Aussie Owned & Made Tomato Sauce

I bought this tomato sauce by Berenberg Farms in the last shop and cracked it open for the first time.

It was wonderful! Just the right blend of tomato, tangy vinegar and salt. I was in tomato sauce heaven.

I was also happy to know I was buying Australian Owned and Made in a glass bottle.

My mouth, the environment, the Aussie economy. All winners today.

Truly Supporting Local

I really want to support local farmers. A few of the reasons are:

• to boost the local economy,
  
• help out Queensland farmers rather than those in California,
  
• support the smaller guys rather than the corporate giants like Coles or Woolworths (often owned overseas),
• to reduce the 'carbon footprint' by cutting down the distance my food has to travel for me to eat it.

I have already stopped shopping for fruit and vegetables at the big supermarkets and instead attend fruit and veg markets. However, it was disappointing to realise that a lot of the food sold there is not local.

So I was very happy to discover Food Connect, a company which was started in the Brisbane area but now seems to have developed sister companies in Adelaide and Sydney.

These guys connect with local farmers around Brisbane (or Adelaide/Sydney if using their sites) who meet certain organic growing standards. They collect the produce from farmers, drop it to a city support family/person who subscribers can then visit to pick up their order of fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, eggs, drinks, meat, cheese etc.

I already make my own bread and yogurt (more about that on another post!). I hope soon to get laying chickens and get some vegetables and fruit trees working in my little garden. I also want to learn someday how to make cheese. In the meantime this seems like a good option for buying things like cheese from Malaney or the odd piece of meat (which I don't eat that often anymore). Even the fruit and veg is very reasonably priced for what you get - considering all the growers they use must meet organic standards. Buy all that organic produce at a supermarket and you'd pay a small fortune.

I may give them a try out and do a review on here - once I get my life in order post wedding.

Ladybird Ladybird fly away home!

Ladybird! Ladybird! Fly away home.
Your house is on fire and children all gone.

Ok! So now I'm really excited!

I haven't looked at the 'City Chicks' website for a long while, since I first wanted chickens, just over a year ago. Tonight I went to have a look at what coops they have for sale and (oh happy day!) I found they'd expanded into vegetable gardening and other sustainable goodies.

Now that's not what got me clapping joyfully. No indeed! Something MUCH better!

These blessed souls sell insect kits. Ladybird eggs. Lacewing eggs.

I look to the aphid tortured oregano in my backyard and give a wicked grin. Your time has come my little nasty aphids. It's CAT'S TURN NOW! Whahahahahahahahahaha.

1 Million Women - 1000 kg reached on personal goals

I'm not usually one for joining campaigns but the 1 Million Women campaign sparked my interest.

I believe I was attracted the fact that the campaign recognises the importance and power of women's decisions in the home, especially when all working towards a common goal.

So I joined, I set up my activity register and then I waited a few weeks before marking my progress on some of the activities.

I will admit that I chose some activities that I had already implemented around the house (like buying 10% green power, installing water saving shower heads and power saving light bulbs) but I didn't feel I should lose out because I had taken the steps earlier than the project came in!

So I haven't REALLY made sudden changes to my life in the last 3 weeks to save 1000kg of carbon emissions as per the info below.... but I have over the last few months AND I've set some new goals that I'm working towards due to the campaign.

Tuna and Potato Pot Pie

I originally intended to make my mum's 'fish cakes' recipe but found I had no mayonnaise in the fridge. Instead I boiled and mashed up potato to help bring the tuna mixture together into patties. At the point of cooking them I decided that I wasn't keen on frying in oil and butter but would rather bake them for a healthier finish.

A new recipe was created!


Tuna & Potato Pot Pie

• 185g can of tuna in brine, drained
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled & chopped
• splash milk
• 1/2 tsp butter
• 1/2 onion chopped finely
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• splash lime juice (lemon juice could be substutited)
  
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 1/2 cup cheese

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (c).
Boil or steam potatoes until soft. Mash the potato with the milk and butter until of a smooth consistency.
Mix tuna, potato, onion, egg, breadcrumbs and lime juice togther in a bowl. Combine well.
Spoon mixture into ramkins (4 - 5 depending on size of your ramekins).
Place a tomato slice on top of each pie and top with a sprinkling of cheese.
Put ramekins on a flat cookie tray and bake in the oven until the cheese is browned.

Note:
If eaten fresh from the oven, keep in the ramekin. I refrigerated leftoever pies overnight. The next day I was able to pop them out of the ramekins to reheat.

Smoke me a kipper! I'll be back for breakfast!

Every so often while at the supermarket I get the urge to buy something completely out of the ordinary. Sometimes this leads to unpleasant results like the time I bought some odd, spongey fungus from a asian-mart which I used in a doomed stir-fry I dubbed "the bowel shaker" .... let's not go there.

But other times I stumble across something that finds a home in my diet.

This time that something was tinned kippers.

I was doing my usual shopping experience, extended by careful perusal of product labels, prices etc. I was intending to buy some tuna but was feeling dissatisfied by the options. Temptingly close to the tuna was canned salmon. I'm not one for salmon flavour but a book Rhys had shown me recently said that salmon was a superfood. I knew it to be packed with omega 3 fatty acids and very good for me but I just wasn't feeling the salmon love.

In frustration my eyes strayed above the salmon to some of the more unusual canned options.

Canned Sardines. I remember my grandma making us sardine sandwiches when I was a little girl but the idea of chomping on tiny bones doesn't appeal. Canned mussels. Ewwww. Canned Kippers. Whut?!!

Then of course my brain linked to the one thing that was connected to kippers in my life thus far, Ace Rimmer from the BBC comedy, Red Dwarf, boldly saying "Smoke me a kipper skipper! I'll be back for breakfast!"

From that moment I was without choice. I HAD to buy the kippers.

But once I got them home I felt at a loss on how to use them. John West, the producer of my tinned kipper, linked to another foodie site that had a recipe for some kind of kipper and pasta salad. Certain vital ingredients were missing so I played with what I had.

Pasta and Kipper Salad

• 1 can tinned kippers
• 1 capsicum, sliced
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 1 handful cherry tomatoes
• 250g pasta (spirals)

Put the pasta on to boil. Drain and set aside once al dente.
Meanwhile heat some butter or olive oil in a frypan. Fry the capsicum, zucchini and tomatoes. Once the vegetables have softened set them aside.
Add the kipper and oil to the pan. Heat over low heat, being careful to not break up the flesh too much.
Gently mix pasta, vegetables and kipper in a serving bowl and eat while warm.


Kippers differ from tuna and salmon by the smokey smell and flavour of the fish flesh. I really enjoyed it as a tinned fish (and my kittens went absolutely nuts over the few leftover tidbits) but the smell is powerful and now I can smell nothing BUT kippers as I walk into my kitchen. :/

My positively favourite choc-chip recipe

• 180 g butter or margarine
• 1/3 cup castor sugar
• 4 tab condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups SR flour
• pinch salt
• 200 - 250g choc chips (or chopped chocolate block)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to moderate (180 degrees celcius) and grease baking trays.
Cream the butter, sugar and condensed milk.
Fold in flour, salt, chocolate and nuts.
Roll into balls and place on trays about 10cm apart. They will spread while baking!
Flatten balls slightly.
Bake in the moderate oven for 15 min, turning the tray at half time to ensure even baking.