Hi guys and it’s another trip to the great halls of food and wonky trolleys…
My good mate Bacon and i have been having so much fun learning about the way we all shop..the things that we buy and the costs that are so varied across the world..not just what the leaders in countries say we pay but real time real people prices..
This week i am proud to announce Australia is the winner..yes we have been nominated the most EXPENSIVE country in the world to live in…Bravo!
So before my dodgy at best internets has a hissy fit again here we go with this months list!
Now as we approach Winter the task of discussing costs of heating/cooling and thermostats finds us at the cooler end of the scales.
Now during winter here we get cold, not arctic cold as in our Northern Hemishpere friends but cold enough.
For me that means the house needs to be a constant warm temp..as we have super insulation i am grateful..double brick also helps.
I prefer the rooms which are mainly open plan to be around 22C seems a bit warm for some but old mate Athritis dictates it to be warm.
To do this we have an annoying but handy gas wall heater which is a last ditch run out of wood way to heat the house.
Now if we have no wood this bad boy will use (for cooking we are gas as well and water heating) during a cold snap a bottle a week at $100.00 so as you can see we get wood! and that means either trees that have fallen and can be used from our property(after checking they are not habitat) or buying in loads of wood.
Now to cut and stack your own is great..but it has to be available dried and it is time consuming when hubby is working.So we try and do this weekends.We have a few trees that Rabbits have under pinned which need removing (i love them but they really are destroying at a rapid rate 😦 ) but it will still need to dry..green wood not good for the flue…
The search for wood..
A load of wood we get is usually a cubic metre and costs $140.00 and depending on the quality could last a month..sometimes less sometimes more.
So that is our heating for Autumn /Winter.
I must say as much as i love a wood fire i look forward to the day i can have push button heating and cooling…no dust ash fireboxes to clean..urghhh.
Now next item: Fave meat..well i do not really have one, i am pretty much a what i am in the mood for gal..and this week i have craved Mussels!
This week a kilo of Mussels cost $6.00
Freshly farmed Mussels
They really are delicious take no time to cook and only six hours to scrub and debeard…just sayin…
The next item was the go to vegetable..i am so happy my veggie beds are almost finished..i am sick of the quality and price of some veggies and really prefer my home grown.just one bed gave us 15 kilos of tomatoes this summer..fantastic!
This week my go to veggie is the red capsicum or red bell pepper i think my USA friends call it…always dearer than green but full of goodness.
A less than perfect capsicum
I paid $1.91 for this one..they are $8.69 a kilo this week..
My random item is one i use a bit and i had run out..it is always a dear item as it is the most labour intensive spice and therefor you pay for it.
The item is Saffron..the product of a crocus flower..
Tiny little packet
At $7.48 for 5 grams it is more expensive than gold i think…works out at $1.496 a kilo….
I use it sparingly as it is strong in colour and flavour so it does last a long time..i used about 5 or 6 strands last night.
Which brings us to homemade dish of the month…
I have been craving ,as i said, Mussels and apart from Mussels moulinere i felt like Paella..
So last night as the internet war waged and hubby was on the phone trying to sort it out and my never ending email debacle i gathered my goodies.
Mmmmmmm
The first step is to take your mussels and scrub them then debeard and wash..
Take one and a half red onions and finely dice..Take either half a cup of white wine or fish stock and add 2/3rds of you onions..heat until bubbling (in a decent pot) add the mussels put the lid on and gently shake for about 3-5 minutes or until they open.
Remove from heat and drain reserving the mussel liqor.
If you have a paella pan great if not take a wide based pan or pot and heat half a cup of olive oil add the remaining onion..one finely diced red capsicum 4 crushed cloves of garlic a small amount of diced speck (or bacon)Â and some strips of chicken ..saute for 5 minutes.
Add one diced fresh tomato one small diced Chorizo or other spicy deli sausage and a pinch of cayenne pepper and some smoked paprika about a half a teaspoon salt and freshly ground black pepper and reserved liqor from the mussels and i cup of paella rice.Stir.
Add 2 cups of heated chicken stock which has been infused with about 5 or 6 saffron threads (you can use the powdered saffron but use caution as it is super overpowering) stir until all well mixed bring to the boil then reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 15 minutes without stirring.
After 15 minutes remove the chicken if almost cooked and put to one side.
Put some frozen peas about half a cup on top and push gently into the rice(i like frozen as they cook down and stay bright and do not mush up) if you have green prawns add them now and also push them in to the rice..cover the pan or pot and leave on low heat for ten minutes.
After 5 minutes add mussels to the rice and finish cooking for the next 5 minutes..if the rice is not quite cooked add a small amount more of hot stock but do not stir just pour on top (mine was fine so i needed to add nothing ) .
When done turn off heat and rest for 5 minutes.
A good paella will have a crusty bottom referred to as the ‘ Soccarat’ because i used to burners to cover the size of my paella pan my Socarrat was mainly in the centre and the outside..i usually cook paella on the bbq with a more even wide based heat.
Makes no never mind to me it was super delicious.
Paella
Now the total cost worked out at $33.00
This gave hubby and i two serves last night and a meal each for lunches..so $5.50 Per person per meal which to me is good value!
So there you have it another fun shop around the world..thanks for joining Bacon and i again and please have fun seeing what everyone ‘cooks’ up this month!
FOZZIE.M 