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Latest Tips & Recipes may 2021

Here you'll find the latest tips and recipes added to the Tip Store and Recipe File during May 2021
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MOO Mouse Baits

​If you can't get rat/mouse bait a MOO alternative is rolled oats with plaster of Paris in paper bags as bait stations. Any food that's appealing to rodents will do.
Contributed by Lisa Norris
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​Satin Haircare

​I picked up a couple of second hand satin pillowcases and rotated them keeping my hair soft and not fly away. Love second hand stores. 
Contributed by Julie Roberts
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​Cut the Cost of Washing Clothes

I started with Cheapskates this year, but my mum was and is a thrifty woman. I made an excel grid and compared my total cost, and cost per wash, the name of the brand of washing powder/ liquid and where I bought it. I was buying Earth Choice liquid at $2 or less a 1 litre bottle (it gets down to $1.49 at Chemist warehouse). Anyway, my results surprised me. Aldi had Laudrite powder (normal price) for 4kg packs for $3.69. I put some in an old ice-cream container with a plastic measure to make sure I didn't add too much. This cleaned the clothes and ended up cheapest. 
Contributed by Ange Legge
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Garden Frames for Plants

​I recently found an old wire clotheshorse on the side of the road in my neighbourhood. A bit rusty in some spots, but I carried it home and stuck it in the garden to use as a frame for my tomatoes to grow up. It's easy to pull out and move around to other plants when the tomatoes are done. I also found a standing wardrobe frame that will do the same job with just a couple of pieces of rope, string or wire added. And even if you don't have a clotheshorse laying around, it is actually cheaper to buy a brand new one (about $6 at Bunnings) than it is to buy a similarly sized plant frame or trellis, and the clotheshorse will allow your plant more room to spread out too, giving you better access to the fruits of the plant, rather than being stuck up against one flat surface.
Contributed by Robyn Thomas
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Saving Fabric Scraps

​I am a quilter. I hate to toss scraps from quilting. I take all of my fabric & batting scraps cut them up in small pieces & toss them in a homemade pillowcase type bag. When the bag is full sew a stitch closing up the bag. This makes a nice soft doggie bed. You can donate to shelters, vet offices or friends with pets. (make sure there are no pins in your pieces) ;)
Contributed by Angie Steele
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Decluttering...again

​When decluttering, one of the questions I ask myself is: if I lost this item in a fire would I be looking for another one??
Contributed by Patricia McCarthy
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Freezer Meals for 1 or 2

​When I cook dinner, I freeze a portion or two in freezer to oven glass containers (I prefer no plastic in microwave). I take these for lunch at work or meal for 1. 
What works best are some of these meals:
Dal and rice (knob of butter)
Spag Bolognese or meatballs
Beef rendang and rice (use an internet recipe)

My Dal recipe:
Use 2 -3 different dals (2 cups total), soak in water about 3 hours or overnight. In pressure cooker, add soaked dal (no water), cover with fresh water at least 2" above level of dal, then add 1 tbsp. cumin seeds, 1 tsp fenugreek seeds, 2 tsp turmeric, 4 large cloves of chopped garlic, 1 tbsp salt. Stir and pressure cook for 10 mins on low after the whistle. If vegan, add Nuttelex when serving, or you can add butter. Cook basmati or jasmine rice.

Portion the dal (once cooled) and rice on top (this way the dal does not splutter in the microwave), tuck in a blob of butter and freeze. When its time to eat, if you can, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and pop in microwave. But you can directly take from freezer and microwave too (just takes longer). You have a lovely hot nourishing healthy inexpensive meal -- ta da!
Contributed by Vaz Deacs
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A Creative Look at Unwanted Food

​In my pantry were two large jars of home made pickled onions that had been there for many years. They were quite sharp in flavour and efforts to fix it didn’t help so they remained uneaten but were surprisingly still crunchy. So I had the idea to turn them into chutney...after all chutney is made usually with onions and vinegar amongst other things . I vaguely used a recipe for mixed fruit chutney, using the chopped pickled onions and the vinegar along with some fruit in the fridge. It turned out to be delicious and is now our favourite chutney....pickled onion chutney, who’d have thought?
Contributed by Jeni Winslow 
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​No Fail Bread

​Ingredients:
400ml water
2 tsp olive oil
4 cups bread mix
2 tsp yeast

Method:
Put in 400ml water, 2 teaspoons olive oil, 4 cups bread mix (I use Laucke white crusty from Coles 10 kg bag for $26) and 2 teaspoons of yeast (included in the bread mix). Put in the machine and switch to 'dough' setting. I find it tastes lighter and better to make the dough into bread in the oven, rather than baking the bread in the machine. After an hour and a half you will have a lovely smooth dough to shape into a large loaf, or bread rolls or pizza bases. Let rise to double in size, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds (as you wish) and bake for 35 minutes at 200 degrees for a loaf, or 25 minutes for rolls.
Contributed by hallam20
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​Giving Older/Old Laminex Some Lustre

​The older and nearly past it laminex quandary. What will bring a bit of lustre back to such a faithful old servant bench top?

No shine left at all now, no barrier to stains any more. 

So didn't want to spend money trying to find something that would work. Too hit or miss. Out into the garage looking for a more industrial strength product that just might already be bought and paid for in stock. 

Armor All car products! No experience with them myself yet so far the finish is building up beautifully. Good enough for the car good enough for my bench. Right! 
Contributed by Carol Ryan
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​Anylist Menu Planning

​I have just come across an APP for IOS, Android and also Web Based. The App is called "Anylists" . The beauty of this app is you can enter recipes recording all ingredients , how to prepare and cook. Also generates menu plans which is simple all you have to do is select the date range and select the recipes, bingo a. Shopping lists-, is generated. Also with the Anylist web browser extension you could be browsing a recipe on the web and with a click on the web browser extension that recipe you were looking at , is on your Anylist app. There is an annual of $US 9.99 or $14.99. Well worth the money 
Contributed by Gregory Johnson
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​MOO Distilled Water and Save Thousands

​With three CPAP users in our extended family using 8-10 litres of distilled water each week at $2 a litre the cost was substantial.

We bought a water distiller from eBay at a cost of $75 with free shipping. It makes 4 litres at a time. Now we run it overnight a couple of times a week. It paid itself off within the first month and has been going strong for 4 years now. Over a year it saves us a whopping $1000 which we can spend elsewhere.

We also use the water in our expensive steam station iron which will prolong it’s life.
Contributed by Theresa Jones
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​Plastic Bag "Disposal"

Re-use and Repurpose are always preferable options to Recycle.

For years, I have been using plastic bags of all kinds to stuff draught excluders I make for older homes. I like a really thick door sausage as the gaps under the doors in older houses can be significant.

I make the cover from remnant furnishing fabrics (e.g. discarded fabric sample books or offcuts) then pack tightly with plastic bags such as those from the supermarket, clean bread bags, postage packs etc.

These days they take a little longer to fill up but it's a great way to keep the draughts out and reduce the impact on the atmosphere that the recycling process creates.

They could be stuffed with unwanted fabric or linen etc. but the plastic filling is resistant to any dampness that can be a nuisance in older homes too.

The sausages do stay in place but move readily when you open the door without getting jammed underneath.
Contributed by Delaney Avenel
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​Start a Non-Food Stockpile

I've been binge watching Cath's You Tube shows and one that really resonated with me, especially after the last year or so, is that there are different types of stockpiles. Huh! In my mind my stockpile was the pantry in the kitchen full of food. It is, all bought either on half-price or a decent sale thanks to Cath's advice, but I never though about other pantries. I made a list on my phone for each non-food stockpile.  Now each fortnight I have something on the list for the non-food stockpiles. The first thing I added was a torch, on sale of course. Then batteries - no point in having a torch without batteries. Then old fashioned matches. Then my supermarket had oven bags on clearance so I bought the lot - 30c a box who wouldn't! So far I've been able to build up the first-aid stockpile, the cleaning stockpile and even added to the garden stockpile, without spending more than my budget too. Little by little my non-food stockpiles are building and I find I'm not worried if we go into another lockdown or one of the kids gets sick or something else happens and I can't get to the shops. Peace of mind, on budget, for "life's little emergencies".
Contributed by Georgie Menzies
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​Best Barbecue Meatloaf

​Ingredients:
600g lean beef mince
600g sausage mince
1 cup fine, fresh breadcrumbs
2 medium brown onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups barbecue sauce

Method:
Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Combine the beef mince, sausage mince, breadcrumbs, onions, curry powder, parsley, garlic and egg in a large bowl. Mix well. Mix milk and water and add to the meat mixture a bit at a time until it is smooth but firm. You may not need to use all the milk mixture. Shape mixture into a loaf shape and place into a greased loaf tin. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully drain the fat off the meatloaf. Pour 1 cup of the barbecue sauce over the meatloaf and return to the oven. Bake a further 45 minutes, basting with the remaining barbecue sauce every 10 minutes. Serve hot or cold.
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​Soap, Soap and More Soap!

​My little bit of luxurious expense is when I do my big shop which is about every 8 to 10 weeks (I live rurally), Instead of treating myself to a takeaway lunch, I make lunch and with the money saved buy a couple of up market soaps or body soap wash in my favourite smell that are on special. It gives me that added pleasure in the shower which is also 'me' time. 
Contributed by Sally Coverdale
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How to Unblock a Toilet the Easy Way

​Give a very generous squirt with dishwashing detergent in the water bowl, this loosen things in the pipes then pour a bucket of hot water down the toilet; leave it for about 20 minutes. If it is not completely cleared, don’t flush it, just grab another bucket of hot water pour down the bowl and wait then it just flushes away, I found it on YouTube, it actually works and I’m so happy now I don’t have to call a plumber. Just thought I would let you know in case it could help someone else. Here’s the link to where I found how to unblock mine https://youtu.be/ddWHeXSxHlo
Contributed by Rosalie Baker
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  • Home
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    • Current Forum Discussions
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  • Inspiration
    • Getting Started
    • Handmade Christmas Central >
      • Handmade Christmas 2025 is about to start
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    • Back to Basics >
      • Back to Basics
      • Back to Basics Index
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    • $300 a Month Food Challenge >
      • $300 a Month Food Challenge
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