SN2N: Day 1

It's been a productive day! A recap below - recipes etc are posted elsewhere and linked, plus will be added to the Facebook page shortly. Some handy tips below too.

In the Kitchen.....

I started the day with some Balinese Jamu - a wonderful, healthy mix of tumeric, lemon and honey. 

Today I used a large cucumber my neighbour gave me to make naturally-fermented cucumber pickle. (All you need is cucumber, salt and water). It will be ready to eat in 5 days. 

Breakfast was a smoothie for me and museli for my husband - more on breakfasts tomorrow. 

​I used left-over cooked rice to make a delicous rice salad for lunch, along with a red cabbage from my garden to make coleslaw. I added some bread and Nuttlex spread, but really didn't need it as the salads were delicous and filling. 

We celebrated the new year with an afternoon snack of good old-fashioned chips and dip, and a glass of coke - left from my over-zealous Christmas grocery shopping.

I baked some chicken drumsticks on the oven alongside of some kumera for dinner. I was going to cook up some left-over veges from the fridge, but was too busy in the garden, so had more of the salads. Yum! Dessert was a piece of chocolate cake - made with no gluten, dairy, eggs or refined sugar - along with some coconut yoghurt and strawberries from the garden. 

In the Garden.....

The garden is where a lot of our fresh food comes from. Today I picked the first red cabbage for the coleslaw, as well as mint for the rice salad, and lemons for the Jamu, rice salad and coleslaw dressing. 

I planted sweetcorn today - both seedlings and some seed - as well as some banana melons. My pumpkin and squash patch, planted just four weeks ago, has exploded with growth and lots of young squash are forming. They will supply lots of autumn and winter food for storing right through until next year's harvest (I still have several squash left from last season to use). 

I also sprinkled some dill seed from the kitchen between my super tall marshmellow plants. Won't be long before I have fresh dill to add to pickles and condiments.

I put nets over the strawberry beds (better late than never!). While doing so, I pulled a self-sown potato plant, and up came a very large spud - will use it for dinner tomorrow. Also picked a couple of right strawberries which I used with dessert.

I notice the blueberries are starting to ripen - I must making clearing the weeds from that bed and getting the nets down a priority.

I have mulched the watermelon/zucchini/banana melon bed with fleece from our recently shorn sheep - this stops the dratted birds digging everything up. I've added long bamboo poles along each side to stop them digging under the edges of the fleece.

Some pictures and an update on the whole garden coming soon. 

Toiletries Stocktake

I decided to empty my bathroom cupboards and see just how much I have of everything, so I can prioritise what home made alternatives to focus on first. Turns out I'm rather well stocked in this department! Details HERE. 

Today's Thrifty Tips

Make bananas last longer - buy green bunches, and place each bunch in a plastic shopping bag, and tie the neck closed. This will slow the ripening process, so you can stagger your banana useage - some on the bench to use first, then open one bag at a time as you need them. The bananas will finish ripening quickly once removed from the bag. Sometimes the skin looks a bit not-so-good, but the banana itself remains fresh longer. 

Make vinegar from apple peels, cores and other scraps: whenever you cut up an apple, place scraps into a jar or other container, and freeze (can add to the same jar in the freezer). Once you have a jar full, remove from the freezer, add a sugar solution, and leave to ferment - it will turn into apple cider vinegar - almost free! Details on this coming soon - meanwhile, save your apple scraps. Organic/spray free apples suitable for making vinegar for consumption. Store bought sprayed apples can still be used to make vinegar, but I use that vinegar for cleaning purposes etc.

Tomorrow.....

Tomorrow I plan to make cultured butter and cultured buttermilk from some cream I bought for Christmas but didn't use. 

I'll also take a closer look at some breakfast options, and show you an easy way to dry and crush eggshells to use in various ways.

I'll probably start some stock brewing in the crockpot, and maybe post an update on my garden.