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A Frugal Fortnight

7/9/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
This month I have two different but related challenges before me:
1) A lot of extra bills, and no extra money to cover them
2) A lack of space in the freezer - now the lambs have been born, our extra animals need to move off the paddocks and into the freezer, but there's not room due an extraordinary amount of bits and pieces - some produce from last season's garden, odds and ends of meats and soup bones, mutton fat rendered or awaiting rendering and so on. The kitchen cabinets also have a selection of odds and ends that keep getting not used - cans of beans and lentils I was given, various ingredients from my days of being gluten free, and so forth.

The solution to both? Temporarily reduce grocery spending, and get creative using up all those things in the cupboard and freezer! That way I use up things, and free up some dollars to pay the bills.

Normally, I do the grocery shopping every other Friday (fortnightly). Two weeks ago, I shopped more or less as per normal. This week, I purchased only a small number of items (toilet paper, flour, rice, pasta, oil and a packet each of mince, bacon and cheese). I also bought some carrots, onions, apples, bananas and celery (carrots, onions and celery are staples in a lot of meals here, but the ones in the garden are only just beginning to grow). I've spent about one sixth of our normal grocery budget.

So, the goal now is to NOT spend any more money for the next two weeks on food or groceries, except $30 for  milk which we buy direct from a farm every 4-5 days, 10 litres at a time.

What will we eat? I'm not sure just yet! While normally I plan our meals, of late I've gotten out of the habit, and the last month has been so crazy I haven't given it a lot of thought. But I know we'll do just fine - as long as I take the time to plan at least a day ahead (to allow for things that need soaking or extra prep time), and resist the temptation to go to the store.

It's amazing what simple things can create an unexpectedly amazing meal - I remember many years ago living far from both roads and stores, and having nothing left except a can of tomatoes, a few lentils, a stick of celery and one carrot, plus a few herbs, and coming up with a delicious soup that became a family favourite for a time!

Time to get creative - I'll be sharing some of the recipes and ideas I come up with on this blog. How about you - do you have a favourite, frugal meal?

2 Comments
Amanda
14/9/2013 08:28:09 am

Here's a recipe I made up in similar circumstances to yourself - with only just enough money left to cover the mortgage, and having not been able to go grocery shopping for coming up four weeks, suddenly being faced with guests for dinner was a bit of a challenge.... I had one 500g packet of sausage-meat ($2 from our local butcher) in the freezer. That was it for meat. Also, we bake our own bread each day, and if there's any left over from the previous day, I throw it into a bag in the freezer. So this is what I made:
Meat loaf:
500g sausage meat
500g stale bread bits
4 leaves silverbeet , finely chopped (from the garden)
Half an onion finely chopped
About 300g pumpkin finely diced
Half a cup frozen peas (fresh would be fine)
Mixed herbs
Curry powder
Soy sauce
Worcester sauce
Tomato sauce
Sweet Chilli Sauce
Bread crumbs (also made from stale bread, whisked up in the food-processor)

Method:
Break the bread up into small pieces and place in a bowl .
Cover in all the sauces (as much as you like) and allow to soak for at least ten minutes, until bread is thoroughly soggy.
Add all other ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Press down hard and form into a loaf shape.
Coat in bread-crumbs and place into a loaf tin.

You can cook in a regular oven on a medium heat for about 45 mins or cover and cook in the microwave on 50% power for 30 minutes.

Allow to stand for at least 5 minutes before cutting into slices.

I served this with mini roast potatoes and pumpkin tossed in oil and balsamic vinegar before roasting and a green salad (we had no lettuce, so I used finely chopped raw silverbeet!)

For dessert we had mini lemon meringue pies, made in muffin tins:
Bases:
6 slightly stale biscuits (fresh would be fine) - I think ours were peanut brownies, found at the bottom of the pantry!!!
A bit of butter.
Crush the biscuits in a plastic bag using a rolling pin or similar.
Melt three or four tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, then mix in biscuit crumbs.
Share evenly across 12 muffin pans, pressing into the bottom each time.
Refrigerate.

Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornflour
2 egg yolks (hold on to the whites for the topping)
1 - 2 lemons (juice and rind)
1 1/2 cups water
Mix sugar and cornflour in a saucepan.
Gradually add water.
Bring to the boil, stirring.
Boil 3 mins until thick.
Add yolks and lemon and return to the boil.
Pour onto biscuit bases.

Topping:
2 egg whites
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 drops vanilla essence
Beat egg whites until very stiff.
Add sugar, one spoon at a time, beating in between.
Finally beat in vanilla
Spread over filling. Make peaksby lifting mixture with the back of a wet spoon.

Bake for about 10 mins at 140C.

Serve cold or just warm.

Reply
Cynthia
9/10/2013 02:55:13 pm

Thanks for sharing this great recipe Amanda! Sorry for not replying sooner; just realised there was a glitch in the settings and I haven't been getting notification of comments.

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    This page is my blog formerly known as Kiwi Urban Homestead.

    I'm a Kiwi homeschooling mother of 5 living in a small town. After growing 1000 kg of produce in my back yard in 2013, I'm now expanding my edible gardens even further.

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