Category Archives: Self-reliance

Plastic Bags – A Curse

6 Comments

A couple of days ago I read this post from Joanna over at Every Week is Green where she discussed being ‘forced’ to accept a plastic carry bag from a retailer.  I have had a similar experience, albeit, close to 20 years ago.  Refusing plastic bags at the time was far less prevalent than it is today so I regularly was confronted by some very odd responses.
On the particular occasion in question, I was in a department store in Adelaide where I intended to buy a pair of socks for The Duke.  I approached the counter and as I handed over the socks, I advised the assistant that I did not wish to have a bag.  Then ensued one of the most bizarre ‘arguments’ I have ever had the misfortune to be involved in.  She was adamant that I had to take a bag and I was equally determined that I would not accept one.  Her reasons were quite ridiculous but she finally became exasperated and asked, “Well, how will people know that you bought the item at *******?”  Seriously, I had to accept a bag so that the store could advertise that I shopped there?  I was not about to back down and advised that I would not accept a bag or I would not buy the socks.  I finally paid for the socks and left with them and the docket in my hand.

It was then and there that I realised just what hard work it was to stick to my principles.  I have continued to do so and it has become easier, however,you need to be constantly on your guard to avoid plastic bags sneaking into your life.

Don’t give up, Joanna.

Finally, here is my hessian bag that I finished relining.

Bag with new lining
You can read about the beginning of the project here.  It is towards the bottom of the post.  I did try handsewing the lining in but it was too difficult so this morning I used some heavy linen thread and sewed it on the machine using the heaviest needle I had.  The stitching is clearly visible but I am not concerned as I now have a functional bag again.  Thanks, Carol for the lining fabric.  🙂

Foodie Friday – No Recipe Needed

Leave a comment

What do you understand by the term ‘salsa’?  Is it the spicy tomato mush in a jar or finely diced fresh ingredients?

Here is the definition from the font of all knowledge, Wikipedia.

“Salsa is the Spanish term for sauce, and in English-speaking countries usually refers to the often tomato-based, hot sauces typical of Mexican cuisine, particularly those used as dips.”

When I had an abundance of fresh mangoes a few weeks ago, I found a recipe on the internet for mango salsa.  It included diced mango, red onion, coriander and lime juice.  As usual, I improvised and used mango, brown onion, parsley and lemon juice!  It was delicious served with grilled salmon and vegetables.

Dinner

Many of our home-grown fruit and vegetables lend themselves to a salsa-style preparation.  I have made several combinations using tomatoes, avocadoes, corn and mango as the bases.  Salsa is a great accompaniment to fish, chicken or barbecued meats.

Last night I made a corn and tomato salsa which helped to turn a couple of humble grilled sausages into a special meal.

Corn & Tomato salsa

The ingredients were frozen corn kernels, cherry tomatoes, parsley, onion, lemon juice, black pepper and chilli powder.  The quantities are whatever you have but only a small amount of finely diced onion and a pinch of chilli powder are required.

What do you think?

Convenience – Is It Worth It?

2 Comments

It is the middle of the working week and I have been busy at work.  I manage to prepare and eat meals but nothing much else is happening.

I thought I would share this little gem that I stumbled upon yesterday.  The first sentence says it all.

Convenience meal

Convenience is my drug. It is addictive, drains the life out of me and costs a Sultan-sized fortune.

Take a read and let me know what you think.  This is a fairly extreme example in my opinion but we all fall for some level of convenience at times.  I am doing my best to move away from convenience and outsourcing my life to others.  My goal is to live a simple life and take responsibility for myself and my needs.

Obsolete? No Way!

8 Comments

We were working on building the fence for the vegetable gardens yesterday when The Duke needed some more of the long screws that he was using.  This necessitated a trip to Bunnings which is about a 50km round trip.  It is not a trip we make every week so we try to combine more than one reason to make it worthwhile.  As well as buying the screws, we needed fuel for the ute, bought more salmon at the fish shop and took the 2 empty CO2 canisters from the Soda Stream to be replaced.

We do not use the Soda Stream every week so the canisters last quite a while.  I took them to KMart and the attendant at the service desk stated that my canisters were 40 litre ones (enough to carbonate 40 litres of drink) but that they were no longer available and they had 60 litre replacements.  She also assured me that they fitted all models except the first one.  I accepted this and handed over my $38 in exchange for 2 new 60 litre canisters of CO2.

I arrived home and checked them, and of course, I discovered that they did not fit.  I rang KMart and said I would be returning them since the 40 litre ones were not available.  I then rang Coles and Harvey Norman to check the validity of the the story and it seemed that I was definitely out of luck.  The girl at Harvey Norman flippantly said, “Well its obviously over 10 years old, you’ll just have to buy a new one”.  I did not want to buy a new Soda Stream as the one I have is in perfect condition and works well.

So, I was up for the challenge to modify the device to accept the larger canister.  The connections are identical as the staff in KMart had advised that the 2 sizes were interchangeable.  The problem was the size of the opening that the base of the canister fits through.  The Duke and I decided that we had nothing to lose by attempting the modification as we could no longer use our Soda Stream as it was.

The equipment:  A jigsaw, wire cutters, Stanley knife and sandpaper.

The jigsaw was perfect to enlarge the opening, however, on one side there was not enough room to manouvre the saw.  We use the wire cutters to cut small notches to weaken the edge of the plastic then expanded the diameter of the opening using the Stanley knife and finally smoothed the rough edges with the sandpaper.

New canister
We were too busy being creative to take any photos of the actual process but here is the end result with the canister in place.

Soda Stream
It is impossible to see our handiwork with the back cover replaced.  I even made a bottle of soda water to test it out and celebrate our success.

What have you refashioned or modified lately?  Does the expectation that you will buy a new item irritate you?

Foodie Friday – Keeping it Local

7 Comments

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?

 

Living Life & Thank You

2 Comments

I had dreamed of getting a blog post written last night but life got in the way.  As you all know, I try to make sure that meal preparation is done ahead of time because of the late hour that we arrive home.  I did quite a bit on the weekend so it has been a very simple matter of heating and eating the past couple of nights.  Last night I cooked a pot of rice and made Mexican Bean Pie ready for our dinner tonight.  I will just need to cook the vegetables when I get in this evening.  The pie is my own invention and has 2 ingredients – refried beans and rice.  Mix quantities of each together, spread into a pie plate or shallow casserole dish, top with breadcrumbs and grated cheese.  I heat it in the microwave then finish the topping under the griller.  I use a gluten-free version of topping using almond meal, flaxseed meal, and spices.  The choice is yours.

Leftovers

Tonight will be a new ‘Foodie Friday’ post in which I will focus on growing at least some of your own food and the benefits it provides.

Finally, I would like to say thank you to those of you who commented on my previous post about reaching a milestone of 3 years of blogging.  Your thoughtful and positive feedback is so valuable.  Although I said that this blog is essentially my diary, it gives me great joy to realise that you are out there reading and see value in what I write.  I hope that will continue and I will not let you down

Thanks, once again and I look forward to many more posts and comments.

The Final Step

6 Comments

I read somewhere that doing the washing should not be about putting a load of washing in the machine.  It should be about closing the loop, that is, washing should include the full process of getting worn and grubby clothes back to a state where they are ready to be worn again.  Therefore, hanging them on the line to dry, bringing the dry washing in, sorting, folding, ironing and putting away the clean clothes should all be included in the process.

From my observations, ironing and cleaning the oven seem to be in a class of their own when it comes to the universal dislike of jobs.  I actually do not mind ironing but sometimes find it difficult to find the time as I prefer to do the whole lot in one go.  Due to our streamlined wardrobes I cannot leave it for too long as then we would have nothing to wear so on the weekend I did a spot of procrastinating which masqueraded as organising.

Hanging rack
I have a hanging rack where I hang the clothes once they are ironed but I decided to hang them before ironing so that I could see exactly how much I had to do and could easily fetch the next item as I was ready.  I also sorted the things that do not go on hangers into a pile of mine and a pile of clothes belonging to The Duke as well as linens and handkerchiefs in a separate pile.

Piles of ironing
I did the ironing early this morning and found that my procrastination strategy actually paid dividends.  I find it easier and quicker to get into a rhythm of ironing the same type of item – I do all of the shirts or all t-shirts in one go.  By having things sorted I saved time.  I also decided that I would place all of the t-shirts together once they were ironed and then fold them up at the end of the session.  This saves time by not disturbing the rhythm as well as saving money.  I am not wasting time folding while the iron is sitting idle and using electricity to maintain the heat.

Ironed tees
This method does not work for items such as The Duke’s shorts which are folded as part of the process of ironing them.

Shorts

Sorting the ironing and hanging the items on hangers started as a bit of a joke but it is a process that I will continue in an effort to further streamline what I do.

Clothes hangers
I know that some people always hang shirts and dresses on hangers rather than pegging them on the line to dry.  I do not generally do this, although I have 3 plastic clips that peg onto the line and you can feed the hanger through the hole.  The hangers stay in place in even the windiest weather.  I inherited these from my mother-in-law and have considered looking for more.  I checked online but cannot see the same style, however, I found this website which has an equivalent product.  It is UK-based so guess what I will be bringing home in my suitcase in September!

Foodie Friday – A Shopping List

2 Comments

Shopping lists are an essential ingredient if you are to have an organised approach to planning and preparing nutritious meals for your family.  They were around long before the days of personal organisers, smartphones and endless ‘to do’ lists.  My mother has always written her list on the back of a used envelope and I tend to use some sort of scrap or excess paper.

I imagine that the process of writing a list goes back to when shopping day was a major expedition, perhaps by horse and buggy, and it was vital to buy everything that was required for a month or longer.  No popping into the supermarket after work to pick up something for dinner and ending up with $50 worth of impulse buys.

Each week I buy fresh fruit and vegetables for the week plus a few basic items that I need from the supermarket. Although I write a list every week, it really comes into its own when I shop for pantry staples at Simply Good.  I try to do this about every 3 – 5 months as it is a 90km round trip.  I am not using a horse and buggy but I do have a regard for both the environmental impact of driving that distance as well as my time and energy.

Last Saturday was a big shopping day so we set out early.  Our first stop was Simply Good, followed by Aldi, fruit and vegetable stall, the local butcher and finally the Co-op.  I checked the pantry and refrigerator before writing a comprehensive list to ensure that nothing was forgotten.  The list does vary from time to time but this will give you a broad idea of the sorts of ingredients I buy.

Shopping list
As you can see, most of what we eat is whole foods cooked from scratch so I am buying ingredients – not meals.   We eat a gluten-free diet and some of the items reflect this choice.

Next week I will show you my pantry and discuss the storage and organisation which works for me.

Must Watch

Leave a comment

There is a relatively small amount of information and resources for Australians and it gives me great pleasure to share a link to a video which is made by Australians, about the Australian situation, using Australian statistics and information.  The video is titled ‘Waste Deep’ and was produced by the group at Sustainable Table.  The headline is “Waste Deep, a documentary that will change the way we cook and eat”.

This is not an over-the-top production designed for its shock value.  It simply and eloquently states the case for all of us to dramatically reduce our acceptance of plastic packaged, perfect food and the culture of convenience.

Please watch the video, preferably more than once.  Listen to the message and commit to acting to make a difference.  We all can make a difference.

Sustainable eating
Some of the themes are menu planning, growing your own food, reducing the amount you buy at supermarkets, supporting bulk/loose food stores, taking you own containers to be refilled, buying direct from the farmer or Farmers’ Markets and reducing before recycling.

Although this is an Australian video, the message and actions are applicable wherever you live.

What are you already doing?  What are you going to do?  Please share your thoughts and ideas so that we can build an online network to follow these principles and make a difference.

Gently Grey

2 Comments

Many of the things I do and decisions I make have their origins in the desire to live a simpler, more streamlined existence.  However, in time it becomes part of who I am and I tend to forget about what prompted my decision in the first place.

I was reading Fifty, Not Frumpy the other day and as well as the gorgeously styled outfits I was struck by the colour of Susan’s hair.  Mine is not and possibly will never be that colour but it reminded me of my own choices that I have made.

Like many young women, I began to notice a small amount of grey in my hair at around my 30th birthday.  I have never been a big spender on expensive hair styling and salon treatments so I coloured it myself for about 15 years.  During that time I had a couple of attempts at leaving my hair as its natural colour but was not overly impressed with the result.  There was not enough grey to be significant and the effect was dull and ‘bleugh’.

I finally bit the bullet when I was in my mid forties.  I did not have too much of an issue growing it out as I tend to keep my hair cut fairly short anyway.

Going grey
While my hair is far from completely grey, it is obvious that it is natural and not coloured.  It is easy to maintain and fits nicely with my simple life.

I have my hair cut about every 6 – 7 weeks which costs me $35 at a city salon.  I buy shampoo and conditioner from the Co-op.  They are in bulk containers and I can refill my bottles plus it contains no sodium laureth sulfate or other nasty chemicals.  A splash of water and a hairbrush are the only styling aids I use.  You can’t get much more simple than that.