Freezing the tidbits

Frozen foods can be a lifesaver from the soaring prices of fresh due to our floods, high price of fuel or other factors within your area frozen seems to stay a more steady price.

Whether it be cakes, raw meats, cooked meats, full dinners you make or the prepared store bought. Don’t forget the little things.

When you make white sauce/ cheese sauce/parsley sauce if there is some leftover freeze it in a small container.

Custard if you buy it but never use use it all (usually use within ?? days of opening) divide it up into usable portions and freeze it.

Crock pot/slow cooker gravy or sauce I always have leftover in the bottom of the pot, freeze it either in a large portion for another whole meal or in smaller portions to go over steak or sausages. Make sure you keep beef to beef and fowl to fowl.

When I make a curry there is usually sauce left over and more often than not it’s enough to go with another meal.

If you freeze it small you can use more than 1 portion at a time and depending on what it is you can mix and sometimes they become the best sauces ever!

Of course don’t forget to label what you’ve frozen and write on a date.

When defrosting sometimes they don’t  look right but if you’ve defrosted it in the fridge or the microwave most times giving a good whisk or stir and reheating will bring it back to how it was. This is most notable with white sauces or custard.

If you do small portions in ice cube trays (they come in all sizes) you can pop them out and keep in a zip lock bag.

If you’re like me a have quite a large freezer try to keep like type sauces together to find easily either in a larger click clack container or drawer or shelf, even a box.

So for those nights you bring home a cooked chicken from the store you can still do your vegies and out of the freezer you can pop out the bit of  chicken gravy or curry sauce from your last crock pot for a home made meal made a bit tastier.

If you’re buying jarred sauces you can still freeze but always check the label to make sure it doesn’t specifically say ‘don’t freeze’ (like some bakery items from stores). Don’t freeze in those glass jars, decant or use half and freeze half.

As usual play with it and see what works for you.

 

 

Never underestimate the power of a cup cake.

No matter your gender or your age never under estimate the power of a cup cake at a gathering.

It seems no matter what food is put on the table for whatever time of day eating, adults, children and everyone in between will always demolish cup cakes, along with everything else.

I find mostly the mini cup cakes which are so easy to make and decorate with just a touch of icing on top with or without various sprinkles, coconut, m&m’s etc, they always get eaten. They’re bit size.

Then there are the flavours of cakes and the tiny various papers they can go in … or not.

The best thing is that you can make 1 cake mix up, divide into bowls and add your colouring or flavour variations and get variety in the one baking.

Whether you make them from scratch or a bought packet mix they are always a treat.

 

Yoghurt dough revisited

Yoghurt dough, I have mixed feelings about this dough and I’ve done a few experiments since I last posted the yoghurt dough pizza base.

I’ve made ham and cheese/vegemite and cheese savoury scrolls, cooked in the oven.

I’ve made  apple and cinnamon/caramel sweet scrolls, cooked in the oven.

They’ve been with mixed success, I think they come out chewy and a bit tough. I don’t use my dough like this.

BUT I do like this dough for making gyros,  a cooked dough sort of like a Greek pita bread. Or in place of a Naan bread for curries.

I don’t really use a recipe but for 2 people I do start off with 1/3 cup self raising flour (SR flour = 1 cup flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder) and 2 or 3 tablespoons of greek yoghurt into a bowl, mix with a spoon or hands for a bit then add more yoghurt as necessary to form a dough, a dough you can  work with  and that you can push together on a floured board, like bread.

As it’s for 2 divide in half and roll each half into a flat disc. You may find you need more flour as if the dough is to wet it won’t roll without splitting. If it splits fold it in quarters and start rolling again. Set both discs aside.

In a frying pan smear on just enough oil to ever so lightly cover the base and put your heat on 3/4 making sure the pan is nice and heated. Dust off as much flour as possible from your dough disc and place in pan.

Bubbles will stretch through to the top, that’s ok. Shake the pan every now and then to make sure your disc is moving and cooking and browning, not sticking. Using tongs and turn it over to cook the other side. Probably 2-3 mins each side.

Keep first one warm and do the same with the second one. (I keep mine warm by putting on a dinner plate putting a barely damp piece of paper towel on top then another dinner plate on top. When the second one is ready put it on top of the other one and get your salad and meat out to serve. We eat them like a large soft taco or gyro.

As a Naan bread cook as above, cut in half and scoop up all that curry sauce, meat and vegetables.

Best served warm. Best cooked and served as soon as possible. For me I think they go chewy once cold.

I do this for a pizza still if I’m hanging out for one but I cook it in the fry pan first before placing my toppings on top then place in the oven or under the griller.

I do not freeze any form of this dough.

It sounds like a lot of fiddling around but once you get the hang of it you can whip it up in no time especially small amounts.

My stove top and frying pans aren’t huge so I can only do one at a time.

Easy to make up for the grand kids as a snack or decorate their own pizzas.

Enjoy!

 

Oil diffuser.

I’m not a huge user of oils and smelly things in my house, I much prefer an open window to let in the fresh air.

I was given an oil diffuser for a Christmas gift a few years back and just popped it in our main bathroom, used mainly for visitors to our house. Unless we have had visitors it’s mainly a forgotten bathroom.

Eventually the smell dissipated, the sticks were a bit icky and the bottle not looking so good.

I do like my tea tree and eucalyptus oil but they are are mainly used for medicinal purposes like a bite or a cold.

When I washed my bottle out the coloured paint started coming off and it needed scrubbing. Replacing the sticks with bamboo kebab skewers made  great replacements for the scent reeds. I had the above oils, easy.

Easy to make your own as gifts with scents you know the recipient will like. Easy to top up and replace your  skewers in your own house. 

Online grocery shopping

November last last year I took the plunge and did my first online grocery shop. I did a click and collect with a pick up straight to the boot of my car. No bags thanks.

So on the way home from work I had my first ‘shop to boot’ pick up experience. I’m happy.

I don’t do this all the time, once or twice per month there are some things I like to pick out myself. I get basic vegetables included but not things I’m very picky about and I usually do 2 fruit and vegetable buys during the week. I also state no substitutes, I’ve heard of some weird stuff being substituted.

I enter my payment method each time as I have a thing about my bank details.

I’m very happy and wondered why I’d not tried it sooner I guess it’s that fear of something new.

Today between us my Mum now has been set up with online grocery shopping click and collect at her local  store.  A big step for my mum and it will be so much easier for her to be able to go out and pop into the other stores then  just drive her car to the back to get her groceries, have it loaded before going home and have her.  All done in half the time. Yes it could be delivered but if you have to go out anyway why not get some one else to do the boring stuff.

I’m not one for new years resolutions but maybe it’s just time to do something new and keep it going into the year.

Who does their grocery shopping online? Delivery or pick up?

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