one contented homebody

a vintage inspired life

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Recipe - Mustard Bread

Mustard Bread


This bread is used to accompany a meal and I absolutely know you will love this!!

You will need: 

Ciabatta loaf or similar

Butter

Wholegrain mustard

Shaved Parmesan cheese

Slice loaf of ciabatta in half lengthwise.

Mix some butter with wholegrain mustard. 
(I guess the measurements)

Spread over loaf and top with shaved parmesan cheese.

Place under grill and remove once lightly browned.

Use a pizza cutter to slice into triangles and serve.

Delicious!

Monday, March 28, 2016

Recipe - Apricot Chicken Curry



I found this recipe on a site called "Be a Fun Mum". Amanda shares some awesome recipes over there.

Apricot Chicken Curry

You will need:

spray oil
1 onion sliced
500gm chicken breast fillets thinly sliced (I coated in cornflour)
2tsp curry powder
1 tsp mustard powder
1/4 cup tomato sauce
2 tbspns apricot jam
1 tbspn fruit chutney (I used Mango chutney)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (or Greek yoghurt)
1/2 cup of cream

In a frypan over medium heat, spray with oil and cook until onion is soft.

Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes or until cooked through

Add curry powder, mustard powder, tomato sauce, jam, chutney and mayonnaise.  Stir until combined.

Add cream and bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes.  Eat immediately or cover and refrigerate until required.

Serve with rice.

Enjoy!



Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Getting on With Things - In my Pantry


Hello dear friends.

Life without a laptop has had its advantages, as I have been able to get some jobs done that I would normally put off. I bought a new laptop on special after the old one died, so I am able to blog again without the fear of it crashing.

For me life has been extra busy these past six months, as I am working part time for my daughter while she is on maternity leave. Of course this has put me behind with my own chores.  Now I remember the reason I prefer not to work and just be a homemaker. It is all about being organised when this happens. Having a plan in place is definitely a must!

So I started a to do list. It is a mile long, but I am slowly crossing some things off.



One job on the list is the pantry.  This is ongoing and I am re organising the space once again. I thought I would share with you the  containers I found to be really useful.

 They are medium sized gravy containers and a great size for storing things like pasta and rice etc. My sister in law runs a deli and she saves these for me.  The stickers peel off really easily, and there is a space to label them.



Then I pulled everything out from around the bottom of the pantry. I had noticed on a few  blogs I read, how the use of buckets is a great way to store things. So once again my sister in law was asked to save some of these. I don't know why I hadn't done this before, it has freed up so much space in the pantry and I will be definitely getting some more.


At the other end of the pantry we have drawers, these are really handy for storage too.

The bookshelf holds large jars of pasta, recipe books and milk cartons on the bottom. On top I keep my microwave and bread maker, and the recycle bin to the side.



The view from my kitchen. 


Another job on the to do list is my windows. At the moment they are very dirty as summer has been extra dusty without any rain.  I do this twice a year, sometimes more often.  With eleven windows, this is a big job. They have those nice looking (but annoying) squares that need to be cleaned individually! 
Any volunteers to clean them for me?

If you have any useful tips for keeping a tidy pantry (or for cleaning windows), I would love to hear them. Keeping the pantry in a well organised order is a constant job for me, and it doesn't take too much to mess things up in there.

Take care,

Sunday, January 24, 2016

A household cleaner that uses only two ingredients!

I found this shower cleaner recipe recently and wanted to give it a go to see how it worked.

This stuff is amazing!!

Not only did it make my tiles shine brilliantly but I have used it on other things around my home too.

It cleans stainless steel like nobody's business.  I tried the laundry trough, kitchen sink, outside of the oven, stove top and the top of the exhaust fan. They are all so nice and shiny now. The grime wipes off very easily.

I also used it on the timber kitchen cupboards and fridges and once again it worked a treat, the same with the top of the benches, they are nice and shiny too J

If you would like to try this recipe, here are the ingredients;

One cup of vinegar (I added more)
Two tablespoon of detergent (dish soap)

Put into a spray bottle and give a little shake to mix ingredients together.

How to use;

For best results on tiles, spray on and leave for a little while before rinsing or wiping off. 

For other cleaning, use as you would a normal cleaning product.


I am definitely going to make more of this cleaner and I will need to change the label from "shower" to "multi purpose cleaner". J

Let me know what you think if you try this for yourself.

Happy cleaning folks!