General – Making ends meet

Welcome to the “New Normal”

As you no doubt will have noticed, I have not posted anything in the longest time. The two years or so have been a time of great change and upheaval for myself and the whole world in general.

I, like many other people have been struggling to cope with uncertainty, new pressures, and the general increase of existing pressures.

Many people have lost their income, their home, and their lives too. It’s been a scary time for all of us.

Hope has faded into non-existence for myself and uncountable others. It’s hard to get up in the morning with any sense of hope for the future, when tomorrow may bring new changes and terrors with it.

Life has certainly not gone on as usual, for all of us.

The question is – where do we go from here? Do we just give up, crawl into a corner and quit? Or do we find a new way of doing things, a new future, new possibilities?

I prefer the latter, even though I don’t feel very hopeful or optimistic. I am depressed, tired and anxious, and hope is something I don’t even feel a spark of anymore.

The vast majority of us are definitely feeling the pinch – food prices have rocketed, fuel prices are ludicrous, rolling outages are upon us, and in general the whole world seems to be filled with despair.

So where to from here? I believe the answer lies in the problem. Just as we had to adapt to a new “normal”, we need to adapt to a new normal in the way we do every day things. Look at the situation you find yourself in, and see if there is any way to get a positive out. For example, I have been trying to sell kombucha scobies for the longest time, but no luck. All of a sudden, my sales have increased – I have actually managed to keep us going with the income from the cakes, edible prints and scobies.

There was my positive – people started seeing that they needed to make lifestyle changes and are more concerned with boosting their immune systems and living healthier lives.

Never let anyone tell you something won’t work – it may very well not, but there is always the possibility it will. You won’t know until you try.

I was told my cake business wouldn’t work, and it’s been going for over ten years. That business has meant long hours, hard work and sometimes a lot of frustration, but it has helped keep a roof over our heads all this while.

I made the mistake of listening to people, and several ideas I had have been tossed due to that, but I firmly intend to try them now. I am tired of living this way – never having enough money to do the things that need to be done, not being able to buy proper food and constantly feeling stressed and tense. So, I will try my wacky, unrealistic screwball ideas. They may work, and they may not, but at least I will know either way!

Do you have a screwball idea that you feel may work? Feel free to let me know what it is, and if you have tried it. Has it worked? Or do you need to go back to the drawing board? I’d love to hear from you!

How to make aloe Vera gel

This is really easy, and a cheap way to ensure that you always have some gel on hand. It works great for burns, skin irritations, and sun burn. I actually use it in my home made moisturiser, and I also make a charcoal mask with it.

What you need:

Cut a piece of aloe off your plant, off the bottom leaves, as these have more gel in than the newer leaves. Cut the tip off, and the spiny sides. Leave your aloe to soak in clean water for a minimum of an hour, or preferably overnight. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT – DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! Aloe contains latex (the yellow sap that turns black), and it can cause allergic reactions. Don’t ask how I know!

Once your soaking is complete, cut the tough outer skin off (a potato peeler works great for this). Put the aloe chunks in your blender or food processor, or use a stick blender to blend the aloe until it is smooth. You will see that it becomes foamy, and kind of slimy:). Place it in the fridge and let it settle a little; once it becomes liquid, pour into a clean glass jar and store in the refrigerator for around ten days.

There are several ways you can use the aloe gel you made – tomorrow I will share a post on how to make an activated charcoal mask with aloe gel.

simple ways to start saving money – today

What do you do to save money? There is usually one or two things that we simply cannot live without (or it would have to be pried from our cold, dead hands!), but on the flip side, there are many things we can really live without (even if you think you can’t!). The ideas below are simple, stupid things that you can start doing today, which don’t really require much sacrifice. The money you save won’t make you a millionaire, but every cent helps.

Some of the simple things we do to save money in our household are:

Plan your weekly menu around what’s on special at the supermarket – check the flyers that come with your local newspaper. They usually have pamphlets for the local supermarkets. Check what’s really cheap this week, and then plan next week’s menu around that.
Cook in bulk if possible – if you are making macaroni and cheese, make double the amount. Freeze it in a freezer safe/ oven safe dish. Trust me, some night when you are really rushed or just not in the mood to cook, it will come in handy. I normally make double the amount with mac and cheese and soups, as these freeze really well.
Join a loyalty program. Clicks, Dischem, and Pick ‘n Pay are only some of the available ones. I normally shop at Pick ‘n Pay, as I don’t really have many other options in terms of proximity, but the Smart Shopper program has really saved my butt many a time when I was broke and needed to get bread or something. I converted my points to cash and used that. It makes sense to get something back for what you need to purchase anyway, and it’s free to join.
I don’t use an electric stove to cook at ALL! I don’t even own one. I do most of my cooking on my gas two plate – it costs just over two hundred rand to fill the gas, and a 9 kg bottle lasts around three months. I have a one plate induction cooker that I also use, and most of my other dishes are cooked in my pressure cooker.
All the light bulbs in our home are LED or energy savers. We put LED strips up outside for security, and in the kitchen, bathroom and two of the bedrooms. These are connected in such a way that when the power goes out (frequently!!!), we can connect to a car battery and are therefore not left in the dark. This saves us money and aggravation.
Make it yourself – many of the things we buy can be made at home. I no longer buy tomato sauce, Worcester sauce, soy sauce, dishwasher powder and several other things. I instead make it myself. It tastes better, takes a lot less time than you would think, and there are no funky preservatives in there.
Buy bulk when you can, but check prices first. Check the per unit cost – for example cheese – this is sold by kilogram. The cost per kilogram indicates the real price of the item, not the weight price of the item. If a package of cheese is marked R 55, but it is R 200 per kilogram, another cheese may be marked R 80, but is actually R 90 per kilogram, so it is better value. IT DOES NOT ALWAYS WORK OUT CHEAPER TO BUY BULK. Please remember that!
Fresh vegetable are usually cheaper than frozen, but not always. Buy fresh when you can, and freeze it yourself. It really doesn’t take that much effort to do.
Don’t waste the vegetable peels – use it to make stock or broth.
I don’t throw out soap bits. I save them and make rebatch soap.

The above are just some of the things we do to try to keep living costs down. There are many other ways to do so. Just have a look around your home today. Where are you wasting? How can you cut back? I gave the above examples because they can be instituted now, no special tools or waiting time needed.

Don’t waste the “scraps”

I am kind of shocked on garbage day, when I see how much garbage everyone throws out. They have full wheelie bins, sometimes two, and our wheelie bin isn’t even a quarter full. That’s because very little in our house gets thrown out.

We recycle plastic, paper and glass, and most of our “scraps” get used up. Even egg shells don’t get thrown away – it ends up in the garden.

The plastic and paper help out a lot, because we sell it to the recycling companies, so it brings in a little extra cash AND we get to help save the planet – win-win!

Before you throw out food scraps, be aware that most of the time, you can actually use it again and save yourself some money at the same time.

Orange peels: they are great for your garden, but you can use it for more than that! I made candied orange peels on Sunday, which are delicious and (kinda!) healthy, and we always have dried orange peel on hand. This is great, because (on Sunday), we made desert, which was orange and brandy flavoured malva pudding. Delicious:). I used the water from the candied peels, grated some zest in, and added brandy essence. I also used some of the dried peel for flavour.

Dried orange peel can be used to make orange oil, orange sugar, orange sugar scrub, and also to make a general cleaning product.

Potato peels can be used as compost. It can also be used to make potato peel chips. You can also freeze them as is, to use in stock or bone broth. You can make a frugal and healthy soup – potato peel soup. You can also use carrot and other peels to make vegetable peel chips.

Bones – chicken or other, can be frozen and saved to make bone broth or stock. I actually prefer to make bone broth, as it is more nutritious, but I only do that when I really need and have a lot of bones (or chicken carcases) and peelings, as it takes very long to make (trying to save electricity!).

Extra herbs (ideally grown in your garden) can be used to make herb salt or herb oil, or even herb vinegar.

Don’t throw away the stale bread – use it to make breadcrumbs for breading chicken, or au gratin meals. Or make croutons from them…

Vegetable peels, carrot and onion tops – freeze them in a bag, for the next time you make stock or bone broth.

Apple cores and peels – use the seeds to grow an apple tree, the way I did, or make your own apple cider vinegar from them. You can make apple tea, apple juice or apple cider. You can make infused water, or apple syrup…

Avocado pips – grow your own tree, or let them dry and grind them up. Use for exfoliation and apparently, you can consume them in smoothies as well… I believe it is very beneficial.

Pineapple skins and tops – grow your own pineapple plant. The skins can be used to make sun tea (water left in a closed jar with some sort of flavourant in the sun for several hours), tepache, potpourri, or just throw the peels in the juicer and get the wasted juice out of the peel.

Tomato – when peeling tomato, don’t throw the skin out. Let it dry, and add to your herb salt when making, it gives it a nice flavour. If you just cut the tops off, throw it in your broth bag (the bag you are collecting peels in for bone broth). If you have a lot of tomatoes about to go bad, rather throw them in the processor and freeze the tomato in ice cubes, so when you need tomato for a meal, you have some frozen. Or make a tomato relish and freeze it, ready for the next braai.

OTHER HOUSEHOLD GARBAGE REPURPOSED:

I don’t throw out Styrofoam containers from meat, I wash it and cut it up to add “feet” to my cake boards.

Glass jars are re-used for Kefir, or beetroot salad or pickles. I used a lot of my glass jars to re-do my pantry – I spray painted the lids, and gave each jar a nice label, and I store herbs and spices, etc in them.

I love the Worcester sauce bottles, they are fantastic for herb oil, herb vinegar or even salad dressing. Soy sauce bottles work well for that tooJ

Please don’t misunderstand me – I am not a hoarder! I don’t need a shovel to dig my way out to the front door, but there are tons of ways to re-use or recycle whatever we would normally throw away. I encourage you to explore this, as throwing away is not only wasteful, it is also bad for the planet. Before you toss the next thing in the trash, think about what you are doing – are you wasting something that could be re-used in order to save yourself some money, and also creating a lower impact on the environment?

Week menu

Okay, as promised last week, I have put together a menu for a week. Please bear in mind that this is what my family ate, you are free to change it however you wish, if your family doesn’t eat the meals or ingredients listed.

I have a very fast and loose approach to cooking and recipes in particular. I have this crazy idea that a recipe is nothing more than a suggestion, and I take that as licence to change things up as I pleaseJ

Seriously though, it is really only a guideline, and one can always change ingredients to suit what you have on hand.

Monday: French toast -recipe here

Tuesday: Pea soup

Wednesday: roast chicken, rice, gravy, potatoes, veg.

Thursday: Boerewors rolls

Friday: Chicken Alfredo – recipe here

Saturday: Chips, wors and eggs

Sunday: Thai chicken curry soup – recipe here

This week boerewors was on special at Pick n Pay, so I bought a packet that had 12 pieces in. I used 6 with the rolls on Thursday, and three on Saturday with the chips. Total cost on two meals, with wors left over for another meal and rolls left over for lunch for school and work the next day: R 100.

The French toast was made with 8 eggs and an entire loaf of bread, with left over for lunch for school and work the next day: total cost: R 18.27 (eggs were purchased on special for R34.99 for 30, and I bought the Pick n Pay brand bread, R 8.99)

Chicken was on special at Pick n Pay for R 32.99 per kg, I bought a two-pack of chicken and only used one last week. Three meals were made out of the chicken. I roasted it, we each had a piece of chicken, then I stripped the meat off the breast for the Alfredo. I then made chicken stock with the remainder, and used the leftover meat in the chicken curry soup. Total cost for three meals therefore under R 50 for three people.

The pea soup had been previously made, and the balance that had been left over had been frozen. I used two pieces of pork that I had bought from a bulk pack that wasn’t really suitable for frying as is, and made soup out of it. I would estimate that it cost around R 30 to make the soup, and it made two meals.

Total cost of meals for week: R 198.27. Let’s be generous, and add another fifty bucks to cover the veg and rice etc., although those were previously bought. R 250 for a week for three people isn’t too bad. We didn’t starve, and no beans or toast came into the mix at all:)

Kefir: healthful and cheap!

Okay, so now some of you are scratching your heads and thinking “what the heck is kefir?” Am I right?

Kefir is a fermented drink or product if you prefer, which is made from adding grains to milk or water, to produce a healthy drink (mostly, but it can be used for other things!)

Two types of kefir are available: water kefir, which is added to a water and sugar mixture and left to ferment, and milk kefir, which is added to milk or some variation of milk and left to ferment.

Before you start eye-rolling, this is not going to be a long lecture about the benefits etc. I don’t want to bore you to death. All I want to do is introduce you to the idea of kefir and why you should at least consider drinking it, and what it has meant to me.

Okay, so as a result of our tight budget, we don’t always have the healthiest meals (vegetables and fruit are a luxury!), and as a result of long term stress, I have noticed some unpleasant changes in my general health and well-being. If, like me, you get up in the morning wondering where the heck your hangover came from when you didn’t have a drop of alcohol, then you know what I mean. That tired, drag-ass feeling, like you didn’t sleep a wink, the bone-deep ache, the head-ache that is a constant “friend”….

Yup, it sucks! It could be a consequence of aging, but I am inclined to believe it is a consequence of life-style.

So, in my general nuttiness, I have been exploring ways to feel better! I have been trying to go more natural in my approach to everything, from cosmetics, to health care. One of the ways I discovered was kefir.

I use milk kefir, because I haven’t been able to get hold of water kefir at a price I was willing to pay (me being ~~stingy~~ thrifty again!) All I do is use one of my ever-present glass jars, throw in a tablespoon of milk kefir grains, top up with milk, and let it stand on the counter overnight. I have found that in summer, overnight is generally long enough to my taste, but in winter, 24 hours is required. I then strain out the grains, throw it into a clean glass jar, and repeat.

Best of all, you only need to pay for the grains ONCE! Yay! If you take good care of them, they will multiply, and you will have extras to give to friends and family – spread the goodness around:)

Since I started drinking the kefir, I have found that I have more energy, I feel better and my IBS is better, and of course, my ulcers don’t hurt (and bleed!) any more.

Kefir is rich in vitamins and minerals, and pro-biotics, which makes it something you should really consider adding to your diet. (It has more probiotics in than yoghurt!). I know people also use coconut milk, rice milk and almond milk as variations on the dairy alternative for those poor souls who are lactose intolerant.

I use the kefir to make smoothies for my daughter who does not want to eat breakfast – sometimes I add fruit, such as bananas, this morning I added some honey, cocoa and a half spoon of coffee and called it a mocha chino – the name pleased her, the taste pleased her, and I scored because I managed to stuff SOME nutrition in her without her knowing. Personally, I drink it plain, because I don’t do sugar, not even in my coffee, so it tastes like plain drinking yoghurt, which I love. I have even strained the kefir to make kefir cheese, which I have used to make dips, and also put on baked potatoes, which tastes awesome, especially with some basil and garlic in it.

Okay, lecture over! My point is, it is fairly cheap to make, versatile, and nutritious. You should really consider adding it to your diet, especially given that it is really easy to make.

If you need some help getting your hands on some grains, do let me know, and I will do my best to assist you.

P.S for those of you who read my blog about saving money on groceries, I am working on a meal plan for a week that should help save some bucks and give you ideas on what to include in your own meal plan. Hopefully, I will post it next week sometime:)

How to save money on groceries

Personally, I find grocery shopping, in fact, any kind of shopping, terminally depressing. I keep looking at other people going past, their trollies piled high with groceries, and I wonder how they do it. I certainly cannot afford to buy trollies full of groceries, but there are some ways to avoid eating beans on toast every night

First rule – this seems so simple, and applies to any kind of shopping – eat before you leave home! If you are hungry, you will spend unnecessary money on buying lunch (take-away isn’t cheap), and you will be tempted to put all sorts of unnecessary things in your trolley.
This may sound strange, but I have found it to be a huge help – do up a menu for the month. This helps you determine exactly what you need to buy, so you don’t buy extra things you don’t need. Plan each meal so that there is some variety, but go for the cheaper meals. Cheaper doesn’t have to mean gross – stir fried chicken for four people means you would need two chicken breasts, whereas you would need four if you had fried chicken.
Don’t buy monthly – one of the best ways to shop if you are on a very tight budget is to wait until Thursday, when most stores start their weekend specials. I bought a bulk pork pack at Pick n Pay for R 39.99 per kilogram, whereas it is a lot more expensive during the week. Obviously, you would not be able to do this with everything, if you need dishwashing liquid, you cannot wait to wash dishes until the weekend!
Stop buying pre-packed frozen veg – it is usually cheaper to either buy fresh or freeze it yourself, or at least buy in bulk. Honestly, it isn’t really all that much work to freeze the vegetables yourself, but if you really don’t want to, rather look at buying in bulk. You could go to stores like Makro, which offers catering quantities of frozen vegetables.
For those of you just starting to shop – don’t be fooled by lower cost on a smaller package of an item. Look for the cost per weight / unit / volume. A good example of this is cheese – it is sold by weight, so a R 20 block of cheese is not necessarily good value. You would then look at the label which shows cost per kilogram. There is the real cost of the cheese – some cheeses, like goat’s cheese is over R 300 per kilogram, while Cheddar and Gouda is often on special on weekends at supermarkets at around R 59.99 per kilogram (normal price is usually between R 94.99 – R 119 per kilogram, depending on the brand).
We as South African’s have a “meat mentality” – we feel that our meals have to include meat. My husband looks at his plate if there is no meat on it, and wonders aloud where the dinner is! Chicken and Pork are much healthier options, and a lot cheaper too! Fish is also great, but here I have to caution – the boxed, crumbed fish is definitely not cheap, and actually can cost MORE than beef! Rather buy the hake from the fish department, and you can always batter fry it yourself. By all means, buy beef, but check for specials first, and rather buy cheaper cuts of meat. This used to be brisket, but that is very pricey these days and actually can be more expensive than tenderised steak! I normally check the price (on weekends, naturally!) before I decide what meat I am going to buy. Honestly, I usually by-pass the beef in favour of pork anyway.
Don’t be afraid to “bulk up” your meals. If you are making stew, you could bulk it up with beans, lentils or potatoes, thus using less meat in the actual stew. And it is actually healthier for you! BonusJ
In winter, serve soup often, as it can usually stretch to two meals, and doesn’t require a lot of ingredients. We normally have soup at least once a week in winter, and sometimes twice a week.

These are just a few ideas, but hopefully it helps:). Have a super week!

The Key to survival

Let’s face it – times are tough for most of us these days. Unemployment is high, companies have employees on short time, the price of everything has sky-rocketed, and if, like me, you have ever sat with your head in your hands wondering just how the heck you were going to get through the month AGAIN, trust me, you’re not alone.

Funny thing is – and I am sure you would be surprised to hear this, given the topic of my blog – the first thing I want to share with you is the key to surviving these tough times. Ready?

POSITIVE ATTITUDE.

This is the key to survival, and not losing your last marble. Doesn’t that just sound stupid? I bet you are sitting there, reading this and thinking something along the lines of ” It’s alright for you to say. You probably don’t have any money worries, your life is perfect. I have bills to pay, food to put on the table, with no idea of how I am going to do that”.

I wish! As I sit here writing, I am:

1) A year in arrears with my child’s school fees;

2) Two months in arrears with my car, life and home contents policy

3) Two months in arrears on my store card THAT I USE TO BUY GROCERIES!

With no way to pay! Let me tell you, I have done some serious panicking over the last two years, as I watched my financial situation worsen. We very rarely have much food in the house, as all the money goes on things like rates, electricity etc.

Okay, so now you know – my financial situation seriously sucks! Not all of you would have it so bad, and some of you may have it worse. My point in all of this is not to elicit pity, but to point out something very critical:

THIS TOO SHALL PASS!

The mistake we all make during times like these is to begin to believe that it is permanent, that things cannot change or will never change. This is just not true!

Think of the worst thing that has ever happened to you – at the time, you may have been very cut up about it, feeling that things would never get better, and yet, here you are, still alive and surviving, a testament to your own personal strength.

Now, the question is – does all the gloom and doom thoughts actually help you get through it? I don’t think so! I found that I was depressed and crying all the time, thinking how bad things are, and that I just didn’t know what to do. All I thought about was the negative in my life, and as I thought about it, it grew bigger and bigger, until it became the centre of my existence. And all the moping certainly did not help me figure out a solution, because I was focused on the problem. All I saw was obstacles in my path, with no way around them. Life sucked, and I wondered how I could commit suicide and get the life insurance to pay out – that was some of the darkest moments of my life, let me tell you.

CHANGE OF FOCUS

Then I read a inspirational book, and then some more, and a few more after that. I realised then that I had gained nothing by focusing on the suckiness of my life, and that I had nothing to lose by embracing a positive mental attitude. What I could gain was clarity of thought, and a heck of a lot more happiness than I have had in a long time.

Has my life actually financially improved? No, not yet, but I am working on it – I finally saw a way to dig my way out from under the dung-heap of my life. I am happier though, and more relaxed. Yes, I am still freaking out a little about all the bills due – I hate owing money and I hate paying late on anything, so yes, it bugs me ( a lot!). But not to the point where I need a paper bag to hyperventilate in anymore.

I am taking it one day at a time, trying to focus on what I have and all the good things in my life, like my family and friends, trusting that the rest will come in due course.

I am not saying that trusting in the positive is some magic pill – it is certainly not, and any one who tells you otherwise is either naive or a big fat liar. Thinking good thoughts won’t fix your life, but it certainly is a start. When you are not focused on what you don’t have and what’s wrong in your life, you begin to see a little clearer and maybe, just maybe, the answer that has eluded you all this time will show itself.

Let’s face it – when you’re feeling crappy about your life, you feel crappy about yourself. You feel like a loser, that there is nothing good about yourself and that maybe you deserve the general crappiness of everything. When you start focusing on the positive, you feel better about yourself, and begin to see that there are worthwhile qualities that you posses that you could use to get yourself out of your current situation.

YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST ASSET AND YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY!

Those are the words I would like to leave you with. Think about them honestly – which is true of you? Are you helping yourself, or getting in your own way?