Simple Middle Eastern Spice Mix Recipe

I found a middle eastern spice mix recipe at Chef Jeena's. It was excellent, although I have made an altered version with less ingredients, and using powdered spice to make a budget version.

I bought large cellophane packets of the spices at Woolworths, and then put them all into an empty old washed out coffee jar. I then labelled it, and I keep it in my pantry to use ready made - saves time using a generic middle eastern spice mix. Good for when you are in a shortage of time, and have people walking around the house asking when dinner is ...

Here is my budget recipe version:

Ingredients:

One sachet of ground cumin
One sachet of ground coriander
One sachet of dried ground mint
One sachet of dried ground thyme
One half sachet of ground cinnamon
One half sachet of ground nutmeg
One sachet of paprika
One half sachet of turmeric
One teaspoon salt
Pinch of pepper

Place all ingredients into a bowl, mix with a wooden spoon then put into a coffee jar and seal.

Add fresh lemon juice and minced garlic when adding to cooking. Can be used as a marinade, spice rub, breadcrumbs, or in rissoles etc.

Making Do and Mending While Saving, Not Spending

Go to a garden to invigorate yourself and maintain motivation
Image courtesy of Neosnaps

Sometimes it is hard to maintain the motivation to save - there is no "novelty" to it, or "instant gratification" in saving. It is a discipline, to say the least - for a lot of people I know and have spoken to. I was speaking to someone recently about saving habits, and she was surprised that I had already spent my pocket money. She commented that she saved it and always when she started working had one lot of pay banked ahead just in case anything should happen. What she said makes a lot of sense, and she does have a good emergency fund. She is a very generous and sweet person though, and it always willing to help others.

I was raised by screaming at my poor mother and she caved into my demands. I have Aspergers, so I think that I was probably quite a difficult child for my mother to handle. My brother was more easygoing than I, so my mother found him easier to parent. I remember having my mother in tears one day because I wanted a magic pen colouring book and I threw a full blown tantrum at her in the newsagency until she bought it for me. She ended up in tears.

I don't blame her, nor do I condemn her - back then Aspergers was an unheard of thing amongst Australian doctors - and my mother was very sick a lot of my childhood. She did the best with what she had at the time, as did my father. Neither of them are any longer with me, but I have learned to rethink my whole view of money from how I was raised.

My sons are both on the Autistic spectrum, and I have applied what I have learned with them. They are now more satisfied with saving up to get what they want, and are learning delayed gratification. Now I have to seriously apply this to myself.

So I am looking at ways of making do, mending and applying novelty ways of saving and rewarding myself (without spending money or spending very little) for applying the discipline of delayed gratification.

I know I can do it, because I did the same with my excess weight, not to say that I didn't have help along the way - often we need tools to help us - and these can be different for each person.

If you want to redecorate your home, some inexpensive ways to revamp it while you are saving for your renovation are to really give your home a good spring cleaning (such as washing the walls and curtains), remove clutter, consider re-arranging furniture, adding a throw from a thrift or dollar store, or maybe making some new cushions. For whitegoods that are a bit chipped or sad looking - investigate repainting them or touching them up with appliance white spray paint (make sure you follow all the safety directions). I touched up my chipped bathtub with epoxy enamel spray paint for metal surfaces (I can't use the bath while it is drying).

I am also looking to upsize my washing machine - the door on it is a little tricky - so I am being very careful to close it gently, and I replaced the pump in it. I have three children now, and a lot of washing, and would like a larger washing machine, so that is one of my savings goals.

To not get sidetracked however, and end up spending my money on something else - I have set up an automated savings plan - that means I won't think about it, so out of sight, out of mind. I have also gone and got from the whitegoods store a brochure of the machine I want to get and stuck it up on my notice board to remind me to save for it.

Make sure you allocate in your spending plan (also know as budget) some small amount of money to splurge on something (if you're like me and like to have a treat for yourself - mine is now a magazine or chai latte instead of a cola addiction) that you can use also for impulse purchases. If you allocate the impulse purchase money and then spend no more, you will still stay reasonably well on track, instead of feeling deprived and then going on a spending binge.

Another way to satisfy a spending urge is to go to the library - I walked out of there one day with some books, magazines, DVDs and music CDs, and I felt like I had a major episode of retail therapy, but I hadn't spent a single cent!!!

For an outing, pack yourself a lunch, a thermos or a cool drink and then go for a walk around a beautiful local park. You will feel invigorated and motivated to keep on track with your goals.

Five Minute Fritter Recipe - Vegan and Food Allergy Alternatives Provided

My fritters plated up with ketchup

My husband looked at me this evening and asked me if we were going to have dinner. It hadn't really occurred to me, as we had a hot lunch that he had cooked on the barbecue, and he told me that he was hungry.

Having three guys in the house with ravenous appetites (two teenage boys included) is sometimes a challenge to come up with things that will fill them up. Because I allocate one lot of meat for the day (and some vegetarian meals as substitutes sometimes) to stretch our budget - I was a little bewildered. Not for long though, I decided to brainstorm.

One of my favourite places to get recipes from is Taste. I also go to Allrecipes for inspiration as well. I have a large collection of really lovely cookbooks, but sometimes going online you just can't beat it. I leave my laptop open with the recipe and I go back to it every so often to check I have added the right ingredients. So tonight it was fritters.

A basic fritter recipe:
(metric measures are assumed in this recipe)
Ingredients:

3 cups of self raising flour (or plain flour with appropriate amount of baking powder added)
2 cups of milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vegetable stock (optional)

To this I added some grated carrot, a chopped onion, some corn kernels and grated cheese - so they were a vegetarian option. If you are vegan then you can substitute the cheese for tofu (slice it thinly) and use soy flour as a substitute. Replace one egg with one tablespoon of soy flour and one tablespoon of water. You can also add cooked sliced meats, or deli meats if you so desire, or other grated or finely chopped vegetables to create a bit of difference.

Method:

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, and then heat a large frypan with some oil. Spoon out a tablespoon of the batter onto the frypan per fritter, and flip until browned on both sides, and cooked through thoroughly. The batter will no longer appear wet on the sides when cooked through, if in doubt, slice one open to ensure batter is cooked.

Serve with condiments if desired, and a side salad.

If you have coeliac disease or are lactose intolerant you can substitute gluten free self raising flour, lactose free milk, rice milk or soy milk. I use soy milk as I am lactose intolerant. I also like to use free range eggs (I pick these up at a good price from the local farmers markets).

My husband and my teenage boys ate them, and enjoyed them. My husband had two and then informed me that he was full and couldn't eat any more, so they were a budget success - and I also fed them successfully a vegetarian meal!!

Organising Your Sewing Kit - A Tutorial

As a start towards Christmas 2012 preparations, I thought perhaps some hand-made gifts would be appropriate. However, I needed to seriously get my sewing kit organised. I can happily say that I now have it looking more organised, and I know what I have, so I won't be doubling up on supplies that I don't need or already have. I organised my very expensive quilting tools and templates into the kit, so now everything will be accessible in my "new" craft cupboard that I have brought into the house beside my desk. 

When my eldest son was a baby we were living in a small flat, and we bought a pantry cupboard second hand, and we have been carrying it around for a number of years. It ended up out in the shed, but since we have cleaned out our garage to become a rumpus room, I have brought it inside, cleaned it up and re-purposed it for use as my craft cupboard. 

I had to seriously go through my things, throw some old worn things out, clean it up, and I purchased a new sewing box. My old sewing box had a busted lid and it was time for it to go. I also had an old cutlery tray in it that I was using as an organiser for the top, but it was split and wrecked too. Spotlight had a sale on sewing containers, for VIP members they had 30 percent off during their January sale, so I put my pocket money towards purchasing a new clear sewing box with a cute design. As you can see from the before - it is no wonder I had not been enthusiastic about sewing anymore, I had let my lovely things and things I had spent good money on get disorganised and scattered. 

My sewing kit prior to being sorted

I knew I wanted to sort out my sewing kit so that I could get organised for Christmas, and handmade goods and to make clothes and different things. I motivated myself to do it by getting a nice sturdy unbroken sewing kit organiser with a cute design on it. Sometimes it does become time to part with the old, and bring in the new. If you do have a lot of sewing tools and items that you have spent money on, it makes sense to store it properly and organise it so that you end up saving money in the long run, and time because you're not doubling up on things, or hunting around for things that you knew you had but were not sure of their whereabouts.

The new sewing box I bought on sale

The first thing I did was to put everything out of the old box, and put it into a big empty cleared space about me. I had a rubbish bag, and designated a place for where to put things that don't belong. There were some spare boot laces that obviously didn't belong there, and some old bits of fabric offcuts which were of no use for any projects. The bits that were large enough for some small craft projects I put aside and neatly folded up. 

I then placed like items with like items. As you can see from below, I have a large variety of things - I had sewing needles, including embroidery needles, and put these together, I had some little craft bells and embroidery floss, and a whole lot of buttons. I put like with like. A number of years ago I had made myself a sewing envelope, and I put into it my sewing machine screwdrivers, and tweezers. I put all my rotary cutting blades together, and also grouped all my threads. I put all the attachments for my sewing machine into a packet, and also had a bobbin container which I placed some empty bobbins into.

I had a spare sewing box that I had bought a few years ago, but it was not large enough to keep all my sewing items in. This annoyed me when I tried to put everything into it, so subsequently I shoved it aside, and it got dusty and neglected. So today when I was organising my sewing kit, I gave it the proper respect it deserved (because I had parted with good money for it) and cleaned the internal and external parts of it. This is it below with my threads on the top tray. Below is the lower part of the box, showing my quilting templates, and some of my other sewing accessories placed into separate containers. Zip-lock bags make excellent storage pouches because you can see what is in them.

For my large sewing threads that go onto my overlocker, I salvaged an old plastic sewing kit container, and have placed them all into there. So, as you can see from the very first image, my sewing kit is now organised into three separate containers, and I have thrown out all of the old worn out things, and put like things with like. I feel better organised, now I know what I have. I will now be able to go to the fabric store and purchase only what I need for a project, not what I already have. I won't be frustrated anymore either trying to find things! Bring on the handmade Christmas gifts now - I am prepared to make them!

My red satin sewing box inner tray with all my thread collection

My sewing accessories - like is packaged together with like

Planning for Christmas 2012

High Class Mamma isn't about me proselytising about how to be a better class than any other person, or about looking down upon another - I was really grasping what I had intended this blog to be, and where I wanted the direction of it to be headed as 2012 starts off.

I really want to be blessed to be able to reach out to other people - to see the potential in them - provide that little bit of needed encouragement; inspiration ... to get out of debt, to start that course, apply for that job, or to make peace with yourself ... to pay forward kindnesses.

High class living - at low expense (tee hee hee) because the finer things of life are definitely worthwhile, and they make life more enjoyable - but the stuff isn't what the finer things of life are. Being able to sleep at night because the mortgage has been paid, and knowing that I haven't got a heinous credit card bill coming to me in January from stuff the kids have gotten bored of is definitely a plus. Also, I have lost 53 kilograms of bad feelings - emotional baggage translated into physical baggage.

I enjoy my family and my friends, I cherish them. I look at ways to trim the fat off the budget so that we can live to fulfil the goals which really count.

So now that the paper has been recycled, the toys lying around the place, and I look back at what was Christmas 2011, I am thankful for my beautiful family, that I am still here to enjoy them, and savour my wonderful friendships.

As I look forward to Christmas 2012, I am going to enjoy the journey on the way there - each day can be a step in preparation towards celebrating a very special time. As a Christian it took on new meaning for me last year - just to be thankful for what Jesus did for me - and even though the stuff wasn't piled high or the gifts very elaborate, my experience was unlike any other. It was joyful, and amazing. It wasn't the stuff, though receiving gifts is lovely, because somebody took the time to think about me - that is really awesome. It was being around people, the kids, laughing, sharing and enjoying.

I was invited to my brother's home, and I felt very privileged to be there. He is an awesome man now, and watching he and his beautiful wife together are really precious to me. They have their own place now, and they are amazing financial managers. They save, and save, and save, and get exceptional quality stuff. Their children are gorgeous too.

My husband and I have been together this year for 20 years, it is a special time for me - this year - I really am going to enjoy this year. I am starting preparation for Christmas early this year, though, with some savings goals in mind, and I really want to treat ourselves to something lovely.

My husband's 40th birthday is next year, so I said we ought to start saving now ...

Plan and prepare. Save. Have a wish list. Enlist the help of your family now in assigning a budget and the gifting scheme so you're not caught short :)

Then you can enjoy in January the peace of having no nasty credit card bill that you are concerned about (if you clear the amount every month, then that is a different story altogether). That is a pretty classy feeling.

Here are some Christmas planners I have seen which may be worth looking at - one you have to pay for, the other is free - so depending on your budget - take a peek :)

I like Flylady, and have been a follower of her routine for years:
Her Holiday Control Journal is good, a printable.

For Bloggers, The Organised Housewife has some excellent planners, including a Christmas Planner, she has some free printables.