OILY RAG
INDEX

The penny pinchers pantry - stocked full of specials and bargain buys. 

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Your favourite recipes

Bananas

• I PEEL and then freeze over ripe bananas (i buy them cheaper when over ripe).  I then use the frozen nanas straight from the freezer - pop a full one into a blender with milk, peanut butter and some honey - this makes 2 big glass full.  Whizz up into a delicious thick and ice-creamy milkshake - wonderful. - Thelomies, Hamilton.
  
  
•  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.
  
  
•   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.
  
  
•  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.
  
  
•  I bulk buy bananas, peel and cut either in 1/2 or 1/3s. Put them in the plastic bag and put in the freezer, whole. They last pretty well and I slice them up in the morning and cook them directly in my porridge mix. As a single, I love to buy some thing in bulk and this means I can buy the 'branded bunch' and still know I have nice looking bananas not all mashed up! - Cathy in NZ
  
  
•  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.

Broccoli

• Broccoli stem soup. For using up those tough broccolli stems. You will need: 1 onion (diced), 1 large broccoli stalk (diced), any left over broccoli florets, 1 large potato, 1 vege stock cube dissolved in 2c water, 1t butter, 1/4c milk or cream, 1/4c cheese (optional), and salt and pepper. Saute onion in butter till clear. Add broccoli and potato. Cover with vege stock and simmer for 30 minutes till very tender. Blend and season. Reheat with a little milk or cream. Sprinkle with cheese if you like. - VR Lilley

Biscuits/cookies

•  Make over 120 cookies for just $4.00! This fantastic basic cookie recipe is terrific value, makes loads and has lots of room for variations:

  • 500g margarine

  • 1 tin condensed milk

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 5 cups self-raising flour

Cream sugar and margarine. Add condensed milk and flour. Roll into teaspoon sized balls and press down with a fork. Place on greased trays and bake in moderate oven until golden brown (approximately 10-15 minutes). Before baking I divide the mixture into five and add the following ingredients for different flavoured cookies:

• Chocolate chips and glace cherries (chopped) 

• Cornflakes and sultanas 

• Hundreds and Thousands 

• Jam drops 

• Milo and coconut

You could add any number of other things like Rice Bubbles, Smarties, nuts, cinnamon and other spices and so on. The raw mixture can be frozen in balls, just thaw slightly before baking. From this one batch we made 123 cookies and by my calculations using the cheapest possible ingredients the whole batch cost just over $4.00 to make! - K.F.

Celery

•  I find that when buying even half a celery, we don't use it quick enough and the celery goes soft. I save a couple of stalks in the veggie crisper in the fridge and chop and freeze the rest. It is great for adding to winter soups or stews and free flows like frozen peas do. - NZGreenie, Auckland.

Cheap (and not so cheap) meats

We took a quick trip to an online supermarket to see which meats were the best value for the oily rag dollar. this is what we found:

	Cost per kg			Cost per kg
Sausages	$6.99		Lamb chops	$18.49
Sausage meat	$7.78		Sirloin steak	$19.99
Beef shin	$12.99		Rump steak	$19.99
Gravy beef	$13.99		Beef roast	$19.99
Beef mince	$14.00		Lamb steaks	$19.99
Pork mince	$14.99		Beef schnitzel	$20.99
Blade steak	$14.99		Pork steak	$21.99
Pork roast	$14.99		Pork schnitzel	$24.99
Lamb mince	$15.90		T-bone steak	$25.99
Top side	$15.99		Scotch fillet	$29.99
Lamb roast	$15.99		Eye fillet	$35.99

What do you find to be the best value meat? Click here >>> to let us know.

Chicken

•  Here's a fantastic recipe that my mum used to make. It's cheap, quick and delicious and is now a family favourite in my home. This recipe also freezes really well, so you can make it in advance or freeze the leftovers. Ingredients:

  • Chicken legs and/or thighs

  • Large tin of tomato soup

  • Large carrot, sliced

  • 10 mushrooms, chopped in chunks

  • Large brown onion, thinly sliced

  • 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs.

Method: All you have to do is place the ingredients in a casserole dish, mix, and then place the lid on the dish. Cook in a moderate oven for approximately 45 minutes - 1 hour. I usually stir it after 30 minutes to mix it all through. Serve with rice and beans or peas. Mum used to coat the chicken pieces in flour and brown them before placing in the casserole dish. However, as a busy mum myself, I skip this step and it turns out just fine. It is such a hearty meal, you will all love it! - M.M.

•  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.

   
•  One chicken has many creative uses. Firstly cooked chicken makes a superb roast, any meat left over etc is great cold for sandwiches the next day. Then use the carcass to make  chicken stock. Add 6 cups of water, 2 leeks, 2 carrots, 1 bay leaf, peppercorns, celery, fresh chopped thyme and parsley, bring boil, then simmer for a couple of hours then strain. All the chicken meat falls off. I then use the cooked vegetables and chicken for dog food which I mix in with their dog biscuits. I then use the chicken stock to make homemade pumpkin soap, which I then freeze into lunch serving portions. - Sandee Bee, Auckland.

Corn

• Fritters are a good way to use up left-overs. If making fritters with meat or fish, you will find a little goes a long way. Sweetcorn fritters are also a yummy snack. Keep a can of corn in the pantry for unexpected visitors. - M.N.

Eggs

•  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 2 cents and 20 cents by buying two of the 1/2 dozen packs instead of one dozen pack. - M.M., Auckland.
  
  
• Quiches are easy to whip up anytime, and you don't need pastry to have one. For my family of 6 we like having mini quiches.  Just chop up finely half an onion, fry with a bit of crushed garlic and oil. Place in greased muffin pans, add a bit of grated cheese. Then in a bowl or jug add eggs and milk (depends on how much you are making) For us it was 5 eggs and 1½  cups of milk. Add ½  teaspoon of salt and beat till mixed well. Then pour over onion and cheese, and baked until the tops are nicely golden. Does not take as long as one large quiche. Great with fresh salad. Also quiches are a great way to use up veggies, especially if you find you have some cooked veggies leftover after dinner.  Doesn't take long to make and cook, and then you have already part of the next nights dinner. - Alicia Webster
  
  
•   For more information about egg farming see the Egg Producers Federation website, click here >>>

Fish

•  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.
  
  
• Martin Buchanan from Taupo has a tip for smoking fish: "Buy the cheapest available Smoker (usually the Warehouse) and place upon the BBQ instead of one of the grills. Using the lowest heat setting (as well as turning down the gas bottle valve) and manaka sawdust (cutting your own creates heat) makes delicious smoked fish (Taupo trout of course), sausages, chicken, beef, veg, anything in about half to .75 hour."
  
  
• Jaime Oliver uses an old biscuit tin with a chicken wire mesh to raise the meat up from the sawdust. Just place the whole thing over a gas burner or meths in a small tin. - Kurt, Auckland.

Hamburger, Oily Rag style

• When we were both studying with a young family we discovered that adding a good heap of rolled oats to the mince mixture was a fantastic healthy 'stretcher' to bulk up the patties. Even better is to then add grated carrot or zucchini which puts moisture back into the patty and is unrecognisable to those fussy vegetable averse people! - Cate, Hamilton.
  
  

• A trick my good cook mother taught me. Delicious cheese for a burger: Use onion pieces, whole rings work best, placed on the grill (flat grill) then add cheese (edam works well) within the onion rings to melt. Cheese is contained within the onion borders making a cheese patty of sorts and the combined taste of melted cheese and onion flavour is yum yum on a burger! - Tara, Palmerston North.
  
  

• Buy your buns from Magills in the morning - they usually have a good selection of day old bread reduced to $1.  You can toast the buns for your burgers and no-one will ever know they weren't totally fresh. - Sam the Goddess, Te Awamutu.

Jams

Jelly

• When making a jelly add 1 rounded teaspoon of Gelatine to the jelly, stir well & add 2.5 to 3 times the hot water normally used. This cuts the amount of colouring, taste & sugar per serving by approx 66%. - 73Avenger, Hastings.

Lunches

•  Try to take your own lunch to work, its a sure method of saving! - Stretch, New Plymouth.
  
  
• Make a double batch of homemade muffins then pop in a wee bag or wrap in gladwrap and put in the freezer. Put them in the lunchbox frozen and by morning tea or lunch they're defrosted and taste fresh. I usually make banana ones - you can freeze bananas which are too 'past it' to eat, the outer goes black but the inside is fantastic for baking with. -  PK

Mince

Pies

•  Sausage Pie. Use two of the tubes of sausage meat for a family size pie, or just one for a smaller one. a packet of puff pastry, some herbs of your choice, fresh or dried, some onions, chopped & sauteed without colour. A dish that can go in the oven. Make a pie with pastry on the bottom, a layer of sausage meat. Cover with a layer of herbs & onions, then the rest of the meat. Put a top on and bake til the pastry is cooked. Delicious! A family favourite when mine were growing up. - Onelady7, Hamilton.
  
  
• Fast, cheap, healthy pie. Butter 3 slices of bread, press (butter side down) into shape of pie dish. Fill with any fresh vegetables, spinach, parsley, finely chopped onion or chilli, silver beet chopped. Fill to about an inch above rim of dish as it settles. Make hole in centre and slowly pour in about 3 or 4 beaten eggs with salt & pepper. Close hole and cover top in grated cheese, pop in oven for about half an hour. Vary as much as you like, use up frozen veges, just make sure you keep silver beet leaves to bottom of pie as they can blacken with the heat. Thanks to my friend Brenda for this favourite. - Canny Scot, Christchurch
  
  
•  When cutting off bread crusts (e.g. to make Canny Scot's magnificent bread-based pie which is, incidentally, also delicious made with leftover cooked chicken or smoked fish), cut the crusts into regular lengths and crisp these on a tray while using the oven for other cooking. Use them instead of bought crisps, with a dip of hummus or anything you fancy. Visitors, I find, love them and are impressed. - Thirties Depression Baby, Auckland

Potatoes

•  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.

Sausages

•  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. 
  
  
•   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!
  
  
•   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.
  
  
• If you are cooking sausages and don't have as many as you need to serve "whole", cut into slices and serve in gravy as a stew. The sausages go a whole lot further. - M.N.
  
  

• Slow Cooked Curry Sausages. Turn crock-pot onto high for about 20 minutes and heat while preparing the rest.

          500 - 750 grams sausages ( I use pre-cooked)
          2 medium onions sliced
          2 teaspoons curry powder
          1  440 gram can chopped tomatoes ( I use the budget variety for the
                   supermarkets.  What ever is the cheapest.)
          1 - 2 440 gram cans baked beans or chilli beans (the cheap ones again)
          1 - 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Put the onions in the crock pot, the add the sausages.  Add the tomatoes beans and curry powder and brown sugar and mix. Turn crock pot onto low and cook for 6 - 8 hours on low. - C.K., Christchurch.

• Sausage Pie. Use two of the tubes of sausage meat for a family size pie, or just one for a smaller one. a packet of puff pastry, some herbs of your choice, fresh or dried, some onions, chopped & sauteed without colour. A dish that can go in the oven. Make a pie with pastry on the bottom, a layer of sausage meat. Cover with a layer of herbs & onions, then the rest of the meat. Put a top on and bake til the pastry is cooked. Delicious! A family favourite when mine were growing up. - Onelady7, Hamilton.

Scones

• 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.

Soup

• To make very cheap stock for soup and other dishes, keep a 3-4 litre tub in the freezer to which you progressively add onion, garlic, carrot and celery trimmings and peelings as you make them. Don't add too much of the brown outer skin of onions as it is bitter, go for the ends and inner skins. Spring onion trimmings and leek trimmings also work. Also add chicken bones, whether raw or cooked. When the tub is full, add the contents of the tub and 2 teaspoons salt, 10 peppercorns, 4-6 bay leaves a big handful of parsley, and lots of water, into a big pot. Simmer it for 4 hours. Allow to cool, lift out most of the solid stuff with tongs, and sieve the liquid. Taste for salt and add a little more if needed. You can do the same with other meat bones, e.g. beef and lamb and venison. You can mix all red meat bones together but don't mix red meat and chicken. - Y.W., Christchurch.
  
  
• At the supermarket or butchers buy (some butchers give them away) a bag of dog bones. Boil in a large pot of water until all the meat comes off, then remove the bones and you have soup. You can then add other veges to this if you want. - R.T.
  
  
• Free Soup - well almost!  Any cooked vegies left over after dinner, pop into a clean ice cream container and pop in freezer. (Cut all the vegies into approximately the same size first) Continue to do this until container is full. Defrost. Fry an onion in a  little oil, add contents of container, a teaspoon or two of stock powder (or home made stock!) and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and puree. Season with Salt and pepper. You can add 1/4 cup cream if desired for a rich creamy soup. Enjoy! - TS

Snacks & treats

• Popcorn is cheap, healthy and a popular snack, especially when your house is full of hungry children or tennagers (watching TV/rugby!). - M.N.
  

Yoghurt

• You can make yoghurt using fresh milk for a fraction of the price of yoghurt powder. Put fresh milk into your yoghurt maker, and add 3 tablespoons of yoghurt powder. You will have to change the water after about 8 hours with hot water from the tap (not boiling) and leave a few more hours. The yoghurt will have a different consistency than if you made it with powder and water, but it will still be yummy. Using this method, a sachet of yoghurt powder will last for about 5 litres of yoghurt. You must make sure that the yoghurt container and spoon are perfectly clean to start with. - Katherine, Hamilton. 
  
  
• Like yoghurt? I love E***yo Nectarine home made. Buy the pack of yoghurt & also buy bulk skim milk powder. The yoghurt pack contains 225g powder. Make the yoghurt with 112g yoghurt powder & 112g skim milk powder. Taste is same as normal. Cuts fat content by almost 50%. - 73Avenger, Hastings.