Weekly Menu Retrospective #57

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!

BOOK UPDATE: My book, Cheap Appétit : The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible) IS NOW AVAILABLE on Amazon (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon UK) and Barnes and Noble.  I've started putting page references to recipes that are in the book in my menu plans so you can locate them quickly. For more details about the book, go here.  


Breakfasts: French toast, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (subbed pumpkin for banana in this recipe), peanut butter toast, waffles

Lunches: pizza, leftovers, grilled cheese

Dinners: 

Monday: Potato, Cheddar and Bacon Soup (p. 165), carrot and apple salad (p. 208)

Tuesday: Turkey and Vegetable Coconut Curry (p. 136)

Wednesday: Black Bean Chili (p.160)

Thursday: Lemon & Garlic Chicken (p.184), Easy Oven Fries (p.194),  Broccoli, Bacon & Cheddar Salad (p. 204)

Friday: Leftover Buffet

Saturday: Apple and Bacon Baked Beans (p.177), avocado corn muffins

Sunday: Smothered Pork Chops (a variation of the Smothered Meatballs on p 143), mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, ice cream with homemade butterscotch topping

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

RECIPE: Pumpkin Gingerbread

There seems to be an endless supply of pumpkin puree in our freezer right now, so I'm always on the lookout for a new way to use it up. We are all big fans of gingerbread, so I decided to try adding some pumpkin into the mix. It was a big hit with my gang ! Due to the spiciness of the cake, the pumpkin taste is not overly strong, so I think even people who don't particularly care for pumpkin would still like this!

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin puree

Instructions:
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugars, baking soda and spices. In a small bowl, combine the butter, molasses, egg and pumpkin puree. Gently stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. Pour into a greased 9" square pan and bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched.

Enjoy warm or cold, preferably with whipped cream, ice cream, or custard on top :)

I shared this recipe at Full Plate Thursday and the GCC Recipe Swap.

And the Winners Are...

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for a chance at one of two copies of my cookbook. I enlisted the help of my boys in drawing the winning entries earlier today, and it's time to announce the lucky winners:

Janet S.   

(who left her comment on my Facebook page)

and

 Karin in BC

Congratulations, ladies! I will be emailing both of you to let you know you have won.

And for those of you who didn't win, and are thinking about purchasing a copy:

1. Remember that if you have enough Swagbucks you can still get it for free with Amazon gift certificates :)

2. My publisher has finally set the date for the "official" launch, which will be on February 15th. If you purchase the book on this day, you will receive an assortment of free bonus gifts, and will help me in my goal to get to the top of the list in the cookbook category that day.

Weekly Menu Retrospective #56 and Last Chance to Enter My Giveaway!

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!

BOOK UPDATE: My book, Cheap Appétit : The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible) IS NOW AVAILABLE on Amazon (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon UK) and Barnes and Noble.  I've started putting page references to recipes that are in the book in my menu plans so you can locate them quickly. For more details about the book, go here.  

Breakfasts: Granola (p. 92), peanut butter toast, apple pancakes, cherry clafouti (p. 223), French toast and bacon.

Lunches: sandwiches, pizza, leftovers

Dinners:

Monday: Macaroni and cheese (p.174), peas and carrots

Tuesday: Tex-Mex Shepherd's Pie (p. 173)

Wednesday: Leftover Buffet

Thursday: Thai-Style Peanutty Pasta (p.147)

Friday: Cabbage & Beef Soup (p.167), avocado corn muffins

Saturday: Leftover Buffet Part II

Sunday: Fish au Gratin (p. 190) with Honey-Orange Roasted Root Vegetables (p. 202), Pumpkin gingerbread with whipped cream (recipe coming soon!)

Snacks & Sides: fresh pineapple, apples, bananas, clementines, Roasted Chickpeas, stovetop popcorn

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

If you'd like a whole book filled with 125+ family-friendly, money-saving recipes like the ones on my blog, be sure to enter my giveaway to win your very own copy of Cheap Appétit. Today is the last day to enter!

Library Corner #1

Photo: Surachai/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One of the resources I most cherish in my frugal life is living a five minute walk from our neighbourhood branch of one of the top libraries in Canada. We are there so often I sometimes think it's our second home, and the library staff know all four members of my family on a first name basis. We might even get a bit of extra special service since some of the staff has known us since before I gave birth to my babies and has watched them grow up (the fact that I bring them a plate of homemade cookies every Christmas might sway things in our favor, too!).

I recently realized that even though I'm an avid (some would say bordering on obsessive) reader, I rarely share anything book-related (aside from an odd review) here on my blog. Since I know reading is a popular activity with many of my fellow frugalistas (we all love our libraries, don't we?) I thought it might be fun to share what I've been reading once in a while, and you can let me know what books you've recently enjoyed, too! Since we are a cable-free household, we borrow a lot of DVDs from our library, too and I'll post some of our favourite DVD picks as well.

So, without further ado, here are a few things I've enjoyed from the library of late:

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I'm sure almost all of you have heard of this book, which has gotten a ton of buzz, has been on all the bestseller and recommended reading lists, and has now been made into a movie (which I haven't seen yet). I finally got around to reading it and am glad that I did. I found it to be well written, although a very difficult read at times because of the subject matter. I still find it hard to believe that racial segregation existed in North America such a short time ago - I'm not quite old enough to have been alive then, but it was just barely outside of my lifetime that these events occurred. I think almost anyone would find this to be a worthwhile read.

2. The Writing Class by Jincy Willett

I'd never heard of this novel or its author before and I happened to stumble across this one when browsing the "recently returned" shelf at the library. The main character teaches a college extension writing course, and the story starts out revolving around the class and its students and eventually turns into a murder mystery. It's written in a humorous and somewhat literary style. I've taken a few adult education writing classes at my local university, and I thought this was a very cleverly done story with some pithy observations about class dynamics and human nature in general. If you enjoy writing, have ever taken a writing class, or just prefer your murder mysteries with a good dose of humour on the side, you should enjoy this book.

3. Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin

Yet another fiction pick (I've been on a bit of a novel bender lately!). This is the story of Angel Tungaraza, a Tanzanian living with her husband and grandchildren in Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide. I'm only part way through this book, but really enjoying it. Although it covers some difficult subject matter, it is also about the joys and challenges of everyday life and is written in a light and hopeful style. It also provides a glimpse into what life is like in modern day Rwanda. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who's a fan of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith.

4. Chuck (TV series)

This show was recommended to me by a few different friends and we finally got around to checking it out. I'm so glad we did! It's a comedy-drama of the "goofy spy" variety and it usually has us in stitches. It takes some great jabs at big-box-store culture as well, as the main character works at "Buy More" (a spoof on Best Buy) and there are frequent references to "Large Mart" (I don't think I need to tell you what chain they're referring to there ::grin::). We're about half way through the first season and I suspect we'll be making our way through all five seasons.

Have you borrowed anything great from your library lately? Please share!

The Frugal Fixer-Upper: Front Entranceway Makeover, Part 2

I mentioned earlier this month that our big goal for this year was to focus on long-overdo home improvement projects. We haven't wasted any time getting started on this goal, and we've been diligently working away at the next stage of our front entranceway makeover since a few days before 2012 even arrived!

For the last three weeks or so, our lives have been filled with taping, plastering, sanding and painting - and I am SO thrilled about how it's coming together. It's looking even better than I'd hoped. I just can't wait to do the final "unveiling" of the finished reno - but unfortunately, we're not quite ready for that yet!

Since I just have to share *something*, I figured I might as well post some of the "before" and "during" pictures and hopefully you'll be as eager to see the "after" pictures as I am to share them.

If you missed part 1 of this series, you might want to go take a peek to see how things looked when we started out.

Brace yourself, some of these photos are pretty scary :)

This first one actually doesn't look *too* bad, but I'm sure you'll appreciate the difference in the "after" photos!

This next picture is just to the side of the front door:

 

Here's what that area looked like once we moved all the "stuff" out of the way (YIKES!!):

 

When we moved into the house, there was a closet in the area where all the (horrible) wallpaper is. It was not original to the house; the previous owners had built it in and it was just a VERY BAD IDEA. The closet took up a huge amount of the entranceway, covered over one of the door sidelights, and was so poorly designed that it was only big enough to hold a few coats despite the amount of space it took up. Not to mention the fact that they also ripped out the original banister on the stairs to make room for this monstrosity (replacing the banister was part 1 of this reno). My husband whipped out his crowbar and ripped that sucker out so fast I don't even have a "before" picture of it :)

Frighteningly enough, this isn't even anywhere close to the most hideous wallpaper in the house:

 

Bye-bye wallpaper:

Once we tore down the closet, we were also left with this attractive hole in the ceiling:

 

Thank goodness my husband got some good practice taping and plastering when we fixed up our side entrance because he sure had to do a lot of it during the course of this reno.

Goodbye, hole in ceiling:



A few corners also needed taping and plastering, plus there were plenty of other places in our old plaster walls that needed repairing:

The hideous grey-purple you see in this next photo is the colour we've been living with on the walls since we moved in - ugh!!! It actually looks worse in real life than it does in the picture :)

Looking at these pictures now, I think I've already forgotten just how terrible this area used to look and I can't believe how transformed it is! We've got the walls and ceiling all painted now, but are still working on the baseboards and door frames. We also have one more big project to complete before this reno is finished - a built-in coat locker on the wall where the shoe cabinet and coat hooks used to be. That might still be a couple weeks away from getting done, as we need to wait for our carpenter neighbour to be available to help my husband with that piece. I'm hoping to be able to show at least *some* of the after pics next week, so stay tuned!

Weekly Menu Retrospective #55 and Giveaway Reminder

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!

BOOK UPDATE: My book, Cheap Appétit : The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible) IS NOW AVAILABLE on Amazon (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon UK) and Barnes and Noble.  I've started putting page references to recipes that are in the book in my menu plans so you can locate them quickly. For more details about the book, go here. 

Breakfasts: Orange Pineapple Muffins (p.100), Baked Oatmeal (p. 91), bagels, apple pancakes

Lunches: leftovers, sandwiches

Dinners:

Monday: Cheesy Mac and Beef Skillet (p. 148)

Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas (p. 127), Colourful Cabbage Salad (p. 207)

Wednesday: Bagel "Egg Puffs" (a quiche-like topping baked on top of the bagel)

Thursday: Pizza, leftover cabbage salad

Friday: Meatless version of Southwestern Beef and Pasta Soup (p.166)

Saturday: Pork with apples, onions and cabbage, Coconut Rice (p. 199)

Sunday: Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas and carrots, Apple Crisp (p. 220)

If you'd like a whole book filled with 125+ family-friendly, money-saving recipes like the ones on my blog, be sure to enter my giveaway to win your very own copy of Cheap Appétit! 

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

R.I.P., My Faithful Friends

In a society where products seem largely designed to break down less than a year after purchase, it's increasingly rare to have a long-standing relationship with most of your "stuff".

That makes it doubly heartrending that I need to say goodbye to not one, but two of my hardest working and long lasting possessions:

#1: My Hiking Boots:

I'm sure that at least one of my kids was still in diapers when I bought these boots. The youngest is now 12, so I'd say these boots are somewhere between 10 and 12 years old. They are perfectly broken in, and have carried me in comfort through countless kilometres of tromping through the woods and trudging through the city streets running errands on foot. Unfortunately, they have suffered a fatal injury that my local shoe repair guy deemed unfixable. I know they look fine from the top - it's the heel and sole of one of them that's wrecked. You can't tell from a quick look at it, as my husband rubber cemented it back together after the shoe repair guy handed down the death sentence in an attempt to make them barely functional until I can find a replacement pair.

I'm really going to miss these boots. I knew they probably didn't have too much life left in them, but I thought I was going to get 1-2 seasons more out of them, otherwise I would have started searching for a new pair much sooner. It's going to be hard to replace these old friends!

#2: Our Blender:

This humble machine has lasted us nearly 20 years, withstanding all manner of abuse by both of my smoothie-obsessed kids, not to mention the many batches of soup it's pureed in the last 2 decades. I remember buying this blender with my husband when we first moved in together during our college/university days, paying for it entirely with Canadian Tire Money we'd stashed away (for all you non-Canadians, Canadian Tire is a national hardware store chain, and they give you a percentage of each purchase back in Canadian Tire "money", which you can then use to buy whatever you'd like!). Amazingly, it's not the motor that's shot - it's the glass carafe, which has several chinks out of it, plus it's not sealing properly and liquids are leaking out the bottom. We've replaced a couple of different parts over the years to extend its lifespan, but at this point I think the motor's days are numbered and it's really not worth it to replace all the other parts that need replacing.
Of course, I'm even more bummed that both of these hard working objects decided to call it kaput during our No-Spend Month. In fact, remembering the crazy week we had during our last No-Spend Month back in October, I'm beginning to wonder at the wisdom of declaring No-Spend Months! I think I'm probably just more acutely aware of extra, unexpected expenses during these months, as I'm sure they happen during the rest of the year, too.

I may not end up replacing either the boots or the blender until my No-Spend month is over, unless I find a fabulous deal on a suitable replacement before then.


In an age of planned obsolescence,  I honour both of these items for serving me so long and so well.

Farewell, friends! May I find worthy successors for both of you.

Help Me Spread the Word About My Book - and WIN A COPY for Yourself

I need a little help from you - and in exchange I'm giving you the chance to win one of two copies of my new book, Cheap Appétit: The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible). I made half a dozen recipes from the book just yesterday - I really do consider the 125+ recipes in the book indispensible in my kitchen, and I hope they will be in yours, too!

If you would like a chance to win a copy, do any of the following:

1. "Like" Cheap Appétit on Facebook (1 entry).

2. Share a link to the book listing (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon UK or Barnes and Noble) and/or the book page on my blog on Twitter, Facebook or other social media (1 entry for each place you share it).

3. Share a link to any of the listings and/or the book page on your blog (1 entry).

4. Recommend the book for purchase at your library (3 entries). You'll need the book's ISBN number to do this, it's ISBN-10: 0982780397 or ISBN-13: 978-0982780398 depending on which one they want.

5. If you already have a copy of the book, write a review on Amazon (3 entries). Wouldn't it be nice to win another copy to give away to a friend or relative that could really use it?

6. Share a link to this giveaway post on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, or other social media (1 entry for each place you share it).

Be sure to leave a comment letting me know which of the above activities you've completed, along with your email address so I know how to contact you if you've won.

You have until Monday, January 23nd at midnight EST to enter and I will announce the winner Tuesday January 24th!

This contest is open to all residents of Canada and the continental US (sorry, international readers!). I will be drawing the names the good old-fashioned way by pulling them out of a hat (the random number generator is just no fun!).

Thanks for your help, and good luck!

Weekly Menu Retrospective #54 + Upcoming Giveaway

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!

BOOK UPDATE: My book, Cheap Appétit : The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible) IS NOW AVAILABLE on Amazon (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon UK) and Barnes and Noble.  I've started putting page references to recipes that are in the book in my menu plans so you can locate them quickly. For more details about the book, go here. 

Breakfasts: Rhubarb Streusel Muffins (p.97), apple cinnamon pancakes, Granola (p.92), Upside-Down Apple Oven Pancake (p.95)

Lunches: leftovers, pizza, sandwiches

Dinners: 

Monday: Macaroni & Cheese with Ham and Peas (p.174)

Tuesday: Big Batch of Black Bean Chili (p. 160)

Wednesday: Spinach, Bacon and Cheese Egg Puff (p.181)

Thursday: Turkey Casserole (based loosely on my Turkey Pot Pie recipe, p. 175, with a mashed potato topping)

Friday: Spaghetti

Saturday: Make-It-Your-Way Potato Hash (p. 140)

Sunday: Pork & Apple Stew (p.156)

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com. And come back on Wednesday to find out how you can win your very own copy of Cheap Appétit!

15 of My Favourite Posts from 2011 That You Might Have Missed

Photo: anat_tikker/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I've had a lot of new readers join me over the past few months, so I thought I'd take a minute to highlight what I feel are some of my most useful posts from 2011 so you can catch up on anything interesting you may have missed! As I took a look back on the year, I discovered several posts that even *I'd* forgotten that I'd written, so even my most loyal readers may find something here that they didn't catch the first time around :)

Why It's Worth It to Bake Your Own Bread

How to Make Your Own Menstrual Pads in 5 Minutes

5 Ways Decluttering Saves You Money

Beat the End-of Winter-Blahs with a Do-It-Yourself Spa Night

Energy Medicine: Frugal and "Green" Self Health Care

5 Ways to Save Money on Fruits and Vegetables

Six Natural and Cheap Ways to Freshen Up Your Home

A RE-USE IT PROJECT: Hockey Stick Muskoka Chair

Fresh, Local Food for Free: Starting a Produce Cooperative

My Successful Soapnuts Experiment

Five Ways Having Money Can Save You Money

Clean, Green - and Cheap?!?

The (Sorta) Secret Second Lives of My Stuff

Make Your Own All-Natural Lip Balm for Less Than 25 Cents a Tin

Happy Reading!!

Accomplishments, Goals and Another No-Spend Month

 Photo: Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot/FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

I guess it's finally time for me to admit that the holidays are over and a new year has begun! 2011 was a *very* busy year at our house, and I promised myself that I'd take a bit of quiet time after Christmas before jumping back into the rhythm of my usual routine.

In 2010, I shared my top five frugal successes of the year, and I wanted to do a similar look back on 2011 to see what I'd achieved in the past 12 months. As I took a look back, I realized that our family accomplished much more than I'd realized in one short year: 

1. Paying off our last credit card balance: Yes, it's a bit embarrassing to admit, but we did have an outstanding credit card balance we've been working on paying off. Rest assured that we didn't run it up on big screen TVs or other frivolous purchases. Let's just say we were in a really tight spot financially a while back, and had some expenses we had no other way of dealing with at the time. It took a good deal of discipline to finish paying off the balance, but we did it! 

2. Writing a book: I finished my book, Cheap Appétit: The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible), which I actually started back in 2010. Writing a book is a long and sometimes very frustrating process, and I have to admit there were more than a few times I just wanted to chuck the whole thing out the window! So I'm thrilled it's finally here - a real, live book at last! While this is a satisfying accomplishment for me personally, book sales will also provide a source of passive income for our family. 

3. Paying cash for a couple of large purchases: We made a couple of major purchases in cash in 2011 and receiving substantial discounts for doing so, saving us several hundred dollars.

4. Discovering soapnuts: I wrote about this inexpensive, eco-friendly and effective alternative to laundry soap here. I'm so glad I decided to give soapnuts a try - they are quite possibly the best thing that's ever happened to my laundry!

5. Making my own lip balm and hard lotion: One of my goals for 2011 was to continue finding homemade and inexpensive solutions for more of my personal care products. I'm very satisfied with the homemade lip balm and hard lotion I made a few weeks back (instructions here). Hurray for adding two more low-cost and effective personal care products to my repertoire!

Goals for 2012:

I'm not one for setting New Year's Resolutions as I don't think they're effective. What I prefer to do is to pick one big thing to focus on for the year, and doing as much as I can on a daily or weekly basis (depending on the type of goal) to bring myself closer to achieving it. Last year, my big goal was to finish writing my book, which I managed to squeak out with a couple of weeks to spare at the end of the year! This year, my husband and I have decided to focus on working on our house. We've lived in this house for eight and a half years now, and while we knew it was a fixer-upper when we bought it, we'd like to tip the balance so it starts feeling less fixer and more upper! We did do some work on the house in 2011, including installing a banister in the front hall and continuing to work on improvements to the backyard. We're currently at work on the next round of renos in the front hall, so I hope to be able to share updates on that area later this month! If you want to see the complete list of our DIY projects, check out my Domestic Arts & DIY page for links to all the relevant posts.

January = No-Spend Month

I did a fairly successful No-Spend Month back in October, and I've declared January another No-Spend Month to kick off the new year. After the relative indulgence of the holiday season, I'm more than ready for a break and look forward to a month of buying as little as possible! I'm going to try and keep grocery spending as well as general household purchases to a minimum. We kicked things off with a $55 grocery bill this week (not bad as we didn't buy groceries the week between Christmas and New Years!), which was further reduced to $30 as we had a $25 gift card we received from a generous neighbour over the holidays. My husband has also accumulated $20 worth of free gas (through the "rewards" program of the gas station he frequents) and we have another $20 gift certificate for a local grocery store on the way (received through redeeming Air Miles). We will need to purchase some supplies to complete the front entranceway project, so I'm excluding those expenses from the "no-spend" challenge as we need to get this reno complete ASAP. I'm hoping that our lack of spending in other areas will offset the costs of completing this DIY project!

Book Update:

Before I sign off this post, I'd just like to give a quick update about my book! It's now available for purchase on the following sites:

Amazon.com: click here
Amazon.ca: click here
Amazon.co.uk: click here
Barnes and Noble: click here

I'd also like to ask a favour of those of you who do purchase the book (or have already done so). If you enjoy the book and find it useful, it would mean a lot to me if you would review it on Amazon. It doesn't have to be long and involved - a couple of sentences and a star rating would be really valuable! (A note about the Canadian listing - it says it will ship in 1-2 months, which is definitely not the case - it should read 1-2 days and we're working on getting that fixed!). We're going to be doing the big "official" launch for the book in a few weeks, and having some positive reviews online will help make the launch more successful.

What are your favourite accomplishments of 2011? 

Do you have big plans for 2012?