Time Savers

Well this is certainly something I love to talk about as I am always looking for time savers around the home. The first one that comes to mind though today is a 'cannot do without item' in my kitchen, although, I have been without it and coped quite ok. And it is .....

...my Thermomix.

It is my hubby's birthday tomorrow and tonight we are having dinner at his parent's home along with his siblings and their other halves. As D2 and D3 will be home late from work and staying in tonight I am cooking them Tuna Mornay Bake. While the pasta is cooking etc I am off around doing other things ready to go out (including this blog). The whole dish only took me about 20 mins in the kitchen.

There is it baking until golden brown. The girls will have it with steamed silverbeet and broccoli and there will be enough for the 4 of us for dinner tommorrow night.

I am going to put my lippy on, have a great weekend....Dot

Colour

Hello!! It's a beautiful sunny day here today in Tasmania with a bit of breeze to go with it. Yesterday I added some more colour into my life, in the form of....

...a bright blue cast iron multi pan. It can be used as a casserole, saucepan and frypan. The frypan part sold me as I was looking for a small cast iron pan to make my crepes each weekend. The whole package was just $49.95 at Harris Scarfe.

Looking forward to better tasting crepes on Saturday.

I am going out soon to enjoy some of this great day....Dot

Nature

When I think of nature I love to get out in my veggie patch. It is a fenced off area out in our back yard. This time of year (Spring) is a very productive as the ground is warming up. 

 

 

 

The pot of parsley is growing well and is a bright healthy green.

 

 

Along the side of the fence is also a vibrant pot of oregano

 

 

I put an old, worn-out wheelbarrow to use and planted some peas. The wire is in place to deter the birds from eating the seed before they have time to surface for me.

 

 

We have been enjoying silverbeet for a while now in salads or just steamed.

 

 

Nestled in with the pretty snaps are sage, garlic chives and thyme. The pot contains ginger which hasn't come out yet.

 



After a long day, I am off to bed...Dot

 

Makes You Think

My weekly meal planner sits on the bench in the centre of the kitchen. Every few days I note down what we are having at meal times. The first place I check at the start of the week is the Family Calendar and my daily planner to see what is on during the week as it usually determines what is put on the plate. Next I go to the fridge and see what is in there to use up.

Last Sunday I cooked up a huge spaghetti bolognaise and so we have been eating that since. The last 2 serves will be gone tomorrow as only 2 of the family will be here for lunch. D3 and I are off to the coast to have her car serviced. Because we are out tomorrow night it is a quick meal planned for dinner when we get home, Curry & Coconut Cannellini on rice.

Some things are set in concrete, for example, crepes on Saturday morning. If, for some reason, we are unable to have the crepes, hubby is sorely dissappointed as he has to wait until the next Saturday. Its easy to make up some soup each day for lunch with crackers and dip if there are not any leftovers. I make up a different soup recipe each time so that we have plenty of variety in our diet. Because we have 2 birthdays this week we are eating out a few times with family. Usually for dinner we try to have salad or steamed vegetables, or both, along with a protein.

A peak into my fridge. It is well supplied for a few days with fresh goods and leftovers.

I value the time taken to plan meals this way and feel a sense of achievment when at the end of the day there is less waste, satisfied stomachs and a balanced budget.

Tomorrow we venture outside. Until then, don't think too hard for too long...Dot

Happy

Happy today consisted of:

enjoying the sun streaming through the kitchen window while we enjoyed eggs on toast with fresh fruit.

I was very happy to see the line full of clean washing with a warm wind speed of 42km per hour enabling me to get the clothes off and folded by lunch time.

 

We had a time of skype with our WA family, I got some gardening done as it was lovely outside. We have some rain coming soon too, lots, the radar shows a huge green cloud coming towards us.

 

Must go now and prepare some tea, only need to cook up some vegetables as we have left over spagetti bolognaise.

 

Hope your day has been full of happy things today....Dot

 

 

Make lists

I like to make lists and the main places to find them in are the kitchen, the office, my handbag (daily planner and iphone). I won't bore you with them ALL, I am going to share only a few with you.

A few years ago my girlfriend from school days gave me this lovely Birthday Calendar. Because it is only includes the month and day it has been used year after year. Today I posted Auntie Joan gift as her birthday falls next Tuesday. I had crocheted her a dish cloth and made her a card. All the remaining gifts for this months birthdays have been wrapped except for one; still coming in the mail.

I keep a list of each years giving in the back of an old diary. This way I don't repeat gifts and also know what I have given. Its a good way to remember and leave room for more creativity.

(I only showed a portion of my list as it would give too much away, girls!!!)

And on the opposite page I have a Christmas List. I just had a look back and I have been doing these lists for five years. It makes for interesting reading. As I pick things up when I am out shopping etc I add them to the list and put the items in a big crate in the cupboard.

Have a great weekend. Ours is a long one and we have a list to get through...Dot

A Creative Space

For this month I am doing a month of #mycreativespace. I was encouraged to do this by my daughter in WA. I will be only posting on Monday to Fridays and having the weekend to collect new thoughts and be able to keep up with other household duties.
Today I want to show you a couple of pictures of my creative space at home. I do have many places I would call creative but for now I will just share these 2 with you.

A couple of years ago I moved my sewing table up from the basement and set it up in this corner of the lounge room. It is nice and warm here in winter, sunny in the summer and where most of the family hang out. Currently I am taking in jeans for my daughter and taking up work trousers for my husband.

To top it off, to the right of my sewing corner is this beaut cupboard space. It sits behind the fridge in the kitchen. When I had my new kitchen installed, one of the labourers pointed out the space to me and suggested a cupboard and of course I jumped at it. It is perfect. There are a lot of 'ufo's' in there along with 'new things to do'. There is always something to do!!!