Lentils as anything

We have once again come to the season in our budgetary lives when we begin to save up for a trip back to the States. When the decision is made the budget gets a thorough look over. Only a few categories in the budget escape the chopping block. The grocery bill is not one of them.

So due to our decision to start saving for a trip home and also because of living in an expensive city, we eat lentils. I would say several times a month. We tend to not eat much red meat, mostly for the reason above but also because lentils are a bit healthier.

Here are four lentil foods we tend to eat a lot of.

1. Moroccan Stew and Couscous

2. Lentil Enchiladas

3. Lentil & Vegetable Lasagna

4. Pumpkin and Lentil Soup

5. Dahl ( I haven't made it for ages so it doesn't fit with the above criteria )

I need to find some more recipes.

Since this post is about lentils I thought I would mention one of our favorite places to eat in Melbourne. The restaurant (there are two now) is called Lentil as Anything. The following is a mission statement from their website:

Lentils provides unique training and educational opportunities for many people who are struggling to find a place in mainstream institutions. Currently, it provides a place for the long term unemployed, new migrants, refugees, and people with disabilities to build confidence, gain skills and receive assistance with access to legal, health, housing and education services.

Besides being unique in how they serve the community they are also unique in how they price their meals. They simply don't. If you take a look on their menu you won't see any prices. Its based on a honesty policy. They have a tin on the front bench top where you place your "tips" based on what you feel like you should give.  Again a statement from their site that sums it all up:

We would love to welcome you as part of our community. We extend our hospitality offering you vegetarian cuisine cooked with love and gratitude. Our unique financial model functions independent of any government funding and we rely on your generosity in order to pay our rent, utilities, wages and stock.
Make an agreement with your conscience on what is reasonable, how much you enjoyed your food, our philosophy and our community. Be part of a unique financial model that is centred on the values of trust, generosity and respect that gives people the opportunity to eat out and be social regardless of their financial situation.

I know it sounds a bit hippie like but their food is great. I think it is interesting that they are trying to survive without government help when so much of the population expects the handout. I also like the fact that these establishments are stepping stones for some of the many refugees and immigrants we have in the area.

If you come visit we will take you there and you can try the Japanese pancakes. Warning though, they are heavy on the onions.

Serving

J got up before the rest of us this morning and set the table, poured everyone water and made us each a name tag. She said she likes to help out sometimes, especially since we are not feeling well. Thanks J! We are praying your servant heart continues to develop.

What does 7th most expensive look like?

The Age recently published this article on the rise of Melbourne and Sydney on the World's most expensive cities to live in list.

The strong Aussie dollar is giving Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane the unenviable reputation of being among the world's most expensive cities, a global survey shows.
It's now cheaper to live in London, Vienna, Rome, Berlin, Hong Kong and Beijing than most Australian capitals, the Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide Cost of Living survey found.
Sydney is now the sixth priciest city in the world, up from 32nd place two years ago, while Melbourne has jumped from 38th to seventh.

So what exactly does it look like to live in one of the top ten most expensive cities? I thought it might be interesting to record some common prices we see from day to day.

• Average house price - $550,000 I see it as each bedroom costs about $200,000. In regional areas it goes down to each bedroom costs about $100,000.
• Mortgage - $2,580/month - Average mortgage is around $350,000. Interest rates are at 6.5% (low) to %8.5 (high). So this avg. mortgage at 7.5% over 25 years yields roughly a $2,560/month mortgage payment.
• Rent - $360/week. Around our area that will get you 2-3 bedrooms, 1-2 living areas, a small yard, garage, hole in the ceiling, leaking skylight, and leaking water tap.
• Average water/gas/electric bill per year - $2500
• Petrol - $1.37L = $5.17AUD/gal = $5.48USD/gal
• 5 seater, 4 door economy  - $35,000
• 5 seater, 4 door wagon - $85,000 - Sadly fake wood paneling is not included.
• text message - $0.50 to send, free to receive. Fit in as much as possible when texting. Don't ask your friends too many questions.
• We pay $50/month for internet - this gives us 30gb peak download/70gb off-peak downloads. Once you go past that you are at snail mail speed.
• DVD rental - New release $6.00
• Tickets for two adults to the cinema - $28.00 - Sadly dollar cinemas do not exist over here. The cheap nights cost $9.00/person. So cheap.
• Dinner out for two in the city - I read recently the avg. was about $50/per person.
• Pint of beer at the pub - $9.00
• Coffee at the cafe - $4.00 - This would be a small or extra-small in Starbucks size. Do they even have an extra-small option?
• Cheap haircut - $25.00 (this is like Great Clips in the US)
• Pair of jeans from Target - $45.00
• 3L of milk - $3.00/3L = $3.78AUD/gal =  $4.00USD/gal
• Loaf of bread - $2.50AUD = $2.65USD
• Loaf of nutty, oh so good, bread - $4.50AUD = $4.77USD 
• 1 kilo of minced beef (Aldi price) - $8AUD/kilo = $3.85USD/lb.
• 1 kilo of chicken breasts skin off (Aldi price) - $10.00AUD/kilo = $4.75USD/lb.
• 1 tub of yogurt (1kg) - $4.00AUD - $4.26USD
• dozen eggs - anywhere from $3.00 (don't care about chickens' living conditions) - $7.00 (care immensely about chickens' living conditions)
• Nappies - cheapest ones are at Aldi - 44pk for $14.00 - $0.31/nap Everyone at church with a kid knows what another parent is talking about when they ask, "do you have a koala?" Or,"do you have a kangaroo?"
• Wetwipes - again cheapest at Aldi - $2.69/pk - $0.03/wipe
• Yearly school fees - private - around here $10,000 per child/year would be the average. With $4,000 being the lowest I could find at a local Christian school.

Last but not least income tax

Ammount Earned                             Tax on Income
$0 - $6,000                                          nil
$6,001 - $37,000                                 15c for each $1 over $6,000
$37,001 - $80,000                               $4,650 plus 30c for each $1 over $37,000
$80,001 - $180,000                             $17,550 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000
$180,001 -  over                                  $54,550 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000



Cost of living report for Melbourne - some of the prices seem to be way too high. Like children's shoes at $85. At k-mart you can get them for around $30.00.

So there you go. That is what you can spend your money on in the 7th most expensive city in the world.

The Reason for God DVD series

Brandon just finished going through this DVD series with several of his workmates. B strongly recommends this series with your own co-workers, neighbourhood friends, or with anyone else who may be interested.

We have have been praying for some time now that this would happen at his work.

For the past 6 weeks there were 5-7 workmates that met once a week during their lunch break.

Each week they watched one of the episodes. They tend to go for about 20 minutes. Timothy Keller puts forth a question to a group of six people. For the next 20 minutes you get to listen/watch as these 6 people and Keller have a friendly and open discussion.

After watching the episode, B and workmates would then sit around and have their own discussion.

Brandon found that his workmates were all comfortable with talking and putting forth their personal beliefs. He also mentioned to me that he thought it was helpful several worldviews were represented by those who were discussing with Keller. Brandon thought each of his workmates felt represented by one of the people participating in the debate with Keller.


What to do next? That was the big question on B's mind last week. We are thankful that his workmates were all interested in continuing on with the discussion group. Because discussion was/is so important to them the possibilities were narrowed. Lunch time is only so long.

Today B decided to show the first sermon in Mars Hills' Doctrine series.  Apparently on their blog they have a more summarized version (only about 20 minutes long) that will lend itself well to the lunch time constraints.

Through all of this Brandon has met two others at work who are Christians. One who is a new believer. That is exciting. It is also exciting to hear the various questions the others have pertaining to what Christians believe. There are many misconceptions that they have heard which need to be cleared up. Lunchtime discussion seems to be a great way of doing it. Another friend of ours is thinking of doing something similar at his own work. You could pray for these two groups as one continues and another begins.

Art blog and market

There is a market in Geelong on July 23rd. I will be taking a few creations down there to hopefully sell. I have never done this before and have no idea what to expect. I am sharing a table with three other ladies from the Geelong RP church. It will be great to sit around and chat for 6 hours.

I figured I should have a separate webspace to point people to in case they are interested.
So, I am moving all my art posts to another blog.

If you are in Geelong on the 23rd come check out the market.