Your favourite tips

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.
Mums can save time putting baby food through the food processor by grating it frozen instead! I am a maternal child health nurse and am always looking for ways to make it easier for mums to introduce solid food to their babies. An elderly lady I once spoke to told me that when she was introducing meat into her babies' diets she would freeze it then simply grate it in with the vegetables and so on when it was time for cooking. It's ready in a matter of minutes. - K.H.
I make free cafe meals for my two year old. I refuse to pay over $1.10 for the convenience of tinned food for him when we have to go out. Like most small children he won't eat vegetables but loves pasta, so each weekend I make a big pot of thick minestrone soup for the whole family. I add tomato paste to make it red and small elbow pasta so he thinks he's eating pasta! Then I freeze single serve portions in re-useable air tight containers. I take them with us still frozen and have yet to come across a cafe who wouldn't reheat one for us at meal time. - S.S.
Frozen banana chunks are a great teether for babies, and for next to nothing. Our daughter is teething but buying rusks can be quite expensive. Instead we buy discounted bananas, cut them into small pieces, skewer them on to plastic icy pole holders (bought from a second hand store), then freeze. The end result is a tasty teether which my three-year-old can help me make and enjoy as a special ice cream treat. - L.M.

Baking

Cup Cakes and Muffin tins... experiment with different shaped food cans, for example tuna or baby food. Make sure the cans are clean and also clean of any smells, then grease them up and use like you would for any recipe. Remember to watch for differing cooking times. - Mean Girl, Hastings

Bread

Keep sliced bread in the freezer and take out only what you need. Then there is no waste. 30 seconds in the microwave will thaw it. - P.B.

Bulk buying

Buy products like baking soda, spices, herbs and other baking products from the bulk bins at Bin Inn, check out the prices which are often a huge saving on buying the same packaged items at the supermarket. I bought wild bird seed there yesterday and its half the price of the supermarket for the same product, also things like fennel seeds are a lot cheaper than in the supermarket and epsom salts and baking soda. (Epsom salt is good for some plants) I agree some things are the same price as the supermarket but there are savings to be had and also if you take your own container to fill up with liquid products this can help too. - C.P., Nelson.

Cheese

Buy cheese in a 1kg block because it is cheaper that way. Then cut off half and grate it up to put in small bags in the freezer for use in sandwiches and casseroles, etc. - P.B.
Keep your grated cheese in the freezer. I get a big block (on special) grate and freeze it in a container. A quick shake frees it up and it is ready to use in sandwiches or as a topping. Pop it back into the freezer once you have taken out as much as you need. No more mouldy, disgusting lumps of cheese in the fridge and more importantly no waste.- Vikkin, Auckland

Delicatessen

At the Delicatessen section of most Supermarkets, buy the luncheon offcuts instead of the almost double priced standard sliced. At my local, for example, 1Kg of luncheon "offcuts/ragends" costs $2.49 while nice looking standard slices cost $4.50/Kg. - Lynda

Freezing fruit

My daughter (14 months) loves grapes but a bunch goes off before she can get through them. I freeze them now and give them to her as a frozen snack for morning tea. She absolutely loves them and I'm sure she thinks they are lollies! Can do the same with mandarin segments. - Angela

Freezing

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.
If you buy larger amounts of meat and then break these down into smaller packs ready for freezing, don't throw out the wrap that it came in. It can be used to wrap one of the smaller packs that you have created - no need for an extra piece of glad-wrap for that pack as it all ready came in it. - Diane, Papakura

Garlic

If you keep garlic in the deep freeze it is easier to peel but it tastes the same. - R.W.

General

I keep a small glass jar in the fridge with a good lid. In it I put some Olive Oil, one or two cloves of Garlic. I buy three 1 inch paint brushes, bristle. Dip in the oil for putting on steaks. one brush for salad bowl, one as a pastry brush. Mark brushes with permanent marker. Keep Garlic one in ziplock bag. - J.S.
Since I splurged on a cheapy $80 microwave and $30 rice cooker from the warehouse, my food bill has gone down considerably. - K.S.
Go raw and save for years to come! We started eating mostly raw fruit and veges and found that our groceries bill is easily half of what it used to be. We have heaps more energy and strength. On raw food we get hungry less quickly and eat a smaller volume per meal. Raw food also saves time and energy! It requires less preparation, less electricity, less clean-up and uses less packaging. There is more nutrition in raw food than in cooked food. Heating food at more than 40 degrees destroys enzymes which we need for all body processes. Heating also destroys vitamins and makes food less absorbable, which means a person will need to eat much more cooked food than raw food to get the same nutrition. Food that doesn't absorb well stays in the body too long, causing toxicity, disease and weight gain. So... By eating raw food you could be saving on medical bills for years to come... Some people also find their existing health issues and excess weight disappear after going raw... Just Google "raw food" for some examples and advice. - RJ
For a family of 8 ( 6 children 4 teens, one school age and a preschooler) we spent $140 per week on food including toilet paper, washing powder etc with a $500 stock pile for 2009. This year our aim is $150 per week as groceries have gone up a lot. Planning your meals and shopping with a list is very important. In the past two years I think I've only seen one other person shopping with a list!!! We eat very well and never go to the doctor. Cutting back on cold breakfast cereal is a great place to start. Read what is actually in all these breakfast cereals. We eat cooked oatmeal 6 mornings per week which saves a lot of $$$. I buy the homebrand oats now from Countdown or Woolworths at $2 per kg this is great healthy family eating. My daughter makes up a big pot every morning and we have a hot plateful each- yum! - reader, Hamilton

Herbs

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.

Milk

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.
Early last year, when dairy farmers (& Fonterra) were making a fortune from record export prices, our local retail prices, for milk, butter and cheese were high. We were told that the reason was that we had to match export prices. Since then, retail milk has remained costly (although cheese has since cheapened). Why hasn't the price of milk fallen, to reflect a distinct drop in milk-fat export prices? Fonterra's "argument" now seems very flimsy! - RonD, North Shore.
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.
I buy 1L plastic packet(s) of milk @ $1.34 each from Pak N Save, Tamatea, Napier or City store, Napier. This is more than the 600 ml container (@ $2.70 Mad Butcher or $3.25 Pak n' Save shops) - M.F., Napier
PAK "n SAVE in Hastings sell 1 litre plastic sachets of Dairy Dale milk (full cream homogenised pasteurised standardised) for $1.29 ("special" - $1.64-0.35 - limit 6) - Reader, Napier
I was given this tip many years ago. I always buy 1kg packets of skim milk powder, any brand , whichever is the cheapest at the time, which makes up to 10 litres of milk and unless someone sees you make it they do not know the difference. The cost of 1 kg pkts can get as low as $9.99. The last time I purchased some was at Woolworths home brand at $10.95. The beauty of milk powder is that you can store it for a long time and do not have to run to the dairy every day . NB I am talking about SKIM milk powder. I would not drink milk made from whole milk powder. Try it and you may be pleasantly surprised. - Reader, Katikati.

Onions

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.

Oranges

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

Preserves

To get the labels off commercial jam jars use hot water. Heat water in the kettle as the water from the hot tap isn't hot enough to soften the glue. Pour the hot water in the sink but not directly on the jars with a few drops of detergent and soak for a couple of minutes then wearing rubber gloves and a vege knife try to peel the labels off. Stubborn glue residue can sometimes be removed with cooking oil. Jar lids can be reused to seal the jars. Steralise using the same method as for preserving jar seals. - Sweetpea, North Shore.
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.
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.

Rabbit

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.

Shopping

Always have a drink of tea or coffee before shopping for groceries (don't buy groceries if you feel hungry) - P.B.
Use a pocket calculator to keep an eye on prices. - P.B.
Check out coupons received in the mail. Sometimes they are not bargains at all. - P.B.

Tomatoes

Have you noticed Tomatoes are always dearer as we head to Christmas. I buy green ones with their spiders on and pack them in a box between layers of newspaper. Buy them about first week in December. You will then have ripe ones over the holiday. - J.S.

Using less

Here’s a tip to help you use less product. Write on the product (dish-washing liquid, hair shampoo, etc) the date the product was bought. Challenge yourself to see how long it lasts – and try to set a new record. It will encourage you to use as little as possible. This is a “bought by date”, the opposite to the “use by” date shown on perishable products.

Vegetables

When vegetables become wilted (carrots, brocoli, lettuce, beets, celery, etc) trim the stem end slightly and soak the limp vegetable(s) in WARM water for an hour or more. You will find the vegetables will become firm and freshend up ready for use. - D.B
When I have vegies left over I put them in the pot with other vegies for the last 5 minutes the next day. – J.O. Christchurch

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