Just a little spoilt...

One spoiled granddaughter, who now has a book with her name and picture in it...😀  It has arrived and is now available on Amazon. 

"I Think I Have Fairies In My Garden," by Alexandra Grose. 

I think l have fairies in my garden

A delightful fairy story, with a moral for the children. Don't let anyone steal their dreams. 

Available on Amazon.

The Meaning Of Life.

 

If you feel you must compare yourself, you only need to compare yourself with who you are today, as against who you were yesterday. Don’t compare yourself against someone else. They haven’t lived your life, with your problems, or your skills. They have their own problems and skill set to work with.

What’s the one thing in life, that you’re doing every day, which screws you up, which you hate and which you wish you could change? What number one thing do you wish to change about yourself? Because only you can change your life. 

It all starts with you. Your life is your responsibility. It doesn’t matter how lowly we feel we are in life, or for that matter, how high. There’s always one thing we can change in our lives and it begins with us. We need to assume the responsibility for where we are in life and for where we’re headed.

You might not even start with what you want to change, if that task seems too big. It might start with making your bed. If you can achieve that one small thing, you might tidy your room next. Small changes every day, will eventually lead to big changes. So if you feel the issue is too great to bear straight up; start small. 

When you feel you’re able, work on that one thing. We don't have to change everything about ourselves, we just need to make a start on one thing today and when we’ve overcome that, work on another thing tomorrow. You don’t know how much change you can make, or how much good you can do in the world, until you try and once you overcome your greatest battle, you have authority to help someone else overcome theirs. 

And that is the meaning of life. Many of us want to know; what is the meaning of life? Why are we here? Changing your life from drudgery and boredom, to one of interest and excitement, brings meaning into your life. Helping someone else change and overcome their battles, will bring not only meaning into their life, but also more meaning into your life.

Changing what you dislike about yourself, is done incrementally. One tiny step at a time. Let's say you want to stop drinking, smoking, or overeating. Start with an hour, then two, then stretch it out further each day. It might not seem like a lot right now, but in a year, two years, three years, you'll be a lot further ahead, than if you didn't start in the first place.

Don't denigrate these small steps, at this time either. If you were lifting weights, you wouldn't expect to start at 100 kg. You'd start with 5 or 10 kg and you wouldn’t belittle that start, because you know, you'll build on that, if you keep going. Quitting a bad habit is the same thing; small increments each day.

There will be times you fail, times where you have that drink/food, or whatever it is, but don't quit. Have your moment and get right back to it. Don't let your default point stay where it is. Increase in duration and your natural default point will change, as those increments become the new norm. 

  

Bacon and Onion Frittata

Serves 2. Preparation 10 minutes. Cooking time 10 - 12 minutes.

                                         

Ingredients:

3 eggs, whisked

1 onion, diced

A good pinch of sugar

1 rasher bacon, diced

1 small zucchini, grated

1 cup grated cheese, of your choice

A pinch of salt

1 tablespoon chopped garden herbs

Salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

Turn oven on, to 175 deg. Line 8 in cake pan with grease proof paper. 

Fry the onion, with a good pinch of sugar. When onion has turned opaque, add bacon and fry until browned and slightly crisp. 

Wisk the eggs until smooth, add all other ingredients, including fried bacon and onion and pour into lined cake pan. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes (until egg mixture has set and lightly browned). Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. 

Lift paper lining, from tin and cut into 8 triangular wedges. 

This can be served as a light breakfast, or morning tea, or you could add a salad, for a tasty lunch. 

Simple Eggless Pikelets

 

(Makes 3 x 3 stacks pikelets, or 12 pikelets in all.)

Preparation and cooking time; 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 cup SRF (self-raising flour) Cottage cheese

1 tsp sugar 2 bananas, sliced

Pinch bi-carb soda 1 punnet blueberries

1 cup milk 9 to 12 little flowers (optional)

Maple syrup Small amount of Australian river mint (optional)

Method:

Sift flour, with bi-carb, for a lighter batter and mix sugar, then add in milk.

Warm a splash of olive oil, with a tsp butter, (the butter puts a nice nut-brown colour onto the pikelets). Dollop spoons of batter mix, into warmed pan. Turn pancake over, when brown and cook both sides.

Spread cooked pikelets with cottage cheese. Top with sliced banana and blue berries and add your layers. Drizzle with maple syrup.  

For a more elegant look, (and an optional extra) add edible flowers and Australian river mint.

Other pikelet ideas are; strawberries and cream, orange and cream, or pear, walnut and caramel sauce. 

Perhaps you’d rather a savoury flavour. If doing a savoury flavour, don’t add the sugar, into the batter mix. Leave out the sugar, but add a pinch of salt.

For savoury pikelets try; ham, spinach and eggs, or goat’s cheese and ham with roasted cherry tomato. 

Crumbed Pork, with Sweet Potato Mash.

Crumbed pork, with sweet potato mash.

Serves 4. Cooking time 45 minutes.

 

Ingredients;

Steamed veg, of your choice

500 grams sweet potato

2 tblsp butter

Milk to mix

Olive oil

¼ cup polenta

2 tblsp parmesan cheese

1 tsp each fresh chopped oregano and thyme

½ tsp chicken stock powder

4 pork chops

Salt and pepper to taste

Method;

Preheat oven to 180 deg.

Peel and chop sweet potato and place in pan on stove, adding a good pinch of salt.

Bring to boil and reduce heat.

Steam other vegetables, as per instructions on pack.

While sweet potatoes are cooking, mix polenta, parmesan, salt pepper, herbs and chicken stock powder and spread on a dinner plate.

Coat pork in crumb mixture.

Heat oil in a fry pan and cook chops, until golden (just a few minutes, each side).

Lay baking paper over a baking tray and place chops on top then pop in the oven, for 10-12 minutes, until meat is cooked through. 

Once sweet potatoes are soft, mix with butter and milk, until creamy. 

Serve. 

Financial Health in 5 easy steps, for the youth. And How You Can Retire A Millionaire.

When it comes to youth and saving, you don’t need to have a lot of money, you just need to save frequently. Right now you have time on your side, so make this time count while you can. 

The years can slip by very quickly and before you know it, you’re middle aged and you won’t be able to employ these same techniques then. It’s much easier and costs a lot less to start now, while you are still young. 

There’s always going to be something to spend your money on. Society is geared that way. Don’t follow the crowd, who spend all their money thoughtlessly. Make better use of your hard-earned dollars. 

It’s in the seller’s best interest to help you buy their product. It’s their job to sell you the biggest brand and latest innovation, making themselves wealthy in the process. It’s in your best interest, to keep some of your money for your future financial stability, to make yourself wealthy. 

You buy things to impress people you don’t know and who don’t care. That doesn’t mean you can’t buy the big brand names. Just remember to keep a little of your own money for yourself, for your future and your financial security.

To retire a millionaire all you need is regular savings. If you start, while you’re young, it won’t cost very much at all.

Having said that…Here are the 5 easy steps, which will help get you started, to a future of sound financial health;

Step 1. 

Save $20 a week in a daily compound interest account. This doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but it will grow over the years of a lifetime. With regularity, just $20 a week could see you retire a millionaire. 

A daily compound interest account will earn you more interest than a monthly interest account. There won’t appear to be a lot of difference when you first start out, but as your account grows, it will make a big difference.

Right now, if you are still young, you only need to save $20 a week. If you leave saving until you’re 50, it will take ten times that amount to end up with the same result. The earlier you start, the less you need to save and the better off you’ll be. And with inflation, by the time you retire, $20 will seem like nothing at all. 

Step 2. 

Open a direct debit savings account for your $20. That way you won’t even notice it. You work with what you have in your account each week and if that $20 is already taken out, you’ll work with what’s left.

If you find yourself spending all your money, work an extra hour or two a week and save that. Go back to earning pocket money and mow your parent’s lawn, or babysit the neighbour’s kids and make sure you save those dollars, not just spend more because you’re earning more. 

Step 3. 

If you want to be rich, do what the rich do. Instead of spending all your money on clothing and handbags, walk into an antique store and purchase something that will last. Wealthy people all buy antiques. They know about value and growth and don’t let an opportunity go by, if they think they can make a dollar, or two.

Get to know your antiques and buy the odd thing throughout your life. You don’t have to spend a lot of money. Again it’s just the little things you do, that can make big differences over time. Coin and stamp collecting doesn’t cost a lot and if you start young, can be worth quite a bit by the time you retire.

Spend one afternoon on the internet, or at your local library and you’ll soon see what antiques, coins, or stamps to look out for. It won’t take a lot of your time to learn this.

Step 4. 

Work yourself into a position where you get paid more money. Study hard, put in 10% more effort than the guy before you and you will be noticed and promoted. Work smarter, not harder! Unless you really love it, don’t stay at a job with a cranky boss and terrible pay. 

You pay peanuts, you’re going to get monkeys. A boss who pays peanuts will end up with monkeys working for him. All the good employees, those who value their time and their money, will leave for better paying work. Do the same. Leave the monkeys to collect the peanuts.

Step 5. 

Learn about investing. Buy just one book on the topic and read it. You’ll be surprised at how simple investing can be and how little it will cost you to get started. Noel Whittaker writes very good and easy to follow books, on investing for youth.  Or you could subscribe to one of the money, or investment magazines and for just a few dollars a month, you can learn about wealth creation.

And that’s it. It’s that simple.

Do you realize 90% of people struggle financially? The majority of people have never tried to learn the basic fundamentals of saving and investing. Break out of this trend. You owe it to yourself and those you care about, to become wealthy.

Spend your time having fun! Have a fun night out, or watch TV and chat to your friends on Facebook. But try to include just a small amount of time each week, on wealth creation. All it takes is just 10 minutes, once a week, to make a dramatic difference to your financial future. Invest in those 10 minutes of time. Do something to set yourself up for a comfortable lifestyle, instead of living on ‘struggle street’ for the whole of your life.