Money Jar

THE LEFTOVERS

2012-03-15T23:53:00.000+01:00

This is the continuation of my previous blog. I say the continuation because this recipe uses up the food left over from yesterday’s recipe. Really I made another delicious, quick and healthy meal for two from the leftovers. Yes, another fresh meal and completely different from yesterday! Ha ha I love how thrifty and enjoyable it can be creating a new recipe from the old one, the leftovers!

Remember my recipe that I placed in my previous blog? Yes, that was the spaghetti with the spinach, (you can see it in my previous blog).

Here’s what I did. I had leftover sautéed minced chicken and some cooked spinach, and so I decided to make a scrumptious juicy omelette, and it was really delicious.

Here’s the recipe:

Well, making the omelette is so easy

Beat 4 eggs, with a pinch of salt, dash of white pepper and dash of pimiento dulce, and a tablespoonful of fresh milk.

Brush the bottom of the pan (23cm) with oil. Heat the pan and then cover the bottom of the pan with half of the egg mixture.

Place the minced cooked chicken, approx 3 tablespoons, in the center of the egg mixture (leaving enough portion to be folded over lapping). Then spoon the cooked spinach on top of the cooked chicken.

At this point, I sprinkle grated cheese on top, then fold one side of the cooked omelette toward the centre, followed by the other side, enclosing the centre completely. At this point you can easily turn the omelette and cook on the other side.

I served it hot with mash potatoes and buttered carrots and slices of green pepper.

The mixture of spinach, eggs and chicken with melted cheese is so yummy!

Tip: If you want a juicy omelette, always mix some milk to your beaten eggs.

HEALTHY AND THRIFTY COOKING

2012-03-13T23:21:00.000+01:00

SPAGHETTI WITH SPINACH AND FRIED EGGS

I saw a photo like this in a cook book (can’t remember where) and can’t forget it, because it looks so scrumptious, healthy, cheap and easy to make. Although I wasn’t able to get the recipe, I thought, I would just go ahead just using the photo, which I did today, and I was so happy with the outcome. Yes, it’s spaghetti with spinach and fried eggs. I do love spaghetti but it seems my recipe is always the same (spaghetti bolognaise or cooked in a tomato sauce). So today I will introduce you to my new recipe.

Spaghetti topped with spinach and fried eggs

Place half a packet (250 gms.) of spaghetti in boiling water with a half-tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt to taste. When the spaghetti is cooked, drain and drizzle with virgin olive oil.

Half a packet of frozen spinach (500 g). Do not thaw. Place in a pan with a spoonful of water and dash of salt. Mix once in a while until the water is absorbed. Add a knob of butter and dash of pepper.

Fried Eggs (I used 3 pcs., but use as many as you like)

Arrange the spaghetti on a platter, then top it with spinach, then place the fried eggs on top. Serve it hot.

Try it you will love it!

Alternative:

I also decided to have another alternative instead of fried eggs on top, I sautéed mince chicken in a spoonful of cooking olive oil (suave) or you can use vegetable oil. Heat the olive oil in the pan, then add the chopped garlic. Cook until golden brown then add the chopped onion and cook until they become transparent in colour and then add the minced chicken, season with salt, pepper and oregano, and cook for 15 min. Finally add the tomatoes and green peppers and cook for further 1 min.

Sautéed minced chicken

Half a kilo mince chicken

1 tomato small slices

1 small green pepper dice

3 pcs. crushed and chopped garlic

1 chopped medium onion

Dash of dried oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

HMMMMM DELICIOUS

Tip: Spaghetti is best eaten al dente.

Watch for my next blog, it´s the continuation of these recipes!

USE FREE BONES!

2012-03-09T23:12:00.001+01:00

If you are a budget-conscious housewife don’t be embarrassed about asking your local butcher for free bones, yes FREE bones. That’s what I normally get from my butcher if I intend making beef, pork, chicken broth or soup. And I always keep a stock of broth in the freezer because it is so handy for me to use when I want to make a quick meal of warm, nourishing soup so welcome on those chilly winter days. I love these soups.

Take a look at this recent picture of a beef bone that was given to me by my local butcher...ha! ha! ha! Even with my broken Spanish I always end up getting what I am trying to order. Mind you the locals love to hear me trying to communicate with them in Spanish. They even help me by giving me the correct Spanish words and the proper pronunciation. Yes I am learning thru talking to them like this. So always be friendly, be brave and be nice and your butcher will give you free bones too. After all, those old bones are only going to be thrown away by the butcher. (Although I think you’ll probably stand a better chance of getting free bones from your local neighbourhood butcher than from the Supermarkets in the area.)

Well, back to my free bones. I boiled them with a few beef slices (the cheapest cuts from my butcher), a dash of salt and sliced onions until the beef slices were tender enough to be eaten, then I added potato cubes and sweet potatoes plus a few vegetables (I used leeks in this photo) and simmered the whole pot until it was ready to serve. It is really so tasty with the addition of a beef cube, and a pinch of pepper and mixed 5 spice or bouquet garni. This provided my husband and me with a complete, delicious, nutritious and thrifty meal.

I saved half of the broth I made in the freezer, ready to be used on rainy days. I will probably make a different soup with it by adding just potatoes and vegetables (homemade vegetable soup!). This type of meal is truly delicious and nutritious and is very economical too. Normally I just use the cheapest available fresh vegetables in my soups, or sometimes legumes which are so cheap and full of nutrients.

I also love mixing mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes or mashed pumpkin with my broth and making a thick soup adding a dash of pepper and just a quick swirl of a teaspoon of light single cream before serving, mmmmm! So scrumptious, lovely, very appetising and presentable too. Try it you’ll be surprised.

TIP: Always sieve the bone broth before using in order to discard the small bone fragments that occur during the boiling stage. And remember not to overcook your vegetables.

THRIFTY LIVING - PENSIONERS

2012-03-08T22:49:00.001+01:00

I´ve heard over and over again elderly retired people saying to each other “We are going to enjoy ourselves to the full now because we’ll soon be gone,” or “Enjoy yourselves now, you’ve earned it!” I always admire and love to see the old folks happy and enjoying themselves. They seem to be just enjoying spending the treasure that they have stored up over their long hardworking years; wealth they have accumulated and saved by making contributions to savings schemes and to pension funds during all their working years.

But what about those who have nothing or very little stored or saved; those who for one reason or another were unable to make regular payments to pension funds or savings schemes? I am thinking of those who were ill or unemployed or just didn’t earn enough during their working years. Well, fortunately in the U.K., there is a state pension fund from which the government will pay-out a very small pension, just enough to cover basic living costs. Hopefully!

Living in Spain has helped my husband and me a lot with our budget. We have found it to be a whole lot cheaper to live here rather than in the U.K. or Ireland. Here´s how and why:

1. Accommodation rentals are lower than in the U.K. and a whole lot lower than in Ireland.

2. The cost of living is also cheaper.

3. Electricity is cheaper.

4. Gas is cheaper.

5. Water is free for us because we are renting our apartment.

6. We do not pay Community charges, again because we are renting our apartment.

Also, choosing the right location for our accommodation contributes a lot too. Why? Because our accommodation is very close to the town, everything is within easy reach, our local church, health clinic, emergency clinic, banks, supermarkets, local markets and bus depot are only a short walk away. And because of this we don’t need a car! We walk to our local open market every Wednesday for fresh cheap fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices and our local butcher is situated just nearby.

Not only that, my retired husband and I always enjoy strolling hand in hand along the paseo (sea front) relishing the beautiful scenery and the glorious sunsets. Mind you we are very fortunate because the sea front is just across the way from our apartment (just 2 minutes’ walk).

That’s why they say “Location! Location! Location!”

However if we need to travel further afield we have available to us very reliable, comfortable and air-conditioned local buses (which can take you all over Spain – if you so desire). We just carefully plan the timings of our roundtrip route before travelling and everything is fine. Additionally the fares are very reasonable and my husband, being a pensioner, travels for half-price as well!

To save on expenses, I have even learned how to cut my husbands hair, yes, it´s amazing what skills you will learn when you have to live frugally. My husband’s hair looked funny at first (ha! ha! ha!) because I found it difficult to do and the cut hair was not even. But my husband didn´t mind - maybe he enjoyed me fondling his hair for a long time (we were both happy anyway). Well practice makes perfect and now I can cut his hair like a professional. That’s a great saving because he doesn´t need to go to the barber shop anymore for expensive haircuts. Wow.

We also learned general practical ways to economise in our daily living and here are some tips that you might find useful:

1. Using leftover food. Yes, especially if it is good food, don´t throw it away. Freeze it. Small leftovers, or large ones, can be utilised in so many new dishes or desserts and shouldn’t be wasted.

2. Go to bed early and switch off lights, computers, TV, etc.; don’t leave electrical items on standby – this wastes electric. We used to stay up late and go to bed long after midnight but as we are now economising we go to bed much earlier, especially in winter, in order to switch off the electric that bit sooner. Mind you we both agree with this and we both enjoy it, as long as we don’t switch off our minds when all the lights are off and we are in bed (ha! ha! ha!).

3. Switch off the water heater in summer time. Well we don’t need hot water here because our summers are so hot and what we prefer is a nice cool shower to keep our temperature down and help refresh us – we don’t have air-conditioning you see.

4. Don’t eat in restaurants – they’re too expensive. Eat at home instead. We can enjoy and eat delicious luxury food in the comfort of our home without paying the restaurant prices. We have learned the basics of food preparation and cooking so that we can use the cheaper cuts in so many different and interesting ways.

5. Listen to and adopt suggestions from friends around you. Take their advice on where to buy cheap but enjoyable wine, beers, liquor. Yes, when we need to top up our booze cabinet once in a while, we look for those drinks suggested by friends and we always find it worthwhile to do so.

6. Don’t forget the second-hand shops. I never miss scouring the racks for good value clothes and more often than not I come away with a real bargain. Recently I was able to buy my husband a beautiful chunky knitted woollen cardigan, grey colour with black trimmings, inner lining of polyester with two pockets outside and two inside, for only 3.00 euro (about 4.00 U.S. dollars).

Yes, that’s us; by following the suggestions listed above we have changed our lifestyle to help us live frugally here in Spain. Of course there are many more practical ways that are not included in this list, but I always suggest and emphasise to everybody that we should always act sensibly in everything we do. Whatever we do and wherever we are, the secret is to always treat one another with dignity and respect.

“Love conquers all things and it is the greatest blessing of them all”.

Remember to always do things with prayer!

This is our simple, happy, healthy recipe for thrifty living in Spain (or anywhere).

God Bless!

MONEY JAR

2012-03-04T23:12:00.000+01:00

Did you know that there is money lying around and just waiting for you to pick it up! Yes, all you have to do is simply pick it up! So what are you waiting for?

“Every Little Helps” is the slogan used by the U.K. Supermarket giant Tesco Stores Ltd. I always believe, admire and remember that what their slogan says is true. Yes, it may be just a few pennies that you save but when this saving is repeated time after time you will realise the truth of this slogan as your little savings quickly grow into a much larger one!

Yes, my dear bloggers and readers, in this new Blog of mine I am going to relate to you how I apply these savings my daily routine and demonstrate how to become rich by living the sensible and frugal way.

Hopefully my blog will help to introduce you to ways, old and new, of being thrifty, healthy and happy in a luxurious style and still save some money for a rainy day.

Always try to remember the slogan “Every little helps”, you may not notice the savings it makes immediately but I know you will appreciate them sooner or later.

So always follow this blog and enjoy it, and I will always say “try it and apply it” in your world of spending, whether it is large or small.

See you here on my penny pinching Blog “MONEY JAR!"