Anti Caking agents

Have you ever watched a cooking show and heard the chef say not to use prepackaged grated cheese, as you are getting more than just cheese? I have, and it got me thinking about the term "Anti Caking Agent" that you see on the ingredients list on packaged foods. I had also recently heard, from another chef during a cooking demonstration, that often Talc or sawdust is added to grated cheese to stop it from sticking together in the packet. I did some research and I found that silicone dioxide, calcium silicate, sodium aluminosilicate, dicalcium phospate, magnesium carbonate, talc, kaolin, potato starch and microcrystalline cellulose are just some of the anti caking agents that are used in common packaged foods. The website, mbm.net.au, gives a detailed list of food additives and the effects they have on the body, some of which are not very good. Even more alarming were the words BANNED IN AUSTRALIA. So if you want to avoid anti caking agents, but like the convenience of grated cheese, here is my suggestion. Buy a block of cheese, it won't contain anti caking agents and is much cheaper than the packed grated cheese anyway. Grate the cheese and store either in the fridge or put into containers in the fridge in individual serves. If you are putting it in the freezer, pull it out shortly before using it so it has some time to defrost but not enough time to start sticking together. Fattier cheeses will stick together more than low fat cheeses, so there will be some variation anyway. The next time you buy grated cheese, cake mix, 2 minute noodles, etc, check out the ingredients list on the packet. Remember, the body is a temple, so worship it and be careful what you put into it.

Best marinated olive recipe ever

We have an olive tree in our back yard and over the years I have been trying different curing recipes to see which ones delivers the tastiest olives. This one is sensational, so good in fact, that when I am bottling them it is one in the jar and two in the mouth! Ingredients: 5kg green (raw) olives, althought I have also done this with ripe (black) olives. 4 lemons, sliced, rock salt, white vinegar, olive oil, 8 cloves garlic, oregano to taste, dried fennel seeds to taste, bay leaves (chopped or whole to taste), dried chilli flakes to taste. I admit I haven't tried it with the fennel seeds as I haven't got any and at times have substituted the oregano for thyme. The instructions say to crush the olives with the bottom of a jar or bottle (stubbie bottle works well apparently). I did this for the first lot but have also used an olive pipper instead. Don't crush too hard, just enough to split the olive to remove the pip but not enough to lose the shape of the olive. As you crush the olives (or pip them) put them into cold water with 2 of the sliced lemons. Rinse the olives in the water and change water juice. Leave the olives to soak for 24hrs in fresh water to which the remaining lemons have been added. Drain the olives adn put into a shallow bowl, sprinkle with rock salt, allow to stand for 24hrs. By now the olives will be sitting in some liquid. Stir, then drain. Sprinkle with enough vinegar to cover, leave 24hrs. Drain olives, put into a bowl, add a little olive oil and the herbs. Mix well, put into jars. Top with olive oil and seal. Taste test when ready to eat. This recipe is quite forgiving, so don't stress if the olives are left for more than 24hrs at any stage. In the photo there is 4kg of both black and green olives. I went back outside and picked another 3kg, and there is still plenty on the tree.

Children's lunches

My little boy is too young for school yet, but I am already asking myself what do other parents to do stop kids lunches spoiling. During my schooling years I attended 3 different primary schools and 1 high school. Some had indoor or undercover storage for school bags, others only had hooks by the classroom door where bags were exposed to the weather. The weather here is cooling down, but what happens to food in the hot weather when it isn't being refrigerated? I ate vegemite sandwiches all through my school years, so they were probably reasonably safe, but I would hate to think of what ham and cheese sandwiches would look like after a few hours unrefrigerated, exposed to the weather! Here is my tip for avoiding your kids lunches spoiling in their school bags...insulated lunch packs. Placing their sandwich keeper inside an insulated lunch bag or pack, along with a reusable freezer block, will keep their lunches cool for quite a few hours. My mum used to freeze my drink bottle overnight and use this to keep my lunch cool. Wrapping your kids lunch in plastic cling wrap only results in a soggy sandwich, especially if there is some condensation from the freezer pack. It is better to place their lunch is a plastic sandwich keeper (it's reusable after all and the sandwiches won't end up squashed in the bottom of the bag!).

Plastic Food Wrap - wrapping your kids lunch at $250 per year

CHOICE magazine always makes for good reading. My husband and I have consulted their website before buying fridges, children's car seats and digital cameras. However I was quite surprised to see that they have also reviewed plastic food wrap. My particular interest in researching this topic was the cling wrap many of us use to wrap our kids sandwiches in or cover bowls of food to be placed in the fridge. On their website they state that they want to phase out risky plastics and mention that cling wrap is made from PVC. PVC is usually hard, so plasticisers are added to make it soft and flexible. "Plasticisers can make up as much as 40% of the plastic material. Phthalates and DEHA (di-(2-ethyhexyl)adipate) are often added as plasticisers to the PVC that’s used for food packaging; again, recent research raises doubts about the safety of these compounds." "BPA and phthalates are endocrine disruptors, meaning they can mimic the body’s natural hormones and thereby cause a raft of health problems. Infants and the very young are most vulnerable to exposure because of their lower body weight and because their growth and development are strongly influenced by hormones; the effects on health can be lifelong. These effects have been seen clearly and consistently in experiments with animals and when people or wildlife have been accidentally exposed to high levels of endocrine disruptors. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a statement calling for more research into the possible harmful effects of BPA, reinforcing growing concerns about its safety. While these compounds are undoubtedly hazardous at high levels of exposure, scientific opinion is divided over the risk from the much lower levels that we’re exposed to every day in our food. There is, however, growing scientific evidence that even at these lower levels of exposure, phthalates and BPA may be causing problems such as infertility, obesity, breast cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease and diabetes." This was taken directly from their website under the heading 'Plastics and Food' by David Oakenfull. This prompted me to investigate further on the internet. There are so many websites talking about the dangers of plastic food wrap, it was hard to know where to start, without spending hours and hours reading. I had a brief read of them, and scrolled down the the Cancer Council website. They mention the following: Some studies have found low levels of di-ethylhexyl adipate (DEHA) when certain types of fatty foods wrapped in plastics, such as meat and cheese, have been ingested. T he amount of chemical absorbed by the food is dependent on the temperature of the plastic wrap and food, the duration of any heating, the type of plastic wrap used, storage time and initial plasticiser content, as well as the type of food. The results of most studies show that the levels of plasticiser that might be consumed as a result of the use of plastic wrap are well below the levels showing toxic effect in animal studies. The International Agency for Research on Cancer states DEHA is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans. Meaning there is currently inadequate evidence to suggest that this compound causes cancer. They go on to mention that to avoid unnecessary exposure avoid using cling wrap in the microwave unless it is labelled as microwave safe. I must admit I have never looked for this warning on my cling wrap. I have noticed that when I use cling wrap in the microwave it often goes soft and 'melts', creating holes. They also mention using inert containers for cooking or re-heating food instead of cling wrap. So if you are concerned about using cling wrap to store food, or wrap your kids sandwiches for school in, here are my tips: Many schools and day care centres are moving to "Nude Food" policies to eliminate cling wrap. Use air tight or virtually air tight containers to store sandwiches and snacks in. My favourites are the Sandwich Keepers from Tupperware. A student who takes one sandwich and two snacks wrapped in cling wrap equals 100 metres of cling wrap to landfill in one year. This adds up to about $250 per year for the average family. The Sandwich Keepers are $29 for two or $58 for 5, have a life time guarantee, are reusable and think of the money you'll save on cling wrap? There are other lunchboxes available as well. Visit www.tupperware.com.au then email your order through to paulinestips@gmail.com. Interstate and international orders accepted, postage charges may apply.

My Favourite Things

You don't have to be as famous as Oprah to publish your list of Favourite Things. So here's mine. Feel free to add your own in the comments section. 1.Nutri-rich Oil by Nutrimetics. There is 101 uses for this stuff, but my favourite is that I find it is the best leave-in hair conditioner/anti-frizz serum/curl cream there is for my type of hair. I have dry, frizzy, curly hair and the Nutri-rich oil leaves it feeling soft without feeling like there is product in it. Unlike other products that claim to tame the frizz, I find this one really does. I have recently had people comment that my hair seems to be getting curlier as I get older. It is still the same amount of curl, it is just that now I have found a way to tame the frizz, allowing the curls to stand out on their own. Price varies depending on size of container (20ml, 40ml or 60ml) 2.'Taking Charge of Your Fertility' by Toni Weschler. Have you ever wondered why your period is never the 28 days like it is in the text books? This book explains all the tell-tale signs that your body puts out on a daily basis as to where it is in the menstrual cycle. My husband read this book and said it was like reading a manual on women's bodies. At least I now understand mine! Go to tcoyf.com to get your hands on this book. 3.Kugelhopf silicon form by Tupperware. OMG! How did I ever live without this one? I can now make cakes in the microwave that turn out perfect everytime, in a fraction of the time it takes in the oven. And I don't have to worry about my toddler going near a hot oven! $74.95 from Tupperware, and worth every cent! 4.Lego. I loved it as a child and now I love it as a parent. It may be expensive, but it lasts a lifetime. My husband still has his Lego from when he was a child. The educational benefits of Lego are only limited by your imagination. My son loves his Duplo and builds the most magnificent structures from it. My husband and I can't wait until he moves onto the normal Lego so we can play with it too! 5.Play School on ABC TV. There is no better quality television program than this. Educational and entertaining, occasionally contraversial. I love the fact that they still use cardboard boxes and masking tape to make props and toys. There are plenty of great ideas for parents watching this program. 6. Turbo Chef by Tupperware. I always wanted one, now I have one. No more tears while cutting up onions! Unlike other food processors, this one won't leave big chunks of onion in amongst finely chopped bits. Everything gets chopped finely. I love the pull cord action, so easy to use. Also easy to clean. $57.20. 7. 'Sweet Poison' by David Gillespie. Now I also understand my sweet tooth, and can stand up and say "I am a sugarholic." How to lose weight without going on a diet. I lost 4kgs in 4 weeks without dieting. Click on the link on this website for more information. 8. Breville Slow Cooker. I got one for my birthday and LOVE it. Great for making soups, casseroles, roasts, desserts, the list just goes on. Apparently you can even make jam in them, but I haven't tried that yet. RRP around the $60 dollar mark for the large one. 9. Janome Overlocker. Having one of these has helped to give my sewing a more professional touch, and I don't have to worry about material fraying. I can't remember the price, but check it out with your local Janome stockist. 10. Bambooty Easy Night nappies. I have written about these before in my blog. We have had a few nights when these have leaked, but it has always been when Brendon has had a huge drink before bedtime. Otherwise these have saved us money on not having to use disposables at nighttime. We got some at the Pregnancy, Babies and Children's expo and they were about $70 for a pack of three. A box of 72 disposable nappies costs $33, so within about 4 or 5 months the Bambooty's would have paid for themselves. I got these in March, so am half way there. They will do Brendon up until he is toilet trained at night, so I should get quite a while out of these yet. I sell both Tupperware and Nutrimetics, so if you would like more information or to make an order, you can email me on paulinestips.blogspot.com. Yes, I do take international and interstate orders (postage charges do apply).

Handy tips for quick meals for the time poor

How fast is 'fast food'? You go out of your way on the way home, wait in a queue to be served, hand over your hard-earned money, wait for your meal, wait at the traffic lights while your dinner gets cold on the front seat of the car and go home to eat a luke warm, bland tasting meal in a box with soggy chips? The only thing fast about fast food is how quick you eat it when you get home. Here are my tips for preparing truly fast meals at home. 1. Plan ahead. Last night I made butter chicken and rice. Tonight I am planning to make Fried Rice out of Poh's Kitchen cookbook, so when I made the rice for last night, I cooked double the amount I needed and put half of it in the fridge for tonight's dinner. I'm already half prepared for tonight's meal, which is handy as I am going out tonight and need something quick to make and eat before I go. 2. Have a cooking day. Chose a day when you aren't too busy and set aside some time to cook up meals for the week. If you want to use your ingredients while they are still fresh, have your cooking day after you have done your grocery shopping. Yesterday I did my food shopping, came home and put soup in the slow cooker for meals later this week. I have a busy week ahead, so it's nice to know that some meals are already made and just need to be pulled out of the freezer. 3. Freeze your leftovers. When cooking meals, make a bit extra than what is needed and pop them in the freezer for those nights when you don't feel like cooking or are running short on time. When freezing meals or left overs, use containers that seal properly to avoid any leaking of the contents but also to stop any airborne bugs getting in (such as listeria if putting the containers in the fridge). Label the container with what is in it. There is nothing worse than pulling something out of the freezer and not knowing what it is, as often frozen meals are hard to identify what they are. When labelling the meal, also write the date, as a general rule, meals shouldn't be left in the freezer any longer than 3 months. Writing the number of serves on it can be handy if you need to feed more than one person. In the photo at the top of this article, I have used a container that can go straight from the freezer to the microwave, has a vent to let the steam out, and have written on it with a whiteboard marker 'mince and veg, 5/3/12, x 2'. When reheating meals, only ever use your microwave on 50% or medium. The food is already dead, so no need to kill it again. Avoid just hitting the start button, as this will give you 100% power. Do you know if your container can go straight from the freezer to the microwave? Check the bottom of the container for the icons that show it is freezer and microwave safe. Also check the instructions on the packaging when you buy it from the shop or with the demonstrator if you buy it from a party plan demonstration. Microwave containers may warp if used on high instead of medium. This will affect how well the seals work on it, and may make the plastic porous, allowing it to absorb stains and odours from the food. You may find you void any guarantee on the product if it shows signs of having been used on high. To top it off, it tastes much better than the stuff from the fast food outlet. Still not convinced? Here is a story of what happened to my husband and I... One day we were out much later than we expected. On the way home we realised we didn't have anything organised for dinner. Although we live in a city, the particular roads we were travelling along didn't have any fast food outlets along them (and my husband and I are not big fans of fast food anyway, but I would settle for Indian or Chinese). We worked out that to get Chinese for dinner, we would have to go out of our way. Being tired, we just wanted to go home. We had a think about what was in the fridge and realised we could make Fried Rice ourselves. When we got home, I chucked the rice in a bowl of water, into the microwave (takes about 14 minutes). I chopped vegies and quickly fried them in the wok with a bit of soy sauce, mixed the cooked rice in and we had a delicious meal. My husband commented how much cheaper it was to make it ourselves than go to the Chinese restaurant. I pointed out that it took about 15 minutes to prepare and cook this meal...if we had have gone out of our way to the Chinese restaurant on the way home, we wouldn't even be in the door yet. While I was cooking he was getting our son bathed and into his pj's for the evening. It tasted great, was cheap to make and we got to eat it while it was still hot!

Top Tips for reducing your shopping bill, without changing where you shop or what you buy.

Tired of wasting money on fuel and time chasing the cheapest price on groceries? Have a favourite shop or prefer to support your local supermarket? Here's how you can reduce your shopping bill and and still shop where you like. Here's the surprise factor. Reducing your shopping bill has very little to do with the actual supermarket, it has a lot to do with what happens at home. Tip 1: Organise your pantry. Is your pantry a mess? Are the items in your pantry tied up with rubber bands? Are your cracker biscuits stale when you go to eat them? Or are the mice getting to eat them before you do? Do you have two packets of icing sugar, both open? Putting your food in clear, plastic containers, that seal air tight and are stackable can help to avoid these problems. Clear containers that are labelled make it easier to find what is in your pantry. Look at the photo of the Rice Bubbles. By looking at the box you can't tell how much is left, not to mention that the bag doesn't seal to keep the contents fresh. The plastic container shows how much is left, and the contents stay fresher for longer.

This is a photo of my pantry. It is easy for me to find what I want and see what needs replacing.

When writing your shopping list this will help you to keep an eye on what is on special and buy it before you run out. It will also mean you don't waste money doubling up unnecessarily. Air tight containers also stop ants, mice and weavils (unless they are in the food when you buy it). Tip 2: Use a whiteboard marker to write the use by date on your plastic containers. You will then know when something is past its due date, saving extra trips to the shop to replace items that are no longer fresh. The marker washes off easily. Tip 3: How's your soup drawer? What's that, you ask? It's your vegie crisper in your fridge. Many new fridges have humidity controlled vegie crispers so you can adjust how much humidity your fruits and vegies are getting. I have one of those fridges. Great idea, unfortunately doesn't really work. Different vegies (and fruits) require different levels of humidity. For example, broccoli is a 'heavy breather', so requires a lot of ventilation and humidity to stay fresh. Carrots don't require as much, so why would you put them in the same drawer? Placing your goods in clear plastic containers with humidity control tabs and corregated bases will prolong the life of your vegies and fruit. You can place items that have the same breathing rate in together, and separate those that don't. The corregations allow the juices to drain to the bottom, but keep the produce up out of it. Consequently, no more soupy mess in the bottom of your vegie crisper (hence 'soup drawer'). You won't be throwing out and replacing your produce as often. You can always use the vegie crisper to store your alcohol, or remove it altogether to make more room in your fridge. Tip 4: Check out the specials in your junk mail and on-line. Many supermarkets are on-line these days, so you can check out what's on special before you leave home. Beware that the prices on their shop-at-home service may be higher than what's in the shop. Junk mail only shows some of the specials. On my shopping list I note any items that I will buy if they are on special. These are items that I am running low on, but don't necessarily need to buy that week. By following these tips I saved $22 on my last trip to the supermarket (total shopping was $169). My favourite supermarket prints how much you have saved by buying items on special on the bottom of the docket, which is a handy feature. These tips will help you save money on your shopping bill by helping you to plan your shopping list, reducing the number of trips you make to the shop each week to top-up purchases and can reduce how much food you throw out.

April Garden update

It has now been 4 months since I started my vegie garden. Things have slowed down a bit, so I took the opportunity last weekend to rip out what was dying off, mix some compost and manure into the soil, and get ready to plant my winter crop. The planting will take place this weekend, so I have allowed the week for the soil to 'settle'. Going through my little note pad, as at todays date, it has produced 41.39kg of food! It is interesting to see what has waxed or waned during that time. Zucchinis are still going strong, despite several bouts of powdery mildew. I have ripped out two of the three plants, and now just have one big plant. Strawberries stopped producing and came back again. Capsicums are still going berzerk. Tomatoes have dropped right off as they are nearly at the end of their season. Spinach and basil are still going strong. Lettuce went to seed, germinated and now producing again. Oranges, lemons and olives are starting to change colour and ripening. Honeydews have died off but there is still one hiding behind the tomato bushes. Eggplant is now getting big seeing that the tomato bushes are thinning out and has plenty of flowers and little eggplants on it. I have noticed that the price of Zucchinis in the shops has gone up to $5.99/kg. I picked one earlier this week that was 630g...so that would have cost me about $3.77 to buy at the shop. That one zucchini has recouped the cost of buying the zucchini seedlings all those months ago. If you have one square metre of garden available, go ahead and plant a vegie patch. If I took the average price of the fruits and vegetables to be valued at $4.99/kg in the shops, my garden has saved me $206 in four months! Fantastic value, as I am sure I have recouped the cost of my garden, so anything after this is a real saving!

Cheap and Cheerful: Cappucino biscuits

I just went down to the local church trading post (to drop off some Tupperware fundraising information) and came across these little gems. They look really intricate, but on closer inspection, they are really quite simple. What you need to make these Cappucino biscuits are: 1 packet Tic Toc biscuits (the ones with the face on them, or any other round biscuit would do, or home made round butter biscuits) 1 packet musk Life Savers 1 packet marshmallows 1 packet Freckles (small) small quantity of icing. To assemble: Cut Life Savers in half. Using some icing, attach a Life Saver half to a marshmallow to make a cup. Use icing to attach a Freckle to the top of the cup. Place Tic Toc biscuits with clock face down, using icing to attach 'cup' to the biscuit. Leave to set. These are absolutely gorgeous, and would look fancy at any get together or 'high tea'.

Best play dough recipe

I borrowed a play dough set from my local toy library and they had a recipe in the set for play dough. I had used a different recipe when I made it before, but this one is much better.

3 cups plain flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon oil
2-3 cups boiling water
Colouring

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients in a jug. Add wet ingredients to dry, mix well. Best consistency achieved when mix is on the dry side and kneaded whilst hot. I found it worked really well by kneading it on a floured surface until it is the right consistency and doesn't stick to your hands anymore.
Brendon is getting hours of fun out of it and it has been educational as well. Today he asked me what happens when you mix red and green together, so he had a go at doing that.

Modern cloth nappy updates

Over the weekend Adelaide hosted the Pregnancy, Babies and Children's expo. My mum was here, so we left the boys to entertain themselves while we went to the expo. I wanted to look at different brands of modern cloth nappies and to see if there was a potty that Brendon would actually like to sit on. I was also curious if there was a cloth pull up nappy available.
Wondering around we discovered there are new brands of nappies on the market since I was looking when I was pregnant three years ago. I have Pea Pods at home and loved them when Brendon was small but found they tended to leak as he got bigger. The pilchers got bigger but unfortunately the inserts didn't, leaving a gap on the sides between the insert and the leg elastic. Walking around the expo I discovered most of the brands had the same problem, and the representatives all seemed surprised when I pointed this out.
We did find one brand (only one!) out of all the brands of cloth nappies there that did a pull-up version. GroVia make a pocket nappy that you can use as a training pant/pull up nappy or use as an ordinary nappy if you put an insert in. The representative said I could use the Pea Pod inserts in the GroVia nappy. The GroVia nappy has elastic sides so that it can be used as a pull-up nappy, but also has press studs. I was impressed with this as one thing I have found with training pants is that it is difficult to clean up the poo. At least with this one there is still the option of laying the child down on the change table, undoing the press studs and cleaning them up without getting poo everywhere.
One of the last cloth nappy brands that we looked at was the only one that looked, to me, like it would be truly leak proof. The Bambooty night time nappy had an extra layer of gathering between the elastic and where the insert goes, filling in the gap that I had noticed on all the other brands. Brendon wore his to bed last night, and I was eager to check it out when he woke up this morning. It didn't leak, despite being absolutely full with wee. All in all I was very impressed, as I had been using disposable nappies at night due to the leaking problem. Now that is one less disposable nappy I will have to use each day, saving money and the environment in the long run!
I don't have the GroVia nappy packaging here to give you any contact details, but you can check out Bambooty on www.bambooty.com.au, or just go along to the next Pregnancy, Babies and Children's Expo in your capital city.

Myth busting: Children who wear cloth nappies toilet train earlier than those who wear disposables.

I recently overheard a couple of older ladies talking about how, when they were raising babies, there was only cloth nappies available and consequently children toilet trained earlier than children these days who wear disposables. I overcame the desire to join in their conversation and tell them about my experience.
My son, Brendon, is two and a half years old. He has always worn a combination of cloth and disposable nappies. He usually wears the disposables when we go out or to sleep in, and the cloth nappies the rest of the time.
Over the last few months, one of the mothers in my mothers group has toilet trained her son, he is now even dry at night, and has never worn a cloth nappy. The other mothers in my group were starting to consider toilet training as all their children (all boys by the way) were telling them they had done or needed to do 'a poo or a wee.' Brendon was not showing any indication of being any where near ready to toilet train, and he is the only one who wears cloth nappies in the group.
I discovered one thing in common amongst the children in the group either toilet trained or showing that they were ready...all had nappy free time. This is something I had never really given Brendon much of.
After chatting with both my mother and mother-in-law about it, both suggested putting him in underpants (jocks) on warm summer days. Over the last few weeks my husband and I have been doing that, and just putting up with cleaning up the accidents. Fortunately we have exposed floorboards in most of the rooms in our house! Over the last week or so we have been rewarded, firstly Brendon started to notice he had done a wee...it's pretty hard not to when it is running down your leg and you are standing in a puddle! However, recently we have noticed huge progress when he uttered the words "Mummy, I did a poo." He then tells me it is hard to walk when you have a poo in your jocks or your nappy (cloth or disposable, he is now noticing when he does a poo in either).
About 12 months ago, Brendon was happy to sit on the potty and do a wee. All of a sudden one day he said no to the potty, and now refuses to sit on it. I did manage to get him to sit on it last week one day when he said he wanted a particular toy that he figured out Dad must have bought him and hidden in the house somewhere. I told him if he did a wee or poo on the potty or toilet he could have it. He sat on it for quite a while but nothing came out. What did come out was an explanation of why he doesn't like to sit on it, he told me it is uncomfortable. The potty he has is one with a hard plastic seat. He does have a cushie tushie for the toilet, but doesn't seem to like sitting up high on the toilet. So now I am on the hunt for a soft seated potty, perhaps one a bit gimmicky (I'm thinking flashing lights/music/etc) to entice him to sit on it.
So to those ladies who say that babies that wear cloth nappies toilet train earlier than those who wear disposables, I say that myth is BUSTED. My myth is that babies that have more nappy free time toilet train earlier than those who don't. Brendon now wears jocks when we are at home, unless I am putting him down for a sleep. Sure, we go through about 3 pairs of jocks per day, and I am forever cleaning up puddles off the floor (and the lounge and his high chair...), but it isn't as much of a hassle than I thought it would be.
By the way, I also tried disposable training pants, but they didn't work either. It seems the only thing that gives Brendon the feeling of being wet is when he is wearing jocks.

Picking my first honeydew

When is a rockmelon not a rockmelon? When it is a honeydew. When the seeds germinated, it looked like a rockmelon plant. I knew I had lots of rockmelon seeds in my compost, so assumed they were all rockmelons. However, now that the fruit has appeared, it is evident that one of them was actually honeydew. I was surprised as I rarely buy honeydew. So here is the first one that I have picked, weighing in at 1.1kg. Reasonably nice tasting but honeydew is not one of our favourite melons in this household. Now waiting to pick rockmelons!

"Garden fresh" pizza

On Thursday night I made pizza. Home made pizza is both delicious and very cheap to make. It is even cheaper now that most of the topping on this pizza came from my garden!

I made the pizza dough in my bread maker. I picked basil, tomatoes, green and yellow capsicums and I had some of my dried thyme as well as my olives. The only shop bought toppings on the pizza were the tomato paste base and the cheese!
Here is the finished product, good enough to eat. Yum, Yum!

My garden works while I'm away

One of the advantages of growing your own vegetables is that it still happens even when you're not there. We recently went away, albeit only for four days, but when I came home, there was nearly 3.5kg worth of produce ready to pick! This photo shows the zucchinis and tomatoes (one chopped up ready to be used for dinner that night), but I also picked strawberries.
However, I also discovered there was work to do for me when I returned. Powdery mildew attacked one of my zucchini plants, so I had a trip to the shops to get some lime sulphur for that. My pumpkin plants are going berzerk, lots of growth and a few flowers, but no pumpkins yet, so I had to pinch out the growing tips. My rockmelons are also going berzerk, so I had to pinch out the growing tips on them as well, but at least they have plenty of fruit on them. One of them is decidedly looking more like watermelon while the other looks like rockmelon. Entirely possible given they sprouted from seeds out of my 'not yet aged enough' compost heap.
I noticed when I went shopping this week that I didn't have to get much from the green grocers...just some bananas and one or two vegetables that I don't grow. I have been getting so many zucchinis and tomatoes that I am making a lot of meals out of them, cutting down on my grocery bill. I admit I wouldn't use zucchini's quite as much if I wasn't growing them in abundance, but I may as well use them up while they are in season.

Home Gardening Economics part 2

I noticed some of the prices of produce at the shops today, and have had a look at what I have picked from my garden. Hopefully this will inspire you to grow your own if you don't already.

Tomatoes at $3.99kg - I have picked about 3.13kg this season, worth $12.50. The seedlings were free, but I had to buy cow manure, seasol and fertiliser to look after them.
Zucchini are also $3.99kg - I have picked about 5 kg so far, worth $19.95. I don't remember how much the seedlings cost, would have only been a few dollars. Once again, planted in cow manure and have used seasol and fertilers on them.

Time to start planning the next stage of the garden

I have been getting quite a bit of produce out of my garden, and have been enjoying the fresh produce. However, I have noticed that some things are starting to die off or go to seed.

My lettuce has gone to seed, as has my parsley. My sweet corn and sunflowers are dying down... so it's time to think about my autumn/winter crop. I will be considering rotations crops and companion planting, so will allow the sweet corn and sunflowers to die down so they add nitrogen into the soil ready for the crop that will go in after them.
However, as some things are reaching the end of their life, other things are just fruiting. I have some rockmelons growing now, and have noticed some baby eggplants as well. I hope they reach maturity so we can enjoy home grown rockmelons and eggplants!

Growing sweet corn

I have learnt quite a bit about growing corn over the last few months. The first thing that comes to mind is location, location, location. I planted 8 sweet corn along the southern end of my back yard, and one over near the western fence. I thought the southern end would be a good spot for them, as they would get the northern sun. I was wrong. They are shaded by the shed to the east of them, as well as the trees right behind them, stopping the summer sunlight that would be going straight overhead. So they are shaded most of the day. The one over near the lemon tree is not shaded by anything, so gets sunlight most of the day. In this photo you can see the size difference in the corn cobs of the one picked from the southern fence compared to the one near the western fence.


You can also see that the small one is irregular, while the large one is full of kernels and looks much more appetising.
The sweet corn have now reached the end of their season, so here is my plan for the next time I plant sweetcorn:
Plant over near the western fence and make sure they have lots of sun.
Start early in the season so that I am more likely to get a few more ears of corn off them before they die off. I planted these in mid to late November last year.
Fertilise regularly as they are heavy feeders.

Reasons to get to know your neighbours

Many years ago I worked in a job where I had no private life. When I left that job, I valued my privacy so much that when I bought a house shortly afterwards, I raised the fence (taking it from a four foot fence to a six foot fence) and didn't get to know my neighbours or talk to them much, if at all. One day I came home from work to find the police at one of my neighbours house. The cops came over and asked me how long it has been since I had seen him. I said his cat had been over and crying at my door each night for about four weeks...it turned out that is how long my neighbour had been lying dead in his house! I quickly realised that overprotecting my privacy had a downside - I didn't know or look out for the well being of my neighbours.
I now live next to two fantastic neighbours, and have realised there are many benefits. If you don't know or talk much to your neighbours, here is some food for thought:
1. My neighbours always look out for my safety and keep an eye on the house when I am out. They aren't sticky beaks, but do take note of who comes to the house when I am not here. They are also concerned whenever I am not well.
2. Both neighbours either side have fruit trees and vegetable patches, and give us the excess produce and seedlings. They supply us with lovely peaches, persimmons, lettuces, silverbeet, etc. Sergio gave me 6 tomato seedlings which are now in my garden and supplying us with lovely, fresh tomatoes. In the past I have given them jam made from the fruit they have given me. Now I have enough produce in my garden that I may also be able to give some to them. This photo is of the peach tree from Jim's yard that hangs over our fence. On the weekend we picked two lovely peaches.

3. Whenever we go away they are always happy to feed the dog (if we don't take her with us), put our bins out for collection, collect the mail and look after the place.
4. I know that if I ever have to nick out quickly while Brendon is sleeping I can always ask Beri to watch him for a few minutes. I have only done that once, but wouldn't hesitate to ask her again if I had to.
5. The chats over the fence are always wonderful. We have developed a good relationship with neighbours on both side, and do occassionally chat to the ones behind us, but don't get to see them quite as much.
6. I have found that neighbours and friends often have knowledge that I am after. Sergio has shown me what to do with my olives, and Beri and I have often swapped recipes over the fence.
7. I would certainly notice if I hadn't seen these neighbours for 4 weeks! I feel safe knowing they are looking out for me as I am for them!

Zucchini Cake Recipe

I have lots of zucchini's in my garden at the moment, so here is a lovely cake recipe using the fresh zucchini's that I have growing. This cake is delicious.

Ingredients;
3 eggs
2 cups castor sugar
250grams butter, melted
2 cups grated zucchini with skin
3 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bi-carb soda
3 tsps vanilla essence
3 tsps ground cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Method:
Beat eggs until light and fluffy, add castor sugar and vanilla essence and beat until sugar is combined. Then beat in melted butter. Stir in zucchini, sift in flour, baking powder, bi-carb soda, cinnamon and add walnuts. Cook at 180 C or 350F for 35-45 minutes. Makes 2 loaf tins.

Home gardening economics.

This morning I took a bucket out to the vegie patch and picked about 2kg of produce. It felt great to do it. I have been recording how much I have been picking from my garden so I can work out how cost effective it is. If you check out the My Garden page, I will update the amounts there. So far I have collected around 15 kg of produce. My tomato bushes have yielded 1.7kg, at about $5 per kilo in the shops that works out to be $8.50. I have picked 7 zucchini's totalling 2.5kg, so I will be interested to check out how much they cost the next time I am in the shops.

Cheap and Cheerful: Madura Omlettes

I invented this recipe while staying overnight at the lovely caravan park at Madura on the Nullabor Plain. It really is the most picturesque spot, an oasis in the middle of the desert.
This recipe is a great way to use up the remaining oil in the jar of sundried tomatoes,once you have used the sundried tomatoes up that is. Usually the sundried tomatoes are in oil, garlic and other herbs that give the oil a lovely flavour and aroma. Since making these Madura Omlettes, I always reserve the oil left over from sundried tomatoes to fry onions for bolognese sauce, etc.

Ingredients:
Left over oil from seasoned sundried tomatoes
2 eggs
about 1/4 cup wholemeal flour
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
sprig of fresh parsley
firm tofu (quantity ?, however much you like)
little bit of canned corn
1 mushroom, diced
little bit of milk

Method:
Fry the onion and garlic in the oil. Mix all other ingredients together into a bowl until it is the consistency of thickened cream.
All oil mixture into the bowl and whisk together. Put back into frypan and cook, flipping once.

January Garden update

Here are some photos of what is happening in my garden. The sunflowers are now in bloom and look lovely, although they need staking as one is leaning over. We have been picking lovely zucchini, tomatoes and strawberries. The lemon verbena is going berzerk. The lettuce is going to seed, as is the basil but I keep picking the flowers off the basil to make it last longer. The mint is very happy and looking its best ever as I am giving it plenty of water. I bought this pot of mint about 5 or 6 years ago and it is still going strong. The capsicums are making an appearance as well. The olive tree is loaded with many small, green olives so I will be bottling them in a few months time.

New Year's Resolutions

First of all I would like to say Happy New Year to all my followers around the world. I am absolutely amazed when I look at the stats for this blog and I see countries like Latvia, Germany, Russia, Croatia, USA, Singapore, Thailand, etc come up. What a wonderful feeling it is. My home made muesli bars has always been the number one hit on this blog.
We had a quite new year at our house, the heat wave meant that we have been doing everything we can to keep the house cool. Fortunately the insulation that we put in back in September is now paying off.
I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions as I find I don't keep them, but here are some resolutions that I have made regardless of what time of the year it is.
1. Try not to waste too much money. Think about my purchases before I make them. Is there some way cheaper I can do it? Do I really need it?
2. Get the most out of my vegie patch. That means giving it some attention; weeding, watering, fertilising and removing pests.
3. Try not to waste food. After all, that is a form of wasting money. Throwing food out that has gone bad before it was used up is like throwing money out. Try using the food up while it is still good or preserving or freezing it if needed.
4. Remember to make claims. Often local government bodies offer rebates on water saving ideas, for example, if you give them your receipts. Often I enter the receipts into our expenses, and then throw them in the recycle bin.
5. Recycle as much as possible. I am trying to reduce the number of rubbish bins we fill each week. Before starting a family, we used about one rubbish bag per week, as the rest either went in the recycle bin or the compost. Hopefully my son will want to toilet train soon, so we can get rid of nappies. In the meantime, I am washing the Pea Pod nappies everyday so we can use them instead of the disposables.
6. A friend in need...Remember to ask my friends if they have any childrens stuff they want to get rid of before I head down the shops to buy something for my son. Recently we have been thinking of getting him a bed as he is too big for his cot. We went for a walk one evening and saw a child's bed in good condition in someone's front yard with a sign on it saying "Free, please take". So we did. Now all we need is a mattress (which we will buy as I don't like to use second hand mattresses). He has just outgrown size 2 clothing and moving into size 3, and needs new shoes soon, so I will be asking my friends if they have anything they want to give away or sell.
Well, I think that's enough to concentrate on for now. I hope you all had a great New Year. Please feel free to post your New Year's Resolutions here.