That's a wrap

Wrapping paper and keeping warm

Wrapping paper
I have always leaned towards the non-traditional when it comes to wrapping paper.  I don't like to waste money on something that is supposed to be torn apart.
Alternatives to wrapping paper:

Dish towels

They become part of the present (particularly good if the present is food/kitchen based)

Newspapers/Comic Strips

I like to collect international papers when ever I get the chance. I was working with a guy from China who's mother sent him over copies of his local paper he gave them all to me when he was finished and I wrapped all my Christmas presents -  my Brother's girlfriend actually thought I had bought it as legitimate wrapping paper.

I always save the comics section of any newspaper I come across - this is great gift wrap for Children (big and small) all year round.

Music Posters 

I use promotional posters for teenagers and twenty somethings. To be honest it doesn't really matter who the band/performer is. They usually love it anyway

Grease Proof Paper 

Some people don't always appreciate the more DIY approach to wrapping. It doesn't quite sit well with their home decor. Usually my opinion would be to leave them off my Christmas list. But there is always someone that is just too picky - My response use an even DIYier approach.

Wrap the gift in grease proof or baking paper that you have decorated yourself. A few holy leaves and some red ribbon can actually look quite designer!

Here's a link of a more upscale approach



Old maps 
Particularly useful for those who enjoy travelling or an outdoor lifestyle. Even if you don't have old maps lying around you can usually pick them up for pennies in a charity shop.

Wrapping up and keeping warm
One of the best things you can do is layer your clothing. If I know I will be working around the house, or more importantly sitting in front of my laptop or school work for any length of time I layer it up.

This might seem like a very simple thing to do, but I find it really helps. Tracksuit bottoms, t-shirt, vest and a cosy jumper (preferably a hoodie) usually does the trick.

*If you are sitting in the one place for a long time try and give yourself a 2-3 minute break every 30-45 minutes - get up and make yourself a cup of tea, or even just do a few laps of the house/room

If you are using central heating - USE YOUR TIMER 
There is no point in having the heat on full blast right until you go to bed. You should actually "power-down" your heating particularly at night, this will actually make it easier to fall asleep. The dropping temperature is one of the natural triggers to let your body know it is suppose to go to sleep


Gloves - fingerless gloves

I love gloves and sleeves - fingerless gloves let me work away unhindered on my laptop or at my corrections. Sleeves keep my wrists warm when I am working between in doors and out and still leave me without hindrance

Handwarmers

I don't get much use out of these myself, but they are great for people who have poor circulation. They are reusable, a very convenient size and a great thing for people to have when they are out and about.

 

Zombie Apocalypse

A few of my friends and I have a love of Zombies. Zombies in books, films and TV shows (yes I have even read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.) What, you might ask has that got to do with frugality. Well, we sometimes chat about what you would we do should there be a Zombie apocalypse. And one thing that always crops up is a well stocked pantry with dry goods and tinned items. Much like any frugal pantry really.
So, my brother and I set a challenge: Cook and eat like there has been an apocalypse of some kind for one week. Tinned and longlife items only. I know most frugal chefs would recognise this for what it is - a pantry challenge, but I had to spice it up for my brother, who does nothing frugally when it come to food.

I will try and keep you posted with a few recipes - all the food has to be cooked on a stove top (as per apocalyptic conditions)

This might sound crazy as an idea, but really it is just the simple pantry challenge with tweek to bring in non-frugal foodies. 

Frugal Entertaining

The meal, the company - the ambience - youtube playlist For those who believe broadband is no a necessity ( I spent two months without it this year - I felt like I had returned to the stoneage
Tis the season - or almost anyway!

As the nights get longer, darker and colder there is nothing better than having friends and family over for a nice meal and an evenings entertainment (board games, charades, cards - get them out!!) 

People's taste in Christmas music varies (or even having Christmas music at all) but one very simple way to cater to any event is a youtube playlist - make your own or use someone else's (any theme for a playlist you can think of - it has already been done)

A favourite of mine is actually radio plays (specifically A Christmas Carol when it gets to this time of year) I put them on, even when we have children over, you would be surprised how quickly they become enraptured! 

Winter Motivation 2

Hi, I have really been struggling with getting out and getting going. Between the weather and my lack of will power I haven't been too good. Luckily one of my colleagues came up with a very fun and frugal way to get fit. Her local football team have been trying to drum up a few more recruits - now I have absolutely no hand eye coordination, but she promised me that they really were desperate to have a few more bodies on the squad.

So I have started training with them, luckily for me they are training in a local gym for the winter. So I'm getting a very intense work out, lots of fun with the girls and all of it for free (I will eventually have to pay them back by publicly embarrassing myself on the pitch in the new year, but that will all be in good time)

The first training session was intense, a mixture of spin, kick boxing and suspension training with a little bit of a core work out at the end. I will admit I may have come close to collapsing, but I survived and actually enjoyed the variety. I will be back again next week and hopefully have kicked up my own jogging routine in-between

DIY Christmas 1 : Mulled cider

I may have an unfair advantage here, as my father is actually a local cider producer, but mulled cider is a Christmas favourite with our friends and family.

Basically, the recipe is half dry alcoholic cider and half apple juice (if you can find spiced apple juice with a touch of cinnamon use that) add what ever wintery spices you want (I don't like cloves so I add cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamon) and gently heat (I use the slow cooker - people can help themselves and everything stays warm - you can top it up as the evening goes on )

To make this into a gift I add the ingredients to a 750ml/litre bottle with instructions - it doesn't matter that the cider will become flat because you will have to heat it anyway. Label the bottle and leave instructions. With home-made mince pies you can't really go wrong!

Normal Service will resume shortly

I have been having some technical difficulties this week with my laptop - the socket on the laptop for power stopped working. My battery was fine, but the laptop couldn't take on any power.
After googling and asking around I was told it was either a damaged connection and easy to fix or the motherboard was damaged and I would be better replacing it.
Needless to say I was quite worried, tried bringing it to Curry's (where I had originally bought it) and was told as it was out of warranty they wouldn't even look at it. Luckily I was directed by some friends to the local computer hospital and was very pleasantly surprised to find that it was a simple thing to fix. My computer was back up and running in 5 minutes flat.
With a school inspection coming up the last thing I needed was to be without a laptop - but the second last thing I needed was to have to buy a new one. I need to add about £400 to my savings because I need to be prepared should this be the beginning of the end 

Winter Motivation

Winter motivation - I don't have any at all. Before Halloween I was out at least three times a week jogging. Since Halloween I haven't been out all - I need a jump start. Christmas isn't far off (37 sleeps ) and I know exactly what that entails - being stuffed with various niceties by my Mother and brother.

So in attempt to get going again. I have set myself a challenge - I had a thirty minute walk last night and I will be volunteering at my youth club on tonight. I am at my parents all weekend with our wonderful dog so he will keep me busy. I have my playlist ready to rock courtesy of A Neurotic Glamour Girl and have started back with fitness pal.

I can feel myself become more unfit and I know I have a busy few weeks ahead of me, rather than let myself slide I want to keep on the straight and narrow to keep performing at my best. I know that when I am under pressure I have a tendency to eat unhealthily and utterly unfrugally. So I am setting myself a strict routine both frugally and health wise.

Eeeep School Inspection

So our school are having a general inspection! We have just over two weeks! Panic stations you say! I would agree!

This picture is from the guardian's website - I needed something to symbolize inspection

This is my first job after qualifying
 Negative - I am new and inexperienced
 Positive - It hasn't been two long since I was last inspected in the classroom, I am relatively up to date on my Buzz words and jargon
Negative - I trained in a different education system
Positive - I am on part-time hours - less time to visit my classrooms
Positive - My planning is up to date

The school in general is abuzz, it has been a very long time since they have had a whole school inspection. The mathematics department was comprehensively inspected last year - however this means that they may wish to gauge whether the findings of that inspection are being implemented.

So, I will be knuckling down and making sure I am up to speed. I am on a year's contract in the school, but I always need to make a good impression and the feedback will be very useful and the experience might help me careerwise down the road.


Sneak treat of the week:

Aldi's diet cola

 I am a little bit of a cola fiend. I don't drink tea or coffee - I know how bad these things our but I love me some cola. Now I have been nursing an addiction to a more expensive branded cola (I won't name names, but it does rhyme with Mepsi) but I recently tried Aldi's diet cola and it really wasn't too bad. Now I am not saying that it tastes like any big brand cola, but it doesn't have that weird aftertaste some generic cola's have. It is my secret shame. But the caffeine keeps me going when I need it most!! 

Spend Free Days

Things have been a little hectic for me over the past few months. I got a new job and had to move 250 miles. I love were I am now, but setting up a new home away from everyone has been difficult (full disclosure I am lucky enough to actually live near my little Brother.) Financially it has been very hard, and as a newly qualified teacher I have been been flat out with school work - busy means less time to spend keeping on top of other areas of my life.

So I am hoping to sort out my finances again and am aiming for 20 no spend days before the new year. I know people can be quite sceptical about no spend days - and say that you then spend more altogether to try and compensate. But in my own opinion it is just another little way that we can make ourselves more aware of our own spending patterns and therefore more responsible.
I know that 20 days might seem low to some and high to others - but it is my own personal goal. I will struggle with it (particular in prime Christmas preparation season - although again for the record I spend all of November in a giant horror/scary movie marathon)

I am going to have to be very vigilant and hopefully keeping myself accountable here will help. 

Christmas with the Diaspora

If you are like my family (and in the current economic climate, it wouldn't surprise me) you will be celebrating Christmas this year via Skype with family members all over the world.
I have a sister in Oz, some family in America and Canada and a few folks over in England. For Christmas I like to send a little taste of home. This varies from person to person and each family has their own traditions. With my Sister so far away and unable to come home for her favourite time of year I make an extra special effort for her.

I will send her a pre-Christmas parcel- it will mostly be little bits and pieces, pre-cut paper chains, paper lantern makers, and other Christmas decorations and some  sweets (Dairy Milk that has been made in Ireland - sorry, I know it was originally invented in England but the Irish version is that little bit creamier)  None of the things I am sending are very expensive (to be honest they will actually cost less than the postage) but I think it can help to have the silly things when you are away from home.

For her actual Christmas present (I won't actually reveal - don't want to spoil the surprise) I found a seller on ebay Australia who will post it directly. This cuts down the cost of shipping drastically, it allows for a much better delivery period and I just replace my sister's first name with Santie and she will know not to open it until Christmas day.



I know this seem like a bit much to some and possible not very frugal but  this is only something I do for my loved ones abroad. To my family in the US I actually send them crisps - again the shipping is much more than the goods, but the treat for those who can't make it home is worth it. The rest of my Christmas presents will be a lot more practical!

An Post postal dates:
Europe                Last dates for parcels 11th December
                          Last dates for letters 18th December
USA, Canada, Australia, Israel, New Zealand, Hong Kong, India & Philippines 
                          Last dates for parcels 8th December
                          Last dates for letters 8th December
Rest of the world  Last dates for parcels 4th December
                          Last dates for letters 4th December

RoyalMail Christmas posting dates:

International Airmail
Wednesday 5 Dec	Asia, Australia, Far East (including Japan), New Zealand
Friday 7 Dec	Africa, Caribbean, Central America, Middle East and South America
Monday 10 Dec	Canada, Eastern Europe and USA
Wednesday 12 Dec	Western Europe

Resume Transmission: Frugal Winter Eats 1

So, I finally have internet in the house - it really is so hard for me to function without broadband these days.

There is a storm on the horizon at the minute, but I managed to get a load of washing out and dried, so I am snug in the house with the dinner on. Tonight I am cooking a favourite of mine: Spicy Chicken Thighs with Garlic and Rosemary Sweet Potatoes, Roast Salted Kale and steamed veggies.
I love chicken thighs, they are the cheapest cut of chicken and yet very versatile. I roast them with the skin still on, but you can use them in many different ways.

Spicy Chicken Thighs:

• 2 teaspoons garlic powder or 1 teaspoon of garlic purée 
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 8 boneless chicken thighs 
• Oil (rapeseed) 
• 6 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar (My father is a cider producer, nothing quite like REAL cider vinegar - I cannot get enough of the stuff)

Everyone has their own method for cook chicken thighs, for this recipe I don't like too much chicken fat. I start cooking the chicken with all the spices, mid way through spoon the fat run off over the chicken again. When the chicken is almost cooked through take it out, drain most of the fat and then add the honey and vinegar mix, coating the chicken. Put back into the oven until the honey and vinegar has reduced to a glaze and the skins are crispy.

I served this up with sweet potatoes that has been roasted (when the oven is going stick everything in) in a little oil, rosemary, salt, garlic powder and a pinch of cinnamon. I roasted the kale (5-8 minutes, I like my veg with a bit of bite) with a little oil and salt, and steamed some veg in the microwave. 

In other news I managed to buy a bar of Carbolic Soap for 50c in a bric-a-brac shop in town. All in all I have has a great weekend (I haven't quite done enough school work, but the night is young! And the countdown is most definitely on for the midterm break!)  

Settling in & Decorating

Sorry I haven't been keeping up to date, but I did move across the country at short notice to take up a new job.
I found a room in a house about ten minutes drive from the school (I had looked at living closer, to save on petrol and get a bit more exercise - but as a young teacher I thought that having a bit of privacy and living further from the school might be better.) I am settling into the new school quite well, the staff are very friendly and helpful. 
I still have to sort out internet, but my housemate has kindly lent me an internet dongle for the interim period. I didn't have much room when I was moving down, and consequently don't have much in the way of household things (I brought mostly school books and work clothes) but the house I moved into has been lived in by some of the tenants for a few years and luckily is well stocked.

My room is lovely, but with my very utilitarian move I don't have much going on to brighten it up - until I had some excellent ideas from some friends. Basically, they were postcards, bunting and mini-pegs. It really brightened the place up, I will be moving in some more Art, Photographs & Mementos - but right now it isn't half bad!

Gainfully employed

So, after all my traipsing around the country I finally have a job lined up! Although the job starts on Monday and it is quite a distance away in Cork. My brother lives in the city and should have a bed/sofa for me for a week or so until I find somewhere.

I have so much to get sorted and have to pack everything up into my wee car! Cork is a lovely place (although more expensive than Belfast) I am both excited and nervous. I have a lot of packing to do, I have to sort through books and resources and clothes. I don't think I will even have that much room for household times. So I will need to do some serious planning.

I think I will attack it like I am going to university again. Pack one of everything for the kitchen (hopefully I will be able to find some decent charity shops in Cork) and make sure I bring the essentials for work clothes! I am a bit of a stationary fiend and I don't fancy paying the extortionate euro prices. I do have a good stock pile, but I might make sure I have  plenty of note pads and paper and ink for my printer.

I will keep you posted, for now I have to sort through all my books and decide which will make the trip with me! Also in the middle of this my Mum's birthday is coming up, but I will have to leave for Cork. I am hoping to prepare a pre-birthday lunch!

Perhaps this could be my organization strategy? 

It has been a while

Things have been very hectic lately, and I have been very remiss with my blogging. So what have I been up to?
I travelled to an interview (there were soooo many candidates that they have to do a second round - but I did get a call back) It was a little stressful, but some of the other candidates I spoke to had travelled further and I had a fun time hanging out in Cork city with my brother. He is a bit of a foodie and knew all the best places to hang out (Liberty Grill is well worth a look)

 I started a fortnight of training in a call centre - invaluable experience - I have met so many people from all ages and walks of life. It is a little heart breaking that so many people (new graduates with mountains of student loans, builders with 35years on the job, people who's chosen career paths just are not hiring) £6.08

It was my birthday and my beloved pup tried his best to help out with the cake

Let them eat cake!

I finally got behind the Olympics, and have become a fan of boxing of all sports! Katie Taylor is my new hero!

My own path to fitness has hit a few bumps, but my training partner (see above picture of cake and the tongue trying to dislodge it) has kept me to a minimum amount of exercise.

Today we went on a histerical tour

There were live animals, stuffed animals and eejits aplenty

Sorry for the delay: Fajita spices

I have been very busy over the last few days, I have a job interview on Friday (well a preliminary interview.) The school is actually down in Cork, but luckily my brother lives there and has agreed to put me up for the night.

I have been cleaning and scrubbing to get everything tidied up before some visitors arrive - and tonight the dinner will be from the freezer - some defrosted Bolognese, which I will add bits and pieces too.

A friend was having a house warming party dinner party and I wanted to bring something. She loves my fajitas, so I brought I made up a jar for her and brought a bottle of Elderflower Cordial diluted with fizzy water and ready to drink.

¼ tbsp garlic powder
½ tbsp onion powder
¼ - ½ tbsp cayenne (amount depends on how much heat you want)
¼ tbsp cumin
1 tbsp paprika (I like the smokey flavour - so I added smoked paprika)
½ tbsp salt
2 tbsp chili powder
½ tbsp sugar

This can be used as fajita powder from a packet, but I like to leave the chicken to marinate for a few hours. I add a few spoons and some lime juice (it doesn't need to be fresh, I use the bottled variety)

When cooking the fajitas I actually cook the vegetables (onion and bell peppers) in a little seasoning and oil first, remove them and leave to one side - add the marinated meat straight into the pan, the juices from the vegetables will add to the flavour.

On another utterly unfrugal note, as you can guess I enjoy fajitas and to be honest tex-mex in general. I am very tempted to buy a tortilla maker. I know that you are not supposed to buy a piece of equipment that has only one use, but I love tortillas and I cannot find decent tortillas this side of the water at all. Maybe if my interview goes well I might be able to buy one.

Good news on the Job front

I just got word that I have a job!It is a telecommunications company that runs campaigns for other companys. I will be on inbound calls for e-on. The initial training fortnight will be 9-5 with more flexible hours (and probably longer hours) coming after. They are happy to allow me to move to part-time hours should I get any part-time teaching work come September.

I will be starting in a call centre in a week and a half! This suits me perfectly. Next week I have a wedding to attend and some visitors are arriving to stay with my parents for 2 weeks, I have been volunteered to get their place ready as they are both working full time.

I have a friend returning to Canada soon, so I can spend some time with her next week before she leaves. (I may even squeeze in some touristy things.) Today I made some more blaeberry muffins but also some chocolate muffins. Tonight I plan to make fajitas - I will hopefully remember to take some pictures!

There were half a dozen of each - not sure where they disappeared to!

 For the chocolate recipe I simply modified the blaeberry muffin recipe. Instead of 4oz of flour I added 3oz flour 1 oz cocoa powder. Instead of berries I added chocolate chips (white and dark)
I thought the buns were delicious, not too sweet. The berries cut the sweetness and the dark chocolate and cocoa powder did the same.

Flavoured Mayonnaise

I love mayonnaise! It is such a versatile ingredient, since I am attempting to be healthy I have switched to the extra light mayo. One thing that I love are flavoured mayos, they are easy to make you just decided the flavour and the strength yourself.

I recently tried a Brie sandwich with cranberry mayonnaise and thought I'd like to give it a go. All I did was chop some dried cranberries and leave in a small container of mayonnaise over night. This is a very good trick if you are buying cheaper mayonnaises too!

To test out my flavoured mayonnaise I used up some left over pork loin and some stuffing. It was delicious, the berries had really been absorbed into the mayonnaise and brought an unexpected sweetness to the sandwich.

Job hunting

I am currently looking for a teaching post for September. I have been applying to any vacancies I find (trust me, I just sent my CV to an English School in Mongolia!!) but I have also been putting off getting an interim job.
That has to stop, I need a part-time or short-term job to tide me over and stop me eating into my savings. Having said that I have an interview lined up for a call-centre job on Monday. Fingers crossed!!

Hoarding

I am a hoarder! There I have said it! Now for the road to recovery! I have been trying to tidy stuff up now that I have free time, and I also need a break from job hunting now and again!
Somehow every time I try and sort out the storage space in my house aka the dumping ground I eventually give up in despair!
So, I am now hoping to become a minimalist, or at least an almost minimalist. I am starting with my clothes. I have just gone through my wardrobe and culled everything I don't wear. (there is also a maybe section full of formalish clothes, I will sort those out later.
The culled clothes & shoes are put into two piles donate & ebay. (Because I get a lot of my own clothes from charity shops I like to give as much as I can back. I only ebay the clothing that I think I can get more for than a charity shop can charge)

I don't want to end up like this!

I also will be culling books: text books, novels, how-to's etc. And whilst on this binge I will be ruthless with knick-knacks - I tend to keep things out of guilt because someone gave them to me, not because I like or enjoy them. All must go! I am not sure where I will be with jobs come September, I need to lighten my load and cut back to essentials!

Mountain Walk - Blaeberry Muffins

Hello, in between the showers yesterday I managed to get out and take my dog for a walk on the mountain beside the house. I had intended to pick the last of the Elderflower and I ended up with a little more than I expected.

Blaeberries (sometimes known as Bilberries or fraochán in Irish) are in season and despite the summer weather the crop appears to be plentiful. Luckily I had brought a spare bag and managed to pick quite a few.
I decided I wanted to try and bake something - possibly because of my failed focaccia bread I decided to keep it simple. Blaeberry Muffins.

4oz Flour
4oz Butter
2½ oz of Sugar
2 eggs
1 splash vanilla extract
4oz Blaeberries

1. Add the butter and sugar together then slowly add the eggs, mix until blended.

2.  Add the flour, baking powder & berries stir to combine

3. Place a spoonful of muffin mixture into each muffin case, filling each to just over half way - for best results leave in the fridge for about 1 hr before baking

4. Bake in an oven set at 200C for approximately 20 minutes

Flat Bread

I had intended to make Focaccia  Bread but I must have been distracted and added dessert spoons instead of table spoons of olive oil. So in reality it was just garlic and rosemary bread - it was still eaten mind you! I toasted it and served it with cream cheese and smoked salmon

Lazy bedside table upgrade

I wanted to upgrade a small dark unattractive bedside table for the spare room in my parents house. I had been thinking about it for a while, and had considered painting it but all the other furniture in the room is already dark. So I came up with this rather lazy solution

So it still doesn't look great from the front, but the chessboard sits perfectly on top and looks great beside his bed. It is heavy enough to sit in place, and I have not needed to attach it. My brother uses the room the most and enjoys chess so he can still take it off and play if he wants to. I doubt it will be this tidy when he starts to use it, but it now is at the same level as his bed and has much more surface area