Uncle Toby's Porridge 'Quick Sachets' - Home Made Version and Costing

Brooke bought the Uncle Toby's sachets to take on camp with her.  They are little single serve sachets, six to a box.  These are a new thing for us.  We usually do porridge the the 'old fashioned' way as opposed to sachets, and I get my oats in 25kg bags.  In winter time this just means getting up a few minutes earlier and put the porridge on the stove (make enough to serve 6 people), or Brooke gets up and makes it on the stove top and stir stir stir.  Otherwise it's toast or Weet-bix for breakfast, sometimes poached eggs or pancakes or home made muesli (Michelle Bridges recipe).  Now and then we get a 'weekend breakfast', which is a box of Sultana Bran, or Sports Plus or whatever, and they can have it on the weekend.  Mostly it's because otherwise the cost is a bit nuts so this way they still have the variety (and appreciate it) without it breaking the grocery budget.

Uncle Toby's on the left, mine on the right

The Laws of Relativity (re: Washing)

It works something like this.  Now, bear in mind science class was a long time ago.  Aside from unintended experiments such as an 18 month old + 30 seconds unattended + unsecured jar of golden syrup, 'science' as we knew it at school isn't on my list, much.

So, the Theory of Washing Relativity (which oddly works out to 'TOWR' ie tower - which is how many people describe their 'Mt Washmore' basket of clean clothes awaiting sorting/loads awaiting washing/lack of laundry floor) goes like this:

Clothes washed (W) = loads done (L) x line space (S) x available time in dwelling (D).
So... the only way to increase (W), if there is a decrease in, say, (D), is to increase (L). 

An attempt at scheduling

In my attempt at scheduling (aim: more predictable, more prepared and more time-efficent to free up more time), begun this week, I am trying to pencil in the stuff I would like to do as well as what I have to do. That said there's only 24hrs in a day and 7 days in a week so it presents it's challenges!


Here's one thing I want to do. Pancake Sunday. We made these mid-week because I forgot that Coles don't stock the milk we use. So I went there instead of Woolworths so Quinn could go on the escalators, clean forgetting they don't sell the milk. So we had pancakes instead for breakfast the next day. No one complained! So I thought if I can do that on a school weekday morning, then why not on a Sun?

pizza, muffins, biscuits, gingerbread...

Just a random little bit of 'satisfaction' kinda post... The last 24hrs effort in the kitchen is

• 4 dozen large banana muffins
• 32 mini pizzas
• 30 ANZAC biscuits
• 20 Gingerbread
• one organic lamb shank casserole in the slow cooker
• one bulk pasta sauce w veges on the stove.
• plus dinner last night of course!
• and we may yet have home made focaccia and salad for dinner tonight... will see. Perhaps focaccia with the lamb shank casserole... will see...
  

I dream of our Solar Oven so that I can do all the above without using any grid-based power... *happy sigh* how cool would that be!

In the meantime, it smells soooo nice in here! I enjoy baking and cooking and doing it in bulk really helps - the dinners for us and the baking for Market Day/teachers and us. Brooke does the dough for Market Day (Jake sometimes does shortbread) for the biscuits, the breadmaker does the pizza dough. The children 'man' the stall in the afternoons, then they receive a share in the takings, after expenses - so that's their pocket money. I like it because it means they have to do things apart from Family/team work at home, which is generally regarded as 'because it's how it works/right thing to do/contributing', rather than pocket money.

Happy baking!

Boxing in time.

After the week I had of UNI from 9.30-4.30 daily, I found that among other things (and apart from the obvious of completing another unit) it was also another window to look in at my life, from. A different perspective from which to assess things, to analyse them.
There's plenty of time while on the bus and train, to reflect, ponder, and all that kinda stuff. Or read text books... but I found I was reading without reading the text... not taking it in. So I pondered instead. For some of my thoughts, this quote summed it up

When our schedules are simple with space in between commitments, we give ourselves time to process and recharge the batteries before moving on to the next thing. I am less likely to be worried about moving on to the next thing when I know I have time before my next commitment.

In order to attend just one day at UNI, I was organising other people for school and kindergarten drop offs, pickups (thankyou S!), lunches, morning teas, fruit and notes to take, bags and spare clothes for the youngest who was going between Grandma (thankyou!) and a good Family friend C (thanking you too!), for the day, notes to the various people involved in the day, car seats swapped over or ready to go, notes on the bench for final directions for Miss12 to complete the dinner (as she had to eat before everyone else), note on the

One chook three meals.

I was sent this link (thanks Ma!) and tried it out. It worked even though we started with a small, rather than a large, chook. It would also make free range chook more budget-friendly and in most cases, a whole chook is more economical than pieces are anyway. Bonus being you get better stock with the entire chook being used, rather than pieces.

The first night we had the chicken pot pie. I used the slow cooker and let it do it's thing, then took all the skin and bone/knuckles etc out. I used a slotted spoon and took out meat and veges and put in a large pie dish. Then I scooped out some of the 'stock' and thickened it. Poured the thickened stock (gravyish) onto the meat and vege then in a lattice pattern, laid out the puff pastry. Little bit of milk on top, sesame seeds (can't remember if I had them but would have if I did) then into the oven on high. That was a winner.

After dinner, the extra meat (larger pieces) into a TW container into the fridge. The remaining fine chicken pieces, veges and stock, into another container and into the fridge (this bit you could freeze if you wanted to for a few nights time). The next night rather than the skillet chicken, we had chicken & salsa salad wraps - so flat bread, heaps of salads, sour cream and some salsa, grated cheese.

The final lot of chicken/vege/stock, gets used as the base for chicken noodle soup - add crushed angel hair pasta or similar/noodles and some peas and corn kernels. Heat until just cooked, serve with crusty bread. done. three dinners, one chook.

The one thing to note is when initially doing the chicken in the slow cooker, don't add any veges that you want to keep their colour... eg I would put the chicken, onion, herbs, garlic, potato etc but only add the peas and corn/carrot finely sliced, to the pie dish itself (rather than the slow cooker) just before putting on the pastry. That way the remaining stock in dish three, the chicken noodle soup, doesn't have colourless peas and faded corn, because you add them fairly 'late' in the process overall, as well. All up one minimal effort in the slow cooker with one chook equated to roughly three night's meals. Of course you don't have to have each dinner in a row one after the other, but they are different enough that you could if you wanted to. Hope that helps. Happy cooking.

Nesting box - reclaimed materials and mods

Pretty simple and nothing extravagent but here 'tis. Michael doing the mods. This was our 'so we don't get poo on our feet' nesting box for the chooks... loved collecting eggs and feeding the chooks at Nanna's as a kid but not so much dodging the poo... and didn't relish the idea of having to 'poo police' the feet and shoes after our kids checked the eggs. Thanks to a fellow Freecycler for the kennel. This is it without the catch/lock on it.



Pics of it installed to come.

Sunshine Soup

There's not usually too many dislikes in this house (except Zeke, who's having a funny stage with food at the mo) but pumpkin soup isn't a favourite. Quinn and I will eat it for ages, Michael doesn't mind it sort of, and that's about it. So I thought I'd modify it slightly, and rename it, serve with fresh focaccia & butter and see how it goes.

So 'Sunshine Soup' what a paffy name eh... who would name their soup that? LOL (ah... me)...
onion, garlic, chilli, mixed herbs and curry powder browned in olive oil on the stove top +
butternut pumpkin, carrot, potato in the slow cooker, salt and a good lashing of yummy butter...
well with some extra butter added and some corn kernels, I am planning on it tasting like butter and corn on the cob ;)

I will let you know if it was a roaring success or flopping failure LOL
Brooke did a blind taste test just then and didn't fall about the floor faking being poisoned so that's a start - 'mmm' with a positive up-lilt at the end... so far so good...

edit: It's a WINNER! pics to come :)

Recommend me a nappy system birth to TT...

I get asked often, with the increase in parents using reusables, 'recommend me a nappy system that I can use from birth to toilet training...'

It used to be that I didn't really have a specific nappy answer to the 'what do you recommend'... but I think I've narrowed it down now, and remembering that there are many many options out there, and many variations in baby and parent needs, this is my recommendation depending on what you want from the system.

Option A - Fitted & Cover fulltime until TT

Mostly one-size fitted nappy (a few newborn sized if you like), Snappiable finish (terry loop outer) for maximum adjustment and trim fit, any composition outer with bamboo inner + cover. The one-size fitted nappies work by folding the front (the 'rise' part that goes up to baby's belly button) down to make a smaller nappy... the Snappi finish is great for cord stump airing too as you can Snappi the nappy right down on the rise. Within 'covers' you can have sized covers, or one-size-fits-most (OSFM) covers. My recommendation in covers is Thirsties (nice and soft, with gussets) either sized or multi-fit, or Bummis Superbrite (with gussets). A fitted+cover combination gives you two lines of leg elastic protection against that lovely breastfed/newborn poo. If anything escapes this, then it would have escaped a disposable anyway as they only have one line of leg elastic.

Fitted+cover can also be a very trim system and is absolutely fine from birth to TT in all areas that you want your nappy system to perform. This is what we had for Zeke, supplemented with some pockets and all-in-one nappies later.

Option B - Fitted&Cover, then Bumgenius 6mths+
This gives you the poo containment for the NB stage, and then the simplicity of the Bumgenius from 6mths+. the Bumgenius being a one-size AIO (all in one) means no extra covers, and once they have been 'stuffed' (inserts put in) they stack on the change table and use no different to a single-use nappy. The only down side for the Bumgenius would be their leg elastic doesn't seem quite as durable as other brands. However the upside is they dry quick and are a GREAT fit, very trim and reliable in terms of contaiment.

Option C - For a total one-size nappy sytem from Birth
I didn't think this was something there would ever be a nappy for that I would recommend, until I found the Rumparooz. Rumparooz have internal gussets which contain some super breastfed poo (!), great size range from NB right up and again, once stuffed are a piece of cake - stuff and stack and you're ready to go. If poo was going to escape this nappy then it would have done so in a disposable as well. The internal gussets + leg elastic give you two lines of protection against poo-splosions. The newborn inserts are a good size, although you may find if you have a newborn who does large pees rather than little bits here and there, that you need a bamboo isert for extra absorbency. These are easy to whip up with a sewing machine and even the most basic sewer can do so.

Information - cost, eco and the like:
A great place to begin for any questions you have is here at OzClothNappies... The most recent LCA report on cloth vs disposables you can find a summary of here. There's a great cost comparison graph here on cloth vs single use nappies as well. What's in a disposable is an interesting read and if you scroll down there's a comparison between reusable/singleuse on energy/water etc from production to use. There is a picture somewhere of a massive pile of nappies that represents how many disposable nappies one child goes through in a year... On the topic of 'eco-disposables' remember it's what's in the fine print - some 'eco-disposables' will biodegrade within their claimed time in a compost situation... landfill is nowhere near this so the nappy will take much much longer to biodegrade. Some nappies require you remove plastic tabs and the like before composting. Just remember, since every disposable ever made is still in the ground today, every reusable nappy you can use is one less to sit in landfill... so even part time is better than not at all.

Points to note:
I sewed all my newborn and OSFM fitted nappies. Check OzClothNappies and the Nappycino forum for information on making your own. As if cloth didn't save you heaps of money already (see link to graph above), making your own is even more economical. For this reason, I made some newborn sized nappies (So cute!) and plenty of OSFM. Save your bamboo for the inners and use whatever terry loop fabric you can for the outer. Using the Snappi closure means no tabs, velcro, touchtape or snaps and gives you maximum fit and adjustability.

You can also buy secondhand. Nappies in good secondhand condition are well worth looking into. I have bought plenty and often times you can barely tell they have been used so you've saved yourself a third of the price or more.

You can sell your nappies if you change your mind or Bub needs a different type of nappy. Also note that there are new options coming out in nappies all the time, nappying systems and the like so do look around and see what is out there. Maybe if you really like something different or new, try one or two before investing in a whole stash of them.

You may, instead of a one-size nappy, prefer a sized nappy. Upside is a specific fit for that size and usually slightly trimmer than one-size. Downside is changing to the next size when the baby grows out of the current one. This can be offset by selling the outgrown nappies, and remembering that some babies will spend ages in a certain size, while others outgrow sizes very quick.

On terry flats:
We did flats for Brooke and for Jake. Back then there were only PVC pilchers or the Fluffies covers. If I was to do flats now, I would (if I could) go a well recommended bamboo flat - much trimmer + more absorbent than cotton flats, plus a good cover either Thirsties or Bummis Superbrite.

Bottom line is that no matter what the baby, budget, or general situation there is a nappy out there for everone :)

An 'all made' dinner and peach

Okay well we didn't grow the flour/ingred for the focaccia nor the Spanish onion (ok or the cheese!) but other than that dinner was all 'grown at home' - ours or someone elses lol. the eggs for the omlette from A's chooks and tomato from their bush - mmm (yellow cherry and standard reds), plus basil, chives, spring onion and thyme from ours. The lettuce from our garden (we have several varieties and just pick the leaves each night) and the focaccia with herbs from our oven. mmmm I think I could get used to more dinners like this... it's upped the possibility of us doing the chook-thing... (previously decided no).

Also guess what Michael found hiding the other day... a sole Angel Peach (name of the variety - it's a 'doughnut' peach), Brenna's peach tree from last Christmas. While we did get blossoms we weren't expecting fruit for a while yet and certainly not it's first season. We thought all the blossoms had fallen but apparently not...

Update on the laundry Jan 2010

The laundry history pics are:

Laundry Reorganised - zero dollar reno
beginning of the real reno
progress of the reno
where it got to

Well all that's left is the benchtop to go on across the top/above the front loader and the final tiles on the wall. Oh and if I come up with something (?) for the window otherwise that is staying as is. First pic is standing at the door looking right, second pic is just a further right version - the cupboard has the nappy bucket in it, towel for drying hands after nappy changes/washing hands.
Third pic is standing at the door looking left. Oh and the two square baskets on top of the benchtop? I had intended to have nothing on the benchtop (space for folding clothes) and will be enough when the other one goes up and there's no change mat (put change mat down the side for visitors)... anyway the two baskets - one for ODD SOCKS and the other for clothes/cloths that are only good for cleaning. The odd socks basket gets a going through once a few weeks and long lost pairs are reunited. LOL

here's the 'before' (we'd just started ripping things out)

and the after...

Behind me (as I'm taking the pic) is the other two sets of drawers for Brooke and Jake's clothes (and shelving above for sports gear, spare blankets) , behind me left is where the school bags hang, behind me right is where the hats/jackets hang. Pic of the layout is here:

• benches for folding,
• functional storage on the walls - all the baby clothes and nappies, a cupboard for the nappy bucket to keep little fingers out!,
• all the school/good clothes/DH work clothes get hung in there (above that is a shelf with tubs for storage of spare/seasonal things/linen),
• two of the children's drawers are in there (the top of that is extra horizontal space and the hanging above that), the other two are in the hall immed opposite so folding and away for the two smaller boys is easy, the others put their clothes away themselves. Above the drawers that you can see in the laundry is tubs for blankets/seasonal items.
  
• The 'changetable' is in there too... plus whatever else I can't think of atm...
• oh and no more ...interesting floor/wall tiles&paint combos LOL
• everything was done on a minimal budget... amazing what a coat of white paint and some seconds floor tiles can do! It was a very tiny laundry and poorly laid out (and a safety hazard!) but now with more effective use of space and maximising everything, it really feels quite 'roomy'.
• Once we're done with baby clothes and nappies in there, the fronts can go on the shelves (doors) and we'll have extra storage space. The cupboard that the nappy bucket is currently in can get changed over to drawers and used for other storage too
• school bags (pic below) are hung on the wall just outside the laundry, the corner of the hall between the laundry and the bathroom outer wall (see diagram). There's a few hats missing atm and we have a spare hats basket because with Auskick and cricket and various other things, there's always spare hats (which isn't a bad thing at all).that's about it for now :) oh, Brooke and Jake's drawers are on the left of this pic (just out of sight).
  

When travelling - especially with children...

People often ask for hints and tips on travelling with children and there's usually lots of good ideas given. One thing though that I think is hugely helpful and not often mentioned, is prepping for when you get home... 'huh?' I hear you ask?

Well, AKA FLYlady's CJ for travelling/holiday, you do all your prep for going away - clothes list to pack, food to pack, medicines, tickets/maps etc etc but the 'coming home' bit is left to chance. Prepping for coming home, before you go, is almost a relief when you walk in the door - usually tired, hungry, needing a shower, and with LOTS to unpack/wash/clean from being away.

Imagine then, walking in the door to a tidy (not spotless, I never said spotless LOL) house... a meal waiting in the freezer, or perhaps fresh fruit and bread in a box at the front door... clean towels in the bathroom... clean sheets on the bed (and clean pillowcases for the pillows you took camping), a full set of pyjamas and clothes ready for the kids and clothes for you... a stack of clean nappies including a night nappy... I tell ya, it's BLISS LOL a little forethought yes, and when you're packing and getting ready probably the last thing you want to do but you'll thank yourself later!

I did a page each for one month/one day before we go, packing day, packing list/things to remember, 'walking out the door' (ie turn off computer, batteries off charge etc) and 'when we get back' - ie collect Jemma, reset emails, check bills etc AND the 'for when we get back' - that's where I listed the things to do that would get us a nice 'coming home'. Also, keep the lists for next time, done in pencil (headings in pen if you like) and they're already done and only need minor changes. If you forgot something this time, add it to the list to remember next time.


I know we did this time and last time. Doing a long 4 weeks on the road, coming home at 3am after driving all night and the previous day (taking turns, 2 adults), freezing cold and definately grotty. I had left some money, a house key, and a small list with my cousin (thanks E!) and she picked up f&v and bread for us and it was waiting on the bench/in the fridge when we got home. The most recent was last weekend when we went just for a few nights camping, and Quinn and I came home crook as... it was a relief to walk in the door to almost all those things... especially clean clothes for everyone and fresh towels as we packed up in the rain when we left camp! So that's my 2c... hope it makes your next time away, a joy to come home to...
Happy Camping!

In this quest for Simplicity...

Many of us, or many people I spend time with, talk about simplifying their lives - in several ways. Of not getting caught up in the ever-escalating consumerism, of not becoming someone who has 'one of everything' or a million of something that they really don't need... of not always being so busy that there's never time to observe, reflect, and even just think - you know, feel the breeze on your face, the sun on your skin, the joy in watching things grow.

The thing is... many of us begin this quest already in the middle of a very un-simple life. Different it would be had we started off with this simple aim in mind, or began that way as children.

The way our towns and cities are set up - there's very little that's within walking or biking distance. Our main 'travel' every day is for school - yet that time is well worth it when I consider the schooling our children receive... for that schooling is nothing that mainstream schooling can offer. We really have to work hard to 'make' things come back within that walking or riding distance... it can be done of course, it's just a challenging beginning when you work out that most stuff you actually can't walk or ride to as you'd prefer (hence my wish for a Christiania bike - then all I'd need to drive for on a regular would be school).

The way our families are set up and spread out - there's a minimum travel distance to see any of them really. Which is not to say you want to live in each other's back pocket - certainly not - but the option of walking down the road to Nanna's would be nice... not just for us but for the kids.

The way our houses are set up - electricity/gas is required... having just put solar in, we're getting there and planning rainwater tanks soon - but there's still this endless list of 'bills' that come in that seemingly there's not much to do about them. We keep the internet because the library is a good drive, and not always convenient to our needs in terms of opening times (yet to find one that's open at 1.15am when I have a question about fruit trees)... we keep the internet in order to simplify our lives so we don't have to go to (drive to) the post office to queue up and pay the bills... we keep the internet to reduce spending on phones to speak with our loved ones who live a long way away... we keep the internet to send photos of events and happenings and really, to make connections with people who we otherwise wouldn't meet - because of how 'our' societies are so spread out - Eilleens consumption blog for example... I'd never have 'met' her nor anyone on Nappycino - who some are now in-real-life friends, and who I've learnt so much from and provide me with answers on living simply, or healthier, or making my own things... We keep the net to order products that simply aren't available locally due to ... well whatever - organic toys, bamboo fabrics and the like.

So I guess we just simplfy as much as we can... grow our f&v, support the local f&v when we can't grow our own, maybe chooks and definately solar and rainwater and keep an eye on our consumption and consumerism, be watchful in what our children are exposed to and 'pay the cost' of daily travel to ensure a whole education for them, not just an academic one... and ultimately aim for our dream of a services-self sufficient block, where the neighbours are a few minutes walk away and perhaps people we know who share similar aims... so that we can work smarter not harder to make it possible for each of our families. Ya think?

And how does our garden grow...

bearing in mind we're just re-establishing after having barely anything there due to redevelopments behind us (high fence, leaving not much full sun area). The 'poo man' came yesterday www.fertiliserking.com.au premium organic gardening supples with 4 chicken, 4 sheep, 2 mushroom (all 36 litre bags) for $55 delivered.
The compost that I started a year ago is looking good and has been used in the holes before planting, chicken manure for top dressing only as it's quite strong. The worms are also breeding like rabbits (worms?) and we get heaps of juice from them - sometimes we struggle to keep up with the scraps which is surprising considering the amount of f&v we go through, so they are supplemented with paper/cardboard etc scraps. All my hemp and bamboo scraps from sewing that are no good for anything else, go in the compost. So in the garden we have:

• What's in the garden so far...

Silverbeet multicolour, rockmelon, tomato, mandarine tree, apricot tree, zuchini (sp?), beans, chives, tomato, cherry tomato, tahitian lime, mulberry tree (loaded at the moment!), sunflower, two plum trees, chillis, fruiting lilli pilli, chives, pak choy, HOT chilli, afro parsley, other parsley, fizzmo lettuce, marigold, English spinach, mixed lettuce and salsa mix capsi.

Some grown from seed, others from vege scraps, some from seedlings, some from last year self seeding, some from class projects that the kids bought home. A couple were gifts for Brenna's garden. All in various stages of growth, most of them still young. There's a lemon tree at the corner of the neighbouring fence that we're allowed to pick from and next door's locut tree is LOADED - I just need to remember to leave them a note to see if they want to swap for fresh bread or something.

I am going with intensive planting for most of the lettuce/spinach/chives etc as they will likely be picked from daily rather than left to grow to one full head of lettuce.

We're going to plant out the front as well and I am trialing a Lara-style strawbale garden bed against the shed. That's it so far. Still left to go in/find a place for and dep on season, some we have as seeds and some we're yet to source or purchase.

• Still to go in... (or what has to wait)
  

Rosemary, winter fruiting trees, onion, tansy, pumpkin, strawberry, lavender, cucumber, chioggia beetroot, peas stringless pioner, parsnip, corn, watermelon, basil, carrots, tomato different types) and while we won't be planting them, hopefully some chooks to add to the mix!
The cherry blossom (ornamental) has finished it's beautiful flowering and now has it's new reddy leaves, and the wisteria is in full bloom along the fence.

Also getting done this weekend done is replacing the screens (2 window and one sliding door) that have holes in with the same aluminium mesh (tougher than the usual stuff but still managed to get a hole in it), as well as weather guards for front door and the old pantry done - which once the guard is on the bottom of the door I should be able to turn into my 'cellar' as it's quite cool - mostly I want to use it for bulk purchases - jars, tins, packets etc to keep the extras unopened and the main pull-out pantry user-friendly. And the newly planted veges are getting fenced off from mostly Jemma lol who likes to bury her things in there (it does smell like poo afterall so of course that makes sense!).

The cubby now has a path to the door and Michael is cutting the last few pavers for it as I type. I am looking forward to having it all planted out. The big plum tree is going in behind the cubby - lovely flowers and fruit come spring time! And a handy climbing spot to access the lemons near the fence lol! I have more sewing to do today and swaps to post when the post office opens tomorrow (P/hol in WA)... and of course there is always plenty of other things to do... Thassit for now!

On Chopping & Freezing Veges/Meals

Where to start? Right. Well in this thread and this thread, (to name just two) there were discussions about freezing veges and what you can freeze and how etc. I thought I'd put my bits all in one spot coz I keep losing where they are when someone asks for a link

Frozen chopped etc veg get frozen in one lot and are easy to just take out what you need. Meals I usually freeze an entire meal because there's not often I only want it for one of us iykwim
however, I have smaller Rock N Serves that I freeze leftovers in, which are usually single/two person portions ie for DH for work the next day for lunch, for me late night when I get the munchies lol, or if it's DS2 and I home for lunch together in the day time.

If I use a divided large Rock N Serve (rectangle container with three divisions in it) for a meal, say spag bog or stir fry, it's easy enough to remove a portion. Another way is to 'divide' your dish with Glad Back or similar if you have it.

Most of my containers are Tupperware (because that's what I have but use what you like) and inside them from the top is sliced onion. carrot, capsi, cabbage and... can't remember what the last one is. If you have say, a container with capsi, onion next to it, sliced tomato next to that etc, and a container with your perf sliced pizza meat, then...

Dinner can be as quick as pull out some frozen pita bread, spread on your tomato sauce/paste, chuck on your frozen veg and meat, chuck on some grated cheese (that you've got frozen in the freezer coz you grated the block last week) and put in the oven... Dinner done!

When I slice/chop and freeze my veg, I add them to dishes as I'm cooking, the same way you'd add any other frozen veg you might buy - add it frozen, don't defrost. With the exception of cheese (which isn't a veg I know), I don't thaw the veges to use thawed ie in salad etc, they all go from freezer straight into a dish I'm cooking and you can't tell the difference.
The vegies I do like that in a bulk lot because I've bought 10kg of onions, 5kg carrots, massive bag of capsi etc so it saves money and then chopping and freezing in one go, saves time each night (only chop once a week or less) and makes dinner prep quicker, plus you can 'keep' more vegies coz they're frozen whereas that quantity fresh in the fridge would go off iykwim.

I've had luck with most vegies totally raw - capsi, broc, cauli, carrot, celery, onion, spring onion, corn kernels, cabbage, silverbeet, sprinach, bok choy, pak choy etc and prob a heap more.

For meals in glass/pyrex/oven dishes for example lasagne, I let it defrost in the fridge, put it in the oven without preheating, then turn the temp on that way dish comes to temp slowly, and because it's defrosted the meal doesn't take so long to warm/cook through. HTH A couple of extra dishes when they're on sale or such and you're set!

Laundry/Dressing room - aim for efficiency

Well it started out with a thread on the Large Families board on EB, specifically relating to this particular household(click on their 'home' pics)... anyway, if you go to their site and manage to scroll through the slideshow, you'll see their laundry room. That's what got me thinking - no, not about having that many children haha but more about their Laundry room. Rather than take the washing out, hang, bring in when dry, fold and sort, then distribute to the various rooms... why not do it this way and save a heap of time?

Add to that one of the Mums on the LF board started with tubs for each of her children...
I thought what a great idea and wanted to combine these two ideas... So bit by bit... Also, to mimimise my frustration at the children's clothes I had so neatly folded and put in their drawers only to be found all muddled up later on, I decided they could put their own clothes away, with help for the littlest of course. That way the answer to 'Mu-um... where's my....' would be 'in your tub' and/or in the wash/on the line and/or wherever you left it last because it's not in the washing!

Then a few people asked for pics and I explained that while I was rather pleased with the practical-ness of our 'laundry'... I was somewhat not happy with the aesthetics lol it's a far cry from the lovely laundries we see in reno shows (we're working on it tho, slowly lol).
Anyway, decided to put aside my... doubts lol about pics and share what we had achieved and how it worked.

Of course, with #5 arriving in Jan, we'll need to reshuffle where things fit, but generally I like where it's at in there. It's a MUCH nicer spot to be. Really only needs a coat of paint, a tidy and 'finishing off', plus something or other for the window... when we did the kitchen reno we contemplated putting a door to outside, where the laundry window is now, since the line is ~right there~ outside the laundry window... but the amount of plumbing in that wall was enough to put paid to that idea! So bear with me on the non-magazine look of it, and just take the practical. Click on the pics to be able to read the writing on them. We have an oddly laid out house but the pic on the left will help if you need to 'map' things in your head.

Directly copying and pasting my post in the LF board now:
we initially had a rack in the laundry for the school shirts and good clothes - once washed the were hung directly from the machine - no getting lost in the clean washing basket they were always there. And I was thinking boy if only we could do with more than just school shirts..!

This pic on the left is the 'left side' of the laundry looking in from the doorway. We have tubs one each for the children with names, I fold the washing into the laundry basket as I bring it off the line, into the laundry, 'dish out' the clothes the the relevant child's tub and when their tub is full (or beforehand) they come and empty it - littlest one needing a hand of course. The new Baby's clothes will go directly on the (yet to be installed) shelves which will be on the right hand side when you walk in.

The other thing is there is no more/less 'Mum where's my..?'
because the answer is usually, 'in your tub, in the wash/on the line or on the floor where you left it' haha so they're not waiting for me to sort and put away the washing iykwim.

We also tore out the old useless linen cupboard, and via Freecycle, found the inside of someone's BIR - top shelf and clothes rail thing - so all the blankets etc go on the top shelf and the clothes all get hung - shirts, good clothes, school etc esp the stuff we wear all the time, work clothes etc.

Also, there is a small set of drawers for underwear, bathers, etc that the kids share and on top of that goes their school bags and footy bags - clean footy gear and boots go right into the bag so that come Sunday morning there's no/less 'frantic' hunting for stuff. The drawers are divided up as well, so it's easy to see where the boys and girls stuff goes, as well as a super-easy pyjama drawer that really once the clothes are in, anyone would know who's pyjamas are what.

This pic on the left is the 'middle' of the laundry when looking in from the door way - I am looking to install a 'workbench/countertop' above, to make it easy to reach things and to make better use of the space. Also in the laundry is the nappy bucket (we dry pail so no soaking), nappy stash (mostly fitteds and covers, but a few AIO/pocket and we're trialling prefolds this time), change table mat (which lays on top of the washing machine when in use), washing machine, dirty clothes sorter, trough and a shoe rack, which we admittedly need a 2 storey one off, and we don't really have that many shoes. There's a small basket that the school shirts and kids socks go in so I don't have to HUNT for them to wash them, and the bag for swimming. Swimming gear gets hung straight from the shower onto the small rail in the bathroom. Clean towels go straight from the clean folded basket in the laundry into he swimming bag, where the goggles and swim passes are also.

Oh and did I mention we have a tiny laundry? lol
Floor space before we did all this was lucky to be 1m x 0.5m square, now it's about 1mx1m square in floor space so we have actually made *more* room, fitting more in there and making it 'work' better iykwim

oh and that's just the start of the nappy stash! lol

The pic on the right is the 'right side' of the laundry when looking in from the doorway. The kids main clothes drawers are directly opposite the laundry door, (so behind me while I'm taking these pics from the door way) in the hall there (we have a wierd house layout see floor plan) so they only have to go a couple of metres to put their stuff away. They all share one room and besides the drawers being closer to the laundry by not being in their bedrooms, there's not room in the bedroom anyway The hat rack (an aptly 'grown' brang with 'arms' from the park across the road lol) and 'coat rack' (IKEA, about $5.95 each) are on the wall opposite the kids main drawers in the hall outside the laundry.
Admittedly the drawers in the wide hall beside the laundry aren't 'pretty' and a lovely waist high unit would be nice but ah well make do with what we have yk

Towels are stored in the bathroom, on the shelf above where the wet bathers etc drip into the bath... the mop hangs there too after use and since our bath is out of order as the taps are siezed (old old plumbing lol) it's no consequence really that the mop drips in the bath iykwim.

Sheets are in the bottom drawer for the kids and in our wardrobe for us - we have builtins in our room so that's where the bulk of our stuff is. BIR in the guest room, but we long ago removed the BIR from the room that B1, J & Z share. FLYlady also recommends storing the clean sheets between the mattress and base on the bed - they are right there when you need them - no need to search for which sheets for which bed AND somewhere (BH&G? or Flylady) the tip was store the mathching flat and fitted sheet ~inside~ the matching pillowcase so always have a 'set' on hand.

And finally on the right is where the proposed (recycled timber) shelving will go so I can house the rest of the nappy stash (the above pics are mostly NB and small nappies) - for the OSFM nappies as well as for the Baby clothes.

So this is a combo of LF inspiration, FLYlady and 'that' Large Family, and I LOVE it - washing takes far less time, is less onerus and much much more organised. And yes now I fold right from the line bc when I sit the basket on top of the trough, I just assign the folded items to each pile. Items to hang are laid flat in the basket and hung right away. In summer, I often hang the hanging stuff still-damp straight from the machine - dries in no time and much less wrinkly, and not as stiff as it would be from hanging outside on a summer day (our lines are all under cover but still they get hot under there as they are near the roof).
HTH and yep it's very worth it!