Fr. Peter's DIY Environmental Ideas

Quick (Baking Powder) Bread Recipe

2010-10-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Have you tried those '5 Minute Bread' receipt's? They take hours... Try this one instead.

You will need:

4 cups flour
1½ cups milk
6 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter

Then:

Mix thoroughly together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and melted butter.
Slowly add the milk, enough to make stiff dough.
Bake in greased bread pans at 350F/180C degrees for about 55 minutes.

Yup... no need to knead!!

Plastic Bottle Clotch

2010-01-15T01:54:00.000-08:00

The problems with using a plastic bottle as a clotch are that the bottle will fall over in any wind if the bottle is not pushed well in, and if it is pushed well in then the soil inside the pushed in bottle will dry out.

The following is an easy way to rectify both of these problems and an easy way to use a plastic bottle as a clotch. With a hot soldering iron, remove the bottom of the plastic bottle. While it is possible to cut off the bottom with a knife the action of the hot iron will create a ridge that stiffens the bottle end. Then again using the iron, create lots of holes in the base section that will be under the soil. The ridges created around the holes by the hot iron will actually stiffen the bottle, you can see the effect in the image.

The idea here is simple in that if you place this area of the bottle under the soil then the soil inside the clotch will not dry out as the moisture in the soil will feed through the holes and as the bottle is well down in the soil then this will also anchor it and work to prevent it from being moved by the wind.

DIY / Make Your Own Oven Chips

2009-12-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

1. Cut out any bad parts of the potato(s)wash and then cut into chip sized slices as per the top left image, don't bother to remove the skin.

2. Place them in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Let them stand for 10 minutes or so in order to rinse out the surface starch; slosh them around a few times in the process.

3. Drain the saucepan and then cover the chips with boiling water, leave for 3-4 minutes.

4. Drain out the water and dry the chips on a towel as in the top RH image. If you click on the image to enlarge it you will see that the outer parts of the chips have changed colour as they have become par boiled.

5. Place the chips onto an oiled tray, shake them around and brush with the oil.

6. Place into a hot oven (shake them once or twice) until golden brown and crispy, as they are on the bottom RHS image.

7. Serve!

Very inexpensive yet very atmospheric DIY Table Decorations

2009-11-23T05:05:00.000-08:00

I am indebted to my colleague Dee for this as it is her idea.

These are quite simply clear dishes with sea shells that she had picked up on a visit to the coast placed in their base. These are then covered with water (this magnifies the size and colour) and some tea light candles are then put in the water to float.

Variations on this theme include putting a few drops of food colouring into the water and then pouring a little cooking oil on top, placing a leaf on the oil and the tea light on top, and decorating the area under the bowl with a few autumn leaves.

To get the full effect please double left click on the images, that way you can see the strands of seaweed Dee had laid over the sea shells in one of the settings.

How to ripen green tomato's

2009-10-22T03:10:00.000-07:00

Ethylene gas is released as banana’s cells are damaged by ripening. This ethylene not only causes the banana to ripen, but also affects any other fruit nearby and I wondered if it would have the same affect on a tomato... it does. So if you have tomatoes that need ripening, put them alogside a banana to hurry the process along.

Plastic Bottle Watering 'Can'.

2009-10-14T04:25:00.000-07:00

I needed a way to water some seeds without soaking the area around them and came up with this idea. less holes = less spray and this only watered the places that I wanted it to.

It’s Ice Cream Jim... but not as we know it!

2009-09-04T02:26:00.000-07:00

OK, it’s not ice cream at all, and when I first read this receipt I thought that it would never work... but it does.

First take one banana (per person) that you have previously cut into small pieces and been frozen or cooled right down in the fridge.

Second, in a food processor or hand blender wiz them up until they are very frothy with lots of air in the mixture. The mixture will now taste like sweet banana flavoured cream.

Serve, on its own, or laced with honey, jam, chocolate chips etc.

Three simple ideas

2009-06-25T23:41:00.000-07:00

Some sauce always sticks to the bottom of sauce bottles so place the bottle, upside down, in a mug of boiling water and it all quickly drops to the bottom. If it has gone very hard then place the bottle normal side up first, then upside down.

If you don’t like to wear gloves when you garden yet hate getting dirt under your nails, scrape your nails over had soap to fill up the under nail area. Then when you wash the soap will have stopped most of the dirt from getting in and any that does will be easier to wash out.

Old CD’s scare off birds from growing plants as with the shining outer and the centre hole they look like eyes. You may have noticed that you can walk past a bird table without looking and not frighten the birds on them, but if you look at them they are off. Paint an eye around the hole, and /or mount two together (glue the edges) for maximum effect

Sharpen your rotary lawnmower blades

2009-06-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

This is so easy, because all you need is a metal file, as in the images.

if you don't possess one the the local DIY shop, or car boot/garage sale should supply one. It should not so be fine that you could use it as a nail file and not so course that it looks like a mountain range.

the blade is effectivly a knife, and has a flat(ish) edge that is grass side down and an angled edge that is above.

With the lawnmower on its side, petrol tank to the top, and your file approximately matching the angle of the angled section in one hand, as in the top image, while holding the mower blade still in the other (so it does't turn) file the upper edge of the mower blade untill the sharp edge is restored. Next, as in the lower image, file the lower flat edge so to remove any metal edges that have been pushed below the blade by stones etc and restore the profile.

The blade does not need to be so sharp that you could cut yourself on it and don't worry about minor imperfections in the edge, just removing most of any damage and restoring the edges will be OK and make quite a difference to the cut. So very
much cheaper than sending the mower away for the blade to be sharpened or fitting a new part.

A slug barrier

2009-05-27T05:32:00.000-07:00

I am indebted to a French gardener in a village near Piriac-sur-Mer for this idea. First take a tin can and with both ends removed, take a pair of tin snips and make the jagged edge that you can see.

Place the tin uncut edge down into the earth and you now have an edge that even the most enthusiastic slug/snail will find too daunting.

The US & UK, separated by a common cooking ingredients language

2009-05-09T01:47:00.000-07:00

I am sometimes flummoxed by our US friends Recipe's ingredients... what is heavy cream? Perhaps in the US people are also likewise confused... what is a courgette?

Here then is a basic list of my most popular confusions. If there are any mistakes there, please let me know.

biscuit - scone
broiler - grill
canned - tinned
cookie - biscuit
cookie sheet/baking pan - baking tray
hard-cooked eggs - hard-boiled eggs
mold - mould
noodles - pasta
pie pan - pie tin
plastic wrap - cling film
rack - shelf
shortdough pastry - shortcrust pastry
stovetop - cooker/hob
wax paper - greaseproof paper

all-purpose flour = plain flour
andouille sausage = smoked sausage
baking soda = bicarbonate of soda
bouillon granules = stock cube
cilantro = fresh coriander
confectioners' sugar = icing sugar
frozen whipped topping = long-life whipped UHT cream
corn syrup = golden syrup
cornstarch = cornflour
egg substitute = egg white
eggplant = aubergine
fava beans = broad beans
frosting = icing
garbanzo beans = chickpeas
graham cracker = digestive biscuit
granulated sugar = caster sugar
great Northern beans = cannellini beans
green onions = spring onions
ground beef (ground lamb, turkey, pork) = minced beef (minced lamb, turkey, pork)
half and half = single cream
ham steaks = gammon steaks
heavy cream = whipping cream
instant pudding mix = whipped dessert mix
Jell-O gelatin = jelly
jelly = jam
lasagna noodles = lasagne sheets
molasses = treacle
non-fat milk = skimmed milk
oatmeal = porridge
pie crust = pastry crust
pizza crust = pizza base
pork tenderloin = pork fillet
potato chips = potato crisps
reduced fat milk = semi-skimmed milk
semisweet chocolate = dark chocolate
shortening (e.g., Crisco) = butter or margarine, or vegetable fat spread (e.g., Stork)
snow peas = mangetout
tomato paste = tomato puree
whole wheat flour = wholemeal flour
zucchini = courgette

Rushed off your feet, not a minute to think AND looking for cooking inspiration???

2009-04-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

Not certain of what to do with the odds and ends you have? Then try THIS 100% amazing website. You simply tick the boxes for the contents of your fridge and store cupboard, click enter and the site does the rest!

On the left hand side of the list that will emerge there is a 'more' arrow. In my case, when I went down the full list, there were receipt 40 suggestions and when I narrowed the number of possible ingredients down there were still 36 suggestions, from the basic fried bacon, to a Greek dish, Keffedes.

I have yet to try out this receipt for crisps that I found on there, but I will do so ASAP:

2 Big Potatoes
1 Tablespoon Cooking oil

Method
1. Use a potato peeler to slice the potato thinly.
2. Toss the shavings of potato in the oil.
3. Sprinkle a baking sheet with salt and arrange the shavings of potato on it.
4. Cook in a preheated oven at 200*C for 20 minutes or until they crisp up.
5. When ready shake in a little salt and pepper to taste.

A Slug Pub (trap) or how to humanly dispose of these little pests!

2009-04-23T22:46:00.000-07:00

If you are a member of the slug appreciation society or perhaps a total Franciscan then do not read any further.... OK, so you are still with me, and this is what you need to make an effective and very, very cheap slug/snail trap.

A small plastic milk ‘bottle’
A sharp, craft type knife
Some beer

Take your milk container and wash it out. Cut a flap in the side, allowing space at the bottom for the beer. Then push the flap back down hard against the edge of the container, (rather like you were told never to do with a book) so it will crease and stay open to the ground.

Place on the ground and fill the base with beer
Leave overnight
Clean the little ****** out in the morning.

The majority of slug and snail pellets you can buy are poisonous and if a bird, frog or badger eats the deceased slug it will also be poisoned, but this way it if any of them does it may enjoy its meal even more. I always take comfort in the thought that for the offending slug, it must be a great way to go and as you can see in the image, it works very well.

PS. OK, the Stella Artois sign... sad or what...

A DIY Sunshine Jar (childs night-light).

2009-04-16T09:20:00.001-07:00

Some children like to have a light on when they go to bed, so here is an alternative to night lights or going in and out of the room to turn a light off.

You need one large jar with a plastic screw top, the upper section of a solar lamp and some yellow paint.

1. Drill the plastic top of the jar to fit the bulb
2. Paint the inside of the jar yellow with a thin coat of paint, a few streaks actually look good.
3. Fix the jar's screw-top to the solar gismo with some sticky pads

Done, and at the cost of under £1.75 ($2.60) including the paint!

The Sunshine Jar will glow comfortingly in the dark and will charge up in the day, especially if it is in sunlight. It is a great way to show little ones that you can actually 'bottle' sunbeans.

Make your own Muesli

2009-04-03T06:42:00.000-07:00

Just why is Muesli so expensive when it is so easy and cheap to make your own?

You can use
3oz rolled oats
½ oz sultanas
½ oz dried apple
½ oz dried apricots
½ oz chopped hazelnuts
1 tablespoon Sunflower seeds

Other dried fruit, strawberries and dates for example are perfect as well but it is so easy to chop and change until you find a combination of ingredients that is perfect for you.

DIY Frugality

2009-03-27T02:54:00.001-07:00

DIY is a great way to save money and it can be far simpler than you think. We live an old cottage I renovated some years ago, and our son lives in a five year old property 160 miles away. The paint on the ceiling over our shower was flaking and on son’s bathroom ceiling had also started to flake badly and where there had been a plumbing leak the water had seeped through and stained the kitchen ceiling.

If you have this sort of problem then there is an easy way around it, and it worked in both properties.

First, wearing a mask of some type if you’re working over head height, rub the flaking area with fine sand paper and remove as much of the offending areas as you can without going overboard. Then, brush on a heavy coat of PVA and leave it 24 hours, then paint over the top of it. In the case of the stained areas these were just cleaned off with a normal (gentle) surface cleaner and were not rubbed down.

If you find that there is a reaction and the surfaces you have just covered start to bubble do not panic! This happened with our son’s bathroom but as the PVA dried so the bubbles went completely down. The surface bubbled again when painted but again went completely down and many, many months later, all is still well, no flaking and no stains.

Easy and cheap, the 2.5 litres of basic PVA I bought cost less than £4 from the local DIY store. Or you could call a painter and decorator in...

2 Frugal (Friday) Recipes from another Era

2009-03-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

The other era is actually the early 1940s, when food rationing in the UK was in full swing and frugality tested the talents of the UK’s housewives, and hopefully a few househusbands as well. These two recipes follow the needs for those days. Those needs were for meals that were nutritious, tasty, quick and easy to make using a small number of readily available fresh ingredients and as little power as possible.

Savoury Cheese Bake
1 cup of grated cheese
1 ½ cup of breadcrumbs
1 cup of milk
1 egg
Pepper and salt for seasoning, but go easy with the salt as the cheese will already have some in it.

Warm the milk in a saucepan and add the cheese and breadcrumbs, season and allow it to soak for two minutes. Beat and add the egg, mix the ingredients well and pour into an ovenproof dish. Cook in a moderate oven until the mixture is a set golden brown.

Corned Beef Hash
1 small tin of corned beef
1 onion (sliced)
1 carrot (sliced)
1 beef stock cube dissolved in ¼ pint of water
4 potatoes

Dice and boil the potatoes for mash
Heat up some cooking oil in a frying pan and brown the sliced onion and carrot, mix the corned beef well into the stock mixture and add to the frying pan and simmer until reduced to a thick liquid. Mash the potatoes and serve pouring the hash over them.

For even greater frugality you can thinly slice the potatoes, brown them with the onion and cut down on power by not having them as mash. If it’s a meal for one, (half ingredients) and you want to be even more frugal, you can eat it straight out of the frying pan and cut down on the washing up!

These two recipes will provide meals for around 80p $1.2 per person. Nouvelle Cuisine they are not, but for those on limited budgets and ingredient availability they were perfect, and so will still be perfect.

Uses for old/used wine bottle corks... a Corking Idea?

2009-03-13T01:11:00.000-07:00

The wine growers or bottlers names and trademarks on wine bottle corks are often a work of art, and as I hate to throw things away, I collect and reuse them wherever possible. Corks are perfect for protecting the points of sharp objects, pins, knives etc from damage or accidental personal contact, but there are other uses, for instance:

If you have any Champagne / Cava / sparkling wine corks then simply cut a slit in the top and they can be used as a place-name holder. The other place name holder uses four corks, two corks glued side to side on the lower half and glued top to bottom on the upper half so leaving a space between them for the place name.

The seed holder and spreader (I find it so much easier to just tap them out evenly rather than using my fingers) is simply a piece of old plastic pipe, cut to shape at the business end with a cork to close off the open other end. The workshop door stop, which became necessary when I changed an inward opening door for an outward opening, is simply a cork nailed to the woodwork with pin nails, small headless nails that are driven a little into the cork so they do not protrude and mark the door.

Corks make a great sanding block for small areas and tight curves, simply wrap or glue sandpaper around one. If you get fed up with having to look for the oven gloves when you are using something on the cooker, then as you can see, the corks makes a perfect insulation. If you don’t have those kitchen cabinet doors that close on their own but are fed up with the bang when yours do, then simply cut a thin slice from a cork, a kitchen knife will do this, and glue it to the inside of the door, this cuts the noise down a lot.

Double left click to see the images in greater detail.

I could go on, but I am sure you have ideas of your own.

To see what others are doing click HERE.

It’s Frugal Friday on Thursday

2009-03-05T01:58:00.000-08:00

Before you despair for my sanity (you may not be alone there) I know that it's Thursday, but I may be out tomorrow so here is my offering a day earlier than intended and to see what the others are doing see here.

I hate items that only have one use. Like Mrs. Average we have collections of bottles and jars that have second use potential and I will chose to purchase some goods, such as coffee, where the jar it comes in can be reused. Last week we bought four small jars of coffee rather than a large one because they fit in the fridge when filled with our home made yoghurt, (see earlier post for the recipe). But what do we do when faced with items that logically have a single use?

Several years ago I was given a battery clock that I put up in my workshop, sadly its case decided to disintegrate and I was left with the works which I put to one side.

When shopping in France recently, we live near the English Channel ports, I bought two 6 bottle (wooden) cases of table wine, but could not bring myself to burn the fronts in our fire because they looked so attractive.

Then the answer to the problems of what to do with the items came to me and you can see the result in bringing the two together in the image, double left-click to enlarge. Not only is there no waste I have a ‘new’ clock for free! Now that must be frugal.

How do you reuse the seemingly unreusable?

"Buddy's" Home made Blue Cheese Dressing

2009-02-26T06:28:00.000-08:00

You will love this (Kati), the ingredients are:
1 ½ oz of Blue Cheese, I prefer Roquefort but this is a personal choice
1 Teaspoon of Dijon Mustard
3 ½ oz of yoghurt (can be low fat, it still tastes good)
2 Teaspoons of mayonaisse (again, this can be low fat, and it still tastes good)
1 Pressed clove of garlic
1 teaspoon of Red Wine Vinegar
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
Salt and black pepper.

Put everything into a bowl except the salt and pepper and whisk to combine all these ingredients untill the consistency is OK, then whisk in the salt and pepper to taste.

This will cost a fraction of a quality proprietary Blue Cheese Dressing. Unlike the supermarket product it will only have a 'fridge stored life of a couple of days, but just what do the manufacturers do to the supermarket product anyway to give it its long shelf life and long 'once opened' life?

Click HERE to see what others are doing!

Have a meal waiting for you for Buddies Frugal Friday

2009-02-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

Do you find that the times in getting home for you or your beloved are erratic? Do you arrive home late at times, too tired to cook? Do you have a Slow Cooker/ Crock Pot? If not, you may need one! The following is a quick to prepare Slow Cooker/Crock Pot curry, the quantities of ingredients are easy to work out as you know the amount you like to eat.

First of all, in the morning, raid the bottom of your fridge and wash and quickly cut up any vegetables you can find there. For the meal you can see, I prepared green peppers, parsnips, and thinly sliced potatoes. Then you toss the whole lot into the slow cooker with the contents of a cheap tin of chopped tomatoes, I would have usually added carrots but we had run out.

Second, finely cut an onion and fry this in a little Olive Oil with some garlic and add to this whatever ultra cheap cut of meat you wish. I used shin as this has a great flavour but needs a loooong time to cook to make it tender. Add this meat to the frying pan and quickly fry until the outsides are sealed and browned, it won’t take long, and then toss the whole lot into the slow cooker.

Third, add to the slow cooker the recommended amount of a jar of curry paste, strength to choice (mild in my case).

Fourth, turn the slow cooker on and forget it until you come home in the evening. If you think that this may dry out (I did) then pour in a vegetable stock cube dissolved in 1/3rd of a pint of boiling water.

The meal described, which tasted fantastic, must have cost about 80p, about $1.20c each, plus the rice that will be prepared just before serving which will be whenever it is needed. Three cheers for Slow Cookers/Crock Pots!

DIY Bird Table Edging

2009-02-16T06:11:00.000-08:00

When one makes a bird table, especially if the idea of a square one does not appeal or if the piece of wood you have is not square, then edging it can be a problem. You will need an edge or the slightest wind and the seed goes everywhere but not an edge that fits too well, or the table can become a small lake.

Here then is the simple answer. All you need are a few galvenised staples, a length of old cable and there you have it... As in the photos it will fit an irregular shaped table perfectly and looks neat as well.

DIY sink outlet cleaner for Buddys Frugal Friday.

2009-02-13T03:16:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have problems with blocked or slow running sinks, wash hand basins or showers? If you do then don’t pour environmentally unfriendly bleach or those expensive canned foaming cleaners down them.

First get some bicarbonate of soda and pour some down the offending outlet, next follow this up with some vinegar and quickly place you hand over the outlet and your other hand over any overflow outlet the sink, basin, or shower has and wait for the resulting chemical reaction to clear the blockage. Effective, environmentally safe and very, very cheap

Make your own French Dressing for Buddy's Frugal Friday

2009-02-06T08:21:00.000-08:00

Wandering around the supermarket recently I was watching the number of people that were choosing from the dozens of different types of salad and other dressings that were available. Looking at the ingredients I could not help but notice that but for all the most expensive ones on offer the main ingredient was water, followed by Sunflower oil.

Now forgive me but where I am and I suspect where you are as well, water is not over expensive and Sunflower oil is not exactly uncommon, but no self respecting chef, French or otherwise would use either to make their own French dressing, which was the most popular type of dressing purchased. Here then is a recipe for French Dressing that will be use only the best ingredients and be better and cheaper, much, much cheaper than the shop items.

Take one clean empty jar and put in it...
3 table spoons of Dijon Mustard
1 pressed clove of Garlic
A few pinches of sea salt
A few twists of black pepper
3 fluid ounces of red wine vinegar
9 fluid ounces of virgin Olive oil
Shake the whole lot!!!

That’s all there is to it...

PS. You can use whole grain mustard as an alternative and/or add honey to make a honey and mustard dressing, but don't use the garlic.

DIY Vegetable Steamer - Easy and hopefully at no cost!

2009-02-05T10:53:00.000-08:00

Steaming vegetables is the easiest way to preserve their flavour, especially if you prefer them Al Dente rather than a soggy mass.

But steamers are not cheap so if you want to try the process out first, before you buy, then as shown on the right of the image...

Take your saucepan, put a little water into it, place your colander in it and then put the saucepan lid inside over the items you have placed in the colander to steam. You will then have a steamer that is almost as effective as the one shown on the left of the image (just double left click for a close up).

Easy peasy...

Make your own / DIY Compost Turner

2009-02-04T00:12:00.000-08:00

This little device was 'invented' by accident.

Faced with a broken broom handle, I soon discovered that it was great for plunging into the compost container you can see in a previous post, and removing the gaps and mixing the dead spots in the compost. Then I drilled the working end and drove a nail through it. The result to the compost when I pushed the item in and out of the compost container, twisting as I did so was amazing. It was 3 times as effective and even with the outside temperature below freezing point the now remixed compost soon started to heat up again.

A DIY Fish Scaler

2009-01-30T09:30:00.000-08:00

Expensive item, a fish scaler, unless you have an old wooden spoon, a few beer bottle tops and the same number of screws/nuts & bolts as beer bottle tops.
It could not be easier... Drill the bottle tops to fit the screws or nuts and bolts and screw or drill and fit them to the spoon. Cut the spoon to your chosen length and there you have it, an almost free fish scaler.

A DIY Chimney Baloon

2009-01-30T07:56:00.000-08:00

If you have a chimney that you don’t use, as we do, then it needs to be draft proofed in some way. You can buy a ‘Chimney balloon’, an expensive item that you place in the chimney and inflate, or, you can do what I have done. This is to simply fill two black sacks with that fibreglass insulation you were saving, (and didn’t know why) and push it up into the opening to fill it.

If you are worried about ventilation (I’m not) you can always leave a space at the side and if by chance you ever forget it’s there and do light the fire, the plastic bag will open with the heat and the fibreglass insulation will fall down and should put the fire out.

The images are, I hope, self explanatory, the top one shows the 'baloon' in place up the chimney. One point I must make is that when you are on your back, fitting the thing, wear safety goggles, from experience, glasses are not enough!

Easy sow Gutter Planter

2008-09-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

When you sow seeds directly into the soil or plants before they have reached a degree of maturity and lost their initial tenderness they can easily be lost to slugs, snails and insects etc, and in addition the shock of being moved from pot to soil can easily cause them to keel over.

One way of avoiding this is to fill a gutter with your growing medium and plant your seeds in this. Keep them correctly moist and off the ground, and when the plants have grown to initial maturity, simply form a gutter sized groove in the soil and slide the plants in. Do it gently and they won’t even know the difference!

Gardeners, an easy way to look after your eyesight:

2008-07-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

Year after year many gardeners lose the sight of an eye or damage their sight due to bending down into a bush and catching their eye on a bamboo stake. There are rubber ends on sale that cover the end of bamboo stakes, or you can use the end of a sports drink type of plastic bottle as in the photo's. Keep you eyes open when you visit your local plastic bottle bank.

Inexpensive & quick 'Pizza'.

2008-05-23T03:30:00.000-07:00

I like pizzas, but I don’t like the price or the packaging, or the fact that many sold in the UK come from Germany or Holland. Here then is a way to make simple, (very) cheap, fresh and great tasting ‘pizza’.

Take two slices of bread put them together and toast them in a toaster so only one side is toasted. Thinly butter the untoasted side and scatter thinly sliced tomato, bacon, mushroom and cheese on top and drizzle a little olive oil over them. Place the slices in a moderately hot oven for 8 minutes, and there you have it!

The Costs:
2 slices of bread 6p
20g of ‘bacon bits’ 3p
½ a tomato 7p
20g cheese 8p
Butter and olive oil 1½p

Total price 32p or about 63c

I have not included the cost of the electricity for the oven, as had I bought a shop pizza I would have still used it. If you don't use meat you can easily have a vegetarian option and use other toppings instead of, or as well as.

DIY Radiator Heat Reflector

2008-05-20T02:17:00.000-07:00

It is accepted that between 50% to 70% of the heat emitted by a household radiator is eventually lost into the fabric of the building, mainly behind the radiator and into the wall behind. A reflector panel fits behind the radiator and reduces the wasted heat by insulating the wall and so the heat that is saved either heats the air in the room, warming it faster, or is retained in the system so the boiler is not using as much fuel.

It is very easy to make your own Radiator Reflector. All you need is a tape measure to work out the size of panel, scissors, stapler some adhesive tape, a thin strip of wood, a sheet of cardboard and one of those silver heat reflecting panels you can buy to put in the windscreen/windshield of your car to keep it cool in the sunlight.

Cut the cardbord to size, place it on the reflector, cut that to suit and staple it to the cardboard. Attach a thin strip of wood to the top, I used Duck Tape as it is temperature resistant and drop the completed unit onto the supports behind the radiator!

The Potato Box, progress report...

2008-05-19T00:39:00.000-07:00

The detail of how I made my Potato Box is on an earlier post. I put the seed potatoes in the base of the box about ten days after making it and have been have been covering the shoots from the seed potatoes as they appeared. I did this for the last time five days ago. The photo was taken this morning and you can see the growth that has occured in such a short time.

Do you save rainwater?

2008-05-07T03:42:00.000-07:00

The average garage will have around 500 SQ Ft of roof and with only 1" of rain this will allow you to save (harvest) around 300 gallons of rainwater. The video above will give you the practical details and click on here for other information and advice from the CAT (Centre for Alternative technology) in Wales, whose main site here is well worth a visit at anytime!

Save water each time you flush!

2008-04-11T02:37:00.000-07:00

In the UK and I suspect most Western countries water saving has not been at the top of the environmental list until now. The humble toilet uses a large quantity (usually far more than needed) of the precious liquid each time it is flushed, especially if it is one of the older types.

To save water (and money if you are on a Water Meter) you can fit a 'Bog Hog' a special water container that fits in the reservoir, but just as easy, and certainly more environmentaly friendly, you can recycle and use a plastic bottle instead.

The photo shows one sitting snugly at the base of our system. If it were not possible to fit the 2 pint container shown, due to space restrictions, then two 1 pint containers should fit. Fill them full of water first and fit the cap back on and not only will you be saving water you will also be reducing environmental pollution by cutting down the power needed to get the water to your home in the first place.

Self-Watering Recycled Plastic Bottle Plant Pot for Seeds

2008-03-26T03:39:00.000-07:00

I like my seeds to be comfortable, the seed equivalent of sitting on a deckchair under a sunshade while sipping a glass of chilled Chablis. Seeds are precious, if they weren’t companies like Monsanto (pauses to puke) would not be interested in them so here is a way to make as sure as you possibly can that they have the sort of start in life that the Good Lord intended.

The photos will give a full picture, but basically I cut a plastic bottle in two with a fine toothed bread knife, drilled 4 holes in the screw cap and inserted lengths of non-plastic string to act as a wick, (see photo). I lined the half the screw cap fits with wet paper and after fitting the screw cap back on I held the strings to one side and filled this lined half with seed compost (see photo.) After this I distributed the strings around the pot and back down to below soil level. I then filled the lower half with water to just below the cap and fitted the two parts together, (see photo.)

Place seeds on or in the growing medium as advised and cover the top with a light sprinkle of sand to discourage fungal disease. Now if you need to go away for a few days or forget to water it doesn’t matter. Don't forget to double left click on the photos for full screen size and to use the browser's back button (arrow) to return to normal. This is especially useful for the second photo from the top.

A Potato Box

2008-03-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

I have always been amazed just how many potatoes it is possible to get from a potato box or barrel or bin or whatever it is called in your part of the world. I know that potatoes are not usually over-expensive but I like organic early potatoes and these are expensive, so this year I have built a potato box and will grow our own. The box is made from old pallets (painted in an environmentally friendly wood treatment we had left over) and measures about 33” square by 24” high. The bottom of the box has duck tape wrapped around it to seal it from the ground, this should show up in one of the photos, and the inside has old black plastic sacks secured by brass thumbtacks on the top edge so covering the top and the inside wood to protect it from moisture and stop the growing medium from drying out, another photo shows this at the half-way stage. I will put a few inches of compost on the bottom, lay a few early chitted seed potatoes on it and cover over them for three or so inches with compost, then as the potatoes shoots grow up I will carry on covering them up until I get near to the top and the box will fill with new potatos. (Can't come soon enough for me!) The system will be frost resistant and I will save some of the first of the crop and store them in the fridge to plant again for a second crop around July time, crafty or what? Incidentally, the compost bin that is next to the potato box was also built from unwanted pallets... Waste not, want not...

The world's easiest home-made shortbread?

2008-02-25T04:07:00.000-08:00

Take 6oz of plain flower, 4oz of butter and 2oz of (preferably) golden unrefined granulated sugar. Mix the whole lot in a bowl until it all starts to cling together, roll out on a board to whatever thickness you fancy, cut into squares or whatever and sprinkle some of the sugar on top of them.

Bake in a medium oven for about 15 minutes or so, less if they are very thin, more if they are very thick and allow to cool completely before eating. No preservatives needed, they will not last long enough for them to be needed!

Sooo VERY easy to bake rapid bread receipe

2008-02-16T05:04:00.000-08:00

This was mainly by accident, but it works!

I had just read an article about the price of bread, which is going up non-stop as the price of grain increases, and one part of the article stated that "you still cannot make bread cheaper than you can buy it". This sounded like a challenge and so I thought, as my ever tolerant wife was out at a meeting, that I would show they were wrong. Looking at he way bread was made, with injections of steam etc I thought this would be no problem, a little ingenuity would suffice. However as I got into the baking process, I remembered that 1. I was supposed to get some shopping and 2. when Pam returned the kitchen would still be upside down, so I rushed through the process thinking that the birds would at least approve (again) of my failed efforts. But far from fail it all worked, so here is the receipe and the pictures to confirm it all.

Take one and a half mugs of warm water, pour them into a bowl and mix in one half a teaspoon of fresh dry yeast (yes I know its a lot) and a few pinches of salt. Pour in three mugs of plain flour and mix the whole lot together, (forget all that kneeding business) cover with cling film (I know I should have used a cloth, but I like to observe what is going on) and leave somewhere warm for an hour and a half (yes, I know its not long.) By then the whole mass, which has the consistency of the slime in Ghost Busters, will be covered in bubbles.

Give the whole lot a very quick stir and leave for a few minutes (possibly thinking 'this is never going to work') while you heat up the oven to around 220c/425f and as you do this put in the oven whatever container you are going to use to bake the bread in.

When the oven is at working temperature pour the dough into the now greased container, (but be careful, its hot, I 'found' out the hard way) cover it up with aluminum foil or whatever and put it in the oven for half an hour. My thought was that this would keep the moisture in for the first stage of cooking, After the thirty minutes take the cover off and leave it in the oven for ten more minutes to allow the top to brown.

Take out and allow to cool... yes...it really was that easy!

The top photo shows the dish and 'cover' before I put it in the oven, the next after half an hour and the next after ten minutes with the cover off. The result can be seen in the bottom photo. I must point out that our oven is rather old and about as reliable as a high mileage Trabant so you may have to experiment with the temperatures. Quantity wise, three of any sort of container should work for the flour/water ratios.

PS. It tastes as good as it looks!!

Make your own vitamin C, AMAZINGLY easy.

2008-02-10T07:13:00.000-08:00

Many foods have vitamin C in them, including Potato, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, Red Cabbage etc, but an easy way to make additional vitamin C which will also include rutin, hesperidin, bioflavonoids, monoterpenes and limonene essential oils is from the pulp and peel of organic citrus fruits.

When you have washed and peeled your organic (it must be organic as you don't know what has been sprayed onto the fruit otherwise) grapefruit, tangerines, oranges, lemons or limes, cut up the peel into small pieces and put it on a plate on a window ledge in the sunlight, or into a cooling down oven to dry.

When the bits are fully dry and shriveled zap them in a coffee grinder, or whatever you can use, to a powder and there you have it, vitaminc C with essential oils! Store it in a screw top jar, or any other air tight container and use it when required for health reasons/cooking etc.

A shed 'light' for less than £2

2008-02-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

Our outside shed is small, and only used for storage of garden equipment. A light would be a good thing as at the end of the day, when it is dark, is is difficult to put items away. I noticed just how bright the LED's on the solar garden lights were so I decided to convert one of these as the shed light. If you want to do the same conversion then this is how I did it.

1. Cut off (hacksaw) from the lampshade the spigot that locates in the plastic tube that you push into the ground. 2. Take apart the section that has the solar panel, remove the electrical panel from inside and cut the LED off from this, midway between the LCD and the panel. 3. Solder whatever length of cable you need for the purpose intended to the four ends and tape over any exposed wire. 4. Glue a CD, shiny side down, to the lampshade and after fitting all the parts back on the solar panel section, glue a CD onto this taking a small nick from the outer of the CD so it can, if required drain away any water that may get in. 5. Stick a piece of 'Duck Tape' over the hole in the lampshade CD, make a small hole in this, put the LED through and tape the cable to the CD. Hang the light end inside where required and place the solar panel end where best suited, in my case it is hooked into the tiles on the shed roof.

Note, an LED will only work when connected up the right way. A diode is simply a one way street for electricity, so before you solder it onto the cable, touch them both, wire and LED, to a battery to make sure it will work. This is because if the negative side of the diode is connected to the positive supply of the battery, and vice-versa then it will block the power. If you need to it is simple to fit an on-off or a pull switch to one of the cables, but as the only time I intend to make use of the light provided is when it first gets dark I won't worry about this and the light can shine on. Like the light of many such like solar lights, a constant reminder of the inexhaustable energy the creator has provided for us, all we need is the (commercial) will to tap it.

PS. If you are wondering what that dark photo with the light at the top end is, this is a non-flash photo of the lamp, now in the shed, taken from the garden.

Do you have problems replacing rubber washers?

2008-02-04T00:12:00.000-08:00

I used to find these things a problem. In order to get one of the right size, or at least close to it, the only option was to buy a pack with a dozen in it, eleven of which I would never use. There is however an easy way out of this.

Take one old cycle tyre inner tube or one old car inner tube, (next time you have new tyres fitted ask the garage if they have one)lay the old washer on it and draw around it, or use a compass and draw the circle size you need, and then cut the washer out with a pair of scissors. If you need a thick washer the car tyre inner tube is usually perfect and the cycle tyre inner tube for the thinner ones, but it is quite simple to cut up several to make up the required dimension.

An MP3 Solar Charger & Battery For £1:25p

2008-01-22T05:54:00.000-08:00

I love my MP3 player, but a concern was its AAA battery demands, then I found that many solar garden lights used AAA bateries. So I bought a pack of 4 solar lights for under just under £5, took two of them apart and removed (snipped off) the LCD bulbs and put them back together again. I then left the bulbless units in the sun and when the batteries had charged replaced them with batteries from the other two lights. The other two complete solar lights, as with the two removed LCD bulbs, will be used for later projects. The solar chargers will, of course, charge up any rechargeable AAA batery.

Build An Insect Hotel

2008-01-18T10:37:00.000-08:00

You will need a plastic bottle, one of the large types that are used for bottled water seems best, (the one in the photos is 4” / 10mm diameter) and several lengths of bamboo. If you or a friend have grown your own bamboo and have a few lengths that have been lying around for a period, then these are perfect; you can of course use other bamboo. You will also need some galvanised garden wire.

Tools required:

You will need a ‘Stanley’ type of knife, a saw, a pair of pliers that have a cutting section for the galvanised wire and a tape measure.

1. Cut the bottle to a convenient length, in the case illustrated it was at a ridge on the bottle that was about 6 ½” / 17mm from the end. 2. Make two small holes in the bottle that are in line with each other and around 2” 5mm from each end. 3. Cut two lengths of the wire about 18” / 46mm long and run the two ends of each piece through different holes, each on the inside the bottle circling them against the inner wall. 4. Cut your bamboo into lengths, in this case I cut them 7” / 18mm long, and push them into your container until it is full. 5. Twist the wire (but not too tightly, it can break) at the point where it emerges so as to lock the bamboo into place and again at the end in order to form loops. These are your fixings, and can be extended by other lengths of wire if needed. Test the construction by holding the open end down and shaking gently. If any canes fall out, put another one in.

The Hotel will need to be positioned preferably where it will not swing around and protected from the sun. The closed end pointing towards the prevailing wind in winter and pointing slightly down towards the open end so as to drain should any water enter.

Solitary bees often live in old mice nests; I have been reliably informed that they like the smell, so old canes that have been left on the ground and so have perhaps been the attention of our little furry friends will be ideal for them. Lacewings are fond of the colour red, if you can locate a red bottle they may prefer this.

A Butterfly Feeding Station

2008-01-18T10:36:00.001-08:00

As the disaster that is Climate Chaos increases we are losing many of our native bees and insects that are needed to pollinate and predate on the more unwelcome species that are now arriving at these shores. Butterflies are also among those that are threatened by the changing climate but it is easy to feed them with a Butterfly Feeding Station, and, like the Insect Hotel, it should cost little or nothing to make.

For the Feeding Station:

You will need two small empty yoghurt pots, a wire coat hanger and a sponge. The one I used is the spare from an old paint roller, but it would be just as effective to cut a sponge into the required size.

Tools Required

A pair of pliers & scissors

1. Cut the ends off the yoghurt pots as per the photo. At the ends of the long part of the coat hanger, cut off one end at the top just before the V bend and at the other end just after the V bend using the cutters at the side of the pliers, as can be seen in the photo. Bend the lower section that has been cut off after the V section flat as this will be the lower part. Make a small hole in the centre of each of the cut off yoghurt pots. This needs to be tight fitting, and for mine I put the flat side down on a hard surface, (glass chopping board) held the point of a knife in the centre and twisted the pot end while holding the knife still. Put it all together as per the photo and bend and cut the end for a hanger.
Apply a mixture of five parts water to one part sugar to the sponge and hang the result of your work up in the garden.

Do You Like Yoghurt?

2008-01-18T10:33:00.000-08:00

The supermarket choice is vast and expensive, so why not make your own? It could not be simpler to do so. You need a bowl that will hold two pints of milk, a plate to go over it and some towels / blankets to cover it all. Heat the milk to near boiling, and allow it to cool to blood temperature, you do this by sticking your (clean) finger in it, when it feels neither hot or cold you are there. As this happens scald the bowl with boiling water, this 1. kills any bacteria that might sour the yoghurt and 2. heats up the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plate to bring this to the same temperature and then pour the water away, allow the bowl to steam off, don't wipe it, a few drop of water will not matter. Place the bowl on a few folds of towl to insulate it, pour in the milk and then add a small pot of plain organic youghurt that you have allowed to reach room temperature. Stir it all together and then cover it well with your towels / blankets / whatever to insulate it, leave it for 12 hours, uncover and stir it all together and there you have your yoghurt. Place it in the 'fridge, add brown sugar, fruit, jam, honey, whatever is your fancy, use it for cooking or for curry, but before you do fill your (cleaned) empty yoghurt container with your yoghurt as this will be the starter for the next batch you make.

DIY Solar Electricity

2008-01-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

At present I am remaking my workshop and naturally want it to be 100% carbon neutral. While it is still in the process of sorting out I decided to start on the lighting as the nights were getting shorter, and I needed to see what I was doing, I fitted up the solar lighting shown here. It was, to say the least, very easy indeed. I used a 12 volt battery trickle charging solar panel from Maplins, this was on offer at £9.99 and a £30 inverter (a gismo that changes 12 volts DC to 230 volts AC) from Ebay. Initially I used one second hand 12 volt battery and connected the panel to the battery, the battery to the inverter and the inverter to two flourescent tubes. It was as simple as that. I now have six S/H batteries fitted up although the single battery ran the tubes for several hours. If you do this please don't forget that 1. A 12 volt car battery is not a toy and that if a spanner or suchlike shorts out the terminals it will soon turn red hot and 2. The power output from the inverter could be fatal if not treated with respect, so please, do as I have done and connect up an RCD, a Residual Current Device. This is an item that detects the power balance between the positive and neutral 230 volt circuit and switches the circuit off when it detects an imbalance. For future use I will no doubt need a larger panel as I intend to use the workshop to its full capacity, but I will keep the current drain for the equipment that I use down to a minimum, i.e. rechargeable drill etc. The present set up will run lap-tops, faxes, printers etc, but will not run a tube type colour monitor, although a LCD type is no problem. One photo shows the lights working and the other the items I have mentioned.

Chemical Free Cleaning

2008-01-18T10:30:00.001-08:00

Have you thought of using vinegar? It is mentioned in the Bible.We all know that Jesus was offered water and vinegar on a sponge,a popular drink for the poor and for Roman soldiers when in camp,but did you know that in Ruth 2:14 it is a dip for bread, and in Proverbs 25:20 it is a cleaning formula.It was used as an antiseptic in WW1 and it is possible that the Good Samaritan used wine vinegar on the injured man's wounds as it would have been a useful part of a first-aid kit. So what can it be used for? The following are for white vinegar only:-

As a surface cleaner, use it straight with a few drops of lemon juice,or without the juice for wooden chopping boards. As an oven/microwave cleaner, put 3 tablespoons in a small bowl of water and bring to the boil for a minute (microwave) or three (oven) and wipe off the softened deposits. Use vinegar instead of liquid rinse aid in a dishwasher. Clear blocked sinks & basins by pouring some Bircarbonate of Soda down the plug hole and then add some vinegar and place your hand over the plug hole to keep the fizzy reaction down. For grimed on tea of coffee stains in cups or mugs, pour a couple of teaspoonfulls in the offending article, add some salt, and rub with a cloth. A few drops added to the rinse water will leave items squeaky clean and help to prevent water spotting on glass. For limescale in the shower/sink use vinegar and washing soda as in Prov 25:20. For windows add 1 part vinegar to 10 parts water spray on the windows with that spray bottle you have been saving, and rub like crazy with old newspapers, worked perfectly for my Mum!.

And so it goes on... Safe, biodegradable and cheap.