SATWM - Stay at Home (Working?) Mum

Recently Ive decided to bite off a bit more than I can chew and have taken on board a couple of jobs to generate some extra income.

I have signed up to do some pamphlet delivery with Salmat and have signed on as a Homecare Consultant.  There is no outlay involved with either project so if it doesn't work out I can withdraw my position and go back to being a lady of leisure (not leisure, being a mum is a job and a half!).

Pamphlet Delivery with Salmat

I met with the Area Representative earlier this week.  She advised me what the job generally involves.  It involves receiving pamphlets/brochures which are delivered to me twice per week, folding them and delivering them to homes along my route.  My route is in the vicinity of where I live and consists of approximately 300 homes.  With the time involved with the delivery you would only want to accept the job if it was close to home...

Once I have delivered the brochures, I can hop online to indicate that the delivery has been completed and drop off some paperwork at the Area representative's house and then I get paid.

According to my research, it is a few hours work per week primarily involved in folding the pamphlets then it takes 1-2 hours in delivering to each home.  For this you dont get paid very much, but not very much has to be better than nothing at all right?

I figure that at the moment I am walking with my baby giraffe for an hour each day anyway so Im not losing any time with him during the day.  My darling husband works night shift so Im able to fold away at night so we'll see how this one pans out.

I walked along the route today, not all the culdesacs but the main streets and it took me an hour so I figure that with the culdesacs and having to visit on the other side of the road, and stopping to post the brochures it will take at least two hours per week.  Luckily I only have to do one delivery as my Area Representative has allowed me to deliver the weekend brochures mid week as well.

Homecare Consultant

I signed up online.  Received a phone call.  Got accepted and that was it.  Here's a website login and a welcome pack is in the mail.  It was that easy.

Homecare works differently from Salmat as it is commission based.  You only make money if you make sales.  You only make sales if you deliver catalogues.  I have a route of 100 homes within a nearby estate.

Little bit extra work because you have to deliver the catalogues and then pick them up.  Make any orders and deliver any goods to the customer.  Not sure how the commission is calculated but will know more when I receive the welcome pack.

My intentions

I would like to make a little extra money so I can buy something special for myself, or for my darling husband, or baby giraffe.

I do not want this extra work to impinge on the time I spend with my baby giraffe.  Any work has to be done when he's sleeping except for the deliveries because he can come with me.

I do not want the extra work to stop the housework from being done.  Will have to work extra hard to ensure the washing is kept up to date and the house remains tidy.  This might be difficult.

I would like to lose some weight.  Hopefully having to get out a number of times per week to go for hourly or more walks will help me shed some kilos.  Its powerful motivation to put the baby giraffe in the pram and get walking.

The reality

Stay tuned...

Storing your baby food

No room in the freezer to store those baby containers full of frozen goodness for baby to eat? A cheap and effective way to store baby food is to use ice trays to freeze the food (I buy the covered ice trays for protecting the food). Once frozen, you can transfer the cubes to freezer bags, label the bags and store in the freezer.

It is also convenient as the food is in smaller portions so you can mix with other cubes, or you can give your baby a few cubes for dinner.

Don't forget to label your bags with the contents and the date they were cooked.

Baby recipes: Lamb shank broth

* Suitable from 6 months

1-2 lamb shanks, with fat removed
4 potatoes, chopped coarsely
3 carrots, chopped coarsely
3 celery sticks, chopped coarsely
Approximately 2 litres water

1. Bring all ingredients to boil.

2. Simmer, partly covered, for one hour until meat is tender.

3. When cool enough to handle, remove lamb shank and remove meat from bone.

4. Strain off the stock and leave aside. Cool slightly.

4. Blend meat with vegetables and some cooking liquid in batches until you have a thick soup consistency.

Tips:-

* Try using chicken instead of lamb shanks, perhaps lovely legs.

* Ensure you remove the fat from the shanks as fatty cuts are high in saturated fats.

* When introducing new meat or chicken, make sure you offer it at lunchtime rather than dinner so you have plenty of time to observe an allergic reaction.

If you try the recipe and your baby likes it, please leave me a comment.