Friday Freebie - Stylish DIY Garden Pots

I've always loved gardening, so as the owner of a small cement yard with no dirt or grass in sight, I have to make do with putting my all my plants in pots. LOADS of em. I think it looks a bit charming... but yes, it is a bit tatty and unmatching, and the fella completely hates it.

For years I've been looking for a stylish solution to consolidate all the little pots into big planters or raised beds to go all along the edges of my yard. However, big pots are expensive and heavy and generally just... the wrong size. So I was delighted when I happened upon a Martha Stewart video talking about homemade Hypertufa pots...

Hypertufa is basically a really easy and cheap-to-make concoction that can be easily formed in a mold. It's a bit like a grown up mud-pie. Once formed and hardened, it turns into a rock-like, yet strikingly lightweight substance. It can even be made into large planters that can withstand rough weather and frosts. Woo hoo! I'm really looking forward to constructing my own hypertufa back yard solution; you can use a variety of materials as molds and you can also add additional details into the mold for some visual intrigue.


I've included a link to a hypertufa recipe, although there's loads of other recipes all over the webs. I've also included the link to the Martha video & recipe that started my fascination.

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/make-hypertufa-trough.aspx

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/hypertufa-pots

Friday Freebie - Pasta Sauces

As has been mentioned in this blog numerous times, over the last few months I have been living the "freelance" lifestyle... aka... broke. So my old carefree way of popping to the corner shop on a daily basis to buy dinner had to be curbed. I'm now much more conscious of every Euro which passes through my fingers and therefore more conscious of making the things that I already have go that extra mile.

We all know pasta is a super cheap and simple way to fill your belly, but what happens when you don't have much of any sauce at home to jazz up that bowl of carbs? I've found a little trick to make a little leftover sauce go a lot further without sacrificing taste.

Creating a "creamy" sauce from bits of other leftover sauces is super easy, and can sometimes be more tasty than the original. I usually start with heating up a bit of olive oil and crushed garlic and throwing in the base of your sauce, whether is a bit of leftover tomato sauce, a tablespoon or two of pesto, some passata or some crushed/steamed tomatoes. Add the base and heat it up a bit and then slowly add some milk and dashes of flour stirring constantly. Don't add too much at a time otherwise the flour will clump up. You don't need to use fatty cream, skim milk will do the job, the more flour you add, the thicker the consistency of the sauce. The important part is to add seasoning, some garlic salt (or just pain salt) some nice cracked black pepper, basil, oregano or whatever savory herbs you've got in the house. You could also add cheese if you like, but I find that sometimes that makes it a bit clumpy & curdled.

I also like adding extra veggies if you've got them; such as cooked peppers or a big handful of spinach - fresh spinach will melt down really small into the sauce - or you can use frozen spinach which has already shrunk. The important part is to taste your sauce the entire time to make sure you've got the flavors you're looking for.

Friday Freebies!

As a person thoroughly immersed in unemployment, I've decided to (attempt to) start regularly posting more on the topic of "Living on the Cheap." Basically chronicling my attempts to still continue living the life I became accustomed to before the big "R" word set in. Covering topics such as: not becoming a shut-in, using your creativity wisely, eating generously & deliciously, entertaining & more... all whilst not breaking the bank. For cuteness sake I'll call it my "Friday Freebies". So, here ya go, Friday Freebie numero uno:

Joyous was I when I first heard that this Saturday is a FREE OPEN DAY AT THE IFI TO WATCH AWESOME MOVIES FOR FREE!

I know right?! Its so awesome it's AHSAHM. One of the films on schedule is Bringing Up Baby, which has always been a fave, but what I'm really looking forward to the vintage Irish travel films. Oooh err... I'm desperately in love with anything vintage, especially now that I spend my days reading all of the internets from start to finish and back.

Full info here: http://ifi.ie/cinema/season1_07.asp?PageID=60&SID=193