Monday, May 4, 2015

This weeks insourcing #11....my value in the home...

 
I've been deliberately off-line for a few days, in order to have more 'doing' and less 'talking about doing'. This might sound odd, but sometimes in the enforced urgency of blogging, it seems that it's more important to post what you've done, than it is to actually do.
 
So I am proud that I had a really productive week last week. I shopped frugally and found lots of lovely inexpensive but good quality produce at the fruit market. I spent enough there to avail myself of their loyal customer offer, getting some lovely mandarins gifted with a smile.
 
From that produce I was able to make the equivalent of 10 bought containers of Eggplant and Roasted Pumpkin Baba Ghanoush (recipe on here tomorrow), 6 jars of lemon butter, 10 prepared and portioned ziplock bags of vegetables (celery, broccoli, zucchini, capsicum, beans), several trays of roasted tomato and roasted capsicum, roasted two trays of snake beans with chilli and salt..these are a delicious crunchy, salty, spicy snack, made ten snack bags with veges and chicken slivers, and crumbed some veal steaks with GF crumbs made from the crust ends of the loaves. This makes a small portion of meat really big and satisfying. I add grated parmesan to the crumbs for a nice robust flavour. This is where those little 'luxury' items like parmesan cheese, really make the meal. I'm mentally trying to calculate the retail version of all that, and I'm coming up with insane figures based upon the price of all that in the supermarket and deli. I'm going to say $5 each on the Baba Ghanoush (they're actually $7.50 in the posh deli and a smaller container!), the same on the lemon butter and ditto on the real price, portioned and prepped veges are $5 each all day every day, snacks and snack bags...well you can't buy them, but lets say $5 saving on things like sushi, chips and so on, parmesan crumbed veal sells for $32.99 a kg at my local butcher, so $20 there. So around $150 saved on similar bought items, and that's with the price of the ingredients subtracted.
 
I made and froze lentil and vegetable soup with all the endy bits of veg that were on the way out, and made peanut butter cookies with Teff flour I found in the pantry (a random GF purchase), sandwiching them with cinnamon icing. They were a success, but we all agreed we weren't that fond of the flavour of the Teff flour, so I'll have to find another way to use the rest of it up. It was expensive so I don't really want to just toss it. I recall buying it to make a pastry I found in a book, so perhaps I need to unearth that book!  Lentil soup is $8 for a 500ml sachet in the supermarket, and I made about 6 litres. So there's $96 worth there and GF treats are ridiculously expensive at around $4 per cookie, so $60 worth there. So again, subtract the price of the ingredients and I've created meals and treats valued at around $150, if I were to purchase them ready made.
 
I planted herb seedlings out, including basil, coriander, garlic chives and some shallot ends...the green things that is...they will of course grow from the end white bit with the roots dangling off it. The value there is around $15 a week. We love fresh herbs and add them to everything, so it's a substantial spend to buy them.
 
I started crocheting fringe for my version of a Moroccan Wedding Blanket, and starting stitching sequins to the bed cover I'm using for that project, which I've had for about thirty years! You can see Annabels crocheted version here. One the size I am embellishing costs anything up to $1500, so that's a biggie.
 
I also made lentil burgers one night, baking the GF bread rolls myself...scrummy....and baked four loaves of GF bread, which is so much nicer than the awful spongy stuff you buy. A saving on bought GF rolls of $9 and a huge saving of $28 on the bread. Subtract the price of the bread mix at $9, and I've still saved $28.
 
All up, I value my efforts at $1843 this week!
 
So a really good week for me, and the reason not much happened with my blog all week....lol!
 
Still...doing is better than writing about doing!
 
Please share your insourcing achievements. I love hearing about what everyone is up to!
 
...Mimi...

14 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, I'm exhausted just reading about everything you did last week! I haven't been that productive, well, probably never, LOL!

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  2. Lol Amy....it's spread over a week, so not all bad. You're always good for a giggle! Thanks for stopping by....Mimi xxx

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  3. My sweet friend, you are quite the busy bee! I had to giggle at Amy's comment :) I hope this week is extra beautiful for you. Love and hugs!

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    1. Stephanie, the busy bee has no time for sorrow as the saying goes. There is much in life between news in the media, and family happenings, that could bring sorrow to my little patch, but as another lovely saying my Mum quoted to us often goes ... 'busy hands make a light heart'. With a light heart, and busy hands, each day is a joy...Mimi xxx

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    1. Lol Laura! I wonder why 'busy' is a euphemism for 'worn out' these days? I don't find that to be the case at all! Mimi xxx

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  5. How awesome that you were able to calculate all your hard efforts throughout the week into dollar bills! What a great concept that is! I've never tried it, but maybe I should! Give yourself a big pat on the back for all that you accomplished, and I agree with your thought that doing is much better than talking about doing! So awesome to read of your inspiring frugality!

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    1. Thankyou! It's a habit I got in to when I first thought I'd be better off working outside of the home a few years ago. A few quick calculations cured me of that idea. It's fun and it does give you a sense of your worth in the home, that's for certain. Thanks for stopping by....Mimi xxx

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  6. A. MAZE. ING! I love these posts about having value in our homes. YOU INSPIRE ME!

    Hugs and happy highways,
    Kelley~

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  7. Doing IS better than writing! I made 10# of gf flour yesterday and will be preparing some mixes with it today. Also, have been making meals with our harvested food from the freezer this week so I consider that almost free food! Made 4 gallons of kombucha yesterday (I just know it is expensive to buy but don't know the exact amount) as our only "drink" besides water in the house right now. Well, being today is Wednesday, that is all I have to offer up right now. I love reading your lists! Thank you for sharing them on the Art of Home-Making Mondays. Also, I would love to have your lemon butter recipe and what you do with it. In the winter/autumn months, we gets bags and bags from our neighbors and I never tire of stocking up on lemon products when they come. The lemon butter sounds excellent!

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    1. Jes, Up here in Indiana - a 16-20 oz. bottle costs anywhere from $2.79 to $3 plus. You saved a bundle.

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  8. A woman who cooks from scratch in this day of prepared meals and snacks is priceless! Making use of special buys for future meals is genius, just think of all the times you won't have to work so hard.

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    1. Spot on Hannah. The idea of a smoother evening routine, and early morning lunch making, is what keeps me going, and the money saving aspect is an eye opener. It's soooo worth it! Mimi xxx

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  9. Wow, thank you for making me think what the extra time put into being careful with money goes towards saving. Came here thru Strangers and Pilgrims

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I love hearing from you! I always respond to comments, so don't be shy! Mimi xxx