Insourcing...my value in the home...May 2020

    I may as well be up front. This post is mostly about my chandelier restorations and gratuitous blinging.   And a bit about cooking.   I've always loved chandeliers. When I was a child, my mother worked in the kitchens and function rooms of the five star hotels in our city. We as kids, would sometimes accompany her when she could not find a babysitter. We were good kids, and would sit quietly filling the salt and pepper shakers and sugar bowls for the chef.   Always, always, there were chandeliers. I adored them. And ever since, I've wanted them in my home.   It's been a long, long, loooong wait, and has taken viewing of many chandeliers, to decide my preferences.   But to my immense pride, I saved enough money to buy these French Empire Basket chandeliers, and pair of wall sconces, from a flea market in Nice, earlier this year. I had to walk past many other beautiful treasures to fund these, and that alone, just about broke my heart. But I am so thrilled with them! I had priced these over the last decade or so, and they range from $1,200- $3,000 each.   I bought these two chandeliers, and the two wall sconces behind, for 500 Euros for the lot, and about 250 Euros to post them home. 750 Euros at that time, would have been the equivalent of about $1,400 AUD. BUT, to buy these locally or online, would have cost me around 3 to 4 times that price, so I'm very pleased indeed.     Alas one of the wall sconces was broken upon arrival, and clever husband had to find a way to fix it. Mission accomplished though, and none the worse for the wear. Many crystals were also broken, and we had to source new ones locally. If you look closely above, you can see some of the octagon chains, dangling loose from their moorings.   Meanwhile, Husband was totally converted to the whole Chandelier idea by this time, and as I've mentioned a few weeks ago, we found this one below, as a total tangled mess, in a thrift store. It had two wall sconces hung on it, as the store staff thought they were part of the main chandelier.   We paid $90 for the chandelier and the two sconces.   Husband patiently untangled, repainted and reattached the crystals and we ended up with this....     But I wasn't done. Oh no, no, no.   Since we had to buy replacements for the French chandeliers, I decided we needed further bling on this one.   16 chains and maple leaf drops later...     ..it looks like this....     ...happy me.   Meanwhile....here are all the crystals...sigh...pretty.   And that gold spiky thing? That's one of the wall sconces we scored for well...let's say $15 each. Bereft of crystals.     And here it is now...     ...not in it's final spot. It still needs replacement of the little mirror behind it too.   Next project will be to replace the acrylic drops and octagon chains on our $110 bargains from Bunnings Warehouse, seen below, with the real crystals. To buy these already with true crystals would be around $1,000.   All up, our crystal spend has been around $500 for ALL the crystals we needed.   Total spend on chandeliers and wall sconces has been $1,510.   Let's say that's a total of $2,000 over a six month period.   Total value purchased new, or online from antique dealers, around $8,000. And that's a conservative estimate.   I'm pretty chuffed with that!   Meanwhile, it's not all about crystals.   I made broccoli soup in the slow cooker. The potato gives it substance.
Why buy individual custards, when you can make them...

...and turn them out into little ramekins, pour over maple syrup, and call them Cheats Crème Caramels...  
Mothers Day brownie gifts were made. This one had a base of Lindt chocolate. To buy these in an upmarket deli, would cost around $4 each. I made 24 the same size for around $8. That's a value of $96.00 for a spend of $8.00.  
I packaged them like this....

..although in the past, I've also done this...  
Here's that recipe:  

Microwave chocolate brownie

 

Place 125 gms chopped butter, and 200 gms chopped dark chocolate in a large microwave proof bowl.

Microwave on medium power for 3 minutes until not quite entirely melted. Stir until smooth.

Add 1 1/4 cups soft brown sugar, 3 eggs, and 3/4 cup plain flour to the chocolate mixture and stir until smooth.

Pour the mixture into a 650ml-750 ml square microwave safe container and cover with cling wrap.

Place the container on a microwave proof rack or upended plate in the center of the microwave.
Cook on medium (500w/50%) for 6-8 minutes.

Cool in the container.

To serve dust with icing sugar.

Daughter made beetroot gnocchi. We all joked that these look more like miniature meat patties, but the were delicious nonetheless. Three serves of gourmet gnocchi at a restaurant? Around $60. Ours cost around $6.     Feta, lemon, chilli and basil pasta for lunches. Around $2 per serve to make. Around $16 per serve to buy.     Jam drops. So easy to make. Ridiculously expensive to buy.     I made 4 dozen.   Apparently that's about $52 worth.   My value in the home this month?   A very lot.   As my younger sister used to say.   About $6,500.   Happy me.   How is 2020 shaping up for you?   ...Mimi...  

Insourcing....how I saved money in October 2018...

 

I love reflecting on what we've achieved in the last month. Sometimes it's staggering how much we insource, and almost every month, we learn a new skill. You can too!

 

This month, we ate well from our pantry, refrigerator and garden. The weather is about to warm up considerably here in the Sub-Tropics, so we made the most of enjoying cool weather food for the fading days of late Spring.

 

Gluten free pizzas are a favourite here since I mastered gluten free pizza dough as seen above. You can find that recipe here.

 

 

Likewise, gluten free pastry is a new favourite. I used my Nannas old faithful recipe, and found that lard makes all the difference. That one is here.

 

Fried rice has been a go-to easy meal in this household since...well...forever.

 

Here's that recipe in a couple of sentences Nanna style.

 

To four cups of cooked rice that you've steamed the day before (or these days, 1-2 family sized packet of precooked rice), add two crumbled chicken stock cubes, a handful of diced bacon, and a cup of mixed frozen vegetables. Stir fry until heated through, and add a teaspoon of Sesame Oil, a tablespoon of soy sauce, 1/2 a teaspoon each of dried garlic granules and dried onion flakes, and any diced leftover meat such as chicken or roast that you might have in the fridge. Done. Just as good as any takeaway...better even.

 

Of course, now that we are moving into hot and humid weather here (when it's not thunderstorming!), sometimes a platter of chilled things is the only way to go when friends come around. Likewise chilled water is the order of the day over cups of tea and coffee.

The apples have been so sweet, juicy and delicious lately, that it's almost criminal to do anything to them, but we do love a good baked apple with greek yoghurt and honey now and again. So when the aforementioned thunderstorms reduced the temperatures for a nanosecond, these little pretties went into the oven.

 



 

Nobody can resist those new yummylicious home made gluten free pizzas. They're a new Saturday night treat. Sometimes more often. We load them up with roast pumpkin cubes, baby spinach, diced capsicum, fresh herbs and semi dried tomatoes, and go easy on the fatty deli meats, so they're lighter and healthier.

And...okay...not the healthiest, but so yummy and retro, home made gluten free sausage rolls. Again, I load the meat with grated carrot, zucchini, cubed eggplant and capsicum and handfulls of baby spinach, wrap it in purchased cheaty gluten free puff pastry, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. In 15 minutes I'd made 18, which is enough for two hearty meals for the three of us for around $10.

 

One tray went straight into the oven, and one went into the freezer for another day.

 



Of course you remember that I love fridge cleanout day and I was proud to only have to discard half a tin of coconut cream that had been decanted, but not labelled, and thus forgotten at the back of the fridge.

 

Here's my fridge all ready for the grocery delivery, which was mercifully small this week, and mostly consisted of pantry items. Here you see all my veges ready prepared for the week ahead. These include julienned carrots, diced green capsicum, halved cherry tomatoes, cubed pumpkin (for those pizzas!), sliced cabbage for coleslaw for burgers and stir fry, and more. This saves us so much time, energy and effort. It's an odd reality, that one hour of preparation, once a week, potentially saves you several hours when you're busy. Truth!

 

Here's some of my Chinoiserie cushions and pillow slips, either ready to stitch or already stitched. A bit different, but I LOVE them.

 

And here's a bit of faux tortoishell for you. This one hand painted by me. This is all but finished except for the glass top, which is on its way. I can't wait to share it with all of my pretties back in place.

 

 

Here it was before. Not awful, but just in need of a glamor makeover, like many of us...lol!

 

Going back 20 or so years ago, I'd stained everything this cherry colour.

 



 

That included the chess/coffee table, which I neglected to photograph in it's 'before' condition when overcome by a painting and gilding frenzy.

 

This is it actually upside down so I could paint it more comfortably. That carved detail really POPS when highlighted with a bit of gold leaf Rub 'n' Buff!

 

And once painted and gilded, Husband laid some faux tortoise shell of a different kind. This is the acrylic that pick guards on guitars are made from. It's found a new life as a coffee table surface.

 



 

We love it!

 

I can't begin to tell you how much money this saved us in October. But professional Faux Finishers are not cheap, and of course, you know that making your own Fake-Away and preparing meals saves a bomb.

 

I'm going to say $1200 saved on either a professional painter or a new desk.

 

About $300 on the coffee table.

 

Minimum $300 on preparing and avoiding takeaways.

 

And stitching new linens and cushions myself...I'm not kidding when I tell you that has saved at LEAST $500-$750 for the kind of designs I was admiring. That's a whole other story!

 

I'm calling October a $2300 month of savings, and that's conservative.

 

You CAN have Champagne taste on a sparkling water budget.

 

You've just got to be prepared to get your hands dirty.

 

Tutorial for that Tortoiseshell finish coming up later in the week.

 

How was your October?

Insourcing #28...Teen School Holiday Fun and Recipes!

School Holidays always seem more challenging when it comes to insourcing and saving money. Especially when it comes to teens, right?

They want movies, they want popcorn, they want to hang out at the shopping mall with their friends...and money...always there's money involved.

We manage this by allocating two days each week to 'outings', where yes, we may spend some money. Sometimes a lot of money if it's a visit to a theme park or some other 'all inclusive' sort of activity. Well, holidays are for making memories too, aren't they? So we can't feel too guilty.

The rest of the time is spent enjoying our lovely home, and making our own fun. 

We have friends over, both adult and teen, we bake, we sew, we swim in the pool, we make jam and chutney and marshmallows.

In preference to spending up big on fast food or cafe meals, we buy fresh seafood or other perceived 'luxury' ingredients, and the teen child-woman experiments with Crab Omelettes and Oysters Mornay which honestly costs no more than the nasty aforementioned takeaway fast food. We make our own cafe style cakes seen above, and Thai Beef Noodle Salads, seen below. So, already, at sixteen years of age, our daughter knows she can replicate her favorite cafe' and restaurant meals for no more than the price of a single cafe meal.

Of course once upon a time, we were replicating Cheeseburgers and Chocolate Thickshakes and calling it McMummy's. What a long way we've come!

Here's the recipe for those four dishes, in four sentences...

Thai Beef Noodle Salad with Tangy Spicy Dressing 
Makes 8 single serve tubs

To a packet of rice noodles, cooked or softened, add 4 julienned carrots, half a bunch each of fresh Coriander (Cilantro) and Mint, and one Continental cucumber, cut into chunks. Pan fry some steak till medium rare, remove from the pan, and slice thinly once you've allowed it to rest for a few minutes. Toss with a dressing made with 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/2 a fresh chilli, sliced very thinly, 2 teaspoons of fish sauce, and 2 teaspoons of sugar, shaken till mixed well. Portion into cute little takeaway style tubs to make it fun.

Ingredients $20
Equivalent takeaway value at our local Thai takeaway $12 per tub ($96) 
Insourced savings $76

 

Oysters Mornay
Makes one dozen

Make a quick, thick mornay sauce by microwaving a tablespoon each of butter, milk powder and flour (we use gluten free) in a microwave safe jug for one minute, and adding a cup of boiling water, whisking till smooth. Season well, and spoon over fresh oysters on the half shell, topping with cheese and a pinch of smoky paprika. Bake, barbecue or grill till golden and bubbly, and serve 3-6 as an entree` or up to a dozen with sides as a main meal.

Ingredients $13
Equivalent restaurant value $36 minimum
Insourced savings $23

 Crab Omelette
Makes one generous serving for three people

Whisk 6 eggs with a dribble of milk and a large handful of freshly chopped herbs of your choice. Add a large knob of butter to a hot frypan, and pour the egg mixture in, gathering the sides to the middle as the edges cook, and tilting the pan to force the uncooked egg to the edges. When mostly cooked, add up to 250gms fresh crab (or tinned if no fresh is available), and a handful of grated cheese. Fold the omelette and cut into two or three generous triangles, and serve immediately with a side salad.

Ingredients $25
Equivalent Restaurant value $120
Insourced savings $95

 Date Cinnamon Ginger and Lime Cafe Style Cakes
Makes 12

To a Butter Cake Mix (yellow cake) made up according to the instructions, add a handful of chopped pitted Dates, 2 teaspoons of powdered Ginger, and a teaspoon of Cinnamon. Pour into muffin pans (we used a cute one with square shapes instead of the usual round, snaffled for the bargain price of $4 at the supermarket), and bake until they spring back in the middle when touched, about 10-15 minutes. Make icing by combining half a cup of Icing Mixture with a tablespoon of butter, a few drops of lime juice and some lime zest. Ice and decorate with single slivers of lime zest.

Ingredients $5
Equivalent restaurant or cafe value at least $5 each ($60)
Insourced savings $55

Of course, it's not all about food!

Drying Kaffir Limes

We've also sun dried some Kaffir Limes from our own trees, to use in Potpourri. We simply sliced the limes, and laid them out on a cutting board in the hot sunshine for three days. These make the potpourri smell lovely and fresh, and they're pretty to look at, in their own right. Kaffir limes are not good eating, and if you could smell them you'd know why. They have a very distinctive 'cleaner deodoriser' sort of scent that is lovely in potpourri or cleaning products, but not so nice to eat. It's actually the leaves that we grow the tree for, which we use in Thai and Indian dishes. Custom handcrafted potpourri is astoundingly expensive, and we have the ingredients now, between rose petals, dried lavender stems and flower heads and lime slices to make four sweet packages to gift. We saw some just yesterday that was $35 per packet, so I'll base my calculations on that price.

Ingredients nil cost...all from our own garden
Equivalent retail value $140
Insourced savings $140

Keeping cut flowers fresher for longer

I was fortunate to be gifted several bouquets over Easter, which I much prefer to chocolates these days! I love fresh flowers but there is a bit of an art to keeping them looking their best for as long as possible. Here's how...

Remove the flowers from their wrapping and have the bin nearby. Arrange several vases to accomodate your blooms, filling them about half way, and adding a pinch of sugar and a drizzle of bleach. This discourages mould and bacteria. Take each stem, and trim it to a length that will look pretty in your chosen vases, making a diagonal cut, not one straight across. This gives a greater area for the cut bloom to take up water.  Remove any foliage that would be under water in the vase, as this is what causes the water to become smelly and ultimate wilts your flowers more quickly.

Arrange your flowers to please your eye, and enjoy. Change the water every second day, trimming the stems a little each time, and remembering to remove any further leafy bits that will then be under water.

Your flowers should then last 1-2 weeks. Some will die more quickly, but at the moment, out of the four bouquets I received, I still have the equivalent of two in vases around the house. The Gerberas, Lilies and Roses always seem to go first in our hot weather, but the Chrysanthemums, Lisianthus, Alstroemeria, and greenery are doing just fine.

I'm going to call this a saving on buying more cut flowers at $35 a bouquet, so I'll call it...

Insourced saving $70

And of course we always take the opportunity of down time to do some creating. Here is a throw that was a joint venture between my daughter and I, each picking the knitting up to knit or purl a row as we felt we wanted, and enjoying the random outcome. This softest baby pink is our most favourite yarn, and we are now on our last ball, so I hope I can source some more!

 

Hand knitted throws are crazy expensive, so I'm going to call this a $65 saving on a bought throw, and an equal saving on an activity to entertain my teen daughter!

Insourced saving $130

 That's a total of $590 that we've kept in our bank account by utilising what we had on hand, or buying fresh ingredients and cooking at home over eating out.

Not only that, but my daughter has learned some new skills, as have the friends she's invited that were here at the time, and we've put our energies into making home the place we all want to be.

If I add in the usual things we DIY like hair straightening (saves $45 each time), manicures (2 of us at $25 each time), dog bathing (saves $20 a go), cleaning the house (saves at least $100), and the building project that my daughter and hubby have on the go that is saving us over $1000 (it's a gable for our entry gate) giving a further running total of $1,215 to add to the $590, we have a grand total of ....

$1805!!!

 I call that one good week!

What did you DIY, insource, or learn to do this week?

...Mimi...

This weeks insourcing #6....

Cooking is such a restorative activity. Our family motto has always been, 'When you don't know what to do, just cook'.

 

So cook, I have.

 

Summer Garden Casserole with slivers of Triple Brie seen above.

 

Sooooo yum.

 

All you do is thinly slice about six tomatoes, a couple of field mushrooms, slice the kernels from some corn cobs, and sliver some of that glorious Australian garlic that is HUGE. Pop it all in alternate layers of tomato, corn, mushrooms, fresh basil and rosemary, and garlic slivers in a quiche dish (3 layers of all that is good), sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil, and bake in a moderate oven until it all collapses and warms through...about 60-75 minutes. Serve with brie, or bocconcini or even croutons on top. Dee-vine.

 

Cinnamon cookies with cherry ripe centres, seen below.

 

Summer fruit jam here....

 

 

Jam is so easy....just equal parts fruit and sugar and a bit of lemon...

...and home made Prawn toasts here....

 

All up that lot would have cost a pretty penny had we had similar meals out and about. Lets just say this week insourcing on gourmet jam alone saved around $50. Honestly. I saw 'gourmet preserve' at the fancy schmancy fruit market yesterday for $9.99. Ten bucks for jam....puh-leeeze.

 

Fancy chinese meal? At least $60 saved there.

 

Fab vege bake thingo? No idea, but anything like that served at a café, is around the $18 a head mark. So lets round that up to $60 as there would have been coffees and such involved there for sure.

 

And big, fat, delicious cookies? Well last time I looked that were selling for about $3 each. I made 36. So that's around $100 worth of cookies....whaaaaaat??

 

Someone said to me recently that you can't count the savings if you wouldn't have ever bought that thing anyway. I guess that's true. But by putting a value on the things that I would HAVE to buy if I worked full time and couldn't make them, I get a very clear picture of my value in the home. That's the rub, isn't it. Work = $$$. But if I can stay home and save an equivalent sum of money by insourcing, then I get to have the best of both worlds and so does my family.

 

What do you think?

 

.Mimi...