Minimalism

I have been inspired by a blog called Becoming Minamilist.

I am not much of a hoarder, but I do have more stuff than I need, and very little storage.

So I'm paring it down. Today I gave away a box of plastic kitchen stuff

and tomorrow I'm going to a clothes swap. I wonder how much I will come home with though?

Hopefully I won't fill back up these 3 bags.

The past few weeks I have been going through our clothes and have already given away loads.

I think this might be the last of it. I also went through our sheets and towels. I've kept 2-3 sets of winter sheets per bed. I figure that's 1 set on the bed, 1 set being washed and 1 set spare for the accidental wets that sometimes happen (kids beds not mine). lol

Homemade doggy food

Don't be fooled by this yummy looking meal in my crockpot (slow cooker).

Its the dogs food. Every time I cook it Mr. Divine says "Something smells good.

What you cooking?" My reply "Taste it and see."

Here's the recipe

1kg pet mince

1 cup pasta

1 cup rice

*2 (or more) cups vegetables, frozen or fresh*

garlic

water to cover

Put it all in your crockpot and cook on low over night (or all day)

*Usually I keep all my peelings and off cuts of my veges in a bag in the freezer and then when it comes to making the pet food I put those in the crockpot instead of mixed vegetables.

P.S. Cats can eat this too, just not husbands or children. hehe

A change of direction

I have found it hard to continue blogging as my crafting as taken a back seat to being a mum, recyclist (is that even a word), fair trader, local market supporter, ethical buyer, self sufficient, low carbon footprint woman.

Soooooo, my blog will be changing (it's OK, change doesn't have to be scary). I will be sharing how I am changing my lifestyle to be more who I believe I should be.

I already recycle and cook most meals from scratch. I still am crafting, but it is crafting with a purpose and mainly for my family. I am trying to grow a vege garden from seed and have chooks for eggs but I still manage to produce at least one shopping bag full of rubbish per day.

Having been inspired by these people who managed just one small, tiny rubbish bag for a year.

I am going for one a week.

Valentines Day

My camera and computer are on talking terms again and allowed me to download some photos :)

As mentioned on this post my husband and I don't buy each other presents. So instead I made a special deal with dinner.

Mr. Divine broke the rules and brought me flowers and chocolates. Naughty Mr. Divine.

We had a lovely bottle of wine, while the kids had blackcurrant juice. Miss Boodles (6) calls it wine though, which makes me wonder what the school thinks ;)

I made each person a place card and wrote a special note of what I love about them.

I hope it will speak to the children of what love looks like and what to expect when they meet Mr/Mrs right.

I am alive

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth.

My camera is not speaking to my computer at the moment (they must be in a tiss with each other) so.... I can't load any photos.

I have been a busy bee. I finished the January Cloth from sew-funky's blog and will be starting on the February one.

I have been putting together the families 72 hour food kit (in case of earthquake etc) that I found a website called Food Storage Made Easy. It has these great baby steps to help you along the journey of food storage.

You could also check out Everyday Food Storage as she has great ideas and recipes like one to make your own condensed milk. I have made it, and guess what? It really does taste like condensed milk.

I have still been following the Organising Queen and have decluttered my kitchen.

So as I said, I have been busy, I just can't post pictures :(

Favourite thing Friday

I am loving this blog right now.

Simple-green-frugal-co-op.

Rhonda Jean from down-to-earth is one of the contributors to this great blog.

I am trying to minimize the impact I have on our Earth and since my word for the year is

the ONE thing we are doing differently is wearing clothes more than once with the motto of 'if it's not dirty, don't wash it'.

Let me tell you the difference this ONE thing it is having. I am now washing only every second day (instead of 2 loads each day) which is a great time saver and of course there's the savings in power and water.

I did use to make my own washing powder, but now that I am washing nappies my homemade powder would leave a residue and make them less absorbent. Since cutting down on my washing I am now able to afford an eco friendly powder.

So, what is the ONE thing you are doing differently this year?

A months worth of shopping

Yes guys, this is what a months worth of groceries looks like.

I decided with the price of food to try shopping once a month like many of you do. I use to go every fortnight and that was cheaper than weekly. I can definately say that monthly is cheaper still. I think the checkout lady thought I had a tinned tomato fetish. What can I say? Tomatoes are so versatile and cheap in the canned form.

Dinner x2

I thought I'd share this as a money saving idea. I cooked chops in my slow cooker with veges and stock. We all had our fill but there was still a lot of stock and veg left. So I pureed it up and we had it as soup with homemade bread the second night. Anything to get out of a nights cooking :).