Feather your Nest Friday, 29 May, 2015.

The week is almost over and so is the month of May! What a big month. And a tiring week but a good one!

These are some of the ways I built up my home, saved money and feathered my nest this week:-

I painted a really old ladder to use as my herb and flower drying station. I like rustic but this ladder even when scrubbed clean just looked grubby. So I painted it with some paint I had. So far I am drying some of the roses Lucy was given, rosemary, basil and mint. I have Bay Leaves coming from Mum's garden. Teri described her herb drying techniques on Wednesday and I am going to be doing a lot more drying as part of my preserving.

I did a lot of cooking. And I have found myself cooking old fashioned wholesome things to give Lucy as she is a feeding Mum. Baked custard and Baked Rice Custard, roast vegies, chicken soup...

I even made "lactation cookies" The nurse at the clinic gave us this recipe. Making them I was doubtful... they contained Brewers Yeast which does not smell good. I think Wednesday the dog might end up eating these cookies. But they will be very healthy for her!

However, good old fashioned eggs, milk and vanilla is probably just as good. And so comforting on a cold winters night. I used to make custards like this all the time when the girls were little.

This is delicious. Very smooth and with a lovely vanilla flavor.

This is the recipe, it is so easy.
You need two medium baking dishes. The smaller is for the custard the larger is for this one to sit in and fill with water.

About half a cup of cooked rice. I use left overs that I have frozen for this.
4 eggs, 1/3 cup castor sugar, 2 cups milk, 1 and 1/3  cup cream, a teaspoon thick or good vanilla. Cinnamon to lightly sprinkle over the top.
Blend your eggs and sugar then add your milk, cream and vanilla making sure you get it very smooth. Sprinkle your rice over your baking dish and pour over egg mixture. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
In medium oven place your larger dish and then your mixture dish inside of that. Using a jug pour cold water into the bottom dish so that it comes around 3/4 up the sides of your top baking dish. Let cook like this for 35 minutes and check it. It should be looking golden and softly firm. (if that makes sense!) If its still too wobbly give it a few more minutes.
Carefully remove from tray of water when finished.

You could do this in individual serves in small dishes if you like.

It comes out as smooth as velvet. Let it cool a few minutes before serving. It is nice cold also.

I progressed in my freezer challenge. I used frozen rice for the two dishes of Baked Rice Custard I made. I used left over frozen bacon and cheese for pizzas, we ate a freezer meal one night, I used up berries in muffins, ate soup from the freezer for two lunches and used a Plum Cobbler for a desert.  So I have created space and had a re arrange and it's much better. It is kind of tragic to have a freezer and then see wonderful specials which you can't take advantage of because the freezer is full! I've got to keep it rotating!

A week of being home, helping Lucy, cooking and things meant I really didn't spend any money but it was a really productive and good week.

This was Andy this week with Harper. I think he is going to be called GrAndy. Except Harper can't talk yet so there's no way of knowing for sure! Harper grew and gained plenty this week. I put that down to all the custard I sent over! :)

 Being the end of May I need a little review. I go back and look at my goals for the year. It's easy to forget what you even wrote down! I am going ok except for one glaring area which is my walking. So I need to do something about that.
One of my main goals was my pantry and cellar. I am going well with those. I think because I review them weekly or more.
I also need to get working on my present stash and Christmas presents. Now I am about to finish the blanket I will get stuck into things that would make good gifts. Making presents is like everything else. Just making one thing per week now will give me almost thirty presents ready for Christmas. But usually I can make a few things a week. And yet waiting until November or December it would seem daunting. If you have supplies in your cupboards and you turn them into presents for Christmas and Birthdays you are turning them into cash. What a huge saving!

I think I learned a lot in May, especially in regard to food storage and thanks to contributors who have helped so much. Thank you. This is building up our homes. Knowledge and new skills are a great advantage to your household. Sometimes learning one new thing can turn out to be a massive saving.

How did you save money this week? How did you build up your home? I hope it was a great week and you can feel really good about the things you did. All the things we do add up so much!

Have a wonderful weekend! xxx