WELCOME to my BLOG

Hi there!

I’m slowly working towards some simplicity within the home, but hey! It’s a lot of hard work!

I love having a go at growing my own veges and always use herbs fresh from my garden. I try to plant from seed whenever I can and have learnt to save and share my own seed for the following year. I make Award Winning preserves and pickles; and my husband brews Award Winning boutique beers as well. I love to stockpile and try to limit quick trips to the shops. I dabble in bread making and enjoy making my own stocks too.

I enjoy feeding my family good hearty meals, nothing like those tiny restaurant stacks you have to look for on the plate. My husband maintains our vehicles and machinery and we both enjoy fabricating on a small scale mostly relying on metal & timber recyclers for any materials needed.


While I don’t always have time to reply to comments, I love reading them. I hope you enjoy your stay and I hope you learn something new because I love sharing what I learn, and I'm always looking for another new skill myself.

Cheers!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Vinegars & foods marked down.

I made the Pineapple vinegar I was talking about this morning.... I also made a fruit vinegar...



With the Pineapple vinegar I only had half a pineapple so I made up 500mls of water with 1/8 cup of sugar... I also made a fruit vinegar as well, which included a peach with a bruise cut off, a bunch of grapes that had seen better days, using the good ones that were left, half a nectarine and a sliver of pineapple skin.....

I just have to wait now for them to mature....hope they are nice vinegars...I have never tried anything besides White, Brown, Malt and Apple Cider..and those are from the shops.

Check out this fish...ugly isn't it, it is called a Sergeant Baker....also known as a Mother-In-Law fish...or the fish that you give to your MIL. If you listen to the local fishermen, they say, "Chuck it back, there's plenty better in that ocean than them stinkin' things."
I have seen on many occasions where Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall has pledged to make 'ugly' fish more palatable. Well this is my quest...to give this fella some meaning to his little life. Oh, and to make him yummy. I'm talking about the red one at the back of the photo.


When he is first caught, his red fins stand tall and ready to spike you....
Fishermen say they have too many bones to deal with. 

Here is how I cooked the Sergeant Baker 
Cut into 3 pieces to fit comfortably in the pot.


Add to the pan, 6-8 pepper corns, 1 tablespoon of salt, 3 Bay Leaves, 2 quartered lemons...
(if you look closely at the lemon skin, there is no lemon skin as I had previously used this lemon for lemon rind, and kept the lemon in the fridge for later use). 


Cover with cold water and cook slowly, until flesh falls easily from the bone. 

Carefully remove all flesh from the bones.
Look how much flesh I got from one ugly fish.


I sometimes do my shopping around 8pm at night, there are no crowds, just the night packers.
I find it easier to stay focused on the shopping list when I can hear myself think....
I have been collecting my receipts for a while now, knowing that I am going to make a Price Diary....I got this idea off Rhonda at Down to Earth.....

Back on track, I just thought I would show you a sample of the savings you can get if you look for them....Our deli department usually marks down their finely sliced (shaved) meats....Normally after 8pm, but not every night unless they have surplus shaved meat they need to clear ready for the next day.

Roast Pork - Shaved -  Savings $1.52



Chicken breast - Shaved -  Savings  $1.27


Cheese & Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausages - Savings $2.69

TOTAL SAVINGS from 3 products  $5.48

Every bit counts and I am glad that $5.48 is still in my pocket and not back at the supermarket.

Check back to see when I add my Prices diary...



1 comment:

  1. I've never heard of that fish but I do like what you did with it. Check out J's devilled mackerel on the forum, I think we could use the recipe on much of our Aussie fish.

    Have a good day.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...