There's no doubt that one of the biggest regular expenses in the kitchen is food. It's also the case that we throw away a criminal amount of food between us. In the UK it is estimated that 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink is thrown away every year and the majority of this could have been eaten. Often people either don't use everything that they've bought, or they cook more than they need and the leftovers end up in the bin. The best way to minimise food waste is to reduce the amount you buy in the first place and planning what you are going to eat can help with this hugely. ... read more
Magpie Monday – Lego Airport
I've been meaning to join in with Magpie Monday for ages and just never got round to it, or just though that my finds would not be of interest to others. Last week's charity shop booty was a bit special though. Lego. We all love it. Or if you don't then you much be a bit mad in my opinion. The only thing is that charity shops generally know that we all love it and hence the prices are often quite astronomical, especially if you find a boxed set that can be considered vintage or a complete set. In out local hospice shop last week I spotted a typical pile of plastic bags full ... read more
Featured Post: Reviewing the household finances
There's not a day goes by at the moment without a story somewhere in the media about the current economic situation and its impact on families across the country. The recent benefits changes have highlighted this once again. All of us are feeling the pinch right now and one of the first tips when you're looking to save money is to check all your monthly expenditure to see where you can save money. It's common practice to consider changing your utility suppliers to save money but I'm not sure quite as many consider whether or not to switch bank accounts to a better ... read more
Visiting the animals
I'm always on the look out for new places to take Little Miss C - especially ones that don't cost much. I worry that there's a lot of pressure on parents to pay to take their children to loads of expensive attractions but that need not be the case. On Friday morning we went along to one of our favourite free attractions - the local garden centre's pet department! We're lucky enough to have a short drive away a garden centre that sells chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, budgies and reptiles, as well as a selection of fish. It obviously costs nothing to visit the ... read more
Leftovers Lunch
In my eyes a good experimental recipe is one that gets eaten so quickly that you don't have chance to photograph it for a blog post first. That's exactly what happened to the lovely lunch that Mr C made us all earlier today. One thing that I am awful at is keeping food leftovers and then doing nothing at all with them. There is far too much food waste in this house and if I'm honest I'm to blame for most of it. There are some dinners (mainly pasta dishes) where I plan carefully and ensure that we have enough left over for LMC and I to have it for lunch the next day too. Where ... read more
A toilet roll tube and a bit of imagination
That's all you need to have a bit of fun. First thing this morning this was Little Miss C's trumpet. Yesterday two of them sellotaped together became a pair of binoculars. I'm fascinated to see what a toilet roll tube will become tomorrow! ... read more
How to have a baby without it costing the earth
It seems I'm now the mum of a toddler. How did that happen? Fourteen months have passed by in a flash and I'm suddenly realising that there's a whole batch of new mums coming along behind me that I can share some of my experiences with, so that's exactly what I want to use this blog post to do. The press is full of articles about just how much it costs to raise a child here in the UK and it is true that compared to life before children our house now contains much more than it used to, but it is not necessary to buy everything on the lists that baby shops produce and there are ... read more
The chair that so nearly wasn’t
The first rule of shopping in second hand shops is that if you see something you like then buy it straight away as it probably won't be there when you return. I broke that rule yesterday and I so nearly paid for it today. As I left a charity shop with a friend yesterday I spotted a lovely looking chair in the window. Comments were made about how nice it looked and what a fair price it was being sold for. Ideas were exchanged about how you could put new fabric on the seat and back and then with a pushchair already covered in bags and containing a tired Little Miss C we went our separate ... read more
It costs how much?
Sorry - I don't usually have a rant on here, but I'm afraid today I'm so stunned by something that I'm going to do just that. I'm quite a recent convert to Ecover products, but so far I have been pretty impressed with them all. The laundry detergent gets things clean and leaves a lovely fresh smell on our clothes, the delicates washing liquid isn't harsh on the hands when hand-washing wool, the washing up liquid is equally hand-friendly and the stain remover has been brilliant at removing even some of Little Miss C's worst stains. It therefore seemed ... read more