Some Interesting Internet Reads

Here's a few things on the internet that might interest you.

I loved reading this story about how this family spends their money and sets their goals.  This series on how we spend money is other people sharing their budgets/expenses and living on Notes from the Frugal Trenches blog.

A new to me blog called Frugalwoods has an amazing story of a young couple who are dedicated to their goals and plans and save an amazing 70% of their income.  I read a lot of their stories and I love that they plan for themselves and live their own life.  They have now bought their dream property in Vermont and rented out their original home.  I'm sure you'll pick up a few tips reading their blog.

Wendy from My Abundant Life was on A Current Affair back in June 2014 when I wrote about it here.  She was on A Current Affair again tonight talking about home brand foods.  I do agree with home brand foods my only thoughts about it is it's the major supermarkets that are the winners in the profits but I know home brands are necessary as aside from people's mortgage payments food appears to be high on the list of monthly expenses.  Wendy writes about "bulk cooking" here.

I bought Lisa's book 100 Days of Real Food a while back and read it from cover to cover....this week I have picked it up again to read it from cover to cover again.  Her website is here.  I can't stress how much information is in this book about food labels about the misconception of grains etc. her website has a video tours of her pantry, fridge and freezer....you might think that sounds boring but I learnt a lot from watching all three particularly her freezer.  Her husbands family grew up with a cow, organic veggies and op shops so knew about real food.  She knew about (like most of us) healthy food, low fat etc. but when she looked into it she learnt a lot and wanted to share her information with people so they didn't have to start from scratch.  I highly recommend you buy this book or get if from the library.  The book has recipes and how to start in all areas of making changes.  They originally took a pledge to eat real food for 100 days but felt so much better, had more tasty food that they kept going. 

If you are looking for a financial year diary which is task based and to do list based Elise designed and created the "Get to Work Book".  I've been reading her blog for many years and her energy in achieving goals and getting things done is very inspiring.  She does do a calendar year diary as well but right now the financial year one is for sale.

Last week I participated in a photographic project called "Week in the Life" by US Memory Keeper Ali Edwards where you photograph your life for a 7 day period so sort of like a time capsule of your life at this moment.  That means the messy lounge room, the piles of washing, going grocery shopping, cooking dinner, putting the washing on the line, driving the kids to school.  Just imagine if you could look through a photo book of a 7 day period in your life when you were 10.  The car your family drove, the type of TV, breakfast cereals you etc. etc.  We have done this project for the past 7 years and I'm a little behind in getting these photos into photo books however I fully participate in the same week Ali does and lots of people around the world do as well.  This is my cover from my 2014 book which I just finished last month and got printed.

This weekend I'm making some homemade yoghurt for the kids using this recipe.

Baked Herb Potatoes from Andrea Decker look very tasty.  Andrea is an organized Mum to 3 little ones and I've been following her blog since before she had her first baby.

Reading this post from Jodi at Practising Simplicity it made me feel warm and fuzzy about quilts.  I was a quilter many years ago and having a hand made heirloom sounds really nice.  I did make the kids a quilt each a couple of years ago (oh how time flies).  This is Sienna receiving her quilt for her 8th Birthday. James loved it so much he wanted one too, so I made him one here.  Here's a post on making Sienna's.  One thing I did on the first quilt was just join the fabric together but on James I pinned the top and bottom strips and in between so they were all the same length and not stretched.

The kids requested Chicken and Leek pies for dinner when they each had a friend for a sleepover. The recipe is here and it's so delicious.  As we had left over mixture the next day I decided to make crepes for lunch and the kids loved them so much so that they requested the same for dinner so I had to make a new batch that night...totally worth it.  I bought this crepe maker from Kmart for $12 last year as an affordable holiday activity. 

With winter coming up warm breakfasts are great and this home made baked beans recipe is my family's favourite.

I'm so envious of Emma's beautiful crochet projects, she whips them up in a matter of no time.  I need to get my crochet blanket on the go....it's still sitting on the couch in the family room.  With the cooler weather it's a good time.

If you think that making from scratch is not worth it, take a look at the price per kgs of these pita chips in the supermaket which Cath wrote on her blog Debt Free Cashed up and Laughing.

I made the "Flat Bread" recipe which are delicious out of Rhonda's new book which I wrote about here.  Next I need to make the Harvest Turnovers as they look fantastic.