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I came across this yummy recipe just the other day.

It’s filling and very tasty!

High in fibre too!

Great for hubby’s lunch box, snacks or a yummy morning tea with the girls!

Ingredients:

125g butter

1 cup of raw sugar

1/2 cup of honey

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups wholemeal plain flour (I used white)

2 tsp bi-carb soda

1 tsp cinnamon

2 1/2 cups of wheat bran

2 1/2 cups of buttermilk (I used skim milk instead)

250g dates chopped

1/2 cup of walnuts

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190

Cream butter and sugar

Add honey and beat until smooth

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition

Sift flour, bi-carb, cinnamon into another bowl

Add wheat bran and toss to combine

add flour mixture alternatively with buttermilk , to the batter, gently beating after each addition until just mixed.

Spoon batter into muffin tins.

Bake until well risen and lightly crusted about 20-25 minutes.

Serve warm or cool…YUM-O

NM

It’s hard when we’re in an age where we try and cram in so much in everyday. It’s easy to forget the important people in our lives and there are none so important than our children, who look up to us, watch us and most importantly LEARN from us..Scary too!

I remember just before I became a mother coming across this wonderful reminder…and yes a good reminder to all the Clean Freaks out there!

I HOPE MY CHILDREN WILL LOOK BACK ON TODAY

AND SEE A MOTHER AND FATHER WHO HAD TIME TO PLAY

THERE WILL BE YEARS FOR CLEANING AND COOKING

BUT CHILDREN GROW UP WHILE WE’RE NOT LOOKING

DUSTING AND SCRUBBING CAN WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW

FOR BABIES GROW FAST WE LEARN TO OUR SORROW

SO QUIET DOWN COBWEBS AND DUST GO TO SLEEP

I’M ROCKING MY BABY AND BABIES DON’T KEEP

Always brings a tear to my eye and gets me straight to my babes for a big hug…why don’t you do the same.

NM

In these times of financial hardships, interests rates going up and up, families struggling with mortgage repayments and trying to keep up with general living expenses, it’s great for the media to get in and help out with some money saving tips…but what I’ve found is that they’re not being REAL and TOUGH enough about it.

I was listening to the tips made on a morning program the other day and I was really stunned at how “Nice” they were keeping the tips. These were some on of them:

• buy petrol on a Tuesday
• reduce time spent in the shower
• buy a water saving shower head
• buy groceries in bulk and when they’re on special

Now these are good, but come on, shouldn’t we be scaling up our money saving efforts… I’m quite sure that even if these measures are being employed it is still not reducing the bill, not nearly enough to where it should be. So because I’m all about giving the truth, where it need be, I will present a more hard line approach.

Because I truly believe that if you’re serious about reducing your expenditure and saving the family home, then you will go that 1, 2 steps further and be willing to do it.

So here are my tips for saving money:

• DON’T SPEND WHAT YOU DON’T NEED TO…ASK YOURSELF..IS IT A WANT OR A NEED? CAN IT WAIT ANOTHER WEEK, MONTH, YEAR?

• shop around…don’t be lazy and shop where you always have, if it costs you a fortune to do so…I use to shop at Safeway, but found that their prices are way too expensive..remember you’re paying for “nice lighting, lovely appearances and someone stacking your bags”..

• shop around for better deals on your mobile phone contracts…yes, we live in age where we think we need them, so get the best deal possible..I recently dumped Optus because they are expensive $45 for service charges…a joke! per month mind you! without the calls.. Now I’m with Virgin Prepaid and I have halved my mobile expenditure per month..I’m on a Bean Counter Plan..SO VERY VERY CHEAP!!!! 10C P/MIN CALLS AND 10C TEXT MESSAGING…NO KIDDING..NO TRICKS… JUST $25 LASTED ME 40 DAYS…TRY IT OUT…I ASSURE YOU YOU WILL SAVE

• sit down with your partner or yourself! and SCRUTINISE your budget…look at ways you can save a dollar…my hubby and I do this at the start of every year…we make financial goals…what we “need”, where we can save money…how much we want to pay off the house per year..talking with your partner about spending money is so very very important…you have to have common goals…you have to be realistic about your spending…and it’s so important you’re on the same page….every month we talk about money and what “big” bills are coming up and where we need to pull in…YOU SEE IT’S A CONSTANT ASSESSMENT… if you’re really serious about it, you can save money…

• don’t be sucked in by retailers and the mass of catalogues that try to persuade you to buy…yes new is nice but can you afford it?

• curb your desire and ditch the “interest free” campaigns….it’s only interest free if you pay it off in time…4 years may seem like a long time, but it comes up much quicker than you think!…AGAIN DO YOU NEED IT AND CAN YOU AFFORD IT?
• If you’re not a chef in the kitchen and you frequent the take away shops or dine out for dinner on a regular basis…then learn to cook.. or at least reduce ur eating out by 50%…you’ll save yourself a small fortune just doing this alone

• Now admittedly I am not a big lay by fan, but if you got the “gotta haves” then try laybying it rather than spending big all in one go.
• be very conscious of ur electricity and water consumption…it all adds up…turn off lights when leaving the room…turn things off at the power point…don’t have the air con running ALL the time…10 min spurts here and there…

• Get to know your Op Shops and Secondhand stores for clothes, homewares etc…ya know a big misconception is that ALL op shops stock is well used or “crap” but this is simply not the case…a lot of items are brand new….do u remember cleaning and sorting your house? sometimes we throw out something purely because it was a gift never used, or we never wore the clothes…so pop into a local op shop..u may be very surprised by what u find…plus it saves you a lot of money…a lot!
• here’s a novel idea for saving money…maybe old fashioned but it works a treat…GO WITHOUT!!!! Yes us westerners believe we are suffering poorly if we haven’t got some new whizz bang gadget or something in fashion…I’m quite sure if you pondered for a moment what going without really means, you would find that you’re really not doing that badly at all…
• If petrol costs are killing u, ditch the wretched car for a day and walk it, bus it or grab a ride with a friend..otherwise if you live close by to shops then choose activities where you can walk instead of driving…or couple your activities and do them on 1 given day and reduce the number of short trips…as it’s the starting and stopping that uses the most fuel
• if you plan to go out to the shops during the day…to save money on food on the go…go either after a meal or come home to eat. At least take a bottle of water with you..it blows my mind when I see parents carting a few kids around and each one of those children has a bottle of soft drink in their hands..last time i looked at buying a bottle of soft drink…the price was near on $3…that it just ludicrus seriously…food is one of the highest mark ups in retail…
• on a similar point..when going to work…don’t buy ur lunch everyday…packing your lunch instead of buying will save you at least $50 a week..treat yourself if you have to, to 1 day to buy ur lunch.

HAPPY SAVING AND REMEMBER ALL WE REALLY NEED IS FOOD, LOVE, WATER AND SHELTER…ANYTHING MORE IS A BLESSING!

NM

Right now I’m reflecting on days gone by, when to our mums and dads, having children was considered a rich and fulfilling life. Now days we are so consumed by our own needs, opportunities and personal wealth, that children are now, by some, considered a hindrance, too costly and a “step backward”. What a sad reality.

In my childhood, which wasn’t too long ago, I remember Mum at home slogging away with 3 kids under 3, attending to the chores and spending time with us. Childcare? No, that wasn’t an option. My mother in particular only ever wanted to be a mum. She was one of those women who considered having children as the “ultimate” goal.

As a family, weekends were spent playing around the yard and particularly Sundays was a day of “family” time. If we weren’t in our backyard playing, we were playing in the streets, we were down at the park kicking the footy or Dad would take us for a day trip. We weren’t thrown into the car and hitting the big retail outlets at the first chance of opening. We weren’t consumed with the “gotta haves” or trying to keep up with the “Jones”. We didn’t have the latest and greatest of everything and the desire certainly wasn’t there that we had to put it on credit or throw ourselves into massive debt.

In our own home, we didn’t have the internet invading dinner time, family time. We had 1 tv that belonged in the lounge room and was only on at limited times during the day and was considered to be adult time when we went to bed. Yes, we had a bed time!

Meal time was sitting around the table, talking, conversing and eating. Tv was off and no other noise or interference was allowed; including the telephone. If it did happen to ring and we were still eating, it would go unanswered.

The sad reality of our lives nowadays is that we have constant interference, internet 24/7, tv, 24/7, mobile phones, 24/7. Shops are open every day of the week, including public holidays…God forbid we go one day without opening our wallets.

Meal times are around the tv, in separate rooms, alone, in front of the computer, on the phone, at work, or pre-packed freezer meals, or probably more likely not at all. The dinner table is vacant, collecting dust, cos there’s no time to clean. There’s prob a computer sitting on there anyway!

Conversation time, or “family” time has been replaced with going out for coffee, spending time chatting via the web to a complete stranger, a quick hello (if you’re lucky) as you pass through the house on your way out to “do” something else, on the phone to someone else. So where are the kids? On the phone, watching tv or on the net.

Is anyone else alarmed at the lack of conversation we have with our family? I mean genuine conversation..that is the, how are you questions, how are you feeling? Those sorts of deep questions with a genuine desire to know the answer .

I’m appalled and saddened by the amount of time we spend away from our loved ones, through the self-induced distractions we create in our environment. That’s right..I said “self-induced”. Meaning we don’t have to be on the phone when there’s a quiet moment, we don’t have to be sitting squared eyed at the tv when there’s just garbage on anyway. We don’t have to be working, when in reality it CAN wait another day. We choose to be away from our families, even when they’re right there!

Even sadder, is that this sad reality doesn’t shake us until there’s a death and it just makes me sick quite frankly!

We all want stuff, crap, to consume our lives. We want the biggest and best house and we don’t mind throwing our children into daycare 5 days a week to get it. We don’t mind working our butts of just to pay the mortgage on a house that’s way too big…remember the saying “living beyond our means”? Why does each child need their own room, own tv, own mobile, own toys, big branded clothes?

All the while, you never get back those years with children, you can’t take all the money you earn with you after death, or the biggest house on the street you bought. You can’t take it with you!!!!!! Money can be spent, houses can be destroyed, burned, modern things become old and thrown away…so while you invest in these hollow, empty things, what has happened to your children, your partner, your parents?

If only we put as much time into relationships that matter including the relationship with ourselves, we would be far more richer, more happier, more fulfilled. Our children wouldn’t need to seek out drugs or alcohol to suppress the pain, or commit crimes to gain attention.

I tell you this, we are gonna pay for the neglect of our children. But not after we have destroyed many lives and a good generation of children in the process!

If you can do one thing…REFLECT ON HOW YOUR LIFE IS:

Ask yourself some very hard questions and be willing to step up and make changes that WILL improve the quality of your life and those of your family.

So I challenge each and every one of you:

TURN OFF THE MOBILE PHONE AS SOON AS YOU GET HOME

SIT DOWN AS A FAMILY AT TEA TIME

DON’T! ANSWER THE PHONE DURING MEAL TIME

READ A BOOK TO YOUR CHILDREN

DO SOMETHING WITH THEM THAT THEY ENJOY

CHOOSE SAT OR SUN WHERE YOU DON’T VISIT ANY SHOPS…GO FOR A DRIVE INSTEAD…GO TO THE PARK ETC

TURN OFF THE COMPUTER

THROW OUT THE TV’S IN YOUR CHILDREN’S ROOMS AND YOUR OWN

SAVE THE NEXT GENERATION OF CHILDREN FROM LONLINESS, ISOLATION, DEPRESSION.

PEOPLE NEED LOVE, TIME SPENT WITH EACH OTHER…WE CAN’T GET THAT BACK WHEN THEY’RE GONE!

NM

Okay so grab a pen or cut and paste this somewhere. This pizza dough recipe is so easy to make and is really yummy. Previously I have found it an utter chore to make dough for pizza bases and they always have this wretched yeast taste that spoils whatever you’ve put on top of your pizza. Plus the added bonus of no preservatives…which is always a good thing.

Basic Pizza Dough:

1 tsp active dry yeast

pinch of sugar

2/3 cup warm water

2 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

Method

Place yeast, sugar and water in a bowl and allow to stand until mixture has bubbles (generally bout 2 minutes).

Add flour, salt and oil and mix to form a smooth dough. Knead dough for 5 min or until is smooth and elastic. Place dough in a clean, oiled bowl, cover and allow to stand for 20 minutes in a for place or until it has doubled in size.

Makes 1 quantity.

Yummy!

NM

I really have a lot of fun with this one. It’s quite amazing just how far you can really go with materials and “stuff”,

Generally the cycle goes:

Buy it - Use it -  Recycle/Bin it,

but I like this one better

buy it - use it - reuse it (over and over and over again where possible) - recycle (if applicable)

It’s about being conscious, keeping it in your mind…Ask yourself:

Can this be re-used rather than simply thrown away?

If so, How?

Experiment, explore and when you have a great way to re-use it, share it with your friends, co-workers, office. We can educate the people around us, simply by sharing ideas, or leading by example.

I think, businesses and schools and basically any organisation where groups of people meet, have the greatest opportunities to show how sharing ideas can really bring about positive environmental changes that can be transferred and applied in your home

Re-use tips

• Some giftwares like coffee cups comes in really attractive canisters or tin containers. Take advantage of that and re-use them.

• I re-use mine for holding laundry powder - beats a dull glass jar any day
• Use envelopes for notepads rather than tossing it or recycling it straight away

• Those coffee containers from Moccona are a great idea for storing cooking ingredients when you’re done with the coffee or any other stuff

• Look for and buy companies who sell their products in re-usable containers…it may cost a lil more on the pocket but the environmental benefits out way the tiny loss there, plus remember you’re also getting the container in that price too

• Printing paper - double side print your info.. and when you’re done with the info either shred and place in a compost or use for scrap paper

• Office paper cups are a complete waste…use the same glass for the day, keep it on your desk

• Products that come in perfectly good boxes can be re-used to hold your kids “stuff” or pencils or can be used to pack another postage item…so hold onto them when you get them

• Some companies go to a lot of trouble to put your purchase in these beautiful paper glossy bags. When you get home and take the product out, you’re left with it. A great way to re-use them is to pass it on to someone else, using it for their gift.

• Re-use gift wrap from xmas, birthdays etc. Clean the edges up with scissors and store away to use for someone else’s birthday or special occasion. I have a box at home which contains ribbons, gift wrap and bags that I’ve received over time from gifts etc that I re-use when special occasion pops up.

• Jam jars and the like are great to hold on to to hold pins, staples, buttons, any incidentals in the home that don’t have a spot. You can jazz them up a bit if they’re on display with cute wrapping paper, japanese paper or funky labels…you’re only limited by your imagination.

• Passing unwanted items that can be re-used onto someone else is another great way of re-using. Schools, churches, charity organisations and op-shops are all great avenues to re-using things, that you otherwise can’t or don’t have time for.

Remember if you can’t find the motivation or lack the inspiration, if for any other reason, reusing saves money, and stops valuable resources from being thrown away.

There’s a lot of energy and resources that go into making things, so why not get the most out of it by re-using.

Got some re-using tips to share?

NM

Okay, I’m the first to admit how much I hate News Years Resolutions. Everyone wants to lose weight, make more money, stop smoking…yada yada yada.

But I still in essence love the idea of starting the year fresh with some goals to achieve throughout the year.

So this year I thought I’d have a bit of fun with it.

My new years resolution is to go in every competition that comes my way, through media, print, raffles etc etc. Basically any competition that I hear about, I am to go in.

Pure and simply to prove that I NEVER win anything.

Now I have started this off already just to get into the swing of things and prep myself.

Competitions entered so far: approx 10 in the last 3 weeks

Won Result so far: 0

I’m gonna try and keep you posted on a monthly basis.

Let’s see how unlucky I really am.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

Got an interesting resolution to share?

NM

Unless you’ve been living on Mars, everyone is acutely aware of the massive hike in food prices lately. It’s almost impossible to get out of the supermarket without spending at least $150 on “necessary” items per week. And for a lot of us, it takes a chunk out of our weekly budget. With the increased prices many of us are now compromising the quality of what we buy and eat.

Essentially we need good food for optimal health and as we know the healthier the food, the more expensive it is and if you can’t afford “good” food as you’d like to, then you end up settling for the cheaper, less wholesome alternative.

But I really believe that with a bit of planning, smart thinking and commitment, we can still eat really well and reduce our food bill at the same time. So below I have outlined some tips that I use in my household to not only reduce the cost of food but still eat good healthy food.

One of the biggest reasons you will spend more money than you need to is poor planning and preparation.

• Plan the meals for the week
  • Set aside a quiet part of the day or evening with some cook books by your side, a shopping list and notepad and write down the meals you plan to have for the week. That way, when you go to the supermarket you only buy what you intend to eat and use for that week…Plus the other advantage of planning your meals is it saves you thinking of what to have for dinner at the end of the day because you have the list of meals up on your fridge.
• Only buy what you need for main meals and snacks and stick to it
  • It might seem like an obvious one but it’s much harder to do this than we realise. A lot of people go to the supermarket with a list and end up adding more than was there…again adding to your costs
• Alternate between Vegetarian and Meat meals
  • It’s taken a while for my hubby to adjust to not having meat every single night but he has. Quite simply, it’s way too expensive to have meat every night and I get a lot of enjoyment from experimenting with new meals without meat and my hubby’s a great guinea pig to experiment on also…that part he does like!
• Go for larger quantities or Bulk purchases
  • There’s a lot of strategy that goes into the way supermarkets line their shelves. Big companies like Coke pay BIG bucks to have their own position: the shelves generally at eye level…which is why you’ll quite often find the cheaper brands on the bottom or highest shelf…except for these new brands like “You’ll love Coles and Safeway’s own branding…cheaper brands but right in your face to run out the smaller businesses.
  • So look for what you want in larger quantities, more often a lot cheaper than the smaller more convenient quantities…REMEMBER THAT YOU PAY FOR CONVENIENCE!!!!!!!!!!!
    
• Buy staple items in bulk when they’re cheap
  • If you have staple items you use on weekly basis and you see them for a great price, then grab heaps of them.
• Shop around
  • Yes it’s easier to do all your shopping in the one place, but is it cheaper?…Er not necessarily. Now it depends how you do this, as to whether it’s economical. If shopping around ends up costing you more in fuel and time then maybe shopping in the one spot is your best option. But if you’re fortunate enough to have a few choices within walking distance than this tip will work well for you. Ideally let your legs do the walking rather than your car…great exercise too!
  • In my area, I’m lucky enough to have a fruit and vege only shop, which has ultra cheap produce and across the road from that is an Aldi, and then just down from that is a butcher and IGA. So within a 300 metre radius I can get all my shopping done and slash a considerable amount off my grocery bill.
• Don’t buy crap
  • We all like our treats…yes sweet tooth here! But come on! It’s not cheap, it’s unnecessary and for most of us it adds a lot of unnecessary fat to our bodies, that I’d rather not have to burn off. Spoil yourself with a tub of ice-cream for a couple of weeks or 1 bottle of soft drink for the week. Set a limit of stuff like that to buy.

I’ll add more as I can think, but that’s a great start!

NM

A pet hate of mine and something I cannot understand are people who leave trolleys in parking bays and will even walk to the nearest island and dump their trolley, rather than walk the extra couple of metres to put it in the trolley bay!

I wanna know in the back of their minds who they think is responsible for the trolley? They get the trolley out to use, to pack and to wheel to their car, but as soon as they finish with it at THEIR CAR, that’s it! Just dump it there or close to and drive away, without so much as a thought about what happens to it after they leave. But yet, it is these same people that would be the first to complain if a trolley should hit their precious car!

Are these same people aware that when those trolleys wander off or get damaged that WE the consumers pay for it…that their bone laziness is actually costing them and us.

I mean if a child gets something out, who do we expect to put it away? THE CHILD. Yet a person gets a trolley out and doesn’t have any responsibility to put it away. It is just pure laziness…no question about it.

To me, there is absolutely no excuse or reason that justifies not putting your trolley away. It takes all of 1 min to put it away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you have a pet hate?

NM

It’s no secret that we are a society obsessed with “stuff”. We consume far more than our parents ever did and they more than their own and so on and so forth. Consequently more stuff, means more manufacturing, production and obviously more waste. How many of us think about where all this waste ends up when we throw it in the bin? Yes, it’s true, recycling has now become a way of life, particularly in my generation and the next generation after me. But just because something is recyclable doesn’t mean that it needed to be produced in the first place and that one cancels out the other.

My idea of reducing, is simply that! Reduce what we use in the first place. So here are some tips I use in my day to day routines of reducing what I use.

My general tips for reducing waste, materials, etc

• Buying food in bulk quantities or larger quantities - not only saves you money but it also reduces the need to buy more frequently, thus minimising the recycle bin waste - ie jars, packaging etc

• use a container instead of glad wrap to pack your lunch

• buy a good water bottle and re-fill, rather than buying a drink each time

• use enviro bags whenever you go out shopping, for food clothing etc

• turn scrap bits of paper into notebooks…staple used envelopes together and it becomes a lil jotter by the phone
• I must say a pet hate of mine is using plastic bags to hold your produce. WHY! They get taken out of the bags and put in fruit bowls and vegetable section of your fridge…it is such a waste…just grab what you need and toss in the trolley.. Go home and put away.TRY IT!
• Timely Xmas tip..REDUCE the amount of wrapping paper you buy. Keep wrapping paper, cut off the damaged edges and re-use for next year…why are we buying new rolls every year? Not only is is a huge waste of money but it’s a waste of resources just to toss it in the bin.
• Reduce buying storage containers by using containers that held existing things.

My tips for reducing water in the household:

• Reduce amount of water at shower time by using a timer or if you enjoy listening to music whilst in the shower…limit your shower to the length of one song…and no not a long song like American Pie or Stairway to Heaven

• Reducing number of wash loads per week, especially with kids, may seem an impossible task. With 2 children you can fill a washing machine in no time, but if the clothes are clean, there’s just no need to throw it in the machine after one wear. You can save at least 1 load of washing per week. Saving 1 wash per week, will reduce your powder, softner and electricity usage as well as countless litres of water.

Some people may argue that it’s too much effort..but it’s not! If you are conscious of your waste consumption and you care about the effects of where your waster ends up, it becomes a very easy part of your lifestyle to adopt.

More tips to come….but if you have any fab ideas that you use to Reduce, let us know, I’d love to hear about it.

NM