Foodie Friday – No Recipe Needed

Convenience – Is It Worth It?

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Posted on March 19, 2014

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 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.

Two Heads Are Better Than One

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Posted on March 18, 2014

So the saying goes………….. This is definitely true when it comes to decluttering. Trying to justify why you want to keep something to another person is more of a challenge than just doing it yourself.

When we had the kitchen renovated about 4 years ago we chose to have mostly drawers rather than cupboards and I am really pleased with that decision.

On Sunday I cleaned out 5 drawers plus 1 small cupboard in the kitchen. I actually removed the drawers from their runners, emptied the contents and completely cleaned the surrounding area as well as the drawer.

The large drawer below the microwave holds baking tins and trays. The Duke and I went through each item and have rehomed several trays and tins that are no longer used for one reason or another. Mostly it was because we simply no longer (or never did) bake those items. It meant that I was able to consolidate the extra tins that were in the top cupboard into the same drawer as the rest of the baking trays.

Here is the end result.

One of the other drawers that got the treatment was what some people would call a junk drawer but I refuse to give it that name as it is not junk. Everything in here has a use and is used regularly. I have decluttered it severa times over the past few years and each time I manage to reduce a bit more and I am pretty happy with it now. This time I have finally let go of the remnants of rolls of clingwrap and plastic for separating items in the freezer. I have not used either for many years so it was time to move them along.

What have you decluttered lately?

Obsolete? No Way!

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Posted on March 16, 2014

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.

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.

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

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Posted on March 15, 2014

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.

SUNDAY

Breakfast – mango and pineapple 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

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Posted on March 14, 2014

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.

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.

Would You Believe?

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Posted on March 12, 2014

I was amazed to realise that it is 3 years ago that I began writing this blog.

Delving into the records has revealed the following statistics:

I have written 699 posts so this will make make a nice, round 700. Not a bad effort in 3 years.

There have been 104,013 views of my blog and 2,356 comments in total.

This is not a huge number when compared to some very popular blogs. However, I made a conscious decision when I began writing that it would not be for the number of followers, views or comments. Organised Castle was essentially my diary. It is about living a simple, sustainable life. In keeping with that goal I was not going to have a blog which was cluttered with widgets, links and advertisements. The look of the blog is how I live my life.

I am thrilled that so many of you from Australia and overseas keep coming back to read and comment. I love sharing my thoughts and look forward to continuing the journey.

Thank you.

The Final Step

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Posted on March 11, 2014

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

Project 333 – A Gent’s Perspective

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Posted on March 9, 2014

When I first met The Duke, he owned 6 shirts – one for each day of the week plus one for going out. His weekend tasks included washing and ironing the shirts ready for the coming week. Since then the shirt collection has grown substantially and I wash and iron the shirts. In fact, I managed to score the task of ironing from quite early in our relationship.

Last weekend the ironing did not get done so by the end of the second week his business shirt collection was pretty well exhausted. Seeing the shirts that The Duke chose not to wear, even when there was almost no choice, helped to confirm that they were shirts that he was not happy with. In the end these 3 have been earmarked for the op shop.

These 2 that were in the wash are also going because, to quote The Duke, “they have seen better days”.

We are now back to just 5 business shirts plus perhaps 2 others that could do double-duty as casual /business attire. I think 2 or 3 more business shirts might be in order, if for no other reason than to take the pressure off me having to get the ironing done every weekend.