Shop your pantry to make this cheap and cheerful chicken coconut curry
Through her Facebook group, $10 Meals Australia, and spin-off cookbook $10 Meals with Chelsea, the Tasmanian-based recipe developer has become known for her quick and accessible recipes that maximise flavour while keeping costs as low as possible.
Her new cookbook, Money-Saving Meal Plans with Chelsea, contains eight weeks of meal plans to feed a family of four, averaging about $3 per serve.
Here, she shares three recipes for budget-conscious cooks: a curry made from pantry staples, a belly-warming goulash and a speedy yet comforting gnocchi dinner.
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Herald Sun
a day ago
- Herald Sun
Revealed: Where to find Victoria's best lifestyle suburbs
Victoria's best lifestyle suburbs have been revealed, from beachside bargains to up-and-coming Melbourne pockets. And with some of the best areas for families to get the right mix of transport, schools, childcare and beach or park access currently below their price peak, there's a rare chance to bag a bargain in an idyllic spot. Areas such as Armstrong Creek in Greater Geelong and Winchelsea on the Surf Coast topped the list. RELATED: Downsizers flock to beach suburbs as Baby Boomers gain access to superannuation Newport: AFL dynasty's renovated family home seeks $2m+ Revealed: Australia's 50 supercharged suburbs for price growth With median house prices in the low-to-mid $600,000s, the Geelong suburb and town with a population of 2400-plus are cheaper today compared to a few years ago. Newtown, also in Geelong, as well as nearby Barwon Heads and Torquay also made the list — but come with seven-figure median house prices. In Melbourne, south eastern suburbs were highly-ranked alongside inner city Port Melbourne and Williamstown, as well as Newport in the west, all with typical house values above $1m. The research was commissioned by MCG Quantity Surveyors using data from real estate analytics company SuburbTrends. MCG Quantity Surveyors director Mike Mortlock said the report aimed to uncover Australian suburbs with the best long-term growth potential and lifestyle offerings, based on factors such as access to amenities such as childcare, schools, beaches and open space,and 10-year median price growth. 'They're attributes that help markets outperform over the long haul – we know buyers will pay a premium to have them,' Mr Mortlock said. According to PropTrack, Armstrong Creek is now tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than when its median house price hit $728,000 in 2022. And Winchelsea's typical house price hit a five-year peak of $720,000 just 12 months ago. Despite the chance for a bargain, Melbourne-based buyers' advocate and Property Investment Professionals of Australia board member, Cate Bakos, cautioned buyers thinking of relocating and commuting to Melbourne would add hours of travel time to their week. But places like Newtown and Geelong West could be ideal for people wanting to work from home while enjoying lifestyle benefits and proximity to a train station, Ms Bakos noted. 'Geelong as a city, it's diverse – it's got a good economy, and there's lots going on there, it's food and wine scene and its weekender appeal is growing,' she added. Armstrong Real Estate director Megan Rovers, who also co-hosts the property industry podcast Built For This, said working from home allowed many buyers in the region 'to have the best of both worlds' while commuting to Melbourne for part of the week. 'They can have the house with the backyard to enjoy and the lifestyle to enjoy on the weekend,' she said. Ms Rovers said a wide range of buyers were attracted to Armstrong Creek for its schools, shopping centres and access the beach, nearby train stations to travel to Geelong or Melbourne and the Geelong Ring Road. 'What we find is first-time buyers are buying because it's affordable, downsizers are coming and following families,' Ms Rovers said. 'So if there's a family that are choosing because of the schools or the lifestyle that it offers, then the grandparents or parents will come and try and live close by.' Closer to Melbourne, Newport has a $1.205m median house price and Williamstown $1.52m. Real Estate Institute of Victoria director and Compton Green Inner West director Adrian Butera said Newport featured the 33ha Newport Lakes Reserve and two train lines running through its station. He said while Newport was not as highly-regarded as some of Melbourne's other inner western suburbs, plenty of buyers were now starting to cotton on. 'If you pull out a calculator and pull out the per square metre rate of Newport versus, say, Yarraville or Williamstown, Newport is so beautifully positioned yet is reasonably affordable,' Mr Butera said. 'In perspective, you get more bang for your buck in Newport than you do most other suburbs in the inner west.' White Fox associate director Cheyne Fox said Port Melbourne's parks, schools, shops, restaurants, friendly community and nearness to Melbourne's CBD meant many locals looked to upsize or downsize within the suburb. Ms Fox said the 'slightly softer' market was now allowing buyers to purchase homes in the suburb they might not have been able to afford three to four years ago. 'So whereas something might have been sitting on $3m or just above a few years ago, it's now dipping down to $2.6m, $2.7m and it's making it more achievable for those people,' she said. 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Additional reporting by Aidan Devine Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox. MORE: Expert reveals blast risk for new 15,000-home Melbourne suburb Melbourne tipped to lead 2026 property boom | KPMG Young Melb family's clever move pays off
7NEWS
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Get salon-quality results for a fraction of the price with these at-home hair dye kits: Miiroko
Speak to anyone who knows a thing or two about hair and they'll all say the same thing: at home box dye treatments are back. Whether it's the cost of living crisis or the fact that at-home treatments have come a long way from the days when our mothers used them, DIY hair kits have never been more popular — but it's hard to sort the quality from the useless. Enter MIIROKO. Billed as a salon-grade, demi-permanent hair colour that is ammonia-free, environmentally conscious, created and approved by real hairdressers, it promises no harsh chemicals and no overpowering smells — just thoughtful, effective colour that fits right into your life. You can touch up greys, enrich your colour or banish any summer brassiness with one of the brand's bestselling kits. The dyes start from as little as $65, and for that price you get an all-in-one colour kit for a clean and easy colour application at home. Each kit comes with everything you need to recreate a salon experience at home, including application brushes, a bowl, gloves, cape and hair clips. At present, MIIROKO offers six different colours spanning from 'blonde' to 'very dark brown'. Those who feel uncertain about dipping into the world of home dye (and who wouldn't) can watch one of the brand's many helpful tutorial videos to learn how to do it yourself. You can also take a quiz on MIIROKO's website to discover which hair colour works best for you. Reviews online are glowing for the company, where the kits have an impressive five-star rating from women across Australia who now wouldn't colour their hair any other way. ' Absolutely love this colour! Would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to refresh their colour at home,' one impressed shopper wrote. 'Beautiful colour, my husband applied it for me and he had no trouble with it. I'll be a repeat customer for sure,' another added. ' Thank you for my beautiful colour! It covered my greys and left my hair looking healthy and refreshed. It was so easy to use,' a third reviewer said. MIIROKO was formed when three hairdressers were talking over wine about a client who was doing their colour at home, but didn't know what colour to pick. They wanted to help this client out, but no home colour kit seemed good enough for them to confidently recommend. Hairdresser Claire Saito spent the next three years in Japan working to create the perfect Home Hair Colour kit. After three years in Tokyo, Claire shared the results of her work: MIIROKO. Since then, the brand has only gone from strength to strength, with many turning to the Canberra-based brand as an alternative to pricey salon treatments but still the same results.
7NEWS
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Cult Aussie underwear label drops new maternity bra - and mums are racing to get one before it sells out
This isn't your average maternity bra. For new and expectant mums, the search for a nursing bra that's both supportive and stylish can feel like an impossible task. But the latest drop from Australian cult underwear brand First Thing might just be the answer. Launched by Sydney-based mum and founder Georgia Gazal, the Maternity Bra is a re-imagining of what post-baby comfort can look and feel like. Made from the same buttery-soft fabric as the label's best-selling underwire bras, the new release offers the kind of support and ease-of-wear mums crave, with a little more thought put into the design. Georgia, who is a mum of two, says the idea was born out of frustration. 'I wanted something that made me feel a bit more like myself while breastfeeding and in the chaos of early motherhood,' she explains to Best Picks. 'So I created it.' That simple insight led to a piece that's anything but basic. The Maternity Bra features easy-access feeding clips, hidden support slings, and extra hooks to accommodate changing body shapes. The adjustable straps and ultra-stretchy fabric are designed to move with you – whether you're nursing a newborn or chasing after a toddler. The bra is available in sizes S to XXL, and comes in three neutral shades: Blush, Taupe and Black. At $69, it's not only affordable but thoughtfully made with mothers and the planet in mind. Sustainably soft and ethically made Like the rest of First Thing's range, the Maternity Bra is made using fabric that's soft enough to sleep in and durable enough for daily wear. It's manufactured in Indonesia and China with ethical standards in place, including annual audits to ensure fair labour and quality control. The brand is also continuing its push for sustainability. Packaging is 100 per cent compostable, made from reusable corn starch bags, and their wider range includes eco-friendly materials like recycled nylon and fabric derived from sustainably sourced beechwood trees. For a generation of mums who want their underwear drawer to feel less clinical and more them, First Thing is filling the gap. And if their past sell-outs are anything to go by, you'll want to be quick.
