KOMBUCHA GOODNESS

Last week I went to a workshop held by my lovely friend to learn about kombucha.  I have tried and failed in the past with my own so it was really helpful to see someone making it and giving lots of tips.  Well last night I got to pour off my yummy goodness into smaller bottles.  I made an apple/ginger and a plum.  I actually got a tummy bug a couple of days ago and was thinking how good this probiotic drink would be but it wasn't quite ready.  That's what I thought anyway until my kombucha guru said to open a bottle and drink some anyway, so this morning I tried the apple/ginger with soda water and is was delicious!  So excited to add such a healthy drink to my daily routine.

Some other things have been happening here on Brown's Hill, the vege patch has given us an abundance of zucchini, beans, cucumbers and tomatoes,  My spaghettti squash is nearly ready and I picked the bush beans I have been drying for seed today.

Gormet Delight

Cherokee Wax

Last week I also went foraging with a friend for blackberries and though it was a painful experience (one I remember from my teenage years) it was so worth it.  After we spent a few hours with the blackberries, we went and picked mulberries.  It was a huge day but I ended up with 14 jars each of blackberry and mulberry jam.

IT'S MONDAY AGAIN...

Early morning picking today as the weather heats up, lots of zucchini and cucumber, the last of the beans and some yummy tomatoes.

At this point in our lives I have had to make compromises, my aim for 2017 was to cut back significantly on waste particularly single use plastic.  Of course I am constantly thinking about this when I purchase anything but circumstances have changed in our little home and our usually strict budget has now become a lot stricter.

As I am the main accounts manager and shopping queen I now have to look at things a little differently.  For instance, today I needed some fresh produce for lunch and some cooking, there was some organic loose leaf lettuce mix going out for half price, bargain! except that it was wrapped in plastic.  I had to make a decision and I chose to buy it.  There are other things that I would normally not buy due to plastics but I now may have to if they are a lot cheaper than the plastic free variety.

My lunch today was a salad using organic lettuce mix (half price), spring onions (in season and on sale), home grown cucumber and tomatoes, a small amount of feta (on sale and I will use it 3 different meals), a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper.

We all have to make decisions, some more important than others, I'm not going back on my ideals but may just have to compromise here and there.  I intend on growing a lot more produce all year round to cut back on waste and of course keep up my cooking from scratch so that of course cuts down on a lot of waste.  If we all do a little bit, then we are making a difference.

For dinner tonight I thought I would use up some eggs from my girls and a couple of our zucchini. For the meat eaters in our home, curried sausages with rice and for me, zucchini slice.

A GOOD DAY

With hubby on holidays, it was the perfect time to get out in the garden this morning and do quite a bit of cutting back of trees.  A big job but it had to be done.

This afternoon saw me in the kitchen.  This year has not started well for our family and we are finding ourselves only just getting by financially at the moment.  What a perfect time to get back to basics and make a true effort of cooking from scratch as well as cutting back in other areas.

Today I made;
Sponge Cupcakes
Chicken and beef sausage rolls
Cheesymite rolls
Bacon and cheese rolls
Quiche
Meatloaf

With an abundance of eggs from our girls, it was good to use quite a few up today.

TOMATOES IN WINTER

Due to being away from home for most of our tomato harvest this year, I had to get creative if I wanted to use them up.   I used my amazing Squeezo to de-seed and skin the crop then I froze them in large containers all ready to make tomato sauce.

It had taken me this long to actually get it done and we couldn't be happier having yummy homemade sauce in the home again.

We are looking at purchasing an extra freezer (chest) to replace the fridge/freezer that was in the shed.  Just trying to weigh up convenience and savings of being able to buy bulk over the running costs.  I nearly bought one on our local buy, swap & sell but pulled out and decided to buy new instead.  I just didn't want to take the risk of it not working once we got it home, you hear that happening all the time with second hand white goods, so more saving for me.

AROUND HERE.....

Gosh time seems to fly by lately, I'm now working out of our home more than I would like to but now that Lachie has been selected into the State Cricket Training Team, we need more income to support all of the travel.

I took a little wander to my neglected vege patch today, well not that neglected as we've been picking lots of tasty cucumbers over the last couple of weeks and made some yummy pickles that I can't wait to try.

A couple of weeks ago I worked out that there was no way I was going to have enough tomatoes for sauce this year, so it was off to the farmer's market to buy a box.  My trusty Squeezo made it's annual appearance and now the tomato pulp is sitting in the freezer ready to make sauce this week.

My eggplants are coming along nicely but I'm afraid they may not get any bigger due to the cold weather we are now having, I might cover them tomorrow to try and keep some heat in.

I'm pulling the last of our carrots and totally stuffed up and haven't planted more as yet.

and the last of your very small amount of tomatoes this season.

So that's my life in the garden around here.  I hope it's nice enough weather for a bit of a tidy up in the patch tomorrow and some seed planting.

MID WEEK MAKING

A day off work today and it started with a nagging headache, thank goodness I had my trusty peppermint essential oil, just a dab on both temples and within seconds my headache was gone.

Out came the sewing machine to whip up a pile of cleaning cloths.  My last pile had dwindled to next to nothing and as I had some flannelette sitting around, it took no time at all to cut some squares and sew them together.

The fairies basket is for the laundry/bathroom and the butterflies for the kitchen.

It feels like soup weather and some chicken noodle soup seems just right at the moment.  Using local organic produce, a few chicken legs from the freezer, homemade vegetable stock and rice noodles, this soup is delicious and nourishing.  I know what I'm have for tea tonight.

I am also re-visiting a great book and making bread with this method.  I don't know why I stopped making bread this way as it's so quick and easy.  Tonight we will use some of the dough for pizza bases as everyone agreed it's time to fire up the pizza oven.

THIS WEEK IN MY KITCHEN

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen. A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

 * * * * * 

Joining Heather at Beauty That Moves

*  enjoying clean eating

*  raw fresh vegetables ready for curried sausages in the slow cooker

*  radishes picked fresh from the garden

*  making banana & blueberry bread

*  muesli slice for the kids school snacks

*  nourishing soup for dinner

After 8 weeks with no oven due to not being able to source a part, it feels really good to be able to bake again.

THE VEGAN BOX

I thought I'd give The Vegan Box a go this month and I have to say I'm a little disappointed.  The Vegan Box offers a box of sample vegan goodies to try each month but when I received mine yesterday I couldn't believe how little it was.  The goodies are nice enough, I've already eaten the yummy fruit and nut bar and couldn't help myself to some of the chocolate cranberries to really send my sugars up high, but that is a problem in itself, although everything is vegan it's not necessarily good for you.  I try not to eat any added sugar and the amount I consumed yesterday was huge!

I do like the fridge magnet "Animals are my friends and I don't eat my friends", the lip balm has a rather sickly smell to it, I'm sure Sophie will love it though and I'm yet to try any other goodies.

I really like the concept but it's really not my thing considering the amount and content of product.

Safe to say I won't be getting any more boxes from them and I'm kinda glad that I didn't subscribe.  I think I can better spend my $29.95 locally at our wonderful organic shop.

THIS WEEK IN MY KITCHEN

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen. A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

 * * * * * 

Joining Heather at Beauty That Moves

CHICKEN YIROS

FRESH WARM BREAD

SALVE JARS DRYING

ESSENTIAL OILS

HEALING SALVE

CHEST RUB

THIS WEEK IN MY KITCHEN

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen. A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

 * * * * * 

Joining Heather at Beauty That Moves 

: morning ritual

: apples from our trees

: nourishing warm meals

: last of the tomatoes drying

: apples ready for drying

: vegetable soup and a grainy roll, perfect for these chilly nights