SIMPLE HEALTHY FRUGAL

INGREDIENTS 1 whole chicken (free range or organic preferred) 2 carrots, chopped 4 celery stalks, chopped 1 zucchini, chopped 1 onion, chopped 4 cloves of garlic, chopped half a bunch of parsley, chopped 1 tbsp Sea Salt or Pink River Salt Pepper Olive oil METHOD Heat oil in a large saucepan and boil a full kettle. Sauté carrots, celery, zucchini, onion and garlic until lightly brown. Add chicken, parsley stalks and salt to the pan and lightly brown. Pour boiling water in the pan. When the saucepan begins to boil turn the heat down low and put lid on. Simmer for 2-3 hours then remove bones from the chicken. The best way to do this is by pulling the whole carcass out and putting in a large bowl. Then use tongs to take meat off the bone. If you want just broth then leave the chicken out and add the rest of your parsley. If you want to make chicken soup, add the chicken back to the broth. If you’re going the soup option you can add more veggies and ...

May is our most expensive month of the year, with five family birthdays and Mother’s day coming off the back of Easter. So a few years ago my husband, the kids and I came up with “Super Frugal June”. What is Super Frugal June? Super Frugal June is where we combine all our frugal knowledge and we put it into extreme action. Last year we managed to save roughly $3000 for the month of June. To achieve our Superfrugaldom we do abide by strict rules (just for the month). Otherwise it becomes just too easy to order yummy pizza because you know you have the cash. Super Frugal June allows us to recalibrate our spending habits and get back to basics. It also allows us to enjoy and maintain what we already have, which is enough, by the way. Your Super Frugal June rules may end up looking different from ours and that’s awesome. But to give you a little inspo here’s our Super Frugal June list of rules. SUPER FRUGAL JUNE RULES No buying books, toys or clothes Buy fruit and veg in seas...

With Mother’s Day just gone the topic of rest, me time and self-care are an important topic for us all to talk about. As Mother’s we are told how valuable and integral we are to our families. And that is completely true, however I think it has led us to believe that our families are unable to survive without us. Even for a couple of hours. And even though, on an intellectual level, we know that our families can survive without us temporarily, how is the guilt? Anyone not feeling it? Well I’m here to tell you that there is nothing, and I mean nothing that is more important than your health, especially your mental health! Rest, me time and self-care are absolutely essential for a Mum’s mental health.  In nearly 20 years working as a Naturopath there is one word that is perceived as particularly offensive. Rest. When a person (any person) is struggling physically or emotionally, often rest will be one of the prescriptions. If only I could take photos of people’s face...

I recently went through a time of acute anxiety which was confusing and very scary. The reason it was confusing was because I had no real reason to be anxious, however it was there and it was very real. My heart would start to race and I’d become extremely anxious about something quite trivial, to the point of tears at times. After a few days of feeling sorry for myself and struggling on I thankfully had one logical thought “I’m going to try as many things that I know help with stress and anxiety and see how I go”. It literally came down to making a list of things that are proven to reduce stress and anxiety. And because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only who suffers from stress or anxiety I’m going to share that list here. Meditation, Breathing and Mindfulness Whether you refer to it as meditation or mindfulness, focusing on the breath for as little as 10 minutes a day can help calm the body drastically. Meditation, mindfulness and other breathing techniques have been prov...

When I was trying to work out some frugal activities to do with the kids these school holidays, I remembered how I used to love making my own chocolate as gifts. So what better way to spend a lovely day with the kids and save money than to make our own chocolate bark. Yes chocolate is not exactly healthy but it is unavoidable at this time of year unless you go to the moon for your Easter break. I just wanted a way of giving a high quality gift rather than mountains of grainy, cheap Easter egg chocolate. We had 12 people to give Easter gifts to and we gave ourselves a $40 budget. That works out at a cost of $3.33 each. However, the benefits of the savings pale in comparison to how much people value and thoughtfully hand-made gift. Not to mention how much my kids loved the making process. The thing with making chocolate bark is that it is so easy it really doesn’t require a recipe but I’ll make one up anyway just to make me look smart. INGREDIENTS Dark, milk or white...

Meal planning One thing I have learned on our frugal and simple living journey is that meal planning is one the most effective ways of saving a staggering amount of money. And not only is it fantastic for saving money, it is also one of the best things you can do for the environment. A great resource A study done by Foodwise Australia has found that in Australia our household food waste is as high as $8 billion dollars. Each family is discarding up to 20% of the food they purchase. The average household is reportedly throwing away $1036 worth of food away each year. However, it is costing us far more than that if we are not planning our weekly meals. Without a meal plan, not only do we waste food, but we are also more inclined to rely on takeaway and eating out. Take away and eating out can cost upwards of $100 per week! I suggest visiting the Food Wise website at www.foodwise.com.au . They have many awesome and interesting facts related to food waste in Australia. But the...

A couple of years ago a friend of mine buttonholed me to tell me how High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) was the absolute best exercise for EVERYONE….yes absolutely everyone. And indeed in my professional life as a Naturopath people were banging on about it like it were the best thing since Jazzercise.   Yet something just didn’t sit right for me and it’s not that I was anti-HIIT. What didn’t sit right was the claim that one type of exercise is good for every single person on the planet. A little while later I was lucky enough to be sitting next to a personal trainer who had qualified for the Olympics at my Uncle’s 70 th Birthday. I asked him one very simple question “What is the best exercise for health and fitness?” and his very simple and fantastic answer was “Any exercise you love”. He said basically the difference between people who maintain an exercise regime through their life and people who don’t is that they have chosen to do what they enjoy. Agreed sir, agreed...

Ingredients ¼ Jap pumpkin ½ Butternut pumpkin 1 large or two medium sweet potato 2 large potatoes 1 cup split red lentil 2 french shallots     2 celery stalks 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 tsp ginger, finely grated Gluten free, low yeast vegetable stock powder ½ cup coconut milk 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 Tbsp cumin Salt & pepper, to taste Method To prepare vegetables you will need to cut pumpkin, sweet potato and potato into large cubes and you will need to finely dice shallots and celery.   In a large saucepan sauté shallots, garlic, ginger and celery gently in olive oil until soft. Whilst this is cooking boil a full kettle.   When onion, garlic, ginger and celery are soft (not brown) add pumpkin, sweet potato and potato to the saucepan and coat with oil. Then pour in just enough water to cover, approximately 3 cups. Add 3 teaspoons of stock powder and put saucepan lid on. Cook pumpkin and other vegetables for 10 minutes before adding lentil...