In (and out) My Kitchen - November

IN AND OUT MY KITCHEN NOVEMBER

Well this is a bumper edition that's for sure!
I not only have several things IN my kitchen to show you, but also several things that have gone OUT of my kitchen!

I have been attempting to reduce our clutter & with that comes parting with some kitchen items that no longer are used as frequently as they should be.

These include a bread maker and a yogurt maker (to name a few):

I never had much luck making dairy free yogurt despite several attempts.

And so that brings me to a few new food items that I have in my kitchen to try:
One being coconut yogurt.
This is a new product available at Woolies.
Its delicious! But quite high in fat and a bit costly. 
Unrefined sugar to cook with - replaces raw sugar in recipes. Not necessarily a "new" thing for me, but I do tend to refer to 'raw sugar' in recipes even when I'm using an equivalent unrefined sugar.
I picked up this range of McDougall Right Foods from Coles. I was soooooooo excited that they stocked them! I LOVE that these have no added oils. I haven't actually tried any yet. My husband tried the lentil soup and said it was ok. Again, on the costly side but worth it to have healthy convenience foods for when they are needed. I have the remaining items in my drawer at work for one morning when I don't make lunch!
And peanut butter cacao spread which I also picked up from Coles. 
To be honest, I would much rather just have plain peanut butter. This didn't tickle my fancy! But my daughter LOVES it.

I also have a bag of Mrs Mays snacks. These are soooooooooo delicious. Made using whole ingredients these are a healthy snack and although they look small, just 2 pieces is actually quite filling, so I'm very pleased with how long this bag has lasted us!

In my kitchen is this vegan Christmas pudding that is waiting til next month when it will be devoured! Also purchased from Coles & especially marked "vegan" - gotta love that!!!
Its nice to have a little one for our family when it is time to share a Christmas meal with our extended family. I'm sure I will have enough other food I need to make without adding Christmas pudding to the list!!!!

In My Kitchen is a range of new teas that I have purchased and am looking forward to trying:

In my kitchen is this bag of rocket seeds that I'm waiting to plant. We are running short of pots in our yard. I feel a Bunnings trip coming up soon! 
On my kitchen window sill is this little basil plant that we've grown from a seed :-)
It is due to be transferred to our garden anytime soon, where it can joint the other basil that is growing!

Our pot of basil!

Which brings me to some other things OUT of my kitchen that will hopefully one day come IN!

Capsicum plant

We have several edible items growing around our garden at the moment. Since we don't have any lawn they all need to be in pots. I can take NO credit whatsoever for our garden because I do not have any green thumbs on my body at all! My hubbie does all the gardening work! I'm quite proud of his effort! Its so incredibly exciting to see the produce actually beginning to grow and not just having a plant full of leaves!
Here's some others that we currently have growing:

Tomatoes - if these succeed they will become tomato sauce because none of us actually like eating fresh tomato!

Lemon tree - I really hope this one takes off. I miss having a lemon tree.

Kale - however, it seems that we just can't keep the bugs from enjoying these leaves - then again, I can't blame them! We have been trying to get this to work for over a year now! We have a new cover to put on it and see how we go!

Last but not least, in my kitchen I have some new Norwex cleaning cloths.
For those of you who are not familiar with Norwex products, they are a company that make products that reduce the need for chemicals in cleaning. This includes  a large range of anti-bacterial clothes that use silver particles that only need water for cleaning.
I'm all for cleaning without chemicals so I'm eager to use these more and see how they go. So far I'm really really pleased with them.

WHAT'S NEW IN YOUR KITCHEN THIS MONTH?

Link your kitchen up on the Fig Jam & Lime Cordial blog.

In My Kitchen - February

Thanks to Kari from Bite Sized Thoughts I have found another great blog party that I've decided to join!
Thanks to Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial blog for coming up with such an awesome idea as In my Kitchen!

I TOTALLY love this idea.
Probably because I'm a kitchen lover!!!

So for February there is-

IN MY KITCHEN

A nearly empty packet of Tetley Tea for Soy - not because I've suddenly become a big tea drinker, but because I've discovered that black tea makes for an awesome hair conditioner! 

Sounds funny I know - but seriously give it a try! Brew a cup of black tea & allow it to cool. After shampooing (either with regular shampoo or an alternate "no poo" method), dip the ends of your hair into the tea cup to soak up some of the tea. Rinse it through your hair. Pour the remainder of the tea onto the top of your head too. This will leave your hair really shiny and smooth and will make it easy to brush :-)

There is also purple kitchen items - 

I was so excited when I individually unwrapped each of these purple gadgets at Christmas from my husband.
I'm quite particular about my favourite kitchen gadgets and which ones to use for each different purpose. But I must admit that these are rapidly becoming my favourites!
I have used all of these things except for the cookie cutters & I LOVE them all.

It took me a while to decide that purple was my favourite colour! You see I had a lot of trouble deciding which I liked better between pink or purple!
But yes, purple has come out on top. I think when I decided to have the decorations for my birthday party last year in purple that was official confirmation!!!


 
Simon Bryant's Vegies Book -

I am a big fan of the TV series "The Cook and The Chef". Simon & Maggie are great to watch! You can definitely tell that Simon loves his vegies! This guy is awesome! All his recipes are so different. Such creative ways of serving foods! I love the paper in this book - hahaha is that weird - I don't know how to describe it - its just so woody and exactly the way a cookbook should be. The pictures are amazing!

There is also an Electric Wok - 

Our amazing neighbours so generously gave this to us! 
IT IS AWESOME! Our kitchen has an electric stove top which makes using a standard wok quite hard - this electric wok works amazing!!!!
Don't be fooled by all the wrapping and think that I haven't put it to good use - that's just there to keep it looking nice & new all the time! I tend to do that with kitchen appliances - keep them in their box or wrapping to try and preserve their life a bit!

Christmas Drink #4 - Lemon Mint Tea

Drink # 4 - Lemon Mint Tea

Looking out the window today to see pouring rain & cold winds reminded me that we don't all get a hot Christmas! 
So here's one that all you folk on the other side of the world who have a cold Christmas can enjoy too!



To serve 2 you'll need:

500ml water
2 Tablespoons black tea leaves
1 small lemon
6ish mint leaves
1 teaspoon agave nectar


Juice the lemon & remove most of the zest. 
Tear the mint leaves.
 

Add all ingredients to a small pot & gently bring to the boil.



Remove from heat as soon as it has come to the boil or else the tea will taste bitter. 

 

Strain into a mug.




Add the agave and stir well.

*** Make sure you serve in a Christmas mug ;-)