Monthly Archives: June 2015

My Turn

2 Comments

Today it was time to clean and tidy up my pantry.

It is really not too bad but was definitely time to check for anything lurking in the background.  I wiped out all of the shelves, decanted a few things into the new jars and generally re-arranged it to work a bit better.

BEFORE

002

001The space on the bottom shelf is where the dehydrator normally lives but I was using it when the photo was taken.  The pack in the bottom right-hand corner of the photo is some gluten-free bread mix which was 18 months past its best before date but I made it anyway and it turned out well.  There is a second pack in the box which I might make up next weekend.

I have moved a few things out of the pantry – a large coffee plunger which now lives on the shelf above the oven with the other coffee plunger and the teapot.  The coffee grinder which we never use is going to the op shop along with a plastic container which belongs in the freezer but I never have it in there as it just wastes space and limits how much I can pack in.  Finally, the pile of plastic plates and bowls (meant to be disposable but I keep washing and re-using them) have been moved from the pantry.  I have kept 2 of each in the cupboard for the grandchildren but the rest will be stored in the sideboard for use at BBQ’s or other events.  One day I may decide to offload them altogether but not just yet.

AFTER

005I did not take a photo of the bottom shelf and the floor but suffice to say they look a bit better, too.

Planning Ahead

2 Comments

On Saturday or Sunday morning I generally make a menu plan of our meals for the coming week.  This based on what is in the fridge, freezer, pantry and garden and is used to create a shopping list for any additional requirements.  I try to incorporate a mix of fish, chicken, red meat and vegetarian meals.

The next couple of weeks are very unpredictable due to family issues and will mean that I am not at home some nights but potentially with very short notice.  So I used a different method today and simply made a list of 20 meals for which we have the ingredients.  We will need some additional fruit and vegetables during that time.

1  Pizza
2  Grilled salmon and vegetables
3  Tumeric chicken and rice
4  Pumpkin soup
5  Chilli con carne and rice
6  Nachos
7  Sausages and vegetables
8  Vegetable pie and salad
9  Hamburger patties and salad
10  Celery soup
11  Beef curry and rice
12  Tuna patties and vegetables
13  Shepherd’s pie and vegetables
14  Scrambled eggs with bacon and avocado
15  Chicken stir-fry and rice
16  Pizza
17  Chilli con carne and rice
18  Pumpkin soup
19  Lasagne and salad
20  Chilli chicken and corn chips

The entire plan is gluten-free.  I make my own gluten-free pizza bases and hamburger patties, buy gluten-free sausages from Aldi, buy gluten free corn chips and lasagne sheets and use gluten-free flour as required.008I intend to work roughly from the top of the list and we had home-made pizzas tonight.  This is how I make them.

Do you plan your meals?  How closely do you stick to a plan?

Still Decluttering

2 Comments

Posts have been somewhat lacking this week as my real life is demanding more of my time and I have barely been online.  Please bear with me as this will continue for the next couple of weeks.

I have spent a couple of days putting my decluttering skills to good use as I sorted and tidied the pantry in my mother’s unit.  Although it is a one bedroom unit in a retirement village there is a small but functional kitchen with a walk-in pantry.

I did not have my camera with me to show you some before and after photos but I will try to explain a little of what I did.

There was some great organisation already in place.  All of the small jars of herbs and spices live in a shoebox to keep them together.

The first step was to check for duplicates of items – there were a couple and then I decanted items that were in packets into appropriately sized containers.  There was no shortage of storage jars and canisters.  I then gathered like things together.  The baking ingredients – flour, raising agents, coconut etc are all on one shelf.  Dried fruit and nuts are together as are breakfast provisions.

One of the important lessons I discovered from this exercise is that we have to constantly adapt to changing circumstances.  My mother no longer prepares her own evening meal so many of the things that I keep in my pantry are simply not applicable to her situation.  I am aware that some of the ingredients that she has will probably not be replaced when they are depleted.

Pantry storageThe other consideration is the size of the containers.  The above photo is my pantry but the large red-lidded jars came from from Mum.  I have now acquired another 4 as Mum no longer needs them.  She simply does not keep that much of anything and the jars are quite heavy and difficult to handle.

I can see another bit of re-arranging of my own pantry coming up as I consider what other ingredients I will keep in the large jars and work out a way to fit them in.

Circumstances are constantly evolving as we welcome children into our homes, they grow and then finally leave home.  Later there may be the addition of grandchildren or the death of a spouse.  All of these things require us to adapt what we have and how we use it.  It is easy for the essentials of one phase of our lives to become the clutter of the future so it is wise to review our needs regularly.

I would love to hear your thoughts on changing circumstances and clutter.

Tracking 2015 – May

2 Comments

Another month over and I have totalled up the spending for May.  It is not a pretty sight.  Almost $6,000 gone this month in variable spending.  Yikes!!

BudgetingHere are the totals so far:

January – $5,144.53
February – $1,783.49
March – $4,350.56
April – $2,385.31
May – $5,961.54

I have amended the figures slightly to include everything that we have spent in the past 5 months – that is variable spending so does not include mortgage, rates, insurances, phone/internet etc.

May was particularly high as we booked and paid for airfares and accommodation in Melbourne at Christmas as well as paying for birthday presents for both daughters and a Christmas gift for one of them.  Since they are both adults earning their own money we generally pay for something special such as an airfare and then buy a small gift to give on the day.  The other category that impacted significantly was ‘House & Garden’ of just over $1,200 which included $860 for the plumber and electrician and installation of a new sump pump for the greywater system.

I thought that we would pull our horns in for June but we started the first day of the month with GMan buying a new pair of shoes for work at $209 since the others could not be repaired.  The other not so good news is that the drive chain broke on the ride-on mower yesterday and we have yet to find out what that will cost to replace.

There are only 29 more days until the end of the financial year and I will be halfway through this tracking exercise which is nothing if not eye-opening.