Author Archives: mlwilkie

About mlwilkie

Software Developer, Mother, Wife with keen interest in art, design and crafts of all kinds.

A give away + May goals

It is give away day, and I am celebrating that I almost have 100 followers. This is a summary of the things I have been working on so far this year, that you may or may not have seen 🙂

To show my appreciation, I would like to offer this give away.

The give away is:

A copy of the book Pillow Pop which has some amazing patterns and instructions for different Pillow covers.

Two Mini Charm Packs (to use possible in creating a postage stamp (18 in.) cushion cover)
1 x Bella Solids Candy Pack

1 x PB and J Candy Pack

What do you need to do to win?

In the comments below, let me know your favorite craft book or your favorite design item you would like to have in your house
For a second chance to win, let me know in the comments below how you follow me, i.e. follow by email, wordpress or bloglovin.
All comment must be added by May 10 at 5 p.m. PST, and
The winner will be chosen at random and be emailed Sunday, May 12, so make sure if you are a no reply blogger, you leave an email address. I will also post the winner back here.

May Goals

I am linking up with “A lovely year of finishes”. Here are my goals for May, I decided to keep them really simple.

Finish 9 small projects, which include:

Etsy order for Chair Bags
Madrona Road Mini Quilt
18″ Pillow for Quilt Guild Pillow Swap
Finish machine quilting “Four Seasons in One Day” Quilt
Start one of the mini quilts (see side bar)

Marmite a piece of Kiwiana + Meal Plan {05.05.2013}

9 Replies

I am well and truly a New Zealand marmite kid 😉 and so now is my son. Marmite is a piece of Kiwiana, and I believe you really do have to grow up on it to appreciate it. It has been very difficult the last 12-18 months without marmite….it definitely was “Marmageddon“. Imagine, that you can no longer buy chocolate or coffee, it just disappeared from the shop and there is no replacement, what would you do??? Now you might understand 🙂

The shortage of marmite, was due to the series of earthquakes that struck Christchurch New Zealand in February 2011, that caused the factory to temporarily close due to damage. It was the only production factory of marmite.

Anyway, this week my Mum sent over our Marmite. We went straight out, bought fresh white bread from our local french bakery, added butter and marmite. It was delicious, scrumptious, wonderful…that salty taste – there is nothing else in the world like it 🙂

Here is the rest of our meal plan for the week:

DAY	BREAKFAST	DINNER	EXERCISE
Sunday	Toast with Marmite	Cuban beans and Rice	20 mins HIT
Monday	Banana Loaf	Casserole + Mashed Potatoes
Tuesday	Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt	Grill + Stuffed Mushrooms + Corn	Walk
Wednesday	Berry + Banana Smoothie	Spaghetti + Asparagus + Mushrooms	20 mins. HIT
Thursday	Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt	Self-crusting potato quiche
Friday	Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie	Spinach Lasagna	20 mins. HIT

We are usually spending ~$70 a week for our meals. Here is this weeks shopping list:

GROCERY LIST (NEW STOCK)	IN THE CUPBOARD/FRIDGE
Onions (TJ) Strawberries (TJ) Bell Peppers(TJ) Potato (TJ) Tomatoes (TJ) Garlic (TJ) Soy Yoghurt (WF) Soy Milk (TJ) Juice (TJ, TT) Beef Stew Meat (BJ)	Black Beans (TT) Brown Rice (TJ) Vegetable Stock (TT) Corn tortilla (TT) Spinach (from the garden) Broccoli (from the garden) Butter (TJ) Flour/ WW and GF (TT) Gluten Free Pasta (TT) Granola (TT or BJ) Oats (BJ) Frozen Peas + Corn (TJ) Sultanas (TT) Stir Fry Sauce (TT) Pasta sauce (TT)

NOTE: We shop majority at Trader Joe’s (TJ), Target (TT) with an occasional visit to Whole foods (WF), BJ’s , Harris Teeters (HT), Lowes Food (LF) and Fresh Market (FM).
NOTE: We do not typically use coupons mainly due to time.
NOTE: Items indicated by * are specials for the week we took advantage of.