Make a Sourdough Starter which James and I did today. (We are following instructions on CityHippyFarmgirl's blog from Sydney)
Make Sourdough Bread using the above starter. Again this is on CityHippyFarmGirl blog.
Find the best recipe for "daily bread". I'm wanting a light fluffy loaf I can make for the school lunches as most bread we make tends to be heavy bread. If anyone has a super light white loaf recipe leave me a comment I would love to hear from you.
Make the 5 minute Artisan Bread via Rhonda's blog from Down to Earth. I made this about 4 years ago and haven't made it since but it was great when I first made it.
Make and use more "green" cleaners around the home.
Make Yoghurt once a week. Depending upon how much the kids consume this might be fortnightly.
Learn to make Mozzarella Cheese. Mum got me a Cheese Making Kit for Christmas.
Make Pizza Dough on Thursday night for "Friday Night Pizza Night". The recipe is from Alana's "Home Made Pantry" book which is an amazing book if you want to make anything from scratch. This dough is one you mix together in 5 minutes and leave for 24 hrs. The dough is great and not heavy or yeasty so am keen to make it again. This one requires forward thinking so my goal is for Thursday to make the dough so Friday we have the pizza.
Pantry Make Over. Go through everything on the shelves, clean out, organize and throw away any expired items. I am wanting to do some lovely labels on my glass jars like this and this which Kristine at The Painted Hive has kindly made into a free download. This goal also includes a monthly 30 minute tidy up because we all know that one minute the pantry looks great and as the weeks go by and somehow ends up looking like a mess again.
Take the kids on a monthly bike ride. The kids wanted this more often however I said to them that this is a goal and if we want to go more than once a month we can but this is a guideline afterall once back at school homework, footy and other things have to be fitted in as well as down time doing nothing.
Set up either a compost or a worm farm to eat our scraps instead of throwing them in the bin.
Waste less food. I am guilty of leaving veggies in the crisper and having to throw them out so I am going to make a bigger effort to make sure this doesn't happen.
Investigate the energy rating on the fridge in the garage and perhaps swap/trade for a newer model without outlaying any cash. The 2nd fridge stores frozen meals, bread, flours, cold drinks etc. that won't fit in our main fridge. The fridge is 9 years old so I'm sure it's using up the electricity.
Connect with the seasons. This is more to do with nature and the kids and my photography.
Declutter entire house from top to bottom. I only make little attempts at this from time to time but this year I need to get serious to make some extra cash and free up some space.
Homegrown and Homemade. I want this to be a bit of a theme for 2014 and I would like to do sewing of some description and start a little crochet blanket from the wonderful book I won just before Christmas. I'm also thinking I want to make Sienna a little stuffed toy so will be searching on Pinterest for something suitable as her birthday is at the end of February.
Here's a few photos of what's been happening at our place lately.
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.
New Year's Day Breakfast on the BBQ. Not after a late night....but an early morning 5.30 am trip to the airport to drop my sister and mother off as they were headed to Melbourne for a few days. James made home made hash browns (or mock fish was the name when we grew up). Grated potatoes, egg and a touch of milk.
The Spring Onions are growing nicely.
Sienna with her beloved Rosie.
Sienna sitting in the tree with Rosie.
Our cucumbers we planted 5 weeks ago when Pop was here.
The kids cooling off on the trampoline with the sprinkler.
Great goals for 2014! I was thinking of learning the basics of crochet...I struggle a bit with the crafty stuff!
ReplyDeleteThank you for popping by Kathy and for your kind comments:) Your goals are great, I love getting back to basics too, it feels good. Your homemade ice cream looks yummy. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful list of goals Kathy! I make Rhonda's 5 minute bread in the cast iron oven every 2-3 days. I've adapted it to suit my hubbies need for a big sandwich loaf so i do a double batch but you consequently need alot more water, as long as you have a moistish dough with all the flour at the bottom amalgamated. I use the 10kg Laucke multigrain but it is a heavy, dense al beit delicious, chewy round loaf. You could try the Laucke white crusty bread mix, it is gorgeous. All the yeast is in the flour seperate, and as its a bread mix the salt is added too. I stick to the 5 minute bread recipe with this but just the normal size. I am thoroughly addicted to bread making now, but I must confess this 5 minute bread appeals to me best as I can throw it together at night and crank up the oven early in the morning, but you could do it the other way around, so the make the dough early morning and cook at night so it is cool enough for fresh sandwiches the next day. You can get the flour in varied sizes but it comes in a 1kg size for under $2 which is a cheap loaf and great way to work your way through their other varieties be fore you fork out for a 10kg bag. Sorry, I've gone on a bit there!! My other tip for you is to make your pizza dough any time and it freezes well. I'd love a copy of the recipe you talk about if you have time :D
ReplyDeleteA few of my goals this year is to learn to croquet, make pasta from scratch, and make laundry powder. Good luck on your journey this coming year!
Warm regards,
Jan x