Reducing Our Winter Power Bill

Throughout winter we had our fire place burning almost 24 hours a day.  The main reason it does not go out is the fact that I work from home and when you are sitting still in front of a computer you can feel much colder than if you are busy and moving around.
Over winter we made use of the fact the fire was going and used it to to do some of our cooking which is not something we have done until this year.  In the past I had tried but I found the fireplace did not get hot enough and the food took hours to cook.
But this year the thought hit me, it didn't matter if it took hours to cook as long as I planned it that way.
So this year I took a different tactic and planned ahead.  Instead of using my slow cooker like I did last winter I cooked on the stove.   I found the best way to make any kind of meat dish was to brown the meat first in the pan I am going to cook in then add all the rest of the ingredients and place on the fire for the day and let it slowly cook away.  I also trialed speeding up the process by bringing the entire pot to the boil on the stove first then transferring to the fire to be left to cook for the rest of the time.
All of the curry's I made this way were lovely and tender.

I monitored our power usage and it was slightly lower that last winter but I am not sure how much I can contribute to this method of cooking.  However it was easy to just get dinner ready and forget about it for the rest of the day.
Now that we are heading into the warmer months and our fire will be getting used less and less it is time to go back to cooking in the slow cooker and on the stove top for curry so we do not heat up the house.

Did you cook on your wood stove over winter?

Orange and Almond Cake

There are lots of different recipes out there for Orange and Almond Cakes but I like this one as it is moist and not overly sweet.  It takes a while to make but is not difficult and keeps really well.

Orange and Almond Cake

2 Large Oranges
6 Eggs
1 Tbsp Orange Liqueur
1 Cup Castor Sugar
300 Gm Ground Almonds
1 Tsp Baking Powder

Orange Syrup (Optional)

2 Cups of Orange Juice
3/4 Cup Castor Sugar
1/4 Cup of Sweet White Wine

Boil your oranges in water for 2 hours in a covered pot.  Once they are very soft drain off the water and puree the oranges in a food processor, blender or with a stick blender then cooled the pureed oranges.
Grease and line a 23 cm round spring form tin.  Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Separate your eggs being careful not to get any yolk in the whites.  Place the yolks in a bowl with the castor sugar and liqueur and beat until the mix is pale and frothy.  Then add you orange puree, ground almonds and baking powder and mix until combined.  Mean while in a clean bowl beat your egg whites until they are stiff.
Take 1/3 of your egg white mix and add it to the orange mix and stir through to lighten the orange mix.  Repeat with the second 1/3 and then the final 1/3 folding through so you retain as much air and lightness as possible.
Pour into your tin and bake for 1 hour.  Remove from the oven and cool completely in the tin before removing.

To make the syrup heat all the ingredients in a pan over a medium heat.  Once the sugar has dissolved simmer for 30 minutes or until the syrup has reduced by half.

Once you have made your syrup serve up a slice of cake with a drizzle of the syrup and a dollop of greek yogurt.

Beef Sausage Rolls

These sausage rolls are such an easy meal to make and while they are not something we would eat that often they are much tastier than anything you can buy.
The recipe below is for beef sausage rolls but I have also made lamb ones and plan to try pork in the future. All I do is change the spices to suit the meat but it is really up to your tastes and what you like.
It is important to make the meat mix ahead of time so that the breadcrumbs have time to soak up any excess moisture and you do not end up with soggy bottoms on your sausage rolls.  I have used the square sheets of brought pastry here but feel free to make your own.

Beef Sausage Rolls

1 kg of Beef

2 Brown Onions finely diced

2 Cups of Dried Breadcrumbs

1 Egg

1/2 Cup of Milk

1 Tsp Celery Salt

2 Tsp Smoky Paprika

1 Tbsp Fennel Seeds

1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

1/2 Tsp Ground White Pepper

Beaten Egg to seal and brush the top

4 Sheets of Frozen Puff Pastry

Add all of the first set of ingredients to a large bowl and mix thoroughly using your hands so that all of the spices and breadcrumbs are evenly distributed.  Press the mix down firmly in your bowl so that it has a nice flat surface.  Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and remove your pastry from the freezer.  Lay the sheets of pastry out along your bench and allow to defrost.  Beat your additional egg in a small bowl with a fork and set aside to brush the pasty with.

Remove your mince from the fridge and use a bread and butter knife to cut the mix into quarters.  Add a quarter to each pastry sheet forming a log shape along one edge.  Brush the other edge with the beaten egg and roll into a log.  Repeat and then cut each log in half.  Brush them all with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds if you want.  Bake for 30 minutes turning your trays once during cooking to ensure even browning.

When I made the lamb ones I used the following spices and we were really happy with the result.

1 Tsp Celery Salt

2 Tsp dried Mint

1 Tbsp Sumac

1/2 Tsp Ground White Pepper

Do you make your own sausage rolls?  What flavour do you like?

Slow Living August 2014

Linking up with Linda who has taken over from Christine in hosting the Slow Living Nine.  I am so glad this is continuing as it is great to hear what everyone is up to.

Nourish -Make and bake as much as possible from scratch. Ditch over packaged, over processed convenience foods and opt for 'real' food instead.
With my self imposed "How little Can You Spend Month" everything except the one meal I ate out with a friend was made from scratch.  We have heaps of eggs and silverbeet so quiches continues to be on the menu in its many forms.

Prepare - Stockpile and preserve. Freeze extra meals or excess garden/market produce. Bottle/can, dehydrate or pickle foods to enjoy when they are not in season.

Our stockpile took a bit of a hit during the month as we tried not to spend more than $50 for the entire month.  But right at the end of the month we were given some oranges so I made a batch of marmalade.

Reduce - Cut down on household waste by re-using, re-purposing and repairing.

I am not sure we did anything specific that I can think of that fits this category this month, I am sure there was something but nothing springs to mind.

Green - Start (or continue!) using homemade cleaners, body products and basic herbal remedies. The options are endless, the savings huge and the health benefits enormous.
Just the usual happening on this front.  I have a catch of citrus cleaner on the go but now that I have all these oranges I will be getting another batch started.

Grow - plant/harvest. What's growing this month? What's being eaten from the garden?

The garden is producing lots of Silverbeet and herbs, we have harvested a couple of purple cauliflower but it is now getting warm and I suspect the rest might not come to anything and get fed to the cow. I am growing spring onions, beetroot, fennel and celeriac. The peas I planted are really stunted and I have only had about 20 pods from them.  I have got my first planting of Summer veg in and we will see how that goes.

Some Summer Veg are in

Create - To fill a need or feed the soul. Create for ourselves or for others.

Creations have been on hold this month and reading has taken over but I have plans to pick up my crochet hook again in the next few weeks.

Discover - Feed the mind by reading texts relevant to current interests.

I have been reading lots over the last month about dog training, the environment, farming and some back copies of the National Geographic which although are old are still fascinating.

Enhance - Community

It is all systems go (only 8 weeks to go) in organising the car show that I am involved in and things are just getting busier and busier in this area.

Enjoy - Life! Embrace moments with friends and family. Marking the seasons, celebrations and new arrivals are all cause for enjoyment.

We had a few family get together's during the month and we caught up with some of Hubby's relatives we had not seen for 12 months.  I have also been spending quite a bit of time around our 5 month old nephew which has been lovely.

I also got to spend the day with a friend who I have note seen for over a year and meet her 4 month old for the first time.  It was a real joy to see her and her new babe and how much her now 3 year old had grown.

What have you been up to?

The Weekend Kitchen - Marmalade and Sausage Rolls

We had the most glorious weather over the weekend so most of my time was spent out doors.
Hubby had to work on Saturday but when he came home he brought with him a box full of oranges and a bag of avocados that the client had given him.  The client also gave him a bag of oranges last week too so we have been juicing them and enjoying them fresh every day.  I am not sure what kind of orange they are but they are really juicy and sweet but also a bit tart which is just how I like oranges.

I have started making a dent in the box of oranges

So I decided it was time to make an Orange and Almond Cake and some marmalade for my father in law for fathers day.

Gluten Free Orange and Almond Cake

Orange Marmalade (I am waiting on a verdict from my father in law)

Then I made some beef sausage rolls which made for an easy dinner with salad and will give Hubby something different to have in his lunch box this coming week.

I will post the recipes over the next few days in case you too are lucky enough to have a glut of oranges or want to try making your own sausage rolls.
What did you get up to in the kitchen over the weekend?