Category Archives: Homemaking

Wardrobe Refresh

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It is now over 2 years since I finished full-time work. I worked in a corporate office but not in a customer-facing role so my wardrobe could mostly be described as business casual.

My collection of clothing has gradually evolved to meet my changed lifestyle. Almost all of my purchases have been secondhand.

I generally have kept all of my clothes available in my wardrobe for the entire year but had begun to wonder whether this was really the best option.

Today I removed everything from my wardrobe, tried it on and decided on a course of action. Most of the summer wear went back in the wardrobe. I ended up with 3 other piles.

One pile was things to be donated. There were 4 items – a skirt and top that I made about 6 years ago and I have simply lost interest in them, a pair of trousers that were not quite right and a dress that had been given to me but I decided did not really meet my needs.

The second pile was my winter jackets, coats and trousers which are now in a plastic box on the top shelf.

The third pile was 5 dresses and 2 jackets which are simply too tight. I have put them away in a separate box. I will review these in a few months and decide on their fate.

There is a shirt, dress and pair of trousers missing from this photo as they are in the wash. This is my summer wardrobe along with a couple of pairs of shorts and a few tops which are folded up the drawers.

I think I have enough. Time will tell.

Day In, Day Out

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Some days I wonder what I could possibly write that would be of interest to my readers. It may be because I have been fully occupied with social activities, didn’t feel like writing or simply that there was nothing that I felt was noteworthy.

Our lives are not a constant stream of highlights. Much of is is quite humdrum, repetitive and very ordinary.

So, today I want to share some of my everyday tasks.

Each day I make the bed, wipe down the sink and mirror in the bathroom and sweep the kitchen.

Preparing meals is also a daily task. I do not wash or shop on a specific day but I assess and attend to them on an ‘as needs’ basis. Vacuuming, sweeping, mopping and ironing also fall into this category.

I am very fortunate that GMan also contributes every day as he is in charge of the dishes – loading and unloading the dishwasher as well as any that need handwashing.

A Pile of Gold

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Well, it is not strictly gold but we had this pile of compost delivered today. This rich, organic material is like gold for our vegetable garden beds.

GMan and I moved it all to the various garden beds this afternoon. We also pulled up plenty of weeds which are thriving with the recent rain. At least the ground is soft which makes them easier to pull out.

Most of my posts, like this one, are about things that happen here that are a little bit out of the ordinary. However, tomorrow I am going talk about some of the everyday jobs. The ones we do day in and day out. They get very little recognition but they definitely need to be done.

Production Line

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When making Boomerang bags I do not simply make one bag from start to finish as I try to use my time efficiently.

Today I cut out, hemmed and edged 50 screen printed pockets.

Then I added a prepared pocket to each of 32 bundles which include a pre-cut piece of fabric for the bag as well as a pair of prepared handles.

I am not about to make 32 bags in one go but it is now a simple matter of grabbing a pack and making a bag without having to find and cut material as well as choosing fabric for suitable matching or contrasting handles.

These are all made from used doona covers, sheets, pillow cases, cushion covers and curtains.

Bargain Buy & Brains Trust

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On Tuesday I went to the dentist which is adjacent to my latest favourite op shop. I popped in and found a pair of fitted white stretch pull-on trousers for the princely sum of $4.

Of course, they were too long and needed taking up. The next question was what is the correct or most flattering length.

I was unsure and turned to the collective brains trust of some of my online fashionista friends. After a couple of attempts I settled on this length.

Here are the trousers hemmed, pressed and ready to wear.

Upcycled Packaging

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My last couple of posts have focused on avoiding packaging when grocery shopping. While avoiding packaging and waste is ideal, we still need to consider all potential waste and whether there are other options for it.

Upcycling is one of the strategies for removing items from the waste and recycling stream.

I would not buy Pancake Shaker mix but I ended up with a container of it which had come from my mother’s pantry. I decided to use it rather than waste perfectly good food but was then left with an empty plastic container.

I decided to cut it down to make a scoop.

After marking the proposed cutting line with a felt-tip pen I then carefully cut it with a Stanley knife. These are the 2 pieces I ended up with.

The offcut will go in the recycling and the scoop will be handy for GMan when measuring our flour during his breadmaking adventures.

There are many opportunities to reuse or upcycle all sorts of packaging. Do you have any examples?

Zero Waste Shopping

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One of my passions is reducing packaging. My life is far from totally zero waste but I do the best I can. That is all that any of us can do. What works for me may not be an option for you.

I buy most of my dry goods – seeds, nuts, flours, spices etc from bulk bins at Simply Good. It means that I can buy as much or as little of a product as I wish without any packaging.

The shop is about 50km from home so I do not pop in every other day. In fact, I generally shop there about 3 times/year and always combine in with a trip in the same direction (usually to Brisbane).

Tomorrow is the day as I am running low on several staples and I have a dental appointment in Brisbane. So, I have made sure the containers are clean and labelled. You can use the lightweight plastic bags provided at the shop, however, I choose to take my own bags, or better still jars.

The staff are happy to pre-weigh the jars before filling them and then the weight is deducted at the checkout. For this to work accurately the jars do need to be labelled.

When I arrive home it is a simple matter of placing the jars in their correct location in the pantry and I fully restocked until next time.

Do you try to reduce packaging? Do you have any tips or tricks for minimising packaging when grocery shopping?

A Step Ahead

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Before I begin on the actual content of today’s post, I have a bit of general news about the blog.

I have been absent for 3 weeks. Part of this was due to us being on holidays for a portion of the time but the remainder of my inactivity has been while I reassessed my general online presence. There are limited hours in the day and it is not all devoted to online activity. Therefore, I have decided to alter some of my priorities and this blog will be the main spot where you will be able to engage with me. The content will generally be shorter and more frequent – possibly daily. I look forward to your comments and interacting more fully with my readers. If you are not already following the blog, please consider doing so so that you don’t miss anything.

So, dear readers it is back to the real stuff that happens here every day.

This morning I whipped these 2 takeaway food containers from the freezer. One is vegetable curry and the other is rice. Therefore, dinner tonight is all ready to heat and eat.

My cooking style is pretty much a constant cycle of stocking up the freezer while using from it at the same time.

In that vein I have done a spot of cooking this afternoon. I always do more than one thing if I am turning the oven on.

6 gluten free pizza bases partly cooked and ready to freeze for later use.

Zucchini quiche which used the last of the packs of frozen zucchini from last summer’s harvest. I have about 3 different dishes I can use for making the quiche but this one that belonged to my mother is a new favourite.

The recipes for the pizza bases and zucchini quiche can be found checking the recipe index – click on the tab ‘Recipes – Food’ at the top of the front page of the blog.

Please share your prepared meals or glut of produce stored for future use. 🙂

Gourmet Gluten Free Gnocchi

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I had previously made pumpkin gnocchi a few months ago with reasonable success. Today I attempted to improve on that attempt and I think it was a success.

This was our dinner.

Here is the recipe that I used.

While the original recipe is not designed to be gluten free, I managed to modify it simply by using gluten free flour.

I made a double quantity of the mixture and find that I needed more flour than recommended in the recipe, however, that may simply be a result of the different properties of gluten free flour.

I try to handle the dough as little as possible while combining the ingredients. Portions of dough rolled, cut and spread on racks.

To cook the gnocchi:

2/3 fill a large saucepan of water, bring to a rolling boil, add a teaspoon of olive oil. Carefully add the gnocchi, cover and bring back to the boil as quickly as possible. Gently separate the gnocchi and cook for 3 – 5 minutes. Drain.

Serve immediately with sauce of your choice.

Tonight I chose onion, garlic, chilli, smoky paprika, capsicum and fresh cherry tomatoes topped with grated cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

The pumpkin puree had been frozen from the harvest of a glut of pumpkins earlier in the year. The cherry tomatoes have been picked in the past few days. We try to make use of what we grow wherever possible and this meal is a perfect example.

A Different Dinner

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Due to Covid 19 our area has been locked down for 8 days. Those restrictions ease from this afternoon so we are very grateful. I know that this nothing compared to what many people have endured and continue to do so. I understand that grocery shopping is one of the acceptable reasons to leave your home but whether we are locked down or not, I try to minimise my exposure by shopping as infrequently as possible.

Yesterday I stocked up on some grocery items and also replenished our very meagre selection of fruit and vegetables. Now the trick is to make sure that everything is used wisely and none of the perishable goods go to waste. I bought 2 bunches of broccolini and decided that 1 of them would be used in our dinner.

After canvassing several options, I decided on a Broccolini and Caramelised Onion Tart. I found a few recipes online but none that exactly matched my idea so I pulled a few different elements together and this is what I came up with. It makes use of what I had available so you can make your own adjustments or substitutions.

Broccolini and Carmelised Onion Tart

Pastry – I was looking for something that was gluten free and tried this recipe for the pastry base. I had never thought of rubbing coconut oil rather than butter into flour when making pastry. I thought it turned out reasonably well but GMan is not a fan and feels than you can taste the coconut. You can make or buy whatever pastry suits you.

This is the pastry when I placed it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Filling

2 onions
2 teaspoons mixed herbs
2 teaspoons treacle
2 tablespoons red wine
1 bunch broccolini
Olive oil
Salt
Dijon mustard
3 cloves garlic
Nutritional yeast
Sour cream
Cheddar cheese

Slice the onions, place in a pan over low heat and cook gently, stirring regularly. Add mixed herbs and treacle. Continue to cook until golden brown and soft. Add red wine to deglaze the pan. Cook for another minute and remove from heat.

Rinse broccolini and spread on baking tray, drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and slivers of garlic. Roast for about 15 minutes at 150C. Set aside until required.

Ready to go in the oven.

Line a dish or tray with your chosen pastry. Lightly spread with mustard and sprinkle with nutritional yeast. Place half of the onions in the dish then the broccolini followed by the remainder of the onions.

Add some dollops of sour cream and a little grated cheese.

Bake at 180C for 20 minutes.

I served slices of the tart with freshly-made coleslaw and cherry tomatoes.