"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Tuesday 15 January 2013

"Mr Golden Sun, please shine down on me..."

(The above title above is taken from the lyrics of the Barney & Friends song "Mr Sun")

I've been feeling under the weather for the past couple of weeks.  Dunno what it is, but I am constantly tired.  So tired, all I want to do is sleep.  Me - sleeping during daylight hours????  I've given it some thought and come to the conclusion that perhaps it is just my body spewing out what it had to absorb last year.  What with the financial strain we experienced, then the sale of our home of 18 years, and the packing up, and the living on a building site for 4 months, part of which was during winter, and then the unpacking, plus preparing for, and hosting, house guests over Christmas, I guess it feels it has cause to protest.  So, in the past couple of weeks I've given in to it when it required.  No point in pushing it beyond it's limits - it's the only body I have LOL

But - one less strain I can share is this.
Sun drying tomatoes in my SunOK solar
oven
My SunOK solar ovens have finally arrived.  No thanks to DHL nor SA Customs, but that is a l-o-n-g story of ineptitude, and inefficient and totally unprofessional service and I won't bore you with it.   Suffice it to say that they are finally here, and I can now take a deep breath :)

I am so excited to be able to share the experience of cooking with the power of the sun.  And nothing but the sun.  Cooking in an oven in which food cannot burn.  Where the food prepared in it is full of the goodness of that food, and has not evaporated in the excessive steam of normal cooking procedures.

After filling the orders which were placed last year I have a limited number of units left from this consignment.  I have imported both the Tropical model which looks like the pic below...


... and the Premium model.
Premium model
Both can be used in South Africa.  However, with the added side mirror and the little sundial on the Premium model, one is able to capture more of the sun's power, and also pre-position the oven thereby doing away with the need to re-position it during the cooking process.

If you are interested in becoming less reliant on Escom, of preparing healthier meals for your family, and reducing your eco-footprint on this planet, then a solar oven is just what you need.  Not one kilowatt hour will be used, nor charged for, whilst you are cooking in a solar oven.  There is sometimes a small amount of stove top preparation, but compared to the energy guzzling electric or gas stove, it is minuscule in the grand scheme of things.

Please - contact me on : dani at ecofootprint dot co dot za and I'll be more than happy to let you have the details of how you can acquire one by return e-mail.

And then soon perhaps you'll also be discovering the joy of making solar cooked bread, and biscuits, and cakes, and soups, roast chickens, lamb, beef and hams, vegetables and desserts.  Even sun-drying excess produce from your garden.  It's so easy in a solar oven.

Mouth-wateringly tender, tasty and healthier food.  I kid you not.

14 comments:

  1. Hi Dani
    Hope you will be back to normal soon. Good luck with the solar ovens.

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  2. Rest up, Dani. We can take a lot of work/stress/etc until one day your body just says STOP. Listen to it - enjoy some down time - a nice glass of wine w/ice (I like mine that way too).

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    1. Kris - Yeah - I always listen to my body - have to - I ask a lot of it often, and when it throws a wobbly then it's time to take it easier LOL

      Now that we have ice on a daily basis, a glass or two in the evenings is JUST what the doctor ordered :)

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  3. We purchased a sloar cooker a few months ago and think that they are wonderful. Looks very similar to the blue one with a side mirror.We do most of our cooking in it and taking advantage of the very hot days we've been having here in Australia.

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    1. Purplepear - You probably got yours from SunCooking in Australia - they are also agents for SunOK ovens. Have been watching the fires in Aussie and Tasmania on our news - hectic!! Keep safe :)

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  4. Been feeling down here to, but that usually happens in the winter. Hope you get over it soon. Please don't pull a Gypsy Jess!

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    1. tffn - Take care of yourself, too - that head wound doesn't look pleasant...!

      Am not planning a Gypsy Jess :)

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  5. Dani, you're a solar inspiration. I actually did a little dabbling with a homemade solar cooker last summer. We had so much rain and so many cloudy days though, that I really didn't get the temps I needed. Hopefully we'll have a better weather balance this year and I can use it a lot more.

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    1. Leigh - Thanks.

      Jut a word of warning. A homemade solar oven needs to be properly insulated, and with a non-toxic lining i.e. a lining that is not going to give off fumes as it heats up. Also, the glass you use can affect the heat you retain - a single pane of glass is not going to retain heat like a double glazed pane of glass.

      I tried converting a metal Coleman's cooler box into a solar oven - it worked - but you don't want to know what happened to the inside of the box...

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  6. Would love to cook this way during the summer .. we are in a very low solar zone and have too many cloudy days in the winter. One of these days we will add one to our non electric cooking devices. Rest well ..

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    1. Mrs Mac - Being in a winter rainfall area, we, too, have a cloudy, wet winter, so solar cooking in winter is limited.

      But summer - that's a different story... :)

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  7. Glad your order of ovens finally came through. How did your tomatoes do? Take it easy, listen to your body and rest when you need to and recharge you body batteries. How you are back to full power soon.

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    1. Emily - So am I - t'was a fraught couple of months, but they made it :)

      Thanks - I know how to recharge batteries for solar power, and to enable torches, etc to work. Funny, one doesn't really think of one's body as a battery, but I guess that's what it is.

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Thank you for taking the time to comment - it makes my day and removes the "loneliness' of sitting at my screen blogging supposedly to myself ;) I try and reply as quickly as possible so please forgive me if sometimes my response is delayed.