Kids and the pressure to buy

I don't have much to write about today but as I read my favorite blogs this stands out and I urge you to read it, especially those of you with children.

I wish I was as insightful as Eileen, the author of the below post, but I didn't have the guts, the know how or insight..

http://simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com/2009/02/children-and-pressure-to-buy.html

Margaret

Expensive apples

The news reported that with Canadian unemployment rates increasing eating healthy is becoming very expensive and out of reach for many families.

A team of shoppers bought apples in different cities throughout Canada to compare prices and they found that in some cities five apples cost $7.00 while in other cities the same type of apples cost $2.50.

Eating healthy does not have to be expensive but in Canada it can be challenging. Canada is a big country and food has to travel long distances to get to a local grocery stores which increases the cost of food but even in Canada there are ways to reduce your grocery bill and still eat healthy.

1. Cook from scratch.
-someone is getting paid for processing the food that you are buying so you if you make it yourself you are in a way paying yourself.

2. Buy in bulk.
-packaging costs money so try to buy large quantities of food when items are on sale or you have some extra cash. But, remember..buy only what you use, if you buy something that you never eat, it's not really a good deal.

3. Eat locally grown food.
-This is hard I know, winter in Canada is not conducive to growing food year round. But, you can grow or buy larger amounts of fruit and vegetables when they are in season and freeze or can them for use in winter.

4. Shop the weekly grocery fliers
-make a list of the items you need from the grocery fliers and try to buy what's on sale. Keep in mind that gas costs money so it may not be worthwhile to shop at all the grocery stores that have sales if you have to drive great distances between each store.

5. Make vegetarian meals several times a week.
-Meat is expensive and you can save quite a bit of money by reducing the amount of meat you eat. Stir fries are a great way to do this, increase the amount of veggies and add some brown rice or whole wheat pasta and you have a healthy and inexpensive meal.

There are many ways to reduce your grocery bill, the internet is full of ideas. I read the Down to Earth blog daily. It's well written and full of ideas and how to’s on living simply and becoming more self sufficient.

Now on to something fun, Sew Mama Sew is hosting a "fat quarter swap" but hurry, it's over on Feb. 13th.

In the shop I added a hanky. I used the bone linen/cotton I thought was too dark for hankies but I’m pleased with the result.

Have a great day.

Margaret

Delicious

I cooked all the pasta because it was to brittle to store. The sauce is made with extra lean sirloin, tomatoes I grew and then froze and fresh parmigiano cheese. A little bit of heaven at my dinner table.

New in my Etsy store:

Pasta

For those of you who don't know I am Italian, born in Oderzo, Italy, immigrated to Canada with my parents and sisters in 1971 and Sunday was the first time I ever made pasta.

My mom gave me a pasta machine for my birthday last year but before she could show me how to make it I moved to Powell River so the machine has been sitting in it's box for a year.

The house I bought in Powell River was owned by an Italian widow. She and her family lived here for forty odd years and in that time Maria and her husband raised four kids. Needless to say I felt right at home the first time my husband and I toured the house. I've kept in touch with Maria and on Saturday she invited me over to make pasta. She made it look so easy that I had to try making it on Sunday.

I changed the recipe a little to make it a bit more healthy. I used a mix of whole wheat and white unbleached flour and a no yolk mix instead of whole eggs. The mixture was a bit too wet and the pasta too soft but it worked out OK. Next time I'll have to use less no yolk mix or add more flour but the dough will have to be quite a bit harder.

My original plan was to dry the pasta completely for future use but I don't think I'll do that again. I'll just make it and eat it the same day. The dry pasta is hard to store because it's not as hard as commercial pasta and the savings are not significant enough to warrant all the time it takes to make it, dry and store it.

Margaret

PJs are done - lessons learned

Although I DO need to loose weight I DON'T need 3 1/2 meters of material for one pair of pajama bottoms. That's right bottoms..no top and I used all the fabric, actually I had to patch some pieces. The PJs are huge..


Honestly what was I thinking!!!!


PS.. I placed the pajamas in such a way as to make them not look as big as they really are, the back is all scrunched up....

Got my frabric but...

I'm so disappointed. I just received the fabric I ordered online with which I was going to make handkerchiefs. It's a light linen/cotton blend fabric in a bone color. I was not expecting white but rather a light cream, turns out it's more of a taupe. Now what..

I'll have to put my creative thinking cap on because I have 4 yards to use. Maybe a tablecloth and napkins..

The fabric feels really lovely so maybe a garment of some sort??

Arrrggg!!

Margaret

We had a very productive weekend. Art replaced the plastic on the greenhouse and added a window to the ceiling which I can open for better ventilation on really hot summer days. We also picked some sea kelp which Art will rot till into the soil, not very much because it won't fully breakdown by the time I start my spring planting but we will add much more in the fall. A walk around the garden shows the clematis is starting to sprout some leaves, a tiny pansy flowered, but with the heavy rain today, it's probably squashed and many more spring bulbs have broken through, I just love this time of year.



I'm desperate for some pajamas so I bought some flannel and started sewing a pair yesterday, the material is quite bright but at 4.00 a meter it was a good buy and I purchased some embroidery thread to add to my existing stash. A quick stop at the second hand store garnered two embroidery rings .25 cents each, that's a super bargain.