Re-Use Formula Tins

Trying to stream-line the house is becoming more and more difficult  now everything has a home, I have been saving the formula tins for a "rainy day". Then the other day as Master A was throwing them around the study and I was trying to tip-toe around them and not trip on my face, how silly a idea it was to save them considering he has moved on to toddler milk so we won't run out tins in the future.

I started to investigate ways to use them and then actually DID it! Instead of writing a list I got up and followed through, baby steps but Pinterest I have you in my sights! "I'm a Pinner, not a Do'er" No More!

Some of these ideas I haven't tried but I can't wait to give them a go...Poor Master A clung to his last two tins and ran off down the house with them to save them from crazy crafty mummy, it's ok I got them back while he was asleep Muahahaha!

I still need to do 13,14,15 and 18...and give Master A back two so he can have his drums back :/ bad mummy...

1. Use them in the shed for nuts & bolts and all that other man stuff
2. Use a drill to make patterns on one and create a candle holder, I have mine all drawn on with marker ready for hubby.
3. Good ol' drum set
4. Store plastic bags in, just cut a "X" in the lid
5. Pour unwanted oils in and put in freezer
6. Store dead batteries in to dispose of safely
7. Store buttons, ribbons, safety pins, beads, marbles all those little crafty things
8. Store home made laundry detergent or anything that isn't liquid
9. Cut a hole in the lid and stuff full of scrap fabric, I ripped up a old sheet I was just going to toss but make sure you check for fraying and make sure its cut long enough to avoid choking but short enough to avoid strangulation 
10. Paint cans
11. Ashtray, I put one on the front step so hopefully one of hubby's friends will get the hint they go in there and not on our front lawn. 
12. Rolling rattle toy, I just stuffed some soft drink lids and other crap that I didn't want Master A putting in his mouth in, you can hot glue or duct tape the lid down if your worried about it being opened
13. Make a cookie can for presents or any baked treats.
14. Colour coded tins for a colour matching game
15. Centrepieces
16. Paint and put a animal themed stencil on one for pet treats, I've also used one for animal meds
17. Put a slit in lid to put lids into, just make sure they aren't too small, like the soft drink lids.
18. Bolt to a bit of wood and paint a nice colour for the entry or back door storage

Next week I think I'm going to tackle toilet and cardboard rolls, do you have anything you have saved for a rainy day that you don't really know what to do with?

I shall upload photos onto my facebook page tomorrow as it is alot easier than uploading them onto the blog...or maybe I'm just not doing it right? LOL

Wk 29 SYL Paper & Information Management

UGH! I had to make myself a cuppa for this one hehe

I have just organised my office again, but i know my filing cabinet needs a weed out but "out of sight, out of mind" you know?

At the moment our collection area is the dinning room table, I can't wait to have a nice area in the new entry way. Although I need to do something for receipts to keep them under control and sorted for tax time.

I'm in the process of putting my routines in my iPhone as I have my planner open on the day, and I keep forgetting to open it a few pages back.

I keep items that need action on my roll out desk drawer under my desk, very handy.

I have a two drawer filing cabinet, the lower level has all our warranties and instruction manuals, although I think I might add a folder for what each item is. The top level is for everything else.

And a four drawer little desk cabinet that I have my business paperwork in one drawer and another drawer for the sustainable housewife blog and page, one for hubby and one for me.

I need to catch up on my emails mine are currently at 10400 something eeek! I plan on going through the days emails plus another 10 and hopefully I will catch up soon. :/

SYL Wk 28 Cleaning

Oops I didn't realise how much time had passed with my head stuck in my new business.
Reading through Week 28, again I am in my element after all this is why I started my blog. To set up cleaning routines and see my progress. It has helped immensely I can't believe the transformation in just five months. I can't believe the way we used to live YUCK!
I love Flylady's 15 minute approach, and have slowly worked out a weekly, daily, monthly plan. But if I miss some things it is ok because I focus on one part of the house for one week so I know it will come around in another month, takes a lot of stress off me.
If you want to check out this post about my routines or my facebook page I try to post up twice daily 5 minute missions to keep you motivated. I also post up de-cluttering missions to keep on top of clutter because if your house is cluttered it's impossible to clean.

Sunday Review

I haven't done a weekly wrap up or a blog for that matter for a little while, I decided to start my own business! HA bet no one saw that coming! To be honest, neither did I but I'm loving every minute of it.
It all happened rather quickly, a local pet minding franchise was selling and they wanted a bit of money for it but after going to the accountant and seeing the figures it just didn't look like a good deal to have to pay back that loan for nearly four years before I started to see a profit. My mum, even before I saw the accountant said, "why don't you start your own business?"
"Don't be silly! I couldn't do that!" I replied in horror, the idea scared the pants off of me! But after seeing the accountant and mulling over the business I could see the potential and the excitement grew.
Also seeing the horrible news about the local dog thefts for suspected dog fighting in Newcastle just broke my heart, I mean people have to work to have the life they want for them and their pets they can't stay at home worried about some low life stealing their dogs. I was upset I couldn't do anything to help I felt so useless! Now with the business I can be with people's pets to deter these sorts of pets, I get a lovely warm fuzzy feeling.
I floated the idea on local mummy and pet fb pages and the response was great, so I jumped in and set the business up. I try not to think to far ahead otherwise I'll just scare dinner out of me, and just focus on one day at a time. I already have a client and starting another client this week, helping her get on top of housework while she recovers from a sore knee. And kitty sitting a friends cat who's made himself right at home :)
I still have to pinch myself that I get paid to walk and cuddles these gorgeous animals, talking to my dad and nan about my business yesterday at lunch and they couldn't believe how much I charge to just walk a dog, they nearly fell off their seats when I told them that I have undercut the other pet minders in the area and also offer half priced on your fifth visit and seniors get 10% off all year round. It is unbelievable the prices that some people pay and I'm not in it for the money I do it because I love animals and it makes me so happy to see them happy.
And Master A is walking now! it happened rather quickly too, the same speed the business grew he would walk that little bit longer, take that extra step every day and now he's a real little boy. It's a perfect example to make sure I don't become so consumed by the business and to take notice of my family.

wk 26 & 27 SYL challenge

wk 26 is about simplifying what we have, make sure everything has a home and it lives where it makes sense to us, not our mother or neighbour but to the people living in the home. And to really take notice of our hot spot areas, glad to know I'm not the only one who uses that terminology, and to assign homes to the hot spot items.

When I have a hot spot growing, I like to clear it then put something pretty or functional there it makes it a whole lot less likely that I'll let piles pile up again.

Since moving back into our own home, I've been very mindful of where things go. For instance, in the kitchen the cups were in another cupboard a few steps away from the kettle and in a smaller cupboard, crazy right?! I de-cluttered my plastics and jars I've collected and swapped where they lived, that led onto the whole pantry and every other cupboard and drawer being inspected and changed, lucky I have a teeny tiny kitchen so it only took half a hour.

wk 27 is about starting to create routines. I'm in my element! At the start of the year I didn't have any routines and was always playing catch-up, it was so stressful. Now with the routines I have in place I feel a lot less calmer and I still can't believe it was so easy. Now the blog and Facebook page are helping me stay on track as well.

I post a lot of my routines and the like on my blog and Facebook page daily so feel free to have a look for more of a idea. But some of the routines that pop into my mind, are meal planning for a month and buying the groceries once a month, using the slow cooker. Just dump the food in and in 8 hours...hello, dinner!

I clean out my fridge once a week and check the pantry once a month.

I bought a planner at the end of June and a business card holder. I love both of them and don't know how I ever lived without them.

I have a weekly review of my week usually on a Sunday and plan for the week ahead and write up a little blog to keep my motivated.

Hubby says he is going to make a covered entry room so I can have a big launch pad for mornings, I can't wait! Will definitely blog about it when it happens.

Natural Spider Repellent

Ever since having my son, I've become a whole lot more wary of using sprays and items that have ingredients I can't even pronounce. I'm slowly but surely replacing and finding alternatives for the chemicals I use.

I hate spiders! I'm ok if its a non-venomous spider and when they're on the other side of a big room, they can sit there and eat all the bugs they like. Any my cats love to watch them walk and try to catch it, if they have ever caught a spider I haven't found remains yet *shudder* I hope I never do. But if the spider is in the hallway or right over my head, or it is poisonous. I feel bad but you really have to go!

We have the old style sash windows, with lots of lovely places for spiders to hide. When we moved back after renting out our house for six months the cobwebs and red-backs made me have to put my head between my knees and breath into a paper bag. I grabbed the hardcore bug spray and sprayed the windows then grabbed the vacuum cleaner and sucked the webs and spiders up. After panicking that a spider had managed to escape the spray and gotten inside the house! And my neighbour and I ripping the lounge and blankets apart to make sure it was safe, well ok. I ripped everything apart while my neighbour pee'd herself laughing.

So now the windows are spider clear I want to find a natural way to keep the spiders away.

Did you know spiders taste through there feet? Lucky they have eight!

All you need is a citrus essential oil mixed with water in a spray bottle. That's it! But make sure it's essential oil as it seems to be more potent.

Spray this across the doorsteps and windows, really anywhere you don't want the spiders to make a home, but make sure it dries before letting pets and children near it.

So hopefully with this natural repellent my lovely neighbour can have some peace and quiet from now on. :D

Cleaning Bath Toys

Ashton & I love his rubber ducky and dinosaurs but I don't love the black gunk that builds up inside, it doesn't matter how much I squeeze after bath time and make sure they air dry till next bath, they all ways end up nasty and I just wanted to rip my hair out!

I googled how people clean their bath toys and was surprised at how many parents have just chucked out the rubber bath toys in favour of plastic jugs. While it solves the build up issue we enjoy the toys to much to just throw them out.

I grab a bucket, 5L or around that size

1/2L warm water to 5L vinegar, you can play with the ratio

I fill the toys with the vinegar/water solution and squeeze it all out, I repeat a few times then fill them up and leave till bath time

For the things with suction caps on the back I grab a old toothbrush and brush all around and over the caps and also go over the animals air holes, there is usually one on the mouth/back and one on the bottom of the animal

Give a good rinse and squeeze out a few times with fresh water before putting back in the bath for bath time

This is also a great way to clean the caps of your non-slip mat that sits in the bath if you have one

And since its environmentally friendly your kids can help if they are at that age to teach them about helping out with their toys- don't tell them I suggested that! 

Weekly Wrap Up

This week has gone by in a blur of sickness, poor Ash has been hit by everything this week and today has come out in a rash I rang gp access and apparently its just a part of having the 12 month immunisations, but we are booked in to our doctor tomorrow to check how his ear is going after our Monday visit and we found he did have a ear infection so he's been on antibiotics for the week at least something has gone right this week.

Went for a walk with my neighbour, Ash and Cleo on Sunday it was lovely, I've forgotten what a workout it is pushing Ash and the pram! And I've decided to do 50 sit ups in the morning to try and tone my tummy now the pouch is gone from all the walking I've done I get to 30 and want to die LOL

some good news! my iphone is working again! I have my life back :D

Tomorrow is the start of my new planner and hubby and I have decided each pay we are going to put a grand aside towards renovations and debt repayment so hopefully this time next year, we will have all the renovations done and all our debts paid off except for my car loan which will hopefully be able to be consolidated onto the home loan, I'm really excited that we are both working towards our goals hopefully we can keep each other motivated!

I'm really pleased how well the house is running with all the routines I've set up, it almost takes care of itself it seems but I'm still not entirely happy how I run my blog and fb page, this week I'm making it my goal to tick off all my planned posts and get up nice and early

RIP Iphone

This morning I felt like my world was ending, I had just ducked into Master As room to get a shirt and jumper while daddy was on the couch watching him, silly me thinking everything would be ok just because dad was there, rookie mistake!  -.- I walk back in to find Master A using my iPhone as a biscuit to dunk into my tea, even though I was mortified I couldn't help but think how darn cute he was being so gentle giving my phone a bath.
I rescued my phone, turned it off and put it in the sun. Little did I know that would be the last time I would get to use my phone. I raced to the local Apple and Vodafone store, picked up a $20 cheapie phone that only makes calls and texts. That's it. No Facebook.No Internet. No games. No camera. None of the little aps i waste my day on.
I. Could. Cry!
Its been six hours since the Phone Dunking Incident or PDI for short, and in those hours I've come to realise how much the iPhone takes up of my day, its just a little bit here and there so you don't really notice it, but it all adds up and how I'm actually using my time, total fail really!
I'm playing with Ashton more, really getting down on his level. We put the dishwasher together and ran its first cycle- yipee! ( I think that is husband guilt right there though- but I'm going to milk this for all I can) I realised my routines weren't working for me, well they would work a whole lot better if they were right there when I woke up instead of in a room I don't go into till after another hour of being a zombie on the couch- darn body clock! can't sleep till midnight then takes hours to wake up gahhhh so annoying! So I'm writing them up in my new planner to keep on my night stand so I see it when I first wake up in Zombie Mode. Oooh I love it, I'd take a photo to show you, but ya' know... phone's dead... darn
Of course too late, I figure out Outlook can sync your notes from your Iphone to your computer I'll try that as soon as I get my new phone.
Who knows, maybe I might become more productive without being connected 24/7. I read a interesting article last night about someone who turned off for a month it was really interesting, I'd post the link that I had saved but...yeah...phone's dead and I can't remember it

Oh God! I miss my iPhone!

Frugal Friday- Power Reads

I love my books, when I was younger I was the biggest bookworm, now I'm older I find the time to enjoy a book less and less. Deb from Home Life Simplified introduced me to Power Reads a few months ago and I love it! I signed up for the emails and I get a list of free e-books for the day that I can download to my iPhone. As a hardcore book lover it took me a little while to get used to the coldness of reading this way, I miss the smell of books and flicking through the pages. But I do love that they're not taking up space in my tiny house, that it's one less thing my toddler can rip off the shelves and something more valuable can go higher up now. And my toddler can't rip the book from my hands to have a "read" himself, when I say "read" I mean chew and destroy. And if we ever move again I won't have to move them, saving money and time and did I mention this is FREE! Yipeee! I must have saved $150 since I started, the most expensive book I got for free was $30 but most are for $0.99-$5.00

Got. To. Love. That!

My week & SYL wk 24 Clutter Prevention

This week I've been under the weather, taking care of Master A who had his one year needles then developed croup. State of Origin night we slept in the lounge room because he screamed in his room I finally got over my fear of "should I move him? It might wake him up, maybe I should just leave him...what if he rolls into his toys and wakes himself up anyway? Or one of the animals treads on him?" And moved him to his cot at midnight, he didn't even stir lucky me!

I dusted off and updated me resume, and sent it to a company looking for a weekend receptionist. Fingers Crossed!

 Friday saw me curled up on the couch feeling blah and sorry for myself, when some people I knew stopped in for a cuppa. Actually getting up and doing something made me feel a little better. And the weather is nice for a change! 11 weeks till Spring...not that I'm counting :D

Week 24 Clutter Prevention

I love this week! I had the biggest clutter problem a few years ago, but I couldn't see it, everyone else could but I couldn't see any problem with it after all I needed all this stuff! it's not clutter if you need it.

The things that helped me, was moving and having to pack everything up but I know that's not possible for everyone.
When we moved back, I looked at each room and labelled them, master bedroom, spare and computer room, Master A's room, kitchen, lounge room and dinning room. And listed what goes in there, while unpacking I made sure to put likes with other likes then purged the excess. If I couldn't decide where a item should go, I packed it up into a storage container to be opened later. I kept all our nick-nacks packed away. Just because they were packed away didn't mean I loved them any less.

I made sure when items were put away that they each had there space, if they couldn't fit, I purged and packed away or donated again.

I still do this even six month later I go through each room and really look at what is in there, if there are things that don't suit, fit, belong or I haven't used it in six months or really looked at it and enjoyed it and I can't figure out where to put it. Into a storage container it goes.

If I found I was still piling I cleaned the surface off and put something pretty or functional in the middle of the hotspot, having something there made me not want to start to make a mess.

It's really been a big help having my five year goals written down, even hubby is excited about them and we've started brainstorming how to get them achieved. Its really exciting when your family is on board with your goals :)

{FRUGAL FRIDAY} Saving energy

Today is the first post of what I like to call Frugal Fridays. Today's post is all thanks to Amber, who posted a question on my facebook page about slow cookers being energy efficient.

I did some digging and found two posts that clear it up, the first is from Ergon, a Australian electricity company that lists the cents/hour. It is a great starting point but this post from the SA government has a handy how-to guide I love to do things for myself rather than take someone's word for it, especially when it comes to my hard earned money, ok hubby's hard earned money.

Do you have any energy saving websites you love to use?

My Daily Missions How I Clean

I've broken my home up into zones to make cleaning more manageable and so I don't get overwhelmed as I don't have huge chunks of time to clean, and really even if I  did I wouldn't want to!

There are four zones so each month a bit of my house gets a going over, I put my timer on for 5/10 minutes and once it buzzes I either stop or I have a rest and do another 5/10 minutes but trying to beat the timer is great motivation and I rarely need to reset.

Because a bit of my house gets seen every month If I don't get something done, I don't stress because I know I'll get to it in another few weeks and even a little bit done still is better than nothing, just keep chipping away!

I post my missions on my facebook page I would love to know if your joining in with me! And even if when i post its not a good time for you, you can always do the mission when it suits you.

I also have weekly, monthly, six monthly etc tasks which I'll post up as well and what I'm doing throughout the day :)

Home Made KFC

Ingredients

• 2kg chicken legs
• 1 cup plain flour
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 beaten egg 
• 1 cup milk

Method

1. add seasonings and flour into a plastic bag and shake well to mix
2. add egg to milk and mix well
3. dip chicken legs in egg wash, then into flour, shake well to coat
4. lay legs onto an oiled baking tray, spray lightly with cooking spray if desired
5. bake in moderate oven, about 180 degrees, for 25-30mins, turning once or twice until chicken is cooked through and browned.

Slow Cooker Tuna Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 tin cream of mushroom soup
• 300mls cream
• 2 large tins tuna with brine, dont drain
• 2 cups uncooked pasta
• 2 cups frozen mixed veges
• 3 shallots chopped
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 1 tsp ground pepper

Method

1. add all ingredients to cooker except cheese
2. cook low 5 hours or high 3 hours, about 30 mins before serving, stir in cheese.

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

• 1 medium sized pumpkin
• 2 carrots
• 1 medium sized potato
• 1 onion
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp chicken stock powder
• 2 cups boiling water
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup cream

Method

1. peel pumpkin and cut into even chunks
2. peel potato and cut into even chunks
3. peel carrots and cut into even pieces
4. dice onion and place vegetables in slow cooker
5. in a mug mix stock and spices, fill mug with 1 cup water and mix
6. add liquid to slow cooker and cook on low 4hrs or high 2hrs
7. blend with a electric mixer and add cream

Cottage Pie

(serves 4)

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 450g beef mince

• 1 large onion, chopped finely

• 2 medium carrots, chopped finely

• the leaves of 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme

• 2 bay leaves

• 400g tin of tomatoes

• 1-2 tbsp tomato paste

• 290ml beef stock

• dash Worcestershire sauce

• mashed potato topping

Method

• Preheat oven to 190 degrees
• add olive oil over medium heat, add mince, onion and carrot, stir until beef is browned and vegetables are soft.
• Add herbs and stir for a minute, stir in Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and stock, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. season to taste.
• Boil and mash potatoes. Pour mince into casserole dish and cover with potato and cook for 30 minutes.

Apricot Chicken

Ingredients

8 Chicken Pieces

500g apricot nectar

1pkt french onion soup

1 brown onion, diced

Method

Place chicken pieces in casserole dish with soup and onion, season with salt and pepper and add nectar and stir. Cover and bake at 180 degrees for 1 hr and 30 minutes.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday- Apricot Chicken

Tuesday- Cottage Pie

Wednesday- Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup

Thursday- Slow Cooker Tuna Casserole

Friday- Homemade KFC

Saturday- Leftovers

Sunday- Slow Cooker Roast Chicken

SYL wk 23 & How I organise my wardrobe

Week 23! I still can't believe I'm all caught up! Such a great feeling :D

This week is all about our wardrobes :/ ugggh!

I'm going to try and do this for the change of season, so every six months or so. The thing that drove me absolutely bonkers though was my UNDIES! And I finally sorted them once and for all! And it was so easy I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. And you can do this for any item that you have alot of, not just undies.

I had a drawer FULL to the brim with undies, it was so full I couldn't shut the drawer.

First, what I did was folded them and stack them, they made four piles in the drawer to fit them all in. Then when I would get dressed in the morning I would make a effort to actually think about what I was putting on, did they have any holes? Stains? I found a pair that, I think got bleach on them! Has the elastic gone? Were they too tight? If it was a yes in the bin they went!

When I did the laundry and went to put my clean clothes away I put the undies, I also did my socks, for a month till I got through them all, in my dresser. It can be anywhere you don't usually go for your undies, even a storage container under the bed! Now, I'm really ashamed to say this but it took three whole months to reach the last of my undies and I tossed half of what was in my drawer.

With my other clothes I turned my hangers facing the opposite way to how I usually have them, then every time I wore a item and washed it I turned the hanger back the 'right' way, so I could easily see what I had worn and what still needed to be worn and If I wasn't wearing it, why not? And should I donate it?

I kept a donate box in the bottom of my wardrobe to easily put items I wanted to donate then when the box was full in to the car it went! Nice and easy :)

What are your tips for a tidy wardrobe? Would love to hear them :)