A use for Tomato Skins

I am looking forward to trying this one.#more

Make your own candied peel (crystallised peel)

When our orange tree was loaded with fruit, instead of throwing away the peel from eating or juicing the oranges, I looked up the CWA cookbook and made my own candied peel. So here is my recipe based on the CWA recipes combined with what I discovered.

The rind from 6 oranges or lemons
salt
water
2 cups sugar
Castor sugar

The best way to remove the peel is to use a vegetable peeler. That way there won't be any bitter pith on your peel. Cut each section of peel into the equivalent to the amount of peel on a quarter of an orange or lemon.
Make up a brine solution of 1 tablespoon salt to 1 cup of cold water. (Make enough to cover the peel). Stir the salt in the cold water until it is dissolved. Soak the peel in the brine for 3 days.
Remove the peel from the brine, put into clean water, place on stove and allow to boil for 10 minutes.
Make a syrup by putting the sugar in one cup of water and letting it boil until the sugar disolves. Take the peel from the boiling water and put it in the boiling syrup and let it boil for 5 minutes.
Take the syrup and peel mixture off the stove, cover and leave it for 2 days.
Strain off the syrup into another pot and boil the syrup up again. Put the rinds in and boil until semi-transparent (about 20 minutes).
Take out the rinds and lay them flat on baking paper. Put a little bit of syrup in the centre of each, and sprinkle with castor sugar. Don't put too much on as it won't dry out very well. Dry it out a little in a cool oven.
Once cool and dried out (the peel will still be soft, much like fruit leather), place in an airtight container. This will keep indefinitely. I put one lot in a jam jar and another batch in an ordinary plastic container.
I have used mine in my Christmas Cake recipe.

My Christmas Cake

This year I used the peel from the oranges on my orange tree to make crystallised peel. So I have been looking forward to making my Christmas Cake for quite a few months, and finally did it today. If you have just read Sweet Poison, or are diabetic, best you steer clear of this recipe as it is very high in fructose. Instead of making one big cake, you could divvy it up into smaller cake tins and give them away as gifts. You have to have the oven on for a long time, so don't try this on a hot Australian summer's day. The photo is of my cake going into the oven today.
Ingredients:
500g currants
500g raisins
250g sultanas
125g dates
125g crystallised ginger
125g crystallised cherries
125 crystallised peel
125g blanched almonds
1/2 cup dark jam
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 teaspoon almond essence (I don't use it as I don't like the taste of almond essence)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup crushed pineapple with juice
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon lemon essence
1 tablespoon cocoa or carob powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
250g butter
5 eggs
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
250g brown sugar

Method:
Line the bottom and sides of a 9-10 inch round or square cake tin. I used one of both as this makes a lot of mixture.
Mix fruits and nuts together, cutting to similar sizes.
Mix together orange juice, rind, jam, pineapple and essences.
Sift flour, cocoa, bicarb and spices together.
Mix about 1 cup of the flour mixture into the fruit mixture.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat thoroughly after each egg.
Mix in liquid jam mixture.
Add fruit and flour alternatively and stir in until cake mixture is even in texture.
Put into prepared tin.
Bake in a very slow oven (250 F or 120C) for 5 hours or until cooked.
This is a very heavy cake (6 1/4 pounds or almost 3kg).
Skewer should come out clean when cooked.

Cheap & cheerful Christmas decorations the kids will love to make

Here is something the kids will have fun making for Christmas...and it's so cheap to make. My 2 year old son enjoyed helping me make these. We made the shapes one day, painted them another day (as our food colouring came out rather pale) and when the paint was dry, my son selected the decorations and told me where he wanted them glued on.
Cooked Playdough Decorations
2 cups plain flour
1 cup salt
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup hot tap water
food colouring or non-toxic paint
pva glue
decorations

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Mix hot water, oil and food colouring in a jug.
3. Pour liquid into dry ingredients. Stir until well combined
4. Knead well on a floured surface
5. Roll out to 1cm(half inch) thick
6. Cut out using Christmas themed cookie cutters. You can stick a hole in the top if you wish to hang the decorations off the tree.
7. Bake in moderate oven until hard.
8. Allow to cool and then paint (if desired). Use PVA glue to add decorations.

Make your own hankerchiefs

Now, you may wonder why I would bother making my own hankies? Firstly, I never seem to be able to find decent ladies hankies in the shop. They are usually thin, small and don't last very long. Secondly, I have quite a few scraps of material that are too small to make anything else out of.
This is how I did it:
1. Iron material to get rid of creases before cutting into large squares. I used an existing hanky as a template.
2. Using the rolled hem setting on my overlocker, I went around all the edges. If you don't have an overlocker, you could fold over the edges twice, press with a hot iron and sew into place.
3. (Optional - after overlocking, for a more refined finish). Fold over the edges and sew into place, securing at the corners.

There you are, it's that easy (if you have a sewing machine and/or overlocker). I made a dozen hankies in a very short space of time.
In this photo, the white handkerchief is hemmed using an overlocker only and the green one was firstly done with the overlocker, then finished off with the sewing machine as in step 3. Incidently, I am making a dress with the green material, so now I will have a matching handkerchief.

More action in the garden

My next door neighbour gave me some rather large tomato seedlings today. He has been waiting for me to get the mounds ready, but I have been too busy. He gave them to me today saying they were overdue to be planted in the ground. So I very quickly got a patch ready, and am now hoping I haven't rushed it too much.
I noticed today that the pumpkin and eggplant have germinated...very exciting!
I'm glad to say that the beer snail traps I made the other day seem to be working!

Don't be afraid to use your breadmaker

It's amazing how many people tell me they have a breadmaker, but it's in a box and they never use it. My then boyfriend, now husband, gave me a breadmaker for Christmas in 1999, and it's been used weekly ever since. We've even taken it camping (when staying in a powered site) and had it with us when we bought a caravan (trailer home for my US visitors to this site) and started travelling around Australia. He did his homework well, asking people he knew had one which was the best one to get. It's a Panasonic, which I also knew at the time had a really good reputation for being a good breadmaker.
Since then I have used it to make countless loaves of bread, foccaccia, pizza bases, apple challah, bread sticks (grissini), panettone, bagels, bolillos, monkey bread, sourdough and have even tried making cakes in it.
If you have tried using your breadmaker but have found the results haven't been great or inconsistent the best piece of advice I can give you is use kitchen scales to measure the flour. If you are using measuring cups to measure the flour, you will find the results inconsistent as there is often air trapped in the flour which makes one cup of flour different every time.
If you are short for time, use the bread mixes available in supermarkets and breadmaking shops instead of having measure out every single ingredient. It has surprised me how many people don't know about the bread mixes. All you need to do is add yeast and water along with the mix.
My breadmaker has a timer function, which means I can pop the ingredients in the breadmaker for a loaf of bread, press the button, and have it ready in the morning. That gives it time to cool down ready to cut for lunch.
My foccaccia and bread sticks have always been a hit at parties. (I know many of my friends read this blog who have tried them). I have even made breadsticks for a wedding. Both are extremely easy to make. You can use the recipes in the manual that come with your machine or there are many good breadmaking books available or look on line. I have a bread making book but find that I usually have to add more water than what it says in the book. If you look in your breadmaker while it is mixing, check out if the ingredients look too dry and add a little extra water at a time.
So go on, get that breadmaker out of it's box and start using it. It's cheaper than a trip to the bakery every time you want a loaf of bread or something special.

What does being frugal mean to me?

Let's get it straight, being frugal does not necessarily mean being cheap. In the article in the October edition of the Australian Women's Weekly Why We Crave The Simple Life it is defined as "...philosophy for living, which is to spend less, live more, reduce your possessions and increase your self sufficiency."
I'm trying to become better at reducing waste. Instead of throwing scraps in the bin, I try to think of ways to use them. I plan to use some of my material scraps to make my own handkerchiefs, I put my vegie scraps in the compost or make stock with them. For years our friends have laughed, but my husband and I share a tea bag when making a cuppa...not because we're trying to be cheap, but because we discovered you can get two perfectly good cups of tea out of one tea bag. It seemed wasteful to use more than what we need.
For me it also means working out how economical something is. For example, I'm allergic to bleach so about 7 or 8 years ago we bought some Enjo products. Some of those are now starting to need replacing and I have organised a consultant to come around to my place so I can work out what I need to get. You might think that $99 for a floor fibre is expensive, but over it's lifespan it has worked out to less than 30cents each time I mop, which is about once (sometimes twice) per week.
I cook meals from scratch, make my own sauces and find it not only cheaper but tastier than the shop bought alternatives.
I bought some disposable nappies this week and cringed when I saw that nearly half of the total at the checkout was the cost of the nappies. I walked away endeavouring to do better with my cloth nappies.
As for being cheap, setting up a vegie patch has costs initially, especially if it doesn't work out. However I have done it before and I am driven to do it again. Growing your own vegies is cheaper in the long run with added benefits. You don't have to go to the shop to get it, thus using fuel which is expensive these days. Nor does it require any packaging. You also know what has been used on it to keep the bugs away.
What does being frugal mean to you? Why not add your comment here so it can be shared with everyone?

Save money on cake decorating

Have a special event coming up? Like a special cake but can't justify paying $35 plus from a cake shop? Here are my tips...
1. If you don't want to bake and decorate the cake yourself, ask someone else to do it. I made a cake for the South Australian Moke Club's 40th birthday on Saturday. There were 56 people there and the cake cost less than $20 to make and decorate. However, it did take time to do it. Alternatively, you can buy an un-iced cake and just do the decorations.
2. If you have the time and the inclination, bake and decorate the cake yourself. I wasn't very good at making icing until I bought the Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book. The trick to good icing is to beat the butter for quite a while, until it turns white. Using lollies (sweets) as decorations is especially handy if you are not good at using (or don't have) a piping bag with attachments.
3. Buttercake recipes are most likely to please everybody and are easy to make for the novice baker. Not everyone likes chocolate or fruit cakes. You can jazz up a buttercake by adding a layer of jam and cream between the layers of cake. The Moke Club cake I made had two layers of cake (the equivalent of 4 quantities of my buttercake recipe and I used my lamington tray to cook them in). I used my home made jam with whipped cream in between the layers of cake.
4. Cook the cake(s) the day before as day old cakes are easier to ice and decorate, especially if you are cutting shapes out of the cake (see my Hickory Dickory Clock cakes and "Bay to Birdwood" car cakes that I made for my son's 2nd birthday).

Pests in the garden

Six o'clock already and I was just in the middle of a dream......well, just as I was waking at 6 am the pests were busy chomping away at my vegie seedlings, basil and strawberries. While my garden spray works well on my fruit trees, it doesn't keep the ground dwelling creepy crawlies off the low lying plants. I was up this morning picking snails and millipedes off and one of my first jobs this morning was to crack open a can of beer and make some beer traps. Cut some flaps in the side of a plastic drink container and bend the flaps down to make ramps. Bury teh plastic container in the soil so that the flaps touch the ground (so the snails can get onto them) and pour in the beer. Keep the lid on the container to stop any rain getting in. This trap is safe for dogs and kids as they can't get into them and there isn't anything poisonous. Another job for me to do today will be to collect the flowers off my pyrethrum plants and make some pyrethrum spray.
As for the left over beer, I let it go flat then made some beer sourdough starter.
What are you doing on your Monday morning?

A busy day in the kitchen

I have spent most of today in the kitchen. This photo shows me washing dishes while dinner is cooking in the slow cooker on the bench. I put the scraps from dinner preparations into the saucepan to make some more of my garden pest repellant. Cooling next to it are some hamburger buns for tomorrow nights dinner (I have a bread maker). In the oven are some scones. On the bench on the left is a container with alfalfa growing in it. Next to that is a glass jar with vinegar and lemon peel in to make my next lot of citrus cleaner. Next to that is my yoghurt maker. I added some milk to the remaining few tablespoonfuls of yoghurt that I had, so it will be interesting to see if I can make yoghurt that way.
My next job is to clean my kitchen, using the citrus cleaner that I have made from my first batch. After that, I think a nice cup of tea will be in order, with a scone. I would put some of my home-made jam on it, but I've just read Sweet Poison, so am staying away from sugar (and the kilos are dropping off me).

Thank you

I can't believe my site is getting so many hits (150 as I write this), and they are from all over the world! Mostly from Australia, but there are hits from the US, Indonesia, Germany, Thailand...very exciting! Feel free to join as a "follower".

Chicken, mushroom and asparagus cream pasta bake (with cost breakdown)

I made this for dinner last night and worked out how much each ingredient cost to get a total cost as well as a cost per serve. At just over $3 per serve, you can afford to eat the best free-range chicken!
Ingredients:
375g pasta - I used large vegie spirals but you could also use something like rigatoni - $1.69
60g butter - $50c
600g chicken breast fillets, diced into 1cm pieces. I used free range chicken - $9.61 (My husband said it had too much chicken in it, so you could use about half the chicken)
100g button mushrooms, sliced thinly - $1.00
2 tablespoons plain flour - 5c
2 cups milk - 55c
1/2 cup coarsly grated romano cheese - $1.24 - you could use parmesan
1 1/4 cup coarsly grated cheddar cheese - $2.20 (I found it a bit too cheesy for my liking, so will be using half the amount of cheese the next time)
170g (1 bunch) asparagus, trimmed, chopped coarsly - $2 (I used fresh asparagus and microwaved it a bit, but you could used tinned asparagus)
1/4 cup parsley, optional - free from my garden

Total cost - $18.84
Serves 6, so cost per serve is $3.14

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (180 fan forced). My oven is in farhenheit, so I put it on 400 degrees F.
2. Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water until tender. Drain.
3. Meanwhile, heat a third of the butter in a large frying pan. Cook chicken in batches until brown and cooked through.
4. Heat remaining butter in same pan, cook mushrooms, stirring, until tender. Add flour, cook, stirring 1 minute. Gradually add milk, stirring over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens. Stir in chicken, 1/4 cup of romano and 3/4 cup cheddar and the asparagus.
5. Combine chicken mixture and drained pasta in a 2.5 litre (10 cup) capacity ovenproof dish, sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Cook, uncovered, in oven, about 15 minutes or until top is browned lightly. Sprinkle with parsley to serve.
(Recipe adapted from Australian Women's Weekly Chicken Favourites)

For those of you with children, my two year old loved it, except for the asparagus.
As I mentioned above, I found it to be too cheesy. If you halved the cheese, you could probably make this for less than $3 per serve. Non free-range chicken is also half the price of free-range chicken, but doens't taste as good.

Save money on haircuts

I have been cutting my husband's hair for 12 years now. It all started because my husband wasn't happy paying for a hair cut only (No. 2 with the clippers) only to go home and find the hairdresser had missed a bit. So he bought some clippers and I started doing it for him. Just over a week ago my 2 year old son was watching me cut hubby's hair and asked me to do his too. Seeing that he is now refusing to let the hairdresser near him with a pair of scissors, I obliged. At first I was nervous, holding electric clippers anywhere near his head, especially around his ears. However, he sat on hubby's lap and sat very still. I was relieved at the end as it now meant a saving in how much hairdressing bills cost us each month. Brendon's haircuts were costing me about $19 each 4 or 5 weeks. By cutting both hubby and son's hair, we are saving about $450 per year. That is quite a significant saving. (Think of what you could do for the same money!).
If you are considering doing hair cuts at home, here are some pointers. Buy a good quality pair of clippers and hairdressing scissors (if you are going to use clippers) from your hairdresser. Don't bother buying cheap ones from large electrical suppliers, in my experience they last one hair cut before they die. We paid about $100 for our clippers and No. 2 comb about 7 or 8 years ago, and they are still going strong.
The Workers Education Association also run home haircutting courses, which I might enrol in next time it is on.
Sweep up the hair that you have cut off and put it in your compost bin.

DOWN TO EARTH: On my mind ...

DOWN TO EARTH: On my mind ... A lovely sunny day has lots on my mind. What to do with lawn clippings (while I watch my husband mow the lawn), knitting, making my own cleaners, preparing a vegie patch and so much more.

Lawn Clippings

What do you do with lawn clippings? Surprisingly, they don't make very good mulch or compost. They tend to stop water getting through to the soil below. I am currently preparing a vegie patch and am removing old plants and grass where the vegies are to go. My husband has sprinkled the lawn clippings over some of the weeds and grass in that area, which will help to kill them off making them easier to remove. Use your lawn clippings on areas where you don't want anything else to grow.
Of course, my son likes to help Dad with his chores!

Making your own pyjamas

I recently went to buy some pyjamas but was surprised at how expensive a cheaply made pair was. So I decided to make my own. Now, I am only a learner when it comes to sewing, but thanks to tips from my mum and what I learnt from a sewing course at the Worker's Education Associaton (WEA) I can now make clothes good enough to wear in public. I bought a Simplicity pattern that not only will make pj's for me but also for my husband and son. I thought that was good value. I picked some material I liked and, ta-daaa, here are my pj's. For the same money that I could have bought one pair of pj's from a department store, I bought a pattern that I can re-use and enough material for two pairs of pj's.
One piece of advice that I remembered only after I tried the pj's on after sewing was that I should have pinned the pieces together and tried it on for size before sewing. Even though I took my measurements before commencing and used the size recommended on the pattern, when I tried it on it was too big. I had to unpick it and start again. For some of the pieces in the top I had to cut new pieces out altogether.
I wore these for the first time last night and they pass the sleep test with flying colours! As for the scraps of material left over, I will be using them in my vegie patch to make ties for tomato plants, etc. Cotton material can also go in the compost bin.

Growing alfalfa sprouts

Another way to save money if you don't have much time or space is to grow your own sprouts instead of buying them. I like to have sprouts on salads and in sandwiches, but used to find that, if I bought the smallest punnet I could find, I still wouldn't get through the whole punnet before the sprouts would start to go slimy. Last week I went Goodies and Grains next to the Adelaide Central Markets and found they sold packets of seeds for sprouts. I bought some alfalfa seeds, followed the directions on the packet and yesterday harvested my first batch. It has worked out to be quite economical, as for the same price of a punnet of sprouts, I bought a pack of seeds and only make up the amount I intend to use at a time. I used a clear plastic container to grow them in on my kitchen bench. This is something you could do if you work full time and don't have room for a garden. All you need to do is rinse the sprouts 2 to 3 times per day until they have grown, then you can eat them. It only takes 3 or 4 days before they are ready to harvest.

Make your own yoghurt using a yoghurt maker

You don't have to go the extent of planting a vegie patch to save some money, you can do simple things like make your own yoghurt. It doesn't require electricity, much time or space. I have an Easy Yo Yoghurt Maker, so all I need is a packet of yoghurt mix and some water. The packets costs between $3 to $5 and make 1 litre of yoghurt. I like to use the Greek Yoghurt mix as it is nice and creamy and doesn't contain added sugar. You mix the yoghurt mix in with some water and place the container into the cannister containing boiling water. Then you leave it overnight on the kitchen bench, and in the morning you have fresh yoghurt. Great for making naan breads! The yoghurt lasts for about a week. You can also add your own flavouring to the plain yoghurt mixes. My mother-in-law once told me how I could make yoghurt using existing yoghurt instead of the powdered mix. I would like to have a go at that and will keep you posted, as that should work out even cheaper.

Blocked drains? Environmentally and budget friendly advice from our plumber

Our house was built in the 1950's, so our plumbing is quite old. Throughout the year our drains block up, especially the shower drain (my husband blames my hair!). I asked our plumber for advice on clearing our drains. He said to throw away the commercial drain cleaners that you buy from the supermarket, as they only make the problem worse. They form a gel further down the pipes, which in turn causes more blockages. He suggested using bicarb soda and vinegar. Try sprinkling half a cup of bicard into your drains. Follow it with half a cup of vinegar and let it bubble for a while. When the bubbles subside, flush it out with boiling hot water (from the kettle). Repeat if necessary. This is best done from time to time to keep the drains clear rather than waiting for a blockage.

Cheat with meat - make your dollar go further with these Creamy Meatballs

With the rising costs of living, you may be looking for ways to feed the family on a tight budget. Meat can be expensive, so here is a way to make minced (ground) meat go further - mix tofu into it. Now, before you go thinking that tofu is a bit way out for you, it's cheap, comes in many forms and is packed full of protein, not to mention often healthier than meat. Tofu doesn't have much flavour but absorbs the flavour of whatever you put it with, hence a great substitute for meat.
When I buy mince I always buy the best quality I can find. The one I usually buy is around $14 per kilo at my local supermarket. For this recipe I used Silken Firm tofu. If you haven't used tofu before, you can usually find it in the fridge section of the supermarket in the vicinity of the fresh pastas and yoghurts.
This recipe originally had 300g of minced pork and 300 g of minced beef. I used a 300g pack of silken firm tofu instead of the pork. This recipe is for a slow cooker but you could do it all in a fry pan just as easily
Ingredients
3 slices day old crusty bread
185ml or 3/4 cup of milk
300g beef mince
300g silken tofu
60g or 1/4 cup grated onion
1tsp salt flakes
1tsp ground white pepper
1tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp ground allspice
2tbsp olive oil
125ml or 1/2 cup chicken stock
125ml or 1/2 cup cream (I used yoghurt for a healthier alternative)

Method
Roughly chop the bread and place in a bowl. Pour the milk over the bread and set aside for 5 minutes. Squeeze out and discard most of the milk.
Combine bread, mince, tofu, onion, salt flakes and spices in a bowl using your hands. Form mixture into 24 meatballs.
Heat half of the oil in a fry pan and brown half of the meatballs. Transfer to slow cooker and repeat with the rest of the oil and meatballs. Pour stock and cream into slow cooker to cover the meatballs. Cover and cook on low for 3 - 4 hours or until meatballs are cooked through.
You may like to stir through some chopped dill just before serving and top with grated lemon rind for extra zing.
This recipe has been modified from "Slow Cooker, through it in and let it simmer" by Murdoch Books.

Cook dinner, make stock and an insect repellant garden spray all at the same time

Last night I made celery and asparagus risotto with steamed carrots and corn cobbs for dinner. Instead of throwing the food scraps straight into the compost bin, I decided to put them to some use. While the risotto was cooking, I put the onion and garlic skins and off cuts into a plastic bucket to be used in my insect repellant spray. I put the carrot peelings and off cuts, aspargus and celery offcuts (including the leaves from the celery) into a pot of boiling water. To that I added some bay leaves and black peppercorns. That boiled away while dinner was cooking. At the end, leave the stock to cool then place into a container and pop it in the fridge or into the freezer for later use. Then I put the scraps into my compost bin by the kitchen sink, to be put in the compost bin in the garden when it is full.
To make the insect repellant garden spray, boil any left over onion scraps, garlic and chilli. I do have a proper recipe for this somewhere and will add it to the blog when I find it. Basically boil it until everything is well and truly tender, I would probably do it for an hour. Then leave it to steep for a day or two. Mix hot water in with some laundry soap flakes until the flakes have dissolved. Strain the onion mixture and add the liquid to the soap mixture and allow to cool before applying to plants. I then add the solids from the onion mixture to my compost bin.
So basically, out of one lot of ingredients, I made three things. And the good thing was, the only items to go into the bin were a bit of wax off the Romano cheese and some plastic wrap that the corn came in (I now endeavour to buy corn cobbs from the Adelaide Central Markets where they aren't wrapped in plastic like my local green grocer's). And yes, the vegie scraps did eventually make it into the compost bin, but only after I had some use out of them!

Ride to work day

It's ride to work day today and my husband was busy getting his bike ready last night. He headed off for work a bit earlier than what he usually does as his ride will be about 20kms or so, and will take longer on the bike than in the ute. It will mean that he will also be home later, but the upside for him is that he gets some exercise into his day rather than sitting in a vehicle for all that time. Another upside is the saving on diesel. Although we have a long range fuel tank on the ute, it still costs us about $100 to fill up every 4 to 6 weeks. If he goes well today, he is considering riding more often. This will save fuel as well as wear and tear on the ute. My only concern is the other vehicles on the road, however he assures me that the map he downloaded off Cycling SA has shown him a safe route to go to avoid all the trucks.
I would have taken Brendon to his swimming lessons on my bike but I have a flat tyre and no time to fix it this morning. I will have a look at it on the weekend so I can also use my bike more than having to use the car. One problem is the lack of storage on the bike, especially when there is a child seat on the back!

The Nappy Debate

For those of you considering what to do about nappies, here are some notes from my experience.
I have used a combination of old fashioned cloth nappies, modern cloth nappies and disposables. Old fashioned cloth nappies are handy because you don't need to keep going down the shop to buy more. They require soaking, but after that you just put them through the washing machine and hang them out on the line. The sunshine helps to kill any bugs hanging around. The biggest downside for me is trying to find pilchers, especially in the larger sizes. I was able to size 1 and smaller from Target, but for size 2's I had to go to Baby Bunting. They have now told me they won't be stocking them anymore as it will be discontinued stock. I only have two size 2's and they are often both soaking in the bucket at the same time, so I will need to track down another supplier.
As for modern cloth nappies, they don't require soaking and can go in the wash with all your other laundry. I used Pea Pods which were fantastic when Brendon was a newborn. They were just as convenient as a disposable nappy. However, as Brendon got bigger and needed a bigger size I found a downside to their design. The pilchers got bigger, but not the insert, leading to leakages and flooding. They are still very good but I no longer use them for Brendon to sleep in. Pea Pods are one of the cheapest modern nappies you can get, at around the $17 the last time I bought some. Your Child's Nursery in Adelaide, South Australia, has a good supply of them.
Disposable nappies may be convenient, except for when you run out and have to dash to the shop to get more, but I have found them to be the most costly option. I use them for when we go out, when Brendon is sleeping, or for when I haven't kept on top of load of nappies that need washing. Occassionally I use them when Brendon has a rash or when I'm having one of those "can't be bothered" days!

Things to do with citrus peel

A few months ago when our orange tree was laden with fruit, every time I peeled and orange I thought it a shame to just throw the peel into the compost bin. I have since heard that citrus peel is not good for compost, as worms don't like it. Here are some alternative uses for the peel:
Make candied peel - good for the Christmas cake or Hot Cross Buns. If anyone is interested in the recipe for candied peel you could look in the CWA cookbook or let me know and I will publish it on this site.
Make a citrus cleaner - refer to the website justlikemynanmade.blogspot.com.
It is important to remember with both ideas that the pith needs to be removed from the skin.
I am looking forward to using my candied peel in my Christmas cake this year. I have made the candied peel but haven't used it yet. I have two jars of the citrus cleaner sitting on my kitchen bench which should be ready to use in another week or two.

Knit your own dish cloths

It might seem like a strange thing to do, knitting your own dish cloths, but when you make yours you will see the advantages. I first came upon this while visiting relations and saw one that my soon-to-be sister-in-law had made. I was given some of the wool and have made a few of my own. They are the best dish cloths you will ever come across, and it's not just me who thinks that. My husband says so too.
To make one you will need some Anchor Magic Line or Bendigo Mills Cotton yarn, as well as some knitting needles. I used 4mm needles, but you could use a different size depending on your tension or preference.
Cast on as many stitches as you like, it all depends on how big you want to make your cloth. I have made two sizes and for the one that is pictured here I cast on 30 stitches. I did one of 40 stitches and have found that one to be a bit big.
I then did 4 rows garter stitch followed by 4 rows of rib (knit 2 purl 2). I repeated this until I reached the desired size. The varied texture by using garter stitch and rib stitch helped to create a cloth that is good for scrubbing dishes without being abrasive.
These dish cloths can be chucked in the washing machine, no special washing instructions required. They tend to get a bit smelly, so when they start to smell, it's time to put them through the wash.

Home made muesli bars

This recipe is a real winner in our household. It is adapted from the Muesli Slice recipe in the Australian Women's Weekly Healthy Babies cookbook, but is great for all the family. The good things about making your own muesli bars is you know what goes into them, they're cheap and really easy to make, and don't require any packaging (unlike the shop bought ones)...and they are yummy.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cornflakes
1 cup rice bubbles (I often use puffed millet for a healthier and cheaper alternative)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
400g can of skim sweetened condensed milk.
I also add any variation of the following: sultanas, craisins, currants, cranberries, pepitas, sesame seeds, nuts.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Press the mixture firmly into a 24cm by 32cm swiss roll pan. Bake in oven at 160 degrees celius or (or 140 if you have a fan forced oven). My oven is so old it is still in Farhenheit (325 degrees). Cook for 40 minutes or until browned lightly. If you like your muesli bars crunchy, you may like to turn it over to brown the other side or cook longer. Allow to cool in the pan. Lift slice from pan and cut into bars.

Starting my vegie patch

One advantage to having a bit of a yard (790 square metre block) is that I have room for a garden. While flowers are lovely to look at, we can't eat them. With the rising costs of living I have decided to rip out any plants I'm not keen on and replace them with fruit and vegies. My garden was starting to look like a jungle, as it hadn't had much attention from me since I gave birth two years ago. Now that Brendon is old enough to play happily outside, I have spent the last two weekends in the garden, ripping out the jungle, deciding what will stay and what will go. In my garden I have an orange tree, apple tree, plum tree, lemon tree and an olive tree. I also have lemon verbena, parsley, mint, rosemary, thyme and oregano. I have recently planted some lettuce, strawberries and basil. I plan to plant onions, potatoes, pumpkin, butternut pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, eggplant, capsicum, celery, carrots and rockmelon. These are all things that appear regularly on our shopping list. Another weekend of ripping stuff out, then I should be ready to start preparing the garden beds and planting.