Merry Christmas 2017

To all my readers and followers of Domesblissity.com, I’d just like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year.

I really appreciate the support you’ve given myself and the Domesblissity.com website in the nearly 7 years since I started back on 1 January 2011. It’s been a wild and rocky road sometimes. A death in the family, a marriage break up and a spectacular wedding plus plenty of easy recipes and frugal advice.

I turned Domesblissity.com into a business officially in January 2017 and it’s been a slow and steady progress. I appreciate all the support each and everyone one of you has given me.

Coming in 2018

Next year, starting in January 2018, Domesblissity.com is going to get serious to help you make some serious changes to your life, should you need it.

It’s on the news and in media, every single day. People just aren’t coping financially or they’re drowning in clutter. The two go hand in hand and before you find yourself in a position you can’t get out of, I want you to know that help is at hand.

I’m truly blessed in that I had good teachers in my life and through the bad times and good, I always seem to manage. I want everyone in the world to know this too that’s why I’m going to break it out all down into easy, manageable chunks of information that you can implement slowly and steadily.

I’ll be posting mainly here at Domesblissity.com but if you want to join the community of like-minded ‘domestic goddesses’ and ask particular questions, drop some handy hints yourself or just learn more, send me a request to join the Domestic Goddesses in Training Facebook Group.

I’m starting the year off with Organising You. If you’re not organised then the rest of your home life won’t be nor will your family’s.

Thank you again for sticking by me throughout 2017 and Merry Christmas to each and everyone of you.

 

Much love,

Anne Murphy

Cooking for Busy Mums Cookbook

One of the best things about my blogging journey over the last 5 years is the number of people I’ve met and friendships I’ve made both online and IRL (in real life). One such person is Amanda Voisey from the blog, Cooking for Busy Mums. Amanda has been blogging now for over 6 years and started out with a Facebook page all those years ago. She had not long had her first born and had to come up with fast, fresh and family-friendly meals so started sharing them. The culmination of all those years of sharing her recipes has now come together in the form of her brand new “Cooking for Busy Mums” cookbook.

I first met Amanda, in person, back in May 2013 when we were both lucky enough to win our rounds of the Gourmet Garden Cook Off at the Good Food & Wine Show held in Brisbane. We were whisked off to Noosa for a 4 day gastronomic tour of the Noosa Region including plenty of hands on cooking opportunities. Amanda and I just clicked right from the start. We both have a passion for cooking, using fresh, seasonal produce and cooking hearty, healthy meals for our families that taste good. 

Homemade Crackers

One of Amanda’s recipes I’ve been wanting to try, like forever, is her homemade savoury crackers. That’s about the one thing I buy ready made from the supermarket and with all the rubbish they put in them, I don’t know why I haven’t http://www.facesoflyme.com/view_pets/profile/pet_webpage.php?def=1&pet_id=3146 made them before. (Stay tuned because I’ll be making this recipe very soon.)

There are over 150 quick and easy recipes in Amanda’s new cookbook with dishes from breakfast to light meals and side dishes, a whole variety of dinner options, sweet treats, snacks and a special inclusion of reader’s recipes. 

The “Cooking for Busy Mums” cookbook also has a comprehensive section at the front explaining the standard Australian measurements, how to balance family nutrition, her favourite kitchen appliances, tips, pantry lists and what should go into a healthy lunchbox. I’m sure Amanda’s two young boys are very spoilt and envied by all the other young children at school when they see what’s in her boy’s lunchboxes.

All of the recipes are easy, fast, fresh, frugal and tried and tested on her family. Amanda is a busy Mum, like most of us, and works part time outside the home and still manages to cook from scratch and share her recipes. She deserves every success with the release of her new cookbook after years of sharing her wealth of knowledge.

If you’re looking for a cookbook that will fast become one of your favourites, be sure to grab your copy as soon as possible. Her book goes on sale on 25 May 2016 and is available at all good book stores.

Congratulations Amanda! 

 

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of the “Cooking for Busy Mums” Cookbook for review. All photos, thoughts and opinions are my own.

What I learnt in 5 years of blogging

If you would’ve asked me 5 years ago what I’d be doing now, the last thing I would’ve said would be blogging. What started as a way of storing recipes and events that involved the family, has now turned into a full time job for me. (Well, being a Mum is my full time job but I’m turning my blogging knowledge into a business over the course of this year.) I’ve successfully learnt how to juggle my family and a blogging life and I couldn’t have done any of it without YOU! Everyone single person who visits Domesblissity.com has made this blogging journey such an interesting one and one that has given me experiences and opportunities I would never have dreamed of. I’ve got a few local blogging friends who I would never have met otherwise and a lot of my online friends have been met through this blog from all over the world.

Now it’s time to give back. I’ve learnt so much about blogging, mainly self taught or googling how to do things. I want to share everything I know about blogging and how I got to where I am. I haven’t made a lot of money from blogging. I guess I quite haven’t figured that part out yet but it has never been about the money. I’ve enjoyed quite a lot of traffic (which I guess I should be capitalising on) but the whole premise of Domesblissity.com is to not spend, to live a frugal life and to make do with what you have. I don’t feel right about advertising say Amazon affiliate links, promoting things to buy when that’s not what I’m about. I just enjoy the traffic I get.

I do, however, want to start selling my knowledge on how to live a frugal life and how you can live a rich and fulfilling life without a lot of money.

There are a lot of experts on blogging out there and they’ve had wonderful successes. These blog posts about my blogging journey are what I did and I want to share every single one of them with you. It might just be something you haven’t heard of before and if it can help you, I’m only happy to share it.

Thank you again for continuing to follow me here at Domesblissity.com. Stay tuned for regular blogging tips, tutorials, how tos and information from me. I can’t wait to share.

The Best of Domesblissity 2015

Wow! Are we at the end of 2015 already? The year has literally just flown by. I don’t know if it’s me or my kids getting older (well, we’re all getting older) but the days just turn into weeks and then months and before I know it, we’re into another year. The year was bittersweet for me with plenty of highs and and some lows but that’s life unfortunately. You’ve got to take the good with the bad and this year was just one of those years.

The year started off with a ‘bang’ for me, with what I thought, was a couple days away of R and R at the beautiful Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort & Spa and my ‘now’ husband, surprised me with a marriage proposal. That then set my ‘organising’ gene into motion with wedding plans and how to plan a DIY budget wedding. Our original wedding date was set for May 2016 but around the same time as the proposal my dear mother-in-law’s health started to suffer so we brought the date forward to September 12 this year. My mother-in-law couldn’t live alone anymore so we spent a lot of time looking for permanent residential care for her as well as packing up all of her belongings from her home.

She made it to the wedding but her health just deteriorated even more. Sadly she passed away on 9 December. It was such a great loss. She was every wife’s dream mother-in-law, always so kind and giving. She was very independent, right up until the end and was very much loved by my husband and his brother and family. She is always in our thoughts and Christmas just wasn’t the same without her. 

We had a lovely week’s honeymoon (all 4 of us that is) at Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland in early October.

1.  Lemon Myrtle Scones with Finger Lime Marmalade | 2. Homemade Sour Cream | 3. Basic Stew |

4. Baked Thai Chicken Wings | 5. Chocolate Macadamia Drop Cookies |

6. Ricotta, Zucchini & Cherry Tomato Tarts | 7. Family Meat Pie | 8. Homemade Tortillas

There were plenty of recipes, as usual, with a different take on some of my staple recipes and I started sharing with you how to make things from scratch, something I’ve done all my life. There’ll be plenty more of those ‘make from scratch’ recipes coming in 2016. It’s all about making do with what you’ve already got in your pantry and freezer and not ducking out to the shops for that ‘one ingredient’. You can find all my Recipes here.

Restoration of a faded thrift store watercolour print

Besides DIYing just about everything for my wedding, I shared a few other DIY and makeover projects. I’ve always made do all my life, whether I could afford it or not. If someone offers you an 8-seater dining suite for free and you need one, you take it (or I do anyway). If there’s nothing wrong with your outdoor setting except that it’s a bit tired and needs a good clean and re-oil, you fix it. I’m not one for following design trends and wanting all that’s new on the market in my home. I’m just as happy with a few sentimental items and reusing what I’ve already got. There are a few more makeover projects here.

10 Frugal Baking Tips

And I also shared a few ‘pearls of wisdom’ on how I make do and live a thrifty style of life, for example 10 Frugal Baking Tips. You can find more posts on frugal living here. There’ll be more of those in 2016 so stay tuned.

And finally, I was also fortunate enough to undertake a Diploma of Business with Business Mamas which has given me the inspiration to turn Domesblissity, the blog, into a business. That’s what I’ll be striving for in 2016 and I can’t wait to share all of that news with you in weeks to come.

 

Thank you again for being here with me (5 years tomorrow, my blogiversary). Some of you have become lifelong friends of mine, from all over the world. For the new visitors, I hope to get to know you even better in 2016. Here’s to a happy, prosperous and bright new year for us all!

Welcome to Domesblissity.com!

Welcome to the new home of Domesblissity! I finally got around to making the change from Blogger to WordPress. Something that I’ve been wanting to do for absolute ages. I didn’t personally do it. Abby from the blog Things For Boys, a true professional, did it for me.

#startandendyourdaywithdairy and be @Legendairy

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I was thrilled to be invited to a recent blogging event organised by Louisa from Brand Meets Blog where I got to meet up with some of my favourite Brisbane bloggers and learn all about starting and ending my day with dairy products from Dairy Australia.

On arrival, we were handed a pair of gorgeous, comfortably soft, faux fur, cow print slippers to wear. So much more comfortable than heels and it set the tone for an easy relaxed night learning about how to incorporate more healthy dairy products into our diet.

Also, as I entered the Hemingway Room of the Alfred & Constance, I noticed the table to my left, heavily laden with a gorgeous array of desserts. It was after all, all about celebrating dairy. There’s cheese in cheesecake, right? (All in moderation of course!)

My wonderful blogging friend, Amanda from Cooking for Busy Mums, started off the evening telling us all about how she incorporates more dairy into her family’s diet. (Rockin’ the cow print slippers Amanda!)

Besides the wonderful staff on hand from Dairy Australia, we were treated to a special visit from “Mr Cheese” himself (previous contest on My Kitchen Rules) from Hunter Belle Cheese.

There was also plenty of cheese to go around.

Did you know, if you’re a woman over the age of 50, four serves from the dairy foods group are recommended every day. A serve from the dairy foods group is a cup (250ml) of milk, three-quarters of a cup (200g) yogurt, two slices (40g) of cheese, half a cup (120g) of ricotta cheese or alternatives. (Source)

I could quite easily incorporate that into my daily intake of dairy. Milk, yogurt, cheese and ricotta are some of my favourite foods.

I love to start my day with muesli and yoghurt and this Apple & Cinnamon yogurt from Maleny Dairies we received in our goodie bag was just gorgeous.

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My kids love dairy products (thank goodness) so this is easy to incorporate into their daily diet. I always try to start and end their day with dairy with breakfast cereal with milk or toast and a smoothie, yogurt or cheese cubes in their lunchbox and a dairy dessert after dinner.

We received heaps of other cool stuff, courtesy of Dairy Australia, including some great recipe books and a range of beauty products from Milk, a company started up by Australian champion swimmer Michael Klim and his wife Lindy.

It was a great night and just the reminder I needed to keep up my dairy intake. Stay tuned for some lovely recipes featuring dairy products and a back to school giveaway coming up in January.

Disclaimer:  I was gifted a bag of dairy related and beauty products by attending this blogging function courtesy of Dairy Australia. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The #Giftorium @Myer

MYER GIFTORIUM GRAND OPENING
SATURDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2014

Christmas has to be my MOST favourite time of the year. I still get a kick out of seeing Santa, watching my kid’s faces light up when they open their presents, receiving and giving presents, preparing food for the day and Christmas present shopping. Well, sort of. Every year, I try to get in early but by the time Christmas comes around, my kids have changed their minds about what they want or I find I have a dozen or so presents to buy at the last minute.

This year, all 67 Myer stores across Australia have introduced a Giftorium. A one-stop destination for all festive gift giving needs.  On weekends and selective dates from 8 November, every Myer store will have a whole host of fun activities for the entire family including  children’s face painting, balloon artists, musical performances, Christmas tree and table dressing demonstrations, appearances from children’s characters, cosmetic workshops and children’s Christmas book readings.

 Myer has developed an extensive Personal Shopping Service centred on expertly trained Gifticians and Producticians. Gifticians are on hand to help you choose the perfect gift for any age group, interest or budget. Producticians will be on hand to provide product demonstrations and reveal the latest must-have Christmas gift ideas, sourced from around the world. 

In select stores around the country, there will be demonstrations by major brands including Marvin’s Magic, SodaStream, Mr Men and Little Miss, Plumm wine glasses, Dilmah Teas and Vista Print.

I was absolutely ‘tickled pink’ to receive my own personalised gift in my goodie bag from Myer and Mr Men and Little Miss. They have a whole range of personalised items available.

To get a head start, you can select from any of the Myer 12 Themes of Christmas gift categories, which include some of the following.

Food Fanatic (for any of my friends reading this, you can start Christmas shopping here for me)

 

Kid’s Cubby (for young boys and girls)

Trendy Young Things (I could’ve spent my entire Christmas budget on my daughter in this section)

Miracle Mum (okay kids, you can start here for me)

Dapper Dad

There’s also your usual high standard of Christmas decorations and adornments you’d expect from Myer.

There is also a beautiful range of (my) favourite cookbooks and homewares available.

On the morning, we were also treated to a sumptuous array of refreshments including this gorgeous sweets table created by Sensationally Sweet Events.

Myer has you covered with everything from gift selection to wrapping to same day ‘elf’ delivery service. You can start shopping in the comfort of your own home here from the Myer Giftorium website. I can’t wait to get back into the store, with the kids, to experience all the sights and sounds of Christmas again. Make sure you book your visit with Santa online here to save you waiting in line on the day.

Disclaimer:  I was gifted a generous ‘goodie’ bag from Myer containing a Sodastream PLAY softdrink maker and a $50 voucher to spend on the day. All photos, thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Pin Junkie - 2 Year Blogiversary

Two years ago, Bonnie a.k.a. The Pin Junkie decided to actually do
the things she pinned on Pinterest.  She made a few crafts, tried a few
recipes and had so much fun, she wanted to share her love of Pinterest
with everyone and The Pin Junkie was born!  Now she’s completely addicted and working her way through Pinterest one project at a time.  You can join her at:

The Pin Junkie is celebrating it’s two year blogiversary and these bloggers are helping to celebrate in style with a HUGE link party! When you share your crafts and recipes at this party, they will be seen on all 40 of these blogs!

Party Rules
1.  Share anything family friendly – crafts, recipes, DIY projects.
2.  Visit other links at the party.  It’s always nice to leave some comments and pin from the original source.
3.  Visit and follow a few of the co-hosts.  They’d love it if you dropped by to say hello!

An InLinkz Link-up

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TOURING AUS 2014/2015

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