How are you with time management? I am really good at managing my time but I think that is because I have a routine that I stick to. Each morning I plan my day. I work out what has to be done, and in what order and I set out to achieve that. Mostly I manage to get everything done in a day that I had planned. But, there are some things that just don’t seem to get done and that is because the task itself is too big. I have 4 boxes of art and craft stuff and for months I have been meaning to sort through them and throw out what is no longer usable. But, the thought of doing all 4 boxes at once meant that I keep putting the task off. So, I decided to do a box at a time. That made it much easier and so each weekend I have emptied one box, thrown out what cannot be used and tidied up what can be used. I am also redoing my garden. It has taken me a long time to decide what I want where and so I am tackling it slowly, one plant at a time. The other thing that I have done is transcribe all of my handwritten recipes that I want to work on into one book. That way I will actually work through the book and get them done, rather than have a pile of books next to my couch just ‘staring’ at me. I am trying to save time wherever possible by being organized. Another thing I am doing is making dessert in the most time saving way as possible. Every night during the week we enjoy poached fruit with custard for dessert. As winter drew to a close we enjoyed poached guavas and now that summer is showing her face we are eating poached pears and poached peaches. Dave is in charge of making the custard so I get to enjoy a treat after dinner that has taken very little time. The poaching liquid can be used over and over again and I just top it up when I need to.
What is your best time saving tip?

Poached Guavas
Ingredients
- 350 g fructose
- 600 mls water
- 2.5 cm fresh root ginger, thickly sliced
- 9 guavas, trimmed and cut in half
Method
- Place the fructose and the water into a large pot
- Place onto a medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves
- Add the ginger and the guavas
- Cover with a cartouche
- Leave to simmer for 30 minutes
- Place the guavas into sterilized glass jars
- Top with the sugar syrup and add the ginger
- Seal once cool and refrigerate and use as needed
Click on the links for conversions and notes.

What I blogged:
- one year ago – Interview With Sarah Graham
- three years ago – Baked Chocolate Custard
- four years ago – Truffle Omelette
I’ve never thought to keep the skin on the guavas.
Have a lovely day Tandy.
🙂 Mandy xo
We always ate them with the skin on so I never thought to peel them for the poaching 🙂
This is a fabulous recipe Tandy! Guava are one of my fav tropical fruits, although I do love eating most/all types of fruits. Fridge cold/fresh guava is amazing, but I also love poached fruits. Never thought about poaching guavas but this recipe looks so tasty and inspiring. I can’t wait to try it. I use Google calender to help remind me, but even then I sometimes fall behind. Time goes by so quick now. Time saving tips/tricks like this recipe is the way to go I think, and not being too precious about things is a lesson I’m learning. Such a beautiful colour on that guava too. Best wishes for the week ahead! 😀
I like the lesson you are learning, it is something we should all take to heart!
What a fun and easy dessert! I never thought to poach guavas before and with the ginger, I bet it is lovely. Take Care, BAM
Thanks Bobbi, it is very refreshing with the ginger 🙂
Time management is not my best skill, but I’m getting better (lists are life savers!). I’ve been seeing lots of guava recipes lately and they’re making me crave it so much!! This one looks especially tasty 🙂
Thanks Sues. I find that lists help me as well 🙂
Oh, these do look so pretty – Tandy – we don’t get guavas here very often.
That is so interesting to know Rachel 🙂
Cool technique, Tandy!
Thanks Angela 🙂
Wow poached guava looks so good,never heard of this,I get lots of guavas but will try your recipe
Hope you enjoy them!
I agree with you about breaking up big jobs into smaller tasks. More often than not, once I start I feel like I may as well finish and then there is one more thing that I can tick off as done. 🙂 xx
I also prefer to finish something once I have started, but it does not always work that way 🙂
I am sometimes good at time management but I get really anxious when I’m stretched and don’t handle stress very well! I’d love to be able to handle time better! These poached guavas look so good Tandy! 😀
I used to be terrible with time management stress, until I read Who Moved My Cheese – that really helped a lot 🙂
Hi Tandy! I guess my best tip is to try not to get too behind on tasks. That’s great that you get most of what you had planned to do on any given day – you must be organized and that’s key! This poached guavas looks delicious, would order this on any restaurant menu =) Have a lovely day.
That is a great tip Laura! I am very organized which helps a lot 🙂
I’m generally not that good with time management- I always go over the time I set myself haha…..especially when it comes to studying!! Your poached guavas looks really good! I don’t think we can get guavas here very easily (dont think I’ve seen them in the shops) otherwise I’d definitely love to try making this! Did you make the guava ice cream as well?
There can never be a time limit to studying! I did make the guava ice cream – blog post to follow soon 🙂
I get myself overwhelmed with my to-do list. Breaking it into to small parts is so much smarter than thinking I can conquer everything at once. I’ve never had a guava fruit before, but these look so delicious! I love the ginger!
Thanks for the visit Cindy, and it is a great idea to break a huge task into smaller parts 🙂
This reminds me so much of poached pears. This recipe seems like you can do this with any fruit, but I love your choice of guavas
Poached pears would be great Kay 🙂
I love guavas! This looks amazing!
Also.. I don’t have time saving tips. I am awful at time management…
Thank you for the compliment 🙂
What an elegant dessert!It is beautiful.
Thank you Adri 🙂
It is a great recipe, however the instructions were more like a science experiment. Cooking you measure with utensils, like cups, spoons, and in ounces. Every recipe I have ever used always was measured in cups and ounces. This reminded me of chemistry. It would have been easier just to say 2 1/2 cups of water and 1 3/4 cups of sugar.
Cooking you measure with scales in my opinion! Cups in California are not the same as cups in London 🙂
People are talking about saving time, well here’s a suggestion. Use layman’s terms for cooking, such as saying 1 3/4 cups of sugar and 2 1/2 cups of water. Not everyone knows fructose is another term for sugar. Only corporations use “fructose” to hide how much sugar they are using in foods they are making. My father did not know what a “cartouche” was and it was an ancient Egyptian cover. Why not say a lid? I am surprised you said water and not hydrogen dioxide.
Thank you for the science and archaeology lesson.
Wow Steph, you took a long time to type this comment. Fructose is not sugar so please do not confuse the term! Cup measures are not the same all over the world but if it really bothers you then please only follow recipes in terms you like.