Rice Pudding!

'What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She's crying with all her might and main,
And she won't eat her dinner - rice pudding again -
What is the matter with Mary Jane?

What is the matter with Mary Jane?
I've promised her dolls and a daisy-chain,
And a book about animals - all in vain -
What is the matter with Mary Jane? ...

What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She's perfectly well and she hasn't a pain,
And it's lovely rice pudding for dinner again!
What is the matter with Mary Jane?'
A.A. Milne

Tonight it seems my brain and tummy had a hankering for rice that was not satisfied by the risotto I had reheated for dinner. After finishing a letter to post off to a friend I found myself putting a saucepan on the stove to make rice pudding for dessert.

Rice pudding is something I associate with my childhood when Mum or Grandma would make it for a Winter dessert and serve it piping hot. Perhaps it's the cool weather falling over Brisbane that made me want to try making it, admittedly for the first time. Then again, it might have been an excuse to make something with the rhubarb I bought at the markets last weekend! I've never cooked anything with rhubarb. Infact I've never eaten rhubarb at all!


Creamed Rice Pudding
(serves 3 -4 )

• 2.5 litres milk
• 1/4 cup castor sugar
• 2tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup white rice (I used long grain)

Combine milk, sugar and essence in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring, over medium heat.
Gradually add rice, stirring. Reduce heat to low and over with a tight fitting lid. Simmer over low heat for 25 minutes stirring occasionally.


Mushy Rhubarb

• 3 sticks of rhubarb
• 1/4 cup castor sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp cornflour mixed in 2 tbs water.

Put rhubarb, sugar and juice in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat for 5 or so minutes until rhubarb has gone tender. Add the combined cornflour and water and stir through. Remove from heat and serve over ice cream, rice pudding, in a crumble, on waffles.... so many tasty uses!

For a first attempt at rice pudding it was very satisfying and as I sat eating it at the kitchen table in my flanellette PJs I felt like a kid again. I almost looked over my shoulder, expecting Mum to be there, scolding me for not wearing slippers on the chilly floor...

As for the rhubarb, I really enjoyed the flavour, especially mixed with the tartness of the lemon juice. I felt concerned at first that the sugar and small amount of lemon juice would burn or turn to toffee at the bottom of the pan but the rhubarb seemed to shed water as it cooked, especially when I turned the heat up to medium. I'll definitely be buying rhubarb again!

Confessions

I wanted to write a post about the way I'd been living for the last three years since my return to Australia from my year in Japan. I believe it will serve as a reminder of where I was before deciding to adopt a simple and green life but more importantly why I changed. It reads like a confession because I'm a bit shamefaced about some of the things I'd been doing.

Forgive me self for I have:

Been a wholehearted consumer, spending my money on anything that whim, fancy or impulse told me to. I have lived from pay to pay with no savings, regularly seeing 30 cents or less in my account with four days left to pay day. My only saving grace is that I always refused to get a credit card, knowing full well how damaging it would be.

Devoted more money than sense into an expensive fashion from Japan, buying dresses worth $200 - $300, sometimes twice in one fortnight. Though it was beautiful and I made some amazing friends through it, I was spent ridiculous amounts of money on clothes that had a time limit on how long I could wear them (read: frilly, doll-like and very cute).

Bought lunch and junk food snacks at work, spending a large portion of my pay on food each fortnight because of it.

Been too lazy in my kitchen to cook real and nutritious meals, instead opting for things like 'fake nachos' (corn chips drizzled with BBQ sauce, sprinkled with cheese and microwaved) pasta meals and takeout pizza. There was a space of 2 - 3 months where I didn't eat a vegetable because it seemed easier to not have to go out to buy them and then prepare them. I am a trained Home Economics teacher with two university units of nutrition under my belt... so I knew better.

Have pandered to my partner's dire eating habits instead of encouraging him to change to more healthy alternatives.

Been lax in house cleaning.

Been ambivalent about the environmental impacts of the products I have used and the waste produced by them.

Been moved by media reports of environmental situations, by 'the documentary that shall not be named' and by a wonderful anime 'Arjuna - Earth Maiden' (watch it if you haven't already!) but then allowed myself to lapse back into a state of inactivity and carelessness.

Been a 'gunna' not a 'doer'

Threads and Epiphanies

Some people turn to a green or simple life because of an epiphany. Gavin, author of the popular blog 'The Greening of Gavin' is an example of this. The very first post in his blog tells the reader about his massive change of heart and thought after watching the 'environmental documentary that shall not be named.'

Other people turn to a simple life because of an event or new situation - perhaps a breakup, a new family member or a new friend who guides them.

For me, it was a case of small unconnected threads slowly twining together, a change of heart and situation and an epiphany bringing it all.

The threads were: curbing my outrageous spending habits, buying greens from local markets, a love of zakka style home decorating, a long standing but dormant care for the environment, a belief that one person's actions matter, a friend who encouraged me to change my shockingly bad diet to include more vegetables, another friend who invited me to go to local markets with her instead of supermarkets, a good grounding in frugal lifestyle provided by my Mum, another friend who inspired me by paying her homeloan off in a rediculously short time by being frugal and self controlled.

The change of heart was the decision to buy a house and have children when I'd previously said I was not keen to have either in my life.

The change of situation was the recession combined with a wedding to plan and save for.

The impetus that bought it all together? Hearing an interview on ABC's radio program 'Future Tense' which mentioned frugality and simple living. With my love of zakka simple style and my need to save I visited Rhonda Jean's beautiful blog 'down--to--earth'.

Reading it bought a great sense of peace and rightness to my heart. A simple life was where I wanted to head from that moment onwards. As I weaved my way through the internet blog-world I learned more about environmental issues, chemical reduction and gardening and they quickly fell into my plan of what I wanted from my life.

I don't want to give the wrong impression that I am making a 360 degree turnaround on my life or undergoing seachange. The urge towards a simple life has always been part of who I am - the part who has always said that she will retire to a little cottage with ducks, chickens and a goat with a small orchard in her yard, and the part who had things like 'learn to make jam' on a list of things to do this year. I've been saying for months that I wanted a vegetable garden. Now it's simply that I have the guidance on how to do that and enough inspiration from my friends and internet blogroll to start.