Where Are the Savings?

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Posted on December 6, 2011

I was debating what to write tonight when I came across this post from Jennifer Lorenzetti at Fast, Cheap and Good. The final 2 paragraphs are the crux of the matter as far as I am concerned.

For many people it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet financial commitments and this is a clear reminder that simply making at least some meals from scratch can be a huge saving on the budget.

If you can manage to grow even a few vegetables it can make an even greater difference. Here in Australia, we have the benefit of being able to grow something almost all of the year round in most parts of the country.

Lettuce, bok choy, pak choy and broccoli

Compared to the USA and Europe we are still in relatively good financial shape but it is anyone’s guess how long that will continue. Therefore, it is prudent to consider what changes we can make to the way we prepare our meals that will both save us money and reduce our reliance on ‘just in time deliveries’ to the major supermarkets.

Have you made any changes to the foods you eat or way you prepare meals?

Introducing Friday Favourites – Best Banana Cake

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Posted on December 2, 2011

Today is the beginning of a new feature, ‘Friday Favourites’ where I will share one of my favourite recipes. I hope to include a photo as well as the hints, tips, variations and shortcuts that are what makes a ‘tried and true’ recipe so appealing.

How often have you made a recipe that simply does not live up to the description or the photo which attracted you to it in the first place? Here is an opportunity to bypass the less than stellar successes.

Streamline and simplify your cooking and recipes, then you will be more inclined to cook. Remember the line, “whip up a batch of scones”? It was what women of my grandmother’s generation could do when company was imminent. The recipe and method were simple, ingredients always to hand and they knew the recipe off by heart. I do not pretend to be able to make scones so I will stick to what I can do well.

It seems that there as many banana cake recipes as there are people in the world and I feel as though I have tried most of them. In my opinion this one is as good as you will get.

BANANA CAKE

1/3 cup oil
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed banana (2-3 bananas, depending on size)
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 cups plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup milk

Beat oil and sugar until smooth. Add beaten eggs, one at a time then beat in mashed banana and vanilla. Sift flour and combine dry ingredients, add alternately with the milk and stir until mixed well. Pour into a greased, lined loaf tin. Bake at 180 degrees for 45 mins or until an inserted skewer comes out cleanly.

That is the recipe, now for the reality.

This is a great recipe and it can be made using 2 utensils – a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon.

I do not sift the flour – in fact I do not own a sifter!

I use 1/8 cup of skim milk powder mixed with the dry ingredients and add ½ cup of water in lieu of the milk.

The eggs are not pre-beaten before I add them at the same time.

I use an empty butter wrapper to line the base a halfway up the side of the tin. I keep used wrappers in the refrigerator specifically for lining cake tins.

The cake may be iced with your choice of frosting but it is just as nice plain. I slice and freeze the cake in a container in the freezer. Individual slices can easily be removed for snacks or packed lunches.

Enjoy and have great weekend.

Christmas, Birthdays, Anything……..

Make Your Own Condiments – Part 2

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Posted on November 23, 2011

As promised, here is the recipe for another sauce you can easily make. This is an excellent replica of the specialty product which is marketed as balsamic glaze, balsamic syrup or ‘aged’ balsamic. I cannot take the credit for the recipe as it was posted by Mimi on Simple Savings.

Here is the recipe:

BALSAMIC SYRUP

500ml balsamic vinegar
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup port

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Simmer gently until required consistency is reached (approximately 30 minutes). Watch carefully and stir regularly to ensure it does not catch or burn.

Cool and pour into small jars or bottles. This makes an excellent gift and a list of uses could be attached.

Here are a couple of serving suggestions.

A small quantity in a tiny dish with good-quality olive oil makes a perfect dipping sauce.

Mix with orange juice for a marinade for chicken.

Drizzle over your favourite salad.

It is a great addition to the festive menu and I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Through a Child’s Eyes

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Posted on October 2, 2011

I mentioned yesterday that this simple living can be darned hard work – gardening, planting, harvesting, preserving, storing and cooking from scratch – not to mention the million and one other things that need to be done.

A sure-fire way to rejuvenate the enthusiasm is to see the ‘chores’ through the eyes of a child. Our granddaughters stayed here this weekend and spending an hour or so in the backyard with them was a sheer delight.

Collecting the eggs.

Checking out the onion patch.

Splitting open beans to retrieve the seeds.

The excitement of finding a bean seed. We will be letting them dry out and saving to replant. We have also saved snow pea seeds. Miss O had fun sorting the bean and pea seeds into separate containers.

Helping with the harvest.

There were lots of other things that did not get captured on film. Pulling up the spent broccoli and cauliflower plants and dragging the up to the compost bin as well as pulling the old snow pea vine off the trellis.

Miss O helped me cook and we made a fruit slice with passionfruit icing as well as currant, orange and poppyseed muffins. The girls took some muffins home to put in their lunchboxes for daycare tomorrow.

I also managed to get a little sewing done. 2 pairs of shorts are finished. Here they are on the models.

And the second pair.

It is a pleasure to see the sheer delight on the faces of my grandchildren when they can help with the jobs we do every day. I am reminded that what I am doing is ‘right’ and I look forward to sharing many more things as they get older.

What We Have

A New Idea and a New Toy

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Posted on September 13, 2011

It is now 6 months since I began this blog. A couple of previous efforts had fallen by the wayside for a variety of reasons but I was determined to make this an ongoing project. I decided that the best way to make blogging a habit was to do it every day. I have managed to stick to my plan pretty consistently except for while we were on holidays and a couple of other glitches. Therefore, I apologise for the lack of posts in the last couple of days.

I have decided to reassess how I go about maintaining my blog, keeping it interesting and relevant for those who read it and still find time to go to work and do the very things that provide the basis of my blog posts.

So, from now on there will not necessarily be a post every day, although sometimes there will be. My goal is to generally have 3 – 4 posts each week with a minimum of 2 posts each week.

I know how frustrating it is to go to a blog and find that there is nothing new since last time you visited so here is my suggestion. Go to the ‘Email Subscription’ on the right-hand side of the blog and click the button marked “Sign Me Up”. This means that you subscribe to the blog and will receive an email each time there is a new post. You can change the settings in the future if you wish. Alternatively, you can be friends with me on Facebook and you will see each new post that I make from the Facebook page.

Thank you for your interest in the blog and comments.

And now, the new toy.

This is my Kitchen Aid mixer which I got a couple of years ago. One of the reasons I chose it was because I could purchase additional attachments which run directly from the driveshaft. My main interest was the pasta maker attachment. The Duke did all of the research on the internet and found the best price of $285 which compared favourably with the initial price on the Kitchen Aid site of $349. Whilst it seems like a lot of money I feel confident that it will be worthwhile.

Today the parcel arrived.

So it was time to unpack.

There are 3 attachments – lasagne roller, fettucine cutter and spaghetti cutter.

I have made my own pasta previously but found that the manual pasta maker was too difficult and time-consuming – not to mention that it ended up breaking. Hopefully, these will be a great success and I will never buy dried pasta again. The bonus is that I will not have the packets which are non-recyclable.

Watch for a post when I make the first batch – perhaps on the weekend!

Clever Cupboards

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Posted on September 10, 2011

Well, it is not actually the cupboards that are clever but the cabinetmaker for suggesting a solution for ‘blind’ corner cupboards. When we were redesigning our kitchen he suggested these and I immediately agreed that they were a great idea. The rails stop things falling off as the shelves are moved.

When I was putting the clean dishes away this morning I noticed that the shelves were looking a bit grubby so I removed everything and cleaned the shelves.

The shelves are on an arm mechanism and swing in and out by pulling the rail. They are easy to manoeuvre and give access to an otherwise useless corner.

Here it is replaced in the closed position.

These shelves hold all of my bowls, jugs and colanders as well as scales, measuring cups, funnel, juicer and the attachments for the Kitchen Aid mixer.