This afternoon I made an apron. It was in response to an enquiry to our Boomerang Bags group from someone who wanted to know if we made aprons.
Our group has been considering diversifying a little so this was a perfect opportunity to test my skills.
In keeping with the Boomerang Bag ethos of saving textiles from landfill, it is made entirely from salvaged fabric. The red is a discarded cushion cover which I had unpicked. I used the wrong side of the fabric as the right side was quite faded. The striped fabric is from a discarded apron – I used the original ties for the waistband and ties. Finally, the dog fabric was a scrap leftover from a bag I made – the original piece was given to me. The dog fabric is a pocket which is divided into 5 sections.
I can definitely see an opportunity to make some more for our upcoming market stall next month.
Yesterday we did some shopping at the supermarket and greengrocer.
As always, I scanned the shops for any particular bargains.
There were bananas for $1/kg so I prepared to fill a large bag. The owner asked if I wanted a whole box.
Yes, please!
We have sliced banana on our cereal each morning and it does not matter whether it is fresh or frozen.
So, I peeled some and froze them on trays. Once they are frozen I will bag them up for future use. Banana cake, smoothies and banana ice-cream are other possible uses.
There are still plenty in the box so I will freeze them over coming days.
This is another example of being open and aware to bargains that may come your way.
The box full was $13 which worked out at slightly less than 9c/banana.
I have not forgotten you even though it has been nearly 4 weeks since my last post.
After a very wet autumn our weather suddenly turned dry and cold as winter officially began here at the beginning of June. It somehow made our planned holiday very appealing. We had 9 days in north Queensland where the daytime temperatures ranged from about 26C up to 32C. It was a great opportunity to thaw out. I am still adding to the posts on my holiday blog but you can pop over here to read all about it.
We came back with renewed enthusiasm to tackle some jobs around the house. It is really a bit like spring-cleaning in winter. GMan has scrubbed all of the skirting boards, architraves and doors in the lounge/dining area and the office/library.
A bit of decluttering and rearranging of furniture ensued. One thing certainly leads to another.
Bookshelf from the lounge to the office.
Sideboard from the front lobby to the lounge.
A ‘new’ glass fronted cabinet for the lobby. I picked this bargain up on Marketplace.
Scrubbing was not enough for the front lobby so it received a fresh coat of paint.
There is more painting and rearranging in progress. More photos to come.
We have a small dog. She is a Tenterfield terrier – very similar to a miniature fox terrier.
At slightly under 2 years old she is still a puppy in many ways. Chewing holes in her blanket is a favourite pastime. She had 2 blankets cut from a very large old polar fleece blanket but today I decided that I needed to rethink her bedding.
So, I made this cover from a piece of upholstery fabric which was lurking in my stash and placed the 2 blankets inside it.
The new bed appears to have gained a stamp of approval. We will see how long it lasts before being chewed.
I seem to have been gripped by a level of inertia which has been difficult to shake. I suppose you could call it writer’s block. I have plenty of material for blog posts but have simply not had the will or focus to actually write and publish them. Part of the problem has been the heavy focus on our upcoming federal government elections on Saturday. The other has been the weather. The rain was relentless for several days and even when it was not raining the humidity was 100%. Today was a little better but a return of the heavy rain is forecast for the next 3 days with a high likelihood of greater than 100mm (4 inches) over the weekend.
Anyway, enough of excuses and back to the title.
Today I want to address textile waste – garments, household linens and unused fabric.
As with anything, the best actions we can take to minimise waste are:
Buy only what we actually need.
Buy secondhand where possible.
Take care of what we have to increase its longevity.
Repair or upcycle if applicable.
Ensure it is disposed of or recycled responsibly at the end of its useful life.
Most of us at some time have donated to or shopped at op shops but do you have any idea of what happens with the donations before they make it into the shop for sale?
Donations are received, sorted, priced and made available for sale. Many op shops are overwhelmed by donations and sadly, a portion of what is donated ends up as landfill. Donated items may be unsuitable, dangerous, damaged, soiled or otherwise unacceptable.
I routinely receive donated textiles which are otherwise destined for landfill and our local Boomerang Bags group are often able to use some of the fabric for making reusable bags.
However, sometimes I am surprised by some of what I receive. Remember, op shops do not provide a laundry service so it is make sure that your donations are in a state which is saleable. It is even a good idea to fold garments so that the volunteers can easily identify them as clean and cared-for clothing.
Today I soaked and laundered these three dresses which were in the last bundle saved from landfill. I can only only surmise that at least 2 of them had been deemed unacceptable due to the fact that they had not been laundered prior to donation.
They are all natural fibres (cotton and linen) and in good condition.
I have now sold 2 of them and the funds received have been donated to our local Waste Action group.
We should all do everything we can to ensure that we minimise what ends up in landfill.
For the past few years I have grown eggplant pretty successfully with minimal effort. In our climate it grows without supplementary watering, is generally resistant to pests and vagaries of the weather and, most importantly, the fruit mature gradually and I don’t end up with a massive glut of produce.
It is definitely a crop worth growing as they are generally $6.95/kg at our greengrocer.
I think eggplant are quite underrated. Here are some of my favourite dishes that I have made recently.
Roasted eggplant slices on a vegetarian pizza.
Ready to pop in the oven to roast.
The finished pizza.
Eggplant and Bean Curry
Sauteed eggplant and some leftover spicy chicken with a bit of tamari and served with cauliflower in cheese sauce. There is no photo of this one.
Eggplant often does not look particularly spectacular but I think it is definitely worth trying.
At the end of my last post I mentioned that I would share some details of the food preparation that I do.
In the past few weeks I have been fortunate to score some great bargains on fresh produce. A food bargain is only a bargain if you actually use the food. This can be a particular challenge with fresh produce but with a bit of know-how and some time you can make the most of bargains that may come your way.
Today I want to show you how I used and stored large quantities of cheap bananas, pineapples and tomatoes.
I bought a 10kg box of perfect, ripe Roma tomatoes for $10. $1/kg was too good to pass up. I could have bottled them straightaway but they were so firm, red and perfect that we decided to enjoy them fresh for as long as possible. I spread them out on a couple of racks so that would be able to easily identify any blemishes or potential rotten ones. Fresh tomato salsa was served with at least one and often two meals every day. Here is a selection of our meals.
L to R: Chicken tacos, Mexican quinoa and Baked potatoes with refried beans
This strategy worked well for just over 3 weeks which is testament to the perfect quality of the produce. In fact, I have no idea why they were being sold for $1/kg.
The remaining tomatoes were diced and packed into jars to go in the freezer. These will be added to casseroles and other dishes instead on buying canned tomatoes.
Next were the bananas. These were also $1/kg and I bought 12.5kg in a box. The bananas ranged from partly green to overripe but the majority were ripe and flavoursome although the skins were showing blemishes. We eat sliced banana on our cereal every day so about a dozen of the least ripe ones were added to fruit bowl to be eaten over the next week.
Two very ripe ones became banana cake and the remainder were peeled, cut in half and frozen on trays. They can be sliced and added to cereal with no further preparation.
You can see the less ripe bananas in the fruit bowls in the background as well as trays ready for the freezer and two bananas in the bowl which were about to be turned into banana cake.
Finally, the pineapples. I spotted this box of 5 pineapples for $4 and knew exactly how I could use them.
Dried pineapple is a delicious treat so it was a simple matter of peeling, coring and slicing the pineapple and then into the dehydrator. We like it semi-dried (a bit chewy but not crunchy). I store it in a container in the refrigerator.
L to R: Fresh pineapple ready to dehydrate, dried pineapple, ready to store in the refrigerator.
I would love to hear your stories of bargains or gluts and how you make sure they do not go to waste.
It is over 2 weeks since my last post and I am not really sure why. It is partly because I have been occupied with personal aspects of my life which are not blog material but also I have been somewhat overwhelmed by national and global events which are out of my control.
Anyway, I am back and wanted to share a little of my day from yesterday.
As you may be aware, GMan has been the baker of bread in our house for probably close to 30 years. The breadmaker is an appliance that was a fad for some people and ended up relegated to a storage space to gather dust or the next garage sale. That was not the case here and it has been used consistently here for many years. Our current model is the second one we have owned.
Our bread needs have changed as our daughters left home and the demand for sandwiches diminished. Also, I eat a predominantly gluten-free diet, therefore, regular bread is off the menu.
In the early days GMan used various premixes, however as time has progressed so have his skills. He now makes bread in the breadmaker from scratch. This is mostly restricted to the occasional loaf of fruit loaf which he enjoys.
His main focus now is sourdough which he has researched, studied and perfected in the last 5 years. You can read about one of the earliest results here. Continuing research and a more mature starter have contributed to his current success of which he is justifiably proud.
I am still waiting for him to try a gluten-free starter. Maybe this year……..
Like most people, we are mindful of our power usage, and therefore, the oven is generally used for multiple items when it is turned on. Yesterday was a good example. I also made a loaf of gluten-free banana bread and a batch of gluten-free cheese scones. These are enjoyed by both of us. The scones are the perfect accompaniment to home-made vegetable soup and the recipe is here. I will add the recipe for the banana bread later as yesterday was the first time I had made it.
The last thing I put in the oven was a tray of eggplant slices. These were from our garden and I brush them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt before gently roasting them until soft. They were for the pizza I made for dinner last night. I do not use the oven when making pizza as I have a benchtop pizza maker.
A day in the kitchen was not only about baking but also other food prep (pineapples, bananas and tomatoes) but I will save those stories for another post.
In the eleven years that I have been writing this blog I have intermittently made attempts to organise my photos. Little by little I make some progress. I recently uploaded the entire collection to the cloud but this post is not strictly about the photos.
While I was sorting through them I found random photos I have taken of different storage solutions that work for me. Here is a selection.
Rolls of wrapping paper in a repurposed shoebox.
In the cupboard in the spare room. Various bags sorted into categories for reuse. A beautiful old tin which is full of buttons (also sorted and bagged). A plastic tub of all our CDs. They have all been ripped and saved on the computer but we can’t quite bring ourselves to get rid of them.
Folded teatowels in a repurposed timber box which lives in the linen cupboard.
The plastics drawer with containers stacked in piles. This needs maintaining regularly.
The cupboard in the office is constantly evolving.
Storage is not an alternative to decluttering but it does help to be able to maintain a level of organisation. However, I do not advocate rushing out to buy specific matching containers. As these photos show it is possible to utilise various containers that you probably already have available.
I received a notification yesterday from WordPress that advised me that I have been writing this blog for 11 years. Although I sometimes wonder what to write about I intend to keep going for the foreseeable future. Thank you for reading along.
Meanwhile, the day went on with regular jobs. I did 4 loads of washing, ironed and folded everything, stripped and remade the bed, swept all of the floors and made another batch of spreadable butter. When I cooked the rice for dinner I did extra and have 2 more batches in the freezer.
organised castle 