New Life New Blog

It's been a long while since I've posted here! I have recently started blogging again to document our new journey. I'm covering much of the same content as before but on a much larger scale. Earlier this year we sold our suburban home and purchased our dream farm. We are now living on 54 acres in the gorgeous hills of Western Gippsland and are working towards becoming self sufficient. In the short month we have been here we have added new born lambs, a ram, pigs, chickens, ducks and soon geese and guinea fowl to the farm, with hopes to add a few more animals soon.

If you would like to follow along, please head on over to our new blog Living The Dream Homestead or our YouTube channel. We look forward to having you all follow along our journey.

RUN MELBOURNE

I initially gained the motivation to start running because a friends hubby was diagnosed with brain cancer and I decided to participate in a fun run to raise funds and awareness for brain cancer research (you can donate here). I never thought I would be able to run the 5 kilometers and had 5 weeks to train for it. It took me 3 days to accomplish my goal (much better than the 5 weeks I thought it would take lol). Now that I have started running I have become somewhat addicted. I love the way it makes me feel. I can dig deep and push through the pain barrier and mental barrier of 'I can't possible go any further' and break that. I have heaps more energy than before. It's a way to let of steam when I have had a tough day and have some time to myself.

Buggered after a PB

Now that I am running I have noticed that I am starting to lose weight (hooray) which is continuing to drive me now the run is over (although I am about to talk to my physio about running 14 kilometers in November).

I have 5-10 kilos to lose. I have lost 6 kilos since the start of the year and 1.5 cm off my neck, 7 cm off my waist, 8 cm off my hips, 9 cm off my thighs, 5 cm off my bust, 6 cm off my bum. Looking forward to those numbers decreasing more!

HOW I FED MY FAMILY OF 4 BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER AND DESSERT FOR $100 FOR A WEEK & WALLET WATCHING WEDNE$DAY LINK UP

For today's Wallet Watching Wedne$day link up I thought I would challenge myself to feed my family of 4 for $100 for the week. This included breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and some sweet treats. Albeit one of my children is only 7 months old but it can be surprising how much food he can shovel in. That and my husband alone eats for a family of 4. It was a little harder than expected as I like to eat well (not boring) and we also like to eat hot lunches. I originally wanted to try and feed everyone for $50 and then that increased to $75 but the reality hit when I started the shop and the idea spending so little was not going to be achievable, maybe a follow up post with this minimal budget will need to take place. Come along with me on my week journey stating tomorrow, discovering that it is possible to spend less than $15 a day on 4 people for 3 main meals and a couple of sweet treats.

The menu plan looks like this.

• THURSDAY

BREAKFAST: Toast
LUNCH: Meat and Veg Pasties
DINNER: Chorizo and Capsicum Pasta

• FRIDAY

BREAKFAST: Oats
LUNCH: Spinach Tort
DINNER: Beef Pie

• SATURDAY

BREAKFAST: Toast
LUNCH: Potato and Leek Soup
DINNER: Chili Con Carne

• SUNDAY

BREAKFAST: Pancakes
LUNCH: Spaghetti Fritatta
DINNER: Sausage Rolls

• MONDAY

BREAKFAST: Toast
LUNCH: Savoury Muffins
DINNER: Cottage Pie

• TUESDAY

BREAKFAST: Oats
LUNCH: Pumpkin and Feta Scrolls
DINNER: Meatballs

• WEDNESDAY

BREAKFAST: Toast
LUNCH: Spinach and Feta Muffins
DINNER: Pumpkin Risotto

SWEET TREATS: Oat and Choc Chip Dairy and Egg Free Cookies
                               Choc chip muffins

SHOPPING LIST

Grocery Store: 

Homebrand Brown Sugar 1kg $2.89

Hombrand Cooking Chocolate Chip Dark Bits 250g $1.65

Homebrand Plain Flour 2kg $1.88

Homebrand Self Raising flour 2kg $1.88

Homebrand Rolled Oats Traditional 750g x2 $2.98

Homebrand Spaghetti 500g x2 $0.91

Homebrand White Long Rice 1kg $1.99

Homebrand 3 Bean Mix 400g x2 $1.70

Homebrand Diced Tomatoes 400g x8 $6.88

Homebrand Caged Eggs 12 pack 700g $3.66

Homebrand Sunflower Oil 750ml $2.90

Homebrand Tomato Paste 500g $1.39

Homebrand Butter 250g $1.42

F Mayer Soft Feta 500g $3.74

Homebrand Tasty Cheese 500g $4.99

Homebrand Sour Cream 300ml $1.32

Homebrand Full Cream Milk 2L x2 $4.00

Homebrand Puff Pastry 1kg $3.21

Homebrand Frozen Peas 1kg $2.19

Logan Farm Spinach Portions 500g $2.59

Australian Beef Chuck 500g $6.00

Mince Beef Regular 1.5kg $10.49

Chorizo 200g $2.15

Homebrand Arborio Rice 1kg $3.20

Green Grocer:

Potatoes Brushed 5kg $1.99

Leeks x2 $3.00

Chili Bullhorn Red 0.585kg $2.92

Jurgens Rye Bread x2 $5.00

Carrot 1kg $1.75

Onion 1kg $1.49

Corn 4 Cob Pre-Packed $2.99

Banana 1.47kg $4.40

TOTAL $99.55 

What I haven't bought and will use from my pantry: Pumpkin and Garlic from my garden. Salt and Spices. And homemade stock from my freezer. 

How much does your family spend at the grocery store a week?

TO LINK UP:

Follow the host's blog grace in the little things and home sweet kitchen garden

Like grace in the little things and home sweet kitchen & garden. on Facebook

Share the love and read some of the other great tips on how to save money.

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