Breakfast: Omelette (for the boys and I), weetbix for Princess
Lunch: Cruskits with chilli sauce or marmite and cheese; hot chips from the shop,
fruit
Dinner: Domino's Pizza...bought 4 pizzas so we can put 2 in the freezer and not pay
the surcharge on Easter Sunday (next week), and homemade boysenberry ice
cream (yum!)
Snacks: Homemade sourdough and jam, popcorn, cruskits, apples, pears
What did I do today?
Baked Sourdough...Check.
Made Boysenberry ice cream...Check.
Made yoghurt...Check (won't be ready until 6pm tomorrow)
Got flour ready to make muffins tomorrow...Check.
Got porridge ready for hte morning...Check.
Made sugar-free tomato sauce...Check.
Made Chicken Casserole for dinner tomorrow...Check.
In the kitchen basically all day...Check.
But at least I'm organised :0)
Sunday, April 5, 2009
It worked!
Oh my goodness...the sourdough worked!
It tasted yummy... I had been warned the kiddos might not enjoy it for some time- but Princess liked it right away (with butter and strawberry jam,sweetened with concentrated fruit juice).
I am like the sourdough queen...going to pinch the title of Karen before I know it.
I've got one half-eaten delicious loaf there, and another one ready to bake in the morning, and my starter just needs to get bubbly and then I can get that ready tomorrow as well.
I can;t quite believe how easy it is...I was sure mine wouldn't work first time, but it did!
So I don't need to buy yeast any more...how cool is that? (Actually, nearly every jar of yeast I've ever bought, I've needed to tip out before I finished it all).
J-Man hasn't tried it yet, dh enjoyed it- though is still bewildered by all the changes around here.
It tasted yummy... I had been warned the kiddos might not enjoy it for some time- but Princess liked it right away (with butter and strawberry jam,sweetened with concentrated fruit juice).
I am like the sourdough queen...going to pinch the title of Karen before I know it.
I've got one half-eaten delicious loaf there, and another one ready to bake in the morning, and my starter just needs to get bubbly and then I can get that ready tomorrow as well.
I can;t quite believe how easy it is...I was sure mine wouldn't work first time, but it did!
So I don't need to buy yeast any more...how cool is that? (Actually, nearly every jar of yeast I've ever bought, I've needed to tip out before I finished it all).
J-Man hasn't tried it yet, dh enjoyed it- though is still bewildered by all the changes around here.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
It's all happening here...
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See my kitchen bench, lol...
It has sour dough waiting to rise...2 dessertspoons of last week's yoghurt, waiting for the milk to get warm so I can make some more...another lot of sourdough just at stage 2 (added 1/2C of water and flour)...3C wholemeal flour mixed with 2C of homemade yoghurt, soaking for 12 hours so I can make blueberry muffins tomorrow...
And then there is what you can't see...I have another boiler chicken in the crockpot with onion, garlic, kumara, carrot, celery, bay leaves, lemon and salt & pepper.
I also have homemade custard (well, egg yolks, raw milk, raw cream and xylitol) and sieved and reduced boysenberries getting ready to make ice cream.
There's a loaf of sourdough bread waiting for it's final rise...not sure if it will rise though- I only just realised I haven't been using the non-chlorine water after the first addition...DOH!
We've had omelette for breakfast, and Princess is still getting to her weetbix (11:30am) because she is busy making Easter cards for all of us. Tombliboo is enjoying a Curious George movie, stopping every few minutes for more milk, or to check what I'm up to.
dh has taken J-Man off to the Games Workshop with his friend J12 to paint LOTR figures. It helps that it's daylight savings today (we got an extra hour), and also that I have been up since 6am, but still I'm tickled with how much I'm getting done :0)
Oh, I've even drawn up a shopping list for Tuesday and done some tidying, checked e-mails, played my little game, and all sorts...but I am tired!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Saturday, day 4 week 3
Breakfast: Porridge with honey (and cream), and xylitol for the littlies...dh put half
as much honey on twice as much porridge as I did and declared it delicious.
Mine, otoh and rather obviously probably, was disgustingly sweet and tasted
only of honey.
Btw, our honey is from a friends' bees...it has all the good bits still in,
including propolis which has almost magical healing properties. I hope to
find ways to get that in to the kids to avoid winter coughs and colds.
Lunch: At a birthday party...there was masses of barbecued meat which the kids
(especially Princesss) thoroughly enjoyed. They also ate cucumber,
lettuce (J-Man), carrots and cherry tomatoes. Without any discussion on
the matter they avoided white bread rolls, which surprised me somewhat.
It got a bit worse with birthday cake to follow, and jelly, but they ate
very little since they were having too much fun on a bouncy castle.
Then it got really bad with a party bag overloaded with mini chocolates
and biscuits etc. It would have been a lot to share between 3 kids, but
they got one each!
I felt a bit gutted that we have tried hard to avoid treats this week, and
it's a bit undone...but then I got real, and remembered they have eaten
rubbish for years and one more day won't be any worse..except it's not a
day's worth of treats (more like a month's, lol).
The dentist I used to work for said it is preferable to eat loads of
lollies at once than a little over a long period...so I tried to encourage
them to eat as many as they liked...and also offered to buy the sweets off
them for 50c each. Josh took 50C and Princess took $3...her's are nearly
gone now- hooray :0)
Dinner: Nachoes
Snacks: lollies all over the place
In other news, my first attempt at catching a sourdough starter is going great! If I have done it right (and I think I have) it is dead easy...
I've taken off the first lot, and added flour to it, kneaded it and rolled little mounds into mini pizzas. I've cooked them in an electric fry pan, and don't have nay idea what they taste like, but hope it will be something snackified for having with jam or honey.
I added more flour and water to the starter, and am waiting for it to increase in size by 50% and get all bubbly...then the next time it does the same, we'll be ready to make our first loaf of bread :0)
as much honey on twice as much porridge as I did and declared it delicious.
Mine, otoh and rather obviously probably, was disgustingly sweet and tasted
only of honey.
Btw, our honey is from a friends' bees...it has all the good bits still in,
including propolis which has almost magical healing properties. I hope to
find ways to get that in to the kids to avoid winter coughs and colds.
Lunch: At a birthday party...there was masses of barbecued meat which the kids
(especially Princesss) thoroughly enjoyed. They also ate cucumber,
lettuce (J-Man), carrots and cherry tomatoes. Without any discussion on
the matter they avoided white bread rolls, which surprised me somewhat.
It got a bit worse with birthday cake to follow, and jelly, but they ate
very little since they were having too much fun on a bouncy castle.
Then it got really bad with a party bag overloaded with mini chocolates
and biscuits etc. It would have been a lot to share between 3 kids, but
they got one each!
I felt a bit gutted that we have tried hard to avoid treats this week, and
it's a bit undone...but then I got real, and remembered they have eaten
rubbish for years and one more day won't be any worse..except it's not a
day's worth of treats (more like a month's, lol).
The dentist I used to work for said it is preferable to eat loads of
lollies at once than a little over a long period...so I tried to encourage
them to eat as many as they liked...and also offered to buy the sweets off
them for 50c each. Josh took 50C and Princess took $3...her's are nearly
gone now- hooray :0)
Dinner: Nachoes
Snacks: lollies all over the place
In other news, my first attempt at catching a sourdough starter is going great! If I have done it right (and I think I have) it is dead easy...
I've taken off the first lot, and added flour to it, kneaded it and rolled little mounds into mini pizzas. I've cooked them in an electric fry pan, and don't have nay idea what they taste like, but hope it will be something snackified for having with jam or honey.
I added more flour and water to the starter, and am waiting for it to increase in size by 50% and get all bubbly...then the next time it does the same, we'll be ready to make our first loaf of bread :0)
More tWeAKinG...
This week I've discovered, well it's not entirely new to me, but this week I know for sure, my children prefer plain. That is, they like meat, spuds and three vege (well, not J-Man)...but generally speaking, if the meat is plain it will be eaten, if it's not- it won't be...or it won't be eaten by the children.
So the next plan is to buy more meat. The meat I buy is such a small amount fora family of 5 that I make it go further by adding sauces and so on- I think I'll try just buying more meat, also in the hope that there will be leftover met for lunch the next day- particularly for Princess who seems to need it.
Or at least, it is something she loves to eat, and won't hurt her teeth...so best to have it in larger amounts. I'm a bit conflicted about that, and not sure how long the *next* new regime will last, but there it is...
Next thing...dh came home last night with the news that his job will not exist in around 5 weeks. My first thought was that it wasn't so bad since we plan to move soon anyway...but realistically we are not ready to go even a week wihtout a job. The savings we do have are for a small, cheap car, and the holiday pay he will be owed was air-marked for our movers (we are moving 3.5 hrs away).
Obviously all the money-saving ideas in the world won't come up with rent for us or enough to buy groceries, so we need a job...asap.
dh never as much trouble getting a job, but getting one for 5-9 weeks is something different. He will look at possibly getting a contract. I could work at the local shops, but again- who would hire someone just for a few weeks (when it's not Christmas, lol)?
I am welcome back at my old job any time, but with an hour and 15 minute drive each way (best case scenario) it really isn't worth considering.
The best idea I can come up with at the moment, is that dh moves up north after his job winds up, gets a job there, and we come when the house is done.
That of course isn't very good family-wise, or even a guarantee that there will be a job for him in the little town we are moving to...but it seems the best solution to me (less than 24 hours after the news).
We'll just keep thinking of plans, and get more info on the final details about the last day of work at a meeting next Thursday. Right now the aim is to not spend anything if we can help it...and yet, there are things we *could* buy immediately that all seem very valid, so we're not sure how that will go :0)
So the next plan is to buy more meat. The meat I buy is such a small amount fora family of 5 that I make it go further by adding sauces and so on- I think I'll try just buying more meat, also in the hope that there will be leftover met for lunch the next day- particularly for Princess who seems to need it.
Or at least, it is something she loves to eat, and won't hurt her teeth...so best to have it in larger amounts. I'm a bit conflicted about that, and not sure how long the *next* new regime will last, but there it is...
Next thing...dh came home last night with the news that his job will not exist in around 5 weeks. My first thought was that it wasn't so bad since we plan to move soon anyway...but realistically we are not ready to go even a week wihtout a job. The savings we do have are for a small, cheap car, and the holiday pay he will be owed was air-marked for our movers (we are moving 3.5 hrs away).
Obviously all the money-saving ideas in the world won't come up with rent for us or enough to buy groceries, so we need a job...asap.
dh never as much trouble getting a job, but getting one for 5-9 weeks is something different. He will look at possibly getting a contract. I could work at the local shops, but again- who would hire someone just for a few weeks (when it's not Christmas, lol)?
I am welcome back at my old job any time, but with an hour and 15 minute drive each way (best case scenario) it really isn't worth considering.
The best idea I can come up with at the moment, is that dh moves up north after his job winds up, gets a job there, and we come when the house is done.
That of course isn't very good family-wise, or even a guarantee that there will be a job for him in the little town we are moving to...but it seems the best solution to me (less than 24 hours after the news).
We'll just keep thinking of plans, and get more info on the final details about the last day of work at a meeting next Thursday. Right now the aim is to not spend anything if we can help it...and yet, there are things we *could* buy immediately that all seem very valid, so we're not sure how that will go :0)
Friday- Day 4, week 3
Breakfast: Porridge...with raw honey/blueberries/xylitol...Princess doesn't like the
sweet of the honey, or the taste of blueberries in porridge, but is happy
with xylitol. She had a big cry over no more brown sugar, but I think
it was more a culmination of grief over all the proposed changes. She
knows we're in it together- that she doesn't have to do this alone, and
there are plenty of things she can have that she likes to eat, and won't
hurt her teeth. I cooked her a piece of bacon and she had it in our last
piece of bread.
Lunch: Salad with chillibeans, cheese and sour cream for me (yum!), salad for
Salad for J-Man, salad veges and fruit for Princess and Tombliboo
Dinner: Creamy Pasta with onion, bacon and mushrooms...was going to be on brown
rice, but got some bad news and felt like we didn't need to try something
different tonight.
Snacks: Cruskits with marmite and cheese (grilled...yum!), popcorn, apples,
pears, nashi pears, frozen blueberries, dried cranberries
Had a hard time today knowing there are chocolates in the cupboard (for Easter) and thinking it wouldn't hurt to have some of them (there's tonnes)...but persevered- veyr cool :0)
sweet of the honey, or the taste of blueberries in porridge, but is happy
with xylitol. She had a big cry over no more brown sugar, but I think
it was more a culmination of grief over all the proposed changes. She
knows we're in it together- that she doesn't have to do this alone, and
there are plenty of things she can have that she likes to eat, and won't
hurt her teeth. I cooked her a piece of bacon and she had it in our last
piece of bread.
Lunch: Salad with chillibeans, cheese and sour cream for me (yum!), salad for
Salad for J-Man, salad veges and fruit for Princess and Tombliboo
Dinner: Creamy Pasta with onion, bacon and mushrooms...was going to be on brown
rice, but got some bad news and felt like we didn't need to try something
different tonight.
Snacks: Cruskits with marmite and cheese (grilled...yum!), popcorn, apples,
pears, nashi pears, frozen blueberries, dried cranberries
Had a hard time today knowing there are chocolates in the cupboard (for Easter) and thinking it wouldn't hurt to have some of them (there's tonnes)...but persevered- veyr cool :0)
Thursday, day 3 week 3
Breakfast: Porridge with brown sugar (and cream)...noticing a pattern?
Lunch: Salad for J-Man and I, salad veges and fruit for Princess and Tombliboo
Dinner: Steak, homemade chips and salad (or salad veges)
Snacks: Apples, pears, frozen blueberries, cheese, cruskits
Lunch: Salad for J-Man and I, salad veges and fruit for Princess and Tombliboo
Dinner: Steak, homemade chips and salad (or salad veges)
Snacks: Apples, pears, frozen blueberries, cheese, cruskits
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