Take a stroll

In our busy life it can be easy to forget to stop and notice the amazing beauty of the world around us, to refresh yourself take a detour and stroll through a park. I did it yesterday and it was like a massage for my soul.

coinsideence?

I am preparing a post on easy, inexpensive (free) home improvements when I came to a halt and sought an extra edge of inspiration, I done a quick search on 'cheap home ideas' to see if I had a new slant on some traditional fixes and look the first thing I found! Weird or what..?! 

Natures gift

Gardens are abloom.. bringing some of the outdoors inside can really freshen up a room.. these little babies adorning my home right now smell so sweet!

Simply delighted

MrA sent me a link to this today which describes alot what we have been talking about lately. Having a handsize home and thinking of what 'more' you would like, it can be easy to take for granted the great advantages of keeping things simple. Oh and I found a picture from one of picnics last year.. happy days.

eating out

We love eating out as a treat at the weekend.. right now tho we are enjoying eating out more reguarly and inexpensively thanks to the great weather!

Supermarket money saving tip

Eat what's in season! Its going to cost less than what has been shipped halfway across the world isn't it? Check out the link here for uk and canada and USA listings of current seasonal fruit and veg.

trEATS

I made some little peanut-butter easter eggs to take to easter lunch get-to-gether.. that I found on allrecipes. I'm a little excited to try these in other shapes now :)

All you need is:

• 1 cup Peanut butter
• 1 (16 ounce) bag confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
  
• 8 ounces Chocolate for covering
  
• decorations- icing sugar/cocoa etc

= aprox 30 lovely teaspoon size eggies

I was in bit of a hurry toward the end so the idea of 'neat' went out the window. I was quite impressed though with how they turned out in their rustic chocolatey handmade way.. as were our host's who thought I'd bought them- just I know better next time not to use peanut butter, not everyone is a fan!

a wii saving

I have been toying with the thought of getting a gym membership again but instead we got a wii fit! Our own personal trainer.. BMI, weight regulator in one- saves us buying new scales too (ours died months back) all for the price off one qaurterly gym pass.. and if you ask us- more fun too, so far we've been on it most nights and have both had weight decrease :)

Pancakes

Pancake day reminded me of one of my favorite childhood treats. Pancakes are inexpensive, tasty, versatile and easy to make.

yum yum yum

turn it off (or down)

I don't have an automatic setting for turning the heating in our apartment down and just the other day I realised I was a little too warm for comfort and that the heating had been on full blast still even though the snow has cleared up from two weeks ago.. have you turned your heating down? It could surprize you what you sometimes pay for without realising and the money you can save by turning the heating down a notch in the year. Which bring's me to something else that I realised I was wasting money through this winter- lack of effective draught excluders fitted in my home. Our heat was going out the window, under the front door.. through the letterbox! etc

So I made these babies to line the bottom of the two main doors of our house, and there was an instant definite improvement, I considered also inserting a rolled up towel or blanket in the letter box (that could easily be reinserted and pushed through when post come).. untill ofcourse I get the place done properly..

Dragon Soup

Besides cutting out preservitives and other unwanted ingredients you can save money by making home made. I was in the mood for a tasty soup today and my broccoli was calling.. I made a favorite introduced to me by an old friend she aptly calls 'Dragon Soup'..


The ingredient's are along the lines of;

• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 medium size Onions
• 4 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 head of Broccoli
• 2 Chicken stock cubes
• 4 pints water

saute onions and garlic in butter untill soft, chop broccoli and add to pot followed by water and stock. Blend mix when Broccoli is cooked.

Add salt, pepper, parmisan to taste. Enjoy with whole grain or home baked bread.