A Simpler Life 2018

Katieowl

Gluten free bread people... Dan Leppards recipe https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/may/23/baking-white-bread
is a good starting point. Although I would say the mix needs to be more of a batter than a dough.

I make and sell my GF bread on my stall, I've swapped a lot of the flours and added some other stuff.

Pretty sure that the Dan Leppard recipe would respond to a sour dough starter.

MadamMim2013

Hi.. Can I join in..
I may not contribute heaps myself but I value the fantastic advice and community feel that this thread gives out. I only discovered it this afternoon and have enjoyed reading from the start (took a 2 hour break in the middle to play a board game with my boys & their friend)
Some thought provoking ideas that I shall be looking into during the next few days.
I already started de cluttering in November, after coming out the other side of a particularly long and nasty 'black dog' visit, my anxiety was also at an all time high. I realised that some of this was caused by stuff and that I had fallen into the trap of hoarding certain items out of habit and comfort.. They've been removed, especially the expensive kitchen equipment bought on a whim, it's never been used, why keep it as a reminder of my failure to stop & think before buying!!
I have a few health conditions that effect me in various ways , fatigue playing a huge part when work/life is stressful.. Removing excess stress was a task for this last year and so far it's working. I'm hoping that declutting things further will help me lose the stone that's gone on from both the depression/anxiety and a thyroid issue.
Had a quiet, happy Christmas with my mum and boys, no anger, issues or anything but laughter and fun, really enjoyed it for the first time since I cannot remember when, New Year was also a quiet affair. I decided to clean and then paint my little kitchen.. It looks fresh and I feel better when in it, my neighbour will recycle the wood from my old table n chairs I've ousted so that's a bonus too!
Ooh look at me waffling on..
Thank you so much for the inspiration and push to keep going..
I will be back :rotfl:

Nargleblast

maryb - like having your arm hacked off without anaesthetic, isn’t it? (When the last child leaves home)

Fuddle I went through a phase of making sourdough. It was nice enough, but the starter ended up taking over the fridge, there was so much of the damn stuff, we couldn’t keep up with the making of it. I keep meaning to have a go at the Gluten Free Alchemist’s bread recipes, the Victoria Sandwich cake one is brilliant (similar to IrisViolet’s recipe). I adapted it to make a Yule Log which was very nice.

Home made soups are the order of the day at Chateau Nargle, tinned soups taste insipid by comparison.
(Monnagran would laugh here, my IPad translated that as home made souls)

Kantankrus_Mare

Why oh why are some people so oblivious to what we are doing to our planet?

We do a few take outs from the restaurant I work at....Jacket potatoes, cakes etc.

I have been saying we should get rid of the boxes we are using as they arent recyclable/biodegradable.

The new ones delivered yesterday are :j

Nobody else seemed to be bothered except forme and my daughter.

The take out coffe cups are the other thing that annoys me. We have quite a few regulars and it wouldnt take much effort to get them in the habit of bringing their own reusable coffee cup and we could offer some sort of discount but are any of the powers that be interested? :mad:

Nargleblast

Good point, Kantankrus Mare - offering discount for people bringing their own cups can attract more business from those who are interested in cutting down waste, and you can get some quite stylish coffee mugs for that purpose. I am sure in the big cities it is a fashion accessory! Polystyrene is also horrible to drink out of, once you have experienced using a proper vessel.

maddiemay

Nargleblast wrote: »

maryb - like having your arm hacked off without anaesthetic, isn’t it? (When the last child leaves home)

Fuddle I went through a phase of making sourdough. It was nice enough, but the starter ended up taking over the fridge, there was so much of the damn stuff, we couldn’t keep up with the making of it. I keep meaning to have a go at the Gluten Free Alchemist’s bread recipes, the Victoria Sandwich cake one is brilliant (similar to IrisViolet’s recipe). I adapted it to make a Yule Log which was very nice.

Home made soups are the order of the day at Chateau Nargle, tinned soups taste insipid by comparison.
(Monnagran would laugh here, my IPad translated that as home made souls)

Do try her bread recipes I know that taste is very much an individual thing, but I love her Oat bread and the GF bread machine bread, recipe for oven baking it too, cheese scones are the best I have managed. Been dying to make the Victoria Sponge, must try it this week, thanks for the rec. I don't have a sweet tooth and find it really hard to find a variety of savoury snacks or things to eat with breakfast or a salad lunch. (her parmesan, chorizo, walnut thingies are lovely using ready made puff pastry, I adapt it to what I have in the cupboards)

Must confess to having tinned oxtail soup as my staple "not feeling very well today" food, although I like to make my own soups regularly too.

[Deleted User]

Save_Dosh wrote: »

So far I would say I have gotten rid of about three quarters of my stuff. Very happy with that. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. XX

RicardaRacoon wrote: »

SaveDosh well done on decluttering so much!

Thank you, I think I mis-quoted that. What I meant was, out of all the 'stuff' I have so far tackled, books, clothes (nearly finished), bric a brac, I have gotten rid of probably 3/4 of it, but by the end, which will probably be the end of this week or next (depending on my motivaton), it should be most of it. Even my photos are going, I never look at them. I'm gonna scan them onto my computer. Today I'm going to tackle my wardrobe, shoes, bags & costume jewelery and bedding (hopefully). I'm going out to get some boxes, as I've decided to try not to buy any plastic from now on.

simplelivingislandlife

Kantankrus_Mare wrote: »

Why oh why are some people so oblivious to what we are doing to our planet?

We do a few take outs from the restaurant I work at....Jacket potatoes, cakes etc.

I have been saying we should get rid of the boxes we are using as they arent recyclable/biodegradable.

The new ones delivered yesterday are :j

Nobody else seemed to be bothered except forme and my daughter.

The take out coffe cups are the other thing that annoys me. We have quite a few regulars and it wouldnt take much effort to get them in the habit of bringing their own reusable coffee cup and we could offer some sort of discount but are any of the powers that be interested? :mad:

When it comes to coffee, in our local main stream coffee shop it's only myself and my sister who bring in reusable cups!! It's how we are known sadly!!

simplelivingislandlife

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you had a lovely one, I spent the coming of the New Year knitting and watching the NFL so I was happy as Larry!

Someone in our office was giving away a lot of Veg for free as it was going spare from our local store so over the New Year break I dehydrated 2 kilo's of potatoes for stews and stuff later on in the year and made 16 portions of soup. Carrot, Parsnip & Potato and Sweetcorn Chowder. Just need to put them in the freezer.

I wondered what everyone's simple living targets are this month/week? I am hoping to start a sourdough starter at the weekend and I was thinking of doing the minimalist game but will leave that for Feb for when I feel more prepared. I think this month is going to be spent on the kitchen. I have never been able to keep the kitchen cupboards nice and clear, I just tend to shove whatever in wherever so I'm going to sort through them and actually have a system of some sort!

fuddle

No targets for me. Targets and goals = pressure on myself. I'm trying to take each day as it comes, deal with what it throws up calmly while keeping to my routine and commitments while fitting in jobs that need doing and job I want to do.

I like to be busy but I need to be organised because, for me, the minute I feel overwhelmed it's game over and a long journey back to feeling on top of everything.

I've sown my chilli's today. I still need to buy jalapeño seeds as we use these a lot in Nacho's but I had the chilli seeds, the propagator and my over eager self. We were raring to go with the growing season. I'll rue that decision no doubt but today, I'm happy. I've sown!