Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 20:18
In this Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - ACCEPT Menu Planning; No Plastic Bin Liners; Dish Rinsing in a Bucket - How to Have Three Sinks in Two
3. Share Your Tips - Have a great money, time or energy saving idea? Share it here.
4. On the Menu - Breakfast Tacos
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - What Happens on Shopping Day
6. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
7. This Week's Question - My yoghurt is runny!
8. Ask Cath - Do have a question for Cath? Ask it here!
9. Join the Cheapskates Club
10. Frequently Asked Questions
11. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
We are in Cairns! And enjoying the warmth; after Melbourne's frosty mornings it is just lovely.
It never fails to amaze me that I can stay in touch with you, even though I'm sitting on a chair under the trees, just enjoying everything. Sometimes I just love technology (don't feint, there are times it still muddles technologically challenged me).
Next week I'll probably be writing to you from Bamaga, although that depends on what we find on our travels when we leave here. The adventure beckons, and I can't wait to see where it takes us.
Have a great week everyone.
Happy Cheapskating,
Cath
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
ACCEPT Menu Planning
When meal planning as most of us do - I do an inventory of my fridge, freezer and cupboard first. Then when deciding what my meals will be for the fortnight I utilise what I call my ACCEPT strategy. I find that this allows for a balanced diet but also helps to keep the cost of each meal down. I aim to have at least 6 meals at $5-6 and the rest under $10 to feed a family of 5.
A - Anything. I allow two nights per fortnight, usually towards the end of the fortnight to use up any leftovers or anything that looks like its getting close to its used by date. Basically making something out of nothing. These are my "free" meals.
C - Chicken/Fish Dish. I generally use a lot of chicken as it is cheap so is often used in my budget meals as well. Fresh fish is limited to once a fortnight as it can be quite expensive but I do include tinned tuna in my meal planning.
C - Cheap or budget meals. I love recipes from 4 ingredient cookbooks, student cookbooks, leftover grub cookbooks and school cookbooks as these only require minimal ingredients which helps to keep the costs down. I often include roast lamb or beef in this category, as it provides us with several meals throughout the fortnight - think meat patties, souvlaki and pies.
Eggs - Egg dishes are frugal not to mention good for you. I include 4 egg dishes such as - quiche, bacon & egg toasted wraps and bacon & egg salad.
P - Pasta. My pasta dishes can be incorporated into several categories such my Anything meals, Cheap meals or Chicken/Fish meals. It also helps to bulk out a meal.
T - Takeaway. I plan these meals for Friday and Saturday nights and this is where we get most of our iron rich red meat from. Takeaway night includes meals such as hamburgers, souvlakis, fried rice, wraps, Mexican and other mince recipes.
This strategy makes it so much easier to plan my meals and helps me to save money on our grocery bill.
Contributed by C Briggs
No Plastic Bin Liners
In my effort to reduce, recycle and reuse I now do not buy any bin liners for my general waste rubbish. I use an old pillow case to line the smaller one and have made a larger one for the bigger bin (basically the same size as the purchased black bin liners) out of an old sheet. I am fussy anyway about putting no dustpan dirt into them (into the compost with that). The liners are easy to empty into the roadside bin and easier to wash than washing out the bin from time to time. I experimented with using no liners but found it annoying to have to wash out with hot water and dry.
Contributed by Anne Wilson
Dish Rinsing in a Bucket - How to Have Three Sinks in Two
When I wash my dishes by hand, I insist on having a clean, hot rinse - I'm just not satisfied with the cleanliness of the dishes without it. Thankfully many kitchens have double sinks for rinsing, but when dishes have been soaked, having both sinks full of water leaves nowhere to tip out the soaking water (which is not always suitable for grey water). Rinsing by tap into the washing water ends up over-filling the main sink unless you only have a few dishes to wash.
So instead of filling the second sink, I simply place a laundry bucket in it, and fill that with clean rinsing water. I can tip out soaking water beside the bucket.
The bucket also makes it easy to take the rinsing water out as grey water afterwards.
Using a bucket would also work if you have a single sink, but enough bench space by it to place both the bucket and the dish rack. My house has dish racks with trays underneath to catch drips, so the racks can go on the bench too.
Personally I like a square-ish mop bucket for my rinsing water, but round is fine as long as your dishes can fit in it.
Contributed by Gabrielle Angelico
There are currently more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Submit Your Tip
The Cheapskate's Club website is over 3,000 pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. 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. We publish a Winning Tip each Thursday, so enter your great money, time or energy saving idea now.
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!
Submit your tip
4. On the Menu
Breakfast Tacos
This breakfast seems like a lot of work, but the taco shells only take a minute to put together and just five minutes to cook. They are delicious and a great way to get anyone not interested in breakfast happily eating.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
4 flour tortillas
1 tbsp of butter, melted
2 cups vanilla yoghurt
2 bananas, peeled and sliced
1 punnet strawberries, halved
Method:
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
Wad four sheets of foil into 10cm balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet.
Combine the sugar and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl.
Brush the 4 tortillas on one side with the melted butter and sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Form the tortillas butter side down on the foil and press to resemble taco shells.
Bake the tortillas for 5 minutes or until just beginning to crisp.
Fill each tortilla with 1/2 cup of the yoghurt.
Layer the bananas and strawberries over the top of the yoghurt.
Notes: If you have a pie maker, use it to make the taco shells. Press the tortillas buttered side down into the base of the pie maker, close the lid and cook for 1 - 2 minutes. Check them after a couple of minutes because the time to crisp them will differ from pie maker to pie maker.
I use whatever fruit we have in these. Leftover fruit salad, drained, is good. Thawed frozen blueberries or mixed berries are also delicious.
You can skip the cinnamon sugar step if you want to cut down on the sugar.
The shells can be made the night before, and kept in an air-tight container to save time in the morning.
Oh, and use ice-cream with a dollop of yoghurt and topped with the fruit, then drizzle with melted chocolate for a fun dessert on special occasions.
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: Tuna surprise
Tuesday: Spaghetti Bolognese, salad
Wednesday: Sweet & Sour chicken, fried rice
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Cream cheese rissoles, salad
Saturday: Muffin Surprise
In the fruit bowl: oranges, mandarins
In the cake tin: Lunchbox Cookies
There are over 1,600 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge
What Happens on Shopping Day
I'm a little OCD when it comes to my grocery shopping. I use my green bags, I have dozens of the jolly things.
My shopping list is written in store aisle order. I had to rewrite it when Aldi updated the store layout - and I much preferred the older layout, with like items together.
As I casually stroll around the store, I add items to the trolley in the order they'll go onto the conveyor at the check-out.
I put things on the checkout belt in the order I want them packed, which is the order I put them away when I get home (told you I was a little OCD).
I also put a good space between each group so there is no stretching to pack the wrong way. I also ask them not to if I see it happen, I've never had anyone grumble yet. Most older women on the checkouts understand the method in my madness and just chat about it as they scan.
I put out in order:
1. heavy boxes (soft drink when I buy it etc.) stay in the trolley - the bar code can either be scanned or typed in
2. all cleaning supplies (Lectric soda, laundry soap etc)
3. toiletries
4. any tins or cans
5. any packets (flour/sugar/dried fruit etc)
6. fruit and veg
7. meat/poultry
8. fridge items - milk, cheese, cream etc
Then they are stacked in the trolley in that order and put into the car in reverse order so that I take the no. 1 items out first, leaving the no. 8, 7 and 6 items the last onto the kitchen table and the first to be put away.
Again, I told you I was a little OCD.
The woman behind me in Aldi a couple of weeks ago tapped me on the shoulder and commented that she was relieved to see someone else who was as OCD about laying out the shopping as she was.
We then went on to have a nice chat about how easy it makes doing the shopping and she mentioned how it was easy to make sure she had everything on her list so she didn't have to come back later "because she'd come in for a jar of honey and leave with $60 of groceries".
So how does this help me stick to my $300 a month grocery challenge?
Firstly it means I can see at a glance that I have everything on my shopping list - no need to worry about forgetting something, and having to go back to the shops.
It means that I can do a 4 - 6 week shop and have it all put away in about 25 - 30 minutes because I pick up the fridge bag and put everything in the fridge - no making multiple trips to table, fridge, pantry, freezer etc. Then the bag with the meat is dealt with; next the fruit and veg is prepped and put away. These are the urgent items and once they've been put away everything else gets done.
And having a full pantry, fridge and freezer means we can stick to the meal plan and avoid take-away temptation.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
6. Cheapskates Buzz
Most popular forum posts this week
What Can I Make with this Lemon Butter?
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?1016-What-can-I-make-with-this-lemon-butter
Things I'v Been Learning About Shopping as a Relative Newbie
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2647-Things-I-vbeen-learning-about-shopping-as-a-relative-newbie-...
Shopping Confessions of a Cheapskate Newbie
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2497-Shopping-confessions-of-a-cheapskate-newbie
Most popular blog posts this week
How We are Going to Live on a (Really) Tight Budget
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/11/how-we-are-going-to-live-on-really.html
How to Find Your Ideal Grocery Budget
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/08/im-often-asked-about-grocery-budgets.html
Proof of Prices When Shopping
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/11/proof-of-prices-when-shopping.html
7. This Week's Question
Q. I am writing re the MOO yoghurt recipe. It doesn't set! I have made it three times now, using full cream good quality milk powder and natural yogurt, and still it is just like drinking yoghurt after 12-14 hours. I use about 2 litres of yoghurt a week, so the homemade one would be a Godsend, but as it is, it is useless in a semi liquid form. What am I doing or not doing wrong please. I followed the ingredients and method exactly and still not yoghurt. I have the Easiyo thermos and jar as I do use the powdered form that they sell in the supermarket, but want to make my own from scratch! Hope you can help me Cath. KB
A. There are a few things that could be causing runny yoghurt:
1. The water you mix the starter and milk powder with is too cold. Make sure it is warm - blood temperature is ideal.
2. Not enough natural yoghurt as the starter - if this is from a previous batch of made yoghurt (Easiyo or MOO) then it may be stale and time to buy a new starter. A 200ml tub of natural yoghurt should do the trick. On that note - is the natural yoghurt you use really natural yoghurt? Check the ingredients - it shouldn't have any thickeners etc in it - try Greek yoghurt. Also it could be the milk powder - check the fat content of the milk powder - skim milk powder will always make a thinner yoghurt, a good full-cream milk powder will make a nice thick yoghurt. You can always add a little more milk powder.
3. Not enough boiling water in the thermos.
4. Water in the thermos isn't boiling - pour it in as soon as the kettle has finished boiling and put the lid on straight away. Make sure the lid to the thermos is on tight.
At this time of year yoghurt should set in 8 - 10 hours on the kitchen bench.
There is a PS to this question. KB emailed me with this reply to my suggestions:
"Dear Cath, thank you so much for your reply to my query re the runny Cheapskates yoghurt, I made a pot last night, and hey hey, perfect this morning! Thick and delicious, we ate nearly the whole kilo - we being my husband and myself - I will definitely be making our own yogurt from now on."
8. Ask Cath
We have lots of resources to help you as you live the Cheapskates way but if you didn't find the answer to your question in our extensive archives please just drop me a note with your question.
I read and answer all questions, either in an email to you, in my weekly newsletter, the monthly Journal or by creating blog posts and other resources to help you (and other Cheapskaters).
Ask Your Question
9. Join the Cheapskates Club
For just 10 cents a day 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.
Joining the Cheapskates Club gives you 24/7 access to the Members Centre with 1000's of money saving tips and articles.
Click here to join the Cheapskates Club today!
10. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. Members can update their email address or any other details by clicking on "Edit Profile" directly under their membership number after they have logged in to the Member's Centre. Subscribers to our free newsletter can use the Change Your Address form (under Customer Service in the menu) and fill it out. Once you've filled it in click the send button and we'll do the rest. Please remember to include your old email address so we can find it in the list as well as the new one.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
When you login to the Member's Centre you will be told how many days of membership you have left once you have 30 days left. Just click on the link to renew and your membership will just continue on, uninterrupted.
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 You Get on Our List?
You signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member
11. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
Contact Cheapskates
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - ACCEPT Menu Planning; No Plastic Bin Liners; Dish Rinsing in a Bucket - How to Have Three Sinks in Two
3. Share Your Tips - Have a great money, time or energy saving idea? Share it here.
4. On the Menu - Breakfast Tacos
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - What Happens on Shopping Day
6. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
7. This Week's Question - My yoghurt is runny!
8. Ask Cath - Do have a question for Cath? Ask it here!
9. Join the Cheapskates Club
10. Frequently Asked Questions
11. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
We are in Cairns! And enjoying the warmth; after Melbourne's frosty mornings it is just lovely.
It never fails to amaze me that I can stay in touch with you, even though I'm sitting on a chair under the trees, just enjoying everything. Sometimes I just love technology (don't feint, there are times it still muddles technologically challenged me).
Next week I'll probably be writing to you from Bamaga, although that depends on what we find on our travels when we leave here. The adventure beckons, and I can't wait to see where it takes us.
Have a great week everyone.
Happy Cheapskating,
Cath
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
ACCEPT Menu Planning
When meal planning as most of us do - I do an inventory of my fridge, freezer and cupboard first. Then when deciding what my meals will be for the fortnight I utilise what I call my ACCEPT strategy. I find that this allows for a balanced diet but also helps to keep the cost of each meal down. I aim to have at least 6 meals at $5-6 and the rest under $10 to feed a family of 5.
A - Anything. I allow two nights per fortnight, usually towards the end of the fortnight to use up any leftovers or anything that looks like its getting close to its used by date. Basically making something out of nothing. These are my "free" meals.
C - Chicken/Fish Dish. I generally use a lot of chicken as it is cheap so is often used in my budget meals as well. Fresh fish is limited to once a fortnight as it can be quite expensive but I do include tinned tuna in my meal planning.
C - Cheap or budget meals. I love recipes from 4 ingredient cookbooks, student cookbooks, leftover grub cookbooks and school cookbooks as these only require minimal ingredients which helps to keep the costs down. I often include roast lamb or beef in this category, as it provides us with several meals throughout the fortnight - think meat patties, souvlaki and pies.
Eggs - Egg dishes are frugal not to mention good for you. I include 4 egg dishes such as - quiche, bacon & egg toasted wraps and bacon & egg salad.
P - Pasta. My pasta dishes can be incorporated into several categories such my Anything meals, Cheap meals or Chicken/Fish meals. It also helps to bulk out a meal.
T - Takeaway. I plan these meals for Friday and Saturday nights and this is where we get most of our iron rich red meat from. Takeaway night includes meals such as hamburgers, souvlakis, fried rice, wraps, Mexican and other mince recipes.
This strategy makes it so much easier to plan my meals and helps me to save money on our grocery bill.
Contributed by C Briggs
No Plastic Bin Liners
In my effort to reduce, recycle and reuse I now do not buy any bin liners for my general waste rubbish. I use an old pillow case to line the smaller one and have made a larger one for the bigger bin (basically the same size as the purchased black bin liners) out of an old sheet. I am fussy anyway about putting no dustpan dirt into them (into the compost with that). The liners are easy to empty into the roadside bin and easier to wash than washing out the bin from time to time. I experimented with using no liners but found it annoying to have to wash out with hot water and dry.
Contributed by Anne Wilson
Dish Rinsing in a Bucket - How to Have Three Sinks in Two
When I wash my dishes by hand, I insist on having a clean, hot rinse - I'm just not satisfied with the cleanliness of the dishes without it. Thankfully many kitchens have double sinks for rinsing, but when dishes have been soaked, having both sinks full of water leaves nowhere to tip out the soaking water (which is not always suitable for grey water). Rinsing by tap into the washing water ends up over-filling the main sink unless you only have a few dishes to wash.
So instead of filling the second sink, I simply place a laundry bucket in it, and fill that with clean rinsing water. I can tip out soaking water beside the bucket.
The bucket also makes it easy to take the rinsing water out as grey water afterwards.
Using a bucket would also work if you have a single sink, but enough bench space by it to place both the bucket and the dish rack. My house has dish racks with trays underneath to catch drips, so the racks can go on the bench too.
Personally I like a square-ish mop bucket for my rinsing water, but round is fine as long as your dishes can fit in it.
Contributed by Gabrielle Angelico
There are currently more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Submit Your Tip
The Cheapskate's Club website is over 3,000 pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. 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. We publish a Winning Tip each Thursday, so enter your great money, time or energy saving idea now.
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!
Submit your tip
4. On the Menu
Breakfast Tacos
This breakfast seems like a lot of work, but the taco shells only take a minute to put together and just five minutes to cook. They are delicious and a great way to get anyone not interested in breakfast happily eating.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
4 flour tortillas
1 tbsp of butter, melted
2 cups vanilla yoghurt
2 bananas, peeled and sliced
1 punnet strawberries, halved
Method:
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
Wad four sheets of foil into 10cm balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet.
Combine the sugar and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl.
Brush the 4 tortillas on one side with the melted butter and sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Form the tortillas butter side down on the foil and press to resemble taco shells.
Bake the tortillas for 5 minutes or until just beginning to crisp.
Fill each tortilla with 1/2 cup of the yoghurt.
Layer the bananas and strawberries over the top of the yoghurt.
Notes: If you have a pie maker, use it to make the taco shells. Press the tortillas buttered side down into the base of the pie maker, close the lid and cook for 1 - 2 minutes. Check them after a couple of minutes because the time to crisp them will differ from pie maker to pie maker.
I use whatever fruit we have in these. Leftover fruit salad, drained, is good. Thawed frozen blueberries or mixed berries are also delicious.
You can skip the cinnamon sugar step if you want to cut down on the sugar.
The shells can be made the night before, and kept in an air-tight container to save time in the morning.
Oh, and use ice-cream with a dollop of yoghurt and topped with the fruit, then drizzle with melted chocolate for a fun dessert on special occasions.
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: Tuna surprise
Tuesday: Spaghetti Bolognese, salad
Wednesday: Sweet & Sour chicken, fried rice
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Cream cheese rissoles, salad
Saturday: Muffin Surprise
In the fruit bowl: oranges, mandarins
In the cake tin: Lunchbox Cookies
There are over 1,600 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge
What Happens on Shopping Day
I'm a little OCD when it comes to my grocery shopping. I use my green bags, I have dozens of the jolly things.
My shopping list is written in store aisle order. I had to rewrite it when Aldi updated the store layout - and I much preferred the older layout, with like items together.
As I casually stroll around the store, I add items to the trolley in the order they'll go onto the conveyor at the check-out.
I put things on the checkout belt in the order I want them packed, which is the order I put them away when I get home (told you I was a little OCD).
I also put a good space between each group so there is no stretching to pack the wrong way. I also ask them not to if I see it happen, I've never had anyone grumble yet. Most older women on the checkouts understand the method in my madness and just chat about it as they scan.
I put out in order:
1. heavy boxes (soft drink when I buy it etc.) stay in the trolley - the bar code can either be scanned or typed in
2. all cleaning supplies (Lectric soda, laundry soap etc)
3. toiletries
4. any tins or cans
5. any packets (flour/sugar/dried fruit etc)
6. fruit and veg
7. meat/poultry
8. fridge items - milk, cheese, cream etc
Then they are stacked in the trolley in that order and put into the car in reverse order so that I take the no. 1 items out first, leaving the no. 8, 7 and 6 items the last onto the kitchen table and the first to be put away.
Again, I told you I was a little OCD.
The woman behind me in Aldi a couple of weeks ago tapped me on the shoulder and commented that she was relieved to see someone else who was as OCD about laying out the shopping as she was.
We then went on to have a nice chat about how easy it makes doing the shopping and she mentioned how it was easy to make sure she had everything on her list so she didn't have to come back later "because she'd come in for a jar of honey and leave with $60 of groceries".
So how does this help me stick to my $300 a month grocery challenge?
Firstly it means I can see at a glance that I have everything on my shopping list - no need to worry about forgetting something, and having to go back to the shops.
It means that I can do a 4 - 6 week shop and have it all put away in about 25 - 30 minutes because I pick up the fridge bag and put everything in the fridge - no making multiple trips to table, fridge, pantry, freezer etc. Then the bag with the meat is dealt with; next the fruit and veg is prepped and put away. These are the urgent items and once they've been put away everything else gets done.
And having a full pantry, fridge and freezer means we can stick to the meal plan and avoid take-away temptation.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
6. Cheapskates Buzz
Most popular forum posts this week
What Can I Make with this Lemon Butter?
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?1016-What-can-I-make-with-this-lemon-butter
Things I'v Been Learning About Shopping as a Relative Newbie
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2647-Things-I-vbeen-learning-about-shopping-as-a-relative-newbie-...
Shopping Confessions of a Cheapskate Newbie
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2497-Shopping-confessions-of-a-cheapskate-newbie
Most popular blog posts this week
How We are Going to Live on a (Really) Tight Budget
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/11/how-we-are-going-to-live-on-really.html
How to Find Your Ideal Grocery Budget
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/08/im-often-asked-about-grocery-budgets.html
Proof of Prices When Shopping
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/11/proof-of-prices-when-shopping.html
7. This Week's Question
Q. I am writing re the MOO yoghurt recipe. It doesn't set! I have made it three times now, using full cream good quality milk powder and natural yogurt, and still it is just like drinking yoghurt after 12-14 hours. I use about 2 litres of yoghurt a week, so the homemade one would be a Godsend, but as it is, it is useless in a semi liquid form. What am I doing or not doing wrong please. I followed the ingredients and method exactly and still not yoghurt. I have the Easiyo thermos and jar as I do use the powdered form that they sell in the supermarket, but want to make my own from scratch! Hope you can help me Cath. KB
A. There are a few things that could be causing runny yoghurt:
1. The water you mix the starter and milk powder with is too cold. Make sure it is warm - blood temperature is ideal.
2. Not enough natural yoghurt as the starter - if this is from a previous batch of made yoghurt (Easiyo or MOO) then it may be stale and time to buy a new starter. A 200ml tub of natural yoghurt should do the trick. On that note - is the natural yoghurt you use really natural yoghurt? Check the ingredients - it shouldn't have any thickeners etc in it - try Greek yoghurt. Also it could be the milk powder - check the fat content of the milk powder - skim milk powder will always make a thinner yoghurt, a good full-cream milk powder will make a nice thick yoghurt. You can always add a little more milk powder.
3. Not enough boiling water in the thermos.
4. Water in the thermos isn't boiling - pour it in as soon as the kettle has finished boiling and put the lid on straight away. Make sure the lid to the thermos is on tight.
At this time of year yoghurt should set in 8 - 10 hours on the kitchen bench.
There is a PS to this question. KB emailed me with this reply to my suggestions:
"Dear Cath, thank you so much for your reply to my query re the runny Cheapskates yoghurt, I made a pot last night, and hey hey, perfect this morning! Thick and delicious, we ate nearly the whole kilo - we being my husband and myself - I will definitely be making our own yogurt from now on."
8. Ask Cath
We have lots of resources to help you as you live the Cheapskates way but if you didn't find the answer to your question in our extensive archives please just drop me a note with your question.
I read and answer all questions, either in an email to you, in my weekly newsletter, the monthly Journal or by creating blog posts and other resources to help you (and other Cheapskaters).
Ask Your Question
9. Join the Cheapskates Club
For just 10 cents a day 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.
Joining the Cheapskates Club gives you 24/7 access to the Members Centre with 1000's of money saving tips and articles.
Click here to join the Cheapskates Club today!
10. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. Members can update their email address or any other details by clicking on "Edit Profile" directly under their membership number after they have logged in to the Member's Centre. Subscribers to our free newsletter can use the Change Your Address form (under Customer Service in the menu) and fill it out. Once you've filled it in click the send button and we'll do the rest. Please remember to include your old email address so we can find it in the list as well as the new one.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
When you login to the Member's Centre you will be told how many days of membership you have left once you have 30 days left. Just click on the link to renew and your membership will just continue on, uninterrupted.
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 You Get on Our List?
You signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member
11. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
Contact Cheapskates