Author Archives: nellbe

Fabulous Blog Finds: Digital Magazines

A little while ago I thought I would never be a fan of digital magazines. I love the glossy cover of paper magazines and the idea of sitting down with a cuppa and flicking through it for the first time.

Now since I have very limited time (meaning none at all!) the magazines I do get are sitting gathering dust in various places around the place.

I am now beginning to love the digital mag. Not only are they easy to flick through, they are always available online, they do not gather dust and they are obviously environmentally friendly! There are many that are now available as an app for iPad and such things but most of these I believe cost money. I thought I would show you my favourite free ones.

Parenting and Family

  • Free Baby Magazine – name says it all really. It is an American mag and is quite good.
  • Maeve Magazine – an Australian magazine, full of gorgeous things
  • LMNOP Magazine – laugh make nuture organise play – lovely Aussie magazine

Home Design and Decor

and yummy food ones!

The Read Green Initiative - they have a heap of digital magazines here, all American from what I can see. When you sign up you get one for free for 12 months, any others and they do cost.

I would love to know what digital magazines you read?

image: bravenewtraveler

edit: I have closed the comments on this post due to the insane amount of spam it is attracting… sorry real people!

A little while ago I thought I would never be a fan of digital magazines. I love the glossy cover of paper magazines and the idea of sitting down with a cuppa and flicking through it for the first time.

Now since I have very limited time (meaning none at all!) the magazines I do get are sitting gathering dust in various places around the place.

I am now beginning to love the digital mag. Not only are they easy to flick through, they are always available online, they do not gather dust and they are obviously environmentally friendly! There are many that are now available as an app for iPad and such things but most of these I believe cost money. I thought I would show you my favourite free ones.

Parenting and Family

  • Free Baby Magazine – name says it all really. It is an American mag and is quite good.
  • Maeve Magazine – an Australian magazine, full of gorgeous things
  • LMNOP Magazine – laugh make nuture organise play – lovely Aussie magazine

Home Design and Decor

and yummy food ones!

The Read Green Initiative - they have a heap of digital magazines here, all American from what I can see. When you sign up you get one for free for 12 months, any others and they do cost.

I would love to know what digital magazines you read?

image: bravenewtraveler

edit: I have closed the comments on this post due to the insane amount of spam it is attracting… sorry real people!

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Moving from Blogger to WordPress

What a long, slow and tedious process. Moving the blog I thought would be a process that would be easier than it is, just a few tweaks and I would be there after a few days.

Well after a few days I am nowhere close to being done. I am having issues with the hosting company. I filed an urgent support ticket 30 hours ago and I am still waiting – despite them saying that they get to them within 24 hours at the latest and this is just one of the issues. I won’t say who they are here but I can tell you via email if you really want to know.

Hoping I will have it sorted soon.

What a long, slow and tedious process. Moving the blog I thought would be a process that would be easier than it is, just a few tweaks and I would be there after a few days.

Well after a few days I am nowhere close to being done. I am having issues with the hosting company. I filed an urgent support ticket 30 hours ago and I am still waiting – despite them saying that they get to them within 24 hours at the latest and this is just one of the issues. I won’t say who they are here but I can tell you via email if you really want to know.

Hoping I will have it sorted soon.

Posted in blogging | 1 Comment

Menu Plan Monday – 12th July 2010

I am a bit late with my post today – darn computers! We have a pc and a laptop, both as old as the hills and both playing up. The ‘Q’ and ‘S’ don’t work on the laptop keyboard – which is a royal pain. The pc is ssllooww… yes we are defragging, debugging, de everything to try and spend things up but argh – these things are sent to try us! So anyone with a free pc or laptop – feel free to send one this way ;)

Technology dramas aside – hubby back to work, son back to kinder, routine time back again. I am having a sleep consultant here on Wednesday to help with bubs sleep challenges. I am sick of getting no sleep.

Onto the menu plan – for inspiration I am using an old recipe book that was in the depths of my cupboard, nothing too special, so old I cannot find an image of it online! Quick’n'Easy Potatoes and Pumpkin by Robyn Martin. I got great bargains on potatoes ($2 for 5kg) and pumpkins (71 cents a kilo) last week.

Monday – Tuna and Potato Bake with steamed veg

Tuesday – Mexican Chimichangas

Wednesday - Pumpkin Risotto

Thursday – Chilli Bean Hot Pot

Friday – Pumpkin Soup and Toasted Sandwiches

Saturday – Homemade Fish and Chips

Sunday  – Leftovers or something simple

Check out Org Junkie for more meal plan ideas.

Have a great week.

I am a bit late with my post today – darn computers! We have a pc and a laptop, both as old as the hills and both playing up. The ‘Q’ and ‘S’ don’t work on the laptop keyboard – which is a royal pain. The pc is ssllooww… yes we are defragging, debugging, de everything to try and spend things up but argh – these things are sent to try us! So anyone with a free pc or laptop – feel free to send one this way ;)

Technology dramas aside – hubby back to work, son back to kinder, routine time back again. I am having a sleep consultant here on Wednesday to help with bubs sleep challenges. I am sick of getting no sleep.

Onto the menu plan – for inspiration I am using an old recipe book that was in the depths of my cupboard, nothing too special, so old I cannot find an image of it online! Quick’n'Easy Potatoes and Pumpkin by Robyn Martin. I got great bargains on potatoes ($2 for 5kg) and pumpkins (71 cents a kilo) last week.

Monday – Tuna and Potato Bake with steamed veg

Tuesday – Mexican Chimichangas

Wednesday - Pumpkin Risotto

Thursday – Chilli Bean Hot Pot

Friday – Pumpkin Soup and Toasted Sandwiches

Saturday – Homemade Fish and Chips

Sunday  – Leftovers or something simple

Check out Org Junkie for more meal plan ideas.

Have a great week.

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Menu Planning

Another way I save money is by Menu Planning every week. Regular readers will know I menu plan plan every Monday and I link up with Org Junkie. It is a great way to visit other blogs that menu plan and get recipe and meal ideas.

Not only does it save money but it saves time and stress.

Once you have figured out what you are having for dinner for the week, write out a list of things you will need. Then check your cupboards and fridge and cross off the items you already have then go shopping. Once. Go shopping just the once and buy all you need and then you don’t have to worry about hitting the shops to pick up things for dinner.

A few tips.

- If you have one, use a slow cooker. They are fabulous for the time poor, you can get the meal ready in a jiffy and switch it on and forget about it.
- Don’t forget to factor in breakfast and lunches, I don’t menu plan these but make sure you add enough items on your weekly shopping list for these things
- Keep in mind your crazy nights. We have one or two a week, depending on hubby’s work. Make this meal super super easy.
- Give yourself one or two nights off. We have one every Sunday – for leftovers or something simple. You could use it for takeaway (we don’t do takeaway here – too hard for a coeliac!)

Enjoy your week knowing what you have for dinner each night!

Here are a few blogs I like you do menu planning easily.

Org Junkie – as mentioned above
Planning With Kids – Planning Queen has a very easy and simple Menu Planning system – its free!
Money Saving Mom – has a list of a heap of free printables 

Hope that helps someone :)

Another way I save money is by Menu Planning every week. Regular readers will know I menu plan plan every Monday and I link up with Org Junkie. It is a great way to visit other blogs that menu plan and get recipe and meal ideas.

Not only does it save money but it saves time and stress.

Once you have figured out what you are having for dinner for the week, write out a list of things you will need. Then check your cupboards and fridge and cross off the items you already have then go shopping. Once. Go shopping just the once and buy all you need and then you don’t have to worry about hitting the shops to pick up things for dinner.

A few tips.

- If you have one, use a slow cooker. They are fabulous for the time poor, you can get the meal ready in a jiffy and switch it on and forget about it.
- Don’t forget to factor in breakfast and lunches, I don’t menu plan these but make sure you add enough items on your weekly shopping list for these things
- Keep in mind your crazy nights. We have one or two a week, depending on hubby’s work. Make this meal super super easy.
- Give yourself one or two nights off. We have one every Sunday – for leftovers or something simple. You could use it for takeaway (we don’t do takeaway here – too hard for a coeliac!)

Enjoy your week knowing what you have for dinner each night!

Here are a few blogs I like you do menu planning easily.

Org Junkie – as mentioned above
Planning With Kids – Planning Queen has a very easy and simple Menu Planning system – its free!
Money Saving Mom – has a list of a heap of free printables 

Hope that helps someone :)

Posted in menu plan | 1 Comment

Fabulous Friday Findings

I am addicted to blogs. I love love reading them. I love thinking of things to write on mine but I think I may love reading them more! It is such a serious addiction that I am too scared to check how blogs I follow/subscribe to in Google Reader.

Well ok for the purpose of the post I suppose I best check.

322

Holy moly. No wonder my reader is always at 1000+ unread posts!

Told you I was addicted!

Now – the main reason for my post is to share my favourite posts with you. I love reading about other favourites so I thought I would return the favour :) Plus it makes me read some posts and get that unread number down – see it is a win/win!

With my love of saving you’d hardly be surprised that I have some saving money type blogs in my reader. I love Econobusters. Yes it is American but saving money is the same in any country. Also each Friday they list a heap of freebies  – some of which are international! – as well as a great monthly newsletter and more recently a free Summer Recipe and tips eBook. So cool!

I am a HUGE fan of organising, scrapbooking and just generally have some order in the house. I would love to have a chalkboard wall in either the toy room, the boy’s bedroom or the kitchen but the expense of the paint puts me off (especially if I ended up not liking it and wanting to paint over it again!) so when I saw the Chalkboard Tags that ScrapShoppe posted about; I was very excited – great idea!

Mom Planner Round Up – MotherCraft Coaching. Another organisational one.. more so for the American readers as the planners are American. But still gives a good run down on different types of planners. I have started looking for a new planner/diary for next year. Yes it may be early but you can get ones that start in October so not as early as you thought? I do know that I am a paper and pen person though. For sure.

With bubs 1st birthday coming up I have been reading about children’s parties and gosh there are some amazing ones out there! I do love this post from Tip Junkie as it is an all one stop shop post. 300 birthday party ideas!

A completely and amazing recipe for chocolate crackles from Curly Pops. (and easy to make gluten free)

Hamburger Cupcakes with Cookie Fries from Glorious Treats. Yes you read right – go and check it out now!

A cool kids craft from Scribbit – fridge track. You have to see it, so simple and heaps of fun. We haven’t done this here yet but we so have to – a great excuse to declutter the front of the fridge!

Okay I think thats enough for this week – I hope you liked my picks! Have a great weekend.

I am addicted to blogs. I love love reading them. I love thinking of things to write on mine but I think I may love reading them more! It is such a serious addiction that I am too scared to check how blogs I follow/subscribe to in Google Reader.

Well ok for the purpose of the post I suppose I best check.

322

Holy moly. No wonder my reader is always at 1000+ unread posts!

Told you I was addicted!

Now – the main reason for my post is to share my favourite posts with you. I love reading about other favourites so I thought I would return the favour :) Plus it makes me read some posts and get that unread number down – see it is a win/win!

With my love of saving you’d hardly be surprised that I have some saving money type blogs in my reader. I love Econobusters. Yes it is American but saving money is the same in any country. Also each Friday they list a heap of freebies  – some of which are international! – as well as a great monthly newsletter and more recently a free Summer Recipe and tips eBook. So cool!

I am a HUGE fan of organising, scrapbooking and just generally have some order in the house. I would love to have a chalkboard wall in either the toy room, the boy’s bedroom or the kitchen but the expense of the paint puts me off (especially if I ended up not liking it and wanting to paint over it again!) so when I saw the Chalkboard Tags that ScrapShoppe posted about; I was very excited – great idea!

Mom Planner Round Up – MotherCraft Coaching. Another organisational one.. more so for the American readers as the planners are American. But still gives a good run down on different types of planners. I have started looking for a new planner/diary for next year. Yes it may be early but you can get ones that start in October so not as early as you thought? I do know that I am a paper and pen person though. For sure.

With bubs 1st birthday coming up I have been reading about children’s parties and gosh there are some amazing ones out there! I do love this post from Tip Junkie as it is an all one stop shop post. 300 birthday party ideas!

A completely and amazing recipe for chocolate crackles from Curly Pops. (and easy to make gluten free)

Hamburger Cupcakes with Cookie Fries from Glorious Treats. Yes you read right – go and check it out now!

A cool kids craft from Scribbit – fridge track. You have to see it, so simple and heaps of fun. We haven’t done this here yet but we so have to – a great excuse to declutter the front of the fridge!

Okay I think thats enough for this week – I hope you liked my picks! Have a great weekend.

Posted in blog finds | 3 Comments

Happy Birthday dear Hubby!

It is my dear husbands birthday today! Happy Birthday to him from me and the boys. :)

It is my dear husbands birthday today! Happy Birthday to him from me and the boys. :)

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Menu Plan Monday – 5th July 2010

Hey there! I hope you and yours are well whatever you are up to. It’s the 2nd week of school holidays here in Victoria and my hubby is also off for the week. Very busy week ahead!

So I am using bestrecipes.com.au as my menu inspiration.

MondaySpaghetti and Meatballs

Tuesday – Hubby’s Birthday! Kentucky Baked Chicken and Potato Bake

WednesdayVegetable Curry

ThursdayTuna and Mushroom Pasta Bake

FridayVegetarian Mexican Torta

SaturdayChicken Alfredo

Sunday – leftovers

Doesn’t it look yummy? I am so looking forward to our meals this week. Check out Org Junkie for more meal plans. Have a wonderful week.

Hey there! I hope you and yours are well whatever you are up to. It’s the 2nd week of school holidays here in Victoria and my hubby is also off for the week. Very busy week ahead!

So I am using bestrecipes.com.au as my menu inspiration.

MondaySpaghetti and Meatballs

Tuesday – Hubby’s Birthday! Kentucky Baked Chicken and Potato Bake

WednesdayVegetable Curry

ThursdayTuna and Mushroom Pasta Bake

FridayVegetarian Mexican Torta

SaturdayChicken Alfredo

Sunday – leftovers

Doesn’t it look yummy? I am so looking forward to our meals this week. Check out Org Junkie for more meal plans. Have a wonderful week.

Posted in menu plan | Comments Off

Saving Money

One of my favourite things to do is save money. I love to be able to save the little cash we have and try and stretch it as far as I can get it. Call me frugal, call me stingy, call me what you like. Most people don’t have too much of a choice, you only have a certain amount coming in and then all the bills you have to pay to live and eat. It is really a vicious cycle.

So. You make the concious decision to save the moula. For me it was due to wanting to be a Stay At Home Mum. I was working with my first baby and I hated it. Hated it so much, it was making me very sad to leave my baby behind every day.

So I decided to figure out how we could save the green stuff to see if we could afford to me at home. Sure thing. We tried it for a whole year before I went on leave without pay from work and yes it is hard. Very hard. But it can be done.

It is easy to search and figure out how to save money. There are a trillion articles, websites and blogs out there to start you off. Although it can be overwhelming and you don’t know where to start. I suggest, one step at a time.

If anyone asks me – I always say the first step is looking at your grocery shopping. Most people go food shopping weekly and buy the same things and spend the same amount because it is a habit. Have a look in your pantry – how many cans of tomatoes have you got? How many packets of flour? How many bottles of pasta sauce? If the answer is lots, then try going shopping without those items and see what happens. Did you miss them during the week? No? Well go shopping again and then don’t buy them again. Do this each time you go shopping and leaving one item out of the trolley and see how you go.

Baby steps. Baby steps.

Try looking a Simple Savings if you are hungry for more information. It is really good. It does have a free area and a paid members area. Plenty of info in the free part though and they have a free monthly newsletter.

Remember – it is your money.

One of my favourite things to do is save money. I love to be able to save the little cash we have and try and stretch it as far as I can get it. Call me frugal, call me stingy, call me what you like. Most people don’t have too much of a choice, you only have a certain amount coming in and then all the bills you have to pay to live and eat. It is really a vicious cycle.

So. You make the concious decision to save the moula. For me it was due to wanting to be a Stay At Home Mum. I was working with my first baby and I hated it. Hated it so much, it was making me very sad to leave my baby behind every day.

So I decided to figure out how we could save the green stuff to see if we could afford to me at home. Sure thing. We tried it for a whole year before I went on leave without pay from work and yes it is hard. Very hard. But it can be done.

It is easy to search and figure out how to save money. There are a trillion articles, websites and blogs out there to start you off. Although it can be overwhelming and you don’t know where to start. I suggest, one step at a time.

If anyone asks me – I always say the first step is looking at your grocery shopping. Most people go food shopping weekly and buy the same things and spend the same amount because it is a habit. Have a look in your pantry – how many cans of tomatoes have you got? How many packets of flour? How many bottles of pasta sauce? If the answer is lots, then try going shopping without those items and see what happens. Did you miss them during the week? No? Well go shopping again and then don’t buy them again. Do this each time you go shopping and leaving one item out of the trolley and see how you go.

Baby steps. Baby steps.

Try looking a Simple Savings if you are hungry for more information. It is really good. It does have a free area and a paid members area. Plenty of info in the free part though and they have a free monthly newsletter.

Remember – it is your money.

Posted in saving money | Comments Off

Menu Plan Monday – 28th June 2010

I cannot quite believe that it is almost the middle of the year! Tell me where has this year gone? Huh? Where? Yep I didn’t think you’d know either.
Last  week I didn’t do a menu plan as I was ill and I made hubby cook all our dinners. So he did. Nice hubby.
This week I am feeling better, time to get back on top of things and get organised. This week is also school holidays for Victoria. We have something planned every day except Friday. Crazy! So a super simple easy peasy menu plan this week. 
Monday – Tuna and Potato Bake – gluten free and kid friendly – yum yum
TuesdayMexibake. This is one of our most favourite dinners and it is so easy. I make it vego by using red kidney beans instead of mince, so the boys get the meat version and I get the vego version and then we get enough for lunches and leftovers.
Wednesday – Salsa Chicken in the slowcooker for the boys and I will whip up a Satay Veg Stirfry for me
Thursday – Sausage Casserole in the slowcooker and I will have leftovers
Friday – Pumpkin Soup and Nachos
Saturday – Home Made Mac and Cheese (will be back to link as I want to find one that uses cottage cheese)
Sunday – Simple Supper – so leftovers or something out of the freezer
Check out Org Junkie for more Menu Plans

I cannot quite believe that it is almost the middle of the year! Tell me where has this year gone? Huh? Where? Yep I didn’t think you’d know either.
Last  week I didn’t do a menu plan as I was ill and I made hubby cook all our dinners. So he did. Nice hubby.
This week I am feeling better, time to get back on top of things and get organised. This week is also school holidays for Victoria. We have something planned every day except Friday. Crazy! So a super simple easy peasy menu plan this week. 
Monday – Tuna and Potato Bake – gluten free and kid friendly – yum yum
TuesdayMexibake. This is one of our most favourite dinners and it is so easy. I make it vego by using red kidney beans instead of mince, so the boys get the meat version and I get the vego version and then we get enough for lunches and leftovers.
Wednesday – Salsa Chicken in the slowcooker for the boys and I will whip up a Satay Veg Stirfry for me
Thursday – Sausage Casserole in the slowcooker and I will have leftovers
Friday – Pumpkin Soup and Nachos
Saturday – Home Made Mac and Cheese (will be back to link as I want to find one that uses cottage cheese)
Sunday – Simple Supper – so leftovers or something out of the freezer
Check out Org Junkie for more Menu Plans

Posted in menu plan | Comments Off

Isn’t it ironic?

For ages and ages I have been wanting extra time; time to myself, time to spend playing with kids (not just herding them around), time for hubby and time for blogging.

Well I rarely get this time… life is so busy with a 10 month old that doesn’t nap (yes yes still) and a 5 year old and kinder and play dates.

Then I get a nice cold. Now I get all the time in the world to myself while I lie in bed coughing and spluttering, nose dripping and trying to keep warm. Helpers come out of the wood work. Noone minds having hotdogs for dinner.

So ironic. Now back to bed for me.

Related Posts with Thumbnails

For ages and ages I have been wanting extra time; time to myself, time to spend playing with kids (not just herding them around), time for hubby and time for blogging.

Well I rarely get this time… life is so busy with a 10 month old that doesn’t nap (yes yes still) and a 5 year old and kinder and play dates.

Then I get a nice cold. Now I get all the time in the world to myself while I lie in bed coughing and spluttering, nose dripping and trying to keep warm. Helpers come out of the wood work. Noone minds having hotdogs for dinner.

So ironic. Now back to bed for me.

Related Posts with Thumbnails
Related Posts with Thumbnails
Posted in family, parenting | 1 Comment