The joy of being resourceful...

For many of my twenty seven(!) years I have dabbled with the idea of becoming a resourceful person. We all know the type, compost heap in the garden, stash of carrier bags in the boot, homemade preserves in the cupboard etc. Well tonight I feel I have made yet more leaps and bounds in that direction. I can't explain why or how, it isn't something I have done or not done, it's just my mind set I guess.

I recieved a bunch of beautiful tulips yesterday, my all time favourite flower, from my sister who knew I was feeling a little down in the dumps. Usually I would have oohed and ahhed at the flowers and given little interest to the packaging. Instead I popped the cone shaped cellophane in the drawer when I was setting them in a vase. Tonight I was using up some leftover pastry making jam tarts and I made a tear in the flour bag. Voila, that cellophane came in handy! I suppose the point of my story is not the wrapping, the use of left over pastry or the fac I recieved flowers but just the joy I got from reusing something. From beginning to think as a resourceful person and put my available resources to good use. Obviously that was just a small story to illustrate my point but there are a million and one things I have done over the past few weeks that tonight I am feeling very proud of. It has proved to myself that it sometimes is the small things that make a (healthier) world of difference.

Some of the things I have done include:-

• Beginning to shop in charity shops, thus reducing my carbon footprint
• Cut my food shopping bill in half for two weeks running by resourceful thinking and clever planning- plus we are eating healthier meals!
• Reduced my waste significantly, admittedly some is just recycling but also alot of upcycling going on
• Changed the midset of myself and my family towards the environment and the way we treat it
• Cooked more- which I find relaxing and rewarding
• Gained confidence in my ability to make these small changes
• Made my first bowl using only magazines and hot glue- I will post the tutorial for this in the week. it looks fab!
• Reduced our gas, water and electricity. This is easier for us to monitor as we are on meters but I am sure it would be just as easy to take meter readings
• Spent less on 'things' and 'stuff' I have analyzed every purchase and more often than not decided I do not need it
• Re organised my wardrobe and donated a lot of clothes and bric-a-brac to charity
• Drank more water. Well it saves boiling the kettle every hour and is good for my skin :)
• Had more eaten pack lunches from the princess. I have decided to use up the left over pasta etc in packed lunches instead of preparing sandwiches. This has been an immense success with my little fussy eater!

That is all I can think of for now. But above all of these things I have gained a great deal of pride and satisfaction in the way I run my home. I feel like I have become a fully fledged adult!!

I wonder what the rest of this week will bring?

Soup...the key to reusing all leftovers (please note their are exceptions-no half eaten sandwich soup is ever going to taste great!)

Oh I am well on my way to frugal loveliness, eco success and dare I say it? yes, I dare! Domestic Goddess status :)

Yesterday I made two huge pots of stew, one beef (endlessly popular in our home and my personal favourite meal in the world) and one chicken, the first time I have ever made chicken stew as I believe poultry to be too bland for stew.

But....my reasoning was, I will make a batch of shortcrust pastry and drain some of the stew fillinng, cover with gravy and make a pie. This can be frozen, total lack of effort as I was making the stew anyway :) Bonus! The pie, you will be glad to hear, went well. So well it never got to the freezer!!

Anyway, the stew was nice, tastier than I thought but we really didn't need two stews. I halved the beef stew, half for now, half for freezer (from experience freezing stews, curries, etc makes them taste nicer when defrosted-the flavours seem to 'mingle' better) So.... I popped all the stew filling and half the stock in the blender, whizzed for a minute and voila chicken soup :) It must be said, very nice soup too!

So this is my new lesson to myself today....soup it up!! When I make Sunday roast I often have its and bits of veg, potatoes and meat left over. I am going to keep the veg stock and left over gravy pop this in the blender with left over bits and Monday lunch is sorted!!

So come on people, put those odds and ends to good use and get some extra veg into you for lunch....healthier, thrifty and tasty.... homemade soup is my Sunday winner!!

Recipe- Chicken Stew

Chicken breasts
potatoes
carrots
peas
onions/leeks
chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
dash of white wine (that could just be me! good excuse to open a bottle...)

1. Cut the chicken breasts into bite sized chunks (about the size of a 10p coin)



2. Fry cubed chicken until cooked



3. Put chopped veggies into a stew pot/large saucepan with stock



4. Add chicken



5. Add wine and salt and pepper



6. Bring to boil



7. Reduce to simmer until all veg is soft and stew has thickened

• If stew is too thin use cornflour mixed with cold water to thicken-as per pack instructions



• remember to taste stew for flavour, never be afraid to throw any extras you have in- herbs, spices, play with the flavours!



• I have not added quantities, I tend to throw an equal amount of each veg in and an average one breast per person



• Remember to make extra if removing some for a pie!!

To make the pie just make shortcrust pastry:-

100g of lard

100g of stork or bakers butter

400g of plain flour

1. Throw all ingredients into food processor (a must have item imo!)



2. Add a pinch of salt



3. Blend until breadcrumb consistency



4. Add a drop of water into funnel at top until mixture takes on a dough consistancy- add water slowly, you won't need much!



5. Knead on floured surface and form into a ball



6. Pop ball in fridge (in clingfilm or dish) for 15 mins to harden

Use the pastry to line a pie dish, scoop ingredients from chicken stew out with strainer type spoon (you won't want the stew stock) add generous amount of bisto gravy, put pastry shell on top and .... cook :)