Two Minutes to Tidy

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Posted on February 7, 2015

It is great to feel that the decluttering efforts are really making a difference. This morning I noticed that the shelf where my recipe books are stored was very grubby and needed cleaning. It was a simple matter of grabbing an armful of books and placing them on the bench while I wiped down the shelf and then replaced the books. This took me less than 2 minutes.

I have never had hundreds of cookbooks but nevertheless it has taken about 3 rounds of culling to get it to this. You can read about a previous effort here.

Cookbook shelf

That was about 14 months ago but a few more have moved on since then, too. I do not miss any of them and have not have occasion to regret my decision to move them along. Recipes are something that has really been revolutionised by the advent of the internet. There is nothing you cannot find. Also, recipes are like clothes – there are definitely trends and fashions.

Do you have recipe books? Have you reduced your collection?

More To Go

2 Comments

Posted on February 4, 2015

A couple of days ago I read a comment online by someone unknown to me that they had decluttered so much that they had nothing left to declutter. I have no idea what their circumstances are or what they consider essential but I know that I have not reached that point. In fact, I am not sure that I ever will or even want to. We do not have a huge amount of stuff but for me it is more about carefully streamlining what we own to a selection of good-quality items that match our lifestyle. Our needs change and therefore, our possessions will change accordingly.

On the weekend I was cleaning in the kitchen and one thing led to another and I ended up re-looking at the cooking utensils that I use. I have supposedly decluttered these on at least 2 previous occasions but it never hurts to look at them with fresh eyes and a more detached point of view.

This is what I am taking to the op shop today.

There are a couple of sharp knives that have seen better days and I simply do not use them. A scraper for cleaning a George Foreman grill which we no longer own. A cleaning brush for something – I don’t know what and as far as I can see it has never been used. Spoon and spaghetti strainer which are not used. Meat mallet – I haven’t beaten meat for over 20 years – our diet does not include recipes that require it. Spaghetti measure – was part of a corporate Christmas hamper a few years ago and has never been used. Small aluminium skewer – I have a set of stainless steel skewers and this is no longer required. Chip cutter – this came from my mother’s place when she was decluttering some years ago and I have never used it. A good idea but I cannot remember the last time I made chips at home and I am quite capable of cutting potatoes into chips if the fancy happens to take me. Anyway, aren’t “hand-cut chips” the latest craze on menus??

So what stays?

Electric knife
Carving fork
Scone cutter
Rolling pin
Fine grater
Metal tongs
BBQ tool
Pineapple peeler/corer
Apple corer
Cheese slicer
Cherry/oliver pit remover
Garlic press
Ice-cream scoop
Citrus zester
Grapefruit knife
Skewers
Vegetable peeler (not shown)
Jar opener
Tea strainer
Tea infuser
Wine vacuum sealer
Cork remover
Bottle/can opener
Measuring spoons
Corn cob holders
Egg rings
Knife sharpener

The electric knife/carving fork and cherry pit remover are the only items that would be rarely used. Everything else is used regularly, mostly on a weekly basis. Some, like the grapefruit knife and corn cob holders are seasonal but still essential.

I also have 2 jars of cooking utensils that I use almost daily. There location on the bench means that they are easy to grab as I am cooking and preparing food.

Wooden spoons x 4
Metal whisk
Potato masher
Metal spatula
Non-stick spatula
Non-stick spoon
Slotted spoon
Small sieve
Can opener
Pizza cutter
Rubber scrapers x 3
Brush
Citrus juicer
Pie slice

I also have a knife block with 6 assorted sharp knives.

To a hard-core minimalist this probably looks like a huge number of utensils, however, I prepare and cook most of our meals and use these items very frequently. It is important to keep and use what works for you.

There are lots of areas of my life where I could reduce my possessions but I think I have completely decluttered the kitchen utensils to my satisfaction.

What utensils do you use every day? Are they much different to what I have shown here?

Gloriously Gluten-Free

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Posted on October 15, 2014

I made a gluten-free lasagne for dinner tonight. That is not particularly earth-shattering as I know that you can buy gluten-free pasta and I have used it on previous occasions. However, this time I was inspired by a Facebook post from a friend and decided to substitute the lasagne sheets with sliced zucchini.

I use a combination of potato flour and chickpea flour to make the bechamel sauce.

Here are all of the components prepared before I assembled the lasagne.

The last layer in place.

Ready to serve.

Plated up.

The verdict?

The zucchini did not provide as much support as lasagne sheets, therefore, the lasagne did not translate neatly in one piece onto the plate. The taste was excellent which means it was a success by my standards. I would definitely make this again with a few adjustments. I would make the meat sauce drier which I think would help in maintaining the shape. The zucchini could perhaps be sliced a little thicker. You could also make the serves in individual ramekins.

Something from the Garden

11 Comments

Posted on June 29, 2014

Back to one of my favourite topics – eating what is in season.

Last night we had salmon for dinner. While the salmon is not strictly local, it does come from Australian waters. It is farmed in the clear water of the Huon River estuary in southern Tasmania. The salmon could hardly be considered a budget meal as it costs about $10 for enough for 2 serves. We always barbeque the salmon and season it with a little salt and some lime juice to enhance the flavour.

I served it with pumpkin mash, stir-fried pak choy, balsamic roasted cherry tomatoes and avocado slices. I poured some of the balsamic/tomato juice over the salmon as a glaze to finish it off. All of these ingredients came from our garden so you can’t get much more seasonal or local than that. It also means that a meal of salmon is quite a reasonable price. What would you pay in a restaurant for a meal like this? $30 – $35 perhaps?

Not every meal contains as much of our own garden produce but I do try to include it as much as possible. Tonight we are having pizza which will be spread with mango chutney (made from the neighbour’s mangoes) instead of tomato paste and have balsamic roasted pumpkin as the main topping.

We have had a bumper harvest of pumpkins this year so I am constantly looking for creative ideas to use them. As well as the ubiquitous pumpkin soup, pumpkin mash and being used on pizza topping I have also made some pumpkin scones recently.

What do you have a glut of? Do you have any pumpkin suggestions?

Autumn Has Arrived

Foodie Friday – Kids in the Kitchen

5 Comments

Posted on April 12, 2014

I didn’t get back to post this last night. Miss O and Izz have been staying for a couple of days so the food focus has clearly been about them. They enjoyed shopping at Simply Good yesterday and discussing many of the different fruits, nuts and grains that we bought. Miss O was keen to practise her recently acquired spelling skills to read the names of the ingredients on the storage buckets and fill them up when we arrived home.

They picked pumpkins and tomatoes as well as collecting eggs. It is great to see them understanding where their food comes from. 4 year old Izz wanted an anatomy lesson on how the eggs get out of the chickens!!

Tomorrow we are going to a picnic with extended family so I made some choc fruit nut balls and Miss O helped by rolling the balls in the coconut.

Apologies for the brevity of this post but I have been working on our Ireland itinerary and looking at ferry timetables and rental car details.

Foodie Friday – Fit for the County Fair?

4 Comments

Posted on April 4, 2014

Just a reminder that real food comes from real dirt. We never actually set out to grow pumpkins – they come up self-sown in the compost and some are more successful than others. This is by far the largest I have ever grown. I picked it today and it weighs 8.7 kg or 19.2 pounds.

I placed a 2 litre ice-cream container beside it in the photo for comparison. This will make a lot of pumpkin soup!

Foodie Friday – Pantry Storage

8 Comments

Posted on March 28, 2014

Firstly, I apologise for the lack of posts this week. I have been busy with other things and have just not found the time to get my head together to write anything useful. I am also behind in responding to your comments but am about to rectify that once I finish this post. I will be busy this weekend but hopefully things will get back on track from Monday. I hope you have a great weekend.

I cook most of our food from scratch, so naturally I keep a store of the ingredients I use regularly. I do not store tonnes of food in case of an apocalyptic event, however, we do have enough so that I only shop for dry goods about every 3 – 4 months. I never run out of everything and I never feel the need to race off to the shops at the first hint of a severe weather event such as a cyclone or possible flooding. These are the 2 most likely scenarios where we live.

We eat a gluten-free diet so I have gradually eliminated all wheat-based products from the pantry.

Gluten-free muesli (homemade)

Rainsins
Sultanas
Currants
Dried apricots

Walnuts
Almonds
Cashews

Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Sesame seeds
Chia seeds

Almond meal
Flaxseed meal
Psyllium husk
Sago
Quinoa flakes

Gluten-free flour (homemade)

Brown rice flour
Potato flour
Chickpea (besan) flour
Quinoa flour
Arrowroot

Kidney beans
Haricot beans
Red lentils
Brown lentils
Chickpeas

Arborio rice
Brown rice

Apple cider vinegar
White vinegar
Red wine vinegar
Balsamic vinegar

Tomato sauce (home-made)
Worcestershire sauce (home-made)
Tamari
Caramelised balsamic vinegar

Avocado oil
Coconut oil
Olive oil

Allspice
Chilli
Cinnamon
Coriander
Cumin
Curry powder
Ginger
Mixed spice
Paprika
Smoked paprika
Taco mix
Tumeric
Yellow mustard seeds

Beef stock powder
Vegie stock powder

Black pepper (peppercorns)
Cooking salt
Herb salt
Sea salt

Raw sugar
Brown sugar
Honey
Golden syrup
Treacle

Cocoa
Coconut

Skim milk powder

Baking powder
Bicarb soda

Black tea
Earl Grey tea
Coffee

Rice cakes
Rice crackers

Canned tuna
Canned tomatoes

Most of the dry goods are bought from bulk containers so I store them in glass or plastic jars in the pantry. I have some 10 litre plastic buckets which I keep excess of some items in. These are in a separate store cupboard.

I may have missed a couple of things but that is basically what we keep. Some of the items are left from before we changed our diets so are unlikely to be replaced. How does my list compare to what you have? Any thoughts, suggestions or questions?

Foodie Friday – No Recipe Needed

Two Heads Are Better Than One

2 Comments

Posted on March 18, 2014

So the saying goes………….. This is definitely true when it comes to decluttering. Trying to justify why you want to keep something to another person is more of a challenge than just doing it yourself.

When we had the kitchen renovated about 4 years ago we chose to have mostly drawers rather than cupboards and I am really pleased with that decision.

On Sunday I cleaned out 5 drawers plus 1 small cupboard in the kitchen. I actually removed the drawers from their runners, emptied the contents and completely cleaned the surrounding area as well as the drawer.

The large drawer below the microwave holds baking tins and trays. The Duke and I went through each item and have rehomed several trays and tins that are no longer used for one reason or another. Mostly it was because we simply no longer (or never did) bake those items. It meant that I was able to consolidate the extra tins that were in the top cupboard into the same drawer as the rest of the baking trays.

Here is the end result.

One of the other drawers that got the treatment was what some people would call a junk drawer but I refuse to give it that name as it is not junk. Everything in here has a use and is used regularly. I have decluttered it severa times over the past few years and each time I manage to reduce a bit more and I am pretty happy with it now. This time I have finally let go of the remnants of rolls of clingwrap and plastic for separating items in the freezer. I have not used either for many years so it was time to move them along.