Slow Living Diary July 2012

Once again, I am joining in with Christine from Slow Living Essentials for a monthly reflection of slow living…

NOURISH: Carrot, Banana and Coconut muffins have been a huge hit (on a side note, how cute are Little B's napkins....frogs and snails xx). Might sound like a strange combination but they are delish and keep my tummy full all afternoon (full of spelt, oats, sunflower seeds and pepitas).  Spaghetti with kale, garlic, potatoes and olives from Annie Smither's Garden to Table has also featured quite high on our rotation list - it's quick, easy and tasty. I’ve also had a go at making churros to celebrate a birthday….all I can say is yum. Who knew – flour, water and sugar could make a feast??

PREPARE: I’ve made the move over from canned beans to dried beans. Mainly because I was buying Eden Organic beans to avoid BPA so I figure I should just get organized and side step the whole can thing entirely. It’s worked well so far and I’ve found baked beans work brilliantly in the slow cooker.

REDUCE: I've been plodding away reducing what we buy from the supermarket. We no longer buy the following from the supermarket: fruit, veg, meat, pasta, cleaning products, bread/rolls, butter/cheese, toilet paper, spices, cat food and rice. It's quite a small shop now but I cant seem to find alternatives or alternative places to buy a few things like Little B's milk, my rice milk, Mr B's lactose free milk, Australian olive oil, environmentally friendly cat litter to name a few. 

GREEN: After being inspired by this post on Christine’s blog, I’ve started using a shampoo bar for washing my hair (from a local soap company that sells at a local market). I have terrible rosacea on my face and I found being ‘no poo’ my rosacea got worse from the apple cider vinegar rinse. The shampoo bar has been fantastic for both my hair and skin.

GROW: Nothing growing here but dreams for spring and summer plantings. Oh yeah and our never ending baby spinach…but I’m a bit over that at the  moment LOL.

I also planted some garlic under our new pear tree as a companion plant to prevent bugs and it’s just shot up straight away :-)

CREATE: My quilt is finally finished and is now decorating and keeping us snug on our bed. It feels like forever since we started it but we’ve been waiting in a queue to get the backing done (6 months) as Granny B doesn’t have a long arm quilter. But I adore the end result, even more so because it was done in conjunction with mainly by my mum. We’ve also been told it looks a lot like a Civil War quilt. What can I say…I love it!!

DISCOVER:  This month my reading has focused on more than just cooking. I’ve also being planning our spring planting for the new vegie gardens. Not to mention checking out patterns to crochet rugs for our bedroom floors (I’m getting a bit ahead of myself methinks).

Little B and I have also been reading The Water Horse. My favourite fun reads have been Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Green and The Help by Kathryn Stockett (these were both incredible reads for totally different reasons!!).

ENHANCE: Joining in our local school holiday community at the library was good fun as was the Community session we attended. We also sorted through Little B’s baby books and donated them to a local playgroup.

ENJOY: We got a canoe secondhand from a family whose teenage boys had grown up. Very excited!! Mr B is a keen sailor, kayaker and canoeist, which we have sort of put on hold since Little B was born. Now with swimming lessons going well, we are keen to get back into camping and canoeing.