Kitchen days...

 With our lime tree literally staggering under the weight of so many large juicy limes after all the rain we've had, I needed to find different ways to preserve them from now until next season's crop. 

A family favourite, especially for Rafaella and myself, is lime curd, so I made a few jars of that, and would have made more except for the scarcity of eggs. I'm going out to get some groceries later today and am praying to find eggs so that more limes may be used this way before the end of the week. 

I had intended making cordial last lime season (and the season before!) but never got around to it as our limes were smaller and we had less of them, but with this bumper crop I happily made up four litres on Saturday. 

It was an instant hit and very refreshing with soda water and ice, especially for hubby who spent two full days chopping the limbs of our fallen tree into smaller lengths, stacking them in a truck and a trailer, and then taking them to the council tip, before unstacking them all and leaving them in the area where they make mulch for the council gardens around town. It was a huge job, and hubby is still aching, but as tree limbs piled high in a yard attract snakes, they had to go. 

I juiced more limes and froze the juice in ice cube trays. These will be used this year in the many curries I make, and in the asian noodle dishes my man loves. I will probably do larger containers of juice and freeze them as well, for making more cordial in the months ahead. 

The dehydrator is working hard too. I used the mandolin to make uniform slices of lime so that they'd all dry at the same rate. Once done I plan on storing some in jars, and processing the rest as lime powder for flavouring cakes,other baked goods, and probably icing for Rafaella's 7th birthday cake in March. 

I found a recipe last night (when organising my recipe folder - gee, the things you find!) for a lime and coconut tapioca (sago) pudding, which only has a few ingredients and will make a lovely dessert. I've added tapioca to my shopping list as I'd run out of it a while back, and plan to make use of it a lot more in this very frugal year ahead. Nana used to make a lemon sago pudding, and I remember it had golden syrup in it (which I have a good amount of in the pantry) so I'll see if I can find that recipe. 

I made a big batch of protein balls yesterday, and instead of adding grated lemon or orange rind, I used lime rind this time. One thing I've been pretty lazy about the past year or so, is making most of our snacks from scratch. I don't know why, but I started buying the protein balls I add to my husband's packed work lunch, instead of making them. After watching prices continue to rise at the grocery store, I've renewed my weekly meal/snack prep to what it used to be a year or so ago, buying ingredients in bulk and making much of what we use from pantry supplies. 

Protein balls are easy to make in a food processor, and hubby finds them great for mid afternoon energy boosts. I don't add anything fancy, just medjool dates, cashews, dried cranberries, coconut and citrus zest. 

As this is stone-fruit season in Australia, I have quite a lot on hand right now. At this time of the year nectarines, plums and peaches are cheaper than apples. 

So far, peaches have been stewed and frozen, plums have been made into jam, and yesterday I tried a new recipe for nectarine relish. YUM. This recipe is a keeper! 

I spread it on gluten free sourdough toast and topped it with pastrami and swiss cheese for lunch (with a side of fresh nectarine and lime cordial). Hubby will try it today on his work lunch. 

So before the end of February I'll make more of that nectarine relish, plus more plum jam, stewed plums to freeze for winter porridge, and more stewed peaches. I also found a recipe for pickled peaches which I'll give a try. I'm also hoping to find apricots cheaper than they have been so far this season, as Blossom loves apricot jam and it would be wonderful to have a few jars in the pantry beside the current jars of plum jam and last year's strawberry jam. 

Oh, and I think I'll make lime marmalade again. The batch I made in 2023 was delicious and we have none left. 

Refilling staples for the pantry, or the fridge, is high on my list of to-dos before the month ends, and a favourite of mine that had just run out is cashew parmesan. As with all the recipes I have been making, there are only a few ingredients, and they are all staples, so as I work on menu planning and pantry building in the months ahead, it will be those simple staples that can be used multiple ways, that I shall focus on. I have to be careful with the amount of dairy I consume, which is why I make almond milk for us, and even though we do still indulge in a bit of cheese each week, I found that this cashew parmesan is even nicer than the real thing, so I make it regularly. 

It's just cashews, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder. I have many recipes for cashews and almonds, which is why they are staples in my pantry or fridge.  

Remember the almond butter I made last week? Turns out I made the equivalent of four $9.50 jars from the supermarket, with just $7 worth of almonds! For some reason I got my numbers wrong last week, and thought I'd only made double, and that the almonds were $8...but I checked the brand at the supermarket for size, and weighed what I'd made. So I made $38 worth of almond butter for $7. How wonderful is that?! 

We had run out of biscuits (cookies) by the time I packed my husband's work lunch on Monday, so I used some of our almond butter to bake a batch of almond, maple and sultana biscuits (cookies). These are gluten free and really good with a cuppa. 

The grandkids like choc chips instead of sultanas, but we prefer dried fruit in them. 

In the seasonings section of the pantry, I made up some rosemary salt from the rosemary I dried last week, and some of the pink rock salt we had on hand. We use celtic sea salt for cooking and our meals, but I find the pink rock salt to be excellent for making herb salts. I'll use the rosemary salt to sprinkle over roast potatoes and lamb, or across focaccia before it bakes.

I've also been chatting with Janice about making tomato sauce (ketchup) from tinned tomatoes, as she had kindly shared with me her grandmother's recipe and a CWA one as well. I found a couple in my own QCWA book from 1959, so now I have a few to play with, though they all use fresh tomatoes. 

Janice suggested I may need to cook the sauce longer when using tinned tomatoes, which is what I'll do. The reason I am using tinned tomatoes is because after the 'blown' tins in the study pantry last week, I want to use up all the remaining 'good' tins before restocking tinned goods in the cooler kitchen pantry. 

Have you made tomato ketchup from tinned tomatoes? Any hints or tips you can share?

Well, I'd best be off and do that grocery shop. I have my budget, my list, and ideas. Working with the seasonal produce is obviously wise, so that's where my focus is, plus gathering things like almond flour when it's on special for our baking. I use it mixed with good GF flour that I buy online, and find it's pretty good for most things, but there will always be a bit of experimenting happening...just not as much as there used to be, as failures mean $ wasted. 

God calls us to steward all we have wisely, and stewarding can mean many things, but finances are a big responsibility and it always makes me extra conscious of this when I re-read my life verse as a wife, Proverbs 31:11-12...

My man will change jobs on May 1st, and the budget belt will be significantly tightened, but we have no concerns about that because where God leads, He also makes provision. We're looking at this as an adventure...hand in hand with the Lord. 

God bless you dear ones!

hugs

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