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Browsing category: Uncategorized

  • June 19, 2012

    Adventures in the kitchen: Sausage and silverbeet spaghetti

    Pasta for dinner

    Mmm, pasta!

    I’ll be honest. I wasn’t blown away. I dutifully spooned it into my mouth and it made a perfectly adequate dinner that evening.

    The next day, however? Like so many tomato sauce based dishes, it shone a day later. Overnight, all the flavours soaked in.

    Liberally adapted from a Dish recipe…

    A bunch of silverbeet leaves
    3 pork sausages
    1 red onion
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1 tin tomatoes
    1 cup stock
    Spaghetti
    Cheese (Parmesan is recommended, but I’m not a big fan of parm – I think we used gruyere)

    De-skin sausages and slice up. Cook in some olive oil until done.

    Remove and set aside. DO NOT clean pan.

    Add onion and garlic to pan and cook till soft.

    Add shredded silverbeet, tomatoes and stock, simmer until silverbeet is cooked, then return sausages to pan and heat through. Season to taste.

    Mix in cooked spaghetti. Top with grated cheese.

    Frugal factor: high. This is a lot plainer than the original, however.

  • June 18, 2012

    When social media is part and parcel of the job

    It’s pretty rad.

    I remember many years ago (possibly the 2008 Oscars?) explaining to my boss at the time what a URL shortener was and how we could use one in our Twitter coverage of the ceremony.

    Today, my current bosses are on Twitter and, I believe, actually have more followers than I do.

    But for all the awesomeness that is spending part of the workday on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and G+, it also has downsides.

    Social media is an insatiable beast

    Unlike my personal accounts, I can’t simply take a break if I’m overwhelmed with other tasks or just don’t feel like being social. You still need to be putting content out there and responding to feedback.

    All about the numbers

    twitter logo map 09

    (Photo credit: The Next Web)

    Social media is hard to quantify. So follower and likes numbers are easy to latch on to as something concrete, and the higherups tend to look at those numbers as a measure of success. It’s certainly something that should be factored in, and we shouldn’t be living or dying by that alone, but the more old-school types may take some convincing.

    Negative feedback

    Being social opens you up to, well, everyone. And they can say anything they want. Learning to deal with criticism in such an open forum is something all brands have to struggle with at some point.

    No feedback at all

    Posting something that garners no reaction or interaction at all sucks. Doing that multiple times in a row is an even bigger bummer. But this is reality for many of us at some point; we’re not all huge media organisations or consumer brands that can push out anything and instantly see clicks, comments and shares (been there; it’s quite gratifying).

  • June 16, 2012

    Anatomy of a spectacularly bad weekday

    • Wake up with a start in the middle of the night to T violently retching and throwing up on the floor (both carpeted and non carpeted) before making it to the bathroom
    • Wake up to my alarm to one of the nippiest mornings all morning. I’m frozen stiff and the ground is actually frosted over.
    • Apparently it’s a day for phone calls, which just keep on coming and put me behind.
    • Get a phone call from T about our car. To get its warrant, it needs new tyres, the front light (my fault) needs fixing, as does the back light (his fault) and the wires he fried while messing around with the stereo months ago are going to cost a few hundy to fix, because that set off the ABS light permanently.
    • Bitch and moan to coworkers about the expense of vehicles.
    • It all turns to custard after another couple of calls, this time work-related.
    • Leave work in time to make it home while it’s still light so I can fit in a run to clear my head. Running’s more of a chore on any other day, but when stressed, it’s an urge, a need. I wanted nothing more than to lace on my shoes, get out there and pound the pavement.
    • Praise yourself for having already made dinner yesterday, because tonight is not a night for cooking.
    • Catch up on two weeks of Desperate Housewives – one episode is outstanding, one crap. Either way, mindless entertainment.
    • Bash out whiny blog post.
    • T goes out and buys me chocolate, unbidden. Bless.

    Apparently I turn inward when things turn to crap. I like to deal with things in a very solitary manner. How about you?

  • June 15, 2012

    Halfway through the year and what have I achieved?

    So, I completely missed my February progress checkin. And March. And April, and May, for that matter. The months just kept whizzing by, somehow.

    So what’s going down?

    For one, I’ve called it quits on Codeyear, the Javascript edition. It got to the point where I couldn’t see the value in it for me (which I figured would happen – it was fun to be able to make things happen, but front-end stuff is more relevant to me). But I have picked up their CSS lessons which are, so far, pretty awesome.

    I seem to go through phases of posting photos regularly to my Tumblr. I also finally joined Instagram – how easy is it to make anything look good on that? – and dipped in and out of February/March Photo a Day. But really I want learn to take good photos without effects; I’m actually using my dSLR on full manual settings from time to time. That does make it a bit more arduous when uploading to Tumblr, though.

    Remember how I emailed a few places about volunteering opportunities back in the summer? I FINALLY heard back months later – apparently they were swamped with interest. So, seeing as winter must then by logic be their quiet period, I should get back on the horse. I haven’t, though. Since that email arrived things have been super busy for me and T, and with days as short as these it kind of feels like I don’t have all that much time. KWIM?

    Things I’m working on planning:

    • our road trip later this year (all I really need to do now is sort out insurance, which I STILL haven’t done, and check out ski packages);
    • our wedding (have made the first step: feeling out venues. I’ve made a list, which isn’t very long. We’ve looked at one possible ceremony venue, which I had stupidly high hopes for that were subsequently dashed. I’d quite like to get married outside of Auckland if we don’t find a place that suits our budget and needs, though I’m not really sure where or how to start looking. Any recommendations?);
    • and honeymoon (sorta. had a quick chat to a travel agent and got a few questions answered about Europe. I’m still not ruling out running away for an extended period of round the world travel)

    As for financials … I put my first couple of hundred dollars into index funds separately from Kiwisaver as Rabobank was doing a special deal where entry fees were slashed. Baby steps!

    And as for those savings goals…

    • Travel fund is fully funded. $10k
    • Road trip fund is fully funded. $3k
    • Wedding fund is… in progress. On track for completion by the end of the year. $5k

    The one problem with an extended RTW honeymoon would be money. We definitely will not have enough saved to undertake something like that in 2013. A quick jaunt through budgetyourtrip.com suggests that would require $40k for two in NZ dollars. The site averages out travellers’ costs, so we could likely manage for less, but it’s always good to round up, and we’d have to incorporate things like departure taxes, internal transport (between countries/cities), etc. I also don’t know how many more days we’d realistically need to add on to factor in extra travel time. (Don’t get too snarky about my spreadsheet, please – it was all very much made up on the spot, so may not be uber realistic. I’ve probably wildly overstated the cost of hiring a car in the US, especially as your petrol prices are crazy low.)

    How are your 2012 goals coming along?

  • June 14, 2012

    What is the one thing you always return to?

    I’m curious.

    What is that thing for you? The thing you love most, never tire of, that is is never a chore or a drag for you?

    Books in the Douglasville, Georgia Borders store.

    Books in the Douglasville, Georgia Borders store. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    For me, it’s reading. I take books anywhere (I’m old-school, don’t believe in e-books, although I’m the biggest smartphone addict ever). I will read on public transport. In the toilet. During the ads, if I’m watching TV in real time. While stirring the pot for dinner. Even while walking, sometimes.

    Reading requires nothing of me, just the energy to focus my eyes, hold a book up, turn the pages.

    I never DON’T want to read, although sometimes I may not have the time for it, or am just too tired.

    T can’t fall asleep without having the TV on. I like to doze off with my nose in a book.

    Books are my first love.

    What about you?

  • June 13, 2012

    Boyfriend in the kitchen: Stuffed pork and butternut mash

    Sometimes T outdoes himself in the kitchen, and it seems a shame not to share.

    Up there is creamy butternut flesh mixed with sour cream and sweet chili sauce.

    There’s pork butterfly, wrapped in slices of streaky bacon, and stuffed with the real star of the show: a moist, delectable vegetable concoction consisting of (to his best recall today) coriander and sliced courgette with some extra virgin olive oil that make the whole meal pop.

    Like me, he’s not big on measurements, so trust your tastebuds and have fun.

    Who knows – there may well be more future editions of Things My Boyfriend Cooks…

  • June 12, 2012

    Giving money away – do you do it?

    One thing I’ve been putting off is sorting out all my receipts so I can do my taxes and get a rebate on the charitable donations I made last year.

    T asked me if that was the only reason that I give to charity.

    Donations

    (Photo credit: Matthew Burpee)

    I was all “WHAT? That’s ridiculous!”

    Yeah, I get the tax back on those, but it’s only a small amount (33%?) I donate because it’s a GOOD THING TO DO.

    Or something.

    If everyone gave a little bit every month, think how that would add up.

    And yeah, giving also makes me feel good. You’ve probably experienced the same thing. (Studies show altruism is a good thing emotionally and, potentially, even health wise.)

    He sometimes teases me and says we can’t afford to give away money. But of course we can. Frankly, I don’t give a ton – sometimes only $5 or 10 a month. Occasionally enough to hurt – maybe $40. I don’t have any causes close to my heart, so it’s generally a new organisation every time. (I’ve actually run through my whole list now, so if you have any worthy suggestions, leave a comment.) And of course, when people I know are doing fundraisey things like growing moustaches and running races, that’s another avenue for my monthly pledge too.

    Anyway, time to stop procrastinating and print out those receipts. And maybe this year instead of saving that refund, I’ll donate that extra amount, too.

    Do you give to charity? How do you decide where your money goes?

     

  • June 10, 2012

    Link love (Powered by focaccia and fashion fails)

    Right now, I’m …

    Loving:

    Game of Thrones. Season two, whyfor you go so quickly?

    Still, I’m choosing not to get my fix by reading the books. People either LOVE or HATE them. From flicking through a couple of the novels at Real Groovy and checking reviews on Goodreads, I’m pretty sure I would fall into the latter camp.

    Makes for darn good TV though.

    Hating: Winter. The short days (it’s dark when I get home). It’s impossible to do laundry. We’ve gone this long without a dryer and I don’t want to get one. After all, there’s a laundromat just down the road with industrial dryers in dire straits.

    Puzzled by: the high number of people viewing my LinkedIn profile this week, mostly from Asia, and people Googling my name.

    Morbidly intrigued by: the trial of Ewen Macdonald, accused of murdering his brother-in-law. What the hell do you do when your husband is accused of killing your brother?

    The last time I remember being this caught up in a murder was the Carmen Thomas case, which her partner was found guilty of. I’m probably not the only one – after all, high-profile cases featuring well-off, good-looking Caucasian victims with a distinct air of mystery don’t come along everyday, and the media jumped on both. Heck, I was part of that, at least back when the suspects were identified (because it takes a very long time to get from charge to trial).

    This week’s links:

    A neat idea at The Goods for putting together a bridal wedding day survival kit

    Serendipity’s list of financial lessons, True Blood-style

    Married with Luggage has an outstanding post on dealing when things don’t go as planned

    Kommein on the problem with tribe marketing and internet marketing credibility

    A good list of online apps/tools for writers, via BusinessJournalism

    What’s it like running a B&B from your home? Ginger explains

    Love this post on Get Rich Slowly: a statute of limitations on regret

    What’s going on with you this week? What are you loving/hating?

  • June 7, 2012

    Adventures in the kitchen: Thai green curry

    You will always find – along with the usual suspects like EVOO, canned tomatoes, butter, onions, and flour – various curry pastes in my kitchen.

    My current favourite is a new discovery: Penta brand green curry.

    Thai green curry

    Ingredients:
    One capsicum
    A handful of mushrooms
    Beef sliced into strips
    Two tablespoons of curry paste
    One can of coconut milk

    Garnish:
    Cashew
    Coriander
    Radish
    Olive oil
    Spring onion

    Cook the sliced capsicum/mushrooms in a little oil for a couple of minutes over high heat.

    Add the curry paste, followed by the coconut milk. Mix to combine, then add the beef strips.

    Simmer until meat is cooked through.

    Serve over a bed of fluffy white rice.

    That stuff on top? If your partner doesn’t swoop in with a brilliant idea for a topping, then by all means feel free to blend up some cashews, coriander, radishes, spring onion and a dash of EVOO and plonk a spoonful over the bowl.

    Frugal factor: high. Especially without the random garnishing.

  • June 5, 2012

    Motivation: Saving vs paying down debt

    It’s closing in on a year since T bought his motorbike.

    There were vague plans that once he got his restricted licence and was legally allowed to ride something bigger than a 250cc, he would eventually look to scale up to something with more grunt. Loud as his CBR is, and powerful for its size, he’s still a 120kg dude.

    But I think a bit of that shine, that novelty, has finally worn off. The weather is easing into another cold, wet winter. The bike is starting to require some work. That desire for an upgrade to a bigger bike is fading – and that’s patently obvious in the fact that he’s been eligible to sit his next licence for months but hasn’t got around to it.

    Now he’s got another plan in the crosshairs: another car. (You might recall we’re a one-car household.) Kind of a project car – not in the sense that it will sit in rusty pieces on the lawn for years – but it will be an older, restored vehicle that’s not for everyday errands.

    Bike, car, whatever. I would have obviously preferred his next big purchase to be paid for in cash. I wasn’t diametrically opposed to a loan – I was open to the idea – but saving for something major is my MO.

    He’s been frustrated with his savings progress, though, because at heart, he’s a spender. And so the other day he brought this up. He thinks going the loan route will encourage him to pay it down quickly – that he’ll set up big automatic repayments that won’t leave him with much to fritter away after also accounting for living expenses.

    This seems, on the face, absolutely ridiculous to me. Particularly as it pertains to T, as he has never shown any particular hurry to pay down debt before.

    But I also recognise that personal finance is individual and there’s a huge psychological factor.

    So what do you think? Have you ever found yourself more motivated to pay down debt than to save? Have you struggled with either?

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