Cheap food: it’s ubiquitous and a lot of it is downright awful for you. I’m talking about the stuff that makes your mouth water when you are hungry in the evenings. I’m talking about those delicious fatty, white-bread fumes wafting out of the fast food stores. Yum, cheap food. However, we all know that the cheap food isn’t really all that cheap. It takes a toll on your health. You need fiber, you need fresh fruits and vegetables, you need whole grains. You can do this on the cheap too – it just takes some planning. One of the most … Continue reading →

Buying mugs for your house can be interesting, especially if working to a budget and needing them to be inexpensive. Also, a lot will depend on whether they are going to be tucked away in a cupboard when not in use or on display. Recently Mick and I went mug shopping. Every week we have a bible study group meets at our place and if they all turned up we did not have enough mugs. To my mind there’s nothing worse that standing around having tea or coffee and chat while trying to balance a cup of hot beverage in … Continue reading →

We have several snack monsters in the house. They are in the form of small children who are always hungry. Well, there are some medium children now, too, along with all of their friends. It seems that every time I turn around, someone needs a snack, either at home, to be packed for school or to be brought along on outings. If I counted out all of the minutes that I spend retrieving or preparing snacks for everyone, it would probably be longer than the time I spend waiting in line, or sleeping. Imagine all of the use that time … Continue reading →

After nine years of marriage, I finally decided that it was time to break out the good china. For many years, we have had a set of plain white plates and dollar store style cutlery. It has sufficed, but it’s not that fancy. Over the years, our white plates that we got as students have become chipped, stained, and dinged. Likely they were not really designed to last a lot longer than a university degree. We’ve stretched them nearly three times that much. It’s no wonder that they were looking a little sparse and worse for wear. For our wedding, … Continue reading →

I went to an amazing garage sale the other day. If I’d had five hundred dollars or so, I would have walked out with some bargains. There were antique fabric-covered chairs, a gorgeous engraved hallway table, and cutlery to die for. It was the most expensive garage sale that I had ever been to, and I loved it, even if I could only afford a magazine rack. It is a nice magazine rack, let me tell you. Our house is not nearly as chic as that garage sale. In fact, if you could walk into my kitchen you’d be amazed … Continue reading →

When we moved into our current home five years ago, I was thrilled by the size of the kitchen. I’d cooked in a thin, counter-less galley kitchen for five years, and before that I’d cooked in a teeny tiny space-less basement suite. Yuck! So a kitchen that had counter space, cabinet space, and even a place to put a table…this was my dream. Over the last few years, I’ve finally gotten around to creating a working pantry in said kitchen. Here are a few things that I’ve learned about how to create and maintain a successful pantry: Create a rotation … Continue reading →