Category Archives: Prepping

Dinner – Tuna Patties

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For anyone following along with my menu plan for this week, here is the next instalment.

In the simplest form, tuna patties are a 425g can of tuna, drained and flaked mixed with mashed potato and lightly fried.  Beyond that it is entirely a matter of choice.

I chose to use sweet potato tonight so the very first thing I did was to peel the sweet potato, chop them roughly and cooked them in the microwave.

Meanwhile, I prepared the other ingredients.

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The tuna is flaked in the bowl and I will add some freshly ground black pepper and a cube of frozen lemon juice as well as about a tablespoon of some gourmet mustard.

You can use whatever herbs, spices or flavouring you choose.  I decided on the mustard as it was given to me and I thought it would work nicely in the patties.

Mash the cooked potato but do not add any milk or butter as it needs to be fairly dry for the patties.

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I also added 1/2 cup of grated cheese and a tablespoon of besan (chickpea) flour which helps to bind the mixture together.

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Rather than using a frying pan, I cook these patties on the sandwich maker with not additional oil and the lid down so that they brown on both sides.  The cooking is simply to heat them through and brown the outside as there no raw ingredients to be cooked as such.

We ate them with a salad lettuce, capsicum, cucumber and cherry tomatoes and a dollop of sweet chilli sauce.

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The mixture made a total of 9 patties so the others will be used for lunches.

As always, if you have any questions about the recipe please ask.

Tomorrow is bean tacos so I have taken a pack of refried beans out of the freezer tonight in readiness.

I am already starting to form ideas for the menu for next week.  I am pretty sure it will include pizza as I have these semi-dried cherry tomatoes in oil with garlic and herbs.  I dehydrated the tomatoes and packed them in oil on the weekend.  We have such an abundance of cherry tomatoes that I am always looking for new ways to use, store and preserve them.

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Dinner – Stuffed Mushrooms

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Another day, another recipe.  We are having stuffed mushrooms for dinner tonight so I took some time this afternoon to prepare them making sure I measured the ingredients and took a few photographs.

This is my recipe but please make sure you read right to the end for ideas, substitutions and variations.

I bought 3 large mushrooms for this recipe as GMan and I have 1.5 each.  The best ones are open but not too flat so that the stuffing is somewhat confined by the edges.

Here are the ingredients I chose before I started.

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Using the point of a sharp knife remove the stalks of the mushrooms.  Chop the stalks as finely as possible

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When I am making something like this, the first thing I do is to look carefully at the finished volume that I am aiming for.  Based on my best guess I used the following quantities:

Chopped mushroom stalks
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1 heaped tablespoon of besan (chickpea) flour
1 teaspoon smoky paprika
1 teaspoon powdered onion
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon powdered celery
1/2 teaspoon of homemade ‘tabasco’ sauce
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine the above ingredients then add 3/4 cup grated cheese, 10 cherry tomatoes (chopped) and a small piece of capsicum (finely chopped).

The consistency of the mixture should now be crumbly but hold when squashed together.

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Press the mixture into the mushrooms.

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I will cook these in the microwave for about 8 minutes then top with a little extra flaxseed meal and grated cheese and finish under the griller.  They will be served with lettuce cucumber and grated carrot on the side.

Now for the really interesting part – what you can change!  Just about everything!

If we strip this recipe right back you will discover that it consists of a container – the mushroom, in this instance, and the filling which can be split further into the bulk and the flavour.

The container – I use mushrooms because we love them and they are nutritous.  They are relatively expensive and if you are on a really tight budget I would not necessarily recommend them.  Capsicums are another option – especially if you can pick up a bagful at a reasonable price.  Although most recipes for stuffed capsicums show them upright with a ‘lid’ at the stalk end I find it easier to cut them lengthwise and serve them filled and open.  You could also use a large zucchini/marrow split lengthwise with the seeds scraped out.  It would need to be partially pre-cooked before stuffing.  Half a butternut pumpkin is another possibility.  The pumpkin or large marrow could be cut into wedges to serve rather the individual serves as with mushrooms or capsicums.

The bulk – I choose to use almond meal and flaxseed meal due to the fact that they are gluten-free, we like the flavour and texture and they provide a range of nutrients.  They can also be expensive.  Other options include quinoa, rice and soft breadcrumbs or any combination you choose that suits your family’s tastes and your budget.  If you are using rice, a short grain rice that will stick together would be a good choice.

The flavour – sky is the limit here and you can let your imagination run wild.  The main thing is to remember to keep any pieces fairly small so that the mixture will stick together.  In addition to the things I used you might like bacon (although smoky paprika is an excellent substitute), chopped olives, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley or other fresh herbs.

I hope some of these ideas have inspired you to try stuffed vegetables as an addition to your menu plan.

Please let me know what you think.

 

Dinner – Sweet & Sour Meatballs

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I have listed my menu plan for the week a couple of times recently on online forums and have had an overwhelming amount of interest and numerous people asking for the recipes.

Unfortunately, many of the meals I make have been made so many times that they tend to be created without regard for a recipe.  I substitute ingredients without thinking about it so the same meal may not ever be the same on more than one occasion.

However, I have committed myself to writing the recipes down as best I can – the quantities may be a bit variable – and photographing the steps involved to give you a clear idea of what I do.  I hope this is of some help and look forward to your feedback.

While there may be a greater emphasis on cooking meals and recipes at the moment, there will still be plenty of posts on gardening, simplicity, decluttering and sewing.  I trust that there will be something for everyone.

A couple of points to remember – I am serving 2 adults, although many of the meals I make serve more than that so I either portion them up for lunches on the following days or freeze for another meals in a week or so.  Also, we eat a gluten-free diet but the meals are eminently suitable for anyone.  Anything with an * beside it will have more explanation at the end of the recipe.

Here is the first recipe which was our dinner tonight – Sweet & Sour Meatballs.

250g lean beef mince
1 tablespoon of tamari*

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Combine ingredients and form into small balls.  Fry in a pan with a little coconut oil.

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Set the cooked meatballs aside and prepare the vegetables.  I use zucchini, carrot, capsicum and pineapple.

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I used one small zucchini and carrot, about 1/4 of this large capsicum and two slices of pineapple.

Cut the vegetables fairly finely so that they need very little cooking*.

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The prepared vegetables are in the dish at the back of the photo and the container at the front is the base of the sweet and sour sauce which had been frozen from the last time I made this dish.  I tipped the sauce into a saucepan and heated it but I will explain the process for making it.

The ingredients for the sauce are:

200ml water
60ml pineapple juice
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 heaped tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons tomato sauce (ketchup)

These are rough start up quantities but essentially you just need to add more or less to suit the tastes of your family.  It should be as the title says – sweet and sour.

Once you are happy with the flavour, thicken the sauce using cornflour or arrowroot blended in a little cold water.

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Add the pineapple pieces, vegetables to the sauce and finally the meatballs.

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This can be prepared ahead of time and then simply heated in a saucepan or microwave according to your preference.

Serve with rice*.

*NOTES:

Tamari is a (generally) wheat-free soy sauce.

When making the meatballs you can add other ingredients to bulk them out if you wish.  The cereal crumbs from the bottom of the packet are great to use them up if gluten-free is not an issue for you.

You can used tinned or fresh pineapple.  When using fresh pineapple I juice some to have on hand for making this recipe.

I usually par cook the vegetables before adding to the sauce – about 1:30 in the microwave leaves them tender but not soggy.

I use home-made tomato sauce and worcestershire sauce.  You can click on the hyperlinks for the recipes.

You can add shredded chicken instead of meatballs for a variation.

The 250g of mince made 15 meatballs which is 3 serves for us.  I used two serves tonight and the other one will be lunch for GMan on Monday.

We use brown rice but white rice or even noodles or fettucine would work with this recipe.

 

 

Finding the Freezer

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Well, it wasn’t the actual freezer – more like the contents!.

Today I was working from home and late this afternoon I went looking for a chicken casserole in the freezer to have for dinner.  I do not keep an absolute inventory of the contents of the freezer but generally have a pretty fair idea of what is in there.  I could not even remember what type of container the casserole was in but I eventually found it.

While I was looking for the casserole I found a few odds and ends that needed to be used up and the drawers needed cleaning  as well.

Here are the contents of the top drawer.

001The drawer was washed and ready to repack.

002Organised and ready to replace.

005The bottom drawer finished as well.

006This was the freezer section of my main refrigerator in the kitchen.  We also have a small bar-sized freezer downstairs.  There are are few food items but it is mostly frozen water which we stored during the storm season.  This could be thawed and used and the remaining food transferred to the freezer in the kitchen.  I will do that on the weekend and then defrost the small freezer.

This is what I have in the freezers at the moment.

Salmon – 6 serves
Chicken – 4 serves
Diced beef – 4 serves
Mince – 2 serves
Sausages – 8 serves
Bacon – 6 rashers
Frozen peas – 1.5 packets
Home-made bread – 6 slices
Tomato pulp – 500ml
Honey/soy sauce – 100ml
Broccoli stalk – 1
Zucchini slice – 2 serves
Cherry tomatoes – 2kg
Chopped basil and tomatoes – 2 ice-cube trays
Ground coffee – 500g
Mango puree – 1.2 litres
Guava puree – 1.5 litres
Berry juice – 800ml
Pumpkin soup – 5 serves
Celery soup – 2 serves
Crushed bunya nuts – 2 kg
Ice – 10 litre

When I re-read the list it is evident that my freezer contents are mostly meat and storage of some of the things we grow – cherry tomatoes, basil, mangoes, guavas, bunya nuts and pumpkins.  Sometimes I have more prepared meals.

How do you keep track of what is in the freezer?  What sorts of things do you store.

Watching & Waiting

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My apologies to all my readers, and especially those of you who are new here but I don’t have any new and exciting content tonight.

As the title says, we are watching and waiting as Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcia inches towards the central Queensland coast.  Even though we are about 650km south of where it is expected to cross the coast around 7am tomorrow, we are already feeling the effects of this system.  The wind has gradually increased since midday and we have recorded over 90mm of rain in the past 15 hours.

Cyclone forecastThe cyclone has rapidly increased in strength today to be rated as a Category 4 system and is expected to be a Category 5 with winds of up to almost 300km/hour by the time it reaches land.  This presents a very real risk to life and property.

This is serious and extremely dangerous.  Please do everything you can to stay safe and ensure the safety of others.

Regular posts will return soon.

Foodie Friday – Keeping it Local

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I am sure it is still Friday somewhere – my apologies for the lateness of this post – it is Saturday morning here.

How do we feed ourselves?  Food prices keep increasing, labelling laws are ambiguous, processed foods contain unfamiliar additives and food allergies appear to be on the rise.  Add to this, a desire to eat organically-grown food which I believe is better for my health and the health of the planet and it starts to feel a bit overwhelming.  While we are at it, the wasteful packaging needs to be minimised as well as transport costs, both monetary and environmental.  Don’t forget ‘food security’ – the latest catch-cry.  This is the ability for us, as a nation, to feed ourselves in the event of natural disasters or major changes to the world order.

Have you thrown up your hands in despair?  Fear not.  You can begin to solve all of these issues with a single action – grow some of your own food.

The Duke and I have a somewhat neglected but productive garden which sometimes surprises us with its bounty.  We both work full-time and have minimal time to spend on tending a garden.  We try to grow some annual vegetables but the real secret is in growing trees and perennials.  We have an avocado, peach, fig and several citrus trees.  There are blueberry bushes as well as self sown cherry tomatoes and pumpkins.  The clump of parsley has been in one spot for so long that it has a stalk that looks like the trunk of a tree.

It may seem obvious but it is also important to eat (or preserve) what you grow.  Do not let the harvest go to waste.

Keep your eyes open for food producing plants in your neighbourhood that are not being harvested.  Don’t be afraid to ask if you may have some.  There are many reasons that people do not harvest – lack of time, knowledge or health are but a few.

The last few weeks we have had access to the following (either fresh or frozen) from our own property or nearby – corn, blueberries, avocadoes, mangoes, figs, lemons, beans, pumpkins, and pineapples.  At times I have felt overwhelmed by the excess on the kitchen bench but I have endeavoured to make sure it was used or stored for later use.

Last weekend I kept track of what we ate.

SATURDAY

Breakfast – buckwheat blueberry pancakes

Lunch – platter of cheese, cherry tomatoes, avocado, dried figs and mango chutney

Dinner – Salmon with mango salsa and vegetables – everything came from the garden except the salmon and onion which I used in the salsa.

Dinner
SUNDAY

Breakfast – mango and pineapple smoothie

Smoothie
Lunch – Pumpkin soup

Dinner – grilled chicken with cherry tomatoes and mango/avocado salad

We certainly will never be completely self-sufficient but being able to produce at least some of the food that we eat goes a long way to addressing the myriad of issues that I identified in the first paragraph.  Eating local food also gives you an appreciation for what is in season in your area.  I really look forward to the new crop of things such as figs which have a short season.  We eat them constantly while in season then it is but a distant memory until next year.

You do not need a huge amount of space and even though you could not grow some of the thing that we do in your climate, the reverse is also true.  What do you grow?

 

Mango Madness

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First it was the figs that I dried, then the corn being blanched and frozen.  Today’s glut is mangoes.

We have 2 mango trees, one large one that is about 20 years old and does not fruit.  I have no idea why there are no fruit and I am not sure how long we will maintain a non-productive fruit tree when the space could be better utilised.  The other tree was planted about 3 years ago and has produced a few mangoes last year and this year there are 2 that have reached mature size so we are waiting for them to ripen.  So the glut is not from our own trees.

As we were going out on Sunday I noticed several mangoes lying on the driveway of a property not far from us.  I knew that the was a mango tree in the front yard but I can honestly say that I had never noticed fruit on in previous years.  Since the owners are not permanent residents I contacted them to see if I could collect any fallen fruit.  With a positive response to my enquiry I headed off to pick up the fruit this morning.

I discovered that there are actually 3 mango trees and there was an abundance of fruit on the ground.  2 supermarket bags were filled with rotten and decaying fruit which I took home and put in the compost.  The usable fruit filled 5 calico bags!

Mangoes
Some of the fruit were very ripe and others were partly damaged so it as important to salvage what I could before they deteriorated any further.  I decided the quickest and easiest solution was to puree the pulp and freeze it.  Remember, that I had picked the fruit before 6am and I still had to go to work.

Mango in blender
After 30 minutes of furious preparation and a blender I had 2.5 litres of mango puree ready to store in the freezer.

Mango puree
I have taken one of the remaining mangoes as part of my packed lunch and there are still 38 mangoes on the kitchen bench.

Of course, there are still dozens on the trees.

I am really glad that I made the effort to contact the owner of the property as it would have been a shame to see all of this fruit go to waste.

How would you use the mango puree?

Storing the Surplus

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As I mentioned yesterday, I picked corn.  I ended up with about 18 cobs and after The Duke had 2 for his lunch I was still left with a lot of corn to keep for another day.  After doing a bit of research, I decided to blanch it, strip the kernels and freeze them.

Here is what I did.

Blanching corn
Cooked 3 – 4 cobs at a time for 6 minutes in boiling water.  It needs to be a large enough volume so that the water returns to a rolling boil within 1 – 2 minutes of adding the corn.

Corn in iced water
Remove the corn from the water using a slotted spoon and drop immediately into iced water for 6 minutes.

Bundt tin to support corn
Strip the kernels from the cob using a sharp knife.  In the instructions I found on the internet someone suggested using a bundt tin to support the narrow end of the cob while cutting the kernels off.  I happened to have one of these so tried out.  I was very pleased with the ease of removing the kernels and the tin was perfect to catch them in.

Kernels and empty cobs
I gently stirred the mixture to separate the kernels and spread them on 2 trays, covered them and placed them in the freezer overnight.  I weighed the kernels before I froze them and my efforts yielded 1.7kg.

Trays of corn kernels
This morning I removed the frozen kernels and packed them into 2 containers.  This way the kernels are individually frozen and I can remove as much or as little as I need at a time.

Corn ready to storeDespite my despair of a few weeks ago, the corn has been a real success and there are more cobs which will probably be ready next week.

Preparations

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Exactly a year ago we were in the midst of managing with no power as a result of the wild weather which was the aftermath of Cyclone (Hurricane) Oswald.

When we finally regained power I wrote this post.  More importantly, I wrote a follow-up assessment here.

It feels like groundhog day as it appears very likely that a cyclone will form off the north Queensland coast in the next 36 – 48 hours.  There is no guarantee where a potential system will track but the Bureau of Meteorology predictions are currently showing it crossing the coast and causing widespread rain over much of the eastern and central parts of the state.

Colour Forecast map for next 4 days

Colour Forecast map for next 4 days

My second link is interesting to re-read as it shows that once the immediate threat was over we relaxed and did not pursue some of the things we identified.  We have not bought a generator, nor organised the rainwater tank closer to the house.  The small freezer is not currently in use but is downstairs and could be used if necessary, however, the better option would be the camp fridge (also stored downstairs) set to ‘Freeze’.

We have had a long weekend here and I have unwittingly done some useful preparation.  All of the washing and almost all of the ironing is done.  Meals are planned and some are prepared for the coming week.  There is clean linen on the bed and in the bathroom.  I plan to finish the ironing and vacuum the floors tomorrow evening.  All of this means that I have most of the housework up to date and we do not need to worry about basics such as washing if we were to lose power for several days.  We also have enough food and basic supplies to ensure that we do not need to go to the shops.  All of the electronic equiment is fully charged and we have wind-up torches and radio.   The car has a full tank of fuel.  There is no need to panic but we are prepared simply because of how we live.

What preparations would you make in the event of the chance of severe weather?