About Me

We moved out to Portugal to live a frugal but better , simpler and peaceful life, our house is a very basic, semi ruin, up in the hills outside Figueiro Dos Vinhos, where we work our land, enjoy life with each other and our dogs, and hope to make the smallest carbon footprint we can,

Tuesday 23 February 2010

menu planning.

Ive just been reading back and realised my promise of putting my menus and meal planning on here, didnt actually last very long... sorry, Ive been so caught up with other things, remembering what I try to blog about is tricky...
I am still menu planning, I make sure I do it every week, it certainly helps with the shopping plan and my time as well....
We are eating stew a lot at the moment... I do try to vary it so its not just stew... but.. having said that, at the end of the day stew is stew isnt it. Its just that its cheap, warming on a cold wet day ( boy do we have plenty of them at the moment,) and healthy, and for me with a disassembled kitchen, easy to make with no fuss...
So this weeks menus...

Mon. mixed veg omelette (a sort of tortilla type thing with cheese) home made bread and butter. Apple & blackberry crepes.

Tues Soya savoury mince, with roast potatoes, carrots and cabbage. fresh fruit.

Weds. Bubble & Squeak special... (chop up extra roasties, left over veg, add onion, garlic, and chopped tomatoes) and refry till crispy and brown. Ummm Yum. Kiwi pie and icecream..

Thurs. 1/2 roast chicken, roast pots, cauli, green beans.

Fri Chicken Stew from yesterdays carcase, -add soaked dried beans, and elbow pasta, and veg.

Sat Soya Spaggetti Bol . Pear crumble & custard.

Sun Lasagne made from yesterdays extra soya mince sauce

Herb Seeds

As its still doing the wet stuff thing, Ive stayed in this internet space all morning.... at least its warm, and I dont have to worry about all the wood we are using up...as I didnt light the range today, those poor dogs will have to cuddle up to keep warm.
Ive found a great site for herb seeds, and have managed to order most of my wish list... and the prices seemed pretty good to me...

http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk

I also have a packet of Russian Comfrey which a plan to seed as much area of a spare terrace I have and then will not only use it as a herb but as fertiliser for our veggies... you can cut it three times a year so I hope to plant loads and then it will save us on organic fertiliser...

Our Use of Herbs.

First I'd like to thank all our new followers for joining us, and everyone who makes the effort to comment, I love reading them.
Right. Ive had a few people ask about the new medicinal herb garden Im planning, well work has stopped at the moment due to the torrents of rain that just dont seem to stop... if we experience drought in Portugal this summer, there will be something seriously wrong! Its been raining now with just the odd few days here and there since October... what are we doing to the world that it retaliates in this way...

I've become more and more interested in the use of herbs and herbal remedies over the last 18 months or so, I started with culinary herbs , being a non cooking person before I came to Portugal, it was a huge learning curve, when I say a non cooking person I dont mean I didnt cook at all, I worked very hard and very long hours and when I did get home I just cooked the bare minimum and we ate whatever was quick, easy and cheap... but to me it wasnt real cooking, it was packet, frozen or some such rubbish... what we eat now is real food... cooked from fresh or my own fresh frozen stuff. Home grown homemade homecooked... and herbs really make such a difference.
Last season I grew:
Coriander fresh and for seed.
Parsley -flatleaf.
Dill for leaf and seed.
Sage
Basil
Thyme.

Although I had lots, it wasn't enough, I preserved quite a bit in jars as a concentrate with salt and garlic and olive oil, it keeps really well in the cool larder . I combined fresh herbs, all the above, with plenty of beetroot leaves(full of vitamins), plenty of garlic and salt and blended it down with olive oil with the handblender till it was a thick liquid, sterilised the jars in boiling water, poured in the herb concentrate , covered the top with oil and sealed them, I still have some left. Fantastic in soups, stews, and pasta sauces. I actually love on toast or just on bread... also makes great natural version of garlic bread too...
I also made different versions, like just sage concentrate with salt and garlic... it all works equally as well.
This season I plan to use herb rows as dividers in the veg patch and borders everywhere.
I'd like to try to add Tarragon to the list above too.

Medicinal

Well I started reading up on medicinal herbs only mid last summer, so i'm very much a beginner.
Already I have a few of the usual herbs .

Lavender -grows wild all around us, I pick and dry the heads for soothing baths, add to herbal teas for headaches.

Rosemary. A great wash can be made for warding off mosquitoes.. great with meat too...
Borage.
Mullien again grows wild here, so I use it a lot, great for chests, coughs, bronchial tubes ect.. its also a non narcotic pain reliever.
Lemon Verbena. Fantastic for all nasal tubes, I make a tea with it and ginger for Riks sinisitis.
Lemon Balm. A good all rounder really, wounds, cuts scrapes, burns, bites... and a nice soothing tea for upset stomachs...
Aloe Vera, for burns and bites and any sore skin infections etc
Nettles. Makes a good tonic tea, full of Iron, good for the dogs coats too...I crumble the dried leaf into their food during winter.

In the plot i'm planning as a special herb garden I hope to include:

Milkweed, for asthma and Catarrh.
Anise as a digestive .
Catnip, its good for so many things, including colic in babies (not that I have any intentions) flatulence and stomach pains in adults including menstrual cramps and headaches. Its also good for colds and flu as it induces perspiration .
Coltsfoot , is emolient and soothes a sore throat, also good expectorant.
Vervain. colds fevers throat, chest congestion, a poltice will also be good relief of neuralga and arthritic pain.
Agrimony. Helps liver function and blood purifier. Plus Diarrha, colitis, a post op tonic. A hot infusion will draw out splinters and oh so much more!
Feverfew. Great protection against mosquitoes and gnats midges ect... as a double strength brew, its a relative of Pyrethum a effective insecticide.
Horehound, to make cough medicine and cough sweets.
Sweet Woodruff. Liver tonic, sedative, and as a bonus also an great thing to make bags to hang in your closets, it smells of new mown hay...
Yarrow. Induces sweating, relieves fever, a double strength brew cleanses wounds and stops bleeding, a good gargle for sore throats too...
Camomile. Soothing, sedative, mild pain relief....

And thats about it for now.... I have to try to get seeds as plants are too expensive for postage, Im also on the look out for a good, pictorial herbal as mine isnt too clear and we have tons of wild stuff growing here that Im sure or nearly sure are good to use but need to be POSITIVE on the plant identifiction first...

Thursday 18 February 2010

Weather....

The weather this year has been sooooooooo weird, wetter than normal, and also colder at times. This winter does seem to go on for a long time this year, Im getting a little stir crazy , I want it to warm up enough to start planting and working outside more, its been very wet again the last few days, so ive not had chance to get out and work on the herb garden plot.. time again is running away from me. The orchard does look good though, and... one of the plum trees has little green buds appearing, ... I suppose that means its an early and the others are not... so to get plums from it, we'll have to buy another one... oh well .. whats one more eh... we do love plums...
The kitchen is still as it was the other time I commented .... BUT we are slowly accumilating materials to use when we do make a start.... the thing at the moment is to collect and dry some more wood... every year I think we'll have tons... and its never enough... last year it was because it was the coldest we'd ever had... this year its the wettest... hehehehe such is our life here...

Saturday 13 February 2010

New Page

Ive added a new page.... hopefully there will be something more to put on it before very long...

The weather has been pretty good, very cold at night again, hehehe friends in the UK laugh at me saying its been cold... well for us it has been, we are very acclimatised to the mild winters now and frosty weather FEELS very cold to us...
Im still hauling rocks from the 'herb garden to be' but am getting excited about soon being able to internet shop for seeds....really will have to get a move on... I saw bundles of onion plants for sale in the market this morning... aggghhhh my plot hasnt even been tilled yet... Ive almost a sack of pototoes chitting nicely though as we plan to try a few more than usual this year...

The kitchen is still as I feared... the same as it was last week... a mess. Riks been so busy helping out at other folks places, nothing has been done at ours... oh well at least I can go outside and not look at it.... The problem with having boxes about everywhere is we have a very nosey, greedy and clever Dobermann, who 'investigates' anything left within climbing height... in one day last week he trashed the kitchen by 'bin surfing' and leaving rubbish strewn everywhere.... then later in the afternoon , I had stupidly left a packet of doggie treats up on a big box upstairs.... about 5 ft off the ground... he had knocked over three other boxes full of glass and dishes to get at them... and cut his paw in the proccess by the time we came home....
At least it spurred me on to put more stuff away.... and by then I had a LOT less stuff to put anywhere.....hehehehe yes before we get lots of concerned emails, he's fine....

Tuesday 9 February 2010

Spring... is coming!

The weather although still rainy at times has turned lovely and mild, and when the sun shines its really warm. I spent yesterday afternoon humping rocks from the herb garden patch, today I'm having a break as my knee is playing up a little. Trouble is with me, my head and determination to get stuff done is stronger than my body... my knee is an old injury that pops up whenever I overdo it... so Im being good and resting it so I can be fit to work in the veggie plot this summer..
We know that spring is on the way, the wildlife is showing up everywhere at the moment, yesterday I saw what I think was a Pinemarten, Rik, the lucky sod saw three deer drinking from the stream at the bottom of our land, two females and a very young one... now maybe he believes me that last summer I saw a huge stag in the forest! He pooh poohed it then...The woodpeckers are hammering away all the time now too and we've tons of finches and tits around the place too...

Last night we hacked all the old plaster off the kitchen wall, what a mess... we now have a fine white powder than completely covers the whole house... I have that to clean up when I finish here... oh joy....
I just keep telling myself how good it will be when its done....

Monday 8 February 2010

Kitchen update

Well although I was made to leave the house , the cupboard reached the top room without mishap... they wouldnt start untill I'd left.... heheheh
But the disruption in the house is dreadful, Ive boxes of kitchen stuff everywhere now. So I have a plan...
Ive started a new outside project and will ignore the chaos inside as long as I can..
Outside the front door is a 12ft x 12ft squarish plot at the moment its a huge giant pile of stone, and builders rubble, weeds, brambles and just mess... Im going to clear it and create a medicinal herb garden... I have about a month or 5 weeks or so untill we start planting the veggies.... so it must be finished by them... I like having my own projects to do outside, without relying on Rik to help...

Saturday 6 February 2010

Disruption and dread...

Well tomorrow is the big day, Rik and two friends are moving my big kitchen cupboard upstairs... the remodeling of the kitchen begins...
Firstly I dread the moving of the cupboard, I love it so much, and they plan to dismantle it into top and bottom, remove the doors, then hoik it up and over the balcony onto the upstairs terrace and into the lounge.... it wont fit up the stairs and Im scared of the resulting damage... I have to trust Rik and just go out for a while...
We are moving the range too... but that wont be for a while, we are creating a whole new style kitchen, it will still be completely rustic and lovely , just a bit more convenient.
I just hate disruption, the kitchen has been the only room that had some semblance of order....
Teeth gritting time...

Wednesday 3 February 2010

Update

Well I've managed one of the points below... Rik has agreed to try volunteers to help on the land... we offer a couple, 10 days in our holiday cottage, during the 3rd week ish... of april 3 meals a day, collection from Pombal, plenty of fresh air, excercise, and good food, in exchange we'd like 2 strong peole, used to outdoor living, and who like a rural life, 6 hours work a day 8.30 -3.30 with hour for lunch. The rest of time is your own. Must love dogs... the quiet life, veggie food, or almost... and non smokers,
Anyone interested ... email me please.

Monday 1 February 2010

Rich or Wealthy?

Just a few thoughts for today...
Ive just been reading another website, I get hooked once I get on this damn computer.

The theme of the writing was are you rich or wealthy... the point being that the difference between 'getting rich' and being 'wealthy ' is that being rich is a sort of over night thing, like winning the pools or getting a very high power job with ooodles of dosh, but that can also vanish quickly... and being wealthy is a more long term, huge investments, family money type thing....

It made me think though... hehehehe how much money seems to be the deciding factor in so many things in our lives, from where and how we live to what we eat for dinner or even if we have a dinner. The whole point in how we are living our lives in Portugal is to decrease our reliance on money as much as possible, now I know that to some extent we will always need dosh... thats a no brainer. But surely there must be ways we can cut our dependance to a minimum. We already have worked hard to change our attitude to having very little money. When we first came over it was very hard to manage without the computer, the tv and all the other gadgets most take for granted, nowadays I'd not go back, I dont miss them at all. Its training yourself to think differently, I always write shopping lists, never go to the market or supermarket unless I NEED something.. I always look at something that is broken torn or just not working, to decide if there is anything that can be done with it, mending, or taking parts to be used in other ways... its a different mindframe now, before I'd just have binned things straight away..
Dont get me wrong, we dont spend our days thinking about money or how not to spend it, its just become a part of our life that money isnt really important any more. Dont go thinking we are deprived though, we have a great life, eat lovely food, have good friends and good times with them, but it just doesnt revolve around money anymore, with the right mindset you can have a good time without spending money, just learn to take pleasure in different things and different ways.... I class us as wealthy... we have so much, we are blessed with many things that make us happy and contented ... isnt that what life is really about?

On a more practical note, I have a few more things to try to work out.

1, We eat chicken and eggs frequently, so I need to find someone locally to barter with, so it will save us both money. (we do not want our own due to attraction of vermin)
2, Try to talk rik into letting me have a volunteer sometime this summer , to help with organising logs, weeding and working on our land... he hates the idea...
3, Try to persuade rik to try goats milk (he dislikes it fromchildhood) in the hopes that I can get a goat to use for milk and cheese... it would cut our grocery bills dramatically.

So I feel wealthy almost every day... hearing the first woodpecker of the year made me smile half the morning, looking out and seeing the frost sparkling on the grass in the garden knowing I was snug in by the log burner, made me warm inside as well as out, seeing the sun slowly melting that frost and the sky turning bright clear blue made me smile too... smelling my bread baking in the oven and fresh coffee bubbling on the range gives me great contentment in my life.
There are so many ways every day to find things to take joy in, things that come as free as the air... we just have to learn to look for them instead of buying them....

So what makes you feel wealthy...?

Quicky Update.

Just a quicky update, on my way out of Pt classes. Well the weather has turned out beautiful the last week or so, mild sunny days and cold frosty nights, last night was a very sharp frost, completely white up at our place, yet others didnt get a bit...
I heard my first woodpecker of the year the other morning while walking the dogs, just waiting now for a few weeks for the cuckoos to start... Everywhere is drying up nicely, the stream through the orchard has gone now, we'll be able to redid the channel for it to route it where we want it to go soon, then if it gets very wet again, at least the water runs away ... our way...
We are getting plenty of enquiries for the cottage, looks like this year will be busy...
we are trying to re plan our kitchen but cannot agree on what we want to do with it... Rik cannot understand this is just a 'woman thing' ... heheheh oh well we'll see...