Even more 'FREE FABRIC' in todays post

I had another load of fabric samples in todays post including some suede and leather pieces

These larger rectangular bits are about the size of a postcard and are from Laura Ashley. I also quite like the bright stripy fabric i've been sent

One company sent me a sample of each of their fabrics - all quite small little squares but will be good for getting patchworking with - again leathers and suedes in with them - i've pictured my hand next to them so you can judge the size of the a bit better:

I'm not sure if I have any more fabric samples still to come - but so far i'm really happy with what i've managed to get and will be able to use it all in crafting!

Starting Patchwork with my 'Free' Fabric

Well i've now started to get a few of my free fabric samples delivered and have more still to come. I'm quite impressed with the size of some of these samples - great for getting crafty with the biggest ones are about A5 size (I've got a few peices of silk, velvet and leather in there as well which is nice:

These are some of the first delivery of free fabric samples i've already cut up to start working with:

and my first 2 patchwork blocks - be gentle with me - they are my first proper sewing project and they are all being hand sewn

I am doing what is called 9patch's here and due to the small sizes of fabric samples i'm working with i'm keeping the patches quite scrappy and unmatching - I did try to get quite a lot of neutral colours and blues in my sample requests - so hopefully it will have a few common colours running through it.

I've not decided yet on whether to make a quilt or something smaller - so for now i'll just make up a load of patches and then decide.

Spicy Toad in The Hole - Recipe (Total cost about £1.50)

I had a pack of super cheap value sausages to use up and a couple spare egg's - a quick search on http://www.supercook.com/ found I had all the rest of the ingredients needed for a Toad in the Hole - I doubled the recipe up as I had a lot of sausages to use up and I added my own spicy kick to the recipe.

Using the value sausages this whole meal - enough for 4 people cost about £1.50!!

RECIPE FOR SPICY TOAD IN THE HOLE

Ingredients:
2 Eggs,
150g plain white flour,
1/2 pint milk (I used semi skimmed),
8 sausages,
2-3 tbsps of oil,
Good Sprinkle of dried chilli flakes
1/2 a teaspoon of curry powder

Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees

Fry up the sausages until they are just cooked through use 1-2 teaspoons of oil - they will cook further in the oven

Whilst the sausages are cooking mix up the batter using the eggs, milk, flour, chilli flakes and curry powder and beat well/whisk

With some of the oil coat the bottom and sides of the dish you will be using

Place the sausages in the dish trying t arrange them so there is a bit of a gap inbetween them for the batter - pour the batter mix over the sausages and cook

Cook for 20-25 minutes (personally mine took longer about 35-40 minutes)

How to find a recipe based on the ingredients you have

I got quite annoyed the other day of browsing through my recipe books to look for recipes which would use up specific ingredients which needed using.

A quick google found this site: http://www.supercook.com/

In the green 'add ingredient' box you simply start typing the ingredients you need to use one at a time and then suitable recipes will come up and they'll ask in green at the bottom if you have other ingredients needed for the recipe or there will be a nice big green tick to show you have everything you need.

Very Handy!

Fabric for FREE

I was searching on a couple forums I use for freebies and samples to apply for - and I couldn't find very many - I'll post up photos of what I get over the next week or so.

HOWEVER

I found by searching on google loads of fabric companies and sofa/furnishing companies offering totally free fabric samples/swatches

As I'm thinking of having a go at some patchworking anyway I applied for loads of different fabric samples and it will be really interesting to see what arrives and what ideas I come up with.

Luckily my future Mother In Law has a few handy files with lots of patchwork info and articles - so I shouldn't need to buy anything much to get going at all.

Looking forward to the post over the next week or so to see what turns up!

A mixed day - need to plan food shopping better

My partner has been away with work for almost 2 weeks now and I don't think we did the food shopping very well before he went - especially when it comes to fruit a veg.

Today I threw out an entire bag of oranges and they were just too green and too soft and bruised to use - If I'd planned better i'd have only purchased a few little bits of fruit for myself.
(I have found out today that oranges can be frozen - so next time I buy a bag i'll freeze half of the straight away)

I also had to throw out a baking potato as my partner had put it on a sunny shelf in the kitchen rather than in a dark cupboard so it was really green and sprouting shoots everywhere (I live in a first floor flat - so growing it is not an option)

I haven't spent a single penny today though - so thats good

I missed breakfast and just had a coffee
Lunch was reheated pasta bolognaise from the other night which I had frozen a portion of
Supper was a cheap pack of rice from the cupboard (I seem to have packets and packets of the stuff) with some fried turkey breast strips from the back of the freezer (must be from christmas time) with some herbs and spices mixed in

I think really when my partner comes back this wednesday we need to have a good sit down and stocktake all of the food we have and see what meals we can make from it before we start buying things we don't need.

I have been thinking about all the old clothes we have and have an idea - but it will involve spending a little money - I might make an old fashioned patchwork quilt by hand.
I will need a decent pair of scissors and some wadding as well as possibly a baking piece of material and some more thread and needles.
So when i'm next in town i'll pop in and see what it costs.
I also need to line my bedroom curtains as they are really thin and the light comes in (partner works shifts so needs to sometimes sleep during the day) so I might see what i can do there with an old sheet and my future mother in laws help and sewing machine.

Awesome April - Blog Giveaways i've spotted

The following are some pretty fab blog giveaways i've spotted which are open to the UK and ending in April.
Thought my fans and followers might like them too.

Please feel free to share this post about.

Ends 03/04
Prize is a fairtrade jute lunchbag and pretty fairtrade ribbon and bead necklace
http://kiwiandkumara.com/2012/03/28/kiwi-and-kumara-giveaway/

Ends 04/04
Prize is an awesome makeup bundle
http://girldoesgeek.com/2012/03/big-beauty-giveaway.html

Ends 05/04
Prize is a makeup bundle
http://gabysbeautyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/giveaway-bh-cosmetics-international.html

Ends 08/04
2 little makeup prizes to be won
http://www.daisybutter.com/2012/03/week-in-photos-ilc-and-mua-giveaway.html

Ends 12/04
Prize is the cutest lipstick i've ever seen - the actual lippy is in the shape of a cat!
http://www.hivenn.com/2012/03/paul-joe-cat-lipstick-giveaway.html

Ends 14/04
Prize is a cute little handmade bundle
http://dollydollydaydreams.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/its-giveaway-time.html

Ends 15/04
Prize is nail varnish
http://life-sparkles.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/current-favourites-barry-m-nail-polish.html

Ends 20/04
Prize is a fab little bundle of goodies: eyelash curlers, cath kidson hand cream, lippy and a necklace
http://maydaybeauty.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/giveaway-150-followers.html

Ends 24/04
8 Prizes to be won including: satchels, vouchers, makeup etc..
http://www.vipxo.co.uk/2012/03/4000-follower-giveaway.html

Ends 27/04
Prize a few little baking bits
http://mbakes-mbakes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/nielson-massey-blog-giveaway.html

Ends 29/04
Prize is a fab makeup and beauty bundle
http://fashionturntotheright.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/800-follower-giveaway.html

Ginger and Banana Bread

I was sat here on Saturday afternoon - feeling quite hungry and debating on whether to go over to the corner shop to buy some cake to have with my afternoon cup of tea
Normally this would turn into a bit of a splurge and I'd easily spend £5+

I managed to avoid temptation by looking at what I had at home and making use of the 4 brown and spotty banana's I was thinking of throwing out

A quick search on google and I found i had everything I needed to make Ginger and Banana Bread

GINGER AND BANANA BREAD

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs - beaten
2 1/3 cups of mashed banana (I used 4 medium size bananas)
2 level teaspoons of ginger powder
Handful of Sultana's

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees centigrade and prepare a loaf tin
• Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, sultana's and ginger in a bowl
• In a seperate bowl cream together the sugar and butter and then stir in the eggs and banana
• Add the banana mix to the flour mix and stir together until combined
• Pour the mix into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 60-65 minutes until a skewer/knife can be inserted and come out clean

The result was quite yummy and made enough to last a few days in a cake tin
As I had everything here already - I didn't have to spend a single penny!

Welcome to my new blog

This year has had quite a rough start for me with debt that I seem to be unable to shift and quite a few poorly family members, including my Mum who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Following my Mum's positive attitude towards things - i've started this blog with the following aims for the end of the year:

• To get my debt under control and start seeing it come down
• To waste less
• To recycle and re-use and make do and mend more
• To cook from scratch
• To attempt some DIY and crafting
• To try and win things or get things for free that I would normally have to buy

How I am with these things at present:

My debts currently stand at about £3500 - I aim to use a savings jar and literally put into it the money I can save from doing the things on this blog and once I have a reasonable amount in the jar i'll put it towards one of my debts.

Waste - My partner and I seem to waste an awful lot - the biggest waste is probably food being thrown out where we overbuy when we go shopping and just don't get around to using things in time
Our other big waste is money - as silly as it sounds we really do end up renting too many dvd's and having too many takeaways etc..

Recycle, Re-Use, Make Do and Mend - at the moment I am pretty terrible with recycling and have loads of things I could be re-using and mending

Cooking from scratch - I have far too many takeaways and really don't cook from scratch often enough

DIY and Crafting - I would really like to do some things around the flat to make it more homely and give it more of a theme - at the moment we have mostly the landlords furniture and the place is quite run down and shabby with nothing matchig at all.
I would also like to make more gifts and cards.

Winning things and getting things for free - I am already a 'comper' and enter lots of competitions, but I also intend to hunt out samples and freebies and get review products for my projects where I can

Wish me luck!