Dreaming of a simple life ..

I want to live a simple and uncomplicated life.

I would love to be on some acreage with our own chooks, maybe a few sheep, cows, goats and horses.. As well as growing our own veges- I'd even love to go as far as going without power and cooking with firewood, using candles for light. If that proves to be a 'too hard' option then I'd love for our power to be sourced purely from wind or solar means. That's something that may never actually happen, but I can take steps towards a simpler life now.

I've been a fan of Jamie Oliver for ages and I've been hooked on his latest tv exploits "Jamie's food revolution" I've been watching the second series where he takes on school cafeterias in Los Angeles- it's been pretty good viewing I think! One thing that hit home for me was the amount of artificial additives go into the food we buy off the shelf.. He taught a highschool science class about the chemicals and true origin of ice cream additives, topping and lollies.. It was too scary! The preservatives in bread are scary too.. Do I really want to ingest chemicals that keep bread from going stale indefinitely.. Even if it's cheaper??

I'm now more motivated to MOO! (make our own..)Hubby has been at me for ages to bake more, mainly to save money on morning tea items.. (Muesli bars, dip it's etc can get expensive and aren't the most nutritious..) So with new motivation I did so. Made some yummy cupcakes and then my little electric hand mixer died.. It's older than Master T!! My dreams of baking were in tatters.. Ye olde faithful Kenwood mixer had also died many moons ago (it was a garage sale purchase made by Hubby's parents for when he left home)... My newfound zeal did not extend to hand beating, sorry!!

So, with the need for a new stick mixer as well (another aging appliance) we found ourselves standing in Good Guys looking at a fantastic deal on a Kenwood stick mixer and a Kenwood chef! (Mixmaster). What sealed the deal for me was the bonus mincer/sausage maker attachment!! There are also stacks of other attachments.. All able to make us more self sufficient in the kitchen.

We bought some whole rump on special at $5.99 per kg.. Cut it into pieces for roasts and also into smaller chunks for mincing.. We actually MOO'd beef mince! No added preservatives! It was v. Satisfying! Even more so while watching hubby do it! Lol (I was busy feeding Miss C so I got to spectate :))

I'm rather excited about buying other types of meat and mincing it.. Especially chicken when fillets come on special! Over the years we have had to be budget conscious.. A major challenge for me let me say!

Hubby is keen to try making our own sausages too.. Just have to check out where we can source sausage casings! Oh the possible combinations are endless! No rubbish filler either :)

My next plan is to make use of the dough hook to have a crack at breadmaking..! I plan to ensure our whizbang new machine earns it's keep, it will be worth the amount if money spent .. Even if it was on a fantastic special ;)

I shall endeavor to update and regale you of future exploits with our new kitchen appliance.. Oh.. I forgot to mention, the stick mixer came with heaps of attachments too... Hubby's FAVE (!!) was the potato masher, I can confirm its effectiveness too :) My fave stick mixer part is the
chopping bowl. It allows me to whiz up veges to hide in my cooking so fuss pots in the family don't object!! I have used the food processor to do it before but it's time consuming to drag it out just for one meal's worth of Vege blitzing.. I'm not that organised to do a big batch at once, although it is on my list of things to do when on holiday ! It may very well sound lazy but if it's not fast and easy I'm afraid my business with work and household duty gets in the way...

Lol, I think I've turned into a bit of a kitchen appliance tart!! All is well though in my quest to simplify!

TGBTG
Anje xx