Lemon and Rosemary Chicken Bake

I mentioned in my day 5 post that I had excess chicken and we managed to use up two lots of it with this fantastic recipe.  I cannot tell you how amazing my kitchen smelt.  It was unbelievable.  We all loved it so it will be made again for sure.

I found the recipe here: http://www.sparklingink.com/2010/10/lemon-rosemary-chicken-bake.html




Ingredients (serves 4)
- 8 chicken legs
- 1 lemon
- 1 pound (450 g) potatoes
- 10 cloves garlic
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- fresh rosemary
- coarse salt & pepper
- glass of dry white wine
Put chicken legs into a roasting dish. Cut potatoes and lemon into wedges. Add in the wedges and peeled garlic cloves. You can half some of the largest cloves.
Add in olive oil, coarsely chopped rosemary, salt and pepper and toss until all the ingredients are evenly coated. Pour in a glass of dry white wine. Bake at 400 F (200 C) for 40-50 minutes until tender, fragrant and beautifully browned.

Day 11

We have arrived at day 11!

It has been a busy week.  We stayed at home on Monday and Tuesday but by Wednesday we were a bit sick of the house.  I had scored a 'one free entry' for lollipops playground and had one ticket left on a pre-purchased ticket of ten that I bought a few months ago.  So admission was just $3.50 for myself and I got a free drink.  You can't take your own food and drink into these places so I made lunch for the girls to eat on the drive out there.  I allowed them to have one purchased drink each while we were there but nothing else.  They also got a free lollipop as they left :)  These days out can cost up to $50 so it was an impressively cheap day!


Thursday was my birthday and I happened to mention to my wonderful sister Jess that I wished I had the spare change for some red rooster.  She decided to grant my wish!  She donated $40 of red rooster to us, which was no easy feat.  She ended up talking to the store owner on his personal phone.  She is  a girl who, when she wants something done, will not give up until she finds a way.  So the four of us were very grateful to all have red rooster that night for dinner.  It was really good.  Poor Jess likes red rooster too and she is on a diet and can't have any :(  Thank you so much for that wonderful surprise!

On Friday I cared for a friends children while she was conducting a funeral and that afternoon when she picked them up she brought dinner as a thankyou.  We are very blessed to have such wonderful people providing for us.

So, we have spent some more on groceries, I got my paper towel, tissues and tinned tomatoes but we are now in need of margarine, honey, eggs and deodorant.  I will put it off til tomorrow when I will be out anyway just to avoid going to the shops frequently.  I always find things we need/want when I am there so the fewer trips, the better!

Yesterday was a special day for us, Craig and I were baptised.  It was really lovely and I am so glad we did it.

I have implemented a flexible routine at home as of this morning as well.  It will give us more good quality family time and minimalise tv time.  Yay!

DAY 11
SPENT: $120.30
REMAINING CASH: $279.70
DAYS REMAINING: 20

Day 5

 I have made it to day 5 and am a little freaked out by the percentage of money spent so far.  We did a slight spurge on Sunday as it was Peaches birthday.  We bought some fresh cooked calamari and potato scallops for lunch.

Peaches birthday party was supposed to be last night but Sugarlump was ill and we thought it best to cancel.  My party is this Friday so we will do a shared party then.  This means though that we have lots of chicken as we were going to have chicken for the birthday dinner.  I have made a rough plan for us to eat some form of chicken every second night so we don't get sick of it or waste it but still use it up.  I am looking at Chicken Adobo, Marinated thai chicken thigh and a roast lemon and garlic chicken legs recipes.  It should make it varied enough I hope!

In other news, we have run out of cheese, (something the girls love) paper towel, tissues and tinned tomatoes.  I am determined not to go to the store until Thursday though so I am going to make do somehow.  We do have a small amount of fresh cherry tomatoes but I don't think it will have the same effect.

The cheap brand bread is horrid, I really miss the soft white bread we are used to.  Doing alot more toast than sandwiches at the moment to disguise how firm it is.

We did some baking on the weekend.  There were cupcakes for Sunday school.

And marshmallow treats for a birthday party.  Peaches helped with these as she had made them before.

DAY 5
SPENT: $90.95
REMAINING CASH: $309.05
DAYS REMAINING: 26

Peaches' Jar of Hearts.

I am adding a video in the hope that my lovely sister will be able to view it here as we have had trouble trying other methods.  Peaches heard Christina Perri's song 'Jar of Hearts' on the radio and has since been wailing 'who do you think you are'? at every oportunity she gets.  It is pretty funny.

  Stay tuned for a No Spend Month update later today!

Day 1 - Part 2

I spent $48.70 on groceries!! Phew, glad I got that out. Almost half the items were home brand and all the meat was marked down. I got dodgy bread instead of our favorite which saved us $2.60 and I saved $3 on apples by buying the cheap ones.

Briefly considered doing a starvation diet... Pluses = lose weight, save money. Minuses = I like food, alot.  Immediately decided against it.

I went to the movies with some beautiful friends tonight and it didn't cost me a cent!  I took a bottle of water with me, grabbed some 3D glasses that I had from last 3D cinema visit and my amazing friend was not too keen on me reimbursing her the cost of my ticket.  What a sweet girl.

Must be off to bed now. 

DAY 1
SPENT: $48.70
REMAINING CASH: $351.30
DAYS REMAINING: 30 (Eeeep!)

Day 1

Ok, so this morning started badly. My husband came downstairs and his belt had broken. We would usually buy a new one but instead he sticky taped it up. Maybe I can op shop one. I am not the biggest op shop fan but hey, imagine how much I can save!!

We are going to a friend's party tomorrow night and need to take something desserty. I have decided that instead of going crazy making something luxurious, I will make marshmallow treats that Peaches learnt at her cooking classes at the start of the year. This is good because 1) I have all the ingredients, 2) Peaches and Sugarlump can help me and 3) they look cute!

A rather massive challenge at the moment is that this next week is Peaches and my birthdays. Presents are all bought (one reason why I blew so much money last month) and to be honest, Peaches is getting very spoiled. I have already put some of the presents into a Christmas box to be given then instead but she is still getting heaps. I really don't think it is healthy to spend so much for any of us. We don't want to set a precedent that this is normal either.
I have a terribly strong instant gratification mindset so it's quite difficult for me to keep things for later for the girls when I know they would enjoy it now. I really don't want spoiled children, this exercise will hopefully teach the girls and I the meaning of patience and just a basic "you don't get it just because you want it" mentality.

Example above of my children getting unnecessary things added to their gift pile!
I am excited but nervous about this month ahead.
I have written out a list of all items in the freezer and will be working out meals using them and what we have. Hopefully when I go to the store this afternoon I won't be spending too much of our precious $400.

Updated photo - My girls

Thought I should share an updated photo since the last one was over 2 years ago...