SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE

and now it's too hot!!!!!

This is our first day at over 40 degrees and I'm sure there's more days like this to come. We finally get to try out Darren's and my Christmas present to each other, it's a evaporative air cooler as we don't have air conditioning in our home. It works really well when you put ice in it.

I woke at around 6am this morning and went straight out into the garden to feed and water the chooks and pick 4 large zucchini, 2kg of tomatoes and some asparagus. The asparagus came to grief yet again since Heidi the wonder pug wasn't guarding it very well and Dante the million dollar cat got up on the bench and ate it. grrrr, I was so looking forward to asparagus for dinner too. By the time I came back inside it was already heating up, so I declared the last day of school holidays an inside day. That didn't last long, Daniel is at a friend's house and they have a pool and Lachie went to the movies and the public pool with a friend.

I wanted to do lots of cooking today for school snacks but decided against heating up the kitchen and just made some yummy muesli bars instead.

I make our muesli bars nut free as that is our policy at school.

Here is the recipe from The Thrifty Kitchen changed slightly by me:

Fruity Muesli Bars
125g unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dates
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup sunflower & pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 180, add butter and line a 20cm by 30cm lamington tin with baking paper.

Melt butter with the sugar and honey over a medium heat. Stir without letting it boil until sugar has dissolved. Stir in the remaining ingredients

Press the mixture firmly into the pan and bake for 30 minutes. Leave to cool in pan before lifting out, then cut into bars.

I have enough snacks in the freezer for a few days, so wen t cools down again I'll stock up.

There you have it, a very simple snack without the nasties.

A FUNNY FROM A FRIEND

*** Adult Truths ***

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to
immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument
when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to
nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #
I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told
you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a
moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything
productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after
Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word
and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical
report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so
I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given
Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between
boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before
you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a
word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of
cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay
strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants
never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive
times and still not know what time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble
locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and
Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and
push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes
closed, first time, every time.

24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in
Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it
only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also
important.

Ladies.....Quit Laughing.

Heal the past, live the present, dream the future.

Enjoy life!!!

BOUNTY

This is what I collected this morning from our patch. The tomotoes have ripened in what seems like overnight. This is the last of the beans and some of the carrots are a little woody but I will use them in a chicken stock this afternoon.

How's your patch going?

WHAT'S GROWING?

At the moment my zucchini, pumpkins and spaghetti squash are growing visibly every day.




I really need to re-stake my tomatoes as they've all collapsed under the weight of the fruit, I wish they would hurry up and ripen.

My poor little watermelon and rock melons are waiting for some decent hot weather so I can plant them out.

and I have my first capsicum for the season growing.

I have planted out a bed of carrots and will plant another in a couple of weeks. We will be eating the last of our beans tonight and I will then plant beetroot in that bed. The corn is starting to form heads so hopefully we will be reaping the rewards from that bed in the next couple of months.

WHILE WE WAIT....

for news about family and friends in Queensland, I am reminded of not only the loss and devastation but also the impact this crisis will have Australia wide for months to come.

Fresh produce will in some instances double as will some meat (so they predict).

I am putting my plan into action now to hopefully take some of the financial pressure off should this happen. We have our vege garden but are no way near self sufficient in that area. I do need to do some planting tomorrow to ensure we have some staples in the months to come. Thank goodness for the chooks and all of the eggs they produce. I predict lots of omlets for dinner over the next few months.

I will be stocking my freezer with frozen peas, corn, carrots and broccoli as we eat these most nights and while there is stock, I will either buy fresh and freeze myself or buy already frozen stock (depending on price).

Fresh fruit will probably become a luxury for a while, we will have to wait and see what happens there. We do still have some preserved fruit from last year to use and I imagine that I won't be doing very much preserving this year :(

I will be back to baking bread every day, nothing like a price hike to really get me back into the swing of things.


We will be eating 3 vegetarian meals a week, yes family, you heard right!

There is talk of petrol rising also, so I will be making more of an effort to walk or cycle places.

I will be using my set of '4 ingredients' books and be cooking simple nutritious meals.

This is off the top of my head for the moment, I'm sure there are other things I can do. I would love to hear what plans you will be putting into action.

HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING

Well I haven't wasted any time in this wonderful New Year getting myself organised for what I want to be doing for the year.

I was up at 6am New Year's Day and at the gym working out by 6:15, what a great way to start the year off for me anyway.

I will continue being one of the moderators over at Down To Earth Forum (link over on the right). I am also a moderator for 2 Flickr groups, Mug Rug Swap and Doll Quilt Swap. There is a lot of time involved in these groups but it's great fun being apart of these big world-wide swaps. The talent and the people I've 'met' through being a moderator is so rewarding.

So, goals for 2011:

I have decided to start up my market stall once again after a 2 year break. I am flat out sewing baby and children's accessories and clothes. I will show photos over on my other blog as that is the craft blog after all.

I want to save $5000 this year and finally take my family to the Gold Coast.

Practice more what I preach and really buckle down and cook as much as I can from scratch. (I get side-tracked from this).

Have a big garage sale and de-clutter.

Spend 1/2 hour each day in the garden.

Get back to being a true vegetarian (I get side-tracked here too).

Drink more water every day.

Work out 5 days a week and continue to really push myself.

Stop sweating the small things and just get over it.

I'm sure I'll have a heap more goals during the year but for now I'll work on these.