National Baking Week

I can't believe it is National Baking Week again.

It doesn't seem five minutes since I was asking you all to go have a look last year.

Anyway if you can be bothered go have a peek again at all the lovely ideas on the website.

A Day in the Life Of

I have decided to also do a typical whilst the boys are in school and I am at work. The evenings are dictated to more by which after school activities the boys do, be it at school or individual clubs; Tom does football on a Wednesday and David does Karate on a Thursday.

6.30am - Alarm goes off

6.45am - Myself and Dave get up, we have a cup of tea, I sort his pack up and put an extra load of laundry in if needed. I also make the bread dough into whatever bread I want for the day and put to prove whilst the oven is heating, if we need cakes then these are also made at the same time.

7.15am - Daves wakes the boys, they get up and have their cereal etc, then get any last minute things sorted for school.

8.00am - Dave goes to work and the boys go to catch the school bus, I put bread and cakes into oven to bake; prepare the dinner to put in the slow cooker if using. I then peg out first load of laundry. Obviously I am checking the bread and cakes as well. The computer is switched on so it is ready for checking online banking. ( I try to do this daily)

9.00am - The second load is usually finished by now so this also gets pegged out, (On wet wintry days I use an airer to hang the laundry on) I then empty the dishwasher as this has been running overnight on economy 7 electricity. I will then put away the laundry from the day before, and quick clean the bathroom. I straighten the all the beds. Hoover the upstairs and gather laundry which will go in overnight. This is the time I would also spend half hour doing a bit of sorting out.

10.30am - Coffee break, I check emails etc again,

11.30am - I have my own lunch

11.45am - I get ready to leave for work

1.30pm - return form work, cup of tea and check emails etc, I would then spend some time reading maybe or do some extra sorting and hoover downstairs,
once we start using it I also set the coal fire so it is ready to just put a match to just before the boys come home.

3.30pm - the boys come home and raid the fridge ( both claiming starvation!!); I have usually made a plate of sandwiches and left in there, they both have school canteen dinners.

4.00pm - they are off outside with their friends.

4.30pm - Dave comes home, we have a cup of tea and catch up on the day.

5.30pm - David usually comes in does any homework and spends approx an hour on the PC on MSN, Facebook and the online games he likes. I will prepare dinner if not done earlier in day.

6.30pm - I prepare the remainder of dinner, the boys set the table etc.

7.00pm - we eat dinner, the boys clear the table, I load the dishwasher so it can be put on timer to run overnight. I also load the bread machine and set the timer. I set the washer as well on its timer. Myself and Dave will either read or watch tv.

7.30pm - The boys both go back outside with their friends, they usually come in approx 8.30pm. Tom then does any homework and has approx 1 hour to catch up with his other friends on MSN, Facebook etc (certainly cheaper than him phoning all of them).David either watches tv with us or a dvd in his room or goes on Playstation or Wii.

9.00pm - David goes to bed,

10.00pm Tom goes to bed

10.30 - 11.00pm Myself and Dave go to bed.

Once the really wintry nights come in the boys obviously don't go back outside after dinner and will probably be on the Playstation or Wii, or we play family games.

Also although I think it is good for them to get a good blow/burn some energy off when first home from school homework takes priority over the extra leisure time after dinner.

Grocery shopping would be fitted in one morning once the boys had gone to school and before I needed to be at work.

No Spend Food Challenge

I had another look at the cupboards and the freezers over the weekend, and decided that as Dave is off work this week and we might go for days out that we could do this for another week; I have cancelled the veg box for this week so I can get everything used up, I do have some frozen veggies if needed, and may have to buy some salad.

Monday - fried new potatoes with hm meatballs

Tuesday - Beef Casserole served with noodles

Wednesday - Fish Fingers and hm chips

Thursday - Macaroni Cheese but using penne pasta

Friday - BBQ - still have sauasages in the freezer, will make some buns

Saturday - hm pizza

Sunday - Roast Pork, (found a joint hiding under the bananas in the chest freezer)

I will more than likely do a grocery shop on Friday or Saturday to replenish stocks, as there definitely isn't enough to keep us going another week after this.

A Day in the Life Of

Over on MZW Mrs Green has done a "Day in the Life Of" and she asked her readers to do the same.

Here goes:

This is a typical day whilst the boys are on school holidays.

6.45am - alarm goes off

7.00am - Myself and Dave get up, we have a cup of tea, I make his pack up and put an extra load of laundry in if needed. I also make the bread dough into whatever bread I want for the day and put to prove whilst the oven is heating, if we need cakes then these are also made at the same time.

8.00am - Dave goes to work, I put bread and cakes into oven to bake; prepare the dinner to put in the slow cooker if using. I then peg out first load of laundry. Obviously I am checking the bread and cakes as well. The computer is switched on so it is ready for checking online banking. ( I try to do this daily)

9.00am - The second load is usually finished by now so this also gets pegged out. I then empty the dishwasher as this has been running overnight on economy 7 electricity.

9.30am - David gets up, I chat to him and check emails, blogs, facebook etc.

10.00am - David has breakfast usually cereal, ice cold milk and fresh orange, he watches some tv.
Tom usually surfaces around this time, he gets himself a cup of tea and some cereal, has to be hot milk.
I will then put away the laundry from the day before, and quick clean the bathroom.The boys make their beds and ensure their rooms are tidy.

11.00am - Coffee break, I check emails etc again, boys are either already playing outside or are on Playstation or Wii, this depends alot on the weather.

11.30am - Hoover the upstairs and gather laundry which will go in overnight. This is the time I would also spend half hour doing a bit of sorting out.

12.30pm - get boys their lunch (usually been complaining hungry before now)

1.00pm - I have my own lunch and check emails etc again, the boys will have gone back outside with their friends,(only usually see them now when they want a drink or a snack). I would spend some time reading maybe or do some extra sorting and hoover downstairs.

4.30pm - Dave comes home, we have a cup of tea and catch up on the day.

5.30pm - David usually comes in and spends and hour on the PC on MSN, Facebook and the online games he likes.

6.00pm - I will prepare dinner if not done earlier in day.

6.30pm - I prepare the remainder of dinner, the boys set the table etc.

7.00pm - we eat dinner, the boys clear the table, I load the dishwasher so it can be put on timer to run overnight. I also load the bread machine and set the timer. I set the washer as well on its timer. Myself and Dave will either read or watch tv, we also sometimes sit outside with a cup of tea. The boys both go back outside with their friends, they usually come in approx 8.30pm.
Tom then has approx 1 hour to catch up with his other friends on MSN, Facebook etc (certainly cheaper than him phoning all of them).
David either watches tv with us or a dvd in his room or goes on Playstation or Wii.

9.30pm - David goes to bed, Tom either comes and watches tv with us or goes to his room

10.00pm Tom goes to bed

11.00pm Myself and Dave go to bed.


NB: If the weather isn't nice enough in the evening for the boys to be outside playing then often we have family games of cards etc.

Also we only have the one family PC which is situated in the dining room so I can monitor activity at all times.

No Spend Food Challenge

Over on MZW they are having a





Why not head over and have a look at what is going on.

Myself I have cleared out and defrosted a freezer and found some bits lurking in the backs of the shelves.

The idea of the challenge is to only use what you have either in your pantry or fridge or freezer.
If needs must you can purchase fresh milk and veggies.

This idea also uses up things that maybe you've bought thinking they would be a good idea but never gotten round to using.

I run a pantry store cupboard so the theory is that I should never have to "nip" to the village shop for a staple ingredient.

As items are used from my pantry I mark them onto my master shopping list, so that they are replaced on the next shop. The idea behind this is that I could if necessary (illness, weather, unforseen extra expense) use the items from the pantry and not have to worry; we live approx 10 miles from the nearest big supermarket.

Washiing Liquid

I have been reading over at http://savingsnow.blogspot.com/

and found this recipe for a washing liquid which contains only natural ingredients.

I will be giving this a whirl in the next couple of weeks as although I don't use much washing powder and then only for dirty/smelly items this will be better.

HOMEMADE LAUNDRY LIQUID•
1 x bar of pure soap•
1 x saucepan {an old one if you have it}•
1 x cup soda crystals•
1/2 cup borax•
0.5 litre + 5 litres water•
1 x large plastic clean bucket•
wooden or steel spoon

I use the American cup for measuring as I find it easier.

Method:
Grate soap with a cheese grater & place in the saucepan with the ½ litre of water.
Heat this while stirring until soap dissolves.
Take saucepan off the heat.
Fill bucket with the 5 litres of water.
Add soda crystals & stir until dissolved.
Then add soap mixture from saucepan & stir until fully dissolved.
This will thicken as it cools -
Adding some essential oil makes a nice scent.
Add more or less water depending on the consistency desired then transfer liquid into bottles using a funnel.
Use one cup per wash.

Note: this liquid does NOT make suds. It has no foaming agent that is usually added to commercial liquids. Despite this it’s an excellent “green” cleaner that contains no phosphates.
Takes about 30 mins to make 10 pints.Cost approx £0.49 pence per batch.