Tomato Day

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Posted on December 16, 2013

It was nothing like ‘Tomato Day’ as described in the novel, “Looking for Alibrandi” but The Duke and I had our own mini version when we cut up 5.5kg of tomatoes yesterday.

A couple of weeks ago I asked at the local fruit stall if they had any cooking/sauce tomatoes as I wanted to make tomato sauce. After some discussion it was agreed that they would try to get some from the market if there were any available and let me know. I had not heard anything so I asked again when we went yesterday to buy our weekly supply of fruit and vegetables. B then presented me with a box of assorted over-ripe tomatoes which had been sorted from the regular ones rather than specifically purchased. These were then given to me as they would otherwise have been thrown out.

Back at home, we only had to discard 3 or 4 that were completely rotten and the rest were chopped up and placed in bags in the freezer. I simply do not have the time to make sauce this week in the lead-up to Christmas and holidays so they can stay in the freezer until I have time to make the sauce.

This is an example of the benefits of eating seasonal produce and also supporting and getting to know your small, local retailer. I could not imagine this scenario happening at my local Coles or Woolworths supermarket.

Making Ends Meet – Eat What You Have

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Posted on December 12, 2013

In response to my challenge a few days ago, Sarah posted this list:

As far as what’s on hand that’s fresh in the fridge/freezer
– stale brown bread (homemade, not sliced)
– bowl of baby spinach
– grated cheese
– one mushy pear
– some shallots
– ginger
– 2 carrots
– 1 zuchini
– 1/2 red cabbage
– 1/2 butternut pumpkin
– 1 onion (maybe)
– miso soup paste (would love to use this up)

In addition she added this link to her post about the contents of her pantry which is very well stocked.

Sarah also added that she always had access to eggs and milk.

Whenever you are trying to use what food you have on hand, it is important to look at the perishable items first. These will go rotten or become unusable soonest so it is important to use them.

The first meal that comes to mind is Cheese Souffle. This is a recipe that my mother would make, probably when ingredients were a bit thin on the ground but I really loved it and do make it from time to time. Here is the recipe.

CHEESE SOUFFLE

2 eggs
1 cup soft breadcrumbs
½ cup milk
1 onion – finely chopped
1 cup grated cheese
Pepper

Soak breadcrumbs in milk. Separate eggs. Beat egg yolks. Add all other ingredients. Beat egg whites until stiff and gently fold into mixture. Pour into greased ovenproof dish and bake for about 40 minutes at 180 degrees.

I would shred some of the cabbage and grate a carrot. Toss together with ‘French Dressing’ made from oil and lime juice whisked together.

Since the oven will be on to cook the souffle I would make sure a least one other item is cooked as well to get maximum value for money.

You could make Pear & Ginger muffins for snacks. Using the gluten-free flour and other baking ingredients from the pantry make a basic muffin mix and add grated ginger and the mushy pear. HINT: Remove the seeds but you can roughly chop the pear up including the skin. You could also add a few sultanas or chopped nuts for interest.

The night before you make the Cheese Souffle you could soak some lentils and then cook them ready to use.

Make a lentil and vegetable lasagne using the prepared lentils, sliced zucchini and the remaining carrot grated. Cook the lentils, carrot and canned tomatoes with preferred herbs/spices. Make bechamel sauce using milk, butter and flour. Layer these with lasagne sheets and slices of zucchini and grated cheese. Top with grated cheese and bake in the oven. This can be refrigerated and reheated for a meal the next night. You can also divide it into portions and freeze.

The remaining lentils could be mixed with some cooked pumpkin, finely shredded cabbage and chickpea flour to make vegie burgers. These could be served with sweet chilli sauce on a bed of wilted spinach.

I am not familiar with miso soup paste but from my research I would make miso soup and perhaps add some udon noodles for added substance.

Tuna mornay is another meal that comes to mind. Flour, milk, butter, grated cheese and the tin of tuna form the basis of this meal which is served with rice. I generally add frozen peas and corn kernels to the mixture.

Since Sarah does not keep meat on hand or have a great deal of fresh fruit or vegetables at the moment there is a limit to what can be created without compromising her nutritional status. Contrary to popular opinion, fruit and and vegetables are not outrageously expensive. Remember, to only buy what you need and buy what is in season where possible. Make a plan using as many ingredients that you have and only buy exactly the quantities that you need to create the meal.

Remember to use the basic ingredients in the pantry to extend the meat and vegetables. I have done this with the lasagne and also mornay mixture. Other options could be crepes or pies where you could stretch the filling to feed extra mouths.

Another option for the stale bread would be to slice it and make bread cases for pie or mornay filling.

Would you you have done something different with the listed ingredients?

Making Ends Meet – The Essentials

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Posted on December 11, 2013

In an earlier post I identified the essentials for life as shelter, food and clothing.

I talked a bit about food and how you can immediately reduce your costs by creatively using what you have on hand and also the importance of not wasting precious food.

Now for the other 2 essentials before we move back to food.

Shelter

I know it is unwise to assume, but for the purpose of this exercise I will make the assumption that you currently have somewhere to live. This means that you will most likely have the expense of either rent or mortgage payments. These need to be your first priority when you are accounting for money and if you are unable to meet this payments then your situation is very dire. You should seek financial counselling as soon as possible.

It is not a good idea to try to sell or move to another rental property when things are really tight as there are costs associated with moving house, so, if it all possible, it is best to see if you can possibly maintain your current location by cutting back in other areas. If it is absolutely essential that you move, you could consider moving in with other family members as a temporary solution or sharing with another couple or family to reduce the costs. All of these strategies have been done before, and whilst not perfect, they are better than ending up homeless.

Clothing

“It is interesting, because I often don’t think of clothing myself as an essential. When I was trying to save for a deposit for a house, that’s the category I set to zero (save for a three week holiday I budgeted for overseas, and within that budget I was allowed to buy whatever, which happened to include lots of clothes!). Admittedly, most people have clothing, so can skimp for a while. And there’s free clothing, through hand me downs, swaps and freecycle. Or there’s op shops. Still, very interesting reading!”

This was a comment in response to my post where I placed clothing in the ‘essential’ category. Having clothes to wear is essential – we are not in the Garden of Eden – but buying new clothes is definitely not essential! In fact, like Sarah’s comment, in tough times the clothing budget should be set to zero.

Think about this: You had enough clothes last week and nothing has changed so there is no need to go and buy more. Children’s clothes can be let down, patched and created from refashioned adult items. Check out websites and you will find many references to challenging yourself to buy no new clothes for a year. It can easily be done.

A final tip: Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.

In my next post I will look at what meals I can create using the list of contents of Sarah’s refrigerator and pantry.

Making Ends Meet – Emergency Action

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Posted on December 9, 2013

As I mentioned in my previous post, these are the things that you can do immediately that will make a difference.

1 Eat from what you already have

We have all heard the cry, “But there is nothing to eat!” If you are living in a developed country it is very, very unlikely that this is the case. In fact many of us do the grocery shopping out of habit as much as for the real need of buying food. The other thing to consider is that in the UK, USA and Australia research shows that somewhere between 20 and 40% of all food is wasted. Imagine buying 5 bags of groceries and throwing 1-2 bags full straight in the bin. It sounds ridiculous but that is essentially what is happening.

The first step is to make an inventory of what you have – in the refrigerator, freezer and pantry. Then plan as many meals and snacks as possible from what you have. Trawl around the internet and you will find literally hundreds of sites offering ways to create meals from limited ingredients.

2 Stay away from the shops

If you are not there you cannot spend money. It is simple really. Shopping is not entertainment.

3 Curtail your car usage.

Walk or cycle everywhere that you possibly can.

4 Minimise your heating costs

Wear more clothes at home. Put a beanie on. It may not look glamorous but a disproportionate amount is lost through your head.

Do all of these things for 2 weeks and you have immediately saved the equivalent of what you would normally spend on:

Food
Incidental purchases
Fuel
Heating

Try it and see how you go.

If you would like to send me a list of what is in your freezer, refrigerator and pantry right now I will do a menu plan for a week (at least) and use it as the basis of an upcoming post. Just let me know the number in the family and ages of children. You can email me at the address in the ‘About Me’ tab at the top of the page.

Making Ends Meet – Expenses

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Posted on December 8, 2013

We all have different expenses and priorities but I will try to cover them all using some broad categories. Not all categories apply to everyone and please add any of your own. Please feel free to let me know what I have omitted.

The necessities are really shelter, nourishment and clothing. There are lots of other things that we see as essential in Western cultures but if we strip it all back these are the bare necessities so we will start with them first.

Mortgage repayments or rent
Food
Clothes

Other ‘essentials’

Debt repayments
Transport costs – car and/or public transport
Utilities – water, electricity, gas
Communications – telephone, internet
Heating, cooling
Education costs
Health – including health insurance
Other insurances – house, car, life

The first thing you need to do is to know how much you are spending in each of these categories at the moment. Some, like rent or mortgage payments will be easy as it is a set amount. Decide on a timeframe such as weekly, fortnightly or monthly and then work out how much you are spending in each category for the specific timeframe. I would recommend weekly or fortnightly, however, monthly is an option if you are paid or receive benefits as your major income source on a monthly basis.

Now, you need to add up what you are spending on the essentials and what income you have. Is you income enough to cover your essentials? If not, you will need to work out how you can cover the shortfall. Increase income? Reduce costs? Even if you have calculated that you have enough income to cover the essentials, now is not the time to be feeling smug. Remember, there is no allowance here for gifts, treats, outings, birthdays, Christmas, haircuts, coffee, snacks or eating out. If you think this sounds extreme, it is, but it can be done.

Read this link from Frugal Queen’s blog. http://www.frugalqueen.co.uk/p/our-story.html I began reading this blog about 3 years ago and it is absolutely inspirational. Froogs pulls no punches about what has to be done to improve your financial situation but she leads by example and we would all do well to follow her lead. Once you have read the previous link, I would strongly suggest that you take the time and read the blog from the very beginning. You will not do it all in one sitting but you will start to see that by taking some fairly drastic action you will see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some things will be relevant and others will not but the message is clear – take responsibility for your own financial position and do something about it now! Cut your spending to the bone. There is no use mincing around the edges and wailing that you can’t do it. You can and you must.

Tomorrow I will cover what I refer to as ‘Emergency Action’. These are things that you can do right here and now that will make an immediate difference. You will not necessarily be able to continue such drastic measures long-term but it will help to kickstart your journey to balance the budget.

Making Ends Meet – Be Honest

Making Ends Meet

4 Comments

Posted on December 5, 2013

The Duke and I have begun planning and booking for an overseas trip in August 2014. It has been a considered financial decision for which we have budgeted. This is in addition to our day-to-day household budget, debt repayments (mortgage and personal loan) and savings (superannuation).

On the face of it, everything looks pretty rosy financially at the moment which is in stark contrast to some other stages of our lives. But everything could change in a blink if one or both of us were to be made redundant from our jobs. We do not really expect that to happen but nothing is 100% certain. We just have to make the best of what we have at the moment.

As I mentioned earlier, there have been times when making ends meet has seemed almost impossible. Unfortunately, there are many people in this situation. I read their stories every day in newspapers, online and in magazines. I see it being played out in cities and small communities all over the world. Sometimes it can be a problem of long-standing (spanning generations) or may be a small blip on the radar due to a temporary change in circumstance.

Whatever the reason, there is a problem when expenses exceed income.

I deliberately left that line by itself because that is the crux of the matter. Read it again. When expenses exceed income. It does not matter what way you dress it up, if you spend more than you earn you will have a problem. One day the credit card will reach its limit, you will not be able to get more credit and the house of cards will come tumbling down.

Enough of the problem. We are looking for solutions. There is no magic bullet and this is going to be hard work. I plan to write a series of posts over the coming days to focus on each of the following points in more detail. If you have personal experience, suggestions or comments please leave them here or you can email me directly at the email address in the ‘About Me’ tab at the top of the page.

1 Be honest

2 Create a list of expenses

3 Sort essentials from non-essentials

4 Make a plan

5 Accommodation

6 Food

7 Utilities

There will be other topics and the structure may change as the comments unfold. However, the purpose of this will remain. It is designed to share collective wisdom from all sources in order to help and support each other.

I look forward to hearing your stories and tips, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. What are the little things you do every day that save you money? Remember, this may make the difference to someone else’s life.

Until tomorrow.

Crunching Numbers

9 Comments

Posted on July 18, 2013

My apologies for the lack of posts. I have been busy at work this week and we had an appointment on Tuesday evening to complete our tax returns. We will both receive a modest refund which will be paid into the mortgage.

We have also been looking carefully at the balance of our superannuation funds and weighing up the best options for our current income. Pay down debt or build up superannuation? It is a balancing act and one that you need to review regularly and give consideration to your own circumstances.

There are various calculators available online that you can use to test different scenarios.

How do you make decisions about your financial future? Do you have a financial advisor?

A New Year (Financial)

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Posted on July 1, 2013

30th June 2013 coincided very neatly with the end of the weekend so a new week, new financial year and a clean slate. Time to take a fresh look at the finances and goals – tax, superannuation, savings, mortgage payments and other debts.

Even though we constantly track what is happening with our money, it is good to take some time and look at the big picture. Where are we now and where do we want to be in the future?

By the way, July 1st is also the first anniversary of the introduction of the carbon tax in Australia. This says it all.

And the world is still spinning on its axis.

Long Forgotten Original

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Posted on June 18, 2013

Once upon a time there was a recipe for Oven-Baked Sausages. I think the book has been moved along to the op shop in one of the culls of my recipe books, however, the general idea remains.

The original recipe consisted of a sweet/sour/spicy sauce made in a saucepan. Sausages were grilled, cooled, sliced and added to the sauce. Pasta spirals were cooked, drained and added to the mixture and combined. Finally, the entire contents of the saucepan were placed in a large casserole dish, topped with grated cheese and breadcrumbs and then baked in the oven.

This was a filling meal for a hungry family but being time-poor I quickly cut out what I regarded as unnecessary steps. It really did not need to be baked in the oven as all of the ingredients were already well-cooked. Once the mixture was combined in the saucepan it was ladled directly into serving bowls. If I was feeling particularly generous I would sprinkle a little grated cheese on top. The casserole was always received enthusiastically so the cheese was not really necessary.

The original recipe for the sauce is a little hazy but here is the general idea.

1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 can tomato soup
1/2 can water
1/3 cup fruit chutney
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce

I remember that I was always checking that I had fruit chutney when I wanted to make this.

Like many recipes, this one seemed to run its course and then was forgotten once the girls left home.

I thought of it not long ago and have made it a couple of times recently with some amendments.

Some of these were necessary because I now eat a gluten-free diet. Canned tomato soup contains gluten so I substitute home-made tomato paste and some additional water. Naturally I no longer mix pasta into the dish. The sausages I buy are gluten-free but you would need to check that, too.

The jar of tomato paste looks over full as I store it upside-down in the refrigerator which inhibits the growth of any mould. This also applies to commercially produced tomato paste as well.

The recipe has evolved and varies depending on what is in the cupboard/refrigerator. I made it this morning using the following ‘recipe’.

1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
Remainder of tomato paste (home-made) – about 1/4 cup
Water – enough to rinse the jars and create the right consistencey
Handful of sultanas
Vinegar – about 2 tablespoons
Rosella jam (home-made) – about 2 tablespoons – bottle rinsed out
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce (home-made)
Tomato sauce – home-made (remnant in the bottle) – rinsed out

Here are some of the jars – on the left is the worcestershire sauce. The middle jar is the rosella jam mixed with vinegar and the last of the tomato sauce (empty bottle on the right).

I had cooked the sausages on Sunday night and cut them up ready so they were added and the mixture simmered for about 10 minutes.

Like so many casserole-type meals this sauce will benefit from standing and the flavours will develop further by the time we have dinner tonight. There is some home-made pasta in the freezer which The Duke will have with the suasages in sauce and I will have stir-fried shredded sweet potato with mine.