Blueberry Crumble Muffins

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
3/4 cup raw sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Crumble Topping:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup plain flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin papers.

Muffins:
Combine the spelt flour, raw sugar and baking powder. Whisk to combine. Pour the coconut oil into a measuring jug. Add the egg and enough milk to measure 1 cup. Beat slightly to break up the egg and pour into the flour mixture. Stir to just combine. Stir in the blueberries. Fill muffin cups to the top with the mixture. Sprinkle with crumble topping.

Crumble Topping:
Mix together flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon until it looks like breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the muffin mixture.

Bake for 20 - 22 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out with just a few crumbs sticking to it. These muffins are best if slightly underdone.

Nappy Bucket Fresheners

These little discs work so well and are so simple you'll wonder why some genius hasn't decided to market them and charge a small fortune! Be glad you've found this post, you'll just love using them.

If you are using cloth nappies, just pop a couple in the bottom of the nappy bucket to keep the odour down, then tip the whole lot into the wash. Easy.

We are well past the nappy bucket stage in our house, but I still make up these little discs and slip them into the laundry hamper in the bathroom. I also put them into organza bags (from the $S Shop a while ago) and slip them into the boys' shoes and boots to help with the odour.

Nappy Bucket Fresheners

You will need:
2 cups bicarbonate soda
1 tsp peppermint oil
Cold water
Paper patty pans

Step 1. Stir the oil into the bicarb soda.

Step 2. Add just enough cold water to make a very thick paste.

Step 3. Press enough mixture into the bottom of each patty pan so it's about 2cm thick.

Step 4. Put them on a cake rack to dry and harden.

To use, just drop two or three into the bottom of your nappy bucket. When you're ready to soak the nappies tip the whole lot into the machine and soak and wash as usual.

If you are using disposable nappies, drop two into the bottom of your nappy bin and then when it's full dispose of as usual.
These make a cute and useful gift for new mothers. Make a batch and store them in a ziplock bag. To present them tie them up in a little organza bag and add to a hamper or gift.

How to Have Your Roast and Gravy Too

Sunday night is roast night in our house. It alternates between chicken, lamb and beef, and the veggies vary depending on what's growing in the garden around lunchtime each Sunday. But one thing that never varies is the gravy. My family love gravy on their roast so I always make a big jug for them to just about drown their dinner in.

I've always made it from scratch, because that's the way Mum makes it, so I've never really given much thought to the fact that perhaps you've never made gravy from scratch. When the forum started buzzing about homemade gravy from scratch I realised it was time to share my secret to a great gravy (and just how easy it is to make)

Making gravy from scratch couldn't be any easier and it tastes so much better than from a mix, once you've mastered it you'll never resort to gravy powder again.

All you need are the pan juices, cold water, plain flour and some seasonings of your choice.

Traditionally gravy uses the pan juices from a roast, but it you fry steak or rissoles or sausages you can use the pan juices from them to make delicious gravy too.

MOO Homemade Gravy

Ingredients:
Pan juices
1/2 cup plain flour
1 cup cold water (or stock)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Step one: Remove the roast from the baking dish or meat from the fry pan.

Step two: Put the baking dish or frying pan on top of the stove.

Step three: Mix  ½ cup of plain flour in 1 cup of cold water. I shake it in a Quick Shake to make sure there are no lumps. You can whisk it in a jug or a small bowl for the same lump-free result.

Step four: Turn on the heat under the baking dish (or fry pan). When the juices start to boil add the flour and water mixture, stirring constantly. Make sure you scrape all the brownings off the edges and bottom of the pan, these give the gravy a beautiful, rich flavour. Stir in a splash of Worcestershire sauce and stir until the mixture thickens. If it seems too thick you can always add more COLD water (hot water will cause it to lump and go gluggy), stirring all the time you're adding the water.

Step five: Add salt and pepper if needed, taste it first. Skim or pour off excess fat if you want to. Serve.

Good gravy cannot be beaten. It is the secret to finishing off a good meal. Leftover gravy can be used to thicken pie fillings, added to soups, stews and casseroles and even re-heated and poured over toasted muffins for a quick lunch or breakfast.

Saturday Night Sour Cream Pasta Bake

We are having friends for dinner tonight and I was scratching my head about what to cook. Then I realised that the dinner on my meal plan was just fine. It's one of those dishes that can easily be dressed up or down, depending on the occasion or your mood.

It is such an easy dish to make. It takes about 12 minutes to put together (or as long as it takes for your noodles to cook) and 20 minutes in the oven. You can be serving it in just over half an hour - perfect for a quick Saturday night dinner (or any other night).

While it's in the oven I get the side dishes ready. I serve it with garlic and parmesan bruschetta, pan fried in butter and a huge green salad made with lots of lettuce, celtuce, spinach, capsicum, red onion and tiny tomatoes from the garden that I oven dried at the end of summer and store in flavoured olive oil - yummo!

There's not even a stray noodle left in the dish when I make it, and it makes eight generous serves!

At 77 cents per serve, depending on whether you buy your cottage cheese and sour cream or make them, and where you buy your mince, it is cheap enough for family meals and still special enough to impress guests without breaking the budget.

Saturday Night Sour Cream Pasta Bake

Ingredients:
750g minced beef
1 jar tomato based pasta sauce - whatever flavour you prefer, or use homemade
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
250g pasta spirals
1/2 cup sour cream
1-1/4 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup sliced spring onions
1 cup tasty cheese, grated

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Brown the mince in a large fry pan. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce, salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.

Cook pasta spirals until al dente. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to pasta and stir. Add spring onions and stir. Stir gently, you don't want to break up the noodles.

To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with pasta, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the all cheese is melted.

Would You Just Put $500 in the Rubbish Bin?

I'd no more take $500 from the bank and put it in the rubbish than I would fly. But on average Australians put $500 in the bin each year, in the form of wasted food. Food that was bought to eat but then is either left to go bad, or is poorly cooked, or too much is bought or prepared, or it's left in the freezer too long and ends up with freezer burn.

We try really, really hard to have a no waste kitchen and we very rarely throw out anything we could eat, and even the scraps are composted in the bokashi bucket, then added to the compost pile or straight into the garden.

I have a lot of food in our house. I keep full freezers, pantry and store cupboard. I try to keep a 3 month supply of food. That doesn't mean I don't do the grocery shopping each month, I do. It means I am replacing what we've used, rotating through the stock so nothing gets too old, stale or rotten.

I've mentioned before that dry goods go into the freezer for at least a week. This kills any weevils that may be in them.  And tinned goods are fine, they just need to be stacked on the shelves and rotated.

But fresh food is a different story. If you are buying truly fresh fruit and veg it will keep at least 10 days - three weeks depending on what it is. It may be a little limp by then but still perfectly usable.

We are so used to the supermarket fruit and veg that has been in cold storage, sometimes for many months, that we believe produce doesn't keep longer than a week.

Truly fresh produce does, if it is stored properly.

You'll find a variety of containers for storing fresh food in my kitchen cupboards. There are Tupperware veggie containers, Rubbermaid containers, Lock'n'Lock containers (I just love these, they are so easy for arthritic fingers to open and close) and of course the wonderful gel bags.

Over the years a lot of fruit and veg have passed through my kitchen. I've found the easiest and most time and cost efficient way for me is to prep the veggies for use before they go into the fridge; it saves a lot of time and effort in meal preparation.

On shopping day it takes about half an hour to get the fruit and vegetables organized and into the fridge or fruit bowl and then it's done.

Only buying or growing what you will eat makes a huge difference to the amount of food you waste.

The bad cooking - well there's not much I can do about that, my kids still tease me about a particularly awful dish I made. They say it was so bad not even the dog would eat it and even adding it to the compost bin was cruel.

I can however tell you how fruit and veg are stored in our house so they last.

Here's how I deal with different veggies:

Bok choy, pak choy - we grow in the garden so they are pulled as we need them. If there are a few plants ready at once they are wiped over with a damp cloth and stored in gel bags.

Broccoli and cauliflower - cut up into florets and put into gel bags or if there is a lot, it is flash frozen and then put into freezer containers for long term storage.

Carrots - top and tailed and into a gel bag, they keep at least 3 weeks although it's not often

Celery - top and tailed. Leaves are put into a freezer bag and frozen to use in soups.  The stalks are cut into sections and stored in a Tupperware container.

Lettuce - I take the core out and pull the leaves apart and put them into gel bag (I don't buy lettuce, we grow it). I don't wash it until I am ready to use it - even the tiniest drop of water will cause it to go slimy and blerk.

Melons - cantaloupe and honeydew is peeled, seeded and cut up and stored in a sealed bowl. Watermelon is cut into wedges and kept in a bowl with a lid.

Mushrooms - brown paper bag keeps them dry. Storing them in plastic bags or containers they go slimy very quickly.

Onions and potatoes -stored in a wooden veggie box in the bottom of the pantry, where it is dark and cool.

Peas and beans - picked as we need them straight from the bushes or if there is a glut, they are flash frozen in 2 cup lots in ziplock bags for the future.

Pumpkin - is cut up, seeds scraped out, some is peeled for steaming and soups, some is left with peel intact for roasting. It is then dusted lightly with cornflour and goes into a gel bag on it's own.

Silverbeet, cabbages, cucumbers, capsicums - get picked fresh from the garden and are stored in Tupperware containers or gel bags, depending on how much there is.

Spring onions - Bottoms are cut off and then I use kitchen scissors to cut them up. I bag them in 1/4 cup amounts in small ziplock bags and freeze them. They are good for fried rice, casseroles, dips etc. once thawed.

Strawberries - like mushrooms they last better in paper bags or are flash frozen and transferred to Tupperware containers for long term storage in the freezer.

Sweet potato - peeled, cut and into a gel bag.

Tomatoes - are usually picked fresh from our garden, I very rarely buy fresh tomatoes out of our season, they are too expensive and rather flavourless. If there are a few ripening all at once they go into a large Tupperware container, stem side down. This stops any condensation that may gather on the seal dripping into the little dip from the stem and rotting the tomato. It may sound a little over the top but I stack them carefully so there is a little space between each fruit. I take as many as we need for two or three days out of the fridge at a time and sit them in a dish on the kitchen bench. Tomatoes taste so much better at room temperature than they do straight from the fridge.

Turnips, swedes, parsnips, beetroot, corn - if the garden runs out then I buy them from the market and wipe, peel, chop and store in a gel bag.

Zucchini, cucumbers and squash - straight into a gel bag or Tupperware container.

Apples, oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruit, kiwi fruit go straight into the fruit bowl.

Plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots, grapes and mangoes I store in the fridge, taking out only what we need for each day.

Right now off the top of my head I can't think of any other fresh fruit or vegetables we have in the house on a regular basis. Although looking at that list, it's no wonder the fridge is always full!

We grow most of our veggies in our backyard veggie garden, so I know they are really fresh when they are processed. You can't get much fresher than straight from the dirt to the table.

Putting food away properly goes a long, long way to reducing waste and saves a lot of money - at least $500 a year!

The Cost Per Recipe (CPR) Calculator

I am often asked how much a recipe costs to make. It's how you decide whether or not a particular dish will fit within your grocery budget.

Working out the cost of each ingredient can be done, it just takes time.

I've done the hard work for you and created a Cost per Recipe Calculator.

Use this handy worksheet to calculate your cost per cup cake or muffin or biscuit or slice or cake or pudding or loaf of bread or batch of scones or anything else you bake.

You can download your Cost Per Recipe calculator here

How to Know When to Start Vegetable Seeds Indoors

It is almost time to start planting summer vegetable gardens, but it is still too early to start seeds outside. Starting vegetable seeds indoors gives you a bit of a head start on the growing season, especially in the southern states. In addition, you can plant crops that will yield at different times of the year - the seeds you start indoors will yield sooner, and then the seeds you plant in the garden will yield later, extending your harvest.

The timing of seed planting is pretty precise - one week can make a big difference. While a great deal depends on your region, there are some general tips that can help. Here are some tips and suggestions on how to know when to start vegetable seeds indoors.

Find your growing zone. This will determine when and what you plant in your garden and is vital in helping you work out when to plant your seeds indoors.  It can make all the difference. One of the most important pieces of information provided for your zone is the average frost-free date. It varies from zone to zone and starting seeds depend on this date.

Once you know your frost-free date, look at various seeds and how many weeks it takes them to sprout and be ready for transplanting to the garden. That helps determine when you sow your seeds indoors. For example, if a cucumber seed takes 3 weeks from the time it is planted until the time it is transplanted to the garden, you count back 3 weeks from your frost-free date in spring and that is the date you sow your cucumber seeds.

Here is a list of a few commonly grown vegetables and the number of weeks it takes for them to be ready to transplant into the garden:

• Broccoli – 4 to 5 weeks
• Cabbage – 4 to 5 weeks
• Cauliflower – 4 weeks
• Celery – 10 weeks
• Cucumbers – 3 to 4 weeks
• Eggplant – 6 to 7 weeks
• Leeks – 8 weeks
• Lettuce – 3 to 4 weeks
• Melons – 3 to 4 weeks
• Capsicums – 7 to 8 weeks
• Pumpkins – 3 weeks
• Zucchini – 3 weeks
• Tomatoes – 4 to 5 weeks

As you can see, there's quite a bit of variety among the times so you will be planting for several weeks if you start all your seeds indoors.

When you are ready to begin transplanting, remember that you don't have to have a huge plant. In fact, smaller plants have a tendency to do even better than larger ones, which may have become weak and spindly after spending too long in the seed-starting container. So for that reason, it's a good idea not to start too early with your seed-planting efforts. You want to make sure that you're past the frost-free date by the time your plants are ready.

Starting vegetable seeds indoors is a great way to get a head start on the growing season. And it's less expensive than buying seedlings at your garden centre. When it comes to successful seed starting indoors, timing is everything!

What is living the Cheapskates Way?

When you think of living the Cheapskates way do you think of a life of deprivation, hard work, hoarding and miserliness? 

It’s nothing like that. In fact living the Cheapskates way is closer to simple living, where you strive to become as self-sufficient as possible.  When you think of simple living, the idea of doing without electricity and getting up at 4:00 a.m. might be a connotation that crosses your mind. That may have been the ideal behind simple living back in the day, however, that is not at all what it means by today’s standards and it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with living the Cheapskates way.

The Cheapskates way is a way for individuals and families to return to traditions and practices that will allow them to go back to basics while freeing up their time, their money and their sanity.

Some practices of living the Cheapskates way are as follows:

· Bottling, freezing and drying vegetables
· Growing your own vegetable garden
· Preserving fruits and jams
· Baking your own breads
· Making homemade pizza
· Batch cooking meals
· Buying in bulk
· Organizing trips in your vehicle to save time and petrol
· Making things from scratch to save money
· Sewing your own clothing
· Making your own soap
· Recycling and reusing
· Making creative next day meals from leftovers
· Going green
· Deleting unnecessary stressors from your life
· Hand washing clothing
· Home haircuts
· Being energy wise in the home
· Avoiding unnecessary debt

Some of the benefits of frugal living, to name a few, are:

· Saving money
· Saving time
· Saving energy
· Living debt free
· Making your own food without preservatives or pesticides
· Deleting some stressors
· Spending more time together as a family
· Having more time for yourself and your spouse
· Living greener
· Having pride in doing it yourself
· Becoming more organized
· Becoming more efficient
· Becoming more self-sufficient

These are just a few benefits of living the Cheapskates way. Individuals and families today are looking to unplug from technology and plug into each other. Baking, gardening, batch cooking, recycling, purging and crafting are all things that can be done as a family unit. They want to ditch the debt so they can enjoy their lifestyle.

The key is working in unison as a team while working to incorporate simpler times when families worked together, ate together and played together. There are so many benefits of frugal living such as financial savings, saving time, creating more energy and just being a happier, more relaxed individual.

It is no wonder that so many people are yearning to unplug and tune out of technology and tune into each other with a simple, frugal lifestyle. While you may think of the Cheapskates lifestyle as one of using a single light bulb and eating only beans and rice, it is not quite that drastic. It is, however, lucrative, profitable, productive and overall fun.

The Bills to Pay First When There's No Money

Unfortunately, the bills don’t stop even if the pay does. There is still a financial responsibility to your creditors. It’s time to sit down and come up with a game plan.

The reality is that there are certain bills that can’t go without being paid. Your family needs a home to live in and the basic comforts like heat, electricity, transportation and a working telephone. These are the bills that warrant getting paid first.

When there is nothing else you can cut and money is still stretched too far to meet all the bills, it is probably time to call the creditors. No one wants to do it but you will have a more favorable outcome if you call them before your bills start falling behind. If you have been a good customer who has had on-time payment in the past, they will help you to make your payment in some form without ruining your credit.

As for any credit card bills, making a payment arrangement won’t adversely affect your standing with them or the credit companies. When you are back on solid financial footing, you can resume your normal payments.

Whether you have an income or not, bills are still going to come due. Use the above tips to help you stay afloat in hard times.

Cutting the Budget When It's Already Cut to the Bone

"I know I have written to you before asking for help but Disaster has struck since my cancer diagnosis and we are on one wage which only just keeps a roof over our heads.  I am reading and re-reading your books and website info which is helping. But I have debts that I want to kill and then have savings so that if the Big C comes back we are not in the poo again.  How can I cut back even further? I have been to the banks and utility companies to re-jig things. I now pay by the fortnight for my gas and electricity and so that is not a problem.  Is this the way to go?  I hate having to go to the charity organisations for hand outs but I have had to do this at times. I hate asking for help. Did you ever have to do that when Disaster hit you?" (I've kept this anonymous to protect privacy)

When I read your email, my heart broke for you. I will never forget the feeling of despair, when money was tighter than tight and it felt like we were never going to survive, let alone get ahead financially.

It is so very hard when you feel like there is nothing else to trim, let alone slash, and yet you're still barely treading water.

Here's how I coped: I focused on the things I could control. I was pregnant, we had two little boys, half a house and a whopping great mortgage (actually it was only the interest rate that was whopping, thank goodness).

There is always something you can do, even if it's just choosing to only cook enough for each meal, with absolutely no leftovers. Or to just drink water or milk for a month (amazing how much that will save you, even if you just give up tea, coffee and juice or cordial - it's not a huge amount but it could be enough to pay off a bill).

Look at what you are doing and how it is helping your family. Letting the despair control you won't get you anywhere; it makes you feel worse and like just giving up. Don't do it! When you give up your chances of ever getting back on your feet, let alone ahead, are almost zero.

Instead keep plugging away, little by little.

I know you have children, so get them involved. Let them learn from you that you control the money, it doesn't control you. That can be hard, especially when you see things you want them to have. It's your job as their mother to make sure they think of themselves as rich, rather than poor. If you need to change your attitude then do it, and do it quick smart.

Find things to do with them that don't cost any money. Look for things you can do together. Teach them to cook. Let them help you make dinner each night, or treats for their lunchboxes. Instead of going out, let them have their friends over to watch a movie and eat popcorn or pancakes or for sleepovers. Make your house the fun house to be, where all the kid want to come to play.

Take this opportunity to turn your life around and make it better. I think the phrase "bloom where you're planted" suits here. Look at your attitude. If you are feeling poor and hard done by, then you will be miserable and pass that on to your family. Instead be content with what you have: a family who loves you, a roof over your heads that you can make into a home, an income, friends, the best country in the world to live in.

That doesn't mean you have to stay right where you are now, it just means be grateful you have those things. Choose the things that are important to you.

We had to. We took a long hard look at the way we were living and decided a lot of our expenses weren't really what we wanted, let alone necessary. We ditched those things. We stopped going out to eat. I cut back on playgroup days, instead having everyone come to our house. I supplied the tea and coffee and the other mums took it in turns to bring the morning tea and craft activity for the kids. I learned to cut hair. We walked to the park rather than drive (when the boys were old enough we rode our bikes). We stopped buying brand new clothes for the kids (I learned to sew and made a lot of them), instead haunting garage sales and op shops (I found garage sales better quality) for their clothes. I could buy brand name clothes in almost mint condition for 50c or $1 a piece. For $10 I could outfit a child for a whole season. And if I was careful and looked after them, I could sell them and recoup my money, meaning it cost me nothing to keep my children clothed.

On that note, look for ways to increase your income. The easiest way to pay down that debt and get ahead is to increase your income. Can your husband take on a part-time job? Wayne worked three casual jobs for four years to keep us going. I taught embroidery classes in our loungeroom twice a week. It won't be easy, but it is only for a short time. Have a garage sale. Get selling on eBay or Gumtree. Do you knit or sew or crochet? Can you make things to sell? Hand-crafted items sell like hotcakes on Etsy.  Just be sure to use this money to pay down the debt, and once the debt is cleared use it to build your savings.

There is no instant solution to your problem. You didn't get into debt overnight, and you won't be out of debt overnight.

It isn't easy. It will take a lot of effort and a lot of sacrifice. But it's only for a short time. It's not forever. Keep that in mind and keep plugging away and little by little your debt will disappear and your savings will grow.

Silverbeet Lasagne

This is the most delicious lasagne recipe, perfect for using up that silverbeet you have growing in the garden. It makes a huge lasagne so I usually make it up in two dishes, one to eat for dinner and one to freeze for another meal.

Ingredients:
2-1/2kg silverbeet, washed, dried, and finely chopped, including stalks
3 pkts instant lasagne noodles (can use fresh)

Tomato sauce:
2 x 810g cans diced tomatoes
1 x 400g can diced tomatoes
50g tomato paste
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 large onions, finely diced
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Cheese sauce:
120g butter
1 cup plain flour
1-1/2 litres milk
1-1/2 cups tasty cheese, grated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Topping:
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Method:
Cook silverbeet in a very little water until tender, either on the stove or in the microwave. Drain well.

To make the tomato sauce place all the ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and cook the mixture for 1-1/2 hours, until the sauce is thick and rich. Stir occasionally to stop it sticking on the bottom.

Turn the oven to 175 degrees Celsius to heat.

To make the cheese sauce put the butter and 1 litre of the milk into a small saucepan and gently heat until the butter has melted. Combine the flour and the remaining half litre of milk and mix to a smooth paste. Bring the butter/milk mixture to a boil and whisk in the flour/milk mixture. Cook for one minute, stirring all the time. Stir in the cheeses, mixing until combined and all the cheese has melted.

To make the lasagne spray a lasagne dish with cooking spray. Spread 1 cup of the tomato mixture over the base of the dish. Cover with lasagne sheets. Spread half the tomato sauce over the lasagne, then half the silverbeet over the tomato sauce. Cover with lasagne sheets. Spread half the cheese sauce over the lasagne sheets. Repeat the layers, finishing with the cheese sauce.

Combine the mozzarella and parmesan. Spread over the cheese sauce.

Bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden and set.  Let the lasagne sit for 10 minutes before cutting.

Glass jars are one of those household items we all tend to hang on to because they might be useful. Of course they can be recycled, and sometimes we give in and put them gently into the recycle bin. But most of the time they are washed and dried and put away in a cupboard, or when those cupboards are full, into a box so we will have them when we need them.

Of course if you make lots and lots of jams and pickles or do lots of preserving then they do get used. But there are still loads and loads of them, sitting empty, in the cupboard.

As they are, glass jars are pretty boring. They don't have to be. A few minutes with some spray paint, a couple of stickers and some clear spray sealant and those jars become something beautiful and useful for our homes.

You will need:
Glass jars with lids - sauce jars, jam jars etc
Spray paint that will adhere to the metal or plastic lids (if you want to change the colours)
Stickers for the lid- I chose some vintage decals I had in the craft cabinet, use whatever suits  your style
Labels for the jar (optional)
Clear sealer - to seal the sticker or decal to the lid

Step 1. Wash and dry the jar and the lid.

Step 2. Paint the lid if you are going to. You may need to use at least two coats of colour. Be sure to let it dry thoroughly between coats.

Step 3. Position your sticker on the lid.

Step 4. Give the lid three coats of the clear sealant, drying between each coat.

Step 5. Stick the label to the jar.

Now you're ready to fill the jar with buttons or pins or chocolates or bobby pins or cotton buds or whatever you want.

A Change of Plan and Homemade Apple Drink

I asked No. 1 Son to take the roast out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to defrost. I know, I should have been more specific because he took a piece of roasting beef from the freezer instead of the chicken I had planned to cook.

He had to dig to find the piece of beef, moving the chicken in the process. It must be a male thing - seeing the obvious right in front of them isn't one of their strengths.

Anyway roast beef for tea it is.

Mustard roast beef, cooked slowly on the barbecue, so it is moist and flavourful and very, very tender.

We'll have baked potato and sweet potato, broccoli with cheese sauce, carrot, corn and green beans. And gravy made with the pan juices from the meat (gravy is a must for any roast dinner in our house).

And for dessert tonight we'll have lemon meringue pie made with Six Minute Lemon Butter. It's Wayne's favourite and it's a good way to use up some of the lemons I have in the fruit bowl.

And frankly it's a rather delicious way to end a lazy winter Sunday in Melbourne.

Homemade Apple Drink

I've been asked for my recipe for Homemade Apple Drink, made from apple peels and cores.

It's simple really.

After you have peeled, cored and sliced the apples for a pie or to make applesauce, you do the "right thing" and put the peels and cores in the compost pile.

Stop right there!

For a truly healthy treat and as a part of a no waste kitchen, put the peels and cores into a saucepan. The more peels and cores you have the stronger the drink will be, so if you only have the remains of one or two apples, freeze them until you have enough to half fill your saucepan and then make juice.

Add enough cold water to just cover them and slowly bring them to the boil. Let them boil a few minutes until the cores and peels are soft (about 10 - 15 minutes, depending on how many you have in the pot). 

Pour the mush into a jelly bag (or a piece of clean cheesecloth, Chux or muslin if you don't have a jelly bag) and hang it over a deep pot until all the juice has dripped through. I use an old (but clean) muslin baby wrap for this step. I already had it and we are way past the baby wrap stage, so this is a great use for it instead of just taking up cupboard space. This may take a couple of hours, be patient.

Gently squeeze the bag to get all the juice and a little of the fine pulp. Bottle the juice and store it in the fridge.

Now you can add the leftovers to the compost pile and let the worms feast!

This juice doesn't look like commercial apple juice and it doesn't taste like it either.

It's heaps better, just ask my kids!

Housekeeping on a Saturday

Saturday is a no work day for us. It's a timeout day, the day we turn off. We turn off the television, the radio, the mobile phones, the games and most of the time our computers (sometimes I forget and logon).

We don't do any of our regular activities: no working or shopping or cleaning or gardening or cooking.

The basics are covered of course: bed making, dishes, rubbish out but otherwise nothing else is done.

I have a mixer I love, it gets used at least 4 times a week to make cakes, muffins, bread dough, whip cream, make batters, it works hard. But the instruction manual tells me that I can't use it continuously, I need to turn it off after a few minutes of use to rest it. If a machine needs rest between work periods, how much more do we need a proper break?

Everyone needs a day to rest and recharge and Saturday is our rest and recharge day. It's the day we restore our minds and our bodies by taking a break from the daily treadmill we walk.

Not so very long ago the shops closed at 1pm on a Saturday and didn't open again until 9am Monday morning. You worked a 40 hour week and you had the weekend to rest and rejuvenate your mind and body.

Today's world is frantic. Everything is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Supermarkets. Restaurants. Service stations. Pharmacies. Transport. Phones. Television. Radio.  Work. There is no defined break anymore, "weekend" is just the name for two more work days.

We step off the treadmill for 24 hours each week to restore the balance to our lives, guilt free.

Saturday is my favourite housekeeping day.

Choices

We all make choices every day, usually without thinking about it. What new choices can you deliberately choose today?

Drive OR bike or walk?

Supermarket fruits and vegetables  OR farmer's market OR grow your own?

Buying synthetic fertilizer OR making your own compost

Watering your grass OR catching rain in a water tank/barrel and using that to water your grass OR get rid of the grass?

Clothes dryer OR clotheshorse OR line dry?

Your choices not only affect your finances, but your lifestyle and your environment. Make deliberate choices and live the good life the Cheapskates way.

MOOing Coconut Milk and Cream

I just popped into the Cheapskates forum and the chatter is about mooing coconut milk or cream (technically the same thing, just a different name in different areas).

Now you can MOO it very easily, probably even easier than buying it when you consider you need to go to the supermarket, find it on the shelves, stand in the queue, pay for it and then get it home.

A 400ml tin of Coles Savings brand coconut cream costs 97 cents.

A 500g packet of desiccated coconut from Coles costs $2.92 and is enough to make 4 cups, or 1 litre, of coconut milk. The difference in price is around 26 cents more expensive to buy the tin.

There are two ways to make coconut cream; option one takes about 2 hours, option two takes just a few minutes. Again the choice is yours - the end result is the same.

 

Option 1:  Soaking method

You will need:
250g coconut
2 cups water
A blender
Cheesecloth or Chux or muslin for draining

Step 1.  Soak coconut in cold water for 2 hours.

Step 2.  Put the coconut and water into the blender and blend on high until the mixture is very smooth.

Step 3.  Once blended, pour the mixture into the cheesecloth, gathering up the sides and twisting to close.

Step 4.  Twist the cheesecloth tight, squeezing as much moisture as possible out of the  pulp. Keep twisting and squeezing until you can't get any more moisture from the pulp.

Pour into a clean jug or jar and chill.

Option 2:  Not quite instant boiling water method

You will need:
250g coconut
2 cups water
A blender
Cheesecloth or Chux or muslin for draining

Step 1.  Bring 2 cups water to a boil and pour over coconut. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Step 2.  Put the mixture into the blender and blend until very smooth. This takes about 5 minutes so be patient.

Step 3.  Once blended, pour the mixture into the cheesecloth, gathering up the sides and twisting to close.

Step 4.  Twist the cheesecloth tight, squeezing as much moisture as possible out of the  pulp. Keep twisting and squeezing until you can't get any more moisture from the pulp.

Pour into a clean jug or jar and chill.

Now you have your coconut milk/cream to use in smoothies or sauces or curries or cupcakes or pancakes or whatever you are making, but what do you do with the leftover coconut pulp?

You use it of course!

You can use it as is, adding it to muffins or cakes or breads or desserts. Or add it to yoghurt or fruit salad.

Or you can dry it and use it in baking as desiccated coconut.

Or you can dry it, grind it and use it as coconut flour. If you're on a GF diet, you'll know just how expensive coconut flour can be. Now I'm going to tell you just how easy it is to MOO it, you won't ever want to buy it again.

To make desiccated coconut or coconut flour

You will need:
The pulp from making the coconut milk
A baking sheet
Baking paper
Food processor or blender

Step 1. Pre-heat oven to 80 degrees Celsius (or as low as it will go if it doesn't go down this low).

Step 2. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Do not be tempted to grease the tray or use cooking spray - it will ruin the end result.

Step 3. Spread the coconut pulp in a very thin layer over the baking sheet.

Step 4. Bake for 45 minutes or until the coconut is completely dry.

Step 5. Let cool a few minutes. If you want it as desiccated coconut, let it cool completely and put into a canister.

To make coconut flour add the dry coconut to a food processor or blender and process in short bursts until it is ground to a very fine texture.

That's it. Easy. A little cheaper than buying coconut cream, a lot cheaper than buying coconut flour.

MOO Vanilla Sugar

 

An ingredient in many sweet recipes, vanilla sugar, or vanillan sugar (depends on the brand and where you live as to what you call it) costs an absolute fortune!

And yet it is the easiest, simplest thing to make, and you can make a whole kilo of it for less than the price of a 50g jar.

I use it mostly in my cheesecake recipe (which is my mother's cheesecake recipe) and to top off a coffee cake or muffins. But you can use it is milkshakes, coffee, custards, sauces - just about anything that has both vanilla and sugar in the ingredients. It is just delicious sprinkled over porridge.

You will need:
1kg white sugar
4 - 6 vanilla beans (how many will depend on how strong you want the flavour to be and how quickly you want to use the sugar)
A large jar with a good, tight fitting lid

Step 1. Sterilise your jar.


Step 2. Take your vanilla beans and split them down the centre. Then cut each one into three or four pieces.

Step 3. Fill the jar with the sugar. Add the vanilla beans.

Step 4. Put the lid on and shake, shake, shake until the vanilla beans disappear into the sugar.

Step 5. Put the jar in a cool, dark cupboard for four weeks. Give it a shake every couple of days to move the beans around.

After four weeks, take the lids off and breathe in that delicious vanilla scent - it's ready to use.

Cath's Mum's Lemon Cheesecake

Ingredients:
1 pkt Teddy Bear biscuits, crushed into fine crumbs
125g butter, melted
1 can evaporated milk, chilled 24 hours
1 pkt lemon jelly crystals
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup vanilla sugar
1 x 250g blocks Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

Method:
Combine biscuit crumbs and butter. Press into the base of a well greased 20cm spring form pan; chill.
Blend the jelly crystals into the boiling water until dissolved.
Beat the evaporated milk until it is thick and fluffy.
Add the cream cheese, a little at a time, and beat until well combined and there are no lumps.
Beat in all remaining ingredients until well blended. Pour into prepared crumb crust. Chill for 2 - 3 hours or overnight before serving.
Teddy Bear biscuits can be hard to find. You can use any plain sweet biscuit to make the crust.
I don't use Philadelphia cream cheese, it's too expensive. I use the Aldi alternative, but you can buy Neufchatel cream cheese from the deli and use it instead.

Benefits of Paying Off Your Mortgage Early (or as Early as You Can)

1.  You'll save big on interest. Depending on where you are time-wise in the term of the loan, you stand to save literally thousands of dollars that you would have paid in interest over the life of your loan.

2.  You won't have the monthly stress of a house payment. This can be a great relief!

3.  As retirement approaches, paying your house off means you won't have to struggle with house payments on a reduced income.

4.  You'll have hundreds of dollars to spend or save monthly. It’s empowering to know that whether you want to take a couple more trips a year or concentrate on saving for the kids’ educations, you'll have money to put aside for it.

5.  Your confidence about your financial situation will increase. After all, if you pay off your mortgage early, you're likely doing something right with your budget. You have a lot to be proud of!

It's a Boy!

At last, a brand new prince has been born. Congratulations to the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cambridge, I am sure they are very proud new parents to their baby boy.

We are in the middle of a baby boom at the moment. Our wonderful neighbours G and M welcomed their first grand-daughter a fortnight ago, and she is just gorgeous. We have friends waiting patiently for the birth of their second baby, who is now eight days overdue (perhaps that waiting isn't quite so patient). Old friends (we met when our eldest children started primary school) are going to be grandparents for the first time too, and their eldest son will become a father. Then in September we have friends who will be welcoming baby number three to their family.

So many new lives entering the world, some creating happy families, some completing them.

I remember how excited Wayne and I were at the birth of each of our children, and if any of these new parents and parents-to-be are half as excited there is a lot of joy in their homes.

With this baby boom I've been putting together some little gifts. My knitting needles have been clacking away, creating cute little bonnets and helmets and bootees. I've had the crochet hook working too, making granny squares to put into little blankets and the sewing machine has had a workout, running up bibs and burp cloths and I've even made a couple of stork bundles.

My favourite thing when our children were small was the pull-over bib. So easy to get on and off, I had dozens of them.

They are really easy to make too, no special skills required.

How to Make a Pullover Baby Bib

You will need:
1 hand towel
30cm x 8cm piece of ribbing (either a contrast or matching the hand towel)
thread to match
sharp scissors
pins
sewing machine or overlocker

The hand towel I used came from Big W, in a twin pack for $3.00, making it $1.50. The ribbing I used for this bib was cut off the bottom of a white singlet and doubled over. If you are using regular ribbing you only need to cut one piece and fold it in half.

Step 1.
Fold the top of the hand towel 1/3 of the way down, and mark this line — this will be the centre of your circle opening.

Step 2.
Centre a 15cm saucer over the line marked in Step 1.
This will form the cutting line for the head hole of the bib.

Step 3.
Cut along the line, through both thicknesses.
Open the towel out flat.

Step 4.
Stitch ends of ribbed knit to make a circle with a 6mm seam allowance. Fold in half so seam allowance is inside.

Step 5.
Divide ribbing into quarters and mark with pins. Divide hole into quarters and mark with pins.
Place raw edge of ribbing along the opening in the bib (right side), matching pins and markings and stretching as necessary.

Stitch a 6mm seam — I used my overlocker and simply overlocked the raw edges together. If you are not using an overlocker, I would recommend a stretch stitch and zigzagging
the raw edges together to neaten.

The finished bib

Easy enough to put on and take off with one hand and big enough to cover almost all of baby and a fair bit of a toddler at meal time, with plenty of towel for wiping faces and hands and even mums :)

Frangipani Pie

Bring a little bit of summer to the middle of winter with this old family favourite! I remember my mother making a version of this pie when I was a child, we usually had it as the dessert part of our dinner after Church each week. I can still see my father scraping the crumbs from the pie dish, pretending to hide from Mum so he wouldn't get into trouble for bad table manners. When I found the recipe in an old notebook it brought back so many memories, I just had to share it.

Franginpani Pie

Ingredients:
1 shortcrust pastry shell OR
1 packet Butternut Snap biscuits, finely crushed
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tin crushed pineapple
1/2 cup cornflour
1/2 cup water
2 egg, separated
1-1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup coconut
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp sugar, extra

Method:
If making a pie crust, combine the crushed biscuits and the melted butter. Stir well to combine thoroughly. Press into a pie plate. Bake in a moderate oven for 10 minutes.

Put the crushed pineapple into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Blend 1/4 cup cornflour with 1/4 cup water, add the 2 egg yolks to blended cornflour. Stir this mix into the boiling pineapple till thick and set aside.

Heat 1-1/2 cups milk and 3/4 cup sugar in a saucepan till sugar dissolves. Blend 1/4 cup cornflour with 1/4 cup water and add to milk mixture; stir till thick. Remove from heat and add coconut, 1 tablespoon butter and vanilla.

Spoon half the coconut cream mixture into pie crust, then top with all the pineapple mixture. Spread the top with the remaining coconut cream.

Beat the egg whites until stiff. Slowly add the 4 tablespoons of sugar, beating well to make a meringue. Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, being sure to cover the edges so the meringue won't weep. Bake for 25 minutes in a moderate oven until the meringue is golden brown.