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

Frugal housework: Cleaning & maintenance of a leather sofa

My mother has a cream leather suite of furniture, maintenance can be quite a chore. Below is the cleaning routine I devised to make it a little easier.

Every few months (6 if you live in a careful household - in this house I recommend every three months) clean the furniture with a mild face soap and some water.Once this is done buff with a clean dry cloth.

For a more intense clean use 1 part vinegar 2 parts linseed oil - it is best to rub in and leave to sit overnight. This will clean the leather and help keep it supple.

Leather cleaning kit - complete with an untidy sitting room

***For stain removal - As soon as possible spray some hairspray on the effected area and leave for a few seconds. The alcohol in the hairspray will lift the stain, but also the outer coating. Treat the area with the linseed oil mixture to protect the leather

Steak Salad

I wanted something quick for dinner and needed to use up some left over steak and chickpea. Although it wasn't that sunny it was quite warm here and I automatically lean towards spicy. The basis for the salad was beetroot and chickpeas.I threw in onions, peppers, tomatoes, some chillies for bite. For sauce I used light mayonnaise and lime juice.
The result was colourful:

Ice lollies!

Although the sunny weather appears to have ended I thinking there is always time for ice cream.
I decided to try and make my own ice lollies - I wanted some summery flavours and decided on strawberry (my neighbour gave me some strawberries, for some reason our new pup has taken to picking unripened strawberries off the plants and leaving them round the garden) and coconut.

 Because I was using one small lolly maker I only used half a tin of coconut milk, a handful of strawberries, a hint of vanilla and as a last minute inspiration I threw in some dessicated coconut ( I like the texture of something rough in my ice creams)

I wizzed everything together and filled my lolly tray - and put them in the freezer for 6hrs. They went down a treat, the dessicated coconut was lovely and the lollies were not that sweet - but didn't last long :) 

nom nom nom

Mini-break

We had some sunshine for a few days and I went to stay with a friend on the west coast. I had a great time, we had a murder mystery party, visited some megalithic monuments and managed a day at the beach complete with swimming and surfing!

Me with factor 50 on - managed not to burn

 The holiday was great, exactly what I needed and we all managed it quite frugally. We stayed in my friend's Mum's place (her family are in Spain on holidays) we were able to drive there and bring food along.
We eat out once, cooked and brought picnics the rest of the time. All in all a very frugal and refreshing break! Now back to filling out job applications and (hopefully) attending interviews.

The view from the front porch!

 

 

***Also, one very handy tip for a trip to the beach is to put your electronics (touch screen phone or kindle) in a ziplock plastic bag to help protect against sand!

Carrowmore Co. Sligo

We visited Carrowmore, an incredible complex of megalithic tombs in sligo. Because my student card was still valid it cost €1 for a guided tour (full price €3) and I have to say it was well worth the price! I have paid much more for far shorter less enjoyable tours. We brought a picnic and had a wonderful time

Mixed Berry Scones

I am coming to the end of my frozen berries from last year, I was going to be baking my cottage pies and decided to throw together some scones as the oven would be hot anyway.

• 450g/1lb strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
• 5 tsp baking powder
• 75g/3oz  butter,
• 75g/3oz caster sugar
• A handful of mixed berries (still frozen)
• 2  eggs,  beaten with
  
• 250ml/9fl oz milk

I mix everything together and spoon the mixture into my silicone muffin tray (you don't need to worry about greasing or sticking)
Glaze with milk
Stick them into the oven once the pies had been cooked and bake for 10-12 minutes (or 15 if like me you forgot about them)

I didn't get a picture before everyone had a scone - so here is the lone remainder

Please ignore the whiskey collection in the background, and the fact that the last scone is a little deformed. It will get eaten none the less!

All in cottage pie

It has been a damp week with me, I was cooking for my family and wanted something that would warm them up in this weather. I also wanted something that could be prepared in advance.
An easy go to dinner that I like that pleases most people is cottage or shepherds pie. I was cooking for some picky customers this time, so I made two - one was plain with meat, gravy, peas, corn, beetroot and mashed potatoes. Mash contained garlic and rosemary and a smidge of butter.

The larger one was filled with all of the above and some chickpeas, onions, peppers, broccoli, aubergine, courgette (basically everything in the fridge) The chickpeas stretch the meat out, but maintain protein. I added some chipotle peppers and some raspberries to the gravy in this pie.

For the gravy I used bisto - at bit of a cheat but I find it very useful.

I also put a little grated Grana Padano on top - it adds to the flavour and appearance without adding too many calories to an already cosy meal

Frugal Exercise: Part 1 - Get out and run

I'm afraid even frugal exercise involves hard work. My own exercise regime is relatively frugal. You can pick up good running shoes for £15 - after that you don't really need that much else.

I am very lucky to have such an enthusiastic partner to keep me focused on my goal (being able to run for 20 minutes without killing myself)

I try and get out every day, this is made easier by having my little pupage to spur me on. Find a local walkway or even if you aren't lucky enough to live near any green areas plan a route that you know is safe and get going (there are also great internet sites that tell you how much you've run - even googlemaps does a good job)
If you are trying to lose weight I would advise you to get up and go for a quick walk/jog before breakfast - this helps you regulate your blood sugar during the day. Here is a link to the NYT article that goes into more detail

Frugal Stationary

As a student teacher and as a newly qualified teacher I find the phrase "I don't have a pen" to extremely irritating. And on the advice of one a more seasoned veteran I instigated this approach.

If you have forgotten your pen I will give you one, for a small charge.

This might sound awful to some people, but it is the only way to works. I usually charge about 10p and the money goes to charity.

I don't buy pens to supply the children, I acquire them. All of my friends and family know I am a pen fiend and they gather them for me too. Any time you see pens being given away snag some

There is nothing more disruptive or disheartening than a child not taking part in class. I always carry a handful of pens and pencils in my bag. I know that students should learn to bring their own supplies to class, but as I am a newly qualified teacher trying to make a good impression and maintain order in the classroom I wouldn't do it any other way.

Rain Rain Go Away!! Marbling Nails

SO, this summer isn't going the way I expected weatherwise! Here are some ideas to keep children entertained on these long wet summer days.

Personally I am a fan of the raincoat and out we go policy, but even for me the rain has been a bit heavy. So I been trying to think of some ideas (other than daytime tv - which is awful) to keep little folk (and some not so little folk entertained.

If you have a female centred bunch I have found nail art to be a great way to keep a group of young women entertained and sparks their creative side. I tried nail marbling with the girls at my local youth club and it worked a treat.
You can use nail varnish you already have, ask the participants to bring some of their own, or pick up a few colours in pounds shops.

Check out some videos on youtube or eHow

I used white from a french manicure kit for the base and just had a bit of fun

Some of the designs the girls came up with were amazing!

Elderflower Cordial

Where I live we are reaching the end of the elderflower season - and I have been busy. Taking my pup with me I head off into the woods and gather Elderflower.

Although there are plenty on the side of the road I don't pick those - as you don't wash Elderflower when you use it for cordial the roadside flowers are a little to chancey for me.

I followed this simple recipe:

Elderflower Cordial

10 heads of Elderflower, (remove any critters but don't wash)

1kg granulated or caster Sugar

600mls of Water

1 unwaxed Lemons

Add citric acid if you intend to keep it for longer periods

In the same book from which I found this recipe I also discovered a recipe for elderflower Ice. I will hopefully try this soon and post about it.

 

- Put the sugar in the pan with the water and bring to boil. (make sure to use a large saucepan to prevent any scalding sugar escaping)

-Prepare the heads of elderflower in a large bowl add the rind of the lemon and then add the sliced pieces

*if you intend on adding citric do so now  

- Pour the sugar & water over the elderflower and leave covered overnight

-Filter and bottle the mixture 

I passed it through a sieve to get the larger pieces

Finished product

I then made up a bottle with some sparkling water - perfect!