With my new job last week keeping me busy I was very proud of the fact that I managed to find the time and energy to get sowing some mesculun seed. I borrowed a long trough from my mum, filled it with potting mix, sowed the seed and then watered it lovingly for two days watching it eagerly each day. On day three to my horror I found that one of my beloved furry family members had decided it was just perfect for a litter tray! I almost cried. I decided to reuse the potting mix by putting it into some smaller containers and sowed some sunflower seeds in these as the potting mix could no longer be used for vegetables. I then started all over again sowing my mesculun but this time I recycled some of my husband’s fence netting and used that to cover the trough. There definitely are times that buying your vegetables from the supermarket is a lot easier than growing them yourself but you then don’t have the memorable stories to reminisce over as you eat your hard earned home grown vegetables at meal time.
First Day of Unemployment
Yesterday was my last day of holiday pay so today is my first official day of unemployment since I came back from my last OE almost 13 years ago. I start my short term contract on Monday but as it is only for two months I still need to be looking for a full time career. In the meantime I decided not to waste time so yesterday I started on earning my keep by painting all our window frames and architraves. I have been desperately hoping for over a year that my husband would do it but I have finally come to the realization that this is as likely as winning a major lotto prize. I figure for the next few weeks that if I am not earning my usual full salary that I can ‘earn’ money for our household by doing a job in my spare time that we would otherwise have to pay someone to do. When you are at home not earning wages it can help both the household and your sanity if you can calculate how you can add value to the household finances by your contribution in other ways other than bringing in a salary.
Buy Nothing Day
Saturday was international Buy Nothing Day – personally we didn’t do that well with this challenge as the weekend is our time for supermarket and farmer’s market shopping. However we did manage to hire or borrow a number of items over the weekend rather than purchase them. As November comes to a close we have once again managed to spend less than we did last November which is very encouraging given the economic changes that have taken place over the year. November and December is always the time of the year that hubby likes to start spending for some reason – he is in to his PlayStation obsessed phase at the moment. However on the plus side he is happy for now with his old Play Station 2 and buying and selling second hand games on Trade Me so I guess I can’t complain too much.
Spring growth
I popped outside to feed my vegetables today and there were my lettuces already germinating after only three days since sowing. It is so cheap to grow from seed as long as you are willing to wait – which is something as modern consumers we are not so good at. Yesterday was such a lovely day for gardening – I went and worked in my mum’s garden to help out and make a bit of extra money for myself. I hadn’t been in her garden for about a month and it was so lovely to see everything I had planted a month ago – lettuces, spring onions, sweet peas all doing so well. She hadn’t been watering her peas though! More sweet pea seeds went in yesterday – they are so lovely to have as a splash of colour around the garden. A number of plants around the garden have self-seeded – too many for mum’s small garden – so my next task is to transfer them into pots and pass them on to other people. Everyone has old pots in their garden/garage – if you run out ask around, there shouldn’t be any need to buy pots. Anything can pass for a pot as long as you can put holes in the bottom of it. That way my only expense is potting mix and a few seeds everynow and then.
Food Focus
I’m going to have to cheat this week and buy some lettuce seedlings. Our Green Salad Bowl lettuce is still going well and our Cos lettuce is ready to eat but the warm weather has brought with it lovely eager insects and anything could happen over the next few weeks to my lettuces if the insects start to win the war. So as a safety measure I am going to bridge the gap between my plants and my seed growing by planting some shop bought seedlings. It is still cheaper than buying lettuce from the supermarket to eat – I was given gardening centre vouchers from my workplace when I left my job so it won’t affect the budget buying seedlings. Hubby was so excited with his eating his first Cos leaves on Sunday that straight after dinner I went out and sowed some more for him. Our spring onions have taken off and we love having them ready to toss into everything – last night they were perfect for chicken fried rice. If you don’t have a recipe try Simon Holst’s one Simon Holst’s fried rice – I stole his grated carrot idea, it adds lovely texture and colour to the fried rice.
Chicken Fried Rice – Simon Holst
250g boneless and skinless chicken breast or thighs, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp grated fresh ginger (optional) , 3 Tbsp canola or other oil, 1 large egg, 1 Tbsp water, 1-2 spring onions, finely chopped 1 medium carrot, grated 1/4 cup frozen peas, 1 1/2-2 cups cooled cooked rice, 1/4-1/2 tsp salt.
Place the chicken in a sturdy plastic bag and add the soy sauce, sesame oil and ginger (if using), then massage the bag to coat the chicken. Leave to marinate for 15 minutes or refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the canola oil in a large non-stick frypan. Add the marinated chicken and cook for 3-5 minutes per side, depending on thickness, until cooked through, then remove from the pan and set aside.
Lightly beat together the egg and water, then pour into the pan. Cook until it sets into a thin omelette, then lift out and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan. When it is hot add the spring onion and carrot and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the peas, rice and the last tablespoon of oil. Cook, stirring frequently, for another 3-4 minutes or until the rice is heated through (add a little extra oil if the rice sticks).
Slice or dice the chicken and the omelette and stir into the mixture. Season to taste and serve.
63 days after my resignation
Well I am officially back in employment starting December so I can now stop my resignation diary as I get ready to move on to my next job. This means that I will be unemployed for five days (after my holiday pay is used up). It is only a two month contract as I am still undecided what I really want to do career wise and didn’t want to jump straight back into the rat race. I haven’t had any amazing life revelations yet regarding my career path – watch this space! On the household front we are continuing to try to trim our finances – our goal is to keep under what we spent in the corresponding month the previous year and so far we are managing to meet that challenge. It will be a little more difficult of course in the following months until I get back into a permanent career. Yesterday and today was a day of Xmas and birthday shopping with a list after a session of budgeting and planning – I even have some of the birthday gifts for next year sorted out. We had a great Xmas last year sticking to our budget and planning ahead and it was the Xmas that people most talked about and used our gifts in the months following. Hopefully we can pull it of again this year.
55 days after my resignation
I am officially unemployed! My last pay went in last night along with my holiday pay which will keep me going until the end of November. I find out about my short term contract job tomorrow which will help pay the bills over some of the holiday season if I get it. If not back to the drawing board! I’m in that exhausted phase at the moment – insomnia, not really wanting to eat – hopefully it will pass soon, I just need a few days relaxing in the sunshine. I have been trying to go out and walk for at least 40 mins a day – it’s a cheap way of exercising and a good way to keep away the blues and stay positive and focused. Have to avoid the shops while walking though!
46 days after my resignation
Not long now – I have five days of work left. I think I could be at the office for 24 hours a day and still not get everything completed by Friday. I have managed to find a short term contract for Dec/January while I think about what I want to do long term – I have an interview tomorrow with the recruiter. I did my 300 question aptitude test today on line today – I wonder what all my answers will tell them about me – that I should have stayed in my current job instead of resigning maybe?!! I hope not. My recipe for the month is homemade soft tortillas Flour tortillas . I made these last week and they were absolutely gorgeous. We had warm soft tortillas with chicken (not home grown!) and salad, mmm.
Texas Flour Tortillas (adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)
Ingredients: Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour) , 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil, 3/4 cups of warm milk
Method: Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil. Slowly add the warm milk. Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed. Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft. Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes. After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.) After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook. In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done. Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat. Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil. While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so. Makes eight tortillas.
36 days after my resignation
I’ve been so busy getting all my tasks at work finished off before I leave that I’ve only just realised over a week has flown by. I never thought resigning would be so much hard work – I have just finished at least a 70 hour week and still have more hours to do at the weekend. To fit everything in I am writing this at ten past midnight! My poor plants have been slightly neglected but I have managed to water them every few days while racing out in the morning to work. My seeds are continuing to germinate away quite happily. Despite being absolutely exhausted each day we have stuck to our budget and resisted takeaways on the way home from work. Hubby who is absolutely anti-gardening admitted tonight while we were making dinner that he loves having home grown lettuce that he can get whenever he wants. He is eagerly awaiting the spring onions to have their spurt of growth – probably two weeks off if we can get some good sunshine. Of course he just wants to eat the food, he doesnt want to help grow it. I found a possible job today for December and January so have to get my CV organized this weekend also and send it off – fingers crossed. Also have to get hubby’s GST return done tomorrow. How many hours are there in a weekend?
28 days after my resignation – Drunken Woman
Well it is four weeks ago today that I gave in my resignation. It feels great until you realise there is only one more pay check and then the money stops coming in. It is getting a little scary now as reality gets closer. Came home today to find my Drunken Woman Fringed Head lettuce seeds had germinated after five days. This frilly red tinged lettuce made it into the NZ Gardener Sept 2010 for their 100 best vege picks for growing in Kiwi gardens. It seemingly likes hot summers and cold winters and is happy to reproduce when left to seed – my kind of lettuce. Given that a lettuce was $3.97 in our Countdown today my growing efforts in the garden are saving us a fair amount of money each week. Not quite saving me a weekly salary though! Hubby is starting to put in growing requests now – he would like some Cos lettuce in the garden so will have to round up some seeds and get planting.