Category: MOO - The Cheapskates Club

MOO Nutella LCM Bars

5/11/2019

Nutella and marshmallow - what a tasty treat! Buy the hazelnut spread and marshmallows on sale, use generic ricies and make twice the amount for less than half the price!

From the Cheapskates Club No Bake Recipe File

Ingredients:
4 cups Ricies
1 small jar Nutella (or the equivalent brand)
2 x 200g pkts marshmallows
3 tbsp butter

Method:
Grease a 20cm square cake tin. In a large saucepan, on low heat, melt the butter. When the butter has melted add the marshmallows, stirring until they are completely melted. Turn the heat down to very low. Add half the Nutella, stirring until it melts. Add the remaining Nutella and stir until the mixture is smooth and everything has completely melted and combined. Pour in the Ricies and stir until well coated with the marshmallow mixture. Remove from the heat and quickly pour into the prepared cake tin. Press down with wet hands to smooth and firm the mixture. Put in the fridge to set. Once set cut into 20 squares to serve. Store in an air-tight container for 1 week.

Microwave Strawberry Jam

24/10/2019

Ingredients:
500g strawberries, washed, hulled, chopped
1 cup white sugar
1 large lemon, juiced

Method:
Place strawberries into a 3-litre capacity heatproof microwave-safe bowl (such as Pyrex). Add sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Microwave, uncovered, for 4 minutes on High/100%. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Microwave for a further 15 minutes on High/100%, (jam should still be a little runny) or until jam reaches setting point. (see note). Spoon hot jam into hot sterilised jars. Seal. Turn jars upside down for 2 minutes. Turn upright and allow to cool. Once opened, store in the fridge for up to 2 months.

Note: To test jam: before starting the cooking process place two saucers in the freezer. After 15 minutes, take one sauce from the freezer and pour a teaspoon of jam onto the saucer. If the jam sets and stays when the saucer is turned upside down then it is set. If not cook in 5 minutes bursts, checking each time, until setting point is reached.

Use Those Celery Leaves

23/9/2019

MOO Celery Salt!

Use those Celery Leaves! I love celery salt and use it a lot. Instead of discarding the leaves, place them onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in a gentle oven for a few minutes until the leaves are dry and crumbly. When cool mix thoroughly into a small pot of salt. You can use a mortar and pestle if rock salt, or a small grinder if you prefer.

From the Tip Store: Cooking: Ingredients

Rhubarb Champagne

11/1/2019

When you grow rhubarb you understand it's either a feast or a famine. Those pretty red and green stalks can be few and far between while you're waiting for them, as soon as you ignore it, that rhubarb crown will just go beserk.

When this happens in your garden, make Rhubarb Champagne. It's a delicious, slightly fizzy, pretty pink drink that's as easy to make as ginger beer and just as refreshing. And if you grow rhubarb and lemons and make your own apple cider vinegar it is really, really cheap - about $1.00 to make.

Rhubarb Champagne
Ingredients:
5 litres cold water
1 lemon, thinly sliced
3-1/2 cups rhubarb
3-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Step 1. Wash rhubarb and lemon. Don't peel the lemon but slice it thinly. Cut the rhubarb into rough chunks.

Step 2. In a clean and sterilised bucket put the water, apple cider vinegar, sugar, rhubarb and lemon. Sit the bucket in a warm spot on your kitchen bench. Don't put a lid on the bucket, the mixture needs to gather the natural yeasts in the air to start the fermentation process. Leave for 48 hours (no longer or the rhubarb will sour the drink and it will be ruined).

Step 3. On bottling day, wash and sterilise bottles and caps. I use recycled soft drink bottles that have been thoroughly washed and cleaned; you can use cleaned and sterilised wine or beer bottles and caps if you can get them.

Step 4. Strain the rhubarb champagne through a cheesecloth or Chux. Add the rhubarb and lemon to the compost or feed the scraps to your chickens if you have them. Bottle and cap the champagne. Store in a dark cupboard for up to 2 weeks.

The drink is ready in three days - two weeks, depending on how fizzy you like your drinks and of course the weather, it's ready earlier in summer than it is in winter. Chill well before serving.

Makes four 1.25ml bottles of rhubarb champagne.

From the Drinks Recipe File

Easy Pineapple Marinade

3/1/2019

One of my biggest bug bears is wasting food.

When you throw food out, or even put food in the bokashi, you are throwing your money away.

We have pineapple with our salads, and one tin does two meals for the five of us. When I open a tin, I take out the four slices we need, then tip the other slices and juice into a container and put it in the fridge until the next night.

The Aldi pineapple rings in juice are what we like. They are bought in bulk when I replenish the stockpile each year.

After I use the remaining pineapple slices, instead of drinking the juice, or worse, pouring it down the drain, I make a quick marinade with it.

I add a slurp of vegetbable oil, a dash of soy sauce and a pinch of garlic and give it all a shake.

Then I plan chicken for the next night, take it out of the freezer and pour the marinade over. Let it marinate overnight in the fridge and then it can be baked, fried or barbecued.

And nothing is wasted!

Last Minute Christmas Gifts Day 4: Almost Instant Fudge

21/12/2018

We call this Almost Instant Fudge because it's really quick to make and has just two ingredients - yes, just two ingredients.

To present this as a gift I like to repurpose a gift box or a pretty jar. Just recently I picked up Moccona jars for 50 cents each from the op shop, and they are perfect for packaging treats, including fudge and even Grandma's Shortbread

Almost Instant Fudge
Ingredients:
2 packets choc melts
1 tin condensed milk

Method:
Combine the choc melts and the condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl.

Cook on HIGH in 30 second bursts, stirring between each burst, until the chocolate has melted and is completely mixed into the condensed milk.

Pour into a well buttered 20cm square pan. Let set about 10 minutes, then carefully mark into squares. Place in the fridge to set completely.

You can add chopped nuts or dried fruit to the fudge after cooking.

You can also trim the cost by using MOO Condensed Milk.

I buy choc melts on sale all year round and keep them in the freezer ready to use.

Last Minute Christmas Gifts Day 3: Cheapskates Hotcakes Hamper

20/12/2018

This hamper comes complete with the ingredients for MOO Pancake Syrup, MOO Hotcakes and the tip sheets with full recipes in a neat gift hamper making it portable, the ideal gift for the family heading off on holidays.

Cheapskates Hotcakes Hamper
You will need:
Mum's Secret Hotcakes & Moo Pancake Syrup Tip Sheet
Large paper lunch bags
2 x ziplock sandwich bags
1 x 250ml glass bottle with a leak-proof stopper (an old mint sauce bottle is good)
2 cups SR flour
1/4 cup milk powder (skim or full cream)
2 tsp sugar
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
Optional - cast iron pancake pan - from specialty stores, around $5

Instructions:
Print the tip sheets.

Mix the SR flour, powdered milk and sugar together and put into a ziplock bag and label "Hotcake Mix".

Place the brown sugar and vanilla sugar into another ziplock bag and label "Pancake Syrup Mix".

Decorate the front of one paper bag with "Hotcake Mix" and another with "Pancake Syrup".

Decorate a third paper bag with the words "Cheapskates Hotcakes Hamper".

Place the hotcake mix and the pancake mix into this bag along with the small glass bottle.

Fold the tip sheet and slip into the paper bag.

Fold the top of the bag over and staple shut.

Attach a gift tag.

MOO Butter

12/10/2018

MOO Butter
Ingredients:
600ml cream
Pinch salt
1 cup ice cold water

You will need:
A stand mixer, hand mixer or food processor (all will work, the stand mixer and food processor are the easiest to use)
A bowl
A sieve or cheesecloth (I prefer the cheesecloth)

First things first, get your cream. The higher the fat content, the more butter you'll get per litre of cream and the nicer the butter will be, so skip the reduced fat creams and go for a good pure cream, or thickened cream or a full fat whipping cream.

Tip that cream into the bowl of your mixer. You can use a handheld mixer or a food processor - both will turn your cream into butter just as easily as the stand mixer.

Turn the mixer to medium speed and leave it for about 4 - 5 minutes. You'll see the cream thicken, then start to curdle, then you'll notice that it is separating and there will be liquid in the bottom of the bowl. This is the buttermilk. Don't waste it, you can use it in baking in place of milk or water. The creamy, yellow "butter" will be in clumps around the sides of the bowl.

Now you need to get the butter to form one clump and completely separate from the buttermilk. To do this you'll need about 1 cup of ice cold water. I usually put a cup of cold water in the freezer for about half an hour before I start butter making.

Turn the mixer back on and very slowly pour in about a quarter cup of the ice cold water. You'll see all the butter will clump together and there will be even more buttermilk in the bottom of the bowl.

Take a sieve and place it over a bowl. Tip the butter and the buttermilk into the sieve. Now, with clean hands, you need to pick up the clump of butter and gently squeeze. You'll see more buttermilk coming out. Keep squeezing gently, until you can't get any more buttermilk from the butter. The aim is to remove all the buttermilk as the more you can remove the better your butter will keep.

Once you've squeezed all the buttermilk from the butter you're done. You have lovely, fresh, unsalted butter.

To add a little flavour to the butter, stir through a pinch or two of salt. I use a fork to mash the salt into the butter.

Put the butter in a dish and keep it in the fridge for up to eight weeks.

Pour the buttermilk into a jug and it will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge

And there you have it, fresh butter in 20 minutes.

From the September 2017 Cheapskates Journal

Why Won't My Yoghurt Set?

2/10/2018

It's a cry I hear at least once a week.

I wish there were a simple, straightforward answer, but there isn't.

I can give you some hints that will help to ensure you make a successful batch of yoghurt every time.

This is my MOO yoghurt recipe.

To make 1 litre of yoghurt you will need:
A clean 1 litre jar with a screw top lid
A wide mouthed thermos that will hold the jar
2 cups milk powder (either full cream or skim, it’s up to you)
2 tablespoons natural yoghurt (this is the starter)
Cool water (tap water is fine as long as it’s not really cold).

Half fill the jar with cool water, add the milk powder and the 2 tablespoons natural yoghurt. Put
the lid on and shake well to combine. Make sure there are no lumps of milk powder left. Fill the
jar to the top with more water, seal and shake well. Shake it really well, for at least two minutes. You need the starter and the milk powder to completely dissolve.

Place the jar in the thermos. Pour boiling water around the jar until it reaches approximately 2/3
of the way up the sides. Put the lid on the thermos, sealing it tight.

Set aside for 8—12 hours, depending on how thick you like your yoghurt. Once it has reached the
consistency you like, place the jar of yoghurt in the fridge to cool.

If your yoghurt doesn't set:

First off, check your thermos. I have two: Easiyo and Aldi. These thermoses don't seal tightly, but the lid does sit right down on them. If the lid on your thermos doesn't sit right down, it could be leaking the heat needed to set the yoghurt.

Did you use skim or low fat milk powder? Commercial yoghurts have thickener added, that's what makes even the low fat versions "thick and creamy". If you like a thick and creamy yoghurt then full cream milk powder is the answer.

Is your starter old? If you've been saving some of each batch as a starter for the next batch you may find that over time it will weaken and finally just not work. After every five or six batches I suggest you use a fresh bought yoghurt as your starter. If you don't want to eat the leftovers, you can freeze it in ice-cube trays to start other batches.

If your yoghurt isn't as thick as you like after 12 hours don't stress. You can safely leave it to set in the thermos for up to 24 hours. Your yoghurt won't stop thickening until it is chilled.

The weather can play a big part in a good set or a runny fail. Too hot, too cold, too humid can all determine how long and how thick your yoghurt sets. In winter try wrapping the thermos in a towel for extra warmth and then topping up the boiling water every six hours or so.

If your yoghurt doesn't set as thick as you like, don't throw it out and waste it. Use it to replace the liquid in cakes, pancakes, muffins, white sauce or custard or add it to milkshakes or smoothies. .

Don't give up. At less than half the price per kilo of even the cheapest bought yoghurt, it is well worth persevering and fine-tuning your yoghurt making skills.

Make a Cloth Shopping Bag

25/6/2018

Now the supermarket plastic bag ban is in place here in Victoria, shoppers are going crazy trying to decide what they're going to use, not just for the groceries, but for bin liners (that seems to be the biggest re-use of plastic grocery bags).

I've used cloth bags since Aldi opened. Don't get me wrong, I too use plastic bags for bin liners, but the come from other stores (fruit and veg, butcher, department stores) or they're given to me.

I also use cloth bags I've made. They're easy, cheap and usually very sturdy. Buy the calico or denim or homespun on sale, or recycle it from shirts, jeans, skirts, dresses you no longer wear to save money.

You can buy plain calico totes at craft stores, they're not expensive, if you don't think you can make them.

Here are the instructions for a couple of bags I made a couple of years ago. The instructions use bought bags, but by all means make them if you can.

Vintage Rose ToteYou will need:
Calico or plain coloured cotton tote
A picture to fit the tote
Iron-on transfer paper*
Iron
Pillowcase

Step 1. Wash and dry your bag. I like to pre-wash the bags so that if they shrink they'll do so before the transfer is applied. Iron it.

Step 2. Find an image to use as the transfer. I found this image here: http://www.freeprettythingsforyou.com/ Make sure it is going to fit onto your tote. I usually print the image then use it as a template to work out the placement of the actual transfer.

Step 3. Follow the instructions on your transfer paper to print then apply the transfer to your tote.

And voila - in around 30 minutes (more if you can't make up your mind about the image) you have a lovely and unique tote to use or give as a gift for around $6.

This is a tote with an embroidered pocket. I embroidered the piece of fabric for the pocket (it only took a few minutes using the sewing machine) and then attached the pocket to the front of the tote. You'll need a sewing machine with a free arm for this or you'll need to unpick the tote, attach the pocket and re-stitch the seams.

*Spotlight and Lincraft sell iron-on transfer paper, but it's expensive. Buy it on sale (at least 40% off to make it cheap enough). You can also get it at Officeworks, where the packs are bigger, bringing the price per sheet down. Again, wait for a sale if you can. I have found it in some $2 shops too and it seems to be just as good a quality for a fraction of the price.