July 2019 – Making ends meet

HOMEMADE OVEN CLEANER

As the days seem to be warming up somewhat, there seems to be a hint of spring in the air…or is that just wishful thinking on my part? I hate winter, always have – I am convinced I am one part bear! I would happily hibernate all winter!

As it starts warming up though, I start feeling the urge to throw windows open, let the fresh air in…and spring clean!

I know that it’s not everyone’s favourite words, but I actually enjoy spring cleaning (okay, not the cleaning, but the result!) – it gives me the sense that I am going into the new season of the year with (almost) a new beginning, a fresh start. I love smelling the clean scents, after the stuffiness of winter.

And let’s be honest – there is something very satisfying about looking around your home and everything is clean and fresh and sparkling.

Getting to the finish line is the hard part though, and one of the yuckiest jobs is cleaning the oven. I hate the commercial stuff – you need a hazmat suit to clean your oven with the stuff. It is possible, however, to clean your oven WITHOUT a hazmat suit and super toxic chemicals. I do – yes, it does require a little more elbow grease, but it works! Here’s how:

INGREDIENTS

½ cup dishwashing liquid
1 cup bicarbonate of soda
½ cup hydrogen peroxide
2 tablespoon white vinegar plus extra for final rinse (or you could use the orange vinegar I will show you how to make)
10 drops of lemon essential oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Take everything out of the oven, racks included
Wipe the inside of the oven with hot, soapy water.
Mix together all the ingredients to form a paste.
Spread the paste all over the inside of the oven, but NOT on the heating elements.
Let it stand for between a minimum of four hours to overnight.
Remove the paste with a rag, brush, or scrub sponge.
You can do a final rinse with a mixture of vinegar and water in a spray bottle – one part vinegar to two parts water

That’s it, all done.

Notes:

*It is always a good idea to wear gloves while cleaning the oven.

* If the oven is very dirty, you may have to repeat the steps.

MAKE YOUR OWN FULL CREAM GREEK-STYLE YOGURT

Did you know that it is actually very easy to make your own plain yogurt, without any special equipment? Sounds to good to be true, or very complicated, right? Nope, it’s not!

Ingredients

1 litre / 4 cups pasteurised full cream milk

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavoured gelatin

1/4 cup plain yogurt – here I have to note that the only yogurt I have had success with is the Woolworth’s plain yogurt; it seems like it is the only yogurt that has LIVE, active cultures; it has to have live cultures, or this will NOT work. This is going to be your starter culture for your yogurt.

Instructions

Heat the milk gently to 82 degrees Celsius. Do not allow the milk to come to a boil!
Once the milk comes reaches 82 degrees, remove the pot from the heat. Allow milk to cool to between 41 and 43 degrees Celsius.
When milk reaches the required temperature, thoroughly whisk in the gelatin for about one minute. Then add the yogurt starter and continue to whisk until completely combined, (about one minute).
I don’t have a yogurt maker, so to incubate my yogurt, I pour the yogurt into a glass jar that I warmed by keeping hot water in it until I was ready to pour the yogurt in. Pour out the water, fill the jar with your yogurt. I then line a large bowl with towels, put the jar in the bowl, and cover the yogurt with more towels, to keep in the heat. This seems to work pretty well for me, but you can also use a yogurt maker, or a slow cooker that has a yogurt setting. Allow yogurt to culture for 8-12 hours, depending on taste preference. The longer you culture, the more tangy the taste. Mix the yogurt thoroughly to combine ingredients again, and transfer to the fridge.

Notes

*Only use pasteurised milk for this, but do NOT use long-life milk, it will not work!

** It’s normal to see small clumps of yellow liquid when using gelatin to thicken yogurt. It is the whey that has separated from the milk solids. Just use a whisk to gently blend it back into the yogurt.

**Remember to keep some of your yogurt for the next batch. Note, however, that using a commercial yogurt as a starter works, but you will not be able to use the yogurt you made as a culture for new batches indefinitely.

ONE POT, NO-BAKE TUNA CASSEROLE

Hello, macaroni, my old friend… those of us on a tight budget have probably at least thought along those lines at some point. Pasta is reasonably cheap, quick to make and filling – and above all else, highly adaptable. It can be a quick, cheap meal, or a very decadent meal. Above all else, it is a life-saver for when you just don’t know what to make!

My daughter loves Tuna Mate, but to feed my family, I have to buy two boxes of the kit, not counting the other ingredients. This is way too steep for my liking, so I have developed a ‘fake-out’ version of this. It works out much cheaper, and we have left-overs for lunch the next day.

It is actually quite simple and quick to make:)

Ingredients:

2 x tin shredded tuna, drained.

1 x packet macaroni

2 cups milk

4 tablespoons flour (or a packet of instant cheese sauce + 1-2 tablespoons flour)

Four tablespoons margarine

Sauce:

There are two options here – you can either make a white sauce from scratch, or use the “cheat” version that allows you to cut back on the amount of cheese added. If using regular white sauce, use four tablespoons flour instead of the instant sauce. If you want cheese flavour, add cheese as desired.

If I am making garlic tuna-mate, I normally just use regular from-scratch white sauce, but if I am making cheese flavoured, I use a packet of instant sauce as my base.

Version 1:

Melt four tablespoons margarine. Once the margarine is melted, add the contents of one packet of instant sauce (I normally use the four cheeses or the three cheeses flavours). (If making white sauce, use flour). Stir into the margarine, then add a tablespoon or two of flour, and stir that in. Gradually add your milk, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Once all the milk has been incorporated, add the macaroni and allow the sauce to simmer until the macaroni is cooked. This should take around 20 minutes. Add the tuna, stir through until the food is warmed through out and serve hot.

Make a new bar of soap from your old bits of soap

Did you know that it is possible to make new soap out of your soap slivers? Instead of throwing away the small left over bits of soap, why not make a new bar of soap? Simply keep your slivers in a separate bowl in the bathroom, and when you have enough, make a rebatch or hand-milled bar of soap.

What you will need:

341 grams of soap
255ml of water (or milk – that is what I use)
Some sort of mould – I used silicone muffin pans (and a car mould!).
Colourant – I used gel food colour, but sparingly – you don’t want to end up looking like a smurf
I added a tablespoon of coconut oil to my soap
I added dried lavender and oatmeal to two of the soap bars, please see the notes below on this!
A wooden spoon
Fragrance of some sort – you could use vanilla essence, essential oils, spices, this is entirely up to you.

Directions:

Grate your soap as finely as possible, or simply remember to break it up into small pieces when you put it in your collection jar or bowl.

Place your soap and water or milk in a double boiler or slow cooker, or a small saucepan.

Put your slow cooker on high, but if you are using the double boiler method, use a MEDIUM heat. If melting the soap directly in a pot, use a LOW heat. Allow the soap to melt – this took around an hour in my slow cooker. Stir the mix occasionally, but not too much, as it adds air to the soap which can result in air bubbles. Every five minutes or so is sufficient. It can take between one and two hours for the soap to melt

Once your soap is melted, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. (to around

Once cooled sufficiently, add your fragrance, coconut oil if using and anything else you want such as colourant.

Spoon your soap into your mould. Allow to set for two to three days before turning out of the mould. (if you are really impatient like me, pop it into the freezer for around two hours and turn out of the mould)

Place the soap on a drying rack or cooling rack and allow it to dry for about four weeks before using. (My last batch was a week old when I started using it, because we ran out of soap – the soap does tend to go quicker, as it is softer than it would have been if I had waited. The soap bar lasted a week!)

Notes:

Moulds – You could use the bottom part of a milk bottle, or a juice carton, it is really not necessary to rush out and buy moulds, unless you plan to do this often. If you do use silicone moulds, please ONLY use for soap, not for food. My silicone muffin pans are only used for soap, never for baking.

Grating the soap – Remember that the longer the soap stands, the harder the soap will get, so maybe even grate it before you save it and get a head start. I found that it helped considerably that I put the soap and milk in the slow cooker before I went to work. When I got home, I turned on the heat and started melting the soap. The soap was already slightly soft, and it cut down on the melting time.

Melting the soap – I have a really old slow cooker that I only use for soap and infusing oils. It is easier to do this in a slow cooker, but you can still make soap even if you don’t have a slow cooker or a double boiler. Take two pots, one larger than the other. Fill the bottom pot with water so that it doesn’t touch the top pot when the top pot is placed inside the larger pot – in effect a make shift double boiler. You could also use a heat proof bowl on top of a pot of water. The idea is to provide heat to melt the soap, but not enough to burn the soap. You can also melt it directly in a pot, but use a pot that is a small as possible, to prevent the soap from scorching.

Texture and consistency – Rebatch soap will never melt fully, and the texture tends to be more grainy and thicker than melt and pour soap, (so the experts say). I found that my mixture was runny enough to pour into the mould, but perhaps that was because of the soap I used (my slivers were primarily Protex brand soap).

Additions to your soap – I added the coconut oil, the colour and some fragrance to the soap, and the consistency was fine. I then poured out most of the soap into moulds and to the remaining soap I added dried lavender and some oats. I found immediately that the soap congealed and didn’t want to pour anymore – I had to spoon the remaining soap into the mould. I am not certain how much of the lavender and the oats I added, so I am unsure as to whether I added too much or if it was simply the addition that changed the texture – I will check the next time and update the post to reflect my findings.

Fragrance – try to keep your different slivers of soap together so that you don’t end up with a weird smelling bar of soap – my husband uses the Protex sport and I use the Protex oats or baby soap. I try to keep my soap slivers separate from hubby’s soap – not sure the fragrances will go together that well, and I am fairly certain he does NOT want rebatch soap that smells like roses or any other “girly” scents! If adding extra fragrance to your rebatch soap, use skin friendly products – vanilla essence, caramel essence etc. or essential oils. Please do NOT use candle fragrance oils or oils meant for diffusers etc – these fragrances are not skin friendly!

Oils – You can add a few drops of oil such as vitamin e oil, grapeseed oil etc, but only a few drops. If you add too much, you could end up ruining your soap (ask me how I know!!)

soy sauce substitute

My daughter came to visit on Sunday. I showed her the sauces I had made during the week, and she asked me if I could make soy sauce. I had been wondering about this myself, as I use a LOT of soy sauce, and it is expensive. I am very particular about the brand I buy, as I have bought some different brands and was not impressed at all.

After she left, i consulted my BFF#2 (Google!), and I had a look at some of the variations around. I did a little experimenting, and the version I came up with tasted pretty good.

Please note, this is NOT soy sauce – it is a substitute.

Soy sauce substitute

Ingredients:

2 beef stock cubes

4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (you could use white vinegar or rice vinegar)

2 teaspoons blackstrap molasses (or 1 teaspoon white sugar)

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

pinch pepper

pinch garlic powder / 1/4 teaspoon crushed garlic

1 1/2 cups water – reserve a little of the water to make a paste with the corn flour (maizena)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon maizena (corn flour)

Method:

Combine all ingredients except the maizena and a little of the water in a pot. Cook the pot on a medium heat, stirring until the stock cubes are dissolved. Mix the maizena and water. Add the maizena mixture to the rest of the ingredients and cook on low heat, stirring until the maizena is incorporated and no longer tastes “floury”. The soy sauce will thicken slightly, but not a lot – this is not tomato sauce! Once the sauce is ready, pour into a sterilised container (I used an old soy sauce bottle, works great!). Label and refrigerate.

best ever homemade hair masque

I love, love this hair treatment. I have curly hair (sigh…) which is extremely dry and oh so temperamental. I have tried a whole bunch of things to get my hair to just behave, but to date, nothing has worked, except a keratin treatment at the hair dresser. Only time in memory that I LOVED my hair…

The good news is – I’m definitely not afraid to use myself as a lab rat, and have tried many things that just did not work, or didn’t work as well as I had hoped. As a result of my “experiments” I can bring you this little gem:)

Three ingredients, and you’re good to go – how easy is that?

Mix three tablespoons of mayonnaise with one tablespoon of shampoo, add one half teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, and you’re ready. Section your hair, apply the masque and comb through after application. Once all the sections of your hair have the masque on, cover your hair with a shower cap, swimming cap or highlights cap. Let the mixture sit on your hair for a minimum of an hour, then wash it off with the shampoo already on your head. Condition and rinse, and style as usual.

My hair comes out very soft, and pretty darn well-behaved. I have noticed that the results are incremental – the more frequently you use it, the better the results.

**You can omit the apple cider vinegar if you don’t have, or prefer not to use it.

simple ways to start saving money – today

What do you do to save money? There is usually one or two things that we simply cannot live without (or it would have to be pried from our cold, dead hands!), but on the flip side, there are many things we can really live without (even if you think you can’t!). The ideas below are simple, stupid things that you can start doing today, which don’t really require much sacrifice. The money you save won’t make you a millionaire, but every cent helps.

Some of the simple things we do to save money in our household are:

Plan your weekly menu around what’s on special at the supermarket – check the flyers that come with your local newspaper. They usually have pamphlets for the local supermarkets. Check what’s really cheap this week, and then plan next week’s menu around that.
Cook in bulk if possible – if you are making macaroni and cheese, make double the amount. Freeze it in a freezer safe/ oven safe dish. Trust me, some night when you are really rushed or just not in the mood to cook, it will come in handy. I normally make double the amount with mac and cheese and soups, as these freeze really well.
Join a loyalty program. Clicks, Dischem, and Pick ‘n Pay are only some of the available ones. I normally shop at Pick ‘n Pay, as I don’t really have many other options in terms of proximity, but the Smart Shopper program has really saved my butt many a time when I was broke and needed to get bread or something. I converted my points to cash and used that. It makes sense to get something back for what you need to purchase anyway, and it’s free to join.
I don’t use an electric stove to cook at ALL! I don’t even own one. I do most of my cooking on my gas two plate – it costs just over two hundred rand to fill the gas, and a 9 kg bottle lasts around three months. I have a one plate induction cooker that I also use, and most of my other dishes are cooked in my pressure cooker.
All the light bulbs in our home are LED or energy savers. We put LED strips up outside for security, and in the kitchen, bathroom and two of the bedrooms. These are connected in such a way that when the power goes out (frequently!!!), we can connect to a car battery and are therefore not left in the dark. This saves us money and aggravation.
Make it yourself – many of the things we buy can be made at home. I no longer buy tomato sauce, Worcester sauce, soy sauce, dishwasher powder and several other things. I instead make it myself. It tastes better, takes a lot less time than you would think, and there are no funky preservatives in there.
Buy bulk when you can, but check prices first. Check the per unit cost – for example cheese – this is sold by kilogram. The cost per kilogram indicates the real price of the item, not the weight price of the item. If a package of cheese is marked R 55, but it is R 200 per kilogram, another cheese may be marked R 80, but is actually R 90 per kilogram, so it is better value. IT DOES NOT ALWAYS WORK OUT CHEAPER TO BUY BULK. Please remember that!
Fresh vegetable are usually cheaper than frozen, but not always. Buy fresh when you can, and freeze it yourself. It really doesn’t take that much effort to do.
Don’t waste the vegetable peels – use it to make stock or broth.
I don’t throw out soap bits. I save them and make rebatch soap.

The above are just some of the things we do to try to keep living costs down. There are many other ways to do so. Just have a look around your home today. Where are you wasting? How can you cut back? I gave the above examples because they can be instituted now, no special tools or waiting time needed.

Potato Frittata

This is a quick and easy meal to make for those busy nights, and it won’t break the bank. You can add ingredients such as bacon or sausage if you like, the recipe is very flexible. I have made it with and without the onions, added viennas, bacon and even russian sausages (not all at once!)

Ingredients

500 g medium-large potatoes
6 eggs
handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
60 g Cheese grated
3 tbsp oil
One large onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Peel and chop the potatoes into large cubes.
In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, boil the potatoes for about 5 min, until just tender.
Heat a large pan with the olive oil over medium heat. Fry the onions in the oil until translucent.
Whisk the eggs until well combined, add in chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper.
Drain the potatoes and add them into the bowl with the eggs. Fold in the cheese and lightly mix all ingredients.
Add your mixture to your onions in the frying pan, ensuring the potatoes are spread evenly over the bottom of the pan.
Cover with a lid and cook for 10 min, gently shaking the pan every now and then. When the frittata is easily pulled off from the bottom, is ready to be turned. Using a plate with the same diameter of the frittata, carefully put it on top and flip the frittata on the other side.
Cook on the other side for a further 5-7 min, this time without the lid.
When the frittata is fully cooked, remove from the pan and serve on a large plate.
Store leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days

***If you are afraid to flip the frittata, simply continue to cook it in the oven at 180 degrees Celcius after the first ten minutes. Cook for 10 – 15 minutes, until golden brown.

TWO EASY WAYS TO DEEP CLEAN YOUR PORES – NATURALLY

Pore strips are all the rage these days, but can be pricey. What if you could do it yourself at home, with ingredients you more than likely have on hand? Sounds good, right?

Gelatin is great for skin and bones, and well, everything! Everyone should be consuming gelatin daily to keep joints and skin healthy, but you can also use it outside your body for great skin.

All you need for a pore cleaning mask (or strips) is some gelatin and a dairy product – kefir works best, but yogurt and milk work too. I have even used lemon or orange juice, but it can burn sensitive skin, so be careful. As with anything, please do a skin sensitivity test before using any product. Apply a small amount to your skin, and check for any adverse reactions. If there have been no adverse reactions after 24 hours, it should be safe to use.

Gelatin and dairy skin cleaning mask:

1 tablespoon good quality gelatin

1 ½ tablespoons kefir (or yogurt or milk)

Mix ingredients together. Warm in a small pot, the microwave or in a bowl placed in a warm water bath. Once the gelatin is melted and the mix is cool enough not to burn your skin, apply it with your fingertips, the back of a spoon or anything that works for you. Leave for 10 – 15 minutes, and peel the strips off. Rinse your face with warm water, apply your toner and moisturiser, and you’re good to go!

Egg white pore cleanser:

Whip the white of one egg until it is frothy and light. Apply the white to a section of your skin with a soft paint brush or blusher brusher, place a layer of tissue paper on the section, and paint another layer of egg white over the tissue paper. Continue in this fashion until all problem areas have been covered. Allow the mixture to dry, then peel off the tissue. Rinse your face with warm water, tone and moisturise and you’re done.

**To get best results from any mask, steam your face gently first, in order to open the pores.

Hearty bean soup

Here’s a meal that is warm and filling, and won’t break the bank. More than likely, it will make a second meal – freeze the left overs for some night when you don’t feel like cooking.

You will need:

2 pork chops

1 dry cup of sugar beans (red speckled beans), soaked overnight

Three carrots – grated

One onion, finely chopped or grated

Two – three potatoes (depending on size) grated

One clove of garlic (or one heaped teaspoon crushed garlic)

Two bay leaves

Half a 50g packet tomato paste

Half a teaspoon of basil

Half a teaspoon of thyme

Half a teaspoon origanum

Two beef stock cubes – to taste. (I sometimes find that I need two and a half to three, but for goodness sake, check before adding more!)

Around three litres of water – my pressure cooker holds 4.5 litres, and I use the water to fill the pot once all the ingredients are in.

Here’s the part where your kitchen gadgets come in handy – I normally grate all the vegetables with my food processor, throw everything in my pressure cooker, and when I get home from work, supper is done! For those of you who don’t have a pressure cooker, here are the steps:

Rinse the beans and soak overnight. Alternatively, you can place it in a pot, bring to the boil. Once the pot is boiling, turn off the heat and allow the beans to soak for one hour.
Place grated vegetables and meat in the pot, add water to fill and bring to the boil. Simmer for around two hours, or until the beans are soft and the meat falls from the bones.
Serve with crispy rolls, bread, pita bread or even over mielie pap.

I normally have around two litres of soup left over, so I freeze for another meal.

*** The pork chops can be substituted with beef, or even bacon. Using the pork chops means you can leave out the spek (pork fat) that is traditionally put in this soup. I have found that the soup tastes better with pork, and this is a cheaper meat. Sometimes, when we have some extra, I throw in some bacon for extra taste.

***my mother in law makes this soup by adding oxtail soup when the soup is done and allowing it to simmer for ten minutes. Personally, not a huge fan of oxtail soup, so I leave it out.

***to make the soup more nutritious, I normally use bone broth as my base in place of water, but I realise not everyone has bone broth or uses it.