Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 14:23
In This Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. From the Tip Store - The Budget Pantry Do-Over; Getting Rid of Pantry Moths; Use Your Freezer for More than Storing Frozen Food
3. Share Your Tips
4. On the Menu - Hummingbird Cake
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Making the Most of Scraps
6. The Weekly MOO Challenge - MOO Convenience Foods
7. Cheapskates Buzz
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
9. The Handmade Christmas Challenge
10. Join the Cheapskates Club
11. Frequently Asked Questions
12. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
It is Easter weekend. I'm looking forward to four days of quiet and peace, time to think and plan and enjoy family and friends.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend, however and wherever you celebrate.
Have a great week everyone.
PS: Love our site? We love referrals! Send a note to your favourite newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations, friends and relatives, and tell them about us!
2. From The Tip Store
The Budget Pantry Do-Over
I recently redid my whole pantry...reorganizing, naming, etc. I found pantry packs at K-Mart that look exactly like the Tupperware pantry packs that I remember. I then put my flours, coconuts, sugars, cooking salt, bi-carb. soda, etc into these and named them. They come in different sizes but stack very neatly on each other. I then bought other various plastic containers with lids and grouped items together e.g., pastas, rices, cooking chocolate and lollies, spices, sweet biscuits, savoury biscuits, school/work snacks, etc, etc. It really depends what's in your pantry and what you use. Nothing gets 'lost' in the back of the pantry now and I also have more space.
Contributed by Karen
Getting Rid of Pantry Moths
With this unpredictable weather it seems pantry moths are in abundance. To keep them under control, I usually buy the triangular box with sticky inside however they cost $10 - $15 a packet. Although having one in the pantry it's not working. I've been manually wiping a cloth over the moths to kill them when I see one. My pantry is a triangular shape making it hard to reach into corners. The other day while I was in Woolworths I saw a set of 2 fly swatters for $2. I thought I would give it a go. It's great. I hit the moth straight away and the fly swats are long enough to reach into the corners. All for $2
Contributed by Connie
Use Your Freezer for More than Storing Frozen Food
I store my flour, breadcrumbs, powdered milk, oats, polenta, bread flour or any other pantry item that might attract weevils or just to extend its shelf life in the freezer. I also keep my grated cheese in the freezer. When lemons are cheap I buy in bulk, juice and freeze in ice cube trays, then pop them out when hard and store in a plastic container in the freezer. Do the same with herbs, so you always have them on hand.
Contributed by Joanne
Editor's note: All dry goods that come into our home go into the freezer for at least seven days. If there's room in the freezer and the food isn't needed in the pantry then I just leave it there until I either need the freezer space or to transfer the food to the pantry. It's a simple thing to do and helps to keep the kitchen weevil and moth free. Cath
There are more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
Add a Tip
3. Share Your Tips
The Cheapskate's Club website is thousands of pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. There are over 12,000 tips to save you money, time and energy; 1,600 budget and family friendly recipes, hundreds of printable tip sheets and ebooks.
Let's get together and make the Cheapskates Club Australia's largest online hint, tip and idea library. Share your favourite money saving, time saving or energy saving hint and be in the running to win a one-year membership to The Cheapskate Club.
Share your favourite hint or tip that saves money, time and energy and be in the running to win a one-year subscription to The Cheapskate Journal.
Remember, you have to be in it to win it!
Share Your Tip
4. On The Menu
Hummingbird Cake
This is an Easter tradition in our family, a lovely, luscious Hummingbird Cake for dessert on Easter Sunday. I top it with cream cheese frosting and decorate it with tiny chocolate and candy Easter eggs and there are always empty plates and big, contented smiles after it's eaten.
Hummingbird Cake
Ingredients:
3 cups plain flour, sifted
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
250g crushed pineapple, undrained
2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts, divided
2 cups diced bananas (about 3 regular bananas)
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Prepare three 22cm round cake tins by greasing well, lining the base with baking paper and flouring the sides. Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl; add eggs and oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not beat. Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup chopped nuts and bananas. Spoon batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes; cool in pans 10 minutes then turn out onto cake racks to cool completely. Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with 1 cup chopped nuts.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
250g cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
500g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method:
Combine cream cheese and butter; beat until smooth. Add icing sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.
Store this cake in the fridge as it has cream cheese frosting. Let it come to room temperature to serve.
Next week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: Meat pie, veggies
Tuesday: Lasagne Rolls, salad
Wednesday: Chicken broccoli stir fry
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Spanish Rice
Saturday: Baked BBQ Chicken sandwiches
There are over 1,800 budget and family friendly recipes in the Cheapskates Club Recipe File, all contributed by your fellow Cheapskates, so you know they're good.
Add A Recipe
Recipe File Index
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge
Making the Most of Scraps
We all have them, no matter how hard we try not to: scraps.
They could be veggie peelings or bread ends or jars that look empty but really aren't.
And all those things cost us money, so finding ways to use them up and not wasting them just makes sense.
We all know to turn stale bread or bread crusts into crumbs.
And to save the veggie peelings in the freezer to make stock. But did you know you can dehydrate onion skins and powder them? Then you have the most amazing onion powder to use in your cooking.
And everyone knows to use a rubber or silicone spatula to scrape out the peanut butter jar and the Vegemite jar to use every last bit. Or add a little hot water to them, give them a shake and use it as the base for a gravy or sauce.
I'm pretty sure every Cheapskater turns the cream bottle and the sauce bottle upside down to use it all.
But what other "scraps" can we use up? After all we paid good money for whatever it is, so we should be using it all.
Foil - wipe it over and use it again and again. Ditto baking paper - I reuse baking paper until it crumbles when I touch it. Plastic bags get washed, dried and used over and over and over.
I dilute just about everything to stretch it, but I still turn the bottle or jar upside down to make sure every last drop is used. This works for shampoo and conditioner, dishwashing liquid, laundry liquid, liquid cleaners.
It just make sense to use everything until it can't be used anymore.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge Forum
The Post that Started it All
6. The Weekly MOO Challenge
MOO Convenience Foods
We love ready-made foods for their convenience. This Shake'n'Bake coating is one my favourite homemade versions of a ready-made convenience food. It's perfect for coating chicken pieces, lamb cutlets, sausages, fish cakes, in fact just about anything that requires a coating. You can bake in the oven or fry in a pan sprayed with cooking spray (there is oil in the mix). I’m sure you’ll love the convenience and the price.
Shake’n’Bake Coating
Ingredients:
4 cups plain flour
20 weetbix, crushed*
2 tbsp salt
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
3 tbsp sweet paprika
1/4 cup olive oil
Method:
Process weetbix in a food processor until fine crumbs. Add to other ingredients and using your hands mix thoroughly. Store in container in fridge. This lasts almost indefinitely. To use dip food pieces in beaten egg, milk, yoghurt etc and then dip rissoles, chicken pieces, sausages, cauliflower and broccoli florets etc just as you would use breadcrumbs. Bake in a moderate oven until the food is cooked through or fry in a pan coated with cooking spray.
*I've been making this for so many years, over 25, that these days I use whatever cracker type crumbs we have and mix them with the Weet-bix crumbs (and yes, I count out 20 weet-bix!). When a packet of crackers or plain cereal is finished, I tip the dregs in the bottom of the container into another Tupperware container. When there is enough I make a batch of Shake'n'Bake
Get in on the fun and discussions here.
7. Cheapskates Buzz
From The Article Archive
How to Build Your Stockpile
How to Keep your Pantry Organized
How to Stock Your Pantry
This Week's Hot Forum Topics
Dehydrating for Shelf Stable Food Storage
Getting Rid of a Pesky Possum
Going Lower and Living our Best Lives
Latest Tips
MOO Honey Peanut Butter
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
Join Cath and Hannah live Tuesdays and Thursdays on You Tube at 7.30pm AET
Latest Shows
1. Cath's Corner
2. From the Tip Store - The Budget Pantry Do-Over; Getting Rid of Pantry Moths; Use Your Freezer for More than Storing Frozen Food
3. Share Your Tips
4. On the Menu - Hummingbird Cake
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Making the Most of Scraps
6. The Weekly MOO Challenge - MOO Convenience Foods
7. Cheapskates Buzz
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
9. The Handmade Christmas Challenge
10. Join the Cheapskates Club
11. Frequently Asked Questions
12. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
It is Easter weekend. I'm looking forward to four days of quiet and peace, time to think and plan and enjoy family and friends.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend, however and wherever you celebrate.
Have a great week everyone.
PS: Love our site? We love referrals! Send a note to your favourite newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations, friends and relatives, and tell them about us!
2. From The Tip Store
The Budget Pantry Do-Over
I recently redid my whole pantry...reorganizing, naming, etc. I found pantry packs at K-Mart that look exactly like the Tupperware pantry packs that I remember. I then put my flours, coconuts, sugars, cooking salt, bi-carb. soda, etc into these and named them. They come in different sizes but stack very neatly on each other. I then bought other various plastic containers with lids and grouped items together e.g., pastas, rices, cooking chocolate and lollies, spices, sweet biscuits, savoury biscuits, school/work snacks, etc, etc. It really depends what's in your pantry and what you use. Nothing gets 'lost' in the back of the pantry now and I also have more space.
Contributed by Karen
Getting Rid of Pantry Moths
With this unpredictable weather it seems pantry moths are in abundance. To keep them under control, I usually buy the triangular box with sticky inside however they cost $10 - $15 a packet. Although having one in the pantry it's not working. I've been manually wiping a cloth over the moths to kill them when I see one. My pantry is a triangular shape making it hard to reach into corners. The other day while I was in Woolworths I saw a set of 2 fly swatters for $2. I thought I would give it a go. It's great. I hit the moth straight away and the fly swats are long enough to reach into the corners. All for $2
Contributed by Connie
Use Your Freezer for More than Storing Frozen Food
I store my flour, breadcrumbs, powdered milk, oats, polenta, bread flour or any other pantry item that might attract weevils or just to extend its shelf life in the freezer. I also keep my grated cheese in the freezer. When lemons are cheap I buy in bulk, juice and freeze in ice cube trays, then pop them out when hard and store in a plastic container in the freezer. Do the same with herbs, so you always have them on hand.
Contributed by Joanne
Editor's note: All dry goods that come into our home go into the freezer for at least seven days. If there's room in the freezer and the food isn't needed in the pantry then I just leave it there until I either need the freezer space or to transfer the food to the pantry. It's a simple thing to do and helps to keep the kitchen weevil and moth free. Cath
There are more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
Add a Tip
3. Share Your Tips
The Cheapskate's Club website is thousands of pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. There are over 12,000 tips to save you money, time and energy; 1,600 budget and family friendly recipes, hundreds of printable tip sheets and ebooks.
Let's get together and make the Cheapskates Club Australia's largest online hint, tip and idea library. Share your favourite money saving, time saving or energy saving hint and be in the running to win a one-year membership to The Cheapskate Club.
Share your favourite hint or tip that saves money, time and energy and be in the running to win a one-year subscription to The Cheapskate Journal.
Remember, you have to be in it to win it!
Share Your Tip
4. On The Menu
Hummingbird Cake
This is an Easter tradition in our family, a lovely, luscious Hummingbird Cake for dessert on Easter Sunday. I top it with cream cheese frosting and decorate it with tiny chocolate and candy Easter eggs and there are always empty plates and big, contented smiles after it's eaten.
Hummingbird Cake
Ingredients:
3 cups plain flour, sifted
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
250g crushed pineapple, undrained
2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts, divided
2 cups diced bananas (about 3 regular bananas)
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Prepare three 22cm round cake tins by greasing well, lining the base with baking paper and flouring the sides. Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl; add eggs and oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not beat. Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup chopped nuts and bananas. Spoon batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes; cool in pans 10 minutes then turn out onto cake racks to cool completely. Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with 1 cup chopped nuts.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
250g cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
500g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method:
Combine cream cheese and butter; beat until smooth. Add icing sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.
Store this cake in the fridge as it has cream cheese frosting. Let it come to room temperature to serve.
Next week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: Meat pie, veggies
Tuesday: Lasagne Rolls, salad
Wednesday: Chicken broccoli stir fry
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Spanish Rice
Saturday: Baked BBQ Chicken sandwiches
There are over 1,800 budget and family friendly recipes in the Cheapskates Club Recipe File, all contributed by your fellow Cheapskates, so you know they're good.
Add A Recipe
Recipe File Index
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge
Making the Most of Scraps
We all have them, no matter how hard we try not to: scraps.
They could be veggie peelings or bread ends or jars that look empty but really aren't.
And all those things cost us money, so finding ways to use them up and not wasting them just makes sense.
We all know to turn stale bread or bread crusts into crumbs.
And to save the veggie peelings in the freezer to make stock. But did you know you can dehydrate onion skins and powder them? Then you have the most amazing onion powder to use in your cooking.
And everyone knows to use a rubber or silicone spatula to scrape out the peanut butter jar and the Vegemite jar to use every last bit. Or add a little hot water to them, give them a shake and use it as the base for a gravy or sauce.
I'm pretty sure every Cheapskater turns the cream bottle and the sauce bottle upside down to use it all.
But what other "scraps" can we use up? After all we paid good money for whatever it is, so we should be using it all.
Foil - wipe it over and use it again and again. Ditto baking paper - I reuse baking paper until it crumbles when I touch it. Plastic bags get washed, dried and used over and over and over.
I dilute just about everything to stretch it, but I still turn the bottle or jar upside down to make sure every last drop is used. This works for shampoo and conditioner, dishwashing liquid, laundry liquid, liquid cleaners.
It just make sense to use everything until it can't be used anymore.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge Forum
The Post that Started it All
6. The Weekly MOO Challenge
MOO Convenience Foods
We love ready-made foods for their convenience. This Shake'n'Bake coating is one my favourite homemade versions of a ready-made convenience food. It's perfect for coating chicken pieces, lamb cutlets, sausages, fish cakes, in fact just about anything that requires a coating. You can bake in the oven or fry in a pan sprayed with cooking spray (there is oil in the mix). I’m sure you’ll love the convenience and the price.
Shake’n’Bake Coating
Ingredients:
4 cups plain flour
20 weetbix, crushed*
2 tbsp salt
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
3 tbsp sweet paprika
1/4 cup olive oil
Method:
Process weetbix in a food processor until fine crumbs. Add to other ingredients and using your hands mix thoroughly. Store in container in fridge. This lasts almost indefinitely. To use dip food pieces in beaten egg, milk, yoghurt etc and then dip rissoles, chicken pieces, sausages, cauliflower and broccoli florets etc just as you would use breadcrumbs. Bake in a moderate oven until the food is cooked through or fry in a pan coated with cooking spray.
*I've been making this for so many years, over 25, that these days I use whatever cracker type crumbs we have and mix them with the Weet-bix crumbs (and yes, I count out 20 weet-bix!). When a packet of crackers or plain cereal is finished, I tip the dregs in the bottom of the container into another Tupperware container. When there is enough I make a batch of Shake'n'Bake
Get in on the fun and discussions here.
7. Cheapskates Buzz
From The Article Archive
How to Build Your Stockpile
How to Keep your Pantry Organized
How to Stock Your Pantry
This Week's Hot Forum Topics
Dehydrating for Shelf Stable Food Storage
Getting Rid of a Pesky Possum
Going Lower and Living our Best Lives
Latest Tips
MOO Honey Peanut Butter
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
Join Cath and Hannah live Tuesdays and Thursdays on You Tube at 7.30pm AET
Latest Shows
9. Handmade Christmas Challenge
Week 13
Last week I was gifted some beautiful yarn, and straight away my mind was racing with ideas on how to use it up.
I decided to use it to knit fingerless gloves for a charity project.
Out came the needles and my pattern and I've started knitting fingerless gloves. That should keep me busy for the weekend. And if I get enough done for the project, I might add some to the present box for winter birthdays. I'll see how I go.
How is your challenge going? Are you adding things to your present box? Is your gift to do list shrining?
Don't forget to check in for our Make It Monday show and tell over at Cheapskates Chatter, we'd love to see what you've made.
Handmade Christmas Central
The Handmade Christmas Forum
10. Join The Cheapskates Club
For just $20 you can join the Cheapskates Club and get exclusive access to the Cheapskate Journal, the monthly e-journal that shows you how to cut the costs of everyday living and still have fun for a full year.
That's unlimited 24/7 access to EVERYTHING in the Member's Centre!
Click here to join the Cheapskates Club today!
11. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. When you login to the Member's Centre just click on your name at the top of the page to go straight to your profile page where you can update your details, change your password and find your subscription details.
Not a Cheapskates Club member? Then please use the Changing Details form found here to update your email address.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
Memberships are active for one year from the date of joining. You will be sent a renewal reminder before your subscription is due to renew. You can also find your membership expiry date on your profile page.
When you login to the Member's Centre just click on your name to go straight to your profile page where you can will find your join date and your expiry date.
What will you do with my email address?
We never rent, trade or sell our email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever. You'll never get an unsolicited email from a stranger as a result of joining this list.
How did I get on this list?
The only way you can get onto our newsletter mailing list is to subscribe yourself. You either signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member.
12. Contact Cheapskates
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
PO Box 5077 Studfield Vic 3152
Contact Cheapskates
Week 13
Last week I was gifted some beautiful yarn, and straight away my mind was racing with ideas on how to use it up.
I decided to use it to knit fingerless gloves for a charity project.
Out came the needles and my pattern and I've started knitting fingerless gloves. That should keep me busy for the weekend. And if I get enough done for the project, I might add some to the present box for winter birthdays. I'll see how I go.
How is your challenge going? Are you adding things to your present box? Is your gift to do list shrining?
Don't forget to check in for our Make It Monday show and tell over at Cheapskates Chatter, we'd love to see what you've made.
Handmade Christmas Central
The Handmade Christmas Forum
10. Join The Cheapskates Club
For just $20 you can join the Cheapskates Club and get exclusive access to the Cheapskate Journal, the monthly e-journal that shows you how to cut the costs of everyday living and still have fun for a full year.
That's unlimited 24/7 access to EVERYTHING in the Member's Centre!
Click here to join the Cheapskates Club today!
11. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. When you login to the Member's Centre just click on your name at the top of the page to go straight to your profile page where you can update your details, change your password and find your subscription details.
Not a Cheapskates Club member? Then please use the Changing Details form found here to update your email address.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
Memberships are active for one year from the date of joining. You will be sent a renewal reminder before your subscription is due to renew. You can also find your membership expiry date on your profile page.
When you login to the Member's Centre just click on your name to go straight to your profile page where you can will find your join date and your expiry date.
What will you do with my email address?
We never rent, trade or sell our email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever. You'll never get an unsolicited email from a stranger as a result of joining this list.
How did I get on this list?
The only way you can get onto our newsletter mailing list is to subscribe yourself. You either signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member.
12. Contact Cheapskates
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
PO Box 5077 Studfield Vic 3152
Contact Cheapskates