Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Somebody? Anybody?

Hi my dears:)

Do you know amazing film Julie&Julia? I love it, I love it at all. This is so funny, lovely and also inspiring film about blogger Julie Powell (which really exists and has a real blog here on blogspot called The Julie/Julia Project). She dicided to start her own challenge - to cook for one year every day one recepy from her favourite cookbook from Julia Child (I also have a book and it is amazing too:) and blog about it.

Hovewer, why I mantioned it? After few days or weeks, Julie didn´t have any comment. And she wrote on her blog something like "Do you hear me? Somebody? Anybody?". Sometimes, when I am writing this posts, I am wondering, if somebody is interested in.

I really would like to have a lot of readers, so if I should speak Czech or write more about home furnishing, sewing, DIY etc., just tell me:) I don´t have enough motivation to write this, if anybody is reading.

Thanks for your comments! See U. B.

Money saving tips

Hello everyone!

I would like to share with you some findings about saving money:)

At first I have to say, that saving money takes time, and sometimes really a lot. So you have to consider, what is more for you? Time or money. You know, in the Czech republic we say "Time is money":) So, it is up to you, but I wnat to be honest to you, so I am telling you everything about it.

But what about some tips?

1. Plan shopping

If you are going to buy some food or anything, make a list at home in advance and don´t buy anything what is not in that list. It is really hard sometimes, you know, you see your favorite chocolate or chips in sale and you have to buy it. There is another important fact: never go to shop food hungry! You will buy much more that you want. So make a list and be sure that you have everything you really need on it and maybe write some possibillities. For example: I want to cook comething with cauliflower. But there is brocolli in sale in the shop. I know, that it does not matter, which one of these vegetables I will use to my recepy, so I buy brocolli instead and save some money. AND DO NOT BUY ANYTHING ELSE!

2. Plan cooking

It is really great to plan main meals in advance, for example as a menu for a whole week. Of course, you cannot plan exactly every course, but main meals is possible. So make a list of meals with recepies, if you need, as I did on friday and buy anything you need for these meals. Of course, it is not a unchangable, but you have seven possibilities to cook something when you arrived home after work and it is much more easier to cook if you know what and you have ingredients. So I plan one meal for every day, just generally, and than every day cook what I would like to eat. Usually I do it more and eat it for dinner and next day for lunch. And I do not mind have two same meals if it is fresh and tasty. Moreover if you cook more you can get it to work (what I am doing) and save money for luchn in the restaurant or fastfood or you can keep it in some plastic box in the fridge or refrigerator for next week:)

3. Use leftovers

Another saving tip about cooking. You can use almost everything if it is not rotten or something. Leftovers from rice, potatoes, mashed potatoes even pasta you can keep in fridge and use to thicken some soup or another meal, you can do for example potatoes croquettes from mashed potatoes etc. You can also keep leftovers from vegetables like onion, carrot, parsnip etc. and make some broth. Everytime you want to throw something away, think! CAN I USE IT AGAIN?

4. Keep food how it should be

I was never thinking about this, but every single piece of food have its own place in the kitchen. Fridge has its rules, because in any shelf is different temperature. Some vegetables need to be in, some out, some in plastic bag, some never. Is is really important to keep food in the best condition to have it fresh for a long time. In our kitchen we have always problem with flour moths, these small butterflies, which really love pasta, flours, rice, oatmeal etc. All the time I has to throw away almost everything, after few weeks it was full of them. Then my friends toold me, that you can do everything at home right, but you bring them to your home from shop! So she advised me put everything like this to the refridgerator immediately I bring it home from shopping. Leave it here for night and that you will be free forever! And really, it works! And it saved me a lot, so if you have same problem, try it.

5. Drink plane water

Don´t buy any bottled water! It is really expensive and in the Czech republic is tap water often helthier and tastier than from bottles. So if you have hard water buy some kettle for water which will filtered everything out. It cost about 500 Czk and you have to buy once a month a new filter for some money, but it will save a lot. And also you can use this water for cooking etc. and you will also protect your pots and pans against limescale. Hovewer! If you need to drink some sweet drinks, buy syrup or squeeze some lemon or orange to jug of waterand it will be so refreshing and delicious. You can also use mint leaves and cane sugar and make a virgin mojito, or ginger for ginger lemonade etc. AND! Buy some nice small bottle which fits to your bag and bring it everywhere with home made tasty drink. Remember, how often you buy some small drink when you are shopping or waiting for a bus etc.? There is a really amazing invention called Bobble, you can google it. And it is a half litre bottle with integrated water filtre, so you can use tap water almost everywhere! Isn´t is amazing?

Another saving tips about food and energies will come tommorow:)) I am really interested in this topic and have a lot information so I can speak about it for hours, if you will want to!

Tell me, what money-saving topic would you like to read? Energies? Food? Clothes? Cleaning? DIY?

See U, B.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Just do it

Hi guys!

Today was so busy day, that I can´t do anything else that I did, sorry! I know, that I promise one challenge every day, but today´s challenge was to get everything done.

I have got my breakfast, I did everything at work I want to, then I went to buy monthly bus ticket, to the post office to pick up some packages, to shop to buy some food. After that I arrived home, cleaned up almost everything, than read emails, prepare and cook meal for dinner and for tommorow lunch and it is eleven p.m. I can´t imagine, I can do more today.

My mouth still hurts, I hope it will stop in a few days, so I am not in a really good mood to do any really creative or special project. Do you know this type of day, when you really did a lot, maybe you did more than anybody else but still have this strange feeling that you didn´t do enough? What do you do if you have this situation? Any ideas?

Hovewer I did what I have to and that was my the biggest challenge of last days.

See U, B.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Saturday, January 21, 2012

I need space, says my t-shirt

Hello everybody!

My today´s challenge was something like double challenge:) Let me describe why!

Two days before I was sorting out my clothes. I sort out really lot of clothes (I don´t understand how, but I had so much blue things despite the fact that I don´t like blue at all in fashion. Other stuff was viollet, what is the same case). Hovewer, it was really big bag od clothes (you know IKEA blue/yellow shopping bags? So one of them was full). Anyway my closet is still crowded and overloaded. Is is really hard to pick something, to choose some combination, which fits together, and if I pick something, three other pieces fall down.

Decision: WE NEED NEW CLOSET/STORAGE FOR CLOTHES

It was really hard to find some space in our small apartment, hovewer I got it! I have to move my workspace to our living room part, and instead of working table in bedroom part we will have a wardrobes for everyday clothes. I made some plans in my favourite PC programme called Sweet Home 3D which is really easy to understand and than to make some nice simple visualisation for example to convince husband that it is necessary;) AND, what is really important, it is free to download:)

So this is how it looks like now:



Friday, January 20, 2012

Delicious!

Hello my dears!

Todays challenge will be about food. I am vegetarian for a few years and this my decision is really connected with my challenge and also with healty food. From monday to friday I am at work and most of my meals I eat in our company canteen. It is really cheap, but not so healthy and not so tasty all the time. Moreover meatless food is ussually something sweet or fried. And I think that eat fried or sweet food all over again, it is not so good for your organism and for your healt. And also it is really good for saving some money, because if you are well eaten, you don´t need any junk food, fast foods etc.

Because of that facts, I decided to cook one delicious meal every day and get it to work for a lunch. This will be challenge with a long-term character and I would like to share with you guys how I am going do manage it.

In my opinion, where you are working through a week and you have also family and some hobbies it is really dificult to manage everything. So very good plan and preparation is needed. I find some really interesting and inspiring webs with repecies, for example http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/. And this is not just for vegetarian but for anybody who wants to keep healthy and save some money. On this site you can find lots of recepies, cheap ones or meatless, it is really up to you what do you want to eat and cook. Amazing is that there are really new and tasty recepies for me but cooked from available ingredients.

So the first step is to create your diet plan for whole week, than shop, prepare everything and cook. I tried and suggest you this way, I think most time-saving and easy.

1. Create your menu for whole week from monday to sunday today (on friday)
2. Create also your shopping list for everything you will need and don´t have at home also today (on friday)
3. Consider what is possible to buy in advance and what is needed to be really fresh (for example rolls and bread is better to buy more times a week to keep it delicious, but also every vegetables for example stay fresh  for whole week)
4. Go shopping on saturday morning. I decided for this day because in our city we have on spring and summer really nice grocery market and I can´t buy fresh and cheap vegetables here. Anyway it is the best day for shopping, because I am ussualy not at work an have time to do big purchase.
5. After that shopping I just put everything on its place and have a rest of the day free for my hobbies and family.
6. Sunday is a preparing day - I try to prepare everything what is possible to prepare - cut vegetables and put it into Lock-lock boxes, make a vegetable broth and keep it in freezer etc. It save you really much time and cooking after work every day will be much more easier for you!
7. Every day after work when I arrive home, I get my coffee and some break and then I cook my food. It takes me from 30 to 60 minutes and it is not so horrible. Because during cooking you can wash your dishes etc., so you are really satisfied how much things you can manage in one day.

What do you think, is it possible to you prepare nice meal every day?

I really calculated that it save my money, I am in better mood after really good meal and don´t need eat any fast food stuff. So what is my plan for nex week? (You can click on every name of meal and get recepy)

MONDAY: Gnocchi with broccoli & parmesan cream sauce 
Gnocchi with broccoli & parmesan cream sauce

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Day off!

Hi guys!

I want to be honest with you so there is a true: I didn´t have breakfast today and no challenge is comming.

I hope I have a good excuse, because I was at the dentist in the morning and he pull out one of my wisdom teeth. And I was so nervous I can´t eat anything. And today I am really out of order, just lying on the sofa or bed, eating baby food and everything liquid and suffer alone:) It is not so bed and I think that the first day is the worst, so for tomorrow I have a big plans. Hovewer I am not going to do anything big today, any challenge is in my schedule.

Could you forgive me one day off?

But I have to tell you that I am at least looking for some inspiration for my workspace/craft corner, which I want to make over during weekend.

So please, be with me, and tommorow I will be right back with really great challenge for me and also for you!

See U, B.