The Start Of My Zero Waste Addiction.

The zero waste home blog. I came across it here only a few weeks ago at Danelle Bourgeois' tumbler. She posted the above video which lead me to the blog. The zero waste blog is written by Bea Johnson. Five years ago, she (and her family) decided to move into a smaller home. They downsized their belongings and took on a zero-waste style of living. The above video explains it all. She has got so many great tips on her blog for reducing waste, I've taken on most of the ones I've read so far, like she says in the video, it's very addictive. In the past two weeks I've been occupied with de-cluttering, reducing, reusing and shopping in the right places. I've donated three station wagon boot loads full of house stuff that I don't need anymore to second hand stores. I've made a compost bin for food waste. I've put up a much needed 'No Junk Mail' sign on the letterbox. I'm shopping at markets where I can get my own bags and containers filled no problem (laundry mesh bags for mushrooms, beans, loose lettuce etc). Refilling my egg trays. Using a canvas bag for bread at the bakery which tastes better and is fresher anyway. At the supermarket I'm opting to buy things that last in bulk rather than buying small bottles and jars, that is until I have more jars/bottles to refill etc. Phew! Like I said ... it's addictive. We've already reduced our rubbish and recycling by half. I had been wanting to do something about the sad state of our overfilled rubbish bins (recycling included) for a while now and Bea Johnson's blog seemed to kick it into gear.

I decided to make this post for people living in Melbourne as a resource for great places to buy produce from. Please do comment if you have more links to add.

Ceres Organic Market and Shop

Queen Victoria Markets

Organic Supermarket in Brunswick

South Melbourne Market

Footscray Market

Prahran Markets

Melbourne Community Farmer's Markets

Markets at Melbourne Showgrounds

and of course check out the zero waste home blog. :)

http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/

Pear & Rosemary Sauce

I've never done slow-roasted pork, so dinner tonight was just that! Six hour slow-roasted pork I might add. I used a Jamie Oliver recipe

click here.

I had intended to make apple sauce, but opted for pears over apples, simply because they were cheaper today. While making my sauce I decided to add rosemary from my garden to top it off. And it worked! Great combo for pork.

Hope you enjoy the recipe.

Fancy zucchini flowers.

It seems I have only blogged about food so far ... can't be a bad thing I'm sure. Everybody's got to eat! And at the moment everybody's talking about zucchini flowers! The Italians were the first to use them and these days stuff them with a soft cheese like ricotta, mascarpone or fresh goats cheese. The greeks stuff them with rice and the mexicans prefer them over zucchinis which they often cook in soups or used as a filling for quesadillas. All 'n all they're a bit fancy!

Bottle it up...

Recently a friend bottled some cherry tomatoes from their very abundant garden. I have heaps of cherry tomatoes in my garden too (more than I need for salads) so decided to do the same.

Super easy!

If you're wondering what the floaty white bits are ... I didn't have garlic cloves so used a bit of crushed garlic instead. Although there is nothing wrong with it next time I'll prob go with cloves!

make some rhubarb jam! Yum

Rhubarb ... it seems the only logical thing to do with it is to stick it in a pie or in an apple crumble. I have loads of it in my garden at the moment, more than I'd ever need for a pie or crumble so Jam it is...

Here's a recipe I used to make it. It doesn't matter if the rhubarb you have is green, it will still taste the same although the jam won't be ruby red.

I'd suggest adding a bit of ginger to this recipe, (I didn't but think it would be nice)about 3 tablespoons of finely chopped upcandied ginger.

What do you need?

500g rhubarb stems (washed & chopped)

2 1/4 cups caster sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla essence

The How-to...

In a glass bowl combine all ingredients. Cover and set aside to infuse overnight.

Transfer to a large saucepan. Bring to the boil on the medium heat.

Use a large metal spoon to skim any froth from the surface.

Cook, stirring, for 30 minutes or until the jam jells when tested.

Spoon the hot jam mixture into clean, dry jars. Seal and invert for 2 minutes.

Turn upright and set aside to cool.

Jam Know How...

To test if the jam is ready, place 1 teaspoon of the jam on a chilled saucer and place in the freezer for 1-2 minutes or until cooled to room temperature. Lightly push the jam with your finger. If the surface wrinkles, it's ready.

To sterilise glass jars, wash the jar and lid in warm soapy water and rinse. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper and place in oven preheated to 100°C until dry. Use straight from the oven.

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