melbaboutown

Posting this a day early while I remember.

Spring. A good time for vegetables. According to some table it’s a bit late now to sow tomatoes from seed? But you could still buy seedlings.

In the warming weather what do you have planned for your landscape, pots, patch, window box - or even the lone houseplant/cactus in your apartment?

This looks nice and simple for warmer months. Minimal cooking that can be done in a pan or maybe a small bbq outside.

I don’t think chicken thighs are quite as cheap as they were but some prices aren’t bad. Try the bulk packs on special or at Aldi

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Here you go

The weather is warming up and it’s good to put out water. Especially now I’ve got magpies here.

However I stopped doing it because of potential disease transmission with avian flu. (Especially owning a vulnerable elderly cat - who is kept indoors but could get sick if I tracked something in.)

I’m physically disabled so would have trouble cleaning and disinfecting the water containers daily.

What’s everyone else’s plan for managing this?

This service is free via the EPA - apply through GardenSafe in Victoria and VegeSafe for the rest of Australia). The only cost is postage. You may choose to donate but it’s not compulsory.

It’s October and the maggies are singing.

As the weather warms up what do you have planned for your landscape, pots, patch, window box - or even the lone houseplant/cactus in your apartment?

Sorry this is super late. I’ve been busy and forgot to post at the same time as the frugal thread.

I also haven’t been able to do much gardening. The window boxes don’t hold much, I’m struggling with fatigue and the carrots I’m hoping would set seed are being eaten! Perhaps in future I’ll be able to do more.

Have you got any plans for your garden coming into spring?

Sorry it’s late. I really haven’t been doing much over winter.

Something knocked over my pot of carrots and has been eating the tops, boring down into the root vegetable! I’m suspecting a possum.

I really need to repot the rosemary and buy seeds to resow the cat grass.

Have things been more active in your garden? Did you get some good results with winter vegies, or are you thinking ahead to spring?

With limits on eggs now I thought it might be good to post some substitutes and notes on what has worked vs what was not that great.

For scrambled eggs and quiche I used to use silken tofu. It wasn't that pretty and didn't taste quite the same, but I seasoned it with soy sauce and didn't die. If you're willing to buy a niche product black salt contains sulfur and will give an eggy taste.

Mashed banana and applesauce are often recommended - I forget if I've tried them.

Yogurt was used as a substitute in muffins but I didn't like the result much. It made them a little dense and heavy. Perhaps it was that I used plain Greek yogurt rather than a thinner variety, plus muffins are supposed to be especially light.

Blancmange is egg free, made using cornstarch, and can be eaten instead of custard. (Though blancmange is usually served cold and set like jelly rather than as a hot dish/sauce)

There are egg free cake and biscuit recipes out there too.

Egg replacer powders are a thing but are more for baking rather than egg-based dishes.

I've been a bit crook so haven't managed a lot of gardening lately. I'm just leaving my heirloom carrots in their window box until they set seed, and resowing the cat grass.

Have things been more active in your garden? Are you getting some good results with winter vegies, or thinking ahead to spring?

This is a very filling warming casserole from my granny, which uses a few simple ingredients and sauces them with pantry staples you probably already have.

I probably should have posted this earlier when the weather was seriously cold.

Ingredients:

1kg meat (gravy beef, chuck steak, steak)

Carrots

Onions

1 spoonful of olive oil (can be substituted with canola, sunflower or vegetable oil)

Knob of butter (optional)

Sauce:

5-6 forkfuls of plain flour or cornflour

1/2 tsp black pepper (or less as preferred - which I did! That's a lot of pepper)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp powdered mustard (or less as preferred - which I did! That's a lot of mustard powder and it can be hot)

3 large spoonfuls of vinegar

2 large spoonfuls of Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup tomato sauce

Method:

Dice meat (discard fat). Put into frying pan with olive oil and butter. Brown meat then put into casserole dish.

Peel carrots and onions then slice both into rounds. Add to the casserole dish.

Make sauce:

Into a mug put flour, pepper, salt, sugar and mustard powder (dry ingredients). Then add vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato sauce. Mix well then add to casserole dish.

Stir and just cover everything with water. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes.

Serve with mashed potatoes.