Priceless personalised gift for teachers

Our end of year teachers' gifts cost nothing and mean more to them than any expensive chocolates or mugs! For each of my young kids' teachers, we print a sheet each year titled "Tell Me About (Teacher's Name)..." It has 8-10 questions on it, with space for the kids' answers to be written in, either by them or dictated to an adult. Questions can be anything. We include things like:

How old is Mr X? What is Mr D's favourite food? Something Miss B always says is.... What does Miss J like to do for fun? Ms P loves it when.... If I had $1000 I would buy Mr H a .... Miss V is a great teacher because.... Mr K gets cranky when... And finish with: A Special Message for Ms A...

Every year it is a massive hit. Teachers love it and when there are multiple teachers, they love to get together and compare answers!

Dairy-free oat milk for 26c per litre

I make dairy-free milk for my allergic daughter for just 26c per litre! I make oat milk at home, and it tastes just like the shop-bought version that we used to buy on special for $2 per litre. I also use it in desserts, baking and cereal, even though I’m not dairy-free. It’s even cheaper than prepared powdered cow’s milk, which I recently priced at 80c per litre!

Here is the recipe (costed out using Coles home brand ingredients) -

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats 120g (22c)

4 cups water

1 tsp brown sugar (2c) - optional

1 tsp sunflower oil (2c)

Method:

1. Blend all the ingredients in a blender for one minute

2. Strain through a muslin or a nut milk bag (I use old muslin baby swaddles).

3. Store in the fridge for up to five days.

My husband and I eat other dairy products and my daughter still has two cups of calcium-fortified, shop-bought, non-dairy milk per day as a drink, but we now use at least three litres less of shop-bought milk per week, working out to a saving of over $300 per year!

Only cook once a month

My husband and I have become '30 Day Gourmets' and enjoy both the savings and the extra time we spend together as a result! We recently looked into 'Once a Month Cooking', which we were interested in because neither of us really enjoys cooking tea when all we really feel like doing is relaxing after being at work.

After gathering ideas of how the scheme works (literally - you cook once a month!), we thought we would try it by cooking for a fortnight first. We gathered recipes from the Internet and raided the recipe books (the recipe must be able to be frozen) and came up with such things as marinated chicken, curried sausages, spaghetti sauce, apricot chicken and all kinds of things.

We then picked a Sunday, turned up the stereo and did nothing but cook! It turned out to be a really enjoyable day. Once cooked and cooled, the food is put into freezer bags or takeaway containers (which cost almost nothing) and frozen. What we thought would last two weeks actually lasted three!

Each night, I would take out a container or bag for the next night and leave to defrost in the fridge. We then dragged out the steamer, threw in all the vegetables and once a week cooked up a big pot of rice. We would then have a small portion of meat (which also lowers fat-intake levels), have a pile of yummy steamed vegies and a little rice - the result being full bellies, smiling faces and very minimal washing up!

This not only saved us money but also time. Usually groceries cost us $150 for two weeks. With the cost of buying meat and grocery items needed for the cook-up ($100) and in-between buyings of vegetables once a week ($10), we spent a total of $130 when we would have spent over $150. (This is because at each shop we would grab things we liked, but didn't really need). Having a selection of meals already cooked for the weeks ahead feels great!

At first a big cook-up seems difficult if you aren't motivated, but you can start small and next time you are cooking something that would freeze well, cook double or triple the recipe and freeze excess. I also went to the local library and got out some books on freezer cooking which also had suitable recipes in them.

My husband and I honestly can't believe how we survived before our cook-ups and love the idea of actually doing things we want to each night, rather than being a slave to the kitchen!

NB - A book from the library which was a big help in planning recipes was 'The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet'. The '30 Day Gourmet' book is available on eBay and from most bookstores.

$21 Challenge saves $150 in a week

As a new member, I have saved $150 in my first week, thanks to the $21 Challenge! I thought I was careful with money until I discovered this site and realised how I could further improve my spending habits. I decided to give the $21 Challenge a go and it is now Thursday and I haven't been to the shops yet!

I have become a problem solver due to the fact that I must use what is in the fridge/freezer and pantry. I nearly buckled when my four year old wanted 'pink milk' and I had run out of Nestle Quick but no problem in the end. I found some rose pink food colouring and with just one drop - presto, pink milk! It does take some preparation because you are cooking from scratch but it is all worth it when your family tells you that the dinner you made tonight was the best, and is there any more?

My other dilemma was to use the three zucchinis in the crisper, so I made them into a slice. It was so easy to make and I had every ingredient on hand without even trying!

Zucchini Slice (serves 4-6)

3 zucchini (grated)
1 onion (grated)
1 potato (grated)
4 slices of ham/bacon (chopped)
1 cup of cheese (grated)
6 tablespoons flour (plain)
3 eggs
salt/pepper

Put all ingredients into a big bowl and mix really well. Pour into a quiche dish and cook in the oven for one hour at 160C. If you are vegetarian, simply leave out the ham. Simple, delicious and super cheap!