Egg and Dill

Just because my blog has been lacking colour lately...

mmmm Egg and Dill ready to become Scrambled Eggs.

Food Connect Box 2

I know I've been quiet folks -  enthusiasm for other things and my continuing health oddities/troubles have been taking my attention.

However things have been going on in my little patch of the world.
I've grown a batch of sprouts very successfully and plan to photograph the process next time for a blog entry. 
I then used the sprouts in a crazy soup concoction I call "verdant broth" in an attempt to use up more cabbage.  I can't remember the full receipt but it involves cabbage, peas, sprouts carraway seeds and no stock!
I've also watched my basil seeds, alyssium and lettuce seeds germinate.   Meanwhile everything else I planted while ago either sits dormant or are Fail.
I've been reading 'The Edible Garden' by the amazing Alys Fowler.
I've been cooking regularly and watching the inspiring 'River Cottage'.
I pulled two carrots that I grew - a very proud moment.


AND...

Last night I got my next Food Connect box of vegetables.

Contents:
1 bag flat mushrooms
2 large tomatoes
3 red capsicums
1 bunch spring onions
1 bunch coriander
1 big butter lettuce head
1 med brocolli head
3 green zucchini
4 finger eggplants
1 round eggplant
1 big and 1 small yacon
1 lrg sweet potato
3 very large cloves garlic

2 avacados
3 large mandarines
3red apples
3 oranges
1 pineapple
4 lady finger bananas
4 kiwi fruits


I have to admit I am stumped by the yacon...

Food Connect Box 1

I picked up my first Food Connect box last Thursday.  (Gourmet mixed box at $52)

It contained:

1 garlic head
1 bunch dill
1 med head of broccoli
1 bunch shallots
2 avacados
3 zucchinis
2 large eggplants
1 green chili
4 capsicums (1/2 red, 1/2 green)
1 butter lettuce head
1/2 sugarloaf cabbage
1 corn cob
roughly 400g flat mushrooms
2 beetroots
7 sweet potatoes
2 lemons
2 lemonade fruits
3 kiwi fruits
3 appleas
6 mandarines
2 oranges


I did an online shop of Coles and Woolworths and found that the same produce totalled $66.92 at Woolworths and $55.55 at Coles.   (This, of course isn't a perfect comparison but it does give some guide.)

Now to work out what I'm going to make from it all!

Food Connect

I stumbled upon Food Connect a while ago and was impressed by the concept.

But I didn't join up - because I didn't want to spend that much on vegetable boxes each week.

Then my good friend Night Child subscribed and gave fairly glowing reports.  She trialed a few similar companies and finally settled on Food Connect as the one to go with on a permanent basis.

She informed me that though a subscription is made for a number of weeks they don't have to be consecutive weeks.  That is, you can subscribe for four weeks but spread those out fortnightly.   This was exactly what I had decided I needed.

But I didn't join up - because  I kept making excuses during 'The Great Slump'.

Then, as you'd know from my earlier post, 'The Great Slump' ended, prompted by some health woes and a talk with my doctor about diet changes required.

So at last I have signed up to Food Connect, with a whopping 13 week subscription.


Yes, yes... but what IS it?

Food Connect is a company that has operations running in three capital cities, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.   It finds local farmers that are within a certain km radius from the city who also have or are working towards organic farming standards.

These farmers deliver their produce weekly to a warehouse where they are packed into boxes.  The boxes are delivered to local 'city cousins'.  A city cousin is someone who volunteers to be the city contact for an area.   There are city cousins all over the place - my local one is only a 3 minute drive from my home.   Subscribers then pick up their box/es from the city cousin and enjoy the fresh and local produce! 

I think it works well all-round. 

I know I'm supporting truly local farmers.  When I was going to the fruit and vegetable markets I found out there was only one or two stalls that were actual farmers in the 'local' area, one of those being Stanthorpe - a good 3+ hours drive away!   Other stalls, the cheaper ones I was using more, were still importing fruit and veg from around the country and overseas.... and then taking it to about 3 markets before it ended up at mine.  All of the food connect farmers are truly local farmers.

I know I'm getting fresh fruit and veg.   I'm not buying stock that has first flown around the world, then sat on a supermarket bench for a few weeks first.   I'm not buying stock that has gone to the West-End, Powerhouse and Nundah markets before hitting my local fruit and veg market.

I'm supporting a company with sustainability ideals.  All boxes reused until their useful life is ended.  We are even encouraged to go creative and decorate our boxes and date the artwork so they can see how long the box's useful lifespan is - and to bring joy to other subscribers who get the box later!   Also, the idea of supporting local farmers feeds into the idea of eating seasonally and reducing food miles.

I know I have my fruit and vegetables sorted out... until November!  I've paid upfront for my 13 week subscription (spaced out fortnightly), which was a bit of an outlay but now I don't have to try to find the time or impetus to go to local markets for almost half a year.  I have no excuses for not buying veges this pay. 

They are flexible so I'm not locked in...  If I find I'm overrun by veges or am going on holidays I can halt my subscription for a week or two.  Or I can add another box in... or order some extras...  Whatever.  It's flexible.

The farmers are getting a regular and reliable income.  This is why the system is a subscription based one rather than a buy a box now... and maybe another one in three weeks.


I pick up my first box tonight and am super-excited.  You will no doubt get a post full to the brim with lovely fruit and veges tommorrow!

My Favourite Laundry Tips

Don't fear!   This is not going to be one of my long odious posts rambling on about laundry.   It is merely a few tips I have learned along the way that has improved my washing work.

1. Don't put washing up in prolonged rainy weather on a line that will be exposed to the damp air.  Even if the line is under shelter, the damp air still makes the clothes dry slowly and they get that rotting smell ever so slightly. 
2. When hanging jeans on the washing line,  hang them by the waistband.  First, close the zipper and buttons and hang them with the waist taut.  Then smooth out the wrinkles in the fabric.  This will help the jeans dry fairly wrinkle free.  If they dry with crazy kinks in the fabric it can be a horrid thing trying to flatten them out again, even with an iron.
3. When taking washing off the line, I fold it as it goes into the basket AND I take things off in an order that will make putting them away easier.  That is - All my pants/skirts go into one drawer so I take all of them off the line, folding as I put them in the basket.  Then all my t-shirts and other drawer shirts...   This means when I get them inside it's not an extra task to sort and fold, also, less wrinkles are going into them by being stuffed in a basket haphazardly. 
4. If you have plastic pegs - take them off the line as you take the clothes off.  They will last a *much* longer time than if they are left out exposed to the elements. 
5. I separate my washing in odd ways - towels, tea-towels and dishcloths in one load,  whites together, dark clothes in another load and then any light or dark coloured delicates in a last load.  Sometimes I also collect pink/purple/red clothes in a load for itself because they are so much more liable to run colour.  (That's a pink/purple/reds wash on the line in the photo above).   This works for me because I have a small load washing machine and I only do a 'reds load' irregularly.

Notes to my washing -  I don't have a dryer, everything is dried on a line.  I don't wash during the week, only on weekends.  If the weather is unkind one weekend washing is sometimes fortnightly.  (You can imagine the problems I had during our long wet before the floods!).  I don't iron all of my washing in one hit the way I've seen some do.  I iron as I need it on a given day.  I don't use hot water in my washing machine and I use powder detergent, thrown in with whites but swished around and diluted slightly in water first before adding to dark colours or reds.

That's it.  They're not very special tips but they make my life easier by saving time and effort - especially tip #3!

Do you have any particular things you do with your washing that makes the process easier? 

Pumpkin Envy

You may remember that I planted pumpkins earlier this year - a lovely breed called 'Potimarron Pumpkin'.   It was fairly expensive, at close to $1 per seed and Diggers no longer seem to stock it on their site. 

So I was heartbroken when my wee pumpkin vine caught the powdery mildew disease and died.

Meanwhile, at my Mother's place, there is a pumpkin patch that is wild with a pumpkin vine that just grew when she threw some seeds from a dinner pumpkin in there.   They've had so many little pumpkins started on this healthy vine and even if most never grow large or get stolen by mice, it's still a darn site better than having a spindly vine with droopy mildewed leaves. 

I officially have pumpkin envy.

Kitchen Sunday

I've instigated, as part of the recovery from 'The Great Slump' at least one 'at home' weekend day in a fortnight.

I think after today's raging success I will also be blocking my calendar once a month for 'Kitchen Sunday'.


Kitchen Sunday is spending a whole day in the kitchen cooking and baking food that will mostly be frozen or put away for use in the following month.

On the Menu for This Kitchen Sunday

Pumpkin Soup 
Made 4 services.  I ate one for lunch (gotta reward yourself for the effort involved in Kitchen Sundays!) and put the other three in the freezer for meals.

3 frozen meals. 













Pumpkin Gnocchi
Oh!  I had forgotten the previous lesson about how fiddly and annoying making gnocchi is!  But nevermind, now I have 4 meals frozen.



4 frozen meals.












Beef Casserole
This is still cooking in the slow cooker.   This casserole is filled with tasty things like, swedes, potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, fresh thyme, diced beef and mixed soup beans.  My bet is this will make probably 6 meals to freeze.



6 frozen meals.









Spiced Pumpkin seeds
This is really a case of waste-not-want-not.  The seeds were saved from the butternut pumpkin used for the soup and gnocchi.   First I washed off all the gunk, boiled them for 5 minutes then tossed them in a mix of spices and baked them while preheating the oven for roasting the gnochi pumpkin.


Snack in the pantry. 








1 Loaf Bread - lunches for the week.
1L yogurt - lunches for the week.
Sweet Spiced Cashew Biscotti - for lunches.

 Tuna, Silverbeet & Chickpea Creamy Pasta
This self created recipe made 3 very generous meals.  I ate one tonight, saved one for tommorrow's dinner and froze one.


1 saved and 1 frozen meal.

• 250g dried pasta
• 10g butter
• 1tsp olive oil
• 5 grape tomatoes, sliced
• 2 stems silverbeet, leaves sliced/shreded thinly, stems sliced thickly
• 1/3 cup of reconstituted dried chickpeas
• 300g canned tuna, drained and flaked.
• 1 rounded tsp of wholeseed mustard
• 100ml cream
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Boil the water for pasta while preparing vegetables.   Add pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente.  Drain and add to sauce.

For sauce - melt butter and oil in a frypan.   Add silverbeet stems and tomatoes.  Fry these for a few minutes then add the silverbeet leaves and chickpeas and mustard seeds.   Fry for a further few minutes.  Add tuna, cream and sour cream.  Stir through well and reduce heat.  Once the sauce is almost warmed entirely, add parmesan cheese, stir through.

 (Note the chickpeas were dried and I reconstituted them by soaking them in boiling water twice during the day.  They retained more flavour and texture than chickpeas from a can.  You could use canned chickpeas however I think that the firmness of the chickpeas really add to the meal and would recommend trying reconstituted ones if you can!)



Anyway folks,  I'm still in progress for Kitchen Sunday - I have yet to finish my biscotti!  I'll add photos once they're done too!

Today Planting Tally

Planted Seeds

• Basil
• Alyssium (beneficial insect attractor)
• Bronze Fennel
• Dwarf Peas
• Broad Beans
• Lettuce
• Bergamot  (beneficial insect attractor)
• Oregano

 Discovered seedlings

• Discovered completely dead oregano had self-seeded and started to grow.
• Discovered a pumpkin/zuchinni/squash? seedling had grown from a discarded seed.

Started sprouts in a jar.

Weeded and cut out old, straggley dead plants (bye bye Zinnias!)
Resisted the urge to buy bare roots roses at Bunnings today.

Felt pretty good about self.

The Great Slump and How It Ended.

I was doing well folks.  I was frugal.  I was tending a happy (if not overly productive) garden.  I was enjoying productive crafts as my spare-time entertainment.  I was on the road to a better, more natural and environmentally friendly life.

Then came what I am now referring to as 'The Great Slump'.  The last few months (half a year really) has seen my efforts and my general diet do a bomb-dive while frivilous spending has spiralled upwards. 

I was eating real trash (read - corn chips with BBQ sauce and cheese in the microwave for dinner,  take-out more often than not, carb-only meals based usually on pasta for other times etc.) and knowing it was bad for me but not having enough care or drive to fix myself back onto the straight and narrow. 

I often didn't have anything to cook or eat in the kitchen because I refused to buy veges and fruit at Coles/Woolworths but then didn't take the time to go to the markets.  Or I'd waste my food budget on other things and then say that I could eat "poor" for the rest of the week until payday.  I bought meat but it languished in my freezer because I didn't have any veges to cook with it.  I'd get home from work and look at my disgustingly messy kitchen and decide it was all too much effort to cook tonight.  Breakfast every day was a cup of tea and nothing more.

And thus it dragged on, getting worse and worse.

But I have come to the stage in my life where the consequences of a lacks-a-daysie view on diet and excercise make themselves known much more than was ever the case in my youth.   So it was that I found myself in a doctor's office with a month-long chest pain and lung tightness.....   I've since undergone some xrays and blood tests and am waiting on the next appointment to find out more about the state of my health.

But one thing is sure - it was the kick in the pants that made me realise that I cannot continue on as I've been.

Doctor's orders were to take in leafy vegetables, lots of other veges, fruit and nuts.  Keep up the dairy and yogurt (she was exceedingly pleased by my home-made bread and yogurt).  Much more protein - fish, chicken and meat.  Much less salt, sugar and fat.  

You know... sensible, no-brainer stuff.

What ensued was a giant shop for vegetables and other health-it-up ingredients at Coles that night.  I got home and cleaned enough of my kitchen to cook an omlette with fried tomato, onion and silverbeet.   Every day since has seen a packed lunch filled with vegetables and a piece of fruit and dinner has been cooked each night.   I've been choosing water over tea at work and  had only one piece of chocolate in the week. 

Yesterday I signed up for a Food Connect subscription which runs through to November.   Fresh vegetables and fruit without the markets or supermarkets - all pre-paid.   But more about that tommorrow.   I've got two chickens in my backyard who will one day in the future produce a steady supply of eggs.

I'm also promising myself to make sure that I have one weekend-day in a fortnight is booked in as 'at home time' - no matter what invitations or events come my way.   I need that time to get my house and my life in order and to rest and recoup.

And I also have promised myself to take the time to reflect on life, my journey through it and how I intend to improve the way I waste  spend it. 

So hopefully that means you'll be seeing a fair few more blog entries from me.