Nothing beats home made...

What amazing weather we are having here right now, I love summer!  I do really enjoy these 36C days (unless it's really humid & my evap aircon doesn't work too well)... today I have been spring cleaning (or summer cleaning I guess)... and it feels so good to be getting my room sorted, junk removed, freshly vacuumed and inspired to actually finish decorating - if you don't know, we built this house just over two years ago, and still haven't finished it off completely lol.  Our bedroom has been one of the three most neglected rooms in the house, until now!  I'm even inspired to paint on that canvas I found sitting next to my bookshelf :)  I love it.  Now all I need is the money to finish decorating... ah the dreams...

Back to reality, and being a school week I have been in the kitchen baking some goodies for the boys to pack in their lunchboxes.  Mr R found this recipe in a Christmas book he borrowed from the school library, they're called Christmas Choc Chip Cookies, although they don't seem to be overly "Christmasy".  Mr F and I baked a batch on Monday, we made 28 cookies, and by Tuesday morning there was none left!  So on Tuesday I baked another lot (while Little D was napping & both boys at school) and made a batch of 32... and today, Wednesday afternoon, there are none left... although I did take 12 to the church staff meeting yesterday... so they are delicious!  So good that I had to share the recipe with you.  So easy too!

Christmas Choc Chip Cookies
115g butter (at room temperature)
115g caster sugar
170g self raising flour
1 Tbs golden syrup (I didn't have any so I used treacle)
1 Tbs milk
1 tsp bi-carb soda
50g choc chips

1. Heat oven to 165C.  Prepare two baking trays (I just use baking paper, no greasing/flouring).
2. In mixing bowl, cream butter & sugar.  Sift in flour. Combine.
3. In saucepan, heat milk & syrup until warm.  Add bi-carb and stir (this will foam up a little).  Add to mixing bowl with other ingredients.  Combine all with wooden spoon.
4. Add choc chips, stir through with metal spoon (this helps distribute the choc chips evenly).
5. Roll spoonfuls of mix into balls and place on trays 5cm apart.  Squash lightly with a floured fork (I just used my finger tips).
6. Bake in oven 10-15mins or until golden brown.  Let cool on tray for 3 mins, then move to wire cooling rack to cool completely.  EAT!

They really are delicious, and the kids loved them.  I don't normally make food with chocolate for the kids to take to school, I usually use dried or fresh fruits, oats, pepitas etc, but this was a very exciting exception for them :)  Be careful, my first batch crumbled after one day (ie those few left for morning tea on Tuesday fell apart).  But the second batch made on Tuesday held together perfectly today... not sure why, perhaps the storage?  I used a zip lock bag on Monday night, but a take-away container last night... hmm

Let me know if you enjoy them!

Day 10! Time for the last recipe and the results! Did I pass the challenge??

Wow, so the final day has come... I must admit, it has been an enjoyable challenge.  Big M has been so impressed with the meals that he wants us to keep the food allowance this tight so we can free up some extra cash for other spending... and seeing as I would love to actually have plants in the garden bed out the back, some paving for the kids to ride their bikes on, to paint the house and to have curtains, skirting, and a new lounge suite... I'm rather happy to comply :)  Although it will be nice to not stress about it sometime, and splurge a little on something a little extra special.  So once a week I will continue to post a great family friendly recipe, if you have any recipes that are a favourite in your household, email me & I'll trial it, and post the results.

But I'm sure you're all hanging out to see if I really managed to complete the challenge at hand.  Now, don't forget I did have a lot of staples in my pantry & fridge, pasta, rice, potatoes, onions, milk, eggs, so I was technically only needing to keep my budget of spending to $60, not actually $60 total for all supplies... aww I hear you say, I thought she wasn't going to magically spend $6 a meal for the 10 days! Nope, sorry, and to make you wait even longer, I need to share with you Day 10's dinner, which was a Sour Cream Quiche (recipe from 4 Ingredients).

Day 10 - Sour Cream Quiche
4 eggs - $2.00
400ml sour cream (I used 200ml light sour cream & 200ml garlic & parsley sour cream)- $3.23
1 sheet puff pastry - $0.90
200g diced bacon - $1.40
2 spring onions, sliced finely - $0.70
1 handful cheese - $0.75
Salad leaves - $1.45
Total Cost: $10.43
Negligible items:
Spray oil
1 Tbs rice bran oil
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat oven to 180C.  Spray quiche dish with oil (I use a pyrex dish, circular & fluted so I can see if the pastry is cooked on the bottom). Semi defrost a sheet of puff pastry.
2. Heat a little oil in a fry pan, cook bacon and spring onion til bacon is crunchy & onions are soft, set aside.
3. In bowl, combine eggs, sour creams, salt & pepper.
4. Lay pastry in dish, pour on bacon & onion mix, spread evenly over pastry, sprinkle grated cheese over the top.  Pour over egg & sour cream mix.  Place in oven and cook for 30mins.  If your pastry starts getting too brown, cover loosely with alfoil until the rest of the quiche is cooked.  Don't be fooled, you may think it looks ok at 20mins, but you want your pastry to cook on the bottom!  (which is why I use pyrex).
5. Remove from oven, let sit for 5mins so it can settle.  Slice & serve with salad greens.

And it was yum!  So good!  I usually tend to make very eggy quiches that don't hold very well, but because of the sour cream, this one held up beautifully.  Now my pyrex dish (the one I also used for the tuna mornay) is quite large in diametre, so the quiche is not very deep, should you want that really high quiche, use a 20cm diametre dish.  My quiche lasted two nights, as Big M was away the first night, we only ate half of the quiche, so the pic you are seeing is the second night's serving after being reheated in the microwave & served with parmesan ciabatta and a salad with orange & olives (this would be day 11 so I haven't included the extras in my budget).

Ok... I will finally give you the results of my spending for the past 10 days... purchasing meat, the occasional core ingredient (sour cream, apricot nectar etc) as well as fresh salad in the last few days (as I had some in the fridge for the earlier days)... the grand total spent is.... drum roll please...

$56.30

Woo hoo!  I did it!  I cannot believe it, I was getting worried when I spent so much on the meat in the first few days, but then as the time went on, making meals that weren't so "meaty" and more "carby" it made the difference to the budget, hopefully not a big difference to my waistline!  So there you have it, yes it can be done... with a little creativity, and some good suggestions from friends, dinner can be cheap, well balanced & enjoyable (albeit a little greasy for a few of them, oops!).

Now what's the next challenge???

ooh catch up time! Days 8 & 9 of the $60 challenge...

Oops!  Ok, so I haven't blogged since Monday, and it's now Thursday... um... well Big M has been in Sydney since Sunday lunchtime, and running around after the three kidlets have left my spare time rather scarce... so any spare moments have been spent napping :) So today I give you the recipe for Tuna Mornay, and also the recipe for my Zucchini Fritters... yummo!  Here we go!

Day 7 - Tuna Mornay (Day 8 too as we had leftovers)
1 x 425g tin Tuna in brine - $4.89
250g short pasta - $1.60
1 brown onion, finely diced - $0.80
400ml milk - $0.80
2 handfuls grated cheese - $1.50
Total cost: $8.79
Negligible items:
2 Tbs butter
1 tsp minced garlic
2 Tbs flour
2 Tbs breadcrumbs
Salt & pepper

1.  Set oven to 180 C.  Boil water & prepare to cook pasta as per instructions.  Drain tin of tuna, reserve liquid to use in white sauce (if you can only find tuna in springwater or oil, don't reserve this, use extra milk in sauce instead).
2.  In saucepan, melt butter, add onion and garlic, saute until onion softens (do this over a medium heat, too high and the onion will brown).  Add flour and stir to make into a roux, stir over heat for a minute to allow flour to cook out.  Pour in reserved liquid from tuna and whisk, add milk, a little at a time, whisking until smooth.  Note, 400ml is an estimate, your sauce needs to be the consistency of a nice thick custard, too little milk & it will be too thick, too much milk & you'll have a runny mornay.
3. Once sauce starts to bubble, continue stirring, and let it bubble for one minute, this ensures you don't get that raw floury taste.  Turn off heat.  Add in tuna, salt & pepper (to taste).  If you used the brine in your white sauce, you won't need much salt (if any at all).
4.  Combine with drained pasta.  Pour into baking dish, top with grated cheese & breadcrumbs.  Put in oven until brown & bubbling.  Remove, cool for 5 mins, and serve!

I usually add in a handful of frozen corn kernels and some diced tomatoes at the same time as the tuna (end of Step 3), but I didn't have any spare in the fridge or freezer this week.  Hence it's not as colourful as usual.  Also it's nice to serve this with some crispy lettuce leaves & sliced avocado if you have some handy.

Day 9 - Party Pies, potato mash & zucchini fritters
Yum!  I love party pies, a good meat pie, but how hard is it to find a good one?  One without those grissly bits, one without random pieces that make you gag... gross!  I was recommended the Woolworths brand party pies, and I have to say, they lived up to their reputation.  I'm very happy with the quality.  They're in the fridge section, next to the cakes & custard tarts (oh yum, custard tarts!)... so I baked the party pies as per the instructions, made potato mash as per my liking (and the kids), and made my yummy zucchini fritters, recipe which is about to come your way!
1 pack Woolworths Bakehouse Party Pies - $4.49
5 (4 for mash, 1 grated for fritters) potatoes - $2.00
1 zucchini, grated - $1.50
1 brown onion, grated - $0.80
1 egg - $0.50
Total cost:  $9.29
Negligible items:
Salt & pepper
Oil
1 Tbs flour
Splash of milk (for mash)
1 tsp butter (for mash)

Zucchini Fritters
1.  Grate 1 potato, 1 zucchini, 1 brown onion.  Squeeze all the excess liquid out possible.  Stir in flour, salt, pepper & egg.
2.  Heat oil in fry pan (about 1-2Tbs).  Add blobs of the zucchini mix to pan, flatten out a little.  Turn when golden, remove when both sides are golden brown & drain on paper towel.

3.  Serve!

These are also really yummy with poached eggs & slices of ham as a meal... also served with a garlic aoili!  I just had mine with ketchup (seeing as I have ketchup with pies anyway).

Ok, no time to babble on at the end of this post today, I have to run out to collect the kids from school.  Day 10 is a Sour Cream Quiche!!!  Watch this space tomorrow for the pics!

Seven down, three to go!

Here is the meal plan from Days 5, 6 & 7... I've been a little busy over the weekend, a bit full on, but that's what most of our weekends are like anyway.  I can't remember the last time we chilled out for the whole two days... hmm.. sounds like a holiday is needed!

So, for those interested, Day 5 I made my Dad's yummy Salmon Patties.  If you don't like salmon, just use tuna instead (I'm not a huge fan of the bones in the salmon tins, but I remove the big ones, and mash up the little ones so you don't notice them - they are perfectly safe to eat, apparently lol).  I served it all up with oven chips & corn cobbettes and cherry tomatoes.  Once it was on the plate I realised I really needed to add something green, but honestly I was too tired to worry :)  The kids were happy with what they received, in fact Mr R ate 4 patties!

Here is the Secret Recipe :)

Day 5 - Salmon Patties
400g canned pink salmon - $4.80
400g potatoes - $1.50
1 red onion, finely diced - $0.90
1 egg - $0.50
5 frozen corn cobbettes - $1.20
1/2 bag frozen chips - $0.50
Total cost: $9.40
Negligible items:
Rice bran oil
Salt & pepper
Breadcrumbs (I buy a big bag of homebrand breadcrumbs once a year)
Plain flour (for coating patties)

1.  Peel, chop & boil potatoes in salted water.  Drain & mash when cooked (soft when a knife poked into it).  Set aside to cool in large mixing bowl.
2. While cooling, dice onion and place in bowl with potatoes.  Drain salmon tins (no need to reserve liquid), remove large bones & grind up fine bones (use fingers or a fork), add to bowl with onion & potatoes.
3. Add in beaten egg, a pinch of salt and shake or two of white pepper.  Add in breadcrumbs, this is a little difficult to measure, as it depends on how liquidy your mix is, I usually use about 2 Tbs.  Mix together well and form into patties.  Place onto large tray, or onto a plate, and refrigerate until ready to cook (this will help patties firm up before cooking, and also let the flavours develop).
4. Begin cooking oven chips & any other veggies you may want (I did my corn now).
5. Coat the bottom of a fry pan in oil, about 2mm deep.  Place a couple of tablespoons of plain flour onto a saucer, and gently press patties on, rolling around, flipping over, until coated, gently shake off excess flour, and place into pan. 

6. Cook, gently flipping over each patty, until both sides are golden.  Drain on paper towel.  Add more oil to pan if needed.

7.  Serve!  My kids love it with Heinz Tomato Ketchup, but for the adults we serve it with a tomato chutney, Rosella make a delicious one, it's called Geoff Janz's Tomato Chutney... yummo!

I've uploaded a couple of pics to show you how they look as you're making them... ooh technological upgrades to the blog today lol. They're not the best quality (just from my phone), and I can't rotate two of them either :P

Dinner on Day 6 was actually a free bbq, a wonderful friend of ours was celebrating her 25th birthday, so she put on a twilight bbq in the park (twilight as in the time of day, nothing to do with the books or films).  So I didn't have to make dinner that night.  She also had red velvet cake made as her birthday cake, oh wow, so yum!  I'd love to try baking one of those sometime, if anyone has a good recipe for that please do share!

Dinner on Day 7... that was a Tuna Mornay.  Big M has gone to Sydney for work, so it was just the kids & myself for dinner, so there's plenty leftover for Day 8 (which is today)... making for a very lonely Valentines Day, but a very free dinner!  I'll be posting the recipe for that in my next blog... trust me it's good!

Today is Valentines Day.  Honestly hubby & I don't really celebrate it.  And seeing as he's away for work it was going to be even less ordinary :(  BUT.... it just so happens that two friends of mine also have their husbands away for work this week (funny that isn't it?), so we've decided to have a Valentines girls night at my place tonight.  Serving spring rolls, soy crisps (the ones I mentioned in this blog http://sliceofinspiration.blogspot.com/2010/12/cinnamon-ginger.html ), m&m's, crackers & dips plus sparkling water, pineapple juice & a little softdrink... as well as the most important part - the entertainment... boardgames!  I love boardgames... yes I'm a dork, a nerd, I don't care, I love 'em!

I hope your 2011 Valentines Day will be enjoyed just as much as mine, with or without a Valentine!

A little extra help is always received! Day 4 of the challenge

So we've been enjoying our meals this week, even with the restrictions I placed on our budget.  And for last night's dinner, I decided to make the fried rice as I had a few veggies which needed to get used up... but then my mother in law asked if she & hubby could come for dinner (as it works well with his bus timetable some days)... and offered to give $20 towards dinner... so I gladly accepted the offer & not only did we have fried rice, but also a red chicken curry, steamed rice and spring rolls!  Yummo!  I didn't end up spending more than the $20 on the extra ingredients either, so I'm still going to claim that we're sticking to our budget, even if we could indulge for that night :)

Saying that, I'm just going to share the fried rice recipe.  I love this rice, so do the kids.  It's not a very authentic recipe, but hey, I'm not claiming to be authentic in any of my cooking.... so here it is!

Day 4 - Fried Rice

200g garlic prawns (I buy them from the deli section at Woolies) - $3.50
200g diced bacon (also from Woolies) - $1.40
2 eggs, beaten - $1.00
2 cups cooked rice (preferably cold too {not frozen}- use the leftovers from the meal on Day 1) - $ 0.00
1 brown onion (sliced thinly) - $0.80
1 cup fresh veggies (I used broccoli) - $0.80
1 cup frozen mix vegies (I love the peas, corn & capsicum mix) - $0.80
Total: $8.30
Negligible items:
2 Tbs rice bran oil
1 Tbs sesame oil (don't worry if you don't have it)
1 Tbs oyster sauce
2 Tbs light soy sauce (or to taste)
White pepper (to taste)

1.  Heat oil in wok.  Add beaten eggs to hot wok, wait until almost cooked, flip over, cook til just starting to brown.  Remove from wok & chop up.
2.  Add prawns to wok, turn frequently, remove when just cooked (just turning orange/pink).
3.  Add diced bacon to wok, keep it moving until cooked to your liking (they'll stick to the wok if you're not careful!). Remove from wok.
4.  Add more oil to wok if needed, add onion & fresh veggies.  Toss for a few minutes til they begin to soften.  Add frozen veggies. Toss til cooked.  Add rice, sesame oil, sauces and pepper.  Toss through til rice is coloured by sauce.  Add back eggs, prawns & bacon.  Stir through until all hot.  Serve!

Easy easy, and very yummy!  If you do have some spring rolls in the freezer, you can cook them while making the rice, they just add a little something more exciting for the kids :)

So now you have my favourite Fried Rice recipe... let me know if you try it, and if you like it!  Day 5, tonight, will be Salmon patties, oven chips & corn cobbettes... looking forward to that one!

Success for days 2 & 3!

Wow, ok, dinner last night (Day 2) went down a treat, so tonight it's leftovers & a little extra... I can't believe how much they ate last night, so I'm adding some bread and some oven bake chips to stretch the meal further tonight... so pleased with it that I simply must give you the recipe.  Though technically it's not my recipe, I got it from my sister, who got it from her mother-in-law (thanks Nanna George!).

Day 2 (&3)- Corned Silverside with Pasta & Veggies


I bought my corned beef from Woolworths, and I got the salt reduced lean one (keeping the heart healthy lol), I got one just under 1kg, but I think next time I'll go bigger, somewhere around 1.3kg so I'd have a decent amount for two meals.  As for the chips I'll be using tonight to fill the tummies, I buy mine from the Spud Shed, they're only $0.99 per bag!  Awesome!  And they're from Manjimup, so buying local, yeah!

1 corned silverside (0.9kg) - $9.80
250g long pasta (I just used barilla spag no 5) - $1.15
1/2 400g tin diced or crushed tomatoes - $0.49
2 handfuls grated cheese (about 1.5 cups?) - already in fridge, estimate $1.50
5 frozen corn cobbettes - $1.20
1 handful frozen beans - already in freezer, estimate $0.75
1 cup vinegar - already in pantry, estimate $0.90
1 brown onion (finely diced) - $0.80
Negligible items:
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 Tbs rice bran oil
1 clove
2 bay leaves
1 Tbs brown sugar
Total Cost:  $16.59

1.  Read recipe on corned silverside (if you don't have it, I'll add it down the bottom).  Cook silverside.
2.  When your silverside has 30mins left to cook, start your pasta dish.  Boil water in pot on hot plates & cook pasta as per directions.  Drain pasta, rinse under cold water & splash with a small amount of oil (to prevent it sticking into a mass of pasta while you cook your sauce) and leave sitting in the colander.
3.  In same pot (that the pasta was in), heat some oil, add garlic & onion, over medium heat, and soften.  While this is happening, get your water on to cook your vegies (or steamer, whatever you prefer).
4.  Add half tin of tomatoes to onion & garlic mix, stir til hot and add pasta back into the pot.  Stir it all through.  Add your cheese to the pasta dish, stir until it's all melted through, then remove from heat.
5.  Remove silverside from water, and place on chopping board.  Add vegies as needed to pot/steamer & cook while carving your meat.
6.  Serve a few slices of silverside, a generous dollop of pasta and your vegies with some freshly cracked black pepper, and yummo!  It will be gone in minutes!

The kids loved this, Big M loved it, I loved it.  So tonight I will be heating up the leftovers, and serve it with some bread, chips & broccoli... looking forward to it.  Tomorrow night's recipe is ... I can't decide yet actually, either a smoked chicken caesar salad, or fried rice... will let you know.

The recipe for how to cook the silverside:
1 corned beef silverside
1 cup vinegar
1 Tbs brown sugar
2 bay leaves
1 clove
Place all ingredients in a saucepan large enough to fit the meat when it's completely submerged.  Top up with water until meat is covered (it may float a little that is fine).  Bring to a slow boil (not rapid like you could for pasta), and cook 60mins per kg. Done!

I'm rather enjoying this $60 challenge, I'm feeling a bit more like a supermum :)  Might have to keep it going!

How thrifty are you?

A recent post on facebook received interesting and contrasting comments from my friends.  I asked if anyone thinks it's possible to feed a family of five, for 10 days, with $60.  At first the comments were "impossible", "not in this country"... but then I realised I forgot to say that I had quite a lot of staples in the pantry & freezer, and that we had enough supplies for breakfast for that period and only really need to buy bread & milk to complete the breakfast an lunch menu, sorry girls!  So the real deal is asking for 10 days of dinners for $60... minus milk & bread expenses lol!

I then started receiving recipe ideas, and suppliers of great budget meat (thanks Rachel)... so I have come up with a meal plan for the next 10 days, and I will gladly share with you all the recipes, and the family's acceptance of the meals lol.

Please note, when I say family of five, there are only two adults, a 6yr old, a 4yr old and an 18mth old... so really we need to make 4 serves per meal (as the two little ones would only eat one between them).

Day One - Apricot Chicken, Rice & Broccoli

Yes, that meal we remember from our childhood, the gooey, slimy chicken skin, on ugly chicken bones and huge chunks of apricot... ew!  I've got my own little version of it here... I do use free range chicken, plus Riviana Ezy Basmati rice which makes the meal a little more expensive, but can be cheaper if you use generic (like I did for the home brand apricot nectar) ... so here's the recipe:

2 skinless chicken breasts, diced (around 500-700g) - $11.27
1 x 400ml can apricot nectar - $1.49
1 packet french onion soup - $0.99
1 brown onion (finely diced) - $0.40
1/2 head broccoli - already in the fridge, estimate $1.20
2 cups basmati rice - already in pantry, estimate $2.00
Total Cost = $17.35 (eek, I know!)
Negligible Items... 
1 Tbs Rice Bran Oil
1 Tbs butter

1.  In oven & flame proof casserole dish (that has a lid), heat oil & butter over medium heat.  Add onions, soften. Increase heat, add chicken & lightly brown (only just a little, otherwise it will dry out).
2.  In small bowl/mixing jug, combine nectar & soup mix.  Pour over the chicken & stir through until heated.
3.  Place in pre-heated 180 C oven with lid on for 30 mins.
4.  Cook rice as per packet directions (I do mine in the microwave which takes 15mins, check your method time to match up with serving time for dinner).
5.  Get a saucepan of boiling water ready for broccoli (to steam or boil).  If steaming in microwave, get that ready now too.
6.  Take chicken out of oven, return to hot plate, remove lid & heat again, let it come to the boil, reduce heat & let it simmer until sauce thickens.  Cook broccoli now. 
7.  Serve!  Keep leftover rice for another meal (I had about 2 cups rice, now in my freezer for fried rice later this week).

Result from the family - all the plates were clean!  From Big M to Little D, dinner was totally polished off.  Plus we had a serve left for the freezer (for lunch) and rice for another meal.  I really wish I took a photo, because it actually looked so good.  So much better than what I'd had as a child.  The only thing I would've like to have added would be some slivered almonds to add some more texture to the meal, but they were used up in the last batch of chocolate muffins Big M made :)

So yes, Day 1 has been a success... tomorrow's dinner is my sister's mother-in-law's Corned Silverside & Pasta (which supposedly lasts for two meals)... we shall see how that goes tomorrow!

I would love to receive any more thrifty recipes from my readers, it would be great to share them with each other!