (about 10 - 12 inch) and push out to the edges of the tin, leave to prove while oven is heating. Before baking make indentations all over the top of the dough with your fingers, drizzle with olive oil, add sea salt, finely sliced red onion and fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme or sage, bake for 20-25 minutes. The bread should be a lovely dark golden brown on top with a lovely crisp crust, serve warm (can be reheated wrapped in foil in the oven for 10 minutes or so).
That isn't even the half of it, you can use this bread recipe for dozens of other options, no more having to remember which recipe you use for rolls, or sandwiches, or pizza, all the one, it all works.
And please let me know if you try any other flavours with this recipe. I'd love to see what else everyone comes up with for this bread.
For more tips, crafts and recipes than you can shake a stick at, head on over to Rocks in my Dryer.
I also have another post up today if you need a relatively quick, very cheap gift idea for Valentine's Day.
WFMW - Soda Bread
Soda Bread
We love soda bread around here. Its one of the easiest things to make and definitely the quickest way to have lovely fresh bread in the house. I'm trying this year to buy as little bread and baked goods as possible and so far apart from one or two sandwich loaves when I've been short on time I've managed it.
I've been using the same recipe for years and its been a great help in sticking to my resolution.
1lb plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1oz butter
1/2 pint buttermilk
Feel free to half the recipe (I usually do), substitute margarine for the butter or sour milk for the buttermilk it all works. Bear in mind though if you use sour milk also add a pinch of cream of tartar to help keep the bread tender, although the bread is still fine without it, it just makes it a little lighter.
Method (haha)
Dump all dry ingredients into a bowl, rub in butter (don't be too fussy about this) add buttermilk and mix it all together with your hands. It will form a soft dough, but it shouldn't be too sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape it into a fat disk about 5 centimetres thick.
You can cook the bread in a couple of ways either,
Place the disk whole onto a baking sheet and score into wedges and bake at 180C (350F) for 30 minutes, or
Cook in a heavy based frying pan or skillet over a low/med heat turning occasionally until dark brown blisters have formed on either side of the bread. You may want to make the disk a centimetre or so thinner to cook it this way.
Either way, allow to cool slightly, cut into wedges, split and cover with butter, jam, eggs, bacon, whatever takes your fancy. It keeps for a day or two and its much easier to toast after a couple of days.
Of course you can add to the bread. I don't personally know where the idea of adding caraway seeds came in and I've certainly never seen any for sale with them added, but a lot of people seem to like it, you could give it a whirl. A great addition is dried fruit, currants, raisins or sultanas are all good.
And you could always whisk a couple of tablespoons of treacle (molasses) into the buttermilk before adding to the flour to make treacle farls (the husband's personal favourite) or go the whole hog and add treacle, fruit and cinnamon for a lovely sweet tea bread.
If you try the bread, please let me know and feel free to pass on the recipe to anyone with a pen and paper.
For recipes, tips, crafts and more head over to Rocks in my Dryer.
We love soda bread around here. Its one of the easiest things to make and definitely the quickest way to have lovely fresh bread in the house. I'm trying this year to buy as little bread and baked goods as possible and so far apart from one or two sandwich loaves when I've been short on time I've managed it.
I've been using the same recipe for years and its been a great help in sticking to my resolution.
1lb plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1oz butter
1/2 pint buttermilk
Feel free to half the recipe (I usually do), substitute margarine for the butter or sour milk for the buttermilk it all works. Bear in mind though if you use sour milk also add a pinch of cream of tartar to help keep the bread tender, although the bread is still fine without it, it just makes it a little lighter.
Method (haha)
Dump all dry ingredients into a bowl, rub in butter (don't be too fussy about this) add buttermilk and mix it all together with your hands. It will form a soft dough, but it shouldn't be too sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape it into a fat disk about 5 centimetres thick.
You can cook the bread in a couple of ways either,
Place the disk whole onto a baking sheet and score into wedges and bake at 180C (350F) for 30 minutes, or
Cook in a heavy based frying pan or skillet over a low/med heat turning occasionally until dark brown blisters have formed on either side of the bread. You may want to make the disk a centimetre or so thinner to cook it this way.
Either way, allow to cool slightly, cut into wedges, split and cover with butter, jam, eggs, bacon, whatever takes your fancy. It keeps for a day or two and its much easier to toast after a couple of days.
Of course you can add to the bread. I don't personally know where the idea of adding caraway seeds came in and I've certainly never seen any for sale with them added, but a lot of people seem to like it, you could give it a whirl. A great addition is dried fruit, currants, raisins or sultanas are all good.
And you could always whisk a couple of tablespoons of treacle (molasses) into the buttermilk before adding to the flour to make treacle farls (the husband's personal favourite) or go the whole hog and add treacle, fruit and cinnamon for a lovely sweet tea bread.
If you try the bread, please let me know and feel free to pass on the recipe to anyone with a pen and paper.
For recipes, tips, crafts and more head over to Rocks in my Dryer.
WFMW - Oh yes I did.
It's that time of the week again and you'll be sooo pleased you stopped by.Oh yes, its also that time of year again.
Yep, I'm planning for Christmas.
Wait, wait, don't be running away just yet. There's a perfectly good reason for planning so far ahead.
Seriously, I don't know about anybody else, but Christmas here just wasn't the same this year. I'm sure its been very difficult for everyone this year and I personally know a lot of people (myself included) starting 2009 unemployed or facing the real prospect of redundancy.
So with that in mind (and in part to take my mind off it) I'm planning really far ahead for the holidays this year. All holidays and birthdays in general but mainly Christmas.
I'm determined this year will be completely a "make your own" year. No presents will be bought ready to give, no ready made bread, biccies or buns. If I can't make it, you won't get it here.
So, the first step is to organise the knitted and hand sewn projects.
I grab the hold of my handy little A5 binder (I've carried this around with me for about 2 years now, couldn't be without it) and add another section.
Next I need to have a look through my ever expanding pattern books. I have three like this with around 80 patterns in each and four lever arch files which I need to get around to sorting into books like these. So much more space efficient. You'll notice straight away they aren't sorted into sections. That's because I like to just ramble through them to pass time.
My mum will love this bag. A new bag is her first request for every birthday and Christmas, although she wouldn't be too keen on the colour. She prefers bright colours, even in the dead of winter. So...
My mum is #1. I'll pop a little sticker on each pattern for her with a #1 written on it and pop in a list to remind me which yarn I will use.
Then back to the book and make a list detailing each gift for each person along with supplies needed to complete the project. If I have highlighted the item, I already have the supplies in my (huge) stash. Bonus.
And lastly I need an easy shopping list to carry around with me.
I never leave home without my phone and even though its quite old now I can still open a new reminder in my calender and pop in an abbreviated list and set it to recur weekly. This way I can keep a quick track of anything I've still to pick up if I spot a good sale.
So there you go. Is anyone else mad enough to prepare for Christmas in January?
For some, perhaps more sensible, tips, tricks and ideas, head over to WFMW at Rocks in my Dryer.
WFMW - Saving on Art and Craft Supplies
Toots received an easel from Ikea for Christmas. So far its been a big hit, she uses it every day without fail. It has a white board on one side and a chalkboard on the other, which is great because it means no paper.Well in theory. We all know kids love to paint and Toots is no exception. She can happily pass an entire afternoon splodging paint onto paper.
The problem is that providing a constant and unending supply of paper for her to use can get very expensive. Also if she isn't producing masterpieces each and every time, I hate to say it but its kind of a waste of paper.
The easel is designed to hold a roll of white paper and conveniently enough, Ikea sells the rolls of paper under the same design name as the easel. The rolls are 40 metres long and £3.91 each. Now that actually isn't too expensive, it'll take her a while to get through a 40 metre roll.
Still if I can think of a way of saving money I'll certainly have a go.
The husband picked up two of these at the weekend.
They're rolls of lining paper, normally used for lining walls before painting or decorating. They're 60 metres long, £1.89 each and a hell of a lot thicker than the rolls in Ikea. Also they're recycled paper and can be recycled again. Plus because the paper is so thick she can easily use both sides.
Now the only problem with using these is that they're about 8 inches too wide for the easel. The husband took a saw to ours and cut through them in a couple of seconds, leaving me with two large rolls of paper for the easel and two smaller rolls which I'll eventually cut down into sheets to use when she
Now if I can just get her to produce that masterpiece, we'll be set for life.
For more WFMW tips head on over to Rocks in my Dryer.
WFMW - Getting kids interested in school
We've spent the last few days here getting Toots registered for primary school.
I have to say that I never thought it would go just as well as it has.
We've mentioned the idea of school to Toots on a number of occasions before and lets just say it didn't go down well. Usually any mention of school ended in a full on tiny tantrum.
However, the last few days have been a lot more promising.
The trick. Just take her to visit the school. As simple as that. We went to the school on Monday to collect a copy of the prospectus and some registration forms. She immediately fell in love with the place, looking at all the kids artwork on the walls and asking to be allowed out to play in the enclosed courtyard filled with toys and climbing frames for the P1 and P2 playtime.
On our second visit to the school on Tuesday, we left the forms and copies of her birth certificate back with the secretary. I asked if it was ok for Toots to have a quick (quiet) look around. The secretary told us that the P1 class were having playtime and Toots could go into the courtyard to play with the other kids if she wanted.
Of course, she jumped at the chance and played on a space hopper with two girls who were more than happy to play with her and tell her all about the school. When the teacher told all the children that playtime was over and it was time to go back to class, one of the girls Toots had been playing with asked if she could come and sit in the classroom with her. The teacher said it was fine if it was ok with me and I was happy for her to sit in for a few minutes. I didn't want her to disrupt the class for too long.
The teacher was fantastic and obviously more than happy to have her there. She started off with simple things like having the class count out loud and say their alphabet and which animal's names started with each letter, all of which Toots could participate in. We only started for around 15 minutes in the class and then we left to do some shopping.
Toots has talked about the school constantly since then, asking when she can go back again to see her teacher and her new friends. The teacher also gave her a few short worksheets to take home with her and she's completely addicted to them. I've had to photocopy them and I'm trying to find similar sheets online.
She'll go to the school again for an open night next week and then there are two planned easing in days in March and May. The teacher said that she can come down to visit any time she likes and I have to say its definitely made all the difference.
If you have the opportunity to take your pre-schooler along to school or kindergarten for a visit or two before they officially start I would highly recommend it.
Everyone at the school Toots will be attending have been lovely and very understanding and the children she's met so far have been a complete credit to the school, taking her under their wing and being very patient with her.
For more WFMW posts head back over to Rocks in my Dryer.
I have to say that I never thought it would go just as well as it has.
We've mentioned the idea of school to Toots on a number of occasions before and lets just say it didn't go down well. Usually any mention of school ended in a full on tiny tantrum.
However, the last few days have been a lot more promising.
The trick. Just take her to visit the school. As simple as that. We went to the school on Monday to collect a copy of the prospectus and some registration forms. She immediately fell in love with the place, looking at all the kids artwork on the walls and asking to be allowed out to play in the enclosed courtyard filled with toys and climbing frames for the P1 and P2 playtime.
On our second visit to the school on Tuesday, we left the forms and copies of her birth certificate back with the secretary. I asked if it was ok for Toots to have a quick (quiet) look around. The secretary told us that the P1 class were having playtime and Toots could go into the courtyard to play with the other kids if she wanted.
Of course, she jumped at the chance and played on a space hopper with two girls who were more than happy to play with her and tell her all about the school. When the teacher told all the children that playtime was over and it was time to go back to class, one of the girls Toots had been playing with asked if she could come and sit in the classroom with her. The teacher said it was fine if it was ok with me and I was happy for her to sit in for a few minutes. I didn't want her to disrupt the class for too long.
The teacher was fantastic and obviously more than happy to have her there. She started off with simple things like having the class count out loud and say their alphabet and which animal's names started with each letter, all of which Toots could participate in. We only started for around 15 minutes in the class and then we left to do some shopping.
Toots has talked about the school constantly since then, asking when she can go back again to see her teacher and her new friends. The teacher also gave her a few short worksheets to take home with her and she's completely addicted to them. I've had to photocopy them and I'm trying to find similar sheets online.
She'll go to the school again for an open night next week and then there are two planned easing in days in March and May. The teacher said that she can come down to visit any time she likes and I have to say its definitely made all the difference.
If you have the opportunity to take your pre-schooler along to school or kindergarten for a visit or two before they officially start I would highly recommend it.
Everyone at the school Toots will be attending have been lovely and very understanding and the children she's met so far have been a complete credit to the school, taking her under their wing and being very patient with her.
For more WFMW posts head back over to Rocks in my Dryer.
WFMW - When being cheap doesn't work
Just putting it out there, but this is one of those times when being cheap really doesn't work.
I decided that I needed to reorganise Toots toys. She has a large wooden toy box downstairs which is a pain in the backside to get anything in and out of and two pop up storage bags in her room filled with toys. Obviously, she only ever plays with the two or three things sitting at the top of each of these boxes and bags.
So the plan was simple. Smaller, lighter boxes which could be brought out one at a time, easily packed up again and another box brought out to keep the toys in even rotation.
Rather than buy made for purpose toy boxes like Trofast I thought I could make my own using some of the dozens of boxes my office throw out every day and some pretty wrapping paper.
So I bought the paper
And got to work wrapping some of the boxes I brought home from the office.
They look good don't they?
Yeah. Well they don't work. They're flimsy for a start. I should have known they'd never stand a chance against Toots. They've been taped together again more times than I can count in the last couple of weeks and I've finally given up. They may have done a better job if I'd used sturdier, heavier boxes.
Anyway, guess who's saving for Trofast.
For more WFMW posts, check out Rocks in my Dryer. And if you see or have any great ideas for organising kids toys, please let me know.
I decided that I needed to reorganise Toots toys. She has a large wooden toy box downstairs which is a pain in the backside to get anything in and out of and two pop up storage bags in her room filled with toys. Obviously, she only ever plays with the two or three things sitting at the top of each of these boxes and bags.
So the plan was simple. Smaller, lighter boxes which could be brought out one at a time, easily packed up again and another box brought out to keep the toys in even rotation.
Rather than buy made for purpose toy boxes like Trofast I thought I could make my own using some of the dozens of boxes my office throw out every day and some pretty wrapping paper.
So I bought the paper
And got to work wrapping some of the boxes I brought home from the office.
They look good don't they?
Yeah. Well they don't work. They're flimsy for a start. I should have known they'd never stand a chance against Toots. They've been taped together again more times than I can count in the last couple of weeks and I've finally given up. They may have done a better job if I'd used sturdier, heavier boxes.
Anyway, guess who's saving for Trofast.
For more WFMW posts, check out Rocks in my Dryer. And if you see or have any great ideas for organising kids toys, please let me know.
WFMW - Chocolate Cupcakes
Seriously, who doesn't like chocolate.
I love chocolate.
No. I really love chocolate. And I love cupcakes, so these little babies rock my world.
They're a bit different because they contain buttermilk (or vinegar and milk combined if you can't get buttermilk) so I wouldn't recommend licking the spoon. The batter just tastes weird.
Chocolate Cupcakes
1 1/4 cups plain (all purpose) flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarb)
1/2 cup (4oz) butter
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla essence
Preheat oven to 180C (350F)
Cream Butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla and beat well.
Alternate adding buttermilk and flour until all is combined.
Line a 12 cup muffin pan and divide batter evenly.
Bake for 20-25 minutes a skewer comes out clean.
Remove to a cooling rack and once cool frost with;
Chocolate buttercream
4oz icing sugar
2oz butter
4 oz dark chocolate melted
(a little milk)
Cream butter and sugar together to make buttercream, add melted chocolate and beat again to combine. Add a little milk if the buttercream seems a little dry or you prefer a messier (nothing wrong with that) frosting.
Chocolate cupcakes definitely work for me. For more great WFMW ideas head on over to Rocks in my Dryer.
WFMW - Towers of Fun
Photo Courtesy of mrsmeep on FlickrThis week Shannon of 'Rocks in my Dryer' fame has set us a little task to post about the toys we've bought for our kids. The theme is to cover all the toys we loved and would happily buy again.
It may seem like a bit of a no brainer and every child has probably had a set of will have a set of these at some stage, but I really think they've turned out to be most used, least expensive toy I've bought for Toots so far.
She has two sets of them, one wet which stay beside the bath and one dry which are now scattered all over the house.
The sets I bought were the very basic round cups with a lipped edge so that they can be stacked into a tower. They're also numbered 1 - 8 on the base of the cups.
I bought two sets of the cups on Ebay for £1.00 when I was still pregnant. So far I've used them to teach Toots her colours, numbers, mixing colours (blue + yellow = green etc) stacking the cups, fitting them one inside another, pouring (water in the bath and rice, sand and beans in the dry cups) and loads more that I can't even remember now.
She'll be four in April and she still uses her cups. The largest one is in the kitchen filled with her mini cookie cutters. She keeps one in her bedroom which is filled with hair clips and has hair elastics wrapped around the outside. A couple of the smaller cups are now "teacups" for her doll's tea parties (even though she has a tea set) and the largest one from the second set is still in the bath because it MUST be used to wash her hair. Almost four years use for £2.00 isn't half bad in my book.
But the best thing about these cups is that if they're used for outside play or they just start to look a little grubby, you can chuck them in the dishwasher and they come up like new.
For more great ideas on the best toys to spend your hard earned money on this Christmas (and hopefully to help you avoid the pitfalls of crap toys) head over Rocks in my Dryer.
And if you're interested some of the worst toys Toots has had and reasons why are;
It may seem like a bit of a no brainer and every child has probably had a set of will have a set of these at some stage, but I really think they've turned out to be most used, least expensive toy I've bought for Toots so far.
She has two sets of them, one wet which stay beside the bath and one dry which are now scattered all over the house.
The sets I bought were the very basic round cups with a lipped edge so that they can be stacked into a tower. They're also numbered 1 - 8 on the base of the cups.
I bought two sets of the cups on Ebay for £1.00 when I was still pregnant. So far I've used them to teach Toots her colours, numbers, mixing colours (blue + yellow = green etc) stacking the cups, fitting them one inside another, pouring (water in the bath and rice, sand and beans in the dry cups) and loads more that I can't even remember now.
She'll be four in April and she still uses her cups. The largest one is in the kitchen filled with her mini cookie cutters. She keeps one in her bedroom which is filled with hair clips and has hair elastics wrapped around the outside. A couple of the smaller cups are now "teacups" for her doll's tea parties (even though she has a tea set) and the largest one from the second set is still in the bath because it MUST be used to wash her hair. Almost four years use for £2.00 isn't half bad in my book.
But the best thing about these cups is that if they're used for outside play or they just start to look a little grubby, you can chuck them in the dishwasher and they come up like new.
For more great ideas on the best toys to spend your hard earned money on this Christmas (and hopefully to help you avoid the pitfalls of crap toys) head over Rocks in my Dryer.
And if you're interested some of the worst toys Toots has had and reasons why are;
- Preschool poster paints - guaranteed to stain, clothes, fabric, wood and skin.
- My Little Pony - their hair is like steel wool and they smell of chemicals.
- A Barbie (Boo Hisss) - "Why doesn't she have any feet mommy?.
- Skipit - because no child has ever looked lonelier (and not that odd bunny blankie thing, I mean the hoop with a rope and a ball at the end so one child can skip all on their own).
And the latest "for the hell of it" gift received from my brother. - Inflatable pugil sticks. I've mentioned she isn't even four yet. Although the husband and I had great fun with a couple of drinks in us at the weekend knocking the dung out of each other.
WFMW - Toys up the Nose
Because if it looks like it's small enough to fit up you child's nose, they will probably try to fit it up their nose.
And don't think because it went in easily, it'll come out easily. Oooh no, it'll just works it's way in even deeper.
Toots decided on Monday night to find out if she could in fact fit a small rubber knitting needle topper in the shape of a sheep in her right nostril. Well it looked tiny outside of a human body, but let me tell you that kid looked freaky with one huge nostril.
It's the first time this has happened and I have to admit when they taught us what to do in baby first aid I laughed. Not at the thought that my child would ever be silly enough to stuff something up her nose, but the fact that I could keep my head on straight long enough to deal with.
Still I did, very chuffed with myself too.
Just cover the clear nostril with your thumb, cover their mouth with yours and blow hard.
Next thing you know you're getting hit in the face with a booger covered small rubber sheep.
Hopefully this will come in handy for someone, especially if you live somewhere where you have to pay for all those little visits to the doctor.
For more WFMW ideas head over to Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer.
Just cover the clear nostril with your thumb, cover their mouth with yours and blow hard.
Next thing you know you're getting hit in the face with a booger covered small rubber sheep.
Hopefully this will come in handy for someone, especially if you live somewhere where you have to pay for all those little visits to the doctor.
For more WFMW ideas head over to Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer.
T minus 10
Its ten weeks to Christmas. Why did nobody you tell me? The Christmas Plan went a bit skew whiff.
It’s looking like this will be my last Christmas as a working mum. Woohoo, bring it on. But this does mean that I’m going to have to start being really organised for Christmas. And I mean really, properly, grown up style organised. Not just sitting down at some point in September and making a handful of lists which I either never refer back to or I manage to convince myself that I’ve all the time in the world and still do nothing about the lists.
I’ve been a little better this year because I decided very early on that I would make all the presents I will be giving this year. I normally make some, but over the last few years I’ve noticed that the handmade gifts go down a whole lot better than the shop bought ones, so handmade for all.
I actually checked one of my lists a few nights ago and realised that I still have to knit, one glove, six hats, a hooded scarf, two washcloths and I need to finish a baby blanket all before Christmas (Eek). So I’ve started to knit in the car on the way to and from work. Hopefully this should fix that problem.
This still leaves the issue of baked goods for Christmas presents.
I had thought of giving gifts in a jar to some of my aunts with younger children, but changed my mind because I could well imagine Toots opening a jar containing brownie mix on Christmas morning and immediately wanting to make them even though every oven and burner in my house is filled to capacity and then crying her little heart out and ruining Christmas. Alright, that’s probably a worst case scenario, but still it could happen.
So I’ll be making all the gifts up in full since I have a couple of days off work right before Christmas.
I checked my freezer stash of things I’ve been putting aside for Christmas. Apparently, I either dreamt that I’d put away more things, or I’ve been dipping into the stash without realising it. I had 3lbs of frozen butter and slightly less than 1lb of frozen cream cheese (which actually still works quite well when you beat the living daylights out of it for frosting).
I did my monthly shop at the weekend and Asda had Dromona butter on rollback to £1 for a 1lb block. So I bought eight. Don’t worry, they’ll get used.
It’s looking like this will be my last Christmas as a working mum. Woohoo, bring it on. But this does mean that I’m going to have to start being really organised for Christmas. And I mean really, properly, grown up style organised. Not just sitting down at some point in September and making a handful of lists which I either never refer back to or I manage to convince myself that I’ve all the time in the world and still do nothing about the lists.
I’ve been a little better this year because I decided very early on that I would make all the presents I will be giving this year. I normally make some, but over the last few years I’ve noticed that the handmade gifts go down a whole lot better than the shop bought ones, so handmade for all.
I actually checked one of my lists a few nights ago and realised that I still have to knit, one glove, six hats, a hooded scarf, two washcloths and I need to finish a baby blanket all before Christmas (Eek). So I’ve started to knit in the car on the way to and from work. Hopefully this should fix that problem.
This still leaves the issue of baked goods for Christmas presents.
I had thought of giving gifts in a jar to some of my aunts with younger children, but changed my mind because I could well imagine Toots opening a jar containing brownie mix on Christmas morning and immediately wanting to make them even though every oven and burner in my house is filled to capacity and then crying her little heart out and ruining Christmas. Alright, that’s probably a worst case scenario, but still it could happen.
So I’ll be making all the gifts up in full since I have a couple of days off work right before Christmas.
I checked my freezer stash of things I’ve been putting aside for Christmas. Apparently, I either dreamt that I’d put away more things, or I’ve been dipping into the stash without realising it. I had 3lbs of frozen butter and slightly less than 1lb of frozen cream cheese (which actually still works quite well when you beat the living daylights out of it for frosting).
I did my monthly shop at the weekend and Asda had Dromona butter on rollback to £1 for a 1lb block. So I bought eight. Don’t worry, they’ll get used.
I also have around two dozen eggs frozen from an offer at the beginning of the month. For some reason they seem to freeze and defrost a lot better if they’re separated into whites and yolks and then frozen in twos.
But still, normally by now, I’d have already planned what I’m cooking on Christmas day and I haven’t. This means that normally I have my shopping list made and I can start to buy freezable things when I see them on offer, but I haven’t.
Normally, I’ve at least started to buy extra chocolate and peanut butter and pecans for all the cookies which I will make and freeze ahead of time so that I just have to bake when people are coming. But that isn’t done either.
So basically, if I’m completely honest, my plan just didn’t work this year. I didn’t stick to it, I thought I had more time than I actually did and I got sidetracked again and again.
What I need is some help. Do you have any great simple recipes which don’t need a 1001 ingredients, or a way to better organise yourself (bearing in mind that I haven’t been able to get my head round the home management folder yet, so I’m not that bright). What about a pattern for a one hour beanie hat, do you have that, can you point me in the right direction.
I’d appreciate it. A lot. Thanks.
But still, normally by now, I’d have already planned what I’m cooking on Christmas day and I haven’t. This means that normally I have my shopping list made and I can start to buy freezable things when I see them on offer, but I haven’t.
Normally, I’ve at least started to buy extra chocolate and peanut butter and pecans for all the cookies which I will make and freeze ahead of time so that I just have to bake when people are coming. But that isn’t done either.
So basically, if I’m completely honest, my plan just didn’t work this year. I didn’t stick to it, I thought I had more time than I actually did and I got sidetracked again and again.
What I need is some help. Do you have any great simple recipes which don’t need a 1001 ingredients, or a way to better organise yourself (bearing in mind that I haven’t been able to get my head round the home management folder yet, so I’m not that bright). What about a pattern for a one hour beanie hat, do you have that, can you point me in the right direction.
I’d appreciate it. A lot. Thanks.
Not technically a true WFMW, although the egg thing kid of qualifies as a tip. For some more ideas from properly grown up organised people head over to Rocks in my Dryer.
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