Freezer Finds

My freezer is one of the most useful appliances I have.  I am able to buy larger quantities of some items and avoid going to the shops as frequently as I would otherwise and of course it is wonderful to be able to store excess produce.

I have 2 freezers – one is the bottom 1/3 of my refrigerator in the kitchen.  It has a narrow shelf at the top and 2 large pull-out baskets.  The second freezer is the size of a bar fridge and lives in the study.

Since we are going on holidays in 3 weeks I have been trying to use up some of the food that is in the freezers with a view to being able to empty and turn off the stand-alone freezer.  The first thing to do was to make an inventory of everything that is in them so here is the list.

Ground coffee
Pineapple (fresh, very ripe so will juicing it)
Refried beans (homemade) 500g x 4 packs
Ice-cream – 3/4 of a 2 litre tub
Grated cheese – 4 large containers (I buy 2 kg block of cheese from a local factory and grate it)
Spreadable butter blend (homemade) 500g x 2
Grated zucchini – 400g packs x 2
Beef curry – 6 serves
Lasagne – 2 serves (lunch sized)
Chili con carne – 2 serves
Beef & vegie casserole – 6 serves
Tomato/pasta sauce (homemade) – 750ml x 2
Lasagna sheets (homemade) x 12
Fettucine (homemade) – 2 serves
Gravy beef – 500g x 2 packs
Chicken breast fillets x 4
Sausages x 2
Bacon (shortcut) x 7 slices
Sausage rolls (mini) x 5 – thawing for lunches today with salad
Sweet pastry (homemade) x 1 quantity
Savoury pastry (homemade) x 1 quantity
Baked sweet pastry (was tart shell which broke)
Sliced white bread (homemade) – 7 slices
Gluten free bread (1/2 loaf)
Breadcrumbs (soft and toasted)
French stick (sliced and in a bag)
Fruit muffins (crumbled in a small container)
Mashed pumpkin (to make pumpkin soup)
Lemon zest
Lemon juice (2 litres)
Lemon juice (ice cubes – about 4 dozen)
Lime juice (ice cubes – about 4 dozen)
Sliced limes – 2 containers
Orange juice – single serves x 3
Banana x 1
Passionfruit ice cubes x 15
Turkish bread rolls x 4

Bag of meat scraps

The freezers are a constant dynamic as shown by the following changes in the past 36 hours since I made that list.

Lasagne – 2 serves (lunch sized) – now 1 serve
Fettucine (homemade) – 2 serves – used
Chicken breast fillets x 4 – now x 3
Sausage rolls (mini) x 5 – thawing for lunches today with salad – used
Lime juice (ice cubes – about 4 dozen) – now 3 dozen
Orange juice – single serves x 3 – now 8 serves – 2 used and 7 more added after juicing the remaining oranges from the tree

I have also added another 2.5 litres of lemon juice.

From my inventory I have made a menu plan and will be using more of the contents over the coming weeks.

I am confident that I will be able to empty the small freezer before we go away.  I will post an update of the list in a week or so.

How do you manage the contents of your freezer?  Do you keep a precise list or just a general idea with the occasional complete inventory?  What do you mostly store – excess produce, bulk meat, prepared meals or baked goods?  I would love to hear your story.

Cruel to be Kind

I always feel cruel at this time of the year as I have to clip our Border Collie dog in preparation for the tick season which usually begins at the start of August.  Sometimes I have left it too late with very serious consequences for both the dog and my wallet.

Today was the day and here is the ‘before’ photo.

It is not a particularly good photo as Psycho dog was determined not to co-operate.  He co-operated even less once he saw the clippers, however, once I convince him that it has to be done he just stands still and quivers.

I used to pay to have him clipped but then eventually decided that I could do it myself.  It has only taken 3 haircuts to recoup the cost of the clippers.  While my efforts are not up to show standard I think he looks quite respectable.

Here is the end result.

Once it was all done I washed him with handmade neem soap and then dried him off with the hairdryer and he does look rather gorgeous.  I think he will be wearing his Drizabone coat a fair bit for the next month while the weather is still quite cool – particularly at night.

It was imperative that I got this done before we go on holidays as the housesitter will need to check him regularly for ticks and that is nearly impossible while his coat is long.

That is another job ticked off my ‘to do’ list before we head off.

Time to Tackle ‘The List’

With less than 6 weeks now until we head off on our trip it is time to really focus on what needs to be done.  The only way I can confidently achieve what I want to do in a specified time-frame is to have a list.

For the past few days while I have been busy with Miss O and Izz, I keep thinking of things I need to do.

Here is the beginning of the list:

Buy travel pants
Book appointment to have our tax done
Arrange remote access to the business network
Buy enough cat and dog food for when we are away
Check and stock up on my medication
Complete first draft of information for the house-sitter and email it to her
Attend specialist appointment re my injured knee
Cancel another specialist appointment
Pack for trip to Melbourne next week – 3 days of work then 3 days of holiday
Stocktake of food in the freezer and plan meals to use up as much as possible before we leave
Finish quilt for Izz’s birthday
Write list of birthday/Christmas gift ideas for Miss O and Izz
Measure Miss O and Izz with a view to buying clothes while we are away

That will do far a start.  I will update you as things are crossed off.  I find it much easier to have a written list than to have ideas floating in and out of my head when I am least able to deal with them.

Super Sunday

Whatever I write tonight will not do justice to all that we have done today.  Miss O and Izz did not wake until almost 8am but it was non-stop until they went to bed at 8pm.  Who knew that 12 hours could be so exhausting?

We started the day with pancakes for breakfast then I did a couple of loads of washing and some sewing alterations.  First up I re-did the elastic in both pairs of pyjama bottoms.  Next was letting down the hem on Miss O’s dressing gown.

I also added ribbed cuffs and neckband to Izz’s pyjama top.

We left home at about 11.30 and went to a strawberry farm at Beerwah were you can pick your own fruit.  2 buckets and we were underway.

The girls very quickly figured out that the best ones were red right up to the top of the fruit.  Izz still needed reminding that it is best to pluck the fruit rather than clutching them in your hand!

I had packed a picnic lunch so the next stop was Glasshouse Mountains township and the park.  We had ham and avocado sandwiches, home-made sausage rolls with our own tomato sauce, home-grown mandarins and freshly picked strawberries.  The playground, complete with flying fox provided heaps of fun and games.

Then it was next door to the visitor information centre where the girls discovered a wall puzzle of different dinosaurs as well as an interactive history of the mountains on a touchscreen.  This centre is well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Finally, we headed home via a local fruit stall and chose a few things including a pineapple to use on our pizzas for dinner.

Later this afternoon, I made 3 batches of muffins and of course had lots of help.  2 batches were made with added berry yoghurt and coconut which I cooked in small patty papers and they will be frozen and used for snacks for daycare.

Dinner was pizza followed by strawberries, ice-cream and a pancake then it was showers and bed for 2 little people.  After a very busy day we had absolutely no arguments about bed and sleep.

They are not the only ones who will sleep well tonight.

I hope you have had a great Sunday, too.

Book Review – Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I have just finished reading the book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver.  I had seen it mentioned at times on the Simple Savings forum but there was no real detail of what it is about so I had forgotten about it until recently when I finally remembered to download it to my Kindle.

This book was first published in 2007 and documents the attempts of one family to eat mostly local food for a full year.  It is a substantial book and full to the brim with detail and information so is definitely not a light read.  I think I will need to read it a few times to extract the maximum benefit from it.

I found some of the detail quite confronting at times, especially the descriptions of CAFO’s (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) and the harvesting of the chickens and turkeys which they raised for meat.  This is not necessarily a bad thing as it forces us to examine our feelings about how our food is produced.  Out of sight should not mean out of mind.

Although it is written from a North American perspective there are many universal truths for everyone, no matter where you live.  By the time I had finished the book I was inspired with renewed enthusiasm to seek out as much local produce as possible.

During the course of the year, they travelled to Italy and also on a road trip north from Virginia, through Vermont and into Canada.  The local food that they ate and people encountered makes fascinating reading.

I also intend to apply the same principles to the food we eat during our upcoming trip to the USA.  Since we will be in the north-east states during late summer we will have an excellent choice of fresh food.  One of the things we had planned to look for is Farmers’ Markets in the cities and farm gate sales in the more rural areas.  My goal is to eat as much locally-sourced, organic and unpackaged food as possible while we are away but more about that another time.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle contains numerous recipes based on seasonal produce which are also available on their website.

The book contains an engaging mix of passion, theory, humour and science related to a topic which is the essence of every one of us – our food.

I would strongly recommend that you read ‘Animal, Vegetable, Miracle’ and take the time to really think about what you are eating and how it came to be on your plate.

Comments & Countdown

A big thank you to all of you who take the time to comment on my random thoughts which masquerade as blog posts.

I have been very tardy about responding but have gone back over the past 4 weeks since I last responded and replied to all of your comments.

Although I will make a concerted effort to reply each day I will check and catch up on the comments each Sunday from now on.

It is now 9 weeks until we head off on our big adventure to the USA.  All of the accommodation and transport are booked so now we are concentrating on researching what we plan to do and see in each place we visit.

One of the things I had read about in New York was the new(ish) High Line Park which is built along an old elevated railway line above Manhattan.  There is an access point to it quite close to where we will be staying.  You can read all about it in this post I stumbled upon.

Any tidbits or suggestions will be gratefully received.  Our itinerary includes Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.  We will be self-catering for much of the trip and I am keen to maintain the same criteria as I do at home.  That means local, seasonal, organic and minimally packaged food so if you have any thoughts in this regard I would really appreciate them.

Holiday Planning With A Difference

We have decided to try get someone to housesit while we are on holidays.  We are in the process of finding someone suitable who we trust to care for our house and animals while we are away.

Instead of planning what to take I need to think about what to leave behind.

This is going to require some planning and organisation to be able to hand over the running of the household.  It is a reminder of how much knowledge and information is carried in my head.

Things like instructions for the washing machine, location of the booster switch for the solar hot water, how much food the dog eats, what day the rubbish is collected and so on.

The upside is that the house is pretty well decluttered and organised so it will be easy for someone to find where things are.  There is also plenty of space for extra clothes and belongings.

I am determined that I am going to have all the planning done well in advance of our trip so that the last week or so will not be a mad rush.  I want to simply pack my bag according to a pre-determined list and go to the airport, knowing that everything has been sorted out.

In the past, sometimes the last week before a holiday is so frenetic that I just want to get on the plane or in the car before my head explodes.

I would love to hear if anyone has had experiences of someone house-sitting for them.  How did you choose them and was it successful?

Autumn at Home

When we travel to the USA later in the year, I am hoping to see some of the famous fall scenery in New Hampshire and Vermont.  We will probably be a little early for the best of it but I am sure we will see some, especially in the mountains and northernmost areas.

In the meantime, here is a glimpse of autumn in our own backyard – literally.

It is only one tree, a liquidamber, but it in a climate that does not have many deciduous trees that produce a colourful autumn display it makes a lovely contrast to the surrounding evergreens.

The Final Itinerary

Those of you who have been playing along at home will know that we have been working on the itinerary for our upcoming USA trip.  It is over 3 months until we go but I now have the final plan.  We have all of our accommodation booked so now we can spend our time researching and planning what we will do.

• Washington DC – 4 nights
• Philadelphia – 2 nights
• New York – 4 nights
• Boston – 2 nights

All travelling will be by train between cities and public transport within the city.

Then we pick up a hire care in Boston and head off.

• Cape Elizabeth (Portland) – 2 nights
• Bar Harbor – 2 nights
• Shelburne – 1 night
• Charlotte – 2 nights
• Shaftsbury – 1 night
• Woodstock – 2 nights
• Cape Cod – 2 night

Drop of car in Boston and train to Washington DC.

• Washington DC – 1 night

Fly home

Any tips or ideas for the areas we will be seeing would be gratefully accepted.

In the meantime I found cheap flights on Jetstar so have booked to go to Adelaide for the weekend in November to see a friend for her birthday.

Where Did the Weekend Go?

Here it is Monday night and I am still trying to work out where my weekends go.  I start with great intentions of achieving so much and by Sunday afternoon/evening I am left wishing that I had another day or two and then I would get everything done that I had planned.

No, of course I would not.  I would simply have a longer list.  When I was considering all of this last night I realised that although I do not seem to get everything done that I hope to, I do usually manage to make some forward progress.

By forward progress, I mean achieve something that will not need to be done again next week.  So this does not include regular jobs like cooking, washing clothes, ironing or evening mending because I know they will all be back to be done again another day.

This weekend I helped The Duke re-hang the freshly painted doors on our new storage cupboard.  That is an achievement – we now have a completed cupboard in the downstairs entry.  I do not have to think about that again.

We have also been working on planning our trip.  We have finished the itinerary and have booked about 3/4 of our accommodation.  My goal is to have that completed well within the next 3 weeks.  That will mean I have 3 months clear before the trip to focus on reading guidebooks, planning sightseeing and things to do.  In short, making sure we make the absolute most of this ‘trip of a lifetime’.

I have not posted for a while about Project 333.  This is all ticking along smoothly with the minimum of fuss which is good as that is the essence of the challenge.  Tomorrow I will tell you a bit more about some of the things I am learning along the way.