Ever since I was a kid and learnt about all the different countries and the languages they spoke I've always wanted to learn another language myself.
In the 7th grade I was ecstatic to hear we would be studying French. In year 8 it was Japanese. Both languages were taught by the same teacher. Lucky lady knew two other languages on top of those and there I was barely passing each subject.
Over the years I've accumulated a German dictionary, a French dictionary, a teach yourself French cd and book set, a Korean dictionary (work related, I taught an autistic Korean boy and thought it may help) and a Hungarian dictionary.
As of today I am fluent in English.
I can read and understand a little French, I only know how to say bless you in German - Gesundheit, but I think everyone knows that one - and I'm not sure I really ever took in a word of Korean.
This time round learning Hungarian I'm happy to say I've found a great teacher AND it's free AND it's learn at my own pace AND it's working. Though as I told a friend the other day after a week at it the only sentence I can expertly say is "Nem ertek jol Magyarul" which funny enough translates too "I don't understand Hungarian"
Seriously though it is working because consider it, a week ago I couldn't even say that, not only that I didn't even know how to pronounce the Hungarian word for Hungarian: Magyarul- hint: the g has a d sound - so after a week of only a few hours reading and watching the tutorials I now know a little grammar and a little vowel and consonant pronunciation...The Hungarian alphabet has 44 letters 14 of which are vowels!
The site I'm using is 101languages.net and they have around 50 languages to choose from including Spanish, German, French, Irish, Hebrew, Greek even Russian and Icelandic. Chances are if you've thought about learning a language this site has the course for you. Each course has been developed by the United States Foreign Service Institute and the course is structured around repetition. So you go over and over everything until your brain has soaked it up. They all come with a guarantee that you will come out fluent in your language of choice if you dedicate yourself - though as my Dad pointed out you have the same guarantee with everything in life. However if you are motivated and truly want to learn a language I highly recommend giving this site a go.
NB: the link to the 101languages site will take you to the Hungarian page. All other language courses can be accessed from this page. I had a few issues finding a home page for the site.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Where's my map?
I knew it would happen but knowing something is going to happen doesn't always make it easier to deal with.
We've been away for a month. Living in our personal version of paradise. A beautiful English country cottage, in the middle of nowhere surrounded by farm land and not much else. We woke up to horses grazing 15 meters from our windows, got stuck on the driveway as a farmer herded sheep from one paddock to another, the kids slept better than ever and we were living clutter free.
Now we are home. The neighbours are noisy, the kids are not sleeping and the closest we come to a horse is the unicorn pillow pet in the toy room. I'm not going to even start on the clutter.
Settling back into reality is hard. It's being made even harder however by the long list of things I need to do in order to get us back to paradise. I'm lost! I honestly don't know where to start, if I should start and if not how long I should wait before I start.
Let me explain....
I need to get my drivers license. Yes I am 31 years old and without a drivers license. I have my reasons. It scares me, well other drivers scare me. I'm actually more confident and comfortable when I'm driving than when someone else is driving me now so the situation is improving. The other issue is I dread the actual test. I get nervous and I know I'm going to panic and screw it up. I have until September though as that's when my permit expires - I won't mention how long I've had this one - and I'm determined to get it done.
That is first on my list but after that I'm not sure.
I also need to learn Hungarian. Weird choice you may say but again I have my reasons. My dad is Hungarian so I'm able to claim Hungarian citizenship and therefore a Hungarian passport which will make me a member of the European Union but only if I'm fluent in Hungarian. Having Hungarian citizenship will make it a LOT easier to enter the UK as EU members have no restrictions - yet commonwealth nation citizens have to jump through hoops - meaning when we are ready we can pack our bags and just go.
I'm going to try and teach myself mainly with help from my dad and some online forums I've found so financially this shouldn't hurt the bank.
I also suspect it may take me some time so do I concentrate solely on that until I'm fluent or do I attempt to learn a language while studying something else?
Which brings me to the last major thing on my list, study. I want to do a business management course and maybe hospitality management also. I'm thinking of throwing in a barristers course some time too. All of this will help me get a job both here in Oz and in the UK so it will be worth the outlay but do I start now, wait till next year, learn Hungarian first, wait till we have some savings in the bank again - because right now we are broke as broke can be - where is my road map to life to tell me where to go?
It's not the first time I've felt lost. Being an adult is one big maze and whoever was meant to give me my map didn't turn up to my 18th birthday. Until now though I've never felt a sense of urgency, never felt like I had a time limit.
It's mostly self imposed. We want to wait till both kids are in school full time so we have three years and we'd like to hit as close to that time frame as possible. I just feel like I'm getting old, running out of time to realise my dreams. In three years time I'll be 34. It's not old but if we don't make it in three years then when we do I will be old.
I actually think I'm having a midlife crisis! Has anyone else felt like this at 30?
Skye
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
We've been away for a month. Living in our personal version of paradise. A beautiful English country cottage, in the middle of nowhere surrounded by farm land and not much else. We woke up to horses grazing 15 meters from our windows, got stuck on the driveway as a farmer herded sheep from one paddock to another, the kids slept better than ever and we were living clutter free.
Now we are home. The neighbours are noisy, the kids are not sleeping and the closest we come to a horse is the unicorn pillow pet in the toy room. I'm not going to even start on the clutter.
Settling back into reality is hard. It's being made even harder however by the long list of things I need to do in order to get us back to paradise. I'm lost! I honestly don't know where to start, if I should start and if not how long I should wait before I start.
Let me explain....
I need to get my drivers license. Yes I am 31 years old and without a drivers license. I have my reasons. It scares me, well other drivers scare me. I'm actually more confident and comfortable when I'm driving than when someone else is driving me now so the situation is improving. The other issue is I dread the actual test. I get nervous and I know I'm going to panic and screw it up. I have until September though as that's when my permit expires - I won't mention how long I've had this one - and I'm determined to get it done.
That is first on my list but after that I'm not sure.
I also need to learn Hungarian. Weird choice you may say but again I have my reasons. My dad is Hungarian so I'm able to claim Hungarian citizenship and therefore a Hungarian passport which will make me a member of the European Union but only if I'm fluent in Hungarian. Having Hungarian citizenship will make it a LOT easier to enter the UK as EU members have no restrictions - yet commonwealth nation citizens have to jump through hoops - meaning when we are ready we can pack our bags and just go.
I'm going to try and teach myself mainly with help from my dad and some online forums I've found so financially this shouldn't hurt the bank.
I also suspect it may take me some time so do I concentrate solely on that until I'm fluent or do I attempt to learn a language while studying something else?
Which brings me to the last major thing on my list, study. I want to do a business management course and maybe hospitality management also. I'm thinking of throwing in a barristers course some time too. All of this will help me get a job both here in Oz and in the UK so it will be worth the outlay but do I start now, wait till next year, learn Hungarian first, wait till we have some savings in the bank again - because right now we are broke as broke can be - where is my road map to life to tell me where to go?
It's not the first time I've felt lost. Being an adult is one big maze and whoever was meant to give me my map didn't turn up to my 18th birthday. Until now though I've never felt a sense of urgency, never felt like I had a time limit.
It's mostly self imposed. We want to wait till both kids are in school full time so we have three years and we'd like to hit as close to that time frame as possible. I just feel like I'm getting old, running out of time to realise my dreams. In three years time I'll be 34. It's not old but if we don't make it in three years then when we do I will be old.
I actually think I'm having a midlife crisis! Has anyone else felt like this at 30?
Skye
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, May 30, 2014
Dreams and making them a reality
So we are back from our holiday, still suffering from jet lag hence why this post is being written at midnight with two wide awake children playing in the lounge, but we are back and looking to the future.
For anyone interested it was great to see all my in-laws. My mother in law is doing well but her diagnosis has gotten worse which just validates the spontaneous trip that much more. It's possibly the last time we will see her, though she is an amazing and strong woman with a lot of fight in her and she has our whole family cheering her on.
Before we left for our trip the husband and I were discussing moving back to the UK and being over there and living that life for a few weeks has solidified that wish. That is the life style we want for our children and for ourselves.
It's going to take a few years, or more, I need to go back to school and I also need to learn a new language. Of course there is no guarantee that even with a furthered education to enhance my job prospects and the new language to make it easier to enter the UK that we will get there. We are fully aware that life is one long baseball game and we have already been pitched our fair share of curve balls. We are motivated though, far more than we have been for anything else. We both want this, our kids want this and if it doesn't happen we will go out knowing we tried our hardest.
This means though that I'm thinking of a new path for my blog. I still want to share ideas on how to live on a budget, ways to create the living spaces you want and tips to survive renting, after all I'll still be renting myself, but I'll be sharing stories of our journey to get to the UK, experiences of studying online with two full on young children and there will be less DIY projects completed by me as we intend to sell everything when we move - no point spending money improving what we have when we will end up selling it.
My blog has always been an outlet for me. I love to write and when my imagination failed me I started writing about life. I'm honoured that you have chosen to follow my journey and hope that you get something, even if it's just a laugh at my expense, out of it.
Skye
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Two For One...Kids Entertained And Parents Sane
I have two weeks to the day till we jet off on our impromptu family vacation and my biggest stress creating thought is "How am I going to keep a four year old and a two year old entertained and happy for 18 hours of flying time and 6 hours in airport terminals?"
I needed a two for one deal... Activities to keep little minds busy while keeping big minds sane!
I've stumbled across some pretty good activities and ideas which should do the trick and the best bit is they were cheap!
Being budget friendly means I'm happy to share them with you as they aren't solely for plane trips. These activities can be used on long car trips also.
Firstly I knew without doing research that a colouring/activity book would give me an hour at least at a time of entertainment for Miss Four (and maybe five minutes for Mr Two).I decided to make my own, one for each child, so I could include pictures of their favourite characters without having to pay the extortionate prices that brand names attract.
http://www.kidslikecoloringpages.com
http://www.coloring-page.net
The above links are all free and have a wide range of characters to choose from including Peppa Pig, Ben 10, Disney Princesses, Scooby Doo, Super Heroes and more.
The below link has colouring pages for the movie Frozen, they will be a big hit for both my kids.
http://www.disneymovieslist.com/coloring-pages/theme.asp?t=Frozen
Once I had printed out the pages I made little books using some metallic coloured cardstock - a pack of 50 sheets cost around $5 at Kmart and we had it in our craft supplies but you could use anything you have on hand - punched some holes and raided my sewing stuff for ribbon. I added some plain sheets of paper tied it altogether and now I have two activity books that didn't cost me a cent.
As unoriginal as it seems my daughter loves pink and my son asked for blue :)
Next up is paddle pop stick puzzles. You take any picture you want glue it to a bunch of paddle pop sticks let the glue dry and then cut it up. The result is a travel friendly puzzle.
I had the paddle pop sticks in our craft supplies also but Kmart have them for a couple of dollars. I also found a use for those very pricey kids magazines the husband loves to spoil the kids with. I scoured the pages and cut out pictures of the kids favourite characters before they went into the recycling bin.
You can make these for any age by just varying how you cut it up. I had smaller images for Mr Two so still cut each paddle pop separately however you can do every second or third stick to make them age appropriate for younger kids. If you have a rotary cutter or Stanley knife it's best to use that to cut with if not try one of your sharpest kitchen knives.
Due to the length of our trip I have also spoilt the kids with two new toys each which they will be surprised with at a random time mid flight. I made sure to put a limit on how much I spent on each child and was lucky enough to be in target while there was a sale on. My limit per kid was $20.
Another treat will be the games I've downloaded to both of our iPhones. They are usually off limits to the kids as is my iPad so I'm imagining two very excited children when we hand them over. Games I've downloaded include the Preschool App, Minion Rush and Disney's Fantasyland - all free!
I've written a snack list that should be able to sustain us should we crash and end up on some tropical island though thinking about it now with how my kids eat it may only last us to Dubai. Special treats they don't usually get as well as good old fashion vegemite sandwiches and apples, given my own dislike of aeroplane food I've made sure to include enough for myself too.
Lastly plenty of exercise to help wear them out. I've read over the past few weeks that the day before a big trip, be it plane or car, you should have a busy day heavy with physical activity. We have this planned. Miss Four will have Kindy and I'm thinking of sending the husband to the park with Mr Two while I give the house a clean. We'll also be taking them swimming after school and plan to let them stay up past their normal bed time.
At the airport we'll be walking laps of the international terminal until it's time to board and on the plane I expect to do laps up and down the aisles.
At this point I'm willing to completely tire myself out and miss a day sightseeing in London to sleep if it means the kids are pleasant during the flight.
Have you ever travelled with young children? If you have I'm open to hearing any suggestions on how to make the trip easier for all involved.
Skye
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I needed a two for one deal... Activities to keep little minds busy while keeping big minds sane!
I've stumbled across some pretty good activities and ideas which should do the trick and the best bit is they were cheap!
Being budget friendly means I'm happy to share them with you as they aren't solely for plane trips. These activities can be used on long car trips also.
Firstly I knew without doing research that a colouring/activity book would give me an hour at least at a time of entertainment for Miss Four (and maybe five minutes for Mr Two).I decided to make my own, one for each child, so I could include pictures of their favourite characters without having to pay the extortionate prices that brand names attract.
http://www.kidslikecoloringpages.com
http://www.coloring-page.net
The above links are all free and have a wide range of characters to choose from including Peppa Pig, Ben 10, Disney Princesses, Scooby Doo, Super Heroes and more.
The below link has colouring pages for the movie Frozen, they will be a big hit for both my kids.
http://www.disneymovieslist.com/coloring-pages/theme.asp?t=Frozen
Once I had printed out the pages I made little books using some metallic coloured cardstock - a pack of 50 sheets cost around $5 at Kmart and we had it in our craft supplies but you could use anything you have on hand - punched some holes and raided my sewing stuff for ribbon. I added some plain sheets of paper tied it altogether and now I have two activity books that didn't cost me a cent.
As unoriginal as it seems my daughter loves pink and my son asked for blue :)
Next up is paddle pop stick puzzles. You take any picture you want glue it to a bunch of paddle pop sticks let the glue dry and then cut it up. The result is a travel friendly puzzle.
I had the paddle pop sticks in our craft supplies also but Kmart have them for a couple of dollars. I also found a use for those very pricey kids magazines the husband loves to spoil the kids with. I scoured the pages and cut out pictures of the kids favourite characters before they went into the recycling bin.
You can make these for any age by just varying how you cut it up. I had smaller images for Mr Two so still cut each paddle pop separately however you can do every second or third stick to make them age appropriate for younger kids. If you have a rotary cutter or Stanley knife it's best to use that to cut with if not try one of your sharpest kitchen knives.
Due to the length of our trip I have also spoilt the kids with two new toys each which they will be surprised with at a random time mid flight. I made sure to put a limit on how much I spent on each child and was lucky enough to be in target while there was a sale on. My limit per kid was $20.
Another treat will be the games I've downloaded to both of our iPhones. They are usually off limits to the kids as is my iPad so I'm imagining two very excited children when we hand them over. Games I've downloaded include the Preschool App, Minion Rush and Disney's Fantasyland - all free!
I've written a snack list that should be able to sustain us should we crash and end up on some tropical island though thinking about it now with how my kids eat it may only last us to Dubai. Special treats they don't usually get as well as good old fashion vegemite sandwiches and apples, given my own dislike of aeroplane food I've made sure to include enough for myself too.
Lastly plenty of exercise to help wear them out. I've read over the past few weeks that the day before a big trip, be it plane or car, you should have a busy day heavy with physical activity. We have this planned. Miss Four will have Kindy and I'm thinking of sending the husband to the park with Mr Two while I give the house a clean. We'll also be taking them swimming after school and plan to let them stay up past their normal bed time.
At the airport we'll be walking laps of the international terminal until it's time to board and on the plane I expect to do laps up and down the aisles.
At this point I'm willing to completely tire myself out and miss a day sightseeing in London to sleep if it means the kids are pleasant during the flight.
Have you ever travelled with young children? If you have I'm open to hearing any suggestions on how to make the trip easier for all involved.
Skye
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, March 31, 2014
Damn You Murphy!
It's been a little quiet on the blog this month and is likely to be that way for a bit to come as well. You see this man Murphy has this law, you may have heard of it...basically it states "if it can go wrong it will."
I was on a roll. The husband and I had decided that we'd start living and stop waiting. We were decorating the house the way we wanted to, we were looking at taking small family days out and I had even started a new hobby with dreams of making it more.
Then Murphy called, long distance, in the shape of my sister in law in England. My beautiful and strong Mother in law who has been dealing with chemo since being diagnosed with Breast Cancer last October had been rushed to hospital.
There was really nothing to think about somehow we were going to get back to the UK. 48 hours later we had put in an application with the bank for a huge debt inducing personal loan and within the week we had booked tickets and accommodation for a 30 day trip to the UK.
So in a way we are still living and not waiting we've just changed the line up. Huge family holiday first, saving for a house when we return....long long after we return given the size of the loan and it's interest.
What I want to share with you all from my experience is a few things.
Firstly 'You cannot predict what will happen tomorrow'. I like to be organised, have a plan. For most things in life I NEED to know that I'm somewhat in control, that I've done all I can to be prepared for what curve balls may come our way. I had started this. I did the finance course and educated myself on how to better handle our families income. I had set up a new account from which all our bills would be paid and the money was starting to build up in that. Our savings was starting to build up again too thanks to this new system. We had spending money, money that we could use for a day out or to treat ourselves with.
It doesn't matter how prepared you are life sometimes just does not play by your rules.
It's at those times you need to look for the positives before you drown in a sea of negativity. I'm usually great at helping friends see the positive points when they are going through a hard time, not so good at pointing them out to myself though. I eventually got there, after a really hard week of feeling like I was drowning I pulled on my life preserver and made a list.
*Our kids are going to get to see their paternal grandparents and make great memories for both the adults and children involved.
*They are going to experience a new culture, see the world and have their eyes opened to how big our world truly is. They will hopefully catch the travel bug that their dad and I have, the longing to see and experience all that our world has to offer and it will push them to be the best they can be so they have the opportunities to explore it later in their lives.
*My husband will get to see his mum again, possibly for the last time, and it will be done on their terms with happy smiling faces and big warm hugs.
*I get to see an old friend, someone very dear to me who I have not seen in far too long and squash them in the biggest bear hug ever...Gizmo you've been warned :)
*The husband and I will get our first vacation together, and with grand parents, aunts and uncles a plenty will possibly have so many date nights we'll be set for the next few years.
And last but most certainly not least we're going to Disneyland Paris!
I'm still stressed beyond belief, it's just how I am. A thousand small things add up to make one huge thing and I'm left tearing my hair out wondering why I haven't built that boat and sailed away to Jamaica yet.
Despite it all though I can see the positives, I'm excited for my kids and for my husband and I'm sure closer to D day I'll be excited for me too.
My lesson here though, one I'm sure we all know, is life is un predictable. Don't necessarily live each day as if it's your last unless you want to live the rest broke and possibly incarcerated but just stay aware that as much as you may plan, as organised as you think you may be none of us can see the future and none of us know what it will hold.
Which brings me to point two...Hindsight is Murphys ugly step sister.
The husband and I have a deep seeded hatred for hindsight. It seems we are forever doomed to be learning from our mistakes. 'If we had done this' or 'If we had gone that way' the most recent lesson I've learnt I'm sharing in case anyone is ever in a similar situation.
Bank loans. It was Friday afternoon when we learnt of my Mother in laws hospitalisation. The banks were closed and we were eager to get things underway so we applied to our bank via an online application. Once we had been approved and were sitting in our local branch with a very lovely banker we were informed that had we gone directly through the branch for this loan we could have saved thousands - THOUSANDS - on interest due to special deals they have to help form better relationships with loyal customers. I'm trying so hard to not think about this anymore, seriously THOUSANDS! Anyhow it's painful because we had mentioned that calling our branch to discuss the matter might be more beneficial....our impatience was our downfall.
So the lesson here....take as much time as your situation allows to think things through and always shop in store.
What it boils down to is this.. My Living while Renting journey is going to be longer than I had planned, also quite possibly a lot slower now too, but I'm in for the long haul, ready for the journey and I hope you all stick around till we reach our final destination whatever and when ever that may be.
Skye
I was on a roll. The husband and I had decided that we'd start living and stop waiting. We were decorating the house the way we wanted to, we were looking at taking small family days out and I had even started a new hobby with dreams of making it more.
Then Murphy called, long distance, in the shape of my sister in law in England. My beautiful and strong Mother in law who has been dealing with chemo since being diagnosed with Breast Cancer last October had been rushed to hospital.
There was really nothing to think about somehow we were going to get back to the UK. 48 hours later we had put in an application with the bank for a huge debt inducing personal loan and within the week we had booked tickets and accommodation for a 30 day trip to the UK.
So in a way we are still living and not waiting we've just changed the line up. Huge family holiday first, saving for a house when we return....long long after we return given the size of the loan and it's interest.
What I want to share with you all from my experience is a few things.
Firstly 'You cannot predict what will happen tomorrow'. I like to be organised, have a plan. For most things in life I NEED to know that I'm somewhat in control, that I've done all I can to be prepared for what curve balls may come our way. I had started this. I did the finance course and educated myself on how to better handle our families income. I had set up a new account from which all our bills would be paid and the money was starting to build up in that. Our savings was starting to build up again too thanks to this new system. We had spending money, money that we could use for a day out or to treat ourselves with.
It doesn't matter how prepared you are life sometimes just does not play by your rules.
It's at those times you need to look for the positives before you drown in a sea of negativity. I'm usually great at helping friends see the positive points when they are going through a hard time, not so good at pointing them out to myself though. I eventually got there, after a really hard week of feeling like I was drowning I pulled on my life preserver and made a list.
*Our kids are going to get to see their paternal grandparents and make great memories for both the adults and children involved.
*They are going to experience a new culture, see the world and have their eyes opened to how big our world truly is. They will hopefully catch the travel bug that their dad and I have, the longing to see and experience all that our world has to offer and it will push them to be the best they can be so they have the opportunities to explore it later in their lives.
*My husband will get to see his mum again, possibly for the last time, and it will be done on their terms with happy smiling faces and big warm hugs.
*I get to see an old friend, someone very dear to me who I have not seen in far too long and squash them in the biggest bear hug ever...Gizmo you've been warned :)
*The husband and I will get our first vacation together, and with grand parents, aunts and uncles a plenty will possibly have so many date nights we'll be set for the next few years.
And last but most certainly not least we're going to Disneyland Paris!
I'm still stressed beyond belief, it's just how I am. A thousand small things add up to make one huge thing and I'm left tearing my hair out wondering why I haven't built that boat and sailed away to Jamaica yet.
Despite it all though I can see the positives, I'm excited for my kids and for my husband and I'm sure closer to D day I'll be excited for me too.
My lesson here though, one I'm sure we all know, is life is un predictable. Don't necessarily live each day as if it's your last unless you want to live the rest broke and possibly incarcerated but just stay aware that as much as you may plan, as organised as you think you may be none of us can see the future and none of us know what it will hold.
Which brings me to point two...Hindsight is Murphys ugly step sister.
The husband and I have a deep seeded hatred for hindsight. It seems we are forever doomed to be learning from our mistakes. 'If we had done this' or 'If we had gone that way' the most recent lesson I've learnt I'm sharing in case anyone is ever in a similar situation.
Bank loans. It was Friday afternoon when we learnt of my Mother in laws hospitalisation. The banks were closed and we were eager to get things underway so we applied to our bank via an online application. Once we had been approved and were sitting in our local branch with a very lovely banker we were informed that had we gone directly through the branch for this loan we could have saved thousands - THOUSANDS - on interest due to special deals they have to help form better relationships with loyal customers. I'm trying so hard to not think about this anymore, seriously THOUSANDS! Anyhow it's painful because we had mentioned that calling our branch to discuss the matter might be more beneficial....our impatience was our downfall.
So the lesson here....take as much time as your situation allows to think things through and always shop in store.
What it boils down to is this.. My Living while Renting journey is going to be longer than I had planned, also quite possibly a lot slower now too, but I'm in for the long haul, ready for the journey and I hope you all stick around till we reach our final destination whatever and when ever that may be.
Skye
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Food Glorious Food...
Hi my name is Skye and I'm a comfort eater, I uh also eat when bored oh and if I'm watching TV I need something to snack on. Basically I love my food, not all food I'm quite - ok VERY - fussy, but I love to eat. What I do not like is the price of groceries. Even your pantry staples seem to be getting stupidly expensive these days.
We are a Home Brand no frills family and proud if it. Most of the time the taste is the same and often even better. There are a few things we will go name brand on but often it's baking goods like Cocoa - you should never skimp on chocolate - and maple syrup, if you're going to eat tree sap it's got to be the good stuff.
It's grocery day today and I as I was writing my list I thought of a few recipes I've come across that I want to share with you all.
They are recipes that allow for bulk batches. These are the best kind in my opinion. They save time in the kitchen - I don't mind cooking or baking but I loathe the clean up so recipes that allow for a big yield with only one mess to clean up are always going to win my vote - and they save money. Often it's hard to see the money you do save and often it's not all that much for example one recipe I'll be sharing is a biscuit recipe. These days you can buy a pack of home brand Arrowroot for around $1 so making your own may seem pointless however you can't buy a pack of family assorted for $1 but with one batch of biscuit dough you can create as many different tastes as you like.
Another positive point for home made is you can choose what goes in to what you and your family eat. Trying to cut down on sugar? Replace the cup of sugar with honey or apple sauce.
First up today I give you an easy as pie Pizza dough. I spent a lot of time just before Christmas looking for a great pizza dough and to be honest they all basically have the same stuff in them so I picked this one from moneysavingmom.com because they said it can be freezed, Yay! One mess to clean up, three meals prepared.
The recipe reads as though it only makes two pizza bases but from reading the comments I've learned that the author made thick crust pizza. We are a thin crust family so I got three bases from this recipe.
It was a really tasty pizza base, nothing fancy just good yummy pizza.
Next up is something a little different. Chicken Enchilada Pasta from navywifecook.com. This was delicious and surprisingly not all that hot/spicy as the ingredients would lead you to believe. However I did leave out a few things and had to make a change here or there due to us Aussies not having such a large selection of Mexican sauces at our disposal. I still followed the basic recipe and what I made had everyone going back for seconds.
Here are my changes:
*I used garlic powder instead of crushed garlic cloves.
*The red pepper was left out for two reasons: 1. The husband and I couldn't figure out if it was a bell pepper/capsicum or red chilli that we were meant to use and 2. I don't do HOT food so in the hope of keeping this meal edible by me it was emitted.
*The can of diced green chillies was left out as our grocery store didn't have any.
*The two cans of green chilli enchilada sauce and 2/3 cup of red enchilada sauce was replaced by two cans of red Enchilada sauce as once again it was all that was available.
The rest of the recipe was followed and it made a ton like the original author says. There was enough for very large portions for dinner for three adults plus seconds for two and then enough for lunch for two days so it could do lunches for a week, or be a quick meal to re heat and eat on nights when you don't have much time. It seriously is worth the effort, I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty this meal was.
The first of my biscuit recipes is for Maple cookies from A Spoonful of Sugar. This is when the name brand maple syrup comes in handy.
These are sweet but not sickly. Perfect for when you want something sweet but different. I managed four batches so they are right in saying it serves 48. If you do 12 cookies a batch. If you're like me and like big cookies then you may get less per batch.
My second biscuit recipe is your basic sugar cookie recipe. What I love about sugar cookies is that you can add anything you like to put your own twist on it. Feel like choc chip cookies, add chocolate Chips. Want something a little more healthy swap the choc chips for sultanas or even cherries. Add some orange essence and cocoa for Jaffa flavoured cookies. Honestly the options are as endless as your baking imagination.
The linked recipe from Experience Sardinia is made even more brilliant because it can be frozen. I've read a lot of sugar cookie recipes and they usually say it can be kept refrigerated for three to four days. Which is great if you'll need more than one batch of cookies a week. I prefer to have the dough ready when I feel like cookies so being able to freeze a few batches ready to be pulled at a moments notice is great.
What's your favourite big batch recipe? Share it in the comments I'd love to add more to my recipe book.
Skye
We are a Home Brand no frills family and proud if it. Most of the time the taste is the same and often even better. There are a few things we will go name brand on but often it's baking goods like Cocoa - you should never skimp on chocolate - and maple syrup, if you're going to eat tree sap it's got to be the good stuff.
It's grocery day today and I as I was writing my list I thought of a few recipes I've come across that I want to share with you all.
They are recipes that allow for bulk batches. These are the best kind in my opinion. They save time in the kitchen - I don't mind cooking or baking but I loathe the clean up so recipes that allow for a big yield with only one mess to clean up are always going to win my vote - and they save money. Often it's hard to see the money you do save and often it's not all that much for example one recipe I'll be sharing is a biscuit recipe. These days you can buy a pack of home brand Arrowroot for around $1 so making your own may seem pointless however you can't buy a pack of family assorted for $1 but with one batch of biscuit dough you can create as many different tastes as you like.
Another positive point for home made is you can choose what goes in to what you and your family eat. Trying to cut down on sugar? Replace the cup of sugar with honey or apple sauce.
First up today I give you an easy as pie Pizza dough. I spent a lot of time just before Christmas looking for a great pizza dough and to be honest they all basically have the same stuff in them so I picked this one from moneysavingmom.com because they said it can be freezed, Yay! One mess to clean up, three meals prepared.
The recipe reads as though it only makes two pizza bases but from reading the comments I've learned that the author made thick crust pizza. We are a thin crust family so I got three bases from this recipe.
It was a really tasty pizza base, nothing fancy just good yummy pizza.
Next up is something a little different. Chicken Enchilada Pasta from navywifecook.com. This was delicious and surprisingly not all that hot/spicy as the ingredients would lead you to believe. However I did leave out a few things and had to make a change here or there due to us Aussies not having such a large selection of Mexican sauces at our disposal. I still followed the basic recipe and what I made had everyone going back for seconds.
Here are my changes:
*I used garlic powder instead of crushed garlic cloves.
*The red pepper was left out for two reasons: 1. The husband and I couldn't figure out if it was a bell pepper/capsicum or red chilli that we were meant to use and 2. I don't do HOT food so in the hope of keeping this meal edible by me it was emitted.
*The can of diced green chillies was left out as our grocery store didn't have any.
*The two cans of green chilli enchilada sauce and 2/3 cup of red enchilada sauce was replaced by two cans of red Enchilada sauce as once again it was all that was available.
The rest of the recipe was followed and it made a ton like the original author says. There was enough for very large portions for dinner for three adults plus seconds for two and then enough for lunch for two days so it could do lunches for a week, or be a quick meal to re heat and eat on nights when you don't have much time. It seriously is worth the effort, I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty this meal was.
The first of my biscuit recipes is for Maple cookies from A Spoonful of Sugar. This is when the name brand maple syrup comes in handy.
These are sweet but not sickly. Perfect for when you want something sweet but different. I managed four batches so they are right in saying it serves 48. If you do 12 cookies a batch. If you're like me and like big cookies then you may get less per batch.
My second biscuit recipe is your basic sugar cookie recipe. What I love about sugar cookies is that you can add anything you like to put your own twist on it. Feel like choc chip cookies, add chocolate Chips. Want something a little more healthy swap the choc chips for sultanas or even cherries. Add some orange essence and cocoa for Jaffa flavoured cookies. Honestly the options are as endless as your baking imagination.
The linked recipe from Experience Sardinia is made even more brilliant because it can be frozen. I've read a lot of sugar cookie recipes and they usually say it can be kept refrigerated for three to four days. Which is great if you'll need more than one batch of cookies a week. I prefer to have the dough ready when I feel like cookies so being able to freeze a few batches ready to be pulled at a moments notice is great.
What's your favourite big batch recipe? Share it in the comments I'd love to add more to my recipe book.
Skye
Monday, March 3, 2014
Kitchen Chemistry
Hands up who is ready to learn something new about me??
I am what some would call a Geek! Though from a Geeks point of view it's us who are normal and everyone else is just waiting for their imaginations to kick into over drive.
Come over to the Geek side, we have Cookies. We also have these amazing spice racks...
I stumbled across these on Pinterest - nothing new there - but immediately began researching how to make my own.
It seems pretty straight forward. Buy test tubes, make a stand (or buy one) transfer existing spices in to tubes, label tubes and Vaders your father. One Test Tube Spice Rack ready to geek out your kitchen.
If you would like a step by step guide Dream Book Design have a tutorial here.
I did a little research. You can purchase a ready made test tube spice rack from a company I won't name for $96. However seeing as the whole point of my blog is to help you decorate while saving money I will tell you that you can buy 20 test tubes with cork stoppers from 'In The Clear' on etsy.com for $10.93. These tubes will fit about 1/2 an ounce - or 15 grams - of spice.
Or I found these slightly bigger test tubes on eBay, they are $27 for 25 test tubes and they hold just under 50mls. To give you an idea of spice amounts. An average master foods spice jar is 30grams and the jar is slightly smaller than my 50ml essential oil bottles. So I'm guessing they would hold around three quarters of a master foods spice jar or about 20grams of spice.
Now for the stand. A simple square or rectangle box would do the trick. You could put one together pretty easily with a few pieces of wood, a hammer and some nails or check out your local op shop as they are bound to have something that will do the job.
Another option is to transform an existing spice rack you may already have. This is the option I'll be using.
We have a traditional looking spice rack that looks a little like this one just a bit more square and a not so nice brown colour.
As I mentioned in Lime Surprise last week I was just going to paint it. Now though I'm going to get the Husband to drill some holes or add a support bar before I do.
I'll order the test tubes some time this week so stay tuned for a spice rack update.
Skye
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I am what some would call a Geek! Though from a Geeks point of view it's us who are normal and everyone else is just waiting for their imaginations to kick into over drive.
Come over to the Geek side, we have Cookies. We also have these amazing spice racks...
I stumbled across these on Pinterest - nothing new there - but immediately began researching how to make my own.
It seems pretty straight forward. Buy test tubes, make a stand (or buy one) transfer existing spices in to tubes, label tubes and Vaders your father. One Test Tube Spice Rack ready to geek out your kitchen.
If you would like a step by step guide Dream Book Design have a tutorial here.
I did a little research. You can purchase a ready made test tube spice rack from a company I won't name for $96. However seeing as the whole point of my blog is to help you decorate while saving money I will tell you that you can buy 20 test tubes with cork stoppers from 'In The Clear' on etsy.com for $10.93. These tubes will fit about 1/2 an ounce - or 15 grams - of spice.
Or I found these slightly bigger test tubes on eBay, they are $27 for 25 test tubes and they hold just under 50mls. To give you an idea of spice amounts. An average master foods spice jar is 30grams and the jar is slightly smaller than my 50ml essential oil bottles. So I'm guessing they would hold around three quarters of a master foods spice jar or about 20grams of spice.
Now for the stand. A simple square or rectangle box would do the trick. You could put one together pretty easily with a few pieces of wood, a hammer and some nails or check out your local op shop as they are bound to have something that will do the job.
Another option is to transform an existing spice rack you may already have. This is the option I'll be using.
We have a traditional looking spice rack that looks a little like this one just a bit more square and a not so nice brown colour.
As I mentioned in Lime Surprise last week I was just going to paint it. Now though I'm going to get the Husband to drill some holes or add a support bar before I do.
I'll order the test tubes some time this week so stay tuned for a spice rack update.
Skye
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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