Sterilizing jars - the cheats way

I sterilize my jars by running them through a really hot dishwasher then I store them with the lids on. When I want to use the jars for jamming I pour boiling water into the jars until they overflow. Also pour boiling water into the lids. Leave the jars with the water in them until you are ready to add the jam. 

Peach jam lots and lots of peach jam!

I love peach jam I really don't know why shops don't sell this! It's so easy to make but this time round I did things a little different as was instructed by a lady selling jam at a fair I went to. So a new recipe for my peach jam.

Ingredients:

5 kg golden queen peaches

1 cup lemon juice

3 kg sugar

Chop the peaches into pieces and put into a large pan (I have my mum's old jam pan I love that it's so big). Add the skin, pips and all. Simmer the peaches, stirring occasionally to make sure the peaches don't burn. 

Once the peaches start to release their juice and becomes transparentish add the lemon juice. Simmer for another 10 minutes.  

Remove the pips and then either put the pulp through a mouli (I scored this one from my mother in law! I love it! it even clips onto the pan) or mash with a masher or put through a blender depending on the consistency you want your jam to be. 

Now weigh your pulp to work out how much sugar to add. 

Put the pulp back in the pan and add sugar. Simmer. Stir constantly so the sugar doesn't burn. 

Once the sugar has dissolved test to see if the jam is ready by adding a drop of jam on a plate. Put the plate in the fridge for a minute if the jam sticks to the plate and doesn't run the jam is ready. 

Peach jam will always be slightly runnier than other jams so the jam will run a little down the plate but once it is more solid and doesn't run down the plate as fast the jam is ready. 

Pour the jam into sterile jars with a ladle.

You'll need to wear thick gloves when pouring the jam into the jars as both the jam and jars are super hot.  

Once the jar is full add the lid and put the jar upside down until the jam is cold.  

Once the jam is cold turn the jars the right way up and push the tab (button) on the jars in. If the jars have sealed properly the button will stay indented. If any do not seal properly put these in the fridge and eat these first or give away to friends. 

Enjoy. This jam is amazing with hot cross buns.

A fridge in the kitchen! Who would have thought!??!

I love my chest fridge. I love it so much!! The chest fridge was living in the laundry and I was happy with it there but we decided to buy a chest freezer rather than an upright one so we had to make room for the fridge in the kitchen (I know crazy right a fridge in the kitchen!). 

I spent a few days looking for an energy efficient freezer for a decent price but they were crazy expensive so we decided to rearrange the kitten to fit the fridge in the kitchen and move the new freezer in the laundry. Chest freezers really are the only way to freeze food cheaply and efficiently.   

Kitchen before with the old poopy freezer.

Mr Ecochick came up with the clever idea of separating the two pantries so that we could move the large pantry against the wall and move the fridge into the large space. This was a mission boy those pantries are heavy! 
After a morning's work we got there and moved the fridge into the kitchen. Woop woop I love my new kitchen. It looks fantastic and all it took was a morning. We found some matching wall paper in the attic so we can patch up the wall paper. I also want a cupboard above the fridge as you really can never have too much cupboard space. My kitchen feels so open and spacious now.    

Fancy new kitchen

And the old leftover pantry was moved into the garage and now I have somewhere nice and tidy to store all my garden supplies. 

Scrubbing brush jar

I'm on a huge organizational buzz at the moment and have been doing loads of jobs all over the house. For ages I've had a plastic dish with our scrubbing brush, scrub and plug. I've always thought this was ugly but didn't really know what else to use.    

I found this Agee jar in the garage and it's been floating around for ages but I cant find a lid for it so I thought it would be perfect to store these items in. It looks rather flash and very tidy and organized. 

Bubble wrap window insulation

We're busy looking at ways to keep our house warm as the days are getting shorter. Last year Frugal Kiwi added bubble wrap to some of their windows to insulate their home. I knew that I wanted to do this too.  

I was unpacking a clock that belonged to my oma and it was wrapped in some thick bubble wrap that had a cloth backing so I decided to stick it to one of the windows in our bedroom. The curtain is normally closed since my dressing table mirror covers a large section of it so I thought adding some extra insulation would be fantastic. Sometimes I even forget I have a window (including the fact that when we bought curtain fabric we only bought enough for two windows!)   

Cut the bubble wrap to size and got some double sized tape. Smooth the bubble wrap over the window and enjoy your free insulation.  
Linked to homestead barn hop, romance on a dime, tip junkie, everything under the moon, frugally sustainable, frugal tuesday tip,

Some tips on starting toilet training

April article for the Parents centre newsletter

When do you know your little one will be ready to start toilet training? This can be so overwhelming for everyone Gina Ford’s Pottery training in one week is an amazing resource. Below are her tips on when to start potty training and also how to get your child used to using a potty.

Signs your child is ready to start potty training:

John posing on the potty wearing
owl BottyBots

Your child is over 18 months (some people start this earlier some much later)

Your child has some bladder control ie is dry after several hours in a nappy

Your child is aware they are pooping ie either knows when they are about to poop or asks for a nappy change after

Your child understands and follows simple instructions

Can point to different body parts when named

Can sit still or concentrate for five to ten minutes.

If your child is showing all of the signs above it can be a great time to start potty training. To get started you could use a potty or a child’s toilet ring, have your child wear easy loose trousers or dresses that are easily removed or lifted up; you could also try some cloth training pants like those available from BottyBots. 

To help your child get used to using a potty try encourage your child to sit on the potty without their nappy on for several minutes while you prepare their bath. Once your child is happy to sit on the potty at bath time try encouraging them to sit on the potty before breakfast. If your child does use the potty Gina states it’s important to praise your child’s behaviour ie say how clever they are for sitting on the potty rather than saying they are a good boy/girl. Good luck.

Mint glorious mint

I love my herb planters and have been growing other plants in them but now I decided to go back to only having herbs in these planters (I have four of them and would like one more). In one planter I've put St John's wort, Evening prim rose and pyrethrum; In another I have thyme, dill and parsley. In another planter I'm going to put sage and something else but not sure what yet.  

I realized that I had four different mint plants so I thought I would make a mint planter. I have a Vietnamese mint, a chocolate mint, peppermint and garden mint.    

Best of all I didn't pay for any of these plants. I was given the Vietnamese mint as a seedling. The chocolate and garden mint were taken from cuttings and the peppermint were seeds that were given to me. 

  

Mint is super easy to propagate basically take a cutting (ie cut off a few healthy stems) and put them in water until the stems grow roots then plant. The plant can look like it has died as all the leaves might fall off but don't be disheartened. You can propagate most herbs in this manner.     
Mint is very easy to grow often once it's in your garden it's hard to get rid of even if you contain it. Though so far I've had issues growing mint. Make sure you water mint lots I keep letting it dry out and mint does not like to be dry. 

I currently have a spearmint growing roots that I took from my mother in laws place so soon I'll have five different types of mint. 
Linked to homestead barn hop, nourishing treasures, romance on a dime, tip junkie, the shady porch, frugally sustainable, your green resource,

Self crusting quiche

When I was at my girlfriend's place a few months ago she made me a super yummy quiche I just knew I had to have the recipe. This quiche is really easy, cheap and quick to make. It'll feed a whole family for a lot less than $10! 

What you'll need:

4 eggs

1/2 cup self raising flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2-2 cups grated cheese

1 large onion

1 clove garlic

1 tsp dill

1 tsp paprika

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup frozen vegetables

In a large bowl mix eggs, milk and self raising flour. 

Mix in the herbs and spices, onion, cheese and vegetables. 

Pour into a deep dish and bake at 180C for 1 hour.


I had some left over egg yokes from some muffins I made so I used used 2 egg yolks and 2 eggs to make this recipe so it's a great meal if you yokes left from any cooking.   

Watering can

I got this beautiful new watering can a few weeks ago. I've had my eye on one of these for a while but they are a little pricey and so I tried to find one second hand but no luck so when I had some spare points from my credit card I decided this would be money well spent. 

I love the watering can as it makes it so easy to feed my plants with worm wee and also reach some plants that are at the back of the garden where the hose doesn't really reach. Even better I can fill the watering jug with water from John's bath. Great easy way to start my grey water system. 

Spanakopitta with eggs

I love spanakopitta it has to be one of my favourite meals. I have adapted a recipe from The Vegetarian Mother's cookbook which I bought when I was pregnant. Basically this is now a spinach and egg pie. So yummy. This freezes really well though normally there isn't enough left over!

2 tsp olive oil

4 spring onions (or if you have onions in the garden just use the stems)

2 cloves of garlic

450g spinach

6 - 12 eggs  (depends on the size of your dish)

1 tsp dill

1 tsp paprika 

10 basil leaves

10 oregano leaves

1 tsp thyme

200g feta

pepper to taste

filo/ flakey pastry (enough to cover top and bottom of your chosen dish - I normally use about 3 sheets)
optional a handful of pinenuts

Preheat the oven 190C.

Chop and steam the spinach and onions. I have a steamer basket which I put in a large pot with some boiling water at the bottom. I add some of the chopped spinach/onions to the steamer, put the lid on and let it steam for about 5 minutes then add the spinach/onions to a colander to drain. Repeat. 

In a large bowl beat 2 eggs, garlic and the herbs.  Mix in the feta and spinach/ onions. Season with pepper. Add pinenuts.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 25cm round dish. Place a sheet of pastry in the bottom of the dish so that the pastry also goes up the sides of the dish. Brush with oil.

Place another sheet of pastry on the other side of the dish also with the sides of the dish covered with pastry. Brush with oil.

Spread the spinach filling in the pastry lined dish.

Make wells in the filling with the back of a spoon. Gently crack one egg into each well. How many eggs you use will depend on the size of your pie.       

Place a sheet of pastry over the top of the pie. Brush with oil then fold over the bottom pastry. Make a few knife stabs to help release heat from the pie. 

Enjoy.    
Linked to gnowfglins

Oiling furniture

There really is nothing like the look of wood; unpainted, unstained pure beautiful wood. I love the natural look of wood so we decided to oil our beautiful medicine cabinets rather than use a lacquer. I love the natural velvety look that oil gives wood, however, the down side is it needs constant reapplication. 
the oil is smelly so open all the windows or better do the oiling outside.  

What you'll need:

Finishing oil I used Mirotone finishing oil 

Fine sanding sponge

Gloves

several rags 

      

For the first two weeks apply the oil every second day, then once a week for two months, then once every six months. 

First sand the furniture (cabinets) with the sand sponge. No need to clean the  furniture before oiling.   

It would be better to wear gloves as the oil sticks to your fingers (comes off with hot water). 

Put some oil on a rag and rub onto the furniture. Rub the oil/ rag in a circulation motion to get the oil right in the grain/ cracks.   

Once the oil is applied use a clean rag to rub the oil out. Rub with the grain. You might need a few cloths as they will get saturated with oil. Repeat. 

Lovely velvet wood. 

Linked to tip junkie, romance on a dime, the shady porch, 

Cable tidy up

A while ago I saw a great idea from Storage and glee using toilet paper rolls as cable organisers; so easy, cheap, clever and some great recycling. After I saw this I had started to collect toilet rolls (well put in a bag rather than put in the recycling bin I mean). We have a box under our bed that holds all our cables in one place. 

So one day when I was completely and utterly sick of trying to get some cables for one of our external hard drives I decided it was time to put those toilet rolls to good use. I pulled all the cables out and coiled them up then slipped a toilet roll over the cables. 

Now it’s nice and tidy and so much easier to get things out of the box. If I really wanted to I could even write on the rolls what the cables were but for now I haven’t bothered. 

Winter veggies

As winter approaches us here in New Zealand a few of my friends have asked me what they can plant and grow in the winter time so I thought I’d do a post. A lot of people think that now that autumn/ winter is coming the growing season is over and there are no decent veggies to grow but this simply isn’t the case. I love winter veggies my favourite that I grow are:

Silverbeet, red onions and kale 

Spinach; I just love this versatile green that grows all year round. It will grow pretty much anywhere in anything (including pretty much any soil). You can grow these from seed or seedlings. I’ve done both and I prefer seedlings as I’m pretty much guaranteed a big crop. Likes full sun but will tolerate some shade.

Silverbeet; another versatile green that grows all year round that will also grow anywhere including in the shade. Again I prefer seedlings. I love a mixture of traditional silverbeet and also rainbow coloured ones they taste the same but add some nice colour.

Kale; I love eating kale all year round so I actually grow it all year though traditionally it’s a winter crop. I normally grow borecole but I want to add some other varieties this year. Likes full sun but will tolerate some shade.

Onions/ shallots; all types of onions can be planted. I like to buy seedlings as you get heaps of seedlings in a punnet and is so much faster than growing from seeds. Likes full sun.

Lettuce; saves you so much money to grow your own. Just pull off a few leaves anytime you want a sandwich or salad. Grow from seeds or seedlings. Likes some sun but will grow in the shade.

Broad beans/ Peas; grow from seeds or seedlings. Will need support so grow them up a trellis of some type. Likes full sun.

Baby carrots

Broccoli/ cauliflower; now that butterfly season is almost over it’s time to put in some brassicas. Keep an eye on them if you are too slow to pick them they will go to seed. 

Carrots; home grown carrots are amazing. You can never plant too many carrots! Grow from seeds only (seedlings are pretty much a waste of money). Likes full sun and stonefree soil. Carrots need thinning regularly.

Coriander; love this herb but boy does it bolt in summer time. Will get some in now for the winter. Remember to water this plant well or it’ll bolt.

Garlic; plant on the shortest day. I had some very small but very potent garlic last year so I will definitely put much more in this year.

Strawberries; plant in a sunny spot. Peg down the strawberry runners to get fresh new plants.

Beetroot

Horseradish; I’ve never grown this before but I’m going to plant it in one of my herb sinks as I hear once you have it it’ll spread and then you’ll never be rid of it.

Beetroot; fresh beetroot is amazing raw, cooked or in cupcakes. Likes full sun and can be grown from seeds or seedlings.

You can also plant cabbages, radishes, Swedes, turnips, Chinese cabbages, leeks, celery, parsnips. 

Bath sponge alternatives

I have always used a body puff in the shower but I hate that most of them are made of plastic. Yes the plastic ones last for ages but they are still plastic and there is nothing that can be done with them at the end of their life. So on my path to reducing our rubbish output I went looking for alternatives.

Now I’m using a wonderful hemp sponge that will be compostable. I like the feel of the hemp it’s nice and rough; a great exfoliant. There are many other great alternatives that can all be composted.

You could crochet your own bath puff in colours that match your bathroom if you like.

I love bamboo and low and behold you can buy bamboo sponges as well.

Or you could grow your own loofahs.

I also love wooden back brushes with long handles. It is hard to find brushes without any plastic on them. I'm still looking. 

Tidy bags

Now that I have a lovely new laundry I still have this mess hanging on the back of the door. I need somewhere to keep plastic bags and also my cloth shopping bags. I like them in easy access and since there are hooks on the back of the door they have always hung there however they have always looked so messy. I’d been trying to think of ways to make them look more organised.

So while I was tidying up the spare room I found two lovely ketes that mum gave me a while ago that had just sat in the spare room. Even though I’ve seen them a million times I'm not sure why today was different but I saw them and thought I can hang them on the back of the door and put my plastic and cloth bags in. I hung them up and they looked great but then I thought what would Jen (I heart organizing) do and I knew I had to add some labels. So I printed out two labels and glued these to the ketes. With labels on I think these look very smart and I'm very happy with something else in my home organised. 

Chest fridge

I have a chest fridge!! This is super exciting. Everysince I read about frugal kiwi having a chest fridge I’ve wanted one so when we were renovating the laundry we rearranged the walls so that we’d have room. 

John and his cute cousins hanging out on the fridge. 

Firstly, what is a chest fridge? A chest fridge is basically a chest freezer that has been modified to run at a fridge temperature (ie 4 degress) rather than as a freezer (below 0). Our fridge is a stable 4 degrees now took a tiny bit of fiddling to get it here but we’re here!!

Why would you want a chest fridge over an upright fridge? A chest fridge costs next to nothing to run (will get some figures out there when we have finished testing it –I’m told we need 10 days worth of test data – it’s great being married to an engineer). So it’s cheap to run but also cheap to buy/ make vs using a fridge of the same size. Our chest fridge is a 308L and cost us $430 to buy and modify whereas a similar sized upright fridge costs over $1500 oh and will cost more to run every year too.

How does it work? Basically due to gravity; whenever you open the door of a fridge all the cold air falls out so when you close the door again the fridge has to regulate the fridge temperature back to 4 degrees (or whatever temp your fridge is set at). So when you open the door of your chest fridge there will be a slight temperature difference but since the cold air stays in the bottom of the fridge the thermostat doesn’t have to deal with such great fluctuations in temperature ie saving you money!

What to do: I bought a good condition second hand chest freezer off trade me (this took a while as chest freezers are super popular and getting more expensive to buy also I could only buy one model that would fit in our space). Any chest freezer will do the trick just make sure the seals are in good condition.

Nuts and bolts: so we had our chest freezer and we bought a thermostat kit from jar car; you’ll need a little electronic knowhow to be able to assemble this kit. Mr Ecochick also bought a special box to contain the thermostat and a plug adaptor. You’ll need a soldiering iron to assemble this kit. I am told there are clear instructions with the kit but I wouldn’t try to do it so best find someone who can. Just a note the 10M positive feedback resistor created too much noise when the thermostat turned off so Mr Ecochick changed this to a 2.2M.

Our electrician neighbour told us you could also just take the thermostat out of an old fridge and add this to the freezer rather than buying the jar car kit so if you want you could do this instead (but don’t ask me how if anyone wants to know I can get Mr Ecochick to email you).

Inside my beautiful chest fridge. There’s not actually that much food in here at the moment; I must go shopping. Also now that we’re growing so much of our own food there aren't many veggies that we buy so not many veggies will be stored in the fridge. I want to add a few extra baskets/ shelves in here for more storage no point in wasting all that beautiful space. 

I’ve had my chest fridge working for about 3 days now and I just love it - I keep opening the door to look inside and see all this space and beautiful white walls! Also great to know I can look in the fridge and not lose all the air inside! Frugal kiwi told me that food keeps a crazy long time in a chest fridge and also to clean out the whole chest fridge every two months as there is a water build up with the condensation so pull everything out and mop the bottom and wipe all the walls down to stop mould growing.

What are we doing about a freezer now? Well I’d love to have a chest freezer as well (one day my garden will produce so much and I’ll be preserving so much food that I’ll need a chest freezer in the garage too) but for now we’re buying a super energy efficient upright freezer that will sit in the kitchen. So if you want milk at my house go to the laundry.
Check out how I organise my chest fridge here. 
Linked to the shady porch, your green resource, crafty scrappy happy me, romance on a dime, tip junkie, frugally sustainable, nourishing treasures, the prairie homestead, 

Bathroom coasters

Today I made some coasters for the bathroom to help protect the new rimu vanity. These are super easy to make and look great.

I used two tiles that were left over from tiling the shower. Turned them over and stuck some soft, sticky, padded foam bits (very technical term) that I bought from the $2 shop. I’ve had a huge pack of these foam bits and have used them all over the place; under cabinets, under tables and chairs.

I like the new coasters they look great against the rimu and also no more water marks on the vanity.  

I may get over excited at some stage and even paint some pictures on the coasters but for now I'm happy with the white tile look.  

                                         

Linked to tip junkie, sugar bee crafts,

Local children activities

As little ones get older it can be a welcomed relief for parent and child to get out and about, making new friends and getting some fresh air. There are so many wonderful activities you can do with your children. In the Wellington region there are activities almost every day of the week for little or no money.

A lot of the churches in the Wellington region offer music groups most mornings of the week; these often include morning tea and cost a gold coin donation. Check with your local church or the local paper for music groups. The local libraries also offer a variety of activities for a range of ages on different days of the week.

The regional city councils have been fantastic at installing play grounds all over the area. Most streets have a play ground generally suited for older children but littlies can enjoy these with some help.

Most children love animals so a trip to the park to feed the ducks is a family favourite. Staglands or Wellington zoo are fun for the whole family big and small. Who doesn’t love to see and cuddle some cute animals? Other great places are Te Papa, Junglerama indoor play centre, the beach, Capital E offer fun activities for a day out. For even more fun take the bus or train. Children just love going on the train.

Even better check out Groupon to get great deals delivered to your inbox everyday. Groupon has fantastic deals everyday that will save you truck loads of money. Often these deals are for the adults (haircuts, meals, hotel deals, etc) there are also deals for your little ones to save you heaps of money taking your kids out and about cheaply. 

Water painting

A nice sunny day a few weeks ago my nieces came over and wanted to do some painting. I didn’t have any paint so I got out two containers of water; added some drops of food colouring and gave the girls some paint brushes. They spent ages outside on the concrete painting. 

John thought this was fun too though he preferred to tip the containers over and spill the paint everywhere but it is a quick, cheap, easy afternoon activity for children of all ages. 
The painting was great as there was no mess and the kids just loved it. As soon as the water dried the paint disappeared which meant the children had plenty of space to paint. 
Linked to: natural mothers network

Nappy rash cream

On and off over John’s whole life he’s had episodes of nappy rash. I’ve tried pretty much everything so was very happy when I got one of Wendyl's Green Goodess weekly emails with a great recipe to help treat nappy rash.

I made two batches; one with zinc and one without in the hope that I can use the one without zinc as a general barrier cream but I don’t think this cream works as well without the zinc so I will continue to look for a homemade barrier cream.

Though the zinc cream is fantastic for nappy rash and I will continue to use this any time John's nappy rash flares up. Seems to be whenever John's teething his nappy rash flares up poor baby. 

All these ingredients can be bought cheaply from Lotus oils. Total cost of this cream was $6.63.

Mix together in a bowl
50g vegeum jelly
1tsp zinc oxide powder
3 mls almond oil
½ tsp lanoline