It's Raining It's Pouring

Finally!!

{From last night's storms}

Crazy Haze

Brisbane has been engulfed in a large dust cloud. It came over suddenly this morning. The day went from being relatively clear to dusty as can be, in the space of an hour just before lunch time.

Apart from looking really eerie and casting a most unnatural light, you can actually smell and taste the dust in the air. It is not pleasant. I can't help but wonder if this is a taste of things to come if climate change proceeds.

Beelarong Community Garden

On Wednesday afternoon we visited Beelarong Community Garden in Brisbane's east. It was really inspiring to see all hard work that the community gardeners had put into their plots. There were so many vegies growing! Even some that I had never actually seen being grown before (like zucchini hmm...)

Plots are available to members of the community for an annual fee. I would so love to have a plot there to tend, as our yard at home is on the small side. However being in the midst of raising small children I have been forced to admit to myself that now is just not the right time for me to realise my vegie growing dreams. One day...

Just down the road from the Community Garden is a paddock where horses are agisted. I am always delighted to find little "rural" pockets within the heart of suburbia!

Nature Excursion - Minnippi Parklands

I have decided to move our "nature excursions" to Saturday so that the whole family, especially DS8, can benefit from the outdoors time.

Last Saturday we went to Minnippi Parklands which is a large grassy tract of parklands in Murrarie beside the Gateway motorway. Getting to the park for the first time is a little dubious as you drive through an industrial estate then a deserted little lane way through bushland, but the park itself was inviting and bubbling with families when we got there.

There is a large natural pond in the lower part of the park where we stopped to look at the ducks and waterfowl. There are some cycling paths and the standard playgrounds dotted around the place, but one of my favourite parts of the park was a playground by a giant fig tree, built of concrete and designed to look like an old tower ruin. I really enjoyed its originality. The plaque below was at the base of the big old tree.

It reads

To call a tree sprite forth to play

Gather leaves x4 this day

And here while mixing pods and seeds

Recall a fairy from your dreams

Nature Excursion Close to Home

The irony of driving somewhere to enjoy nature is not lost on me, so last Friday we set up the picnic rug and enjoyed a "nature excursion" in our own back yard.

We have a teeny-tiny back yard. I do dream of living surrounded by land instead of suburbia but as that isn't in my near future I tell myself that until I have exhausted the possibilities of the land that we do have, I really can't wish for any more! And that keeps me satisfied for the most part...

As I started to really look around our back yard, I noticed there was a lot to see.

The bougainvillea is blooming beautifully

As is the yellow grevillea

And the pink one

The gum tree is laden with gum nuts

I was also surprised at just how many food plants we have.

The just-blooming bean flowers. These are exquisite, so delicate like tiny little fairy orchids.

Cherry tomatoes, surely on their last legs by now:

Passionfruit, also one of the last of the crop: The lemon, the one and only lemon to be produced by our tree so far. Baby is obsessed with trying to pick the lemon, but it is holding tight for now.

Kaffir lime looking ridiculously green and glossy:

The view from the best seat in the house:

Not a cloud in the sky What a perfect day!

Pecan Perfection

In the vegie box this week we received a little bag of fresh picked pecan nuts in their shell. Oh my, these were so good. I have never tasted pecans like these before, so sweet and buttery. There was a recipe for Pecan Pie in the farm letter, but ours didn't last that long.

It is a rare week that we don't get some little novel treat in the vegie boxes.

Enjoy the weekend!

Friday Nature Excursion - Wellington Point

It was another stunning day on Friday, so we headed out to Wellington Point, on the bay.

I have lived in Brisbane pretty much all my life so I am embarrassed to admit that I was in my 20s before I even knew this place existed! It is now my favourite destination when I want to be by the bay. There is even a little area where you can swim, though its too cold for that now.

In the first picture, out to sea on the left hand side you can see a little island. I'm not sure what this island's really called, or if it even has a name, but it seems to be known as "Pirate Island" to the local kids. At low tide there is a sandbar that you can walk across for about 1km to reach the island. There is nothing on the island, but it is a great adventure!

Seagulls are considered a bit of a pest around here, but I think they're gorgeous, I love their snowy whiteness.

Weekly Meal Plan

We have been getting a vegie box from Food Connect for a couple of months now, and I am hooked. I cannot imagine buying my vegies any other way now! In addition to everything else, it is super convenient that all my vegie shopping involves is literally picking up a box.

I have also recently added a weekly fruit box to our subscription. Pictured above is the contents of our Single Fruit Box for this week. It seems to vary quite a bit from week to week, which is nice. There are things in there I would never think to buy, but I like that!

Here's the weekly meal plan:

Friday: Gnocchi with sweet potato and bacon sauce.
Saturday: San choy baos (lettuce, mince beef, potato, onion, cucumber, peanuts).
Sunday: Calzones with silver beet, onion, asparagus and mushroom.
Monday: Kangaroo stir fry with carrot, corn, broccoli, beans, oyster sauce. Rice.
Tuesday: Zucchini and fetta fritters with rice, lemon and tomato relish (from fresh tomatoes).
Wednesday: Pumpkin soup (including, beetroot, onion and potato).

Long weekend lunches:
1) Baked potatoes with cottage cheese, lettuce, corn and bacon.
2) Ham, cheese, aioli and sun dried tomato toasted sandwich on home made French bread .
3) Sausage sizzle, salad, home made baguettes.

Saturday family breakfast:
Apple and cinnamon scrolls with fruit salad of apples and kiwifruits.

Why are we so Cheap?

Well this is a sight we sadly won't be seeing much any more. Last month Pacific Brands announced that it will be closing eight of its manufacturing sites around Australia and will instead be importing garments from China. The company recently posted a sizable half year loss and blame the "economic downturn" for their need to outsource to the manufacture of their garments to China, as it's cheaper. Article here.

I try to buy most of bub's clothes second hand, but when buying new I am conscious to look for the Made in Australia label, and Bonds often is the only choice available.

It really makes me mad that "lowest price" seems to be the greatest or only consideration in so many peoples purchasing decisions. We live in an extremely wealthy society. It's not like we can't afford to shell out a few extra dollars to support a local product. And what's the point of "saving" a couple of dollars if we're just going to spend it on some other unnecessary purchase? The great economic problem for the first world is not that we don't have enough money, it's that we have too much. We spend thoughtlessly on too much "stuff" and then once we've spent all we've got, we spend a bit more on credit. But "cheap" is no bargain - our consumption habits are literally costing us the earth.

Wacky Wednesday

Aaah Wednesday, the day I pick up my vegie box from Food Connect, then scrabble around desparately trying to figure out what I am going to cook this week with all the wonderful vegetables that have just come in to my possession. And then there's trying to fit them all in the fridge....

The above photo is what I got in my Single Vegie Box this week. I cannot say enough good things about Food Connect (and no, I do not work for them). If you live in Brisbane and are looking for local produce, check them out. Everything is grown within 5 hours of Brisbane and most of the fruit and vegies are organic or very close to it.

Getting the vegie box each week has totally changed the way I shop for and prepare our meals. We are spending approximately $100 less on groceries each week now (no kidding, we used to spend about $260/wk, now it is more like $160). Admittedly we eat simpler meals now and I "make do" with what we do have in the pantry rather than buying every single item listed on a recipe.

Here is what I came up with this week from the vegies in the box:

Friday: Pizza (it is always pizza on Fridays) - chargrilled eggplant, feta, olives, ham and antipasto from jars in fridge.

Saturday: San Choy Baos + rice - lettuce, mince beef, cucumber, peanuts.

Sunday: Creamy spinach, mushroom, onion and bacon fettucini.

Monday: Chicken, basil, pumpkin, green beans, onion, chilli stirfry. Fish sauce. rice.

Tuesday: Fruity beef casserole + mash potato (including green beans, zucchini and fig paste to use up from the fridge).

Wednesday: Home made tortillas with chicken, onion, tomato, capsicum & canned corn stew. lettuce, sour cream.

Thursday: Stirfry beef with onion, broccoli, corn, zucchini, home made plum sauce & rice.

Baking: cupcakes