This last Sunday, we started a $21 Challenge.  This week, our grocery spending will only be $21!

Yes, impossible of course!!

Except that it isn’t!  It only takes perseverance, ingenuity and a good mind-set!

On the Saturday, I asked the family what were their grocery essentials – so I could see what substitutions we already had in the cupboard – and so I could see what I would be spending $21 on this week.

Here was our list:

Item	Substitute?
Cereal, coffee and tea	Already have plenty, will just use up.
Eggs	Have 1 dozen = 2 each person for this week.  Cake subs = bicarb and vinegar
Milk	Have 3L UHT and plenty of powder.  Will prob buy 1 x 3L fresh.
Bread	Plenty of bread flour and yeast, will use.
Fruit	Have 20 pieces fresh, 3 lge tins = 5 days worth.  Subs = plenty dried fruit.
Butter	Have 2 x 500g.  Plenty.
Meat	Plenty.  Subs = dried beans.
Potatoes	4kg on hand – should be enough!  Subs = plenty rice and pasta
Garlic	2 whole heads.  Conserve.
Cheese	Have 500g block and 500g grated.  We eat a lot of cheese so will need to major conserve or buy.  Plenty of dried parmesan for cooking.
Yoghurt	300g left.  Have culture to make more, but not enough milk…will make/buy milk.

Hmm, looks like no-one nominated vegetables – LOL!  But they do need to be on the list so here was the situation:

Vegetables

Harvest: tomatoes, cue, carrots, onions, kale; Have half lettuce, 1.5 lge zucc; 3 sweet pots.  Will possibly buy some pumpkin and more lettuce.

So you could be thinking we are well prepared.  And we are – I buy in bulk wherever possible so we do have quite some supplies.  And that is half the point – to do a bit of a pantry inventory and realise you don’t need to mindlessly go shopping and buy the usual $200++ of food.

And, just for the record, my last food shopping day was Friday 13^th January.

But what will we eat from what we have?  Won’t it get boring??  I very much doubt it but let’s wait and see.  I will write it all down just for fun :-)!

Breakfast – yoghurt with fruit and nut, eggs on toast, cereal, coffee & tea (milk and sugar)

Morning tea – cake/cookie, salad, fruit, coffee, tea, baked scones and muffins

Lunch – Soup in a cup and toast, fried tomato and cheese on toast, salad

Snacks – fruit, nuts, cheese, crackers, pasta, corn chips,

Dinners –chicken kebabs, BBQ pots/sweet pots, zucc and beans; sticky date pudding and icecream;

-        lamb chops, carrots, zucc, kale - cooked in herby tomato soup, rice

-        sausages and mash, fried tomatoes, baked beans

-        pasta with cheesy, bacon and zucc sauce

-        lamb chops, potato salad and garden salad

Today, we are officially out of milk (fresh was finished on first day, UHT today), so we are buying 1 x 3L.  We are out of fresh fruit, but still have 1.5 tinned.  We are out of cheese, except for a tiny bit of grated.  We will eat salad tonight and that will use up the lettuce…so it is getting down to the wire in terms of variety of food – but there is still plenty to eat here!   Just got to convince the kids ;-)

And we have a birthday tomorrow, so it will be interesting to see what the birthday boy chooses for his celebration dinner!  And, yes, I will blow the budget for that.  Because no matter what, we have done very well and this has been a good lesson for us all to be more mindful consumers.

On the 12^th day of Christmas, I present to you a round-up of the ‘green’ of our Christmas Day.

I did this round-up last year, and I was feeling that perhaps I didn’t do as well this year (mostly because I was too late to order the Christmas Loo Paper from Who Gives a Crap L), but actually, I do think we did quite well.

Here is our Green Christmas List:
·        Real Christmas Tree again – purchased from the local Lion’s Club fundraiser of course, and will be composted.
·        Used cuttings of native shrubs from our block in our Christmas decorating
·        Re-used our perpetual “With love from your family” gift tags (will need to make another one, Pepper ate mine!)
·        Gifts wrapped in newspaper and prettied up with recycled ribbons
·        Recycled gift bags used – and packed away for next time
·        Recycled (= second-hand) gifts under the tree included my new camera, an electronic toy for our boy, a make-your-own plush toy for the youngest
·        Gave stainless steel lunch boxes as gifts to the children and each other; and stainless steel thermoses to the children
·        The vast majority of purchases were from local shops, and the two online ones, from ethical stores (Biome and Dachshund Rescue Australia)
·        Carried on our family tradition of choosing library books for each other instead of purchasing – we did very well I have to say, the kids have all been reading for days.
·        No Christmas crackers at meals – the food was what we were there for!
·        The candles and holders on our table were from the op shop, as were the 5 mini Christmas trees I added to the decorating.
·        I made Christmas stockings for us all this year, using only recycled fabric.
·        Santa again wrapped the family gift (a ‘spider web’ swing) in a blanket – he’s one clever dude that man!

Two of my best gifts this year were a bushwalking guide book and a new, wee camera. 

So I have been testing them out – the beauty out there is simply stunning and we have enjoyed the two wonderful walks we have been on so far. 

Just check out these amazing photos – most from my new point and click, a few from my Honey’s digital SLR (I did say to him I was a bit disappointed he took better photos than me (we took the same scenes a few times)…so I will just say it is the difference in the cameras – or it could be he is better than me…???!).

 

 

 

 

 

And our absolute favourite moment – watching a pod of dolphins surfing!  Weren’t we just blessed?!

 

(PS – all of these photos are as the cameras took them (except for some straightening of horizons where needed.  I didn’t need to do anything at all to those colours!).

 

 

 

 

 

I remember lastyear that I wrote we got a Christmas miracle in the form of visiting wild birds.   This year it is Christmas Cannas:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This plant is from my Aunty’s garden and she planted from her mum’s (my grandmother), so these two blooms are so very special to me – a Christmas miracle sent from heaven.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

And since it is within the 12 days of Christmas, I am not late with either greeting :-).

We do hope you enjoyed your celebrations as we did.  Our Christmas Day was full of joy and relaxation – and you can’t ask for more than that!

This year’s Christmas Tree:

 

Isn’t it lovely?!  It needed a bit of re-inforcing to hold its shape, but that is to be expected.

I made new Christmas stockings this year – using a hand crocheted lace tablecloth from my Grandmother’s house – they turned out just as I pictured them :-)

 

Oh, and you might notice an impending hearth upgrade…yep, a few more courses - just so the stockings can be hung at a good height – these things are important you know?!!

This year, we decided to focus on desserts ;-)!! 

They were superbly yum!!  (Made by the eldest, she is a fantastic cook!).  And of course, we would have saved you some…but…

In recompense, I leave you with a Christmas photo of our beautiful Pepper:

Wishing you all the best, from our family to yours!  XX

All I want for Christmas is….

To not pick up any more pavers!!!

Still, can’t complain about the price ;-) – more freebies - for paving up to and around the clothes line…one day…

And we picked them up just in time…Michael has a pretty big cut on his finger now courtesy of the electric sander, so he is out of action for a few days.  

I am very happy that I have always insisted on a full house clean before we put up the Christmas decorations. 

It might have taken a tad longer this year but it sure worked for me with everyone helping and doing such a good job!

Some rooms are still a work in progress of course…but there is red and green and sparkle out in the clean ones already J.

Very happy to have the Santas out and looking forward to choosing our tree soon.