Saturday 31 July 2010

DINNER TONIGHT

change of plans, I didn't make soup I decided on Chow Mein

CHOW MEIN

1/2 cabbage
2 carrots, grated
1 large onion
1/2 red capsicum
600g mince beef
beans (I used in season fresh peas)
chicken noodle soup mix
1 tsp curry powder
3/4 cup rice
3 cups water

cook onion and capsicum
add mince, cook until brown
add all vegetables, soup mix, rice and curry powder
then add water and stir.

Serve with a crusty, grainy bread

YUMMY!!!!!!

I'M BACK FROM MY REST

However there isn't really anything to talk about on this blog as yet. The vege patch is slow, the chooks have pretty much stopped laying, it's so cold, wet and windy down here that I really don't want to pull out the weeds or do a lot outside.

I am still sorting recipes to have my "cooking everything from scratch week". I have excess organic veges that I need to blanche and freeze and I think I will make some soup and artisan bred in 5 minutes for dinner tonight.

I have been sewing and crocheting, more on the sewing on my other blog here


I will settle down in the lounge in front of the fire, a hot chocolate in hand and maybe a bit of hand sewing to keep me happy for the rest of the day.

Have a good weekend :)

Tuesday 27 July 2010

HAVING A BLOG REST

I haven't been around a lot lately, I'm having a bit of a rest from blogging. There's not a lot to tell, we're all healthy and happy and going about our lives, I'm just trying to fit too much into one day.
I will be back soon.
xxxSue

Monday 19 July 2010

SO PRETTY


My little present I bought with tax money this year. I certainly couldn't afford or justify a Kitchen Aid at around the $700 mark so after checking wattage etc on this baby to see if it would do what I wanted, I bought it for $150 down from $300.

Of course I tested it out right away using the dough hook I whipped up some pizza bases for dinner tonight.

She's so shiny and red and I really hope she lasts the distance because she will be needed on a daily basis very soon.

IT'S BEEN ON MY MIND....

For years I have been very conscious of the foods I feed my family, I have tried and failed at times to keep away from packaged, processed foods, but sometimes the convenience and time-saving wins out.

I have given a lot of thought over the last couple of weeks about how I would like to go 1 week without any processed foods, making absolutely everything from scratch, not just some of it. Of course I need a plan for me to do this as I still work 3 part-time jobs and have lots of other school and sporting commitments that I have to factor in to make this work.

At the end of the week I will know what worked and what didn't and hopefully be able to continue with this with a firm plan intact.

Today, the kids are all back at school, I'm catching up on all the things I didn't get done while they've been on holidays and I will be sorting through recipes and making that all important plan.

I already make:

some bread
pasta
pasta sauce
sausage rolls
biscuits
cakes
pancakes
dinner every night is from scratch

I should say, I'm not going to churn butter, mill flour or make cheese and I'm sure there are plenty of things I will use already gathered, grinded or made, but I will:

make yoghurt from scratch
all of our bread
crumpets
tortillas
muesli
muesli bars
pies
pasties
french onion soup
nuggets
pesto
corn chips
cordial
pastry
deserts

there will be a lot more to add to this list, this is what I came up with off the top of my head.

Saturday 17 July 2010

PANCAKES, NIGELLA STYLE

Sadly our Pancake Sunday routine went out the window with footy season, so today I thought, why not Pancake Saturday for this week.

This is a Nigella recipe and it's great to store all of the dry ingredients together in a jar in the pantry so if you are having a lazy morning, just grab them out, add the wet stuff and your done.

Pancake Recipe

600g plain flour
50g baking powder
50g castor sugar
2tsp bi-carb soda
1tsp salt

Put in a jar and shake.

1 cup mixture (above)
1 egg
1 cup milk

whisk lightly
add 1 Tbsp melted butter to mixture and whisk.

We like to have ours with freshly squeezed lemon juice and raw sugar or maple syrup.

There you have it, light fluffy, yummy pancakes all ready to be devoured.

Wednesday 14 July 2010

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

We have been having a great time these school holidays, being winter, we've had to entertain ourselves mostly indoors but there's been very few fights and lots of laughs.
I was given 2 bags of apples and 2 of lemons during the week, so today we all peeled, cut, stewed and froze the apples all ready for apple pies.

Tomorrow I will make lemon curd.

I spent a day cleaning up the kid's rooms. Boy what a mess they had gotten into. It's amazing what you find under those beds when you haven't looked under them for a while. Used bandaids and tissues, broken toys, an old apple (all squishy), socks and undies ewwwww. Boys can be gross sometimes.
Here is the after shot of the boys's room.

Sophie's room was better, we just had to get rid of lots of stuff.

Wednesday 7 July 2010

ROUTINES

Rhonda over at Down To Earth talked about her routines today on her blog. I would love to say I have some sort of routine that I stick to, but in reality I don't.

Mostly my mornings consist of feeding animals and collecting eggs, making beds, cleaning the kitchen, organising the kids for school, sweeping the floors and somewhere in there, have a cup of tea.

Three mornings a week after these jobs are done and kids are taken to school, I go to work. On these days I find myself floundering in the afternoons when I finish work as my usual morning jobs are not done and I just want to sit and sew, cook or scrapbook but there's washing and folding and ironing and vacuuming etc, etc, etc to be done. I vacuum every day as we own a pug and a burmese that constantly shed hair.

I would love to have a set time for exercise, sometimes I get up early and do yoga or weights, on other days, I run up the mountain after the kids are taken to school, other days I struggle to fit in anything at all.

On the days I do not work, I try to do the weekly jobs like changing beds, mopping, bathroom etc as well as the daily jobs, sometimes I just go "to hell with it" and sew all day!

Sunday's used to be my main cooking day for school snacks, but it's footy season and we are out all weekend with sporting commitments. So I fit in snack making when I can.

I get out in the garden when I can, I usually have a quick look at the vege patch when feeding the chooks, but as for weeding, AHHHHHH I'll get there.

WOW I really need some routine!!!!! In reading this back, I have no idea what I'm doing day to day.

Spending less time on the computer would be a start, time to write up some lists I think (I love lists) and really see where my time goes.

Thanks for the prompt Rhonda, I'm getting off the lap top now. LOL

Saturday 3 July 2010

THINKING TIME

I read a post on a blog the other day that really got me thinking. It was one woman's account about how her little girl WILL be going to university and get a degree while it didn't really matter to her if her son went or not. In my eyes she was saying that her little girl would not become anything if she didn't have a degree. She also pointed out that should her girl's marriage fail in years to come with a degree she could get a good job and be able to support her family.

WOW!!!!

After reading this long post, I decided I no longer wanted to read her blog anymore. Am I worthless because I didn't even finish year 12? I don't think so. I have always worked hard and had good jobs and most importantly of all I have loved and looked after my husband and our children with all of my heart. I certainly don't need a university degree to go and get a job should I need one and quite frankly, providing my children are happy in what they do when they grow up, I'm not fussed at where they finish their education or what job they choose to do.

For my chldren to even consider a university degree, I would have to go to work full time to pay for them to live 500km away, I would of course do that but being realistic, I'm not so sure we could do it even with that. hmmm, maybe I should have gone to uni to have the high paid, stress job to pay for that.

I am too busy enjoying my kids as kids and haven't really given any thought to what they will do when they finish school, call me naive but I really don't care. Yes I want them to work and enjoy their work, maybe a trade might interest them, who knows but I certainly will not say that they WILL go to university. Don't teenagers deserve a choice in what they will do?

I don't think my children will grow up thinking I was worthless because I stayed at home with them through their childhood. Even when they are grown up, I'm not so sure I will work outside the home, maybe voluntary work, who knows.

Sorry for the rant, I'm not asking people to agree with me on this, everyone does have their own opinion and should also have choice.