Week 29 of the 2011 Food Storage Challenge

$10 challenge
Store 2 kgs milk powder

$20 challenge
Store 4 kgs milk powder and 5 kgs lentils

Check the use by dates on the powdered milk you have stored.  Make sure you are able to use it up because when it goes off, it doesn't smell very nice, and certainly won't be pleasant in your tummy!

Here are some ideas for using it up: http://denleydiaries.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-to-do-with-powdered-milk.html

It is your choice as to which lentils you store.  There are many different varieties and they come dry or canned.  I love canned as I don't have to worry about pre-soaking them.  You can rinse them under the tap and they're good to go straight away.  I have some dried lentils as well, but my family doesn't eat them very often.

If you don't want to store lentils, how about something like barley, rye or oats?

Week 28 of the 2011 Food Storage Challenge

$10 Plan
Store 1 kg honey

$20 Plan
Store 2 kgs honey and 2 kgs sugar

Yay!  More honey and sugar.

I won't be storing the honey this time though because I have LOTS of the stuff.  I will get more sugar because I use that in my baking.

Don't forget that there are different sugars out there - not just white sugar.  You can store raw sugar, brown sugar, caster sugar, icing sugar if you really want to.  It depends really on what you use as a family and what will work best for you.  You can also store things like maple syrup, golden syrup, glucose syrup.  I classify these under 'sugar'.  My children would live on pancakes and maple syrup if they could!

I was fortunate enough to get good quality honey just before honey prices went through the roof.  I purchased a few kilos of it (4 or 5 - I can't remember) and it is stored away until we go through the bucket of honey I have in my pantry cupboard.  That bucket has lasted us 5 years so far (it was a 2 kg bucket).  Mmmm I can feel some honey jumbles needing to be cooked!

Honey doesn't go off, but it may crystalise.  Simply leave it out in the sun for a little bit (with the lid on).  I don't really recommend putting it in the microwave but it is possible.

This will be the last of the honey and sugar we store for this year.

Saving my hands...

Some of you may know that I have arthritis and RSI in my hands.  This can make many things I do incredibly painful and just plain difficult.

I don't do much gardening these days.  I hire some wonderful menfolk who maintain my yard and do a great job.  Phil just cannot do it with the hours he works, so I swallowed my pride and called 'Strong Steve' (my kids nicknamed him that).  They have been doing my lawn for over a year now and I think it's one of the best decisions I've made.  Something I don't have to worry about.

I can't give up teaching music - that's my 'pocket money' but it also keeps my musical talent up and running.  I love being able to share my knowledge with others, and that's the main reason I do that.

Cooking...hmmm now there was a problem.  I love cooking, but with the arthritis spreading to my shoulders and back, I couldn't stand and stir things anymore.  Phil decided that I needed something to 'help' me with my work.  Perhaps a really good food processor?

We searched around for a bit but weren't happy with the cheaper ones we saw.  Phil wanted something that would crush ice easily - apparently the sign of a really good processor!  That, and he really likes Slushies.

Then I got wind of Thermomixes.  I did a bit of research and found I really liked them but didn't know where to get hold of one, how much they were or how they actually worked.  A year later when a friend had a demonstration and unfortunately I was unable to attend, I booked in my own demonstration

The funny thing was that Phil was already sold on them.  He had watched videos and read the information I showed to him and he was completely hooked.  It was me the demonstrator needed to impress.  Needless to say we have been the proud owners of a Thermomix for about a year now and I don't regret purchasing it at all.

It's about the price of a laptop.  Not cheap at all, but as Phil said "If I can have a laptop (or two), you can have a cool kitchen appliance.  Nice thinking Phil!

Yes, it really does take a lot of the work out of mixing, and my hands and shoulders are thankful for it. 

I made beef chow mein in it tonight, and all I had to do was peel some carrots and an onion (it acts as a slow cooker too, and a steamer).

Thank you Phil, for agreeing to purchase my kitchen 'toy'.  I LOVE it!!

July Challenge

Either purchase or make or learn how to make soap/dishwashing liquid.  Store 4 bars of soap and 2 big bottles of dishwashing liquid.


The bonus of the Internet is that you can research how to make soap and liquid soap with the click of a button (or you can visit your local library and borrow some books on the subject).


Rhonda at her Down-to-Earth blog has some great step-by-step instructions on soap making here: soap-new-recipe. She also has some other links at the bottom of that post to guide you to more of her soap making posts.


If you have young children or pets around you and you're not keen to use caustic soda, I have posted a re-batched recipe here: Re-batched soap.  Just be careful not to add too much fragrant oil.  The one batch I went overboard with the apple-scented oil ended up going mouldy, but I haven't had any problems with my other batches.


I purchase all my liquid soap.  At this point I don't have the hours during the day to try making my own.  That may be a Christmas Holiday activity.

Week 27 of the 2011 Food Storage Challenge

$10 Plan
Store 1 large can tuna and 1 large can fruit


$20 Plan
Store 2 large cans tuna and 2 large cans fruit


TUNA


Almost done with the tuna.


Remember that this is a suggestion.  If you want to store something else that your family would eat, go right ahead.  Here are some suggestions:-

• Ravioli Bolognaise
• Tinned spaghetti
• Baked beans
• Canned chicken
• Canned prawns/crab meat (expensive but still a protein)
• Irish Stew
• Sausages and Vegetables

The idea is that you're storing something you can create a meal out of, or that will be a quick and easy meal.  You want variety as well.


If you want to store tuna and need a few recipe ideas, here are some of mine:-


Tuna pasta bake


Mix together cooked pasta, drained tuna in brine (or springwater if you don't want the salt) and a jar of pasta sauce (I use one that already has veggies in it but you can add any cooked veggies of your own as well).  Sprinkle cheese on top and bake.


Tuna Irish Potatoes


I've always known this method as 'Irish potatoes'.  I'm not sure why though or where I first learned to do this.  I guess they're also called 'baked, filled potatoes'.  You need 4 large potatoes.  Bake or microwave them until they are soft.  Cut a hole in the top and scoop out some of the flesh (hollow them out but be careful not to break through the delicate skin).  Put the scooped out potato flesh in a bowl.


To the potato flesh in the bowl, you need to add:-
- Cheese
- herbs
- tuna


Mix together then scoop back into the hollowed out potatoes.  Sprinkle extra cheese on top and bake.


My husband tells me this is a side dish (!) and should not be served as a main (I tried that once and he like it but wasn't entirely happy that he didn't have anything else). They are rather yummy though.

Picture and further baked stuffed potato recipes found here: http://zestycook.com/5-simple-stuffed-baked-potatoes/

TINNED FRUIT

I delved into the varieties of canned fruit available in Week 18, found here: http://denleydiaries.blogspot.com/2011/04/week-18-of-2011-food-storage-challenge.html

I believe canned fruit is better than no fruit at all!

Farewell My Old Friend

My final tribute to my old friend, Charcoal who passed away peacefully this morning aged 11 years, 8 months.

A much younger, happier Charcoal with full vision and free reign of the yard.

Lots of dandelions to munch on

Curious days - table top meandering?

I have watched Charcoal go downhill gradually this year until this past week I noticed that he wasn't eating and drinking as much as he normally would.  Almost as if it was instinct, but it was painful to do so.  His droppings were irregular - sometimes small, sometimes runny, sometimes clumped and sometimes normal.  That had me puzzled.

He was also not being his usual adventurous self - not wanting to leave his box at all.  Normally he would hop around the kitchen and head butt everything in his path (due to blindness).

This morning I noticed him resting his head on the side of the box, and his head would tilt to the left.  Very unusual for him.  I decided to take some photos of this (I'm not posting those), and made an appointment to take him to the Vet to see if there was anything we could do for Charcoal - whether he had a urinary tract infection (I had noticed he was a little swollen 'downstairs' and looked sore), or whether he possibly had mites (he had some flaky skin starting to come back and tilting of the head can sometimes indicate a severe case in bunnies ears, but again, another puzzling situation - the symptoms didn't add up).

Off to the Vet we went. I gave him a cuddle and a gentle rub before I put him in the car.  Charcoal didn't like the car ride at all, and decided to keep his head firmly in the corner under his towels in the washing basket.  He was doing okay when we said hello at the Clinic but when it came time for him to be examined, he was okay for the first 5 mins then for some reason completely freaked out.  The Vet realised he wasn't happy and put him in his basket whilst he started to explain the symptoms to me, but I wasn't listening, I was watching my bunny's eyes roll back, the breathing slowed down and then he went limp.  I interrupted the Vet to say "I think he's gone", pointing to Charcoal.  The poor Vet picked him up and listened to his heart as Charcoal's heart stopped.  I think mine almost did as well.

The Vet apologised and explained Charcoal had cancer of the liver.  Over the next few days and possibly weeks his skin would have turned yellow as the toxins would have circulated around his body.  In a way, it was better that Charcoal passed away quickly like that than to have a painful drawn out death.  The combination of the pain he was in and the examination was enough to put him in shock.  For a bunny who was used to being showered, kids picking him and previous vet visits, shock was unusual but I understood today was different.  I knew he had been in pain, hence the Veterinary Clinic visit in the first place. 

I made the hard decision of leaving his body at the Vet's rather than bringing him home and showing the kids and having to find somewhere to bury him.  The ground is all clay at the moment and I just don't have the arm strength to dig a hole big enough.  Phil would have gladly dug a hole (after he got home from work in the dark) but I thought it was better this way.  The Vet kept the towel that Charcoal came in, was very respectful and patted him, said "Goodbye old boy" and carefully wrapped the towel around him.  I think I was still too much of a stunned mullet.  I did pat his head, and he still felt warm and soft - just like Charcoal.

I'm still in shock.  He was such a trusting, sweet natured bunny.  A personality like that in a rabbit is hard to find.

I did get a bit teary in the reception area as the receptionist looked up at me and then realised I was carrying an empty basket.  I explained "He just died".  The Vet quietly came out and whispered that there would be no charge for burial.  I did pay for the consultation (sounds weird, but I have no problem with that - I needed to hear what Charcoal was dying from - it means closure for me). 

I am relieved that I didn't have to make the decision whether or not to put Charcoal to sleep via injection though.  I was really hoping I wouldn't have to do that.  Charcoal made that decision on his own.

I came home and called Phil and explained what happened.  He said he patted Charcoal goodbye this morning.  In my morning prayer with the kids we prayed that Charcoal would be able to find relief from his pain at the Veterinary Clinic.  He certainly did that although not quite in the way I expected.

All that's left to do now is remove his home from my kitchen...

Goodbye my old friend.  You will be missed but lovingly remembered.

Battling it out for the heater

Who would have thought I would have to compete for my heater with Mr Charcoal?

I mean...Come on!  He's only 11 years old, blind and suffering arthritis, has no energy, suffers from dementia, needs to be showered every day, blow dried, brushed and groomed, needs a new towel in his beloved box daily, lots of cuddles and has to be rolled over so he doesn't get sore because once he flops down in this position, he can't get back up again. *sigh*

But it's MY heater! ;D

He does look very content though, doesn't he.

He was trying to get to this spot in the sun, but he doesn't cope very well with the floorboards.  They're too slippery.  I had to put him on this towel so he could enjoy his morning sun and avoid any 'accidents' (he is a little incontinent too these days).  Now this Human Bunny needs to keep an eye on her charge so that he doesn't overcook.  That wouldn't be so good.

What a life to lead!