Homebody.

I thought that I was meant to be working my bread & butter job today, but to my surprise, the shift had been changed - it was a welcome surprise though!
I decided to lay claim to this Monday as a homebody day - do the washing, clean up the factory, water the new vegetable garden and do some cooking.
Perfect timing really, because our Hilbarn box was delivered this morning - now cop an eye full of the massive bunch of Silver Beet - HUGE!


I turned some of the Silver Beet into a delicious, rustic style Silver Beet & Mushroom Pie with a hint of basil - no flour in this baby! (Trying to avoid white flour as much as possible... you'll see that I failed that down the track...)

There was also a bunch of rhubarb in the box too - I have never ever cooked with rhubarb and have only really eaten it in dessert crumble form.

Click for a better view!

I trolled around the internet for some interesting (yet simple) recipes; worked out an easy way to stew the rhubarb and then decided that the apples that were also in the box, should go to good use today - some muffins were in order!

End result:
Silver Beet & Mushroom Pie with Basil.
Stewed Rhubarb in Sugar & Vanilla.
Apple, Rhubarb & Cinnamon Muffins.

Yummo!

A Fresh New Thing.

I must do a big fat virtual thankyou to Isis, for mentioning Hilbarn on her blog...
I am now a Hilbarn convert!


We got our first box this morning - earlier than I expected (first impressions last - over the flippin' moon!) and I couldn't wait to unpack it and gush over all the goodies.

In our lovely box we had...
five zucchinis, four tomatoes, punnet of blueberries, about half a kilo of cherries, a bunch of coriander, a bunch of lettuce (can someone confirm what sort of lettuce this is? rocquette?), a bunch of carrots and a bunch of spring onion.
All for $25!
We estimate that the value of these goodies in a big-name supermarket would cost almost double that... what a saving!

Everything was 100% fresh, in perfect condition and smelt/tasted/looked so amazing.
This has helped us out this week greatly, as we have relatives from New Zealand arriving in a few days time - no doubt the zucchini will go to great use in a gorgeous savoury Zucchini Slice... (which I may post the recipe later!) I'm also thinking a batch of fresh Blue Berry muffins are in order... and to compliment our BBQ on Thursday evening - Roast Pumpkin, Chickpea and Coriander salad - HEAVEN!

If you are sick of paying way too much at the big supermarket chains, only to be dogged-out by use by dates, floppy parsley, super soft potatoes and lack-luster herbs - then I strongly suggest you give Hilbarn a whirl.

They have a very convenient way of operating, including a trial basis (of two turns), home delivery or very accessible pick-up points, and a marvelous subscription style service - which I've just done! Great value for money - but more importantly, by buying from Hilbarn, you are buying from local growers/farmers/green-thumbed-talented-souls! Check them out!