|
Feasting off the Smell of an Oily Rag
The secret to feasting off the smell of an oily rag is to eat
well but without high cost. Our calculations show that a family can feast off
the smell of an oily rag for about half the cost, without compromising the
pleasure and nutritional value of their meals.
Click on a subject to find out what you can do with these
ingredients. To
email your favourite penny pinching recipes click
>>>
Latest
postings
Ripe bananas which are great for muffins and banana loaf can be frozen in their
skins (as is) and just defrosted prior to use.
I microwave them for a minute before I use them. - M.H., Christchurch.
Try to take your own lunch to work, its a
sure method of saving! - Stretch, New
Plymouth.
Anyone who buys the dozen
pack of eggs, just have a quick look at the price of the 1/2
dozen pack, as I always find you can save anywhere between
2cents and 20cents by buying two of the 1/2 dozen packs
instead of one dozen pack. - M.M., Auckland.
Making your own baby food
can save hundreds. There are a couple of ways of doing it.
Easy but not the cheapest: buy tinned fruit and puree it, then
freeze in icecube trays for use later. Cheapest but a bit more
labor intensive: Boil your own veg and puree and freeze as
above. You can just simply cook extra when you're making
family meals and puree it and freeze. When it's frozen in ice
cube trays you can simply pop them out in to a zip lock bag
and use one or two at a time. Perfect for little baby sized
portions. - Plingie, Christchurch.
Watch for "Use today"
meat specials, often half the normal price, and freeze
for future use. Towards
the end of the week meat that is already on special becomes an
especially good buy. - Jaycee, Kawerau
A great way to get fresh
healthy meat is to go rabbit shooting, many farmers are more
than happy to allow you to shoot on there property if you ask.
Rabbit meat is very healthy with little or no fat, with the
added bonus of knowing where your meats from and knowing its
fresh. - Chris
L., Napier.
I buy bulk onions when cheap and chop and freeze, saves time
and money and wastage from onions sitting in the cupboard,
also slice up mushrooms and freeze in a plastic bag, great for
a quick spag' bowl meal. - D.N.,Tauranga.
The taste of milk powder is never quite the same as milk. But
what you can do is do half and half - by a 2 litre - pour half
into another 2 litre milk bottle. Mix up your powder as per
recipe and then add. That way it tastes more 'milky' - you can
freeze one of the 2 litres if you don't get through that much.
Make sure you refrigerate the milk powder mix before using it
- helps with taste. - T.A., Auckland.
KW from Auckland has a favourite potato recipe to share with
others. You need 6 large potato, 1 pkt cream of chicken soup
mix, 250 gr sour cream, 1/2 cup grated cheese, 1/2 cup melted
butter, 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup chopped spring onions, and Salt
and Pepper to taste. Partly cook then grate potatoes.
combine butter, soup, milk , sour cream, onions and
grated cheese. Combine
with seasonings and potatoes Pile into lightly greased pie
dish, top with a thin layer of breadcrumbs and a little more
grated cheese and bake for about 45 mins. at 180 degs.
Want to freeze cream without it becoming a watery mess once it's defrosted?
The secret is to whip it before you freeze it. Defrost it naturally and you
would never have known it was frozen. This method lets me buy brand name
cream when it’s on sale, usually as it's reaching its use by date. I whip
it up, portion it off into 100ml containers and throw it in the freezer. I
no longer have to worry about buying a full container of cream, then trying
to think of how to use it all up before it reaches its expiry date. No more
waste! - Rebecca
F, Brooklyn.
Learn to make a basic scone mix. Scones are so versatile you can add in
whatever you like. Dried fruits, nuts, spices, onion, pineapple, bacon bits.
Use your imagination. 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 tablespoons
margarine or butter. If using dried fruit I find covering with water and
soaking the fruit in a 500ml container gives sufficient moisture to make the
scones. Mix well by hand or use a mixer. The dough should become "plasticy"
pliable and dry to the touch. Bake 12 min at 220°C Savoury or plain mixes
can be dropped into stews to make dumplings. All scones mixes can be frozen.
Gives a wide variety made simply and inexpensively. - Tex, Christchurch.
I
make a date and banana loaf each week. 3 cups flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 cup
rolled oats, 1/2 cup bran flakes. butter or margarine, 3 teaspoons baking
powder, spices -Cassia, mixed spices or others. One overripe banana cut into
pieces. I whirl the lot in my food processor and add sufficient water to
make a very thick moist mixture. Place in a greased ovenproof dish, and bake
for 2 hours in a slow oven. Add or remove ingredients like dates, bran,
sultanas or what have you. Makes a large loaf which will last ages. Mine
does a week for 2 of us. - Tex, Christchurch.
Simply
Sausage. Cook cubed potatoes.
Fry sausages and sliced onions.
Drain off fat and cut sausages into 3.
Make up pkt of Maggi Oxtail soup with 1 1/2 cups of
water, add to pan with sausages, onions, potatoes and mixed
frozen veges. Heat until
frozen veges are cooked. Ingredients
can be added to for more people. I love this recipe. - JayFKay,
Manurewa.
Some fish shops and supermarkets sell salmon frames, the back
bone left over after filleting. They are a fraction of the
price of salmon steaks or fillets and can be a really good
buy. If they are not on display, ask for them. Poach in a bowl
over boiling water, remove all bones and mash the fish with
finely chopped raw onion and garlic, a generous squirt of
lemon juice, seasoning and, if you like, some hummus. Best
left in the fidge overnight. This makes a fantastic dip or
spread for toast. - Thirties
Depression Baby, Auckland.
When I buy oranges, I
always grate the skin and use it for adding to recipes
(muesli, puddings, cakes, muffins etc). I freeze any grated
zest I haven't used for a later date. - Heather, Owaka,
South Otago
If you have a glut of herbs in your garden such as parsley,
mint, basil etc, don't leave it to get past its best but pick,
wash, dry and put all together in plastic bag in freezer.
When frozen, it becomes crisp and easy to just crush up
and store in freezer. and is all ready to put a handful in
endless recipes such as omelettes, casseroles, sauces, muffins
etc. - KEW, Auckland.
Easy peasy! Sausages, a rasher or two of bacon, capsicum
(not red), onion, garlic if liked, tin of tomato, seasoning
(herbs if liked), sprinkle of sugar. Brown sausages, add
onion, garlic and bacon. Slice capsicum and add. Add chopped
tomatoes and season. Sprinkle a little sugar and stir well. 45
minutes on the top of the cooker or about an hour in the oven
- casserole temp. Serve with pasta, rice, mashed potato etc.
Easy peasy. You can add other veg - the idea is to keep it
colourful!
After buying tins of fruit for years, I have found glass jars
of fruit in the supermarket. I pay a little more, but it's for
more fruit and I get to use the jar afterwards. Now I have
lots of empty jars I use for storage or for preserving. - K.A.,
Hamilton.
Sausages and
Pineapple - Fry sausages and add drained pineapple pieces. To each
cup of pineapple juice add 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon
curry powder, 2 teaspoons cornflour. Bring to boil and when thickened,
pour over sausages and pineapple. - Margaret
Read, Napier.
Sausages and
Sweet and Sour Beetroot - Melt 1 tablespoon butter, add 1
tablespoon cornflour and 1 tablespoon sugar. Add liquid from one tin
beetroot, stir till thickened, add beetroot. Pour over grilled
sausages. - Margaret
Read, Napier.
Sausages and Pineapple
- Fry sausages and add drained pineapple pieces. To each cup
of pineapple juice add 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon
curry powder, 2 teaspoons cornflour. Bring to boil and when
thickened, pour over sausages and pineapple. - Margaret
Read, Napier.
Sausages and Sweet and
Sour Beetroot - Melt 1 tablespoon butter, add 1 tablespoon
cornflour and 1 tablespoon sugar. Add liquid from one tin
beetroot, stir till thickened, add beetroot. Pour over grilled
sausages. - Margaret
Read, Napier.
Use glass jars with pop-up button lids to preserve fruit. If
you don't yourself buy jams, pasta sauces etc., ask friends
and neighbours for the jars they might otherwise recycle. As
long as lids and jars are undamaged they can be used again and
again. Sterilize both jars and lids in boiling water, fill
with piping hot stewed fruit, plum sauce etc. and screw on
lids while hot. Once the lids have popped down you can
literally keep these preserves for years. Old stick-on labels
can be soaked and scraped off and residue glue removed with
eucalyptus oil. - Thirties
Depression Baby, Auckland.
When bananas get too ripe, simply put them in the freezer
skins and all. They
will go black on the outside, but if you unfreeze (lay in a
bowl first) and snip off one end, you can squeeze the banana
pulp out easily. Pulp
is ideal for use in all banana cooking recipes.
- D.R., Masterton.
No microwave and the oven uses too much energy so I reheat
lasagna, quiche, pie, etc in the double boiler or steamer. For
things such as quiche
put lunch paper, foil or similar so it held in the top pot.
Yummier as all moisture is retained. - Heather
Reynolds, Omokoroa.
Quick Chicken. Set oven
to 180 degs C.
|
1
chicken or chicken pieces
1 cup of strained tea, from teapot |
1 - 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 -2 tablespoons honey. |
Cut
chicken into portions. Mix tea, honey and soy sauce. Pour
over chicken in a casserole dish and
bake till cooked. Wash
your potatoes, wrap in
foil and cook on oven
shelf alongside. Carrot and other vegetables
can be included in the
casserole too, and save electricity that way. This is
a family sized meal, but I live alone and buy only one or
two portions of chicken at a time and scale it down. I found
and bought smaller
sized casserole dishes from the salvation army shops,
and whenever I use my oven I
make sure that I cook two different
casseroled meals
at once to save electricity that way.
On the second night it means just a quick zap in the
microwave to heat my
dinner. - K.W., Waitakere
City.
What to do with lots of bananas. Process peeled bananas which
are not too ripe in the blender with very little soy milk
until of ice cream consistency and store in small containers
in the freezer. (Being allergic to dairy I have not tried
using milk.) My home grown bananas, plentiful this season, are
quite sweet, but you can of course add a little jam or fruit
jelly or honey. This makes a great dessert, much cheaper and
healthier than ice cream. -
Thirties
depression baby, Auckland.
|