Plastic Free July

It is that time of year again. This was something that I really wanted to get involved in last year but it seemed to coincide with leaving Australia. During a seven hour transit in Kuala Lumpur, it was difficult not to buy a bottle of water.

My annoyance at the consumption of single-use plastic isn't a new topic, in fact it was the topic of the first real post I ever wrote. Not only is the production of single-use straws, cups, cutlery and bags a huge drain on the earth's resources, but the disposal, or just as regularly littering, causes problems on the land, in the oceans and waterways, as well at to so many animals.

Strawwars.org from Myoo on Vimeo.

Plastic Free July is a great way to commit to reducing your use of plastic. When signing up, you can start with something such as reducing you consumption of plastic in one shopping trip up to an entire month. As usual the Earthcarers think of everything and provide great support for those who feel a little uncertain. I am particularly looking forward to a talk by Jude Blereau on Wholefood Cooking - Plastic Free in a fortnight. No matter where you are, feel free of join. I was just reading that someone from Egypt has joined!

For some, eliminating plastic completely may seem too huge a challenge. Encouraging those around us to reduce their use of these products is a great way to raise their awareness.

I've signed up.

Take care

Please feel free to add your comfort food link to this post.

Wet and Wild Week

It has been a pretty wild week here on the southwest coast of Australia. A storm hit here on Sunday and another one followed on Tuesday night. We are pretty sheltered where we live, so we didn't get any damage. The only cleanup we have will involve a rake: nice and easy.

The rainfall has been quite substantial so everything is looking lovely and green.

The peppery rocket is still growing, and regrowing, and regrowing.

The beetroot are coming along nicely. 

The broadbeans will need restaking this weekend. With all of this rainwater, these are thriving.

Coriander usually goes to seed really quickly for me, so this year I bought a plant, rather than planting seeds or seedlings, and it is doing really well. 

The lime tree is loving the rainwater as it is covered in lots of buds. Luckily none of the fruit we blown off during the winds.

The girls are loving the aftermath of the rain. There are heaps of grubs around the yard. 

I hope that any of you in WA are okay and didn't get much damage from the strong winds. It looks as thought winter is finally here.

Please make sure to join in by adding any of recent comfort food links to the previous post. It is wonderful to see what in going on in other kitchens.

Take care

Comfort Food

Now the we are officially 10 days into winter, the rain has set in for a week or so. Yay!

A wintery Sunday always makes me think back to childhood and the pot of soup on a low heat, ready for whoever was needing to warm themselves from the inside. Now that I am one of the responsible adults in the house (apparently) providing that cool weather sustenance is now my responsibility.

The flavour of choice for this weekend is tomato.

With some tomatoes purchased this morning from the Stirling Farmers' Market and some turkish bread left over from yesterday, this is sure to keep out the cold.

Please click on the Add a Link button below to share the comfort foods you are cooking in your home. This will be open for a week.

Take care

A Sigh of Relief

The title of this post has changed in my head several times over the last few hours. "The Night We Didn't Get Much Sleep", " Chicken Searching by Torchlight" or "The One That Got Away".

Last night we were a little late in checking the girls were in bed so by the time we got out to the yard, we found three of four of them huddled under the tarp next to the coop. Normally they put themselves to bed but the door had closed so they weren't able to get themselves into their warm, dry, nesting boxes. This began the late-night search of the yard. That was when we came across the first sign that something wasn't quite right.

We searched under trees and shrubs, in the cubby, we even tried looking in very understanding neighbours' backyards. The anxiety levels were getting higher and higher as the minutes went on. After about half an hour, there was nowhere left to look. We decided that something untoward had happened. Many tears were shed and appetites had disappeared by the time we all cuddled together on the lounge.

It took a while for everyone to get to sleep with all the 'what ifs' and thinking through the possibilities of what had happened to Ruffle. The events of Mrs Bok kept running through my mind.

During the night there were a few games of musical beds as people woke from restless sleeps.

I was first awake this morning so thought I should probably check the yard before either of the kiddoes ventured out there. The last thing I wanted them to find was part of a chicken, or one of the other girls dead from the fright of whatever had happened the night before.

I opened the back door and headed out to the yard to find a gorgeous white chicken pacing the wrong side of the fence, wanting to get back in with the girls. I picked her up and brought her back into the house to show the waking children that we still had a flock of four. Everyone squealed with delight to see her in one piece.

Ruffle watching over the rest of the girls.

Our theory about the feathers in the yard is that a dove fell victim to a cat, and that spooked the chickens. We have no idea where she got through the fence but will be doing another wander around looking for any gaps.

We are all so relieved that there has been a happy ending to this.

Take care

Late Night Snack

It is amazing how dinner time changes when kids are involved. In that other life, before children, we regularly ate at irregular times. Over the years, 6pm has become the time I aim to get the evening meal on the table, even now the kiddoes are in double figures. The only problem I find with this is that a few hours later, I have a hankering for a 'wee snackette'. This generally results in a quick trip to the late night supermarket for some 'milk' (code word for chocolate or chips) by one of us.

Looking into the pantry and finding a great selection of nuts, seeds and dried fruit inspired the making of a quick little snack. I ground some almonds, chia, sunflower seeds, oatbran, cocao powder and sesame seeds into a powder and then added some dates, that I have soaked in hot water, and a handful of raisin. In the food processor these all came together really well. Normally I would roll small spoonfuls into balls and coat with coconut but I wasn't feeling that inspired. A quick sprinkle of coconut over the base of a tray, before pressing the mixture out and sprinkling some more coconut, turned the fruit balls into a fruit slice. A perfect accompaniment for re-watching Gavin and Stacey.

One of favourite ingredients is usually sulphite free apricots but these are so good that all I found in the pantry was an empty packet. I think this would even work well with the grittiness of dried figs.

What do you have as a late night snack? 

Take care

Weekend Chickening

I love a long weekend.

I have been meaning to get to the Lockridge Community Garden for many months now, but as it is about 20 kilometres away, I never seem to be organised enough to get there. After reading about a workshop they had planned, this was the motivation needed to go and have a look.

Welcome signs written in a variety of languages are attached to one of the raised beds.

These gorgeous little eggplant made me envious (and hungry).

The workshop we attended was on keeping backyard chickens, and took place out in the wonderful grounds in a limestone amphitheatre. For an hour and a half we listened to the great advice of the speaker and useful tips of other chicken owners who attended. (It sounds like Neem Oil is something we should have on hand).

After some extensive reading of two great books, The Chook Book and The Joy of Keeping Chickens, I now feel that by going along and hearing someone talk about these topics that we are on the right track regarding animal husbandry.

One of the highlights for me was seeing the treatment of scaly leg mite. Seeing this first hand certainly made me feel more confident if I ever need to try this on our girls.

Our girls seem very relaxed and happy wandering around the yard and finding somewhere for a dust bath. After this photo I quickly decided to harvest the crop of three chillies remembering Gavin's experience with chickens and chillies.

Take care

The First Day of Winter

As the calendar flicks over to 1 June, I have spent the morning looking for the switch around here that turns the rain on and the temperature down. It must be hidden behind something as I don't seem to be able to find it. I think I need to go and have words with the trees too. Don't they know that all the leaves should be off by now?

We were fortunate enough to have some rain yesterday (as well as an amazing electrical storm) so everything looks extra green this morning. Being Friday, the night when we all just want to curl up and take it pretty easy, I thought a change from the regular homemade pizza was in order. With the spinach looking amazing, tonight's menu will be Spinach and Cheese Rolls. Some feta, cheddar and spinach (as well as an egg and some seasoning) rolled up in some puff pastry should keep everyone happy.

Hopefully this is the beginning of winter comfort food cooking.

What's on your Friday night menu?

Take care