Dabbling in Freezer Cooking

After a visit to my favourite butcher who sells bulk meat, I dreaded the prospect of breaking the meat up into batches and vacuum sealing  it to be frozen.  I did however, feel slightly more enthusiastic about cooking.  So I set out to make some freezer meals.

I have at various times dabbled in freezer cooking.  I certainly loved the convenience of having ready-made meals when I was busy at work or when I was a new mum.  I didn’t hate the cooking days, in fact I quite liked them. So I wondered why I never really stuck to it and made an art of it.

I think in my case it came down to not having enough of a freezer meal catalogue.  In the old days I made the same things ….spaghetti sauce, lasagne, cottage pie, a curry or two and soups. Boring. If only I had looked to the internet for inspiration!

There are hundred of sites and bloggers out there praising freezer cooking.  Many have it down to a fine art – menu plans, recipes, shopping lists, cooking days, even providing sticker templates to print and  attach to your made meal.  There are thousands of amazing recipes out there to suit every taste and even cooking preference.  It really is an eye opener.

As it is coming into winter here in the Southern hemisphere, I am keen to get the slow cooker working.  I found whole sites devoted to creating frozen baggies of ingredients, that you defrost and pop into the crock pot to cook.  Really, who thought you could make crock pot cooking even easier than it already was?

The more I traversed the sites, the more I was beginning to be sold on the idea of freezer cooking.  I don’t know that I would have the majority of meals out of the freezer as I like to eat a fresh, clean and raw as possible, but it definitely has benefits.  It undoubtably saves money as you can shop the sale items and use seasonal produce.  You are less likely to resort to expensive take out on the days when you don’t feel like cooking.  I can see there would be less washing up and probably less food waste.

So if you are keen to dabble in freezer cooking like me, here are some sites that are worth a visit.

Money Saving Mom - Huge recipe selection and some great printables for those organising freaks, like me.

One a Month Mom – Everything you need to be a freezer cooking genius.  Menu plans for all sorts of dietary needs including paleo, vegetarian and baby. Heaps available for free on the site or become a member to receive ongoing menus and recipes.

Who Needs a Cape? – Make 40 meals in 4 hours! Lots of crock pot freezer recipes here.

Life as Mom – Lots of tips on how to freezer cook and every month a new cooking plan to follow.

I have also started to pin some of my favourite freezer meals.  You are welcome to follow along here.

So what did I cook and freeze the other day, you ask?

Healthy Butter Chicken – I used a fantastic spice mix from this company

lasagne

Chicken enchiladas

Slow cooker braised lamb

Pear and raspberry coconut bread.  Yummo! I will share this recipe with you soon.

If you are interested in freezer cooking, be sure to follow along.  I intend to do a lot more freezer cooking and I will share what I make on here.

Have a great day.

 

Know Your Feel Good Clean

The weekend has left the Crooked Household….well…..crooked. Today is one of those days, where you can see there are a million things that need to be cleaned, done and fixed, but you just don’t know where to start.  You know there is no chance that you will get everything done and the whole thing is making  you annoyed.

It’s on days like this you need to do your Feel Good Clean before you tackle anything else.  You know what I mean, the cleaning tasks that take little effort but show big gains.  The tasks that instantly make your house feel lighter, cleaner and less cluttered.  The tasks that make you feel better about your home.

Everyone’s Feel Good Clean is different.  If you haven’t really thought about what those cleaning tasks are for you, they are most probably the ones you rush to when you get a last minute house guest.

Today I thought I would share with you my Feel Good Cleaning tasks.

1. Vacuum. Since having children and all the floor mess that comes along with them, I have perfected the art of the quick vacuum clean. Heaven help the toy or child that gets in the way of Mum with the Dyson.

2. Mop. Again I have perfected the quick mop.  When I want fast results I use a microfibre mop head with just a spritz of water.  The floor is cleaned really well and it is dry and ready to walk on in a minute.

3. Make the beds.  Don’t worry, we always make the beds, but it is on my Feel Good Clean list as it instantly makes the bedrooms look neater.

4. Tidy the kitchen benchtops.  We have an open plan house so the kitchen is visible from the living areas.  By removing the everyday clutter – books, loaves of bread, dishes and appliances,  I feel the house is less cluttered.

5. Polish the dining room table.  Again, as we have an open plan house and a glass dining table, the sticky little finger marks from meal times are visible to one and all.

6. Straighten couch cushions and floor rug.  Nothing entertains my boys more than messing with the couch cushions and sliding about on the rug.  Straightening them will most likely last about 20 minutes,  but for those 20 minutes, my lounge room looks good.

7. Clean the windows. The rear of our house, the living area, is almost entirely made up of glass.  When I do a Feel Good Clean I choose one or two sections of glass and give them a polish.  You can read how I have made cleaning window’s easier here. Nothing makes me happier than looking out of my freshly cleaned windows.  Weird, huh?

I did all of these jobs in just over 30 minutes this morning.  I was a whirlwind, but at the end of it the house looked neater and I felt a whole heap better.

I also scored some bonus cleaning in that time by warning the kids I was about to vacuum and mop.  They instantly jumped into protection mode, packing away toys and parking them on their play mat. Score!

What are your Feel Good Cleaning jobs?

Birthday and Anniversary Calendar

Last week I received a member’s $10 birthday voucher to spend at Kikki K – a truly divine stationery store with some amazing organising products.  So today I popped in, excited with the prospect of finding a little project to do. I know….. I am crazy.

I ended up buying a birthday and anniversary calendar.  Absolutely perfect.

There are always dates that I struggle to remember or fail to transfer into my new diary or calendar.  There is a constant stream of new additions to the family and friend’s families that I don’t want to forget. This will hopefully be my saviour.

I love that I now will never ‘lose’ an important date, it will just remain on the calendar for future years.  I also plan to include anniversaries of special, yet different, events I don’t want to forget.  I love recalling and putting favourite events in context like,  ”It was 6 years ago we took off to Italy” or “It was 7 years ago today we bought our house”.

After a little session of filling in dates I did know and writing a list of dates I needed to find out,  I hung the calendar in the office on my noticeboard.

I know I will see it everyday here and hopefully I will always be on top of special events.

Under the Sea Sensory Tub

Yesterday I told you about the ‘Under the Sea’ theme I began with my kids and our great seaside dessert.  Today we had a bit of wet and messy fun investigating our sensory tub.

Children learn best when they engage their whole body and this tactile activity is especially stimulating.

I filled a tub with water, some water beads and a variety of plastic sea animals, shells and pebbles.  The boys put on waterproof smocks and I let them go for it.

This was a great activity for both my 1-year-old and 4-year-old.  Master O helped his little brother by naming the different animals as he played with them.  As they explored, we talked about  what we knew about the animals and identified a few things we wanted to learn about their habits.

This was our first proper sensory tub and I think the kids and I are hooked.   They got a little wet, despite the smocks, but I guess that is part of the fun.  It is certainly cheap fun.  It didn’t cost anything as I just gathered items we had sitting around the house.

 

 

Super Easy and Healthier Pancakes

Happy Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day!

A few weeks ago I wrote about some of the ways I organise myself for a streamlined breakfast time.  It was then that I promised that I would share with you a great pancake recipe.  Today seems like the perfect day to live up to that promise.

I love this recipe as it is super easy to remember, always produces fluffy pancakes, has only 3 ingredients and no sugar.

Basic Pancakes – Serves 2+ (from here)

Ingredients

1 cup self-raising flour

1 cup milk (full cream, skim, soy)

1 egg

Method

1. Whisk egg into milk

2. Place flour into a bowl and incorporate the milk and egg mixture

3. Lightly grease a fry pan with butter or spray oil

4. Cook large spoonfuls of mixture until bubble appear on the surface and the edges firm

5. Turn pancakes and cook until the other side is golden brown

There is no need to add sugar to this recipe if you are serving with sweet toppings.  You could choose to add a few tablespoons of sugar if you prefer a sweeter cake.  Sometimes I add vanilla to this recipe for a change.

One tip I swear by is letting the batter rest for a little while before cooking.  If you are ravenous and must jump right in, you are still going to end up with fantastic pancakes, but if you can wait 10-20 minutes, the pancakes will be fluffier.

When I make extras to freeze for breakfasts or morning teas, I layer grease proof paper between the cakes before freezing in ziplock bags.  30 seconds in the microwave, they are warm and ready for topping.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Best Buy: Chalkboard Speech Bubble

I fell in love with the idea of using chalkboard speech bubble messages in photos ages ago.  I love how they can add such whimsy and meaning to ordinary photos.

My intention for at least the last 2 years has been to create my own chalkboard speech bubble, but do you think I could get the motivation to do so?  So when I saw Target had magnetic, chalkboard speech bubbles on sale, I rushed out to get one.

So what do I intend to use it for, you ask?  I think it will be a great way of recording times my 1-year-old says a new word.

Or recording  funny things my 4-year-old says or does.

Keeping a track of important days or events.

Or just for a bit of fun.

This way I will not only have a written record of these memories but a visual one too.  I can’t wait to get creative with my bargain buy!
Linking up with some of these fun parties
Monday: Singing Three Little Birdies, I should be Mopping the Floor, Polly Want a Crafter?, Cherished Bliss, The Gunny Sack, Skip to my Lou, Craftomaniac, It’s so Very Cheri, Keeping it Simple, Creating Really Awesome Free Things, Alderberry Hill, Its A Blog Party, A Pinch of Joy, Making the World Cuter, Mad in Crafts,  Sew Can Do, Sugar Bee Crafts, Tip Junkie, New Nostalgia, Ladybug Blessings,  How to Nest for Less, Watch Out Martha, Clairjustinexoxo,

Tuesday: Coastal Charm, Today’s Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, A Bowl Full of Lemons , DIY by Design, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, Hope Studios, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Organising Homelife,  Carolyn’s Homework, The Blackberry Vine, The Kurtz Corner,  A Little Tipsy, Gingersnap crafts, Time Warp Wife, These Creative Juices, The Thrifty Home, Its a Very Cherry World,  Cornerstone Confessions,   Rae Gun Ramblings, Northern Cottage, Clean and Scentsible, Creatively Living , Kathe with an E, Ivy and Elephants, Romance on a Dime,   The Real Housewives of Riverton, DIY Dreamer,  Primp, JAQS Studio, 

Wednesday: Oopsey Daisy, My Girlish Whims, Uncommonly Yours, Creations by Kara, Raising Homemakers, The Thrifty Home, Twin Dragonfly Designs, A Creative Princess, Sugar and Dots, Seven Thirty Three, Fabric Bows and More, Someday Crafts, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Trendy Treehouse, Women Living Well, We are that Family, The Mommy Club , Raising Homemakers, Sew Much Ado,t Simple,  Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Free Pretty Things for You, DIY by Design, Bloom Designs, Mom on Timeout, We Like to learn as we Go,  Family Home and Life, Savvy Southern Style, Fine Craft Guild, Embracing Change, HandyMan, Crafty Woman, Polkadots on Parade, No Minimalist Here

Thursday: House of Hepworths Delightful Order, Its a Keeper,  The Frugal Girls, The 36th Avenue,  Thrifty 101, A Glimpse Inside, Brambleberry Cottage, Bear Rabbit Bear, Michelle’s Tasty Creations and Crafty Ideas, Shabby Creek Cottage, Goings on in Texas, Happy Go Lucky,  Raising Oranges,  The Answer is Chocolate, The Taylor House, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Imparting Grace, Made in a Day, 52 Mantels, Loving This Crazy Life, Days of Chalk and Chocolate, Confessions of an ADD Housewife

Friday: The Shabby Nest, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, At the Picket Fence, Whipperberry, French Country Cottage, Thirty Handmade Days, Creation Corner, Finding Fabulous, Stuff and Nonsense, Fingerprints on the Fridge Naptime Crafters, While He Was Napping, My Romantic Home, Bacon Time With the Hungry, Hungry Hippo, Kitchen Fun With My Three Sons, Remodelaholic, Happy Hour Projects, Simply Designing, Simply Sweet Home, Tidy Mom,  Young and Crafty, Serenity Now , Life as Mom, At the Picket Fence, Tatertots and Jello, Craft Junkie Too, A Little Knick Knack, Blissful and Domestic, Maiden D’Shade, Petites Passions, Bubbly Nature Creations, Here Comes the Sun, Liz Marie Blog, THe Grant Life, Craftionary, Redoux Interior, Common Ground, Just Us Four, Delicate Construction, AKA Designs, Family Ever After,

Saturday:  Be Different Act Normal, The Girl Creative , Funky Junk Interiors , A Vision to Remember, Positively Splendid , Its Overflowing, Natasha in Oz, Shaken Together, Homemaker in Heels, Addicted to Decorating

Sunday: A Rosie Sweet Home, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table Dreaming, DIY Showoff, Nifty Thrift Things, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Homemaker on a Dime, DIY Home Sweet Home,  Cherished Treasures, My 1929 Charmer

Thermomix Passionfruit Curd

Last year I wrote about my parents bumper crop of passionfruit and shared with you a great microwave recipe for making passionfruit curd.  You can find this recipe here.

Well the crop looks to be just as bountiful this year and we are already overloaded with the purple gems.  This time round I thought I would try making the passionfruit curd in the Thermomix.

Thermomix Passionfruit Curd (from here)

Ingredients

2 eggs, beaten lightly
1/3 cup castor sugar (more of less depending on your taste)
1 tbsp lemon juice
¼ cup passionfruit pulp, (about 3 passionfruit )
60g butter, chopped coarsely

Method

1. Insert the butterfly and add the ingredients

2. Cook for 8 mins/80C/speed 3.  Use the steamer basket on top of lid instead of the measuring cup.

3. If the curd coats the back of a spoon it is ready, if not, continue cooking for a few more minutes.

4. Transfer into a sterilised container and store in the fridge.

This recipe worked quite well.  I did have to cook it for a couple more minutes to make it our preferred consistency.

This afternoon I enjoyed a generous dollop of this on some low-fat Greek yoghurt with a sprinkling of pistachios. YUM!

 

Taming Loyalty Cards in Your Wallet

It seems like just about every store these days has a loyalty card.  You know what I am talking about….those credit card like annoyances that take up every slot in your wallet.  My wallet was so chock-a-block full of them that I rarely found the one I wanted, which meant I missed out on the points, offers or discounts they provided.

A little while back I showed you how I tamed my coffee loyalty cards in a plastic sleeve.  You can read about that here.

This has served me well with the mostly cardboard cards,  but I had not thought it suitable to apply to plastic cards.  I wanted something  that was robust, easy to flip through and access whilst I completed my transaction at the checkout but had yet to come up with a solution.

It was an amused sales clerk, watching me go through dozens of card slots looking for a particular card, that suggested I put the cards on a key ring .  What a simple, yet brilliant idea!

This morning I gave my wallet a good clean out and gathered up all my loyalty cards.  There was a lot, and that was after a massive cull!

I grabbed the electric drill and a small drill bit and began drilling holes through all the cards.  I leant on a piece of wood to ensure a cleanly drilled hole.  The whole process took only a few minutes. If you have a quality hole punch, it would probably do the trick too.

I threaded the cards onto a key ring that was lying around unused.  It is probably a little small, but it will do until I find a larger one.

I know this will work a treat.  No more hissy fits for me at the checkout! Nothing will slow down this little shopping buff!

Valentine’s Day Art Gift

Our part of the world here in Brisbane, Australia has been hit in the last few days by the wildest weather.  Luckily we escaped any major issues.  For some they have lost everything with the resulting floods, and my heart goes out to them.

Thankfully the weather fell over a long weekend to celebrate Australia Day.  It meant people could cancel non-urgent travel and spend it out of the path of the cyclonic weather.  We stayed indoors, watched movies  and thankfully completed some long-standing projects.

I was able to get very organised and complete my Valentine’s Day present for the hubby.  Today, I thought I would share it with you as it such a simple and effective Valentine’s Day project, that you too might want to make one for your other half for V-Day.

So firstly, I thought I would show you the inspiration for my artwork:

Nine Heart Vintage Map by Not on the High Street

I fell in love with this bespoke artwork by Not on the High Street.  It so beautifully records those places of significance in your relationship.  I really wanted one but because the concept was so simple, I thought I would save myself the $400 price tag and make my own.

I already had a great large square frame and hanging spot that was yet to fulfill its true destiny.  I had bought the frame from Ikea to help lighten our entrance (you can read about that post here), but I hadn’t found the right artwork to frame inside it.  

Really, could this project have got any easier to start?!

After some googling and some cropping, I printed 9 maps on photo paper.  Some of the places I chose for my artwork included: where we met, got married, honeymooned, traveled, bought our first home and where our children were born.

I cut these out using a heart template I printed off the net.

I stuck the hearts using double-sided tape to a piece of blue scrapbooking paper.  I chose this colour as it ties in nicely with the colour of the feature wall in our hallway.

I mounted this in the frame and voila it was ready to hang.

It looks great and I really don’t want to take it down until Valentine’s Day.  I think it might just have to be an early present.

 

Linking up with some of these fun parties
Monday: Singing Three Little Birdies, I should be Mopping the Floor, Polly Want a Crafter?, Cherished Bliss, The Gunny Sack, Skip to my Lou, Craftomaniac, It’s so Very Cheri, Keeping it Simple, Creating Really Awesome Free Things, Alderberry Hill, Its A Blog Party, A Pinch of Joy, Making the World Cuter, Mad in Crafts,  Sew Can Do, Sugar Bee Crafts, Tip Junkie, New Nostalgia, Ladybug Blessings,  How to Nest for Less, Watch Out Martha, Clairjustinexoxo,

Tuesday: Coastal Charm, Today’s Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, A Bowl Full of Lemons , DIY by Design, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, Hope Studios, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Organising Homelife,  Carolyn’s Homework, The Blackberry Vine, The Kurtz Corner,  A Little Tipsy, Gingersnap crafts, Time Warp Wife, These Creative Juices, The Thrifty Home, Its a Very Cherry World,  Cornerstone Confessions,   Rae Gun Ramblings, Northern Cottage, Clean and Scentsible, Creatively Living , Kathe with an E, Ivy and Elephants, Romance on a Dime,   The Real Housewives of Riverton, DIY Dreamer,  Primp, JAQS Studio, 

Wednesday: Oopsey Daisy, My Girlish Whims, Uncommonly Yours, Creations by Kara, Raising Homemakers, The Thrifty Home, Twin Dragonfly Designs, A Creative Princess, Sugar and Dots, Seven Thirty Three, Fabric Bows and More, Someday Crafts, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Trendy Treehouse, Women Living Well, We are that Family, The Mommy Club , Raising Homemakers, Sew Much Ado,t Simple,  Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Free Pretty Things for You, DIY by Design, Bloom Designs, Mom on Timeout, We Like to learn as we Go,  Family Home and Life, Savvy Southern Style, Fine Craft Guild, Embracing Change, HandyMan, Crafty Woman, Polkadots on Parade, No Minimalist Here

Thursday: House of Hepworths Delightful Order, Its a Keeper,  The Frugal Girls, The 36th Avenue,  Thrifty 101, A Glimpse Inside, Brambleberry Cottage, Bear Rabbit Bear, Michelle’s Tasty Creations and Crafty Ideas, Shabby Creek Cottage, Goings on in Texas, Happy Go Lucky,  Raising Oranges,  The Answer is Chocolate, The Taylor House, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Imparting Grace, Made in a Day, 52 Mantels, Loving This Crazy Life, Days of Chalk and Chocolate, Confessions of an ADD Housewife

Friday: The Shabby Nest, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, At the Picket Fence, Whipperberry, French Country Cottage, Thirty Handmade Days, Creation Corner, Finding Fabulous, Stuff and Nonsense, Fingerprints on the Fridge Naptime Crafters, While He Was Napping, My Romantic Home, Bacon Time With the Hungry, Hungry Hippo, Kitchen Fun With My Three Sons, Remodelaholic, Happy Hour Projects, Simply Designing, Simply Sweet Home, Tidy Mom,  Young and Crafty, Serenity Now , Life as Mom, At the Picket Fence, Tatertots and Jello, Craft Junkie Too, A Little Knick Knack, Blissful and Domestic, Maiden D’Shade, Petites Passions, Bubbly Nature Creations, Here Comes the Sun, Liz Marie Blog, THe Grant Life, Craftionary, Redoux Interior, Common Ground, Just Us Four, Delicate Construction, AKA Designs, Family Ever After,

Saturday:  Be Different Act Normal, The Girl Creative , Funky Junk Interiors , A Vision to Remember, Positively Splendid , Its Overflowing, Natasha in Oz, Shaken Together, Homemaker in Heels, Addicted to Decorating

Sunday: A Rosie Sweet Home, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table Dreaming, DIY Showoff, Nifty Thrift Things, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Homemaker on a Dime, DIY Home Sweet Home,  Cherished Treasures, My 1929 Charmer

Creating a Smoother Day – Morning Routine

Previously, I had written about my New Year’s Resolution to make my days run smoother.  I realised the key to success would be my morning and evening routine.  Last week I listed some of the tasks that I included in my evening routine to ensure my following day started off on the right foot.  Today, I thought I would share with you my morning tasks that ensure that the rest of the day runs smoothly for me.

• Go for a walk – This is the first thing I do every morning.  I find I feel a lot more energised and ready to face the day after a walk

• Drink a glass of warm lemon water – this gets the fluid intake going early in the day and the lemon aids all sorts of things such as digestion and the immune system

• Unpack the dishwasher – as the dishwasher was run while I was sleeping, the dishes are dry and washer is then ready for dishes used throughout the day
• Do any last lunch box preparation and packing
• Unload the washing machine – the cycle, set on timer the night before,  finishes just as I am returning from my morning walk.  While I am happy to wash clothes, I loathe hanging them out and bringing them in.  This is hubby’s task.  Until he reliably remembers that each morning there is washing to hang up, I unload the washing machine and place the full clothes basket in the hall so he can’t miss it.

• Make the beds

There are also things on the ‘not to do’ list as well.

• Turn on the television 
• Hop on the computer to check emails, Facebook etcetera
• Be side tracked by non-urgent tasks (usually cleaning tasks).  They can wait till later.

By completing this small list of tasks, I immeasurably improve the running of the rest of  my day.  I have still left ample time in the mornings to have a play with the kids, eat breakfast, shower and dress for the day in a very civilised fashion.

Between the morning and evening tasks, things are running relatively smoothly in the Crooked Household.  Far less flying by the seat of our pants moments!