A Perfect Pizza

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Posted on April 19, 2017

For the past couple of years I have been making gluten-free pizza bases and tonight I want to share the recipe with you.

I have previously posted about making pizzas here but did not published the recipe as it included a specific blend of flour which was only available in the recipe book. However, the ‘recipe’ for the flour blend is now available on the internet and you can look it up here.

The recipe below is the quantities I use. It is actually double the original recipe and I find it makes 6 bases.

Pizza Bases

Ingredients

600g MGF flour blend
16g psyllium
2 teaspoons raw sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons dried yeast
40ml olive oil
520ml warm water

Method

Turn the oven on to 100 degrees C and set a timer for 5 minutes. Turn the oven off after 5 minutes.
Place all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add warm water and oil. Mix well. (I use the Kitchen Aid mixer on a low speed).
The mixture will seem quite runny at first but will soon firm up as the psyllium absorbs the moisture.
Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and place in the warm oven to rise for 45 minutes.
Remove from the oven and divide into 6 equal pieces.

The original recipe suggests rolling the dough out on a greased tray, allow to rise for 20 minutes then add toppings and bake for 15 minutes at 220 degrees C.

My version is a little different. I roll the dough out on baking paper, bake on a tray for 8 minutes at 180 degrees C. When cooled I freeze the pre-cooked bases ready for future use.

This is the pizza maker that I use which has a pizza stone set into it.

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Here is a sample of the end result. We ate it tonight.

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NOTE: I reuse the baking paper and store it in a ziplock bag in the freezer between uses.

Sourdough Success

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Posted on April 11, 2017

I am pleased to report that in a little under 2 months since his first attempt GMan has baked a very respectable sourdough loaf.

In this post from February I mentioned that the first effort was a failure. In fact, unmitigated disaster might be an accurate description. Since then he has persevered and tweaked the technique with a few more loaves which have been edible – best toasted. I have been watching from the sidelines as this is not gluten-free.

The loaf which GMan baked tonight is the most impressive so far and he is justifiably rather proud of it.

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I think a couple of things contributed to the success. Firstly, the ‘starter’ is maturing with time and secondly, he cooked it in an enamel cast-iron lidded pot rather than on a tray.

This is about as ‘cooked from scratch’ as you can get with only 3 ingredients used – flour, salt and water.

My next challenge for GMan is to create a gluten-free ‘starter’. Watch this space for more details in the future.

B.T. – Before Tissues

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Posted on April 10, 2017

Once upon a time ladies carried a lace handkerchief and gentleman had a fancy one tucked in their breast pocket. Over time handkerchiefs evolved into a simple cotton square which everyone carried. When I was a child you did not leave home without a clean hanky tucked in the pocket of your dress or trousers. Handkerchiefs were as much a part of your wardrobe as your underwear and were usually stored in the top drawer along with the rest of your underwear.

When tissues became the norm there was no longer a need to store them. It was a simple matter of having a box in a convenient location. Quite often, it could be several locations – a box in the bedroom as well as the bathroom and living room as well as the car.

There is a renewed awareness of the environmental cost of disposable items and this is seeing more people return to using reuseable products and this includes the use of handkerchiefs. This has led to the inevitable question of, “How and where do you store you handkerchiefs?”

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I keep my handkerchiefs in the small drawer on the left-hand side of my dressing table.

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Here they are stacked in 2 small piles. I have about 15 handkerchiefs.

Although I do not use it, I have a fabric handkerchief bag which belonged to my grandmother and is close to 100 years old. This is essentially an envelope and was used to ensure that the handkerchiefs stayed together and were easy to locate.

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The bag is made from fine cotton fabric and measures approximately 22cm x 22cm. It features white on white embroidery and the photo below shows a close-up.

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The final view shows the bag with the flap opened.

I find it interesting that there are people who have grown up in a world of tissues (and other disposable products) who have no previous experience of how to store the reuseable version.

Perhaps there is a whole new market for handkerchief bags awaiting an enterprising individual.

Do you use handkerchiefs? How do you store them?

Delicious Dinner

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Posted on April 8, 2017

Yesterday I worked from home so I had a larger window of opportunity for preparing dinner than I normally do on a weekday. I even had time to take some step-by-step photographs.

As with many of the meals I make, there is no specific recipe, however, my inspiration came from this video which was posted on Facebook. I did plan to make the enchiladas but had no way to satisfactorily slice the zucchini thinly enough to be able to roll it easily. So, I made a lasagne.

This is the remainder of the last of the giant zucchini.

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I sliced the flesh as thinly as possible and discarded the seeds. Some have been saved for next year’s crop.

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Next, I sliced one chicken breast fillet. It was still mostly frozen which is useful because I find it easier to slice when semi-frozen. When I need cooked chicken for a recipe, I steam it by placing the chicken on a cake rack over a large frying pan of boiling water. I then place the domed lid over the top and it cooks quite quickly.

One onion (diced), 1/2 capsicum (diced), 3 birdseye chillies and a lime were the next things I prepared.

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Saute the onion and chopped chillies then add the capsicum and cook until softened. Add the lime juice. I only used half a lime as they were large and very juicy.

Add the shredded, cooked chicken and 1/2 can crushed tomatoes.

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Line the base of a small, rectangular dish with zucchini slices then add layers of chicken mixture, grated cheeses (I used parmesan and cheddar) and zucchini. I also added the remainder of the can of tomatoes as I layered the dish.

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The topping is parmesan and cheddar cheese mixed with flaxseed meal for some added crunch and keep the dish gluten-free. If this is not an issue you could use dry breadcrumbs with the cheese.

Bake in the oven until heated through and browned on top. Alternatively, you could microwave for 10 minutes and then crisp the top under the griller. This is what I did to avoid turning on the oven.

The meal made 3 generous adult serves from one chicken breast fillet and part of a giant zucchini which would otherwise have gone to waste.

Future-Proofing

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Posted on March 30, 2017

Well, it is 3 days since my last post in which I shared our concern for the residents of north Queensland who were in the path of Cyclone Debbie. What a 3 days it has been!

In 72 hours Cyclone Debbie has flattened the island resorts of the Whitsunday Islands and the adjacent mainland towns of Airlie Beach and Prosperine as a Category 4 cyclone before being downgraded as it moved inland. Most of these areas are still without power or water and this situation is likely to continue for several more days, at least.

As predicted, the system then turned south east and headed towards the densely populated south-east corner of Queensland, including Brisbane. For almost 24 hours we experienced substantial rainfall and some high winds – but of course, nothing like the conditions endured by those who were in the direct path of the cyclone.

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This is a view of part of our backyard this morning during a break in the rain. The water in the background is not normally part of the landscape. The ‘lake’ develops as the run-off from the mountain behind us pools in the low-lying part of our property. It is not as extensive as some other occasions and will drain over the next few days.

The area where we live lost power about 2pm today and do not expect it to be restored until at least midday tomorrow. There are currently thousands of consumers in Brisbane and the surrounding areas without power. We are fortunate to be reaping the benefit of our decision to install a grid-connected battery system almost 18 months ago. You can read about it here.

While it is great to be able to use our stored power each evening, the real benefit of the system is that it provides us with a power source in the event of a power failure from the grid. Whether it is extreme weather or any other reason it is reassuring to know that we are not reliant on the grid for power. This experience has confirmed the importance of a degree of self-reliance and we are extremely glad to be in this position.

What I Do

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Posted on March 19, 2017

It is nearly a week since I last posted and you are probably been wondering what I’ve been doing. Some days I wonder the same thing. My full-time job keeps me pretty busy and t here is always plenty to do when I am at home. So much so that I barely have enough time (or energy) to blog about it.

Here is a sample of one of the things I did today.

GMan picked up a large bucket full of passionfruit that had fallen from the vine. The easiest way to store passionfruit is to simply scoop out the pulp and freeze in ice-cube trays.

Some of the fruit ready to cut.

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Work in progress.

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Ready for the freezer.

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Despite the fact that the garden gets minimal attention we still manage to harvest a range of produce. Over the past few weeks we have picked passionfruit, pineapple, mangoes, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, lettuce and raspberries.

A New Life

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Posted on March 13, 2017

In the 6 years that I have been writing this blog there have been numerous posts about mending and repairing clothes to extend their life.

Tonight I want to show you a couple of projects I completed on the weekend.

This was a long-sleeved shirt which was worn at the cuffs. The traditional repair of this problem is ‘turn’ the cuffs, that is, to remove the cuff and replace it with the worn outside to the inside, thus doubling the life of the shirt. Unfortunately, this had worn right on the edge and was visible from both the right and wrong sides. So, I decided on a different course of action as it is a much-loved shirt.

Using an existing short-sleeved shirt as pattern, I re-fashioned it to a short-sleeved shirt.

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The excess that was cut off did not go completely to waste, either. I removed the buttons and added them to my stash because, to quote my late father, “you never know when it might come in handy”. I think that growing up in the Great Depression drove much of his thinking in that respect. I do not hoard stuff but I do recognise that some things are likely to have a potential future use. It is all a matter of balance. I also managed to cut 6 x 5″ squares for future patchwork projects.

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My next project is a perfect example of when those salvaged bits do actually come in handy. A elastic in a pair of GMan’s shorts had stretched to the point where even the associated drawstring was not sufficient to comfortably keep them up.

I unpicked the stitching and removed the elastic and salvaged the drawstring. I just needed some suitable elastic and I would be able to reconstruct the shorts. I found some that I had kept from some underpants that had worn out! Of course, the fabric from the underpants had ended up in the rag bag.

Here are the shorts with the elastic removed and the drawstring and ‘new’ elastic ready to be re-assembled.

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So, thanks to my stash of salvaged elastic the shorts have been repaired and are as good as new at zero cost.

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(Dis)organised

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Posted on March 11, 2017

I have said before that this blog real. What you see is what you get.

These are the views that greeted me this morning.

The ironing board is under this pile.

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This is my sewing/ironing/spare bed room. There was more on the bed and even clothes in the basket to be folded.

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And more on the sofa in the living room.

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This was all washed early in the week but a busy week at work has meant that I didn’t complete the task by finishing the folding and ironing.

The total time taken to complete this was about 2 hours, however, this was interspersed by breakfast, a phone call and going to Maleny to pick up movie tickets for tonight.

The end result is here. Shirts, trousers and dresses hanging up.

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Everything else folded. This is a mixture of items that were ironed and those that were simply folded.

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And the bed and sofa are clear once more.

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The next project was to shorten and hem 2 new pairs of trousers for GMan. I have done one pair but the others will have to wait until tomorrow as they are black and dark navy. The afternoon light is fading and I need bright daylight to be able to handsew dark fabrics.

Cause for Optimism

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Posted on March 9, 2017

It is easy to feel worn down and thwarted at every turn when you try to live according to your values with regards to reducing your carbon footprint. However, this is not always the case. At times there is cause for great joy and optimism and I have experienced that feeling this week.

I have been buying laundry liquid, pre-soak stain remover, dishwashing liquid and dishwasher powder from Felix at Kin Kin Naturals for a number of years now. This family business is located at Kin Kin in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, about 80km north of where I live. The products are available nationally particularly in Queensland and most especially on the Sunshine Coast.

Felix also sells the products at the Kin Kin markets which are held once a month in the small village. We make the trip about every 6 months and stock up because it is cheaper to buy them direct from the producer. Additionally, if I pre-order by email I can avoid new plastic packaging and buy the liquids packaged in re-used 2 or 3 litre juice bottles. You can see some in the photo below from when I cleaned out the laundry cupboards. You can read about it in this post.

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Last week I emailed an order to be collected at the next market at the beginning of April. I decided to make it a bit more than just an order and sent the following email.

Hi Felix

I have previously purchased products from you at the Kin Kin markets on several occasions. I have bought the dishwashing liquid and laundry liquid in the reused 2 and 3 litre juice which I really appreciate as it helps to limit the amount of plastic waste which our household generates.

I would like to buy:

8 litres of lavender and ylang ylang laundry liquid in the reused bottles
4 litres of tangerine and mandarin dishwashing liquid in the reused bottles
1 x 2.5kg refill pack of lemon myrtle and lime dishwasher powder
2 x 1.2kg eucalypt and lime eco laundry soaker

Does the laundry soaker come in refill packs? If so, that would be my preference.

Is it possible or have you ever considered having bulk containers of all products at the market so that people can bring their own containers to be refilled?

There is a growing movement of people who are trying to reduce/eliminate single use plastic (including packaging). Many of us are keen to buy/support locally produced/family businesses such as yours who produce a true eco-friendly product. Any opportunity to purchase these products without additional plastic would really be appreciated.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for your help.

Kind regards

I really had no idea what sort of response I would get so I was absolutely delighted to receive the following email 2 days later.

Hi Yvonne,

Thanks for your order – and for thinking with us on how to reduce senseless packaging.

I will put 2.5 kg of laundry soaker in a refill pack rather than 2 of the plastic jars. Depending on the exact size of the re-used bottles on hand when we fill we’re looking at about 17 kg/L total x $5 = around $85 for your order please.

I can see the beauty of refilling on the spot at the markets but I prefer the current way of pre-ordered re-used containers because we are doing only the Kin Kin markets which are on only once a month and would be stuck with remainders of the refill drums of each of the 4 liquid variants for months which wouldn’t be ideal for product freshness.

On your broader question of packaging reduction, great point. Our current approach is to encourage stores to get our 20L drums and offer refills from those. The problem is that apart from a few stores in an area with refill-minded people (e.g., Cooran and Pomona) this refill route isn’t doing too well, I think mainly because stores don’t like the extra effort, mess – and of course selling a prefilled plastic bottle is easier, but that’s what Coles and Woolies can do too. If you have any ideas, don’t hesitate..

See you at the April markets.

I will respond to Felix and also look forward to discussing some possibilities when I see him next month.

In the meantime, this has renewed my confidence in the ability of individual consumers to influence positive change. Not every approach will be received as positively as the example above but I will definitely be making more of an effort in the future to provide feedback to suppliers and retailers regarding plastic packaging.