Run your kitchen like a restaurant

One of the biggest savers of time and money for me is to run your kitchen like a restaurant and trust me, some days, especially the weekends, I feel like a short order cook! I try to avoid this though by keeping meals very simple on the weekends but I plan what I’m going to cook and what I’m going to buy by keeping the same things stocked in my pantry all of the time. I have the same quantity of ingredients and restock every fortnight. Meals are always varied and many different dishes and cuisines are achieved through these basic ingredients.

I’ve never worked in a restaurant before but I do have domestic cooking experience on my side. I think from watching so many cooking shows and reading so many cookbooks, I’ve realised that most of the cuisines in the world and most of my favourite dishes all contain the same basic ingredients.  You’ll find that restaurants would stock these same basic ingredients and plan the menu based on seasonal produce exactly the same as I do in my domestic kitchen.

An Indian household’s pantry would differ greatly from say a family of say Thai origin, but mine has a little bit of everything. I maintain the same level of these pantry basics and that’s what makes up my shopping list. I have learnt very well to substitute with these basic ingredients. My favourite web site is A Cook’s Thesaurus.  You enter an ingredient and it offers a substitute. As I mentioned previously, my fruit and vegetables are bought in season and meat (or protein) bought on special for $10 per kilo or less. Meat isn’t always on the menu. I substitute the protein with pulses.  You might be thinking that we eat the same things day in, day out. Well, we don’t.

There are quite a few online pantry lists you can use or print your own. For example, one called Pantry is available for free to download and can be synced to your iPhone. (I haven’t tried this as I don’t have an iPhone but it’s worth a look.) Create a simple spreadsheet or word document breaking up your pantry contents into Pantry, Fridge and Freezer. Laminate them and write in whiteboard marker the contents and quantities of your pantry cupboard, fridge and freezer. Create your shopping list each week/fortnight/month from these documents and also create your weekly menu plans from these lists.

Found out more about how I manage to cook a wide variety of meals for $150 per fortnight on ALL of my groceries.

 

Where do I start?

When you get so overwhelmed with the state of your home you just don’t know where or how to start and you ask yourself “where do I start?” I want you to know, help is at hand. It can be totally overwhelming for some but I have great news.

Domesblissity is Hitting the Streets

I’m taking Domesblissity out on the road in 2017 and I’m going to show you how to organise your home life so you are no longer overwhelmed.  The Let’s Get Started home organising service is a custom designed plan catered to your specific needs. 

Whether it’s showing you:

• how to cook easy, family friendly meals that your family will love
• how to grocery shop for the ingredients you need to avoid wastage
• how to organise your pantry, fridge or freezer to make the most of the ingredients you buy
• how to organise your home so you can find things easily and put them away again
• how to declutter or repurpose items in your home so you avoid buying things you already have
• how to organise your closet so you get the most use of the clothes, shoes and accessories you already have
• how to store seasonal items like winter blankets, winter clothes, seasonal decorations, eg Christmas, Easter etc
• how to organise your finances so you can save for the things that you really want for you and your family
• how to find ‘me’ time to enjoy life and not be a slave to your house
• and anything else you need, just ask.

I can organise a regular cleaner, handyman, pool cleaner or anything else you just can’t find the time to deal with. 

If you live within the Redlands, Queensland and surrounding suburbs, I’ll be happy to come visit for a FREE 30 minute consultation to evaluate just where you want to start to organise your home life.

 

For Your Chance to Win a Complimentary 2 Hour Consultation

If you’d like to try out the Let’s Get Started service for FREE, I am giving away a complimentary 2 hour consultation. All you have to do is complete this easy “yes/no” type survey.  The survey will close at 5:00pm on Monday, 2 January 2017.

To find out more about the services I provide and a little more about me, complete the details below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

If there’s absolutely anything you need a hand with to give you a better quality of life, to live the kind of life you’ve only ever dreamed of, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Easy Lamb Korma from Pantry Staples

I looove Indian food and before kids and when I was single, I would thing nothing of buying all the Indian whole spices and grinding them into a beautiful Indian curry paste. Now that I’m married and with kids and I’m still the only one who loves spicy food, they are a thing of the past except when I made this easy Lamb Korma from pantry staples.

 

Lamb is so expensive here at the moment so I picked up this diced lamb marked down at the supermarket. It’s not something I would normally buy. So I wanted to make something really tasty with it and I immediately thought of Indian. You can achieve the same flavour as a Korma with basic pantry staples.

How to Make

I cooked this in the slow cooker but fried the onions first in a little olive oil.

Coat the Meat with the Spices

I then mixed all the spices together in a plastic bag, added the meat.

 

Make sure each piece of meat was well covered with the spice mix.

 

Add the coated meat to the frying onions.

 

Add some chopped (or tinned) tomatoes.

Slow Cooker, Stove Top or Cooked in the Oven

 

Add the meat and onion mixture to the slow cooker with the remaining ingredients. You can cook this on the stove top, in a saucepan or in the oven. I love how the slow cooker makes the meat melt in your mouth.

 

Mix it all together and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

Serve with Pappadums

 

For a bit of ‘authenticity’ I like to serve my curries with boiled rice and pappadums. Pappadums are cheap and you can get about 100 in a packet for a couple of dollars.

They keep for a really long time in the pantry and are quick and easy to prepare by shallow frying in a bit of oil.

And that’s it! An easy slow cooked Indian lamb dish that the whole family will love without the usual heat from Indian food. It pays to keep a few basic spices in the pantry for moments like this. The spices will be used for many other dishes.

Print

Easy Lamb Korma from Pantry Staples

An easy to prepare Indian Lamb Korma made from pantry staples that can be made in the slow cooker, on the stove top or in the oven.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 15 minutes

Servings 4

Author Anne

Ingredients

• lamb diced
• medium onion cut into wedges
• olive oil for frying
• 3-4 to matoes roughly chopped (or 1 can tinned tomatoes)
• 1 cup beef stock
• 2 tbs tomato paste

Spice mix

• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbs sugar

Instructions

1. Combine the spices in a ziplock bag.
2. Add the diced lamb and coat well with the spices.
3. Fry the chopped onion in a little olive oil.
4. Add the meat and fry until just browned.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes.
6. Add the meat/onion mixture to the slow cooker (or continue cooking in a saucepan or add to an ovenproof dish if cooking in the oven).
7. Add tomato paste and beef stock.
8. Cook on high for 4 hours or low on 8 hours.
9. Serve with rice and pappadums.

Recipe Notes

Dried cumin and coriander are the predominant spices in so many cuisines around the world.
Garam masala is found in the spice section at the supermarket and can be used in other curries.

7 ways to get food for FREE

Let’s face it, times are tough for a lot of people these days. Finding money for the simple things like the weekly grocery shop is becoming hard for many families. But there are ways you can source food for FREE or very cheaply. Here are 7 ways to get food for free.

GROW YOUR OWN

Chickens and eggs

Admittedly, there might be a small start up cost associated with growing your own food. For example, chickens are an excellent source of food in both the meat and the eggs. There’s the initial cost to set up a coop for them and purchase the chicks but, in the long run, this could provide a lot of good quality food for your family. Eggs are an excellent source of protein and can be eaten as is or used in baking and the chickens can be eaten as well. The manure is perfect for the garden. I can remember we had chickens in our backyard growing up. I’m not really sure why we got rid of them. Maybe it was too much for Mum to handle on her own with 3 young children. Check your local area government rules and regulations for keeping chickens.

Keeping Chickens for Eggs

Keeping Backyard Chickens

 

Fruit & Vegetables

Growing your own fruit and vegetables is also an excellent source of free food. Many varieties of produce can be grown from seeds you already have (eg tomatoes, pumpkins, watermelons etc) or they could be grown from the actual item itself (eg potatoes) or from the root (eg celery). There are a lot of tutorials on how to grown your vegetables from scraps if you Google them. Fruits like strawberries are very easy to grow as well. I have grown my own herbs over the years but intend on growing salad vegetables when the weather warms up.

Starting a Vegetable Garden

Grow Your Own Food

25 Foods You Can Regrow from Kitchen Scraps

Fruit from the Fruit Salad Plan (Monstera Deliciosa)

I can remember we had a choko vine, a pawpaw (paypaya) tree, a fruit salad plant (monstera deliciosa) and a custard apple tree. This obviously saw us through hard times when we couldn’t afford basic fruit but I don’t remember eating too much of these things. My grandmother was pretty self sufficient with both fruit and vegetables in her backyard. Just remember to factor in the time it will take to tend your vegetable garden. You’ll have to make sure you keep pests away, fertilise it (you can do this easy enough by making your own mulch from food scraps) and keep it watered. 

COMMUNITY GARDENS

We have a community garden in our area and a lot of cities and towns are getting in on the idea. Members from a community take a small allotment of land and turn it into a thriving fruit and vegetable garden. You probably just have to volunteer your time in return for produce. I actually haven’t been to my local community garden but have been meaning to. Check out your local area for any community gardens.

Find a Community Garden in Australia

 

FOOD BANKS

Free Bread

I have had a couple local churches offer free bread over the years and I’ve always taken up their very kind and generous offer. When I first became a single parent, I was getting free bread from this lovely elderly couple who collected beautiful unsold fresh bread and buns from local bakeries at the end of the day. Once I got back on my feet, I said that I no longer needed to collect it but they said I should come anyway. It was only going to be thrown out. I didn’t want to take any before someone else in need should have it.

There was always so much leftover at the end of the night at the local church hall. We used to get beautiful sourdough loaves, wholegrain loaves and rolls and the lovely couple would save a doughnut or cake for my children. 

There are at least 2, that I know of, churches in my immediate area who still do this with the bread. Whatever is leftover at the end of the day is collected by a farmer who feeds it to his pigs. Honestly, this bread is one day old, if that. It’s beautiful and fresh and packaged. There is nothing wrong with it. Again, I would never take free bread from anyone else in need but if it’s only going to be fed to pigs, I’ll take it home with me. I only ever take what I need for our small family. Our freezer is always stocked with bread and rolls. When it’s defrosted, it’s as fresh as the day it was baked.

Groceries

Food banks also offer food that is either past it’s ‘best before’ date or getting close to it. They may offer some of this food for free or ask for a small price or donation. I know some churches in my area have ’emergency packs’ for $40 which has quite a few groceries in it but it’s not for me but I’m sure it helps out a lot of people in need.

Another church near me recently acquired all these boxes and boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates. They were like 3 boxes for $2 and each box had about 20 chocolates in it. The best before date wasn’t until Christmas time, not that they would last that long in my house. I know chocolates aren’t nutritious everyday food, but they do have a lot of dairy products, fruit and vegetables and bread for free and other groceries for a small charge. Google ‘food bank’ or ‘free food’ in your area.

 

CHARITIES

Charity organisations like St Vincent de Paul, the Salvation Army and Lifeline (here in Australia) have food banks or services where they will give you a food parcel when times are really tough. They also offer free services to help you work out a budget, how to get back on your feet and counselling when you need it. I never knew of this service before and I can remember the first Christmas on my own after my mother died and my marriage ended, I really wondered what I’d do for Christmas presents for my children.

I had a few things I picked up second hand from op shops but someone suggested phoning a charity for a Christmas parcel. I did and they brought me a whole lot of Christmas type food, snacks and treats for the children plus a little present each for them. I was so grateful. I felt like a bit of an imposter accepting the parcel because I know we would’ve got by and the children wouldn’t have known any different but I’ll always be grateful for that kind gesture and never hestitate to give to those 3 charities I mentioned.

BARTERING

Not that I’ve ever done this but if I ever was desperate for food, I would be more than willing to offer my services of cooking, cleaning or sewing, for example, in return, for example, a dozen eggs from someone who had their own chickens. I can remember as a young girl, people coming over with a box of vegetables, for example, for my Mum and she’d hand over their clean laundry or some mending they needed.

There are a lot of people out there who don’t know how to mend or cook and I’m sure they would be more than happy to do it in return for whatever food they offered or at least money towards buying food.

Barter for Cheaper Food

 

MARKETS

I love my markets for fruit and vegetables and other bits of ‘trash and treasure’ and it is all relatively cheap to buy anyway. I have been there towards the end of the day though and a lot of sellers are ‘giving away’ a lot of produce they don’t want to take home with them. I can remember getting a whole huge box of broccoli for $5 which I blanched and froze and after I paid for it, the seller threw in a couple of oranges, capsicums and potatoes. Probably a few dollars worth of extra produce I scored for free.

 

PANTRY CLEAN OUTS

I can’t say I’ve ever taken food from strangers when they’ve had a clean out. You see it a lot on Facebook garage sales for example. Usually it’s just unopened food the person knows they’ll never use. I’m not sure I’d be game enough to try it from a stranger. You just never know but for years, even when I was working full time, I always took my mother’s unwanted food items. They weren’t really unwanted. They were probably just spur of the moment purchases she had made and she realised she’d never use them.

Same goes for my sister. She often goes on a health kick or changes her diet so she’ll send all her unwanted items my way. I don’t mind in fact I love it. It gets my creative juices flowing trying to come up with ideas to use them.

 

I think in this day and age, it really is hard for a lot of families but there are a few ways you can be savvy when it comes to sourcing food for free. 

Indian Chicken & Spinach Curry (from the pantry)

 

You might remember a couple weeks ago I made an easy Garlic Naan bread? It was late-ish on a Saturday night. We didn’t have the kids for the weekend and I was craving Indian food. I had the ‘I can’t be bothered’ mood but had chicken defrosted for whatever it was I was planning on cooking. The thought of paying somewhere around $50 for takeaway food just for the two of us soon got me into gear and was all the motivation I needed to make this Indian Chicken & Spinach curry just from things I had in the pantry and freezer.

 

 

You’ll have to excuse the lack of ‘how to’ photos. I’m positive I took them but just can’t find them but this dish is so, so easy to make and if you can slice an onion and a chicken breast and open a couple packets (not that is made from packet mixes), you’ll be fine making this dish.

As I always say, it’s best to have a fully stocked pantry with all the essentials so you can create a tasty dish with little or no effort. To make this creamy curry I used a small long life box of cream (not sure if that’s available in all parts of the world but it’s a lifesaver) and normal curry powder. A tin of coconut milk would work just as well. I used to have all the Indian spices that went into a good curry but no one in the house likes it as much as me so they all went to waste. A traditional curry powder will still give you a lot of flavour similar to an Indian curry.

The spinach was frozen and the brand I get comes in blocks so you only use the amount you need. If you have an abundance of spinach (or silverbeet or chard) you can quite easily make your own blocks by blanching in hot boiling water for a minute or so, cool in cold water, drain and briefly blitz or chop. Fill an ice cube tray or small containers with the mixture and freeze. It’s too easy.

I also had a serving for 2 of boiled rice in the freezer. Whenever I cook rice for a meal, I cook up about 2-3 cups of it and use what I need for that meal and freeze the rest into ziplock bags, enough for a serving of 2. To defrost, I put the frozen rice in a dish, pour boiled water over it and within a couple minutes it’s warm enough to eat. Sometimes you might need to give it a quick minute blast in the microwave to make it hot.

With a little bit of preparation, having a well stocked pantry and basic ingredients, keep your money in your wallet, avoid takeaway food and make this scrummy dish at home in about 10 minutes flat.

Indian Chicken & Spinach Curry (from the pantry)

• 1 chicken breast, diced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 tablespoons crushed garlic
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• mushrooms (optional)
• frozen spinach
• longlife cream or a can of coconut milk/cream
• 1-2 tablespoons curry powder
• salt & pepper
• fresh coriander (if you have it, to serve)
• boiled rice (to serve)

1. If you’ve got frozen pre-cooked rice, heat by pouring boiling water over and when defrosted, drain well. If not, put 1 cup of rice on to boil.
2. In a pan, fry the chicken, onion and garlic.
3. Add the curry powder and stir until it becomes aromatic.
4. Add the longlife cream or coconut milk/cream and stir well.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Add frozen spinach and any other vegetables/herbs you might have.
7. Once spinach has warmed through, serve over rice.

My pantry makeover

Its been a couple weeks now but I’m only just getting around to blogging about my pantry makeover. I’ve got a pretty small kitchen, which I don’t mind but I have THE WORST PANTRY in the whole entire world. That is it, pictured above and for someone who loves to cook and bake as much as I do, Its ridiculous trying to keep everything in this small space. The shelves are deep and high and not a standard size for most shelving systems.

I had food in baskets in just about every cupboard in the kitchen. I’ve put up with it this way for years now, occasionally having a clean up but usually just piling everything into a basket when I bought the shopping home and then pulling out every basket to find what it was I was looking for. It didn’t worry me. I just needed to find a better way.

Upon looking in the shed one day, I looked at all the baby formula cans I was saving ‘just in case’. The two drawers under the cupboard space in my kitchen are quite deep and I wondered if they would fit.

They fit and I can stack two on top of each other. All of my baking needs, nuts, seeds, pulses, flours, sugars etc are all in these wonderful baby formula tins. Everything fits just beautifully. I just keep the products in their plastic bag, sealed with a clip and then put in the tin.

All the boxes of cereal and kid’s ‘crockery’ is in the bottom drawer. They can help themselves to cereal, drinks and the odd ice cream whenever they like.

As for the three shelves, I headed to my local discount department store and picked up 6 stackable, wire baskets of varying sizes for just over $30. I measured the cupboard width and height and took the tape measure with me to ensure the baskets would fit. I needed some smaller ones for cans and larger ones for larger packets and boxes.

The sauces, coffee, spreads etc remained pretty much unchanged. It was working well as it was.

The next shelf up was for cans, stock, smaller jars of cornflour etc. I’ve kept the space on the side for dog treats and bird seed.

The top shelf is for lunch box treats (excuse the photos – a bit shaky with the mobile phone), pasta and noodle packets and other bits and pieces.

So, after years and years, all the food is finally in one spot in these three areas. Oh, I do have a plastic tub full of baking supplies like cupcake papers, piping kit etc and my spice jars above the microwave but I’ve got the extra space now and they are both in separate areas and easy to grab. You won’t find any fancy paper lined shelves or matching containers in my pantry. Just a practical, usable storage space with everything I need in one space. See, I knew those baby formula cans would come in handy. Now what to do with the other 20 or so I have in the shed!

Menu planning from the pantry

 

I’ve spoken about menu planning before, offering various ways to menu plan but just lately I opted not to do it. I’ve menu planned off and on over the years and, up until now, always preferred to think about what I was eating the night before or on the day. But, for the last 14 months I’ve had so much on my mind. I’m finding it best if I can empty my mind of thoughts by writing them down and not worrying about them until I need to. Menu planning has now become one of them. 

Years and years ago, I took part in a “Secret Santa” and my partner made this gorgeous menu planning kit for me. A clipboard covered in this delightful Michael Miller fabric and filled with heaps of blank menu planning pages and laminated pantry and freezer inventory pages.

Before I get into in ‘full swing’ I really need to get rid of what I already have on hand. So, instead of going through recipe books to organise my weekly menu plan, I did a quick inventory of my pantry, freezer and fridge (just a really 5 minute quick one) using the my newly created ‘inventory’ sheets and planned my menu from that. As I used up an ingredient, I wiped it clean from the inventory. This will be used to add ingredients as I buy them and assist with planning my menu this coming weekend.

You’ll always find these ingredients in my pantry so that will never change. I had the freezer stocked with cooked rice and pasta so that also dictated what I would be eating this week. I just thought of the protein, the vegetables and/or carb. I added in breakfasts and lunch too. Most of the recipes are in my Recipes list above. Oh, and the shopping I did yesterday included some butter, cheese, milk, fruit for lunches and 1 capsicum is all I needed for my weekly shop. I’m hoping doing this will free up some space in this old brain of mine.

What's in my pantry?

You’d think with me being the only one that uses my pantry, that it would be spotless and always tidy? Nah! I get in such a hurry sometimes. Instead of taking the time to put things back in their place. It gets a little messy and needs a good clean out, like it does now.  Also, my pantry is located in a couple cupboards, both next to each other. The previous owners of our house certainly didn’t think too carefully when it came to designing their kitchen. Maybe they didn’t cook too much. Anyway, I just make do with the space I have and am forever looking for an ideal solution, other than knocking the whole thing out. I always have the biggest case of ‘pantry envy’ when I see lovely pantries. One day my friends, one day.

Pasta packets and other packet goods not decanted in a jar

 

My baking supplies – things like sprinkles, cupcake papers, essences and colours, some nuts, chocolate etc

 

Sauces, spreads, oils, salt & pepper, drink powders etc

What I do love about my pantry ‘area’ is that it’s only an arm’s length from the stove, sink and bench space. I usually do the ‘kitchen shuffle’ when I’m cooking. Just don’t get in my way or else you’ll get trodden on.

A (very old, rare, clean & tidy) picture of my kitchen

This picture was taken when we had our house on the market about 3 years ago. (Notice the microwave baby bottle steriliser behind the white kitchen kettle. A long time ago.) It’s very rarely as tidy as this now that the children are older. There’s no dishwasher so dishes are always on the sink, either waiting to be washed or put away. The pantry cupboards are just to the left of the refrigerator.

 

The Ingredients in my Pantry

In my previous post, Run your kitchen like a restaurant, I mentioned that I have the same ingredients in my pantry, fridge and freezer at all times and my seasonal fruit and vegetables depict what I choose to cook for baking and my main meals. Below are my basic pantry lists and what I use those products for. I occasionally add special ‘one off’ purchases just to mix things up a bit. For example, marscapone, ricotta, olives, a special Asian green or an Indian spice like Panch Phoron (India’s answer to a 5 spice powder). This also allows a little more scope to my menu planning.

Pantry List

Freezer List

Fridge List

Herbs & Spices List

These lists are what I’ve got at the moment and you’ll probably find they differ only slightly from summer to winter. Summer time is the season for more salads and lighter meals and winter time brings more stews, puddings and heavier dishes. Having these lists up to date or, knowing that you have these same things on hand all the time, you’ll be able to whip up a meal in no time, even when you think you don’t have any ingredients.

If you have any questions about what I might use a certain ingredient for or any other questions, please don’t hestitate to ask.  I’d also love to know what’s lurking in your pantry.