Quick Rice Patties

The one expense we have complete and utter control over is groceries. 

We choose how much we spend and what we spend it on. Sometimes we can spend within our budgets, sometimes the budget just isn't enough.

Right now, everyone is searching for cheap, tasty meal ideas. Between shortages, inflation, and rising interest rates, grocery budgets are taking a beating.

This recipe is one my Mum made for us as children. It's one of my very favourite meals, and now my own family loves it too.

Good hot or cold, quick rice patties are tasty and cheap.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. 

Quick Rice Patties

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 cup rice
1 tsp Marmite/Vegemite/Promite
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 egg
good pinch mixed herbs

Method:
Cook the rice in boiling, salted water. Drain well. While the rice is still hot, add the Marmite, peanut butter, onion and herbs and mix well. Stir in the egg. Take tablespoonfuls of the mixture and shape into patties. Fry in shallow oil until lightly brown and golden on both sides. Drain on absorbent paper.

Alternatively, for a low fat version, spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and bake the patties in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes, turning halfway through.

This recipe is a part of the $2 Dinner Recipe File on the Cheapskates Club website.

The Week That Was 25/09/2022

This Week I am grateful for:
*Friendship. A dear friend lost her fight with cancer on Sunday afternoon and I will miss her. She was generous to a fault and loved to push me to extremes until I was almost ready to scream. I’ll miss her boston bun for morning tea and her ideas for creating new cards, but most of all I'll miss her and the loving,bossy soul she was. She was a part of my life, and my family's lives, for over 12 years. RIP my friend.

Here's how we saved money, time and energy this week.
*Filled the thermos after the first cuppa each morning to save boiling the kettle through the day.
*Caught the shower and sink warm-up water and tipped it into the washing machine.
*Turned the heater off when the sun was out and opened the curtains wide on the north facing windows to let the sunshine in.
*Cooked a leg of lamb on Sunday and portioned it out to four meals, plus the bones for soup. This made it an affordable meal and kept the price under my $5 per meal meat budget.
*Potatoes were on sale for 50 cents/kg, the cheapest they have been for months here, so I bought 10 kilos and canned up 5kg. The other 5kg we will eat fresh over the next few weeks.
*Dehydrated four bunches of celery and the leaves. This gave enough celery for the next year for soups, stews, pies etc. The leaves get used for seasonings and to make celery salt.
*Made applesauce from cheap pink lady apples. These apples make the best sauce and pie filling, they are so naturally sweet that very little, if any, sugar or honey is needed for sweetening.

*When the water in the canner was cool, I used it to water the pot plants rather than pour it out.
*Used the apple peels to make apple powder for baking.
*Fed the worms with veggie and fruit peels.
*Used the 18c off deal to fill my car and three jerry cans with diesel (to meet the 150 litre limit).
*Mastered a new skill with the SNC and straight away put it to good use. This machine was a big investment but it has paid for itself almost twice over since we've had it.
*Replanted the plants that Lacey dug up - she just loves to dig in my garden!
*Dried the washing outside on nice days and on the clotheshorse on wet days.
*Put some orange slices in the dehydrator to use for Christmas gifts.

The Week That Was 18/09/2022

This week I am grateful for:
*Wind - even on the dull days the washing dried before it rained.

*Fuel dockets - 4 cents a litre discount adds up to $2.80 per fill up, not much on it's own but over a year it adds up.

*Lemons and rhubarb from the garden - basically free now that we've harvested enough to cover the original cost of the tree and crown.

*Friends who are happy to sit across the table and make cards and chat while we solve the problems of the world and boost each other and share ideas.

Here's how I saved money, time and energy this week:
*Caught the shower warm up water with a tub and poured it into the washing machine.

*Filled the thermos each morning for cuppas during the day. Little things add up - over time this will impact our power bill.

*Pulled the filters out of the air conditioner and washed and dried them on Wednesday when it was warm and windy. Now it's ready to go once the hot weather hits.

*Fed the worm farm with veggie peelings.

*Added chicken skins, bones, onion skins to the bokashi bucket to compost.

*Dried the washing outdoors on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

*The rainy, cold, foggy, miserable days the washing drying on the clothes horses made me smile. Wet weather isn't a problem when we have clothes horses to dry the laundry.

*Updated the freezer inventory on the fridge so I know exactly what needs to be used up.

*Returned a face cream that I reacted to. By then my usual moisturiser was on half-price sale so I was able to get two for 50 cents less than the one I returned, and with some juggling I was able to buy enough for two years.

*Found two bbq packs marked down to $7.15 each, bought them, and repacked into single meal portions and in the freezer they went.

*Took the hem up on some jeans that were too long.

*Replaced a button on a pair of Tom's shorts.

*Cooked all our meals from the pantry for shelftember.

*Turned Flybuys points into dollars to use for stockpiling.

*Made a double batch of Cheapskates Washing Powder.

*Made a triple batch of Miracle Spray.

*Bought 10 pots of violas on markdown for 50 cents each and planted them in the garden.

*Listed some items we no longer need or use on marketplace for sale (potential return $160).

*Planted more tomato, capsicum, egg plant and zucchini seeds for succession planting.

*Pulled the last of the date loaf from the freezer to use for afternoon tea. Having freezer stocks saves buying anything or using the oven for a single cake or slice.

*Filled my car up using the 18c off offer from Shell, cutting $11.70 off the final total.