Don't let unexpected mouths to feed bust your budget

It doesn't matter what your grocery budget is, for most people visitors for dinner means extra spending, especially if those visitors are unexpected, like ours were last night.

Wayne called me during the afternoon to say friends were in unexpectedly town (they live in country Victoria) and wanted to know if it was alright to pop in for a cuppa. Of course it was!

That had me scrambling though, to find something for afternoon tea. There's been no baking for a couple of weeks and while I was out doing Mum's shopping yesterday, and I  did look at the biscuits, I didn't buy any.

I did have flour, sugar, butter and a little cream. I thought about scones but didn't have lemonade and rubbing in butter seemed too hard (and messy - I had visitors coming!). Instead I cheated and made cinnamon scrolls, using the flour and cream to make the dough, spreading it with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and baking them in a round tin. A drizzle with coffee icing when they were done and oh my but they were good.

As it turned out Wayne was home from work before our visitors arrived. Cups of tea and scrolls all round while we chatted away for a good hour. Thursday night is MOO Pizza Night in our house as per my meal plan, an easy dinner that we all enjoy.

It was getting late so D and K were invited to share our MOO pizzas with us. It was then I remembered there would be seven of us and only four small pizzas. It was too late to make another batch of dough, those four would have to do.

K helped put the toppings on them. We had pizza sauce (of course), salami, ham, diced onion, pineapple pieces, mushrooms, olives, jalapenos, capsicum and grated cheese. We made all the pizzas with different toppings, popped them in the oven at 160 degrees for 20 minutes and waited.

Going through the fridge I found tomatoes, feta, cucumber, red onion, celery, grated carrot and some Kalamata olives, the toppings for a Greek salad. Lettuce straight from the garden was the base. There was more than enough fresh vegetables to make a nice big salad.

A jug of iced water and sliced lemon and a bottle of rhubarb champagne were delicious, cool drinks to have with our dinner and already chilling in the fridge.

When the pizzas were done I cut them into slightly smaller than usual slices, and together with the salad everyone had more than enough to eat and four small pizzas fed seven hungry people, all without having to buy extra ingredients or resort to buying takeaway or eating out.

It would have been easy to jump in the car and run to the corner shop for a packet of exorbitantly priced biscuits for afternoon tea. It would have been easy to rush out to buy more pizza bases or even order pizzas and have them delivered. It would have been easy to suggest eating out too. Instead a little creative thinking and using up what was already in the house stretched a meal for five to feed seven, with a couple of slices of leftover pizza for the boys' lunch today.

Unexpected mouths to feed don't have to bust your budget. Think creatively, don't try to dish up a dinner to impress and use what you have. That old saying about adding more water to the soup is true - you really can stretch your meals when you try.

31 Days of MOO e-book

MOO Month is over and it was a lot of fun and a huge success. Thirty-one new ways to say "no thanks" to supermarkets and department stores were shared during March.  I've had a lot of requests to put all 31 MOOs into a book you can download so that's what I've done. In a single PDF, I’ve compiled all 31 MOOs, along with the tutorial, photos and any resource you might need to MOO each project.

If you are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member you can log in to download your copy from the Printables page.

If you are not a Platinum Cheapskates Club member you can purchase your copy from the Cheapskates Book Store for just $1.99.  It’s really that simple.

Click the arrow to see all 31 MOOs for March 2014

Money Saving Grocery Shopping Tips

Everything is getting more expensive today. From petrol to groceries, our hard-earned dollars are challenged to stretch further. We may be able to walk or even ride a bicycle around town if we can’t put petrol in our cars but we have to eat, there’s no getting around that. So we have to find ways to spend less on groceries while still getting the things that we need to feed ourselves and our families. Here are five money saving tips to try the next time you go grocery shopping.

1. Buy more staples than prepared foods. It is easier to buy a box of macaroni and cheese, but is it more economical? A large bag of macaroni and a block of cheese will make more servings for your family than one box of prepared macaroni and cheese. The next time you go shopping and pick up a box or bag of an already prepared item, ask yourself if you can make that at home for less. If you can, then put that item back in favour of less expensive staples.

2. Buy in bulk. Consider the food items that you use most often. Cereals, meats, vegetables, condiments and baking products can be bought in bulk. You'll save even more if you wait until they are on sale and then stockpile the amount you need until they are on sale again.

3. Don’t shop when you are hungry. An oldie, but so true, this is a definite no-no. Shopping on an empty stomach means that you will pick up more things than you need. You are more likely to pick up that bag of chocolate chip cookies or that box of donuts when the growling gets underway.

4. Take a grocery list with you. This really should be number 1. This is another protection against picking up things that are too costly. Check your pantry and the fridge to see what you need and write them down. Remember, the goal is to stick to the list as much as possible.

5. Shop at the same stores. This is more of a frustration reliever. In a new store, you spend most of your time looking for things and walking up and down every aisle, which oftentimes leads to forgetting an item or two. Going to the same store each time makes you more familiar with the prices so you can estimate your bill as you write your grocery list.

Rising prices don’t have to mean a lean dinner table or a lean bank account. There are ways to make your food dollar go further and if you take the time to implement the ideas listed above as well as others of your own, you’ll see savings each and every time you shop.

Muffin Tin Dinner Rolls

This is a really quick and easy bread roll, a definite keeper. It’s cheap too - these rolls cost around 5 cents each!  If you're new to bread making, try these rolls, they're a great introduction to cooking with yeast.

There's no need to shape rolls, just scoop the batter into the muffin pans. So quick and easy and less mess to clean up. If you use an ice cream scoop to portion the batter into the pans your rolls will all be the same size (I use an ice cream scoop to portion batter for muffins and cupcakes too, and a smaller "cupcake" scoop to make smaller muffins and cupcakes and biscuits; they're available in the cookware aisle of all department stores and most supermarkets, or at specialty homewares shops).

Muffin Tin Dinner Rolls  

Ingredients:

2-¼ cups plain flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp yeast

1 cup warm water

2 tbsp butter

1 egg

Method:

Mix 1-1/4 cups of flour, the sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add the water, butter and egg; beat until smooth (I use my mixer for this step, but you don't have to).  Stir in remaining flour until smooth.  Scrape batter from sides of bowl.

Cover and let rise in a warm place about 15-20 minutes, until double in size.

Grease 12 medium muffin cups.  Stir down batter by beating 25 strokes with a wooden spoon.

Spoon into muffin cups.

Heat oven to 205 degrees Celsius.  

Let rise 10-15 minutes or until batter rounds over tops of cups.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

2014 Cost:  64¢ per dozen or 5.3¢ each

31 Days of MOO No. 31 - DIY Lip Balm

Winter is on the way, and that means chapped lips. I go through lip balm so quickly in winter. I have them everywhere - on my bedside table, in the bathroom, on my desk, in my handbag, in the car - anywhere I'm likely to be.

Good quality lip balms are expensive. Good quality lip balms are easy to make, right in your own kitchen, and they're not expensive either!

Peppermint lip balm is my favourite, its refreshing and cool, while soothing chapped lips.

Peppermint Lip Balm

You will need:
1 tbsp beeswax
1 tbsp shea butter
1 tbsp cocoa butter
2 tbsp coconut oil
5 drops peppermint essential oil
Heat proof bowl or measuring jug (I use a Pyrex measuring jug)
Small clean containers (I re-use miniature jam jars)


Step 1. Put about 3cm of water into the bottom of a small saucepan. Turn the heat on medium.

Step 2. Put all of the ingredients except the peppermint oil into a Pyrex glass measuring cup.

Step 3. Place the measuring cup into the water in the pan, being careful not to get any water into it. Stir slowly until everything is melted, and then turn off the heat.

Step 4. Stir in the 5 drops of peppermint essential oil.

Step 5. Pour into small containers, and allow to cool and set before using.

Notes:
Flavouring isn't essential, but if you choose to not use it your lip balm will taste "waxy" and bland. If peppermint isn't your favourite taste add another flavoured, food safe oil (any that can be used for cake making and decorating are safe to use in your lip balms).

If you are just starting to make your own lip balms, you can buy kits from craft shops, they are also available online. The individual ingredients are also available online or from craft shops.

I bought my first lip balm kit (now I just buy the ingredients as I need them to make more) from Aussie Soap Supplies (www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au). You can also buy the tubes, jars and other accessories online.

31 Days of MOO No. 30 - MOO Onion Soup Mix

This will make the equivalent of one packet of onion soup mix. I suggest while you have all the herbs and spices out that you make up a few 'packets' by either doubling, tripling or quadrupling the recipe. Store them in clean, dry, glass jars, small Tupperware containers or in ziplock bags.

Onion Soup Mix

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon celery salt
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder

Method:
 Place all ingredients into a small resealable container or bag and shake.

That’s it, onion soup mix  without MSG, thickeners, anti-clumping agents, artificial colours or flavours.

To use as a soup add the mix and 4 cups of cold water to a pot and slowly bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 2 minutes.

Use as you would the packet soup in casseroles, meatloaf, rissoles, sauces, gravies, dips etc.

31 Days of MOO No. 29 - A Preserving Jar Oil Lamp, Just in Time for Earth Hour

Tonight we celebrate Earth Hour from 8.30pm - 9.30pm, so I thought I'd show you how to make a really simple but very effective oil lamp to use while the lights are out tonight, or any time you feel like a little ambience or the power goes off.  http://earthhour.org.au/

These little lamps give off an amazing amount of light and are great to use camping too. They pack easily and are inexpensive to make and to use.

Just remember, like all candles, tea lights and oil lamps, keep them out of reach of children and pets, just to be safe.

You will need:
1 small preserving jar and lid (about 300ml size is good)
1 nail and hammer or a drill and drill bit
1 strip of 100% cotton 10cm x 2cm
150ml olive oil
150ml water

Step 1.  Take the jar lid and using the nail and hammer (or the drill or anything else that will puncture the lid) puncture a small hole in the centre to feed the wick through.

Step 2. Cut your wick. It must be 100% cotton material. Synthetic materials  don't burn very well and will smell terrible; they could produce toxic fumes as they burn. Pure cotton will burn down and you'll need to pull it up as it burns off.

Step 3.  To make the wick roll the fabric along the long edge into a loose cylinder. Soak the wick in olive oil.

Step 4. Run your wick down to the bottom of the jar through that hole. Have about a centimetre of wick above the lid or you will end up with a pretty big flame.

Step 5. Put the water and then the oil in the jar. The oil will sit on top of the water and the jar should be almost full to the brim.

Step 6. Placing the wick in jar, screw the lid on tight.  Light the wick and enjoy the glow of your MOO oil lamp.

Notes:
Olive oil burns clean, without smoke or fumes.
You can add essential oils to your oil lamp if you would like a perfume oil lamp. The aroma won't be very strong, you'll just get a hint of your favourite scent.
You can use 300ml of oil, but the water/oil combination seems to burn bright.

31 Days of MOO No. 28 - Honey Roasted Peanuts

Honey roasted peanuts are the easiest snack to make, and one of the delicious for nibbling. You can spice them up (or down) by adding different spices or salts or change the texture by swapping almonds, cashews or walnuts for the peanuts - the recipe is flexible, something I love.

Honey roasted peanuts (or any nuts) make a tasty, crunchy snack with drinks, just right for the cooler evenings of autumn.

Honey Roasted Peanuts

Ingredients:
500g unsalted peanuts
1/3 cup honey
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Step 1.  Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Step 2.  Line a baking sheet with baking paper. This not only makes clean up easier, it helps to keep the temperature across the sheet even and prevent the nuts burning on the bottom.

Step 3.  Place peanuts in a medium bowl (large enough to stir the peanuts).

Step 4.  Microwave honey and crushed red pepper in a bowl for 30 seconds and pour over the peanuts.

Step 5.  Add half of the sugar and the salt, stirring well.

Step 6.  Spread onto the baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, making sure to stir the peanuts on the edges in to prevent burning.

Step 7.  Let cool for 2-3 minutes and then stir the peanuts, scraping the honey from the baking paper to coat the peanuts.

Step 8.  Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar and stir again.

Step 9.  Sprinkle with remaining sugar and let cool completely.

Break up the peanuts into single/smaller pieces and store in an airtight container.

31 Days of MOO No. 27 - The Best Ever Homemade Chocolate

This chocolate is meant to be a cooking chocolate, but really, it's too good to use just for cooking. It's great right out of the fridge, a rich, smooth, slightly bitter dark chocolate.

MOO Chocolate

Ingredients:
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
4 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)
1/4 cup agave syrup

Method:
Combine the cocoa, coconut oil and agave syrup in a bowl. Stir to combine then whisk until the mixture is smooth and shiny and starts to thicken. Pour into a  mould or moulds (if you are making individual chocolates).

To make block chocolate I use a silicone loaf pan lined with baking paper. The silicone pan is easy to remove from the block of chocolate and the baking paper ensures the chocolate is smooth.

To make individual chocolates I use chocolate moulds - the moulds in the photo are from Aldi. You can get chocolate moulds at craft shops, discount department stores and some $2 style shops, you can even re-use the moulds from Advent calendars, boxed chocolates  and Easter eggs if you wish to.

This is a rich, dark, slightly bitter dark chocolate. If you like a sweeter chocolate add one additional tablespoon of agave syrup.

For flavoured chocolates, add the flavouring of your choice with the agave syrup.

Agave syrup is available at any health food shop.

31 Days of MOO No. 26 - Making Rhubarb Champagne

When you grow rhubarb you understand it's either a feast or a famine. Those pretty red and green stalks can be few and far between while you're waiting for them, as soon as you ignore it, that rhubarb crown will just go beserk.

That's what has happened with my rhubarb. I've been waiting and waiting for decent sized stalks to start preserving for winter. As soon as I became busy with other preserving those stalks have grown tall and thick and there are hundreds of them.

Most of them have been turned into stewed rhubarb or sugared rhubarb for winter pies. But I kept some back, to make Rhubarb Champagne. It's a delicious, slightly fizzy, pretty pink drink that's as easy to make as ginger beer and just as refreshing. And if you grow rhubarb and lemons and make your own apple cider vinegar it is really, really cheap - about $1.00 to make

Rhubarb Champagne

Ingredients:
5 litres cold water
1 lemon, thinly sliced
3-1/2 cups rhubarb
3-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Step 1. Wash rhubarb and lemon. Don't peel the lemon but slice it thinly. Cut the rhubarb into rough chunks.

Step 2. In a clean and sterilised bucket put the water, apple cider vinegar, sugar, rhubarb and lemon. Sit the bucket in a warm spot on your kitchen bench. Don't put a lid on the bucket, the mixture needs to gather the natural yeasts in the air to start the fermentation process. Leave for 48 hours (no longer or the rhubarb will sour the drink and it will be ruined).

Step 3. On bottling day, wash and sterilise bottles and caps. I use recycled soft drink bottles that have been thoroughly washed and cleaned; you can use cleaned and sterilised wine or beer bottles and caps if you can get them.

Step 4. Strain the rhubarb champagne through a cheesecloth or Chux. Add the rhubarb and lemon to the compost or feed the scraps to your chickens if you have them. Bottle and cap the champagne. Store in a dark cupboard for up to 2 weeks.

The drink is ready in three days - two weeks, depending on how fizzy you like your drinks and of course the weather, it's ready earlier in summer than it is in winter. Chill well before serving.

Makes four 1.25ml bottles of rhubarb champagne.

31 Days of MOO No. 25 - Monte Carlos

Monte Carlos are an old Australian favourite, Arnotts sure picked a winner when they added these delicious coconut and raspberry cream biscuits to their Assorted Creams range.

We Aussies buy them and enjoy them, but why? You can MOO Monte Carolos, really you can. And they are so easy; yet another thing we love that we've been conned into thinking we can only buy. So get out your mixing bowls and biscuit sheets, flour and butter and MOO them. And say "no" to buying these delicious biscuits because you can MOO them.

This recipe was submitted by Bridie West, and it's become a favourite in our house. When you serve homemade monte carlos to visitors with their cup of tea they are suitable impressed - another thing we've been brainwashed into believing we have to buy.

Cross them off your shopping list, get out the ingredients and have a go at making your own. I guarantee you won't ever want to buy them again (sorry Arnotts, but MOOing is better).

The recipe makes about 25 biscuits and doubles really well also.

Monte Carlos

Ingredients:
185g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/4 cup self-raising flour
3/4 cup plain flour
½ cup coconut

Filling:
60g butter
¾ cup icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons milk
raspberry jam


Method:
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line biscuit trays with baking paper.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add egg and vanilla, beat well.

Add sifted dry ingredients and coconut, mix well.

Roll teaspoonsful of mixture into balls. Put on lightly greased oven trays, gently press down with a fork.

Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven, cool on wire rack.

While the biscuits are cooling prepare the filling.  Combine the butter, icing sugar, vanilla and milk, mixing together until smooth.

To assemble, put a teaspoon of jam and a teaspoon of prepared mock cream in centre of half the biscuits. Top with remaining halves, press together lightly.

31 Days of MOO No. 24 - Bugs Be Gone Lotion Bars

Easter is only a month away, the last great camping weekend of the season for many, including us. It's the weekend when we seem to finally give in and admit that summer really is over and the barbecues, picnics, fishing and camping trips are coming to an end so we all head outdoors.

Well the weather may be cooler, and winter may well be on its way, but the mosquitoes and midgies and other bugs don't seem to know that.

If you're going to spend any time in the great outdoors, either at Easter or any other time, you'll need a good personal insect repellent. You could use a commercial product, but I'm not really keen on the ingredients in them.

Instead I like this recipe. It works, it's easy to make and it doesn't have any nasties in it.

Bugs Be Gone Lotion Bars

Ingredients:
1 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup shea or cocoa butter
1/2 cup beeswax + 2 tablespoons
1/4 cup dried rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon dried whole cloves
2 tablespoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/4 cup dried catnip leaf
1 tablespoon dried mint leaf
1 teaspoon Vitamin E oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops lemon essential oil

Step 1. Infusing the oil. Using a double boiler or glass bowl on top of a small saucepan, heat about 3cm of water (in bottom pan) until starting to boil. Place the rosemary, cloves, thyme, cinnamon, catnip and mint in the top part of the double boiler and add the coconut oil

Step 2. Cover the bowl or top part of the double boiler and keep the water at medium high temperature for at least 30 minutes or until oil darkened and smells strongly of rosemary. Alternately, you can fill a crock pot about half full with water, put the coconut oil and herbs in a glass mason jar with a tight lid, cover and keep on lowest setting for several days to make an even stronger infused oil.

Step 3. When the oil has been infused with the herbs take off the heat.  Strain the dried herbs out of the oil using a small mesh strainer or chux and pour the oil back into the double boiler. The oil will probably be reduced by almost half and you should have about 1/2 cup of the infused oil. If you have more, save it for next time!

Step 4. Add the shea or cocoa butter and beeswax to the double boiler and stir until all have melted. Remove from heat, add the Vitamin E oil and any other essential oils and pour into moulds.  I use silicone cupcake moulds, they are just the right size for the palm of your hand. You can use any mould in any shape, as long as you can get the bar out cleanly when it has set.

Step 5. Leave in the moulds until completely set (overnight is best).

To use: Rub the bars on exposed areas of dry skin to protect against mosquitoes. If you are pregnant, check to make sure any herbs you use are safe for pregnancy and omit the ones that aren’t.

*Dried Catnip - Catnip is not just for cat toys. You can get catnip leaf online, from herbalists. Some pet shops also stock dried catnip leaf. It is used in this lotion bar as catnip is about 10 times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET, and a lot safer. It's easy to grow from a seedling and they should be available at your garden centre.

Just Making a Cuppa

I was up early this morning. Old habits die hard and after a gazillion (or so it feels) years of getting up at 6am I still wake, even on weekends, when  we aren't rushing to get anywhere.

Actually getting up early is one of my joys in life. I love the peace and quiet of the house when everyone else is still asleep, the stillness is almost tangible. I settled down to do some work and before I knew it Wayne wandered in to say good morning and it was 9am!

Then I was sidetracked again, and became absorbed in planning upcoming newsletters and Journals until I decided it must be time for a cuppa, and low and behold it was 11am!

That's well and truly cuppa time and I couldn't get into the kitchen quick enough to get that coffee going.

I made it as far as getting a mug out of the cupboard. Then I realised the dishwasher could be emptied, so I started. It takes all of two minutes to empty the dishwasher, and I don't need to concentrate so while I was carefully stacking plates and bowls and putting cutlery away I decided to do a slow cooked leg of lamb for tea, with garlic and rosemary vegetables.

Out came potato, onion, sweet potato, zucchini and carrot. I figured I may as well prep them and let them marinate in olive oil, rosemary and garlic until it was time to cook them - I'm usually exhausted by tea time on a Sunday so best get them done early.

While I was peeling the veggies I decided I may as well do the vegetables for a vegetable moussaka and it could go into the oven with the lamb, seeing the oven was going to be on for hours.  I diced onion, capsicum, zucchini, celery and tomatoes and put it in the pan with a drizzle of olive oil, some crushed garlic and a good pinch of oregano to sweat and cook down to a nice, thick sauce. While that was cooking I sliced the egg plant and some potatoes.

As I picked the egg plant out of the basket I picked up the pumpkin too. Today is a cold day (well compared to the weather we've had so far) so I thought pumpkin soup would be in order.

I put the vegetables for the moussaka on to cook and started cutting up the pumpkin.

And that reminded me I wanted to put the lamb on to slow cook. Out came the roasting pan, some garlic cloves, rosemary sprigs and a couple of lemons. I studded the leg of lamb with garlic slivers, shredded the leaves off the rosemary springs over the lamb and then squeezed the lemons over all  of it. And into the oven it went.

By now the sauce for the moussaka had thickened and smelled amazing. Spreading it over the bottom of my lasagne dish I couldn't resist a taste - oh my it is good! Next was the layer of egg plant, then the potato. I quickly made a cheese sauce to spread over the top and covered the dish with foil. It went into the oven with the lamb and I set the timer for an hour.

Back to the pumpkin. It was roughly chopped, along with a couple of onions and dumped into my biggest saucepan. I had some chicken stock in the fridge, and it was added to the pot, just enough to cover the vegetables. Setting the pot on a medium flame I left it to bubble and simmer away while I started to clean up.

It was about this time that Hannah wandered out and asked what I was doing.

I looked at the clock, at the stove and the oven, and at the dishes in the sink and told her

"Just making a cuppa".

Here it is, 3:06pm and I still haven't made it either!

Do you get up to make a cuppa and end up completely sidetracked, cooking, baking and cleaning in the kitchen?

31 Days of MOO No. 23 - Simple Chicken Stock

Chicken stock is so easy to make, and so much better when you make it. It's rich and thick, full of flavour. Compare that to the thin, watery packaged stocks or the over-salted, artificially coloured cubes and, well, there really isn't a comparison. Homemade stock is just better.

To make a simple stock you need:
Chicken carcasses - two or three
4 stalks celery
3 carrots
2 brown onions
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1/2 tbsp dried rosemary
1/2 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried thyme
pepper to taste
12 cups cold water

Step 1.  Add the chicken carcasses and any scrap meat to a large stockpot or saucepan.

Step 2. Add the cold water and bring to a boil.

Step 3. Add the vegetables and seasonings. Bring back to the boil and turn down to a simmer.

Step 4. Cover and simmer the stock 3 - 4 hours.

Step 5. Strain the vegetables and bones from the stock.

Step 6. Return the stock to the pot and simmer a further 1 - 1-1/2  hours until it has reduced by half.

Notes:  Use the stock for gravy, to cook rice or pasta, or as a soup base. It will keep in the fridge for 3 days, and can be frozen for up to 3 months. This stock has no salt added to it during cooking; if you think it needs to be salted do so when you use it in a recipe.

I save the carcasses from roast chickens in the freezer until I have enough to make stock. You can buy fresh chicken carcases from the butcher, deli or supermarket but why pay for something you will have after a roast? The roasted bones give the stock a much richer flavour than a stock made from raw bones.

Don't throw the vegetables and bones out, add them to your compost bin.

31 Days of MOO No. 22 - Make a Gentle Shower Gel

This is a simple recipe for a gentle shower gel you can make yourself in just a few minutes, using ingredients you most likely already have.

You will need:
1/2 cup liquid castile soap (unscented if you want to add your own fragrance)
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp sea salt
Up to 15 drops of your favourite essential oil (optional, use if you have unscented castile soap)

Step 1. Pour the shampoo and water into a small bowl and stir to combine. Make sure they are well mixed. 

Step 2.  Add the sea salt and stir until the mixture thickens. 

Step 3.  If using add the essential oil a few drops at a time, mixing well between additions, until you find the strength of fragrance you like.

Step 4.  Pour into a pump dispenser or bottle. Give it a gentle shake before using.

Notes: If you can't find liquid castile soap (you should find it at your health food shop) use a gentle or baby shampoo instead.

Table salt can be used as a substitute for sea salt.

I'm in Preservation Mode

I'm in preservation mode this week, self preservation mode. The garden is finally in full production (it's take all summer, it's not been a good year) and the tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicum, egg plant, beans and pumpkins are all ready and needing to be used or preserved so we can enjoy the fruits of our vegetable garden over the winter.

The good old Fowlers Vacola has come out of storage and been cleaned up. The jars, lids and clips have been put through the dishwasher and stacked ready to sterilise.

The dehydrator is out on the verandah and the first batch of tomatoes are in it as I type. We love semi-dried tomatoes to nibble on, add to winter salads and to give pasta sauces a flavourful boost. There's a variety in the dehydrator, some little ones, some slightly larger (called Granny's Throwing tomato) and a few others that are self-sown and frankly I have no idea what they are, but they taste good!

There's also a lot of green tomatoes left so green tomato pickle is on the list of things to get done this week.  One of our favourite winter weekend lunches is a roast beef, cheese and pickle on freshly baked wholegrain bread toastie with a mug of vegetable soup. Yum! And I'm not sure I'll be able to wait for a cold, wet, winters day to enjoy one.

When I wandered outside last Sunday to see what was in the garden the beans were finally, well beans. They've been leaves and flowers for weeks, every day I've checked for beans and come in disappointed. Now I'm picking a handful every day, around 250g - 400g a day so far this week. Fresh beans are so good, and having a freezer stash of homegrown, organic beans for the winter just makes my heart go pitter-patter. Some I've left whole, others I've cut up, they're great for casseroles. Whole beans are especially nice steamed then lightly fried, just for a minute or two, in a little olive oil with a crushed clove of garlic.

The fig tree is doing what it does this time every year, and producing kilos and kilos of beautiful figs. The jam pot has been getting a daily workout. I've become the fig jam maker of the family. About this time each year everyone starts dropping off jars and sugar and putting in their orders for fig jam. The fig tree isn't huge, especially by fig tree standards, but it sure does produce a lot of fruit. Some of those delicious figs will be dried too, they go very well with a cream cheese as an appetizer (or to just enjoy while you're sitting with a good book ;) ).

The other thing I've been preserving this week is rhubarb. Wayne loves rhubarb and apple pie so stewed rhubarb is now happily stacked in ziplock bags in the freezer, ready to be made into pies and cobblers once the weather cools down. There's also a bucket of rhubarb champagne brewing on the kitchen bench, ready to be bottled on Sunday. I'll share more about that in another post - it's delicious.

When you grow your own food you realise very early on that there is either a feast or a famine. Thankfully we are in feast mode. Everything is ready at once so it's been a hectic week;  I feel like I've lived in the kitchen.

I almost have, the shelves are filling up, the freezer is filling up and once winter arrives and the garden slows down we'll have a little preserved summer sunshine to brighten our winter dinners.

31 Days of MOO No. 21 - MOO Cooking Spray

If you love the convenience of cooking spray (and really, who doesn't?) you are going to love today's MOO. Cooking spray is so convenient, just pick up the can and spray your frying pan, baking dish, cake tin, biscuit tray or grill. It lets you measure and control the amount of oil you use in your cooking, nothing seems to stick when you've sprayed the pan and one can lasts a long, long time, making it seem quite frugal.

But have you read the ingredients list on the can? Oi! There's a reason cooking spray stains the things it comes in contact with - it's full of all kinds of nasty stuff you wouldn't voluntarily use in your kitchen. No one should put that stuff in their mouths, especially willingly.

MOO Cooking Spray

You will need:
Misting/spray bottle (I suggest a new bottle for this, you don't want one that has been contained with MOO cleaning solutions)
Oil of your choice (I use olive oil because that's the oil I like to cook with most)
Water, boiled or filtered

Step 1. Mix 1 part oil to 4 parts boiled, distilled or filtered water.

Step 2. Pour into your spray bottle.

Step 3. Shake well each time you use it (because oil and water don’t mix, or at least they don't stay mixed).

Step 4. Use it. Spray it on grills, in cake tins, in frying pans - wherever you would normally cooking spray. It makes fantastic fried eggs, without the extra fat and kilojoules.

See how easy that was? You'll still get the great non-stick benefits and of course the lower fat benefit too. What you won't get is the GMOs, the propellants and the other nasties hidden in cooking spray.

Notes: It may seem odd mixing water with oil, we all know they don't really mix. Oil on it's own won't mist, even with a misting sprayer. The water helps the oil to mist, and cover your pan or tin evenly.

Sterilise the bottle - you will be putting ingredients you use in cooking into it, you don't want it contaminated with bacteria.

Which brings me to the water. For the same reasons as above, and that you will be storing the spray, use filtered, boiled water to ensure your cooking spray won't go rancid or grow science experiments.

31 Days of MOO No. 20 - You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

My mother used to joke that my father would eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch and tea, and ice cream and topping for morning and afternoon tea and supper if he was allowed. He loved ice cream.

And that's a love he passed on to me. I adore ice cream. So does Wayne. Strangely enough the kids can take it or leave it. But we like it. I don't buy ice cream, mainly because really good ice cream is expensive, and of course we simply don't need the calories, fat, sugar or other things in commercial ice cream.

Occasionally though I indulge our sweet tooth and make a bowl (or two) of lip smackingly creamy, delicious and decadent ice cream.

Decadent Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:
600ml cream (thickened will do, but pure if you can get it and afford it)
300ml condensed milk (MOO works a treat in this recipe)
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Method:
Beat the cream until very stiff. Stir the vanilla seeds into the condensed milk. Very gently fold the condensed milk into the whipped cream.  Spoon into a freezer safe bowl and freeze until set - at least two hours.

You can add berries or choc bits or honeycomb or nuts, whatever you like really, with the condensed milk to make your MOO Decadent Vanilla Ice Cream even more decadent.