While I think of it...
I know quite a few of you people out there who read this blog reguarly, are looking at visiting and looking for property... our good friends over at Bosch Real Estate, where we bought our place from, are having a sale... tons of reduced prices and some beautiful properties... nows a good time to buy... and of course book to come and stay with us while your looking...
http://www.boschrealestate.co.uk/
Frugal living in the Portuguese countryside,Eco-tourism, Agri tourism, recipes,family life, self sufficency, eco living, vegetable growing, tips and self help ideas for country living.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Sunshine... and weeding...
Well the weather has stayed glorious, its been fine sunny and lovely and warm for well over a week now, maybe even two... I lose track of time a bit during spring.
Our lovely Dutch guests left this morning, they have been with us a week and it seemed to fly by... such really nice people... and with a genuine interest in what we are doing here...
The warm weather is really bringing on the garden, I have a few tiny sprigs of corn showing this morning, and peas and beans too...
My Blackcurrant cuttings I took a few weeks ago on the off chance that a few would take are all doing excellently, all are growing, and some actually have flowers coming... alll 59 have taken well... so we just have to keep it up during the hot weather now... It just shows the books are not always right, I took the cuttings at completely the wrong time of the year and just stuck them in and hoped... also the books say it may take 3 good years before you get fruit... mine will fruit this year ... if the flowers are to be believed...
The odd potato is also poking its head up... I keep going and covering them again... in the hopes that it will work like earthing up...
This hot weather 26ยบ today, means my seed house is working like a dream, I have to open it early in the mornings or else my seeds would cook... but I have quite a lot of squash seedlings popping up, and some of my herbs too...
The downside of all this heat , is that the weeds are making an early start too... I spent 3 hours weeding the cabages and lettuce yesterday... I also transplanted 50 lettuce seedlings... yep ... 50... they all grew... I often only get a handful that survive per packet... this year .. all have come on well so I have to plant them somewhere... there is still tons to come, so I'll be giving plenty away... lettuce soup anyone...
Our lovely Dutch guests left this morning, they have been with us a week and it seemed to fly by... such really nice people... and with a genuine interest in what we are doing here...
The warm weather is really bringing on the garden, I have a few tiny sprigs of corn showing this morning, and peas and beans too...
My Blackcurrant cuttings I took a few weeks ago on the off chance that a few would take are all doing excellently, all are growing, and some actually have flowers coming... alll 59 have taken well... so we just have to keep it up during the hot weather now... It just shows the books are not always right, I took the cuttings at completely the wrong time of the year and just stuck them in and hoped... also the books say it may take 3 good years before you get fruit... mine will fruit this year ... if the flowers are to be believed...
The odd potato is also poking its head up... I keep going and covering them again... in the hopes that it will work like earthing up...
This hot weather 26ยบ today, means my seed house is working like a dream, I have to open it early in the mornings or else my seeds would cook... but I have quite a lot of squash seedlings popping up, and some of my herbs too...
The downside of all this heat , is that the weeds are making an early start too... I spent 3 hours weeding the cabages and lettuce yesterday... I also transplanted 50 lettuce seedlings... yep ... 50... they all grew... I often only get a handful that survive per packet... this year .. all have come on well so I have to plant them somewhere... there is still tons to come, so I'll be giving plenty away... lettuce soup anyone...
Saturday, 9 April 2011
Frugal Living. Store Cupboards.
One of the main things that enable us to live here and live as frugally as we do is our store cupboard. It’s a huge part of what we do here. Yes we grow as much as possible and freeze it, pickle it, dry it, make every kind of preserve I can think of. But there are many things we just cant grow and don’t want to live without. Yes I know its probably possible to manage without things like loo rolls, shampoo, and the basic dry goods type of staples… and although we want to live frugally and healthily, I also feel there is a quality of life issue if you start wiping your bum on leaves …
Not that I’m against other people doing that if they so choose… its just not for me until something dreadful happens to the world and then loo paper will be the least of my worries…
So until then I buy it… and store it, our main problems happen during winter and early spring when the rental lettings are few and far between. Which means we don’t have an income… So during summer and when/if we get any money in, I tend to take a little here and there and stock up on basics.
I have a winter stores list, and it covers things like loo paper, flour, rice, pasta, oats, butter (which I freeze) baking soda, Bi carb, washing up liquid, and coffee… all the day to day stuff that makes life and cooking easier… Yes its stuff we could manage without, but mealtimes would be extremely boring at times.
I like to go into winter with at least 3 months supplies… more if possible, so when you add all this to our stored and preserved veggies we could look after ourselves for months without grocery shopping.
I don’t go spending a fortune though, I tend to spend just an extra 5 euros each time I shop, or choose an item from my stores list and just get that… like 4 jars of cheapy Jam (Intermarche 89cents) or 10 bags of flour… (Intermarche 33 cents a kilo) That way, I can build up my stores without missing the cash…
If I see an offer on meat, I tend to buy a couple of kilos here and there, we don’t eat lots of meat so a kilo will do us lots of meals…
Belly Pork is cheap and tasty and very versatile and under 2 euros a kilo, and you get a lot of meat for a kilo…
Liver is about the same, so is chicken. Our main problem is cheese, Rick doesn’t like much cheese apart from English cheese, I like most cheese of any kind…But its very expensive and doesn’t keep, freezing it just ruins the taste, so we generally have to manage without.
I’ve just bought a bag of cheap chorizo sausage, I happened to see at 2.69 for a kilo, there is 10 in there and although I don’t suppose they are the best Chorizo in the world, I use them in winter stews, so they don’t need to be fantastic…
I also use my store cupboard as a way of saving money for paying a bill. When we have a good stock in, it means I can not buy groceries for a couple of weeks without even noticing the loss… and that frees up any money we have to pay a bill…
Even before we came here I did a similar thing, each week when you grocery shop, spend an extra couple of pounds on buying duplicate items. If you do that over about 6-8 weeks, you should end up with extra weeks groceries in the cupboard. Then make sure you put aside the money you would have spent that week on food… save it, pay a bill with it, its like gaining a free week… you’ve not noticed the extra couple of pounds here n there, but it soon mounts up in your food cupboards…
I also every now and then have a use up week… I go through and look at what’s been in there a while, any opened packets, anything I’ve had too long, or got tons of… and get creative, if it means we eat a lot of Rice one week… or pasta sauce… then that’s what we do… I make up my mind not to buy anything and just use up all the ‘use up stuff’ that I have, and its easier if you menu plan too…
When you menu plan, it makes grocery shopping and cooking so much easier. You tend not to overspend or impulse buys if you’ve worked out the menus in advance. You have a specific list and stick to it. I just have to make sure I keep away from the crisps … they are my weakness… I can walk past the chocolate and sweets… but have to be dragged by the aisle with the crisps and nuts…
Not that I’m against other people doing that if they so choose… its just not for me until something dreadful happens to the world and then loo paper will be the least of my worries…
So until then I buy it… and store it, our main problems happen during winter and early spring when the rental lettings are few and far between. Which means we don’t have an income… So during summer and when/if we get any money in, I tend to take a little here and there and stock up on basics.
I have a winter stores list, and it covers things like loo paper, flour, rice, pasta, oats, butter (which I freeze) baking soda, Bi carb, washing up liquid, and coffee… all the day to day stuff that makes life and cooking easier… Yes its stuff we could manage without, but mealtimes would be extremely boring at times.
I like to go into winter with at least 3 months supplies… more if possible, so when you add all this to our stored and preserved veggies we could look after ourselves for months without grocery shopping.
I don’t go spending a fortune though, I tend to spend just an extra 5 euros each time I shop, or choose an item from my stores list and just get that… like 4 jars of cheapy Jam (Intermarche 89cents) or 10 bags of flour… (Intermarche 33 cents a kilo) That way, I can build up my stores without missing the cash…
If I see an offer on meat, I tend to buy a couple of kilos here and there, we don’t eat lots of meat so a kilo will do us lots of meals…
Belly Pork is cheap and tasty and very versatile and under 2 euros a kilo, and you get a lot of meat for a kilo…
Liver is about the same, so is chicken. Our main problem is cheese, Rick doesn’t like much cheese apart from English cheese, I like most cheese of any kind…But its very expensive and doesn’t keep, freezing it just ruins the taste, so we generally have to manage without.
I’ve just bought a bag of cheap chorizo sausage, I happened to see at 2.69 for a kilo, there is 10 in there and although I don’t suppose they are the best Chorizo in the world, I use them in winter stews, so they don’t need to be fantastic…
I also use my store cupboard as a way of saving money for paying a bill. When we have a good stock in, it means I can not buy groceries for a couple of weeks without even noticing the loss… and that frees up any money we have to pay a bill…
Even before we came here I did a similar thing, each week when you grocery shop, spend an extra couple of pounds on buying duplicate items. If you do that over about 6-8 weeks, you should end up with extra weeks groceries in the cupboard. Then make sure you put aside the money you would have spent that week on food… save it, pay a bill with it, its like gaining a free week… you’ve not noticed the extra couple of pounds here n there, but it soon mounts up in your food cupboards…
I also every now and then have a use up week… I go through and look at what’s been in there a while, any opened packets, anything I’ve had too long, or got tons of… and get creative, if it means we eat a lot of Rice one week… or pasta sauce… then that’s what we do… I make up my mind not to buy anything and just use up all the ‘use up stuff’ that I have, and its easier if you menu plan too…
When you menu plan, it makes grocery shopping and cooking so much easier. You tend not to overspend or impulse buys if you’ve worked out the menus in advance. You have a specific list and stick to it. I just have to make sure I keep away from the crisps … they are my weakness… I can walk past the chocolate and sweets… but have to be dragged by the aisle with the crisps and nuts…
Friday, 8 April 2011
Frugal Living. - Batch Cooking/Menu planning. /recycling stuff…
At the moment I’m trying to get into more batch cooking, I don’t tend to cook for the freezer, but if that’s your thing; it’s a great idea. It certainly saves lots of money, fuel and time. We don’t eat a lot of the kind of meals that are good for batch freezing. But what I am doing at the moment is sort of the same thing… almost.
The weather here at the moment is glorious, its turned HOT… the last few days have been around 24-28 degrees… and its lovely, our pool is cleaned and up and running, (we have lovely Dutch guests from this blog actually and they are enjoying a daily swim.)
Add to this the fact that I’m busy in the veggie garden now and we are a tad low on wood… so I am planning our meals with great care, two or three days at a time, and then lighting the range, cooking tons, and then we don’t have to light it or cook for a few days…
For example, tomorrow early morning while its cool, we’ll light the range, and I’ll bake 3-4 loaves of Soda Bread, put two in the freezer, I’m going to make a huge bowl of potato salad, one of rice salad, and some pasta salad. A large quiche, which I’ll cut in half and freeze in separate bags, and also boil a few eggs.
Combine that lot with various things like the odd tin of tuna and it will feed us for days…
We have lettuce ready in the garden, and I even splashed out 88cents on a few tomatoes today, so we can have salad too…
I don’t reckon I’ll have to cook again before Tuesday…Wednesday, if I’m lucky.
In this warm weather we tend to eat whatever is cool and easy… Its really turned warm early this year, generally I don’t think it’s this warm for quite a few weeks yet… it was very welcome though…
I’m also busy cutting up my tetra paks that our milk comes in… those damn cartons are such a pain… I know you can send them to the recycling bins, but I do try to reuse them in anyway I can really. At the moment, I’m opening them out and cutting them up into a sort of fringe shape, then hanging them from the olive trees… hehehe they are shiny inside and act as a great bird deterrent for the veggie patch…
We try to recycle as much as possible, we generally end up with one rubbish bag a month, which I feel isn’t too bad. All our compostable waste is either on the heap like coffee grounds, tea bags, weeds etc. Eggshells are saved for a few days to dry out and then I crumble them around my veggie patch to deter slugs and snails. All food waste goes into the dogs, table scraps which isn’t often, all my veggie peelings are cooked up for them too… so nothing wasted there, cabbage stump is Beesa’s fave snack…
All glass bottles are washed and kept as I’m planning, lots of fruit liqueurs, plus Elderflower champagne, and some syrups this year, glass jars are saved for preserves.
We have a plastic recycling bin which gets empted whenever we go to town, as does the tetrapak one if I’ve not used them for other stuff, I washed a few and froze juice in them, they pack nicely like bricks in the freezer.
All paper and cardboard is burnt on the range, and all our ash goes back onto the land…
The main thing I have a problem finding things to do with, is, the thin wispy plastic cling film type stuff and the same wispy bags you get given stuff in from supermarkets… we don’t get much of it, but it’s a problem. At the mo, I’ve been washing it and using it to stuff draft excluders … I’ve also been told you can wash it and knit washable door mats etc with it… hmmmm not sure about that. Rick already thinks I’m crazy as I have a use, wash, and rotate system with the freezer bags…
As we get all kinds of scrap stuff from the butcher for the dogs, it has to be frozen… and sometimes although its fresh, its unpleasant looking stuff… and I didn’t want to use my freezer bags which would be washed and reused for our food for this …
So I’ve worked out a system… he thinks I’m barmy…
Any yoghurt pots or plastic ice-cream cartons, loo roll cardboard kind of stuff is used for seedlings in the little housie. That sort of covers it really.
The weather here at the moment is glorious, its turned HOT… the last few days have been around 24-28 degrees… and its lovely, our pool is cleaned and up and running, (we have lovely Dutch guests from this blog actually and they are enjoying a daily swim.)
Add to this the fact that I’m busy in the veggie garden now and we are a tad low on wood… so I am planning our meals with great care, two or three days at a time, and then lighting the range, cooking tons, and then we don’t have to light it or cook for a few days…
For example, tomorrow early morning while its cool, we’ll light the range, and I’ll bake 3-4 loaves of Soda Bread, put two in the freezer, I’m going to make a huge bowl of potato salad, one of rice salad, and some pasta salad. A large quiche, which I’ll cut in half and freeze in separate bags, and also boil a few eggs.
Combine that lot with various things like the odd tin of tuna and it will feed us for days…
We have lettuce ready in the garden, and I even splashed out 88cents on a few tomatoes today, so we can have salad too…
I don’t reckon I’ll have to cook again before Tuesday…Wednesday, if I’m lucky.
In this warm weather we tend to eat whatever is cool and easy… Its really turned warm early this year, generally I don’t think it’s this warm for quite a few weeks yet… it was very welcome though…
I’m also busy cutting up my tetra paks that our milk comes in… those damn cartons are such a pain… I know you can send them to the recycling bins, but I do try to reuse them in anyway I can really. At the moment, I’m opening them out and cutting them up into a sort of fringe shape, then hanging them from the olive trees… hehehe they are shiny inside and act as a great bird deterrent for the veggie patch…
We try to recycle as much as possible, we generally end up with one rubbish bag a month, which I feel isn’t too bad. All our compostable waste is either on the heap like coffee grounds, tea bags, weeds etc. Eggshells are saved for a few days to dry out and then I crumble them around my veggie patch to deter slugs and snails. All food waste goes into the dogs, table scraps which isn’t often, all my veggie peelings are cooked up for them too… so nothing wasted there, cabbage stump is Beesa’s fave snack…
All glass bottles are washed and kept as I’m planning, lots of fruit liqueurs, plus Elderflower champagne, and some syrups this year, glass jars are saved for preserves.
We have a plastic recycling bin which gets empted whenever we go to town, as does the tetrapak one if I’ve not used them for other stuff, I washed a few and froze juice in them, they pack nicely like bricks in the freezer.
All paper and cardboard is burnt on the range, and all our ash goes back onto the land…
The main thing I have a problem finding things to do with, is, the thin wispy plastic cling film type stuff and the same wispy bags you get given stuff in from supermarkets… we don’t get much of it, but it’s a problem. At the mo, I’ve been washing it and using it to stuff draft excluders … I’ve also been told you can wash it and knit washable door mats etc with it… hmmmm not sure about that. Rick already thinks I’m crazy as I have a use, wash, and rotate system with the freezer bags…
As we get all kinds of scrap stuff from the butcher for the dogs, it has to be frozen… and sometimes although its fresh, its unpleasant looking stuff… and I didn’t want to use my freezer bags which would be washed and reused for our food for this …
So I’ve worked out a system… he thinks I’m barmy…
Any yoghurt pots or plastic ice-cream cartons, loo roll cardboard kind of stuff is used for seedlings in the little housie. That sort of covers it really.
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