Just Like My Nan Made

THERE'S TOO MANY CONTAINERS IN THE WORLD.....

I'm always trying to careful with what containers are coming into the house, if an item isn't bought in bulk, what other ways can you use the container, once it is empty? I do store empty containers, sometimes not even knowing what they can later be used for.....There is just too much landfill in the world and its time we really started thinking about it, one household at a time.

Today I decanted Baking Soda into an old powder container. Always label a new container VERY CLEARLY. There must be no misunderstanding as to what is inside the container. The blue powder container in the background is being thrown out because after pulling the lid off, it cannot be pressed back on. What a waste of plastic. In the past I have been known to buy carpet deodoriser,  (which I will also use for baking soda), but now I am thinking more clearly with what I buy, I am using up what I have in the house, and slowly converting to more natural and simple cleaning products. I have paid money for the products still lurking around the house, so better to use them up, and then convert to the more simple products, slowly converting the rest of the members of the house along the way. I even store rice and other foods in cordial bottles, my husband doesn't like home made cordial. 

I checked the price of sugar and salt shakers for my baking soda, which were between $5 and $9...I guess my powder shaker will do well at my sink...heaps cheaper than the fancy one. 

I'm not up to date with greenhouse gases, and climate change. While these words don't come easy to me, I still wonder about all the natural destruction happening in the world, is it us to blame, have we done so much damage to the world it is now beginning to show its wrath?  I know a lot of work is being done to help 'repair' the planet today and I think recycling is the future...It needs to be taught more in schools.....Today it is covered a lot more than when we were children...although a childhood memory of recycling comes to mind.............

I can recall collecting aluminium cans and soft drink bottles for pocket money.....There were many times when us kids, including the neighbours; would go door knocking, asking for empty 'glass' soft-drink bottles...The bigger kids would push the wheelbarrow, once it was full, we would take them to the supermarket to be exchanged for cash. Us kids could eat lollies for the whole weekend....we had pic-nics under the neighbours trampoline and there was always plenty of soft drink and lollies for everyone to enjoy the whole weekend......

Recycling containers for other uses.
Think about the container you are buying, not just the product.

**********************************************************

ATTENDING TO MY VINEGARS

Today I am adding to my collecting of growing vinegars....I am so impressed at how easy this can be to do. I traded some red wine with a new friend from the course... she is going to give me some home made tobasco sauce...Yummm.....

Left: Both jars had the same amount of red wine to start with,
Right: shows after the wine has been topped up with vinegar.
also shows the mother has been added.

Clearly label, include the type of wine and the date. 

 As it was day 8 for the fruit vinegars, I also strained them, and added a vinegar mother to them. 

 The aroma, so far is lovely, I even tasted the pineapple vinegar, and it won't be long before I could use it. It is a nice flavour now, and still not matured fully yet. I will be adding vinegars to my cooking and salads so much more....I think I will be able to illiminate buying salad dressing altogether.

After straining, I added vinegar mother, then topped up with white vinegar

Place gauze on rim of jar and place in a cool cupboard to mature. 

*******************************************************

CHEESECAKE FROM QUARK

From the quark I made in the cheese course, I made two cheesecakes...it was really simple....adding all to the  whizzer to mix quickly. I had found a few pastry cases on quick-sale, and decided to use them for this purpose. 

As we were all fairly full from tea, we shared half a cheesecake with some home-made ice-cream.....plain cheesecake was delicious....especially with the ice-cream. We haven't had ice-cream in the house for years.

For tomorrow night's cheesecake I will probably put some frozen berries on top...I get them when they are marked down and either dehydrate them or freeze them....will have to see what I have in the freezer tomorrow, it won't need many.....

The other cheesecake will go back in the box the base came in, and be put in the freezer as a quick dessert.

******************************************************

HOME MADE ICE-CREAM

I have been thinking about this Peach Ice-cream ever since Rose put it on her blog....So thanks Rose for the inspiration, however I only had one peach.

A recipe can always be a compromise....I never had 4 peaches. 

My ice-cream was made up of 

1 peach, 1 nectarine, 2 chopped frozen bananas. 

Yep, using what you already have is the way to go....I didn't have enough lemons to make the 1/2 cup of juice , so I substituted the rest for lemon juice ice-cubes from the freezer. 

Some fresh, some frozen..

2 chopped frozen bananas, 1 peach, 1 nectarine, 1/4 cup caster sugar, 1/2 cup lemon juice

mash to a pulp and cool for 2 hours.

 Strain fruit pulp and seperatly mix 1 cup milk and 2 cups cream.....keep milk mix cool. 

Add fruit juice to milk mix and stir well. 

 Add whole mix to ice-cream machine and mix for 25 minutes...then while machine is running, add fruit pulp and mix for another 10 minutes.Place in freezer to freeze completely.

Oh soooo yummy. 

Hope you had a good day too. I would love to hear what your plans are for the day.