Can we make .............?

Over the last few years I have gone back to basics when it comes to food. I have started making most of my own food from scratch. There are many reasons for this including wanting to know what is in my food and the enjoyment I get out of it amongst others. I was going through my pantry the other day for things to donate for various Christmas appeals and there were a few things that had actually expired because I brought them so long ago "just in case". Oops!

I have to laugh though when I mention things we need to B and he says "we'll have to make some". I think me making a lot of our food has created an expectation in him that that's how we do it. Not that I am complaining. I love that he has such a connection to his food and really understands processes on how food is made and where it comes from. I also love that his first thought is that we should make it rather than we should buy it.

I have blogged before about some of my home made goodies, including tomatoes, ice cream, lemonade and lemon butter. I have almost finished my tomatoes that I bottled in February and March. I'm glad that I have had such a good supply, however, I now know that I need to do lots more next year. I have also been assured that it ages well so if I do make more than I need in a year it will actually taste better.

So a few days ago he wanted to know about how to make butter. I have never made butter before but of course knew the theory and there is the wonderful Internet to fill in the gaps!!!

We started with some double cream:

Into the mix master:

And voila, butter (and buttermilk):

It was probably a tad too hot today to do the best job but it served the purpose of B seeing how it's made and he really enjoyed having a slice of bread with lots of our butter on it.

So above is a yoghurt maker. A few weeks ago I mentioned that we needed to get yoghurt and B replied with "we have to make some". There is a group that I am a member of on Facebook and there was a big discussion about making yoghurt about the same time. One of the members mentioned she used the Easi-Yo Yoghurt Maker. It's basically a large thermos which comes with a smaller container which fits inside and you can make yoghurt. They do sell their own brand sachets but I just do it myself with a small amount of yoghurt (which I save with each batch), milk powder and milk. Leave in the thermos overnight and you have yoghurt.

So there you have it. Some of the home made goodies we have been making in our house. We really need to get started on our Christmas baking. I can't believe I won't get started till December. I usually try to have most of it done by now.

I would love to hear about some of the home made goodies you make. Successes and failures!

When life gives you Lemons make...........

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to spend a few days with a friend at her family's beach house. We had a great time and it was lovely to get away.

I also came back with a bag full of lemons from the lemon tree in the backyard. Nobody had been at the house in a while so the lemon tree was groaning under the weight of all the lemons.

I am lucky enough to have a lemon tree in my backyard but as I have mentioned before I gave the tree a really massive prune when I moved in 2 years ago and it's only just starting to produce fruit. I use lemons quite a bit in my cooking and B loves to just eat them as is! We have been lucky enough to get a lot from friends and I haven't had to buy too many.

So as I had a few extra lemons I decided that today would be a good chance to do something with them. With the help of the CWA I set about making Lemonade Cordial and Lemon Butter. Yum!!

I'm having trouble uploading photos at the moment so I can't show the photo I took of the finished products :-(

I am only new to preserving and making sauces, jams, etc but am really loving it. I'm looking forward to when my lemon tree is producing a lot more and making more of these goodies. You never know - you may get one as a Christmas gift! I'm also planning to give Preserved Lemons a go. If you have a good recipe I would love you to share!

A Week with Jamie

I have been a bit bad in blogging recently. I knew I hadn't blogged for a while but was amazed to discover my last one was in July!! Big oops!!!

Now that all the important worldwide sporting events are finished I should be able to get back into blogging more regularly, hehe!

A while ago I set myself a funny little challenge to give myself something to look forward to in my cooking for the week. While I was doing my menu plan I decided to cook pork belly on Sunday night. I have discovered a really nice recipe that I have cooked a few times by Jamie Oliver (B loves pork belly!!). Then when I was planning Monday night's dinner I wanted to use Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals book. I purchased this book a while ago and was yet to cook anything from it. After this I realised that I had two nights of Jamie Oliver recipes so thought I would carry it on for the whole week.

So here is how our week panned out:

Sunday: Pork Belly with Roast Vegetables
(I did take a photo but for some reason is won't upload properly)

(Meat-Free) Monday: Cauliflower Curry

Tuesday: Pasta Putanesca

Wednesday: Leftover pasta (I work on Wednesdays so don't have time to cook when I get home)

Thursday: Beef Stew - was a bit ordinary and wouldn't cook it again

Friday: Leftover beef stew (again a work day)

Saturday: Chicken Nuggets (saw Jamie cook these on Oprah years ago and only every have these nuggets)

Well that was my week with Jamie. It started a bit by accident and I found that when I was in it that it added a bit of interest to my cooking for the week. I do enjoy cooking and trying new recipes although sometimes the whole cooking thing gets a bit boring, especially if B is going through a fussy period with his food. This was a way to add a bit of fun to the cooking for a week. I will have to try this with some of my other favourites. A good way to make sure I use my cookbooks too!! After seeing Maggie Beer recently and having purchased verjuice I think she may be my next challenge.

I would love to hear how you make life interesting when cooking - especially for kids.

Winter Veggie Progress Report

I haven't posted lately about my vegetable patch. Unfortunately I don't get a huge harvest over winter as my beds do not quite get enough sun during the winter months. Being in a rental property I can't alter the backyard too much (or chop down trees) and already the garden beds take up a bit of space and I don't want to take too much of the backyard away from B's use.

With all of that in mind I have planted some veggies in containers this year to try and get a little more sun and a bit more success over winter.

Here are my potatoes which have self-sown from last years crop. The gift that keeps on giving!!

I have used the tyres from the birthday party to help build the potatoes up to get a bigger and better crop.

Close up of potatoes

Home grown garlic - can't wait!

Broad beans

Broccoli

Silverbeet - one of my favourite crops. It just keeps giving!

My lemon tree is now starting to provide some fruit after my hard pruning last year. I'm so glad as I use quite a lot of lemons in my cooking.

I have also got some leads on community gardens to try and maybe get a plot so I can grow some more produce off-site.

I also really love that when it rains B doesn't complain he just says "our veggies will grow now". It is one of those moments as a parent that you realise you are doing your job! We had a lovely day today out in the garden weeding, rearranging and planting some more seeds.



Kitchen Gadgets

I must confess - I am a big fan of kitchen gadgets! Unfortunately I don't have a big kitchen (either cupboard or bench space) so have to be really careful of what I have as some of these are quite bulky and take up quite a bit of space. I just thought I would go through some of my favourites that help me around the kitchen and make my life a little easier.

My slow cooker. I have come very late to slow cookers. We did not have one while I was growing up so I did not have experience with them. I also couldn't see how you could just leave it on while you are out and about during the day - didn't think it was safe. However, I have a number of friends who use them and one even said she couldn't understand how a foodie like me didn't have one!! I must admit after having one for the past year I am a convert. I can happily leave it on all day and not worry. I find it really useful for busy days or days where we are going to be home late and I need dinner ready as soon as we are home. It is also great to cook big batches of food to freeze for later. And the feeling of having dinner done by 9.00 in the morning is one I cannot beat!

And a perfect combination with a yummy slow cooker meal - fresh cooked bread. I don't make bread in the bread maker as much as I should. I do use it often for things like pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, hot cross buns and jam. I really should use it more often as fresh baked bread is so yummy.

My rice cooker. I love being able to just put the rice in, turn it on and know that the rice will be cooked perfectly with very little effort from me.

My ice cream maker. I got this many years ago and didn't really use it, however, this last summer it got a real workout. B has issues with his kidneys so I really need to watch his sodium intake. Commercial ice cream is really high in salt so I made all of our ice cream this summer. It is great as I can do sorbet, ice cream and frozen yoghurt. I like that I know what is in it and can really experiment with different types. I even made tofu ice cream which was really nice.

Other gadgets I like are my food processor/blender, stick blender and my popcorn popper (great for a quick, nutricious snack).

What about you? Do you have a favourite kitchen gadget you couldn't live without? I would love to hear what makes your life easier in the kitchen.

Mother's Day

Well today is Mother's Day. B has been quite excited about it this year and all week has been asking "is it Mother's Day yet?"

So to make the day extra special I asked him if he would like to cook us breakfast today. I thought French Toast would be an achievable meal for him to mainly cook on his own. He loves spending time with me in the kitchen and is a really good help but today I was the helper and he pretty much cooked it himself. It gave him a real sense of achievement and pride that he was able to do this for me. I had considered going out to breakfast but I am so glad we didn't. This was much cheaper and the learning and his sense of accomplishment was definitely worth it.

Dipping the bread

Flipping the toast

Topping it all off with berries and icing sugar

In church this morning our minister talked about the Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation of 1870 which was a proclamation for peace and that women should rise up for peace. I really like this idea rather than the commercial thing it has become now.

Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or tears!

Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have taught them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of the devastated earth, a voice goes up with our own. It says, "Disarm, Disarm!"

The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail & commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesars but of God.

In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.

There has been a huge amount of controversy going around at the moment about the Time Magazine article "Are You Mom Enough?" We are all mum/mom enough. We do our best to nurture, teach, care and love for our children and if they know that then THAT IS ENOUGH! A friend of mine wrote a really great blog about this (click here).

This photo is all the things I have received for Mother's Day. A lovely friend sent me a card of support after my last post which was really lovely. I have other friends who have given me flowers and a card every Mother's Day from B which is very much appreciated. Then B made a card for me at kinder complete with a box of chocolates and a couple of lavender sachets.

In the card B made for me at kinder they got him to say his own message which was: "I love my mum because she has a key card KIA car and she always plays with me." This was a really lovely message as being a single parent I sometimes feel like I do not play with him as much as I should as I am the only one to do all the jobs needed around the house. It's nice to know that he still thinks I ALWAYS play with him. Although I'm a bit over playing with toy cars I just keep thinking that one day he won't think playing with Mum is cool.

So, Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. And to those of you in my life that have not been blessed with motherhood thank you for the mothering roles that you play in B's life and the lives of the other children in your lives. It really does take a village to raise a child and I certainly appreciate the help and support I receive on this mothering journey. It is with that help and support that I can proudly say I AM ENOUGH!

Lest We Forget - ANZAC Day 2012

Well, it's ANZAC Day. I like the idea of honouring those who have fought in wars around the world in the past and currently. I feel for the soldiers, their families and people who suffer on both sides and pray that God will bring peace.

Every year I make ANZAC biscuits and this year included B in the activity. I have been struggling to explain ANZAC Day, war and all the reasons behind the day all week. It has been difficult. I have located a few clips on You Tube to try and help me in this. Next year we will attend a dawn service and/or march to try and help this.

Lest We Forget.

Meat Free Monday

Well it's Monday again and this year I have started doing "Meat Free Monday". Previously I have tried to do one vegetarian meal a week but it was always a bit hit and miss. This was before I started planning the weeks menus (see this post). Now that I am planning the week's menu I can consciously plan at least one vegetarian meal each week (we actually had 2 last week).

Bean and lentil tagine with homemade flat bread

B is quite a little meat eater which is fine, however, I have never been a huge meat eater. So I am really extending my cooking repertoire to keep him satisfied! And it has been really good to go through my cookbooks to find new recipes.



Pakoras

 There are a number of reasons for having vegetarian meals including cost with vegetables being cheaper than meat. Also, the lower impact on the environment of producing vegetables as opposed to meat. I don't know that we would ever go the whole hog of going vegetarian full time but I think it's a good thing to eat less meat. I have discovered a great shop at Preston Market that stocks a huge range of beans and lentils which has been good for variety. 

Tonight's dinner - Samosas

I am also really enjoying exploring more and more ways to serve vegetarian meals that are enticing to a young child. I have had varying levels of success on this front. The less successful have been the regular meals that I have just adapted to vegetarian e.g. lasagne, burgers, etc. I really think the most successful are the tagines. B really loves them no matter what type I make - meat or vegetarian.

Sweet and Spicy Vegetable Tagine

I would really love to hear if you have any favourite vegetarian recipes. You can never have enough recipes right?

Waste

I have been musing for sometime on my waste or lack thereof. I do make a very conscious effort to cut down the amount of waste that our household produces both by controlling what comes in and how we deal with what needs to go out.

Firstly, I try to be really mindful of what I purchase. Is it really needed? Is it going to be used? This is particularly true with food. I am very conscious of what I buy and that it is all used. If I am finding myself with some food that is needing to be used and I don't have a plan for it immediately I look at how to keep it until I do. For veggies that I'm not planning on using can I use them in a stew, soup or just cook and freeze until I need it? Bananas are of course easy - smoothies or just into the freezer to make muffins or cake. Other fruit is good for smoothies, ice cream or again just frozen until need.

A really good blog on this issue is by Kylie Kwong and you can find it here. It's quite staggering the amount of food that is wasted and I am consciously trying not to contribute to the problem. There are a number of reasons for this. Of course, cost is the major one - it's like throwing your money out. There is also the environment and all the resources that are consumed into producing the food to just be wasted doesn't make sense to me. I think it's also about respecting farmers who spend their time and money in producing food for us as well.

Any food scraps we have are then put into our Bokashi Bucket. I really like this system as you can put meat scraps as well as other traditional composting materials. It also produces a liquid fertiliser which I then use to fertilise my vegetable garden. So it's a winner on a number of fronts.

I also recycle as much as possible - paper, glass, cans, etc. Luckily there is a tip not too far from me that takes a lot of materials that I can't put in the recycling bin. It also has a tip shop which can be a bit dangerous (but I'll post on that another time).





So this is typically the rubbish we throw out in a fortnight. It is basically just the packaging that I can't dispose of any other way.

And then, I got this book yesterday which takes reusing to a whole other level. Hopefully I will get some more tips and tricks!!

What about you? What are your secrets for reducing your waste?

Easter Traditions (Part 2)

Well Easter is over for another year and I think we really established some important traditions for future Easters.

The Hot Cross Buns were a hit (see previous post) and very much enjoyed.

On Good Friday this year I chose to make our own Fish and Chips. I was brought up with the tradition of no meat on Good Friday and it is one I have always kept with. There were a few reasons for making my own: cost, healthier option and I couldn't be bothered waiting for 1-2 hours for the fish and chip shop.


Fish & Chips with the last of the tomatoes from the garden.

Before bedtime on Good Friday we made Resurrection Biscuits. Basically they are just a meringue but as you make them all the ingredients represent an important part of the Easter story which we talked about while we were making them.


Biscuits all ready to go in the oven.



You then put them in the preheated oven, tape it up, turn it off and then leave until Easter Sunday. It represents the tomb and how Jesus' disciples had to wait and that they were sad between Friday and Sunday. (It's a bit hard to see the white masking tape on the white oven but I'm sure you get the idea)

Oven all taped up from Friday to Sunday.

Then, on Easter Sunday you can open the "tomb" and crack open the meringues!!



He is risen!!

Overall, we had a lovely Easter with lots of focus on the story of Easter. I was very impressed with his understanding and willingness to talk about it.

Easter Traditions (Part 1)

With B almost 4 now I thought it was a really good time to start establishing some Easter traditions in our family.

I always make my own Hot Cross Buns every Easter and I usually don't have make or eat any until Easter week. I think that is a fairly good achievement as they appear in the supermarkets in January now! I have previously made these on my own after B has gone to bed but this year I decided that we could do it together. Cooking is one of B's favourite activities and it is something we really enjoy doing together.

Kneading the dough.

 

He may have overkneaded the dough but it is one of the things I have learnt to let go of.

Rolling the dough into balls.

 We enjoyed one for afternoon tea today but there are plenty left for breakfast tomorrow. As I was putting the crosses on the buns I asked B why I was putting them on. His reponse: "Because Jesus ate them!" Well I suppose it's nice to know that he knows the connection between the food and Good Friday but I think I still have a bit of work to do!



In the oven.

 

All done!!



A church that I attended many years ago used to have a Haggadah feast on Maundy Thursday which was a ceremony based on a Passover meal. At this we were served lamb and potatoes. I decided that we could have our own type of Passover meal tonight. I cooked to a Middle Eastern theme tonight - Morrocan lamb, Morrocan roast vegetables, flat bread and hommus. Before we ate dinner I read the story of the Last Supper from B's Children's Bible and then we enjoyed our meal together. I then did a happy dance as he ate his pumpkin without any prompting!!!!



Children's Bible

Middle Eastern meal

There are a few other things I'm planning to make over the weekend so that is why I have named this Part 1. I have really enjoyed making new traditions for Easter and keeping the focus on Jesus.

Do you have any traditions in your family? I would love to hear them.

Preserving and Home-made Goodies

As part of my quest to live a simple life I am starting to embrace preserving. There are a number of reasons for this including cost, taste and control of ingredients.

In January we went berry picking with some friends and I turned some of the fruit into jam. Luckily, I have a breadmaker that also can make jam so it was quite an easy process with yummy results. So I ended up with lots of rasberry and blackberry jam.


This weekend I really pushed myself full on into the preserving world. I purchased a box of tomatoes - over 16kgs!! I had already taken a couple of kilos out before taking the photo.

So then began the process of turning them into some useful produce. I have made both pasta sauce and salsa. It has been a bit of an effort, however, I was able to get B to help with some of the washing and chopping of tomatoes and using the mouli food mill. Yesterday I bit off more than I should have by doing 2 batches of 5kg each. Today with only finishing the last 6 kilos was much easier to manage.

Cooking happily away

First lot of pasta sauce all done.

Empty box!!!!!!!

This has been a really enjoyable (and messy) process and I'm now really looking forward to being able to enjoy the fruits of my labour over the next few months. I am actually considering going back next weekend and getting another box which should really set me up for the year.

In the meantime, tomorrow I have to decide what to do with this pumpkin and later in the week the zucchinis that are in the garden!

Homemade Take-Away

Well tonight being Saturday I often don't like to put a huge effort into dinner. I have, however, come up with a few standby "take-away" meals.

There are a number of reasons for this. One is the cost of take-away food - it can cost nearly $20 for just the two of us. The second is I do like to know what is in my food. In addition, my son, B has a kidney/urinary condition. It is in no way serious and does not affect him at all on a daily basis, however, I am quite careful with his diet particulary in regards to his salt intake.

Our homemade list of take-away meals includes the following:

- fish and chips - chips made in the oven and the fish only shallow fried and then usually served with salad. Don't know about you but when I get take-away fish and chips I don't tend to serve a salad with it (I know - naughty)
- pizza - I make the dough in the breadmaker which is really easy. I can also make a wholemeal/white flour mix to make it a little healthier. Also as toddlers can be quite fussy but pizza is a great favourite you can put things on the pizza that will be eaten that would have no chance otherwise!
- chicken nuggets - I just cut up a chicken breast into nugget shapes then make up a breadcrumb mixture with garlic, lemon rind, parsley and pepper. These don't take any longer to make than it does to cook packaged ones in the oven.

And then tonight's dinner: tacos! I must admit I used a packaged seasoning mix but will be making my own in future. We also had salad and refried beans. The refried beans were homemade baked beans that I just pureed and they were really nice. Like pizza, food sneaks on that isn't normally eaten. Tonight B ate lettuce which he normally won't touch!

I will say that I am not perfect. We do sometimes get take-away food but it is a very rare thing as I find it cheaper to eat homemade food and the time isn't that much greater.

Well that's my musings for today. I've got lots of other things planned to say here but don't want to overload it too soon, hehe!!