What's in my stockpile

I must confess, I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to food. Only when it comes to food. ;) 

I've always been like this, and so is my mum, it must be something genetic. Lol. 

It's just that I don't like running out of things. Nothing annoys me more than having to buy certain items last minute because you ran out of item XYZ and you must use that ingredient for supper. (Well, there are still some things that annoy me even more- but this is quite high on my list!) 

Even though we do have small shops all over in our neighbourhood and we don't necessarily have to go to a supermarket, I still find it a comfortable thought that we already have certain items in our house. In fact, there's one small shop right in front of our house. So that's a good thing when it comes to emergencies. 

What probably also contributes to me preferring a big stockpile is my past. It may sounds strange to some people and I can defenitely understand that. But we had a very difficult situation, financially, for years. Most of the time we did manage to make ends meet, but that was mainly due to my very frugal ways. Some periods of time, though, our finances were that tight that we really struggled to have food on our plates. So whenever the budget allowed we began to stockpile on non perishable foods, especially when they were on sale. That allowed us to have a bit more breathing room so that whenever we really didnt have any money to spend on groceries, we still had our stockpile. And even though our finances have improved tremendously over the years, I still like the reassurance of having enough food in our house. Maybe it's just me but I really cant understand how people just buy only the bare minimum of what they'll need that week.

We live in a country where there is a lot of poverty (compared to the west), and it's not uncommon for people to go and beg for food. I can't count how many times people came and asked for food; and I'm so grateful to be able to help them out. Usually they ask for just one item; some oil, or a packet of pasta or even some cold water during the summer. I like to then just give a bag with a variety of products, because I know what's it like to be in a financial difficult situation (even though our poverty was nothing compared to most poor people here). I believe in doing good and that the good will eventually always come back to us. That are the main reasons for us to have a stockpile.

Anyway, back to the practical side of having a stockpile. 

Building a stockpile isn't always easy when on a strict budget, and it's not something that you can do in a few days. For us, we just bought a few extras everytime we went shopping- especially when on sale, but some products we buy aren't on sale anyway. For example, here some products are subsidized by the government and those products are always the same price- no matter the brand or the store. Because these products are very cheap, it's easy to buy a few extra of those when shopping. I realise that in most countries products can be a lot more expensive so that's why I mentioned the products that are on sale- or just buy generic brand instead of name brands. They are as good and it'll save you a lot of money in the long run! 

So what exactly is in our stockpile? As I already mentioned, I make a lot from scratch so it's really the basic ingredients that I have on hand in bigger quantity. This is what we always try to have in our kitchen cabinets. 

Starches: 

Oatmeal- about 3 kg. 

Rice- the cheapest plain rice usually 1 kg and jasmine rice usually 3 kg.

Pastas- it's a bit embarrassing but about 10 to 15 kg. We go through a lot and pastas are the cheapest staple here! We have many different kinds and shapes. In our north African country, pasta is eaten almost as much as in Italy. 

Couscous- another very cheap staple that is eaten a lot here. Between 8 and 10 kg. 

Pearl barley- between 2 and 3 kg. 

Semolina- fine semolina for baking bread, 5 kg. Course semolina for porridge, sweets etc, 3 kg. 

White flour- 8 kg.

Sorghum flour- 2 kg.

Whole wheat flour- 3 kg. 

Corn starch- 1 kg.

Canned goods: 

This is kind of minimal, as canned veg are outrageously expensive here, as are canned legumes. So our vegetables are bought freshly and are legumes are dried, then soaked and cooked.

The main thing we always have on hand is cans of double concentrated tomato paste. We have about 6-8 cans of 800 grams and we go through this A LOT. 

And then we have some cans of jam (jams usually come here canned, not in jars), though I make most jam from scratch. And some cans of fish- sardines and tuna, about 3 or 4 cans each. 

Protein: 

We go through a lot of legumes. These, along with eggs, are our main protein. We do eat meat, but not as often. 

Chickpeas, white beans, and lentils of different kinds is what we use most. While lentils and chickpeas are cheap, white beans are quite expensive lately, so we do eat more of the aforementioned. We have about 2 kgs lentils of each variety and 2 kgs of chickpeas. 

We also buy chicken in large quantities, the other day we bought 8 chickens and cut it up. That was about 10 kg. Usually those 10 kg last us a long time, as we don't eat a lot of meat. Red meat is an exceptional treat at our house- for both financial reasons and for the environment. We have one baggie of goat meat in our freezer currently. 

We also have about 10 litres of shelf stable milk. 

Fats: 

Lots and lots olive oil, which we keep in Jerry cans. I haven't counted but at least about 40 litres. Probably more. 

Then about 3 litres of vegetable oil.

And then we buy buckets of plant based margarine in bulk, 4.5 kg per bucket. 

Baking supplies: 

Sugar- about 5 kg, which we buy in bulk. 

Cocoa powder: about half a kg.

Chocolate: dark and white, both 3 kg (note that this chocolate is used for baking only. It's not really suitable for eating plainly, thus its also a lot cheaper than "snacking chocolate"). 

Vanilla sugar and baking powder- bought in bulk. 

Desiccated coconut- about half a kg. 

Whipping cream- 2 packets (here it's only available powdered) 

Some packets to make vanilla pudding (basically just corn starch, flavour and colour. When I make chocolate pudding I use cornstarch, sugar and cocoa and make it from scratch). 

Spices, seasonings etc

The spices I use most are cumin, ginger, cinnamon (ground and sticks), cardamom pods, cloves (whole and ground), fennel (ground and seeds), black pepper (ground and peppercorn), sweet and hot ground pepper, dried basil, dried oregano, dried rosemary, dried mint, dried parsley, dried dill, turmeric, hot pepper flakes, and two different kinds of ras al hanout (northern African spice mixtures). Most of these spices and herbs are bought in large quantities so I never run out of these. There are other herbs and spices that I use, but not as much. 

Soy sauce- Before we moved here I always had this on hand. Unfortunately, here I'm yet to find soy sauce at the supermarket. I do have an alternative that I make from scratch, it's not 100% identical though, but it's a decent replacement. I don't always have this on hand but I try to always keep some in the freezer, as it's not shelf stable. 

Garlic- both fresh and pureed garlic which I keep in the freezer. 

Salt- but that is an obvious in my opinion :)

Vinegar- about 3 bottles each of 1 litre. 

Miscellaneous 

I have some packs of instant ramen (just in case), we have almonds and peanuts, homemade peanut butter, flax seeds and sesame seeds, dried jasmine, tea and coffee.

Though there are some changes every now and then, this is what our stockpile usually looks like. I'm very content to have a stockpile like this. 

Oat milk recipe

While I'm not a vegan (not even a vegetarian), I know that eating a more plant based diet has so many benefits- for your health and environment, among other things. Non dairy milk aren't available where I live though, but fortunately it's  very easy to make your own! 

While nut milk are quite expensive to make, this oat milk is even cheaper than cow's milk, even though oats are quite expensive round these parts. 

This is what you'll need: 

1 cup of oats (80 grams)

3 cups of water (750 milliliter) 

Some sweetener of your choice (optional) 

In a large water jug, put the oats and the water. Let is sit for at least three hours, but preferably overnight. 

Then when it has sit long enough, add your sweetener of choice, then blend it thoroughly. Pour it through a sieve, I use a mesh sieve for this. If you only have regular sieve, you could use a cheese cloth as well. 

Don't throw away the remaining oats! You can use it in many ways, like waffles, cookies, muffins etc. I've even added them to homemade pesto :) 

Frugal food substitutes

Being a frugal cook is all about thinking out of the box. Sure, even without that there are many things you can do to lower your grocery costs. By buying what's on sale that week, eating seasonally, by go shopping only once a week etc. 

But still some items are expensive. I have been frugal for as long as I can remember, but when finances were really tight for us, I've became way more frugal and learned to think outside the box when it came to food. Sometimes you crave a certain meal but it has some ingredients that are expensive and your budget simply doesn't allow that item. So what do you do? 

Over the years I've learned a lot about frugal food substitutes. Some I've read on blogs, some came from my grandmothers who had been through both the depression era and WW2. I've also learned a lot from my in laws, who are from another country than where I grew up, with a very different standard of living, and where I'm living currently. Even a lot of the richer people here are very frugal for western standards. I think food substitutes are awesome because they'll enable you to still enjoy certain recipes even when the budget is tight, or when certain products simple aren't available. 

So, here's some things I think can be great frugal food substitutes! 

Fruit and veg 

Strawberry- strawberries are available for a limited time where I live. I love making strawberry jam but sometimes I waited too long for the price to decrease a little bit, and gone were the strawberries. Oops! What I did was making watermelon jam instead. Believe it or not but taste wise, it resembles strawberry. It does have a very different flavour than eating watermelon plainly. It was really good. 

Apples and pears can be used interchangeably in many baking recipes. 

Raisins- quite expensive where I live. Especially when used in baking it can be substituted by dates cut in small pieces. Dates are a lot cheaper here. 

Sweet potatoes- unfortunately, I'm yet to find a sweet potato here! I usually just use pumpkin, and when I want to substitute a sweet potato mash, I replace it by half pumpkin/half regular potato. 

Zucchini when cooked can be substituted by cucumber. I wouldn't recommend to replace cucumber by zucchini when making a salad, but for pickling it should work. 

Most sweet pepper varieties can be used interchangeably. Same for hot pepper varieties. The same applies to some cabbage varieties. 

A lot of leafy greens can be used interchangeably. Here, spinach is hard to find and I use swiss chard or arugula instead. Especially when using swiss chard, no one will notice a difference. 

Turnips can be used instead of potatoes in some dishes like soup, stew etc. 

Parsley and carrots tops have a similar flavour profile. 

Starches

Semolina and corn meal can be used interchangeably in a lot of baking recipes. 

White flour can substitute whole wheat flour and vice versa, though health wise whole wheat would be a lot more beneficial. White flour is not suitable to use instead of self rising flour; you still need to add baking powder to the flour. 

Sorghum flour can be used as an substitute for whole wheat flour. 

Raw oats can be used as a muesli (raw granola) alternative; because that's exactly what it is ;) (only in muesli there may be some buts, seeds or dried fruits added). Just much cheaper!

Short grain rice is quite a good substitute for risotto or Turkish style rice; I must admit it's not exactly the same, but it's quite a good alternative. Especially in deserts. While our main rice for savoury dishes is Jasmine rice, we buy the cheapest kind of white rice for desserts etc.

Rice can be often substituted by course barley or wheat (also known as bulgur or burgul). This is especially useful for those who want to focus on eating as locally as possible and where rice is an imported product. 

Couscous and fine bulgur can be used interchangeably in most recipes, although one must take into consideration that both starches have different ways to prepare. 

Of course different pasta shapes can be used interchangeably, although that does change the taste of the dish a bit (at least thats what I think). 

Orzo/lesan 3asfour (rice shaped pasta) can substitute rice in certain recipes; it can also replace vermicelli in soups. 

Potato starch, corn starch and wheat starch can be used interchangeably in most recipes. 

Dairy products 

In most cases, margarine is a decent butter alternative, though nothing beats the flavour of real butter! In savoury dishes, I like replacing butter by rendered chicken fat. Oil can replace butter in some baking recipes.

Whipping cream and heavy cream, when used for savoury dishes, can be replaced by evaporated milk, plain milk, or milk mixed with melted butter. 

Sour cream can be substituted by yogurt or buttermilk mixed with melted butter.

Milk can be replaced by water in some cases, although the end result may be less rich. You can also make your own oat milk easily, which has a very creamy taste (recipe coming soon hopefully!). 

Yogurt can be substituted by soft cheese, and vice versa. Depending on the purpose yogurt can also be replaced by buttermilk (and vice versa). 

Egg replacements 

Chickpea flour- usually I use the 1:1 or 1:2 ratio to chickpea flour and water. 

Bananas replace eggs in certain baking recipes, although that might not be as frugal. Same applies to avocados. 

Applesauce is another great  egg replacer.

Flax seeds is another great eggs substitute. 

Leaving the eggs out altogether- I've done this with pancakes and waffles and they turned out great. 

•Will be updated•

Homemade egg free mayonnaise

A lot of what we eat is made from scratch. 

This is for various reasons. First of all, as a homemaker I just really enjoy doing all these kitchen DIY activities! Secondly, it saves us loads of money. It's usually also healthier as you can control how many salt, sugar, fats etc you put in your food, without a lot of other chemicals and additives that processed foods usually contain. In most cases it's more environmental friendly as well, as you use your own containers and you don't have all the extra packaging that goes into a landfill. For us, another reason is simply the lack of availability. Living in a country where simply a lot of the "western" stuff isn't available can sometimes be a challenge when it comes to food, so you end up making a lot of things at home. But in the end, I think that's a good thing. 

Homemade mayonnaise is one of those things I always have on hand. It's just so easy to make when you use this method-- No endlessly whisking! I think that's the main thing that withholds most people from making mayonnaise from scratch. But then there's also the raw egg issue. There's some controversy on whether or not raw eggs are healthy, but to be on the safe side you can easily make homemade mayo with no eggs. Of course, there is also the issue of dietary restrictions and allergies, so no one has to miss out on this delicious condiment. Probably the best thing of all is that no one will even notice that it's eggless!

Though there are many egg alternatives out there, like flax seeds and even bananas, the secret ingredient here is chickpea brine, also known as aquafaba. Since we eat a lot of chickpeas anyway, I just save the brine for making mayonnaise and freeze it. So this ingredient is basically free. 

For one batch, you'll need: 

One cup of oil of your choice- any oil is fine, except for coconut oil (250 milliliters)

About 1/4 (60 milliliters) to 1/3 cup (80 milliliters) of aquafaba (this depends on the thickness, and using canned vs home cooked chickpeas can also make a difference) 

1/4 teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of honey or any other sweetener, a tablespoon of vinegar, a teaspoon of mustard. 

Put aquafaba in a narrow shaped mug (but still wide enough for an immersion blender to fit in). Then put the salt, mustard, vinegar and honey in the mug and finally the oil of your choice. Starting at the bottom, start to blend. Blend for a few seconds before slightly lifting your blender. Blend for another few seconds again before lifting your blender, untill all of the oil is mixed in and has thickened. Now, refrigerate for a few hours; if the mayonnaise is still on the runny side, usually after refrigerating for a few hours makes the mayo thicker. If you happened to have a runnier batch that won't thicken upthere's still a lot of ways how to use that, but I'll try to elaborate on that in another post. My mayonnaise is always perfect when using this method, though I've heard some people saying that theirs is a bit runny. Possibly it's a matter of trial and error as to how much aquafaba to use. 

Making the most of citrus fruits

Our family is very big on eating local produce and seasonal foods. 

Eating seasonally and locally has many benefits: a smaller carbon footprint, supporting your local economy, it's usually healthier etc. 

Right now we're in the winter season, so locally that means turnips, fennel, cabbage, carrots, dates, and... Citrus fruits! Lots and lots of citrus fruits. In fact, the only there is here during the winter are citrus fruits! So usually it's only during the winter that we buy bananas, to have a bit more variation in our diet. 

In our garden, we've got a lemon tree. It gives fruits about 3 times a year, so not only in the colder months. I love it, and we use lemons a lot! 

But tangerines and oranges we buy at the farmer's market. It's still tangerine season, and after the tangerines we'll move on to the oranges. 

But what do you all do with these citrus fruits? Like I said, citrus fruits are the only fruits in season now. So apart from imported bananas, that's the fruit we eat when its winter. Most people don't want to eat the same thing over and over again and with fruits, that's no exception. So here's some tips. 

*Making juice: an obvious one, but often overlooked. Fruit juice tastes very different than actually eating a fruit, in my opinion. 

*Incorporate into your favourite breakfast. One of my favourite breakfasts is plain yogurt with oats and some sort of seeds/nuts. I just add whatever fruit there's in season, whether that is tangerines, pomegranates or grapes. 

*Make snack platter. This is not only for kids, adults enjoy it very much as well, from my experience! That way, just like with eating fruit alongside your breakfast, it's not the *only* thing you'll eat. Some ideas to include to a snack platter: dates (also seasonal fruits), nuts, cheese, dried fruits such as raisins, raw veggies, olives. 

*Salads. Apparently there are some people who don't want to mix fruits and veg in a salad. I'm obviously not one of them. I really like fruits incorporated into salads, and I used a variety of fruits doing so. Citrus fruits are no exception and they're a fantastic combination with many other seasonal produce, like fennel and carrot. 

*Last year, it was the first time I made a huge batch of orange jam. Everyone in our family enjoyed it so much! In fact, the other day we just finished the last container of orange jam. It's defenitely a keeper. Added bonus is that you won't have to add as much sugar as you would with making other kinds of jams. We all love jam here and I make lots of different kinds of jam; peach, strawberry, fig, even watermelon jam! 

The huge amount of peels I gave to one of our neighbours who have a few cows. Apparently cows really enjoy eating orange peels. I was glad all those peels weren't tossed into the trash and going in a landfill! 

*Dehydrating oranges is something you could do. It makes a wonderful natural candy! 

*Another thing you can do with peels- whether it's lemon, tangerine or orange peels, doesn't really matter- is making your own cleaner. The only other ingredient you'll need is vinegar. It makes a good and ecofriendly cleaner! 

*If you like that winter-y kind of scent in your home but you don't like the idea of bringing all kinds of chemicals into your home, just make your own. Boil down some orange peels, apples, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla- among other things. I'm sure you'll find some interesting additions as well. 

I hope you found these ideas useful. 

Easy no knead cinnamon roll recipe

 

I started baking my own bread years ago when we first got married. I just love baking bread and it's something I enjoy so much. To me it's very relaxing. I think baking bread is one of the essentials in living a more simple and frugal life. 

And I don't know about you, but I love cinnamon rolls. I, however, always found it such a hassle to start very early so we could enjoy this at breakfast time. I tried a fridge rise several times, so I could prep the rolls the night before. While it was worth trying, it wasn't our preference, as it changed the taste a bit. 

So, that was my struggle with cinnamon rolls 🙃 That is, until I discovered the 'miracle bread' recipe by Gina from Home Joys! (http://homejoys.blogspot.com/2011/01/miracle-bread.html?m=1) the original recipe is for a regular loaf, I really wanted to try if this works for cinnamon rolls. And it really does! We now actually prefer these rolls over the kneaded and more richer rolls I used to make. Literally everyone who tasted these rolls have asked a recipe. 

This dough still has to rise, so it isn't necessarily a very very quick bread recipe (although I do have a quick bread cinnamon rolls recipe-- please check my blog as I'll try to post that recipe soon!). But, you'll save a bit time as you skip the kneading part (maybe it's just inside my head as for the time consuming part! But I've found that with this recipe, our family enjoys a warm cinnamon roll more often than before I discovered this recipe). 

Anyway, this is how I make them. 

For the dough:

6 cups of white flour (750 grams) 

1,5 cups of water (375 milliliter) 

2 tablespoons dry yeast 

2 tablespoons of sugar 

2 tablespoons of salt 

3 tablespoons of oil 

For the cinnamon filling: 

2 tablespoons of cinnamon 

1/2 cup to 2/3 cup of sugar (100 to 132 grams)

2/3 cup of butter or margarine 

For the icing: 

Powdered sugar and water

Warm the water until very warm, not hot. Mix the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Add the oil and water. If dough is too sticky add some more flour; if dough is too dry add some water. Mix the dough until it's an uniform dough but don't knead it. Grease a bowl with some oil, cover and let it rest 30 to 90 minutes (depending on the house's inside temperature). Meanwhile prepare the cinnamon filling by mixing the sugar and cinnamon. Then in a bigger bowl, cream the butter and slowly add the sugar mixture, one tablespoon at a time to make mixing easier. 

Once the filling is ready and the dough has risen, take it out, press the air out and put it on a slightly oiled surface. Take your rolling pin and roll the dough out in the desired measure. (I'm sorry, I'm very bad at measurements, especially in inches!). Devide the cinnamon filling over the dough, make sure that the edges aren't covered by the cinnamon filling. 

Now carefully roll the dough and cut the dough in 12-13 even pieces. Grease a baking pan (you can either use a round or square pan) and put the rolls in the pan. Cover the rolls and preheat your oven at 200° C/329°F. Once the rolls have doubled in size put them in the oven and bake for half an hour. 

We prefer the rolls without icing, but if you'd like you can easily make an icing using powdered sugar and a few drops of water. 

Enjoy! 

Keeping yourself warm

 So, basically where we live it's getting cold! Many Europeans, when they think of Africa, they think of tropical places and all that. And while there may be some African countries where the climate is like that, there are much more countries that have 4 seasons.   So here we are, and winter has started. Maybe not officially yet, but its getting colder here! Living in a country where the average person has not a very high income, you'll learn to be creative with the resources you have. Contrary to what I was used too, many locals consider heating your home as a luxury. Say what?! Don't you NEED to heat your home?! Well, if you live in a very cold climate, I'd defenitely agree with that statement-- here however, it doesn't get THAT cold. It usually doesn't freeze here, and if it's cold its usually a few degrees above the freezing point. So you technically don't have to warm your house. So yeah, heaters are a luxury. And I've adjusted to that point of view. It's not that we don't use heaters at all, but we try to be careful with using heaters too much, both for environmental reasons as well as financial reasons. 

As I said its getting colder, but we still haven't turned on our heater. We certainly will when its getting colder! Though we acknowledge that heating is a luxury, we certainly love the convenience. But for now, we've taken certain measures to still be comfortable without a heater. 

Here are some things we do. 

Wearing sweaters and slippers. This is an obvious one but apparently not for everyone so I decided to start with this one! From my own experience, cold feet cool your entire body. And the opposite is also true; with warm feet you'll likely not getting chilly quickly. So warm slippers it is, and of course warm sweaters. I love wearing jumpers that my late grandmother knitted for me! Needless to say we also wear multiple layers of clothing. 

Drinking warm drinks. I am not into coffee, but I love tea and herbal infusions, some of which I forage such as olive leaves. I can appreciate a lovely hot chocolate too but try not to indulge in that too often! 

Switch to winter-y kind of meals. During the colder seasons our eating change a bit as we're eating more warming stews, soups and occasionally casseroles. We also like to eat all kinds of hot porridges for breakfast.

Another obvious but we try to stay very warm at night, with pajamas and thick blankets. Even once you've woken up you will stay warm for a long period of time. 

Being active during the day. Try to involve in activities that keep you warm. Cleaning (I like sweeping the floors with a broom- zero electricity used so very frugal/environmentally friendly plus a free workout), kneading dough, baking bread on my gas stovetop. There's so many more things but these were just some examples of how even indoor activities can keep you warm. As for outdoor activities, I like taking a walk and then being amazed by how warm my house actually is when I return! 

So, these are some things we do to stay warm before turning on the heater.  

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! 

So what's this blog about? 

Here, I'll try to share as many recipes as possible. Mainly our family favourites, and I'll also share many kitchen DIY tips and tricks, as I make a lot from scratch. 

We're a family of four; my husband and I and two daughters. We emigrated from western Europe to northern Africa. We focus on living simply, sustainably and frugally,  so I'll blog about that as well. We're in no way perfect, but we try to do our best. 

I'd love to read your feedback in the comments! <3