Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

Brie

@leftatthetrafficlights
It's been decades since i had pomegranates.  As I recall they are very seedy.  Have I remembered that right?  I think I liked the flavour but they were such a faff.  For some reason they were a trendy thing to have when I was in high school!!!

amber03

My nan used to eat pomegranates, used to sit there with a needle eating all the seeds.x

London_1

Golly I've not had one of those since I was at school in 1958 I read somewhere than there are 365 seed in each one ,I've no idea who actually sat and counted them 


JackieO xx

otb666

I find your plates of food inspirational and wonder how they are cooked and what they are made up of. Also where do you buy all the different grains from. As local supermarket normally only has a couple of different grains.  I can buy yellow split peas and buckwheat which i soak overnight before cooking. Onzo pasta red lentils and sometimes cous cous but thats it cannot find any others.  I do not have/want a pressure cooker as they scare me. I find soaking them then cooking on hob suits me better.  Just would be so keen to try other grains on your plate Thank you

leftatthetrafficlights

@Brie - pomegranates are fiddly to prepare (I've no idea how many how many seeds are in there @London_1🤔) but I do a couple at a time and keep them in the fridge. They last a good week/10 days so it's not too traumatic! 😉

@amber03 - I used to eat them like that!! 😁 

@otb666 - I buy my grains online from https://www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_qG5BhDTARIsAA0UHSIqXV_4XZaxtKlPLyRAA7tXHTB2uAWUP2mM9ir2KPXa_Ol3uC3GsI4aAliWEALw_wcB

I mix a quarter cup of each grain (rye, barley, oats, short grain brown rice) into a pan with stock and bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes with lid off, stirring occasionally. Cover pan and turn off heat - leave for 10 mins then drain. Once completely drained fluff with fork. 

Dinner last night was nice - I spiced the sauce with chimichurri spice, smoked paprika and liquid smoke and heated the black beans in it. Served with hg spaghetti squash, hg corn and plantain (piccie below is prior to salad being added). 

leftatthetrafficlights

Second entry today and it's all about my new year plans! 😁

My seasonal road map is completed - dh is printing the winter season today so that it's ready for me to start tomorrow night with my new year reading - I'm going to run with it for the winter and make any additional tweaks needed before I get the rest of the year printed. 

It's been quite a labour of love getting it sorted so I'm really hoping that it's helpful keeping me on track. I'm really looking forward to executing my new year plans - by this time next year I should be a lot healthier and more organised 😁

I've already got my first garden task organised for Thursday - I'm going to start by raking up the garden leaves and starting off a leaf mould bag. I've divided the garden up into areas so that I can work on one area at a time. By the time spring arrives, I should have all the groundwork done in all the areas so it will be a lot easier to keep on top of. Part of the seasonal living is growing much more food so it's going to be quite a lot of work over the next twelve months but I'm looking forward to it 😁 I'll be updating my inventories on Thursday too - I've designed the road map to document everything I use from the inventory so that I can keep an accurate record and minimise expenditure. 

I've sorted all the budgets today as I won't be spending anything else between now and my new year. I have £5434 in 'sinking' funds for things household fuel and oil; solstice and birthdays; car tax, insurance, maintenance and MOT; bulk buys; creature food and garden; and house insurance. This is added to every month (and used as required) so I should have a healthier balance by this time next year. 

I'm running my grocery budget (and dumping the bulk buy fund) on a seasonal basis so it will be £900 per season - theoretically, the summer season should be less expensive due to home grown produce. 

I'm spending tomorrow morning sorting the house - I like to start my year in a clean environment - and then I'm having my grandbaby for a sleepover after school. It's been a couple of weeks since his last sleepover so I'm really looking forward to it 😍 

Chamomile is calling - have a fab slow day!! 🐌 😁

KajiKita

All sounds very positive and upbeat 😊
Out of curiosity, why are you losing the bulk buy approach?

KK

leftatthetrafficlights

@KajiKita - thank you! 😁 

I'm dumping the bulk buy fund because I'm moving to a seasonal grocery budget and it will be easier to track my spending within it if it's all together 😉 I've topped the grocery fund up so that I have the £900 ready to go and any surplus will go into a separate fund at the end of the seasons. Hopefully, by the end of the 12 months I'll have enough in there to be able to go back to a bulk fund should I feel it's a better way to work 😉

KajiKita

An okay, so you’ve absorbed the £900 into each month. It will be interesting to see if that works better for you 😊

KK

mrs_slapshot

@leftatthetrafficlights can I ask how you’ve created your diary/planner? I love things like that (although I never seem to have the discipline to stick to them…)