Hanging the Handle

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Posted on June 23, 2012

I had a Vileda broom with a detachable handle. The idea was that you could buy replacement heads for it, however, by the time I decided that I needed a new head for the broom, they were no longer available. I bought a new broom but the fact remained that I had a worn out broom head and a perfectly good handle.

I had read some time ago that the best way to hang home-made pasta to dry was over a broom handle resting between two chairs. So I decided that my obsolete broom handle would now be my pasta drying rack. The next question was where would I store it when it is not being used?

Since the handle will be used in the kitchen it seemed sensible to store it in the same room. I fixed a hook to the wall of the pantry and hung the handle on it. Now it is easily accessible when I am making pasta.

Here you can see it hanging just inside the pantry door.

It is only a small project but makes all the difference when things have a specific location and are easy to find when required.

Book Review – Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

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Posted on June 22, 2012

I have just finished reading the book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver. I had seen it mentioned at times on the Simple Savings forum but there was no real detail of what it is about so I had forgotten about it until recently when I finally remembered to download it to my Kindle.

This book was first published in 2007 and documents the attempts of one family to eat mostly local food for a full year. It is a substantial book and full to the brim with detail and information so is definitely not a light read. I think I will need to read it a few times to extract the maximum benefit from it.

I found some of the detail quite confronting at times, especially the descriptions of CAFO’s (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) and the harvesting of the chickens and turkeys which they raised for meat. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it forces us to examine our feelings about how our food is produced. Out of sight should not mean out of mind.

Although it is written from a North American perspective there are many universal truths for everyone, no matter where you live. By the time I had finished the book I was inspired with renewed enthusiasm to seek out as much local produce as possible.

During the course of the year, they travelled to Italy and also on a road trip north from Virginia, through Vermont and into Canada. The local food that they ate and people encountered makes fascinating reading.

I also intend to apply the same principles to the food we eat during our upcoming trip to the USA. Since we will be in the north-east states during late summer we will have an excellent choice of fresh food. One of the things we had planned to look for is Farmers’ Markets in the cities and farm gate sales in the more rural areas. My goal is to eat as much locally-sourced, organic and unpackaged food as possible while we are away but more about that another time.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle contains numerous recipes based on seasonal produce which are also available on their website.

The book contains an engaging mix of passion, theory, humour and science related to a topic which is the essence of every one of us – our food.

I would strongly recommend that you read ‘Animal, Vegetable, Miracle’ and take the time to really think about what you are eating and how it came to be on your plate.

Shopping In The Garden

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Posted on June 21, 2012

This afternoon I went down to the garden and picked a bucketful of oranges, some mandarins, limes, perennial onions, grapefruit, chili and avocadoes as well as collecting 16 eggs.

Here is some of the haul.

Mandarins

Eggs

Ornages , limes, grapefruit, onions and chili in this bucket.

I set the oranges out ready to juice them.

These yielded 3.5 litres of juice and enough pulp to make 2 dozen orange and poppyseed muffins.

The juice is frozen in single serve (250ml) portions.

Here is the orange juice packaged and ready to freeze. Once it is frozen I will remove it from the containers and place in double plastic bags for ease of storage.

I took a pack of grated zucchini (from the garden last summer) from the freezer and made a zucchini quiche for dinner. While this was in the oven I made the muffins and a Lemon Delicious for dessert as well as roasting some sliced pumpkin ready to use on home-made pizzas tomorrow night.

The 2 grapefruit are prepared for The Duke for his breakfasts and the mandarins will be used in packed lunches.

The avocadoes are in the fruit bowl as they will take about a week to ripen.

I chopped the chili and onions and added to some cold rice. Lime juice, oil and pepper made a dressing to toss through the rice and we had this and some carrot sticks and sliced mushroom with the quiche for dinner.

I used 9 eggs in my cooking and am left with 34 in the refrigerator. Must be time to give some more away.

We are lucky to have a productive garden so it is important to make sure that we use what is available and store any excess so that it does not get wasted.

Lunch – Local and Leftovers

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Posted on June 8, 2012

I dislike seeing food being wasted, so whenever I am at home during the day my lunches can be interesting, to say the least.

Here is what I found for my lunch today.Clockwise from the top – last of the home-made tortillas from the freezer, some leftover coleslaw, a bell chilli, an avocado, spoonful of cold, mashed potato and the block of cheese.

The chilli and avocado are from the garden. I then picked a perennial onion and a bunch of parsley.

The avocado skin had been nibbled by some of the local wildlife and there was dirt on it from where it had been lying on the ground but the inside was smooth, creamy and perfect when I cut it.

I spread the potato on the tortilla and then cut and piled all of the other ingredients on top, created a wrap and toasted it in the sandwich maker.

Here is my toasted gourmet wrap and a glass of lemon cordial. I finished my meal with a mandarin from our tree.

What do you eat for lunches – at home or when you are at work?

Frugal at the Football

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Posted on May 26, 2012

Today we went to the football and were going to be out for most of the day and it was quite a cool day. Last night I cooked up a big pot of pumpkin soup so that we could take some with us.

Here is what I got out ready to pack.This is a glass-lined wide-necked thermos which belonged to my parents. I am not sure how old it is but probably nearly as old as I am. It is perfect for keeping the soup hot.

I also used an old towel to wrap the thermos and an insulated bag. We bought the bag at a supermarket in New Zealand when we were on holidays last year. There are also 4 mugs and soup spoons.

We bought 6 rolls at a bakery near the train station for $3 and also took some muffins and apples from home. The soup stayed hot and the warmth and nutrition was welcome.

We did not spend any money on food of average quality and inflated cost at the match so the only cost was our tickets. There was also no waste created from disposable containers.

Digging in the Dirt

A Lesson From The Past

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Posted on May 19, 2012

Some people in various parts of the world are living in economies that are officially described as being in a recession but wherever we live, these are definitely uncertain times. At the same time there is research showing that many 1st world nations waste up to 20% of all food purchased. That is the equivalent of bringing home 5 bags of groceries and throwing one bag of groceries straight into the bin.

Perhaps it is time to look back to earlier generations and their ‘waste not, want not’ mentality. Everything was used, re-used and re-fashioned until not a single thing was left. This applied in equal measure to food, clothing, furniture and so on.

Today I want to show you how we can easily make better use of the abundant food that we have.

This morning I juiced a large carrot, 2 apples and about 1/3 of a pineapple. I drank the juice for breakfast and saved the pulp.

Next was a 600 ml container of cream. This was bought in January and not required for a luncheon we were hosting so it was put in the freezer. Last weekend I thawed it to have some cream on dessert. Only a small amount was used so today I put it in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and made butter. I followed the description from here. I was very pleased with the result.

I used 100g of the butter when I made pastry and this is what was left. From about 500ml of cream I made 220g of butter and had 250ml of buttermilk.

I used the buttermilk tonight when I made a bacon and mushroom quiche for dinner. I mixed a couple of tablespoons of milk powder into the buttermilk to make a thicker liquid for the quiche.

While the oven was on I also made a batch of muffins using the leftover fruit pulp from my juice.

I made beef curry in the slowcooker from a recipe in one of the Sally Wise cookbooks. This is now divided into portions and frozen along with several serves of bolognaise sauce and a dish of lasagne.

Making these meals is a reminder of how we can use our own condiments. The curry called for tomato sauce, worcestershire sauce, chutney and curry powder as some of the ingredients. I had home-made versions of all of these to use. Some of the pasta sauce I made during the summer when tomatoes were very cheap and plentiful went into the bolognaise sauce. The lasagne sheets were ones I had made some weeks ago and frozen. It is great to have so many of the ingredients for meals at your fingertips and know that they have been created in your own kitchen and you know exactly what went into them.

The Duke has made our bread from bought pre-mixes for a number of years and now he is experimenting with making it from scratch. He has the white loaf pretty well perfect but has working on getting the wholemeal loaf the way he wants it. Here is the result of his effort today and naturally he is very pleased.

Tomorrow I plan to make lemon butter which will use our own eggs and lemons as well as some of the butter I made today.

How do you make the most of the food you have?

Friday Favourites – Stuffed Capsicums (Red Peppers)

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Posted on May 11, 2012

This is a meal (can’t really call it a recipe as such) that rarely ever makes it onto my menu plan. I make it when I happen to find suitable red capsicums (peppers) at a reasonable price – generally $2.99/kg or less.

There is no right or wrong way to make these. This is simply how I do it.

Allow 1 medium red capsicum (pepper) per person. Cut in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and stalk.

Place halves skin side up in an ovenproof glass dish. Cook in the microwave for 5 minutes. Then transfer to the oven (180C) for about half an hour or until skin is starting to loosen and char.

Remove and invert the halves and stuff.

For the stuffing I use pre-cooked short grain rice. Heat the rice in the microwave – this makes it easier to mix in the other ingredients. I add grated tasty cheese, dried onion powder or veg stock powder, black pepper and one or two things from the following list – diced ham, bacon or salami, chopped baby spinach, chopped parsley, Tabasco, chopped mushrooms. The stuffing is really limited only by your imagination.

When the stuffing ingredients are combined use it to fill the capsicum (pepper) shells. Return to the oven or grill to heat through. Top with some grated cheese for the last 5 minutes.

You can include breadcrumbs with the cheese. In the illustration (last night’s dinner), I sliced avocado on top then added the cheese.

Serve with a side salad.

This is a relatively quick and easy main meal which can easily be gluten free and/or vegetarian.

DIY vs Outsourcing

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Posted on May 5, 2012

Today we went to the Wood Expo and unfortunately I did not find anyone who was doing the type of restoration work that my cabinet will need. That is OK as I have plenty of time and no particular deadline. I took more photos and printed them before I went so I have a complete pictorial record of the unit as well as all of the dimensions. My next job will be to see if I can find someone who can give me an estimate of what my idea is likely to cost. I did see a slab of silky oak for sale today – $150 and it was more than what I imagine will be required for the job. I will let you know of any further developments. In the meantime, it functions perfectly well as a stand for the television and storage of other items.

I decided to outsource the restoration of the cabinet as the skills required are beyond that which we have. However, there are lots of things we can do and make for ourselves. We have managed to fill the rest of the day with doing things for ourselves.

The Duke makes our bread in the breadmaker and today was fruit loaf with sultanas, chopped raisins and chopped dried apricots.

He also bottled his latest home brew and then started a new one today.

I made some fresh pasta. Here is some of it cut into lasagne sheets and ready to go in the freezer. I used some to make chicken and mushroom canneloni for dinner. We had a serve each and here are the 2 leftover serves ready to be frozen for lunches later in the week.

I picked a pumpkin and also some cucumbers from the garden. We had mashed pumpkin and peas with the canneloni.

We made soda water using the Soda Stream and I had a glass of bubbles with fresh slices of lime.

Now I am off to do some more knitting on my dishcloth. I have done 4 so far and the 5th is underway.

Pizza Bases

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Posted on May 3, 2012

Since I was at home today I took advantage of the extra time and made tortillas to use as pizza bases. I found the recipe on Simple Savings and it is very simple.

2.5 cups of flour (I used 1/2 white and 1/2 wholemeal)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons oil
3/4 cup warm water (I used slightly more – probably due to the wholemeal flour)

Mix ingredients in food processer until combined. Knead dough for 5 minutes then leave to rest for 15 minutes. Divide into about 10 pieces and roll out thinly. Cook in a hot pan and set aside when cooked. Keep covered with a damp teatowel.

Here they are ready to use for pizza bases.

I was happy with the result and the pizzas were a success. Unfortunately we were too busy preparing and eating the pizzas to stop and take photos. Maybe another day I will remember. We used 2 tortillas and the rest are in the freezer for another time.