Eat your way to lovely, strong nails with blancmange!

If biting your nails is a problem, start growing them from the inside out, with this easy coffee blancmange recipe! All you need is:

One x 400g can coconut milk or cream. 2 tbsp gelatin 2 tsp coffee 1/4 cup hot water Sweetener of your choice, e.g. sugar, stevia or artificial sweetener

Stir the gelatin into the hot water and mix well.
In a separate bowl, put in the coffee and sweetener of your choice and stir, then tip in the can of coconut milk or cream. Pour in the hot gelatin mixture and stir all together well. Refrigerate for one hour.

The result? Delicious, smooth coffee blancmange, with the health benefits of coconut, and gelatin for nail growth!

NLP means great nails for me!

If nail biting or picking is an issue for you or someone you know, you may like to consider Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). I had just one session and it made a fantastic difference for me. I was sceptical throughout the session, until the end of the session when the problem had completely gone away. I was really surprised and completely pleased! Would definitely recommend.

Break your expensive shopping habits

We've saved at least $10,000 this year alone, simply by changing our shopping habits!
 
Almost every day, we'd stop at the supermarket on our way home to buy fresh ingredients for dinner – however, we'd also buy a couple of impulse items while there. The daily grocery bill was at least $30; an extra $150 each week on top of our weekly 'big' grocery shop!
 
To reduce the number of trips we made to the supermarket, we analysed our spending habits. We looked at all the grocery items we purchased and separated them into three categories:
 
1. Perishable items that need to be used within a week or so, for example, milk, bread and vegetables.
 
2. Items that had a longer shelf life or could be stored so they last longer, for example, meat that could be frozen, canned items, pasta and rice.
 
3. Items with an extended shelf-life such as toilet paper, detergent, toothbrushes and so on. We then estimated how much of each item we would use in a year.
 
We looked at what we could make or grow ourselves, for example, bread baked in the oven or herbs and vegetables grown in the garden. That left a limited number of items we needed to buy on a weekly basis including milk, fruit and vegetables; at least until the garden was established. These were all items we could buy from the local fresh food market, avoiding a trip to the supermarket, which meant lower prices and fewer impulse buys.
 
The next step was to develop a monthly meal planner - five meals per week with two nights of leftovers or 'invention' cooking using whatever was in the fridge, freezer and cupboard. We put all the recipes in a folder and worked out a monthly shopping list based on these recipes. All non-perishable ingredients are now purchased in this monthly shop. Meat is also purchased monthly from a butcher who offers bulk purchase discounts; the meat is frozen in meal lots ready to be thawed in advance for each meal.
 
We don't tend to cook in bulk, as we enjoy the process of creating fresh meals each day, but we do cook enough to provide the next day's lunch and occasionally cook a couple of casseroles or 'one pot' dishes at the same time and put them in the fridge - the flavour seems to build and is even nicer after a day or two.
 
Our menus also change depending on the season and what produce is available at that time. We're in the process of developing 'summer', 'autumn', 'winter' and 'spring' meal plans with enough recipes to get us through each season.
 
Finally, during each monthly shop we'd buy extended shelf-life items when they were on special until we had a year's worth. It takes up some extra cupboard space but we never run out of essentials and don't have to duck out to the supermarket.
 
Our ultimate goal is to reduce our 'big' shops to once a quarter rather than monthly – this will save us even more time and money by further reducing our exposure to the supermarket.
 
We have saved $150 a week by eliminating daily shops – this adds up to $7800 annually. We've saved even more by shopping at fruit wholesalers and butchers, buying in bulk or taking advantage of specials. By changing our shopping habits, we estimate we've saved at least $10,000 this year!

Baby oil keeps showers clean for months

Keep glass showers sparkling clean for months at a time by using baby oil. First, clean the glass on the inside of the shower well, then dry off. Next, take a soft cloth and smear a small amount of baby oil. I stress a SMALL amount to ensure no oil runs down to the base of the shower, creating a potential hazard. Pay extra attention to wiping the edges and bottom of the glass. Once you have done this, the glass will look smeary and quite awful really - until you have the next shower! The hot water heats the oil and smooths it out on the glass. I have never had the problem of any oil running down onto the floor, even after heating it. You'll find a very small amount goes a very long way. Basically, the soap scum cannot attach itself to the glass, which stays clean and clear for at least three months at a time. By needing to re-apply the baby oil only every few months, this adds up to a huge saving in expensive bathroom cleaners!