Well i am trying to get back to basics. I am cooking as much from scratch as i can. I really need to start thinking about winter veggies. At the moment we are cropping lettuce, tomatoes, cherry toms, limes, rhubarb, eschallots, rocket and of course all the herbs.

I need to plant more eschallots, carrots, spinach maybe some beans and sugar snaps. The fig tree i planted down the side of the house is going completely crazy and so hopefully next year we will be feasting on figs. Simon's favourite salad is blue cheese and fig. Still no mangoes which is very sad - seems like we have had storms when they have been flowering for the last 4 years which seems to be the cause of the lack of fruit.

I am really looking into frugal living. Not because we need to financially but more for our spiritual well-being. I hate waste and packaging and damaging the environment. So i have gone back to meal planning, walking as much as possible and focusing on the garden.

Today i have baked mascapone and blueberry tarts and some mini quiches. The mascapone and blueberries were really marked down (blueberries $1.49 and the mascapone $1.29) So all up 24 tarts cost about $3 to make.