I've moved!!!

Hello loyal readers!  I've moved house to WordPress - as I find it easier to manipulate my blog and make it look the way I want.  You also can follow without having a Google account.

Find all the old content as well as new stuff and dress progress at

http://soilseedsneedlethread.wordpress.com/

See you for the housewarming!

Enjoy,
Kat

What you put on you, not in you

As you've probably guessed, I'm a big advocate for knowing what you put into your body an giving your machine the best, most high quality fuel possible.  However, for about 3 years now I've been also a bit advocate of knowing what you put on your body...you know... make-up, moisturiser, cleanser, shampoo, conditioners....the list can be endless.  I used to buy drug store whatever until I came upon this site...and it literally changed my shopping habits overnight.

The database is called Skin Deep and is run by the Environmental Working Group.  They have a huge database of skincare, haircare, make-up etc and the ingredients contained within.  But the best feature is an overall rating giving you an idea of the hazards that the chemicals contained in that product may pose.  It then breaks it down each chemical and gives you a rating for each and sites the evidence for the rating.  It's very informative and I highly recommend you look up the products you use everyday.

Just one more way we can take control of our bodies.

Enjoy,
Kat

Stupidly easy rhubarb spread

I heart rhubarb...I grew up with heaps of the stuff.  Unforunatley our rhubarb is about 5cm tall at the moment.  No problem, that's what fruit and veg shops are for, right?  Next time you're at the market pick up 5-6 stalks of the red stuff and try this out...it's FANTASTIC on toast or english muffins (well, I think so anyways)

You'll need:
5-6 stalks rhubarb
100g sugar (or so...sweeten to your taste)


1.  Cut rhubarb into chunks
2.  Put in a heavy bottom sauce pan (to be honest, mine is cheap a$$, and it still worked) along with sugar and 100 ml  of water
3.  Simmer until the consistency of a puree (about 30 min or so)

See...easy, eh?  Next put small batches into tupperware containers and allow to cool.  Slam one in the fridge for tomorrow morning and put the rest in the freezer where they will sit happily until your next craving.

Enjoy!
Kat

My first beet pickle!

The first thing I thought of while gazing lustfully at my shiny new jars were the beets that were very ready for harvesting from the garden.

So I decided to give er a go and can the little guys (well, not so little).  If you'd like to do the same, here's what you need:

500g beets (of same size, roughly)
500 ml red wine vinegar
112 g granulated sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise seed
2 peppercorns
1 small bay leaf
a pinch of salt

Cut the stems off the beets being careful not to injure the beets so they don't bleed.  In a heavy bottom saucepan, mix all the ingredients except the beets.  Heat gently until sugar dissolves, and then bring to a boil. Add the beets and boil for 1-2 hours until beets are VERY tender when poked with a skewer. Let cool in broth.

This is when you get your canning pot full of hot water (so it will cover the jars by at least 5 cm).  Bring to a simmer (not rolling boil at this point) and place your jars into the hot water as well as your lids.  This is to prevent jar breakage.  Leave in the simmering water for 10 minutes or until ready for use.

When your beets are cool enough to handle, remove with a slotted spoon, peel and dice.  Take your hot jars from the water immediately before use and fill until 0.5cm headspace remains. Remove cinnamon stick, bay leaf and anise seed and bring liquid to a boil again.  Once boiling, remove from heat and fill jars until 0.5 cm headspace remains.  Wipe the jar tops with a clean cloth as well as the lids - you want NOTHING coming between the jar and the seal or else it won't form properly and you won't get a seal - leading to fool spoilage (bad!).  Place the lids on and tighten the bands finger tight.

Immediately put your sealed jars into the canner and crank up the heat.  Wait till it comes to a rolling boil and set your timer for 30 minutes.  After processing for 30 minutes, remove the jars and place on a towel  10 cm apart and let cool naturally for 24 hours.  You should hear a 'ping' when the seal forms.  After 24 hours, label and place in a cool dry place.

You should wait for 1 month for the flavours to mature but the pickle will stay for 1 year if you can wait that long!  Come back in a month for the outcome of my first canning adventure!  Can't wait to do it again!

Enjoy,
Kat

Canning gear!

I've always wanted to start canning.  It's such a great way to preserve tasty ripe fruit and veg from the garden and it allows you to make your own spreads, marmalades, chutneys and pickles!  But, in order to do things properly (and safely, I might add) you need the right equipment.

I found a great (and relatively cheap) preserving kit from Red Back Trading Company, which comes with a dozen Ball Mason jars (more about these in a bit), a giant canning pot with a handy rack, lids, a great book and some handy canning accessories.  The whole kit was around $250, so a great value.  I got my jars on Saturday and see how happy I am!

Here in Australia we also have Fowlers Vacola jars...however I find the start up costs for these jars to be astronomical and the amount of accessories you need is over the top.  The Ball Masons have been made in America for over 100 years and only consist of a jar, a lid and a band which screws on the lid.  The only thing you can only use once is the lid.  The other handy feature of these jars is that you can screw the band back onto the jar once you use it and put it in the fridge (whereas you need to purchase a plastic lid for the Vacola jars once the seal is opened).

Stay tuned for my first canning adventure!

Enjoy!
Kat

Make your own granola bars

Let's face it - granola (muesli) bars are a great afternoon snack when your mind is repeating the word "chocolate" every 1.5 minutes.  However, if you look at the ingredient list of 80% of the brands on the supermarket shelf, they contain a lot of extra sugar - most sinister is "high fructose corn syrup" - no thanks.

Making your own snackies are SO EASY and you can put whatever you want in them - blueberries, apricots, cherries, yes, even dark chocolate chips!  The best thing is - you know exactly what went into them and can adjust things like sweetness to your preference.  I used Alton Brown's recipe and it's baking right now!

Dry ingredients toasted nicely

Oatmeal, nuts, fruit and honey in sweet sweet harmony

All pressed into the pan and ready for the oven! Ps - wet your fingers, it makes it soo much easier

I made a few changes, though.  I have a 9X13 pan, so I multiplied everything by 1.5 to fit my bigger pan.  I also nixed the brown sugar, figuring that honey was enough - and it was.  When I tasted the mix, I still thought it was too sweet, so I'll use less honey next time.   Nevertheless - DELICIOUSNESS!  It's really important to let the bars stand after baking (overnight is good) to set properly...otherwise you'll have granola blobs.

I chose dried blueberries, almonds, hazelnuts and cashews for my granola bars - what will you choose?

Enjoy!
Kat

Make your own chic organizer wallet!

I've got too many cards and crap all mashed into one place in my tiny wallet.  It seems I've been in Perth long enough now to start to accumulate a few plastic cards, some gift vouchers and pictures etc - along with cash and coins.  Time to get organized.  In the spirit of self-sufficiency, and feeling like a challenge - I decided to make my own organizing wallet.  I scoured the internet for tutorials and found this gem, which you can find here.

The tutorial is super easy to follow with pictures at every step.  It only used less than 2 fat quarters (a fat quarter is one quarter of a square yard, or 18" x 22") of quilter's cotton and some heavy interfacing - probably about $10 worth of supplies.  I had a super cute fat quarter lying around in my sewing room that I was just dying to use.  If you've got a sewing machine and a bit of time (a few hours), why don't you give it a whirl?  I love my new wallet - check it out!

Sunday Shopping

Check out the gorgeous tops I got a Salvos for a grand total of $5!

Fantastic colours and perfect for the upcoming warm weather.  Goes to show you can by stylish and cahs savvy at the same time.  Next time you pass by a thrift shop - pop in!

Always enjoy,
Kat

Easiest pickles EVER

Yes, you can make yummy cucumber bread and butter pickles in your freezer!!

You'll need:

2 large cucumbers
1-2 tsp sea salt
A couple of shallots
1/2 cup or 120 ml Cider vinegar
About 2 tbsp sugar (you can adjust this to your liking)
Mustard or Celery seeds

Slice the cucumbers and shallots thinly and place in a bowl.

Sprinkle sea salt over the veggies, mix well, and leave on the counter for 2 hours to draw out the moisture in the cucumbers.

Rinse the veggies in a colander with cold water and press firmly to squeeze out all moisture.

 Mix the vinegar and sugar to your tastes to fully dissolve sugar and then add the spices.  Pour over the veggies, cover and leave overnight in the fridge.  

Put your pickles into plastic freezer containers or glass jars leaving a space at the top (approx. 1cm) and put in your freezer.

When you want pickles - pull one out and thaw!  Use thawed pickles within about a week - as if they'll last that long!!

There you go - an easy (and very cheap) way to make your own pickles.  And soooooo yum.

Always enjoy,
Kat

Good times and in bad

My partner owns this fabulous little book called "The Hard Times Handbook"

It's chalk full of practical advice on how to survive in hard times by growing your own food, making your own clothes, doing odd jobs, preserving cheap food etc etc.

Although this book offers great advice for truly hard times, it is a bit extreme for the majority of folks.  However, why not take the essence of this book and apply it during the 'good' times as well?  Why live 'frugally' when the money is good and the economy is humming?  Well, several reasons that I came up with:

1.  It's always good to have savings...and making your own saves you money.  With the recent volatility in the global stock markets, having a good savings cushion is always a good idea.  Plus, peace of mind is priceless.

2.  You learn  new skills.  Learning how to cook, bake, preserve, sew is fun and fulfilling.  When you get reasonably proficient you can easily make things to suit YOUR taste and preference and those of your family.

3.  Home grown anything is just tastier!  Hands down, a home grown tomato, carrot, pea is always going to be tastier than those that have been trucked thousands of kilometres.

4.  You know what went into what you made.

5.  Its just better for the planet.  I think we're now recognizing the consequences of the disposable society.  It feels good to do your bit and recycle that pair of jeans into some shorts or refashion that dress into a top.

'Loving what you have' is an art form - and will teach you to love yourself.

There you have it - 5 reasons to live within your means (or even slightly below!).  Do you have any more reasons why you think it's good to live frugally?  Do you disagree totally?  Feel free to answer in the comments!

Always Enjoy,
Kat

Sunday Shopping

I am a thriftaholic.  I love the thrill of shopping and not knowing what wonderful (and cheap!) things I'll find.  I also love to sew, which makes what I can buy almost limitless.  Too big?  Make it smaller!  Dress would look better as a top?  Cut it off!  This time I had pretty extraordinary luck, though.  Picked up a gorgeous silk blouse, genuine leather high boots and some fab jewellery...no alteration required.  Nice.  Check it out!

Well, apart from the jewellery pic being upsidedown...I had a pretty good trip, don't you think?  And all for under $50.  Why don't you set aside some time and browse your local thrift shop...you never know what you're going to find!

Always Enjoy,
Kat

Bag O' Apples

Our local fruit and veg shop has this section called "reduced produce", which I frequent, of course.  Here you can get a bag of delicious assorted pommes for cheap

Was that $2.99 for like 10 apples?  Cheap as!

What you do with said apples is your business, but may I suggest a delectable apple "strudel", which I put in quotes not to offend my German friends.  This "strudel" is as easy as 1,2,3...all you need besides your cheap as bag of apples is a box of filo pastry...like this!

Also a lemon you may or may not have 'stolen' from a neighbouring tree, some brown sugar, cinnamon and sultanas (if you like), oh and some butter (of course)

Preheat oven to 175 C

1.  Peel, core and chop 3 apples.  Sprinkle with a bit of lemon juice to avoid browning.  Throw in 2 tbsp of brown sugar, 1 tsp of cinnamon and a handful of sultanas.  Now, I don't like my desserts too sweet, so feel free to add more sugar...just taste and adjust to how you like it!  That's the beauty of doing it yourself...you get what YOU like!

2.  Unwrap your filo and remove about 6 paper thin sheets.  Lay these down on a cookie sheet.  Melt some butter in the microwave and drizzle over the filo.  Place the mixture on the filo like so.

Fold over the edges and roll up into a filo package filled with apply goodness. Make 4 or so slits on the top with a sharp knife - these help the steam escape and also help you to cut it without making a messy mess.

3.  Put in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until you can smell the apples cooking and the top is browned.  Ready for some food porn...oh yeah, I know you want it...

See, three steps (or so)...Remove from the oven and let cool for a bit...then tuck in!  Yum!  Great for breakfast too, if I do say so myself.

Always enjoy,
Kat

What's in season in Perth?

Ever wonder that?  Check this out!

http://seasonalfoodguide.com/perth-wa-seasonal-fresh-produce-guide-fruits-vegetables-in-season-availability-australia.html

Enjoy!
Kat

Buy a whole chook

I used to be a breast girl...you know, I used to buy 2 chicken breasts from the supermarket to throw in my curry/stir fry/etc etc that night and pay $15 for the privilege.  No longer!  We now buy a whole chicken...which costs me just as much and gives me 2 breasts, 2 legs, 2 wings and STOCK!  How's that for 14 bucks.  Deboning a chook is pretty easy...deboning a chook *properly* is probably more difficult.  Just take a sharp knife, pull each leg away from the body and cut it off...same with the wing.  The breasts come off remarkably easy if you just follow the contours of the bones with your knife.  After  removing the legs, wings and breasts, huck the remainder of the bird into a freezer bag or use right away for stock.

Stock (like everything else) takes infinitely better when home made.  And it's ridiculously easy.  Just throw the remaining bones (with some meat attached for flavour - I remove the fat too) into a large pot and almost cover with water.  Throw in a roughly sliced up carrot, onion and some celery tops if you have them.  I like to put in a couple of bay leaves and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  If you have fresh herbs...toss them in!  If not, you can use the dried italian herb mix just as well.

Bring it to a boil and let simmer for 4 hours.  Skim the fat off the top, pour it into some recycled jars (almost full but not quite), cap and put in the freezer.  Now you've got fresh home made stock on demand...Alternatively you can freeze in ice cube trays and just pop one or two in your rice to give it that extra burst of flavour.

I hope you see how buying a whole chook can save you money and make your cooking a whole lot tastier.  It takes a bit of extra time...but just a bit.  But, it's totally worth it :)

Enjoy,
Kat

How to make a meal out of 4 beet roots

We've got tonnes of beets planted in the garden as they are so lovely simply roasted with some olive oil or made into a beetroot pickle and jarred.  Having a Ukrainian heritage, I couldn't wait to unearth 4 of my lovely beets and feed two of us for VERY VERY cheap.  Ukrainians were not wealthy folk and traditionally ate from the land and used everything from the meat and vegetables they grew.  Beet roots went into making Borsch or beet soup, while the leaves were used to make beet leaf 'holupchi' or rice rolls.

I just love the taste of the beet leaves wrapped around clusters of rice, onions and butter.  Here are my family recipes:

Baba's Borsch
Beef stock (home made is best, but store bought works)
4 medium sized beets, grated
2 potatoes peeled and cubed
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/3 cabbage head, chopped (you can omit this if you don't like cabbage)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup white or red kidney beans (whatever is your favourite!)
1/2 cup mushrooms
1 tbsp fresh dill weed (this really makes the soup)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 sour cream

Bring stock to a boil, add beets, potatoes, tomatoes and season with black pepper - simmer 10 minutes.  Add cabbage and cook 10 minutes more.  Add rest of ingredients and let simmer for a good 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Let stand for 10 minutes and garnish each bowl with a nice healthy dollop of sour cream and some fresh dill.  Seriously, that's it.  I sometimes put cubed ham in, or green beans...whatever I have around the house.  Personally, I prefer the meat free version, but it's up to you!

Beet leaf holupchi
Rice Filling

2 cups rice

2 cups or less boiling water

2 teaspoons salt

1 medium onion, chopped fine

4 to 5 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper

Wash the rice well in a sieve until the water comes off clear. Add to the boiling water, stir in the salt, bring to a brisk boil, and let it cook for 1 minute. Cover, turn off the heat, and allow it to stand until the water is absorbed. The rice will be only partially cooked. Cook the onion in the fat until it is a light golden color. Mix with the rice and season to taste with salt and pepper. The filling for holubtsi should be well seasoned because some of the seasoning will be absorbed by the leaves, giving a flat taste to the finished product. Cool the filling.

 Wash all of the leaves from your 4 beets and shake off any excess water.  Harvest beets when large and mature to make sure you have enough leaves - if not, just harvest some leaves from beets that are still in the ground (I'm sure they won't mind!) Blanch the mature leaves with boiling water, just enough to wilt them for easier handling.  When the leaves are small and very tender, 2 or 3 of them may be needed for each roll. Take one large leaf (or a few smaller ones) and place a tbsp or so of rice in the bottom centre at the widest part of the leaf.  Fold the long edges over the rice ball and then fold the bottom up.  Roll the leaf to make a small rice filled beet leaf package!! Keep doing this until all beet leaves are used up.  Line a casserole dish with the unusable beet leaves and then place your rolls in - one next to the other - until the bottom is full.  

Then, if you have more, just stack them on top of eachother.  Sprinkle each layer with some salt and a splash of lemon juice/vinegar - this adds flavour to the dish.

Add a little bit of heated water not to cover the holubtsi…but enough to make steam and cook them - essentially enough to cover the bottom of the roaster so they don’t dry out.  Sprinkle some lemon juice or vinegar. When you are finished, cover with another layer of beet leaves to prevent burning.  

Cover (with the top of the roaster or some aluminium foil) and cook at 350 degrees F or 175 degrees C for 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until the filling is done. Check after one hour. Serve hot with sour cream.

There you have it - seems like a bit of work, but let me tell you, it's so worth it.  These two recipes will be enough to feed a small family for pennies a dish.  

Super YUM!

Enjoy,

Kat

The lemon glut

It is lemon season in Perth with work colleagues bringing bags and bags of lemons to work in the hopes that some generous person will take them off their hands.  But you think..."What could I possibly do with all those lemons?"  Here are an idea I've tried and it has turned out beautifully:

Lemon and Lime Marmalade
I like my marmalade zesty!  This one fits the bill nicely...

Approximately 250g each of lemons and limes (about 2 large lemons and 3 large limes)
1 orange
500g granulated sugar
A square of muslin or an fresh, unused kitchen cloth (I used a disposable & biodegradable kitchen wipe)
A few recycled jam jars
Waxed paper and plastic wrap
An elastic

Remove zest (no white stuff!!) from all fruit and shred it finely with a knife.  Remove all white pith from fruit, and reserve.  Chop the fruit up roughly, remove any thick membranes and place any seeds with the reserved white pith.  Put the white pith and seeds into the middle of your cloth and tie it up to make a small bag.

Place zest into a heavy-bottomed sauce pan (if you have one...I didn't use one and it turned out fine...just stir it) along with 1 L of water and the bag o' pith.  Add the chopped fruit and simmer on low heat for approximately 1 hour to soften the peel.

Yes, yes, you do see a fair amount of pith...which does make me a bit of a hypocrite, but no one's perfect and it was still uber tasty!

Clean and sterilize your jars.  The easiest way I know how to do this is clean with hot soapy water, invert on a cookie sheet to dry and then place in the oven at 140 degrees C or 275 degrees F for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on your counter top.  Best to do this now, and not way ahead of time to maintain sterility of your jars.

When simmering is done, remove the bag (squeezing to get out all the pithy goodness) and put it into your food scraps bucket (will do nicely in the compost due to the biodegradability of the cloth).  Add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved.  Bring back to a boil and boil rapidly for about 20 minutes or until set.  But how do you know when it is set?  Two ways, really.

1.  The back of the spoon test
Place some marmalade in a small bowl.  Dig in with your wooden spoon and scoop some up.  Hold the  spoon above the bowl to cool and then tip it to allow the marmalade to fall off.  Does it stream off the spoon like sugary water?  Not done.  Heat some more.  Or does it flake/dribble off in chunks?  Ready.  Stop boiling!
2.  The plate test
Chill a plate in the fridge.  Place some marmalade on the chilled plate and wait for a minute.  Drag your finger through the marmalade...does it wrinkle up and can you make a path with your finger? It's ready!

I found 20 minutes was sufficient for a set.

Once 'ready', let your marmalade rest so it forms a skin and then ladle into clean and sterilized jars.  Top each with a wax paper square and then some plastic wrap with an elastic band to seal it all in.  You could also use the lid of the jar, just sterilize it as well.

There you go!  A couple jars of beautiful home made marmalade!  Easy eh?  The flavour does improve with time, I've found...but it's hard not to dig in right now :)  Next time, I shall make more!

Next on the agenda is preserved lemons...but that's another post...

Enjoy,
Kat

How it all got started

Our garden has changed the way I think about food, self sufficiency and 'food security'.  I supposed I've recognized how much control we've given over to large supermarket chains, clothing retailers, and China's manufacturing juggernaut.  I'm not fanatical about organic, nor do I necessarily disagree with genetic modification, but I do think we need to slow down a bit and take back control.  How you march with your dollars is THE driving force in the economy and you CAN change things with simply the way you spend your money.  This blog will take you on my journey from 'buy it' to 'make it' and hopefully self-sufficiency.  

It started with our little rented villa in Perth...

I'm a Canadian living in Perth with my partner. When I first arrived we needed to find a place together and stumbled upon a lovely little villa in not quite suburbia but not quite urbania either.  5 km from the city, 10 km from work and 2 minutes from the grocery store...perfect.  But the jewel in the crown was the large back yard and the shed (the former being a requirement of both of us, the latter a necessity for my handyman fiancé).

The back yard was wood chips and a bit of concrete paving.  So, the first thing we did was collect all the chips in a pile, make a few garden beds and get on the phone to "Jim's Mowing".  You see, Perth has - how do I say this - substrate rather than soil.  It's ALL sand...I couldn't quite believe it when I moved her, but it's true.  And plants don't like growing in sand...unless you have a hydroponics operation - which we don't.  Jim's Mowing drops off bags of grass clippings to our doorstep every week, which my partner diligently empties out, piles up and turns regularly.  If you live in a reasonably well to do neighbourhood, your neighbours have just kindly provided you with all the fertilizer you'll ever need in those little grassy clippings.  They make lovely compost - and free at that.

Here's how you do it:  Call up your local mowing company, get them to drop off grass clippings in the bags, empty the bags into a giant pile and turn the pile every week.  This works best in summer for the rotting process to occur - so in a few weeks (depending on the weather) you've got compost.  You know when it's done because it will smell earthy and not sour.  Sure, it may be stinky when you turn the pile, but it doesn't last.  When it's done spread it in the garden and turn it in (turning in is quite important).  About 2.5 cubic meters will be enough for a 4m x 4m garden bed.  Let it sit for a few days and then get planting!  This should last you for about 12 months until you have to compost again.  Here is our pile, all the garden ends we don't use go here too:

We started planting and have already gone through one crop of tomatoes, rockmelons, lettuce and capsicums.  But, that was a few months ago...so I shall start from where we are now - winter.  Coming from Canada I'm amazed that anything grows throughout winter, but the plants seem to be ok - not growing super fast - but ok.  Here are some of our winter veggies and herbs:

Strawberry flowers!

If you want to get gardening in Australia, I highly recommend the book "The Australian Fruit and Vegetable Garden" by the Digger's Club...lots of useful information about planting times for your part of the country, soil types etc...

Be sure to stay tuned for handy information about preserving all those lovely veggies and make use of the cheap seasonal produce in the supermarket.  It's easier than you think and can, make that 'will' save you a load of money.  Preserving is a dying art, among many - but I want to change that.

Until next time,
Kat