Make It Yourself Monday: homemade seitan

As I mentioned previously, I wanted to do a post about making your own seitan. I really don't know why it took so long to post it, or even come up with the idea to do a post about it. We eat seitan on a regular basis, it's kind of a remnant of the time when we had to live very frugally out of necessity when we didn't really have money. Seitan is insanely cheap to make, it's probably the cheapest protein, even beating dried beans. The only downside is that it's not suitable for those with gluten sensitivity/celiac disease. Fortunately, we can just tolerate gluten normally. Even though we don't have to live insanely frugal anymore, I've kept a lot of frugal practices that just make sense to me, and making my own seitan is one of them. 

 This is what seitan looks like (for those new to vegetarian cooking)

So, here's what you need for a big batch of seitan: 

Flour 

Water

And a whole lot of patience 😅

Start off by mixing 2 KGs of white, all purpose flour with approximately 1 liter of water- it could be a bit more or less. Knead it like you would knead a regular bread dough. If it's too sticky, just add in a bit more flour. 

After kneading for at least 10 minutes (kneading well is essential as the dough has to develop the gluten), leave it to rest in a bowl, cover with a damp tea towel. Leave it rest for at least 3 hours. 

Then after 3 hours, take out the dough (it's probably become slightly stickier, but that's ok) and put it in a colander in the sink. Now it will become a bit repetitive, but I'm ok with that. You'll need to rinse the dough under the tap. As you're rinsing your dough, knead gently, just to make sure all sides of the dough are being rinsed equally. 

In the beginning, it will look like this: 

Then after a while, it will look a bit more like this: 

The only way I can describe it really are brains 🤣 As you keep rinsing, the rinsing water becomes less white (like milk coloured) and more white transparant. Keep rinsing until the water is totally clear. By then, the dough has more of a spongy consistency, rather than looking like brains. 

Then it's time to cook your seitan. There are various ways to do this, but I prefer to cook the seitan in a broth. I've also tried to steam it, which is fine too, but it will really stick to the steaming basket and has a bit less flavour, since the seitan gets most of its flavour from the broth. So to cook it, put the seitan/dough in a pot and cover it with cold water, then add salt and whatever seasonings you like. You can keep it simple using salt, pepper and some bay leaves, or you could really go fancy. It's all a matter of preference. Put it on low heat for 45 minutes, it should be simmering and not boiling. The lower the better. After 45 minutes, when it looks like this: 

You just leave it cool down in the broth, preferably with the lid on the pot. This takes quite long and for this reason, it's not advisable to make seitan to use that very same day. I always make seitan in advance. When cooled down completely, get your seitan out of the broth and process it further. I usually cut it in small chunks, similar to meat, and then fry it or cook it. You could also make bigger cutlets, and I've read that some people grind it, similar to mince (but I'm yet to try that!). 

The other day, I made a simple pasta with small chunks of seitan, a jar of red sauce that I canned last summer and some vegetables that were in the fridge and needed to be used up. Everyone loved it! 

• Seitan is very versatile, you can use it in about everything you'd use meat. Some suggestions; pulled seitan, seitan cutlets, pasta and rice dishes, stews, soups, and many more.

• Keep in mind that this recipe is for quite a big batch; for our family, we use it for two main meals, and even then it's still a big quantity per meal. Since seitan freezes very well, just portion how you'd prefer it for your family size. Or just halve the quantities. 

• Also, don't throw away the seitan broth! It's quite tasty and can be used as any other broth.

• Don't waste money on whole wheat flour for this recipe. Since all the starches are going to get rinsed out, using whole wheat is kind of pointless. 

The screaming blender

As a very frugal household, we're always looking for ways to cut back on spending money unnecessarily and more important, not wasting anything unnecessarily. That includes everything from food, to clothing, to appliances and transportation. Sometimes the solution is very simple, sometimes it takes a bit more of research and work, or we might have to pay someone to do it - but even with that extra cost, it's still worth it, as we're preventing things going into the landfill. 

A fellow blogger talked about how her immersion blender finally got replaced after 27 (!) years. That's a long time! What's funny was that she talked about how her blender each time she used it was making a noise as if it's screaming. How is that funny? Well, a few years ago our blender needed a repair. Although it worked again, the downside is that now I can't take the two parts apart (which makes washing up more of a hassle), but it's still functioning, so for the time being I'm not replacing it by a new blender. But here's the thing- since the repair, our blender also screams! And I always thought that our blender was a funny one and the only one that actually could scream 😂 Apparently, blenders are starting to scream as they're aging. 

I do love our immersion blender and use it a lot: for soups and sauces, but also for making mock tahini, even mayonnaise. In fact, I blended some sauce today. I guess there will come a day when our blender is beyond repair. Until that day comes, I don't really mind having a screaming blender and I'll keep using it this way.  🙂

My go-to cake recipe

Friday is the most important day for us, so I always like to make the day a bit more special. One of the ways I do that is by food- making our main meal a bit more elaborate, or just making one of my family's favourite food. Another thing is baking. I like baking something specifically on Fridays, and it's become a bit like a family tradition at this point. It doesn't really need to be very fancy, but just baking something like a cake or cookies is highly appreciated. 

Our favourite cake is what I regularly make. It's a simple recipe and doesn't really need kitchen equipment. I've been using this recipe for well over a decade and I don't even know anymore where I got the recipe from, really. And I don't really have a recipe written down because it's all in my head 😆 but that's about to change! I thought to share it here with my readers. 

For one round cake pan (I think it's ø28 cm, but you can also use a rectangle shape or even casserole pan, etc), you'll need: 

1 cup of granulated sugar

4 medium sized eggs, or 3 large eggs 

1 cup of neutral oil (canola, corn, soy, peanut... just anything that would fall under vegetable oil I guess) 

1 cup of milk 

1.5 tablespoons of my "homemade" vanilla sugar but you can use regular vanilla sugar or vanilla extract (for us it needs to be alcohol free so we don't use extract)

2 cups of all purpose flour (scooped, not spooned) + 1.5 tablespoons of baking powder 

Mix the sugar and eggs using a whisk. They don't have to be very fluffy or pale, just whisking for a minute or so is enough. Then add the oil, wisk again. Then the milk and vanilla sugar. Then scoop two cups of plain all purpose flour and measure 1.5 tablespoons of baking powder. I use a small sieve for the baking powder as it tends to have clumps sometimes, it makes it easier to devide it evenly in the batter. 

Whisk very well and mix until there are no more clumps visible. Now your cake batter is ready! 

I bake it at 180° c (360 °f) for one hour. I must add that my oven doesn't heat up like other ovens do, so 150° c (310 ° f) would come closer to the real temperature needed for this cake. 

Let it cool down before slicing, then enjoy with a nice cup of coffee or tea 🍵 

 

Some very affordable meal ideas

Lately I've been kind of binge watching budget cooking videos. And I've noticed thar with an exception of a few of them, their approach is usually a bit negative, using words like "surviving" and "poor man's meal". Now I know that those words don't have to be taken negatively necessarily and it really depends on the context. But still, especially for those struggling and watching those videos hoping to get some tips, it's not very uplifting, almost like rubbing it in the face of those having to live on such strict budgets. After all, those vloggers will go back to their old budgets once their "challenge" is over. Looking back at the situation we were in ourselves, I'm glad I didn't approach our being on a tight budget as surviving. It's just what it was and I was really trying hard to make the best of it. 

What also bothers me is that a lot of these vloggers assume that a very tight budget means unhealthy, processed foods, such as instant ramen. Now I know this is true for some people, but for me, this is just kind of conforming the prejudices there are about cheap food. It would be much better to see those vloggers actually teaching how to actually eat more healthily on a tight budget. There are a few that do that, but honestly, the majority of them are just there for the likes and views and the more dramatic their "challenge" gets, the more attention it means for them, so actually teaching others is not quite in their own benefit. 

So I decided to offer some ideas for very frugal meal ideas for those that don't want to be eaten ramen noodles everyday (nothing wrong with having them from time to time, though!) I wanted to compose a list with very budget friendly meals, the "struggle" kind of means if you will.

Rice and beans 

This is a classic and probably the meal people think of when it comes to food on a very tight budget. And probably for a good reason; it's easy, affordable and, depending how you make the meal obviously, so tasty. It's also a go-to for people with various dietary restrictions, unless they can't eat beans for some reason. You can keep it very simple with a bag of dried beans, some basic seasoning and the cheapest rice if that's all your budget allows, to a bit more of an elaborate meal with a more fancy kind of rice, other types of seasonings, and add a bit more healthily in the form of vegetables. Or even add a side of meat/fish if the budget allows that (I usually don't add meat to pulses, as they are already a replacement for meat in and of itself, but that's just me). 

Eggs 

I was hesitant to add eggs to the list due to the increased price of eggs nearly everywhere in the world but most notoriously in the US (where the majority of the readers of this blog are from). But, I figured that since egg based meals are still cheaper than meat based meals, I'd still include it. Especially if you eat the eggs to replace the meat, rather than to have eggs and meat (sometimes you've got to set your priorities!). There are so many egg based meals out there, but to name a few: shakshuka (which is called ojja in Tunisia), anda gravy (also known as egg curry), khagina (Pakistani scrambled eggs), Tunisian tajine, food young egg... It doesn't even have to be a "real" existing meal, you can just add an egg (or two, if the budget allows it) to any meal that lacks some flavour/protein. Wether it's boiled, fried or poached, just add egg to rice, pasta or a sandwich and there you have your complete meal. It's as easy as that. It's good to note that on a very tight budget, and in today's economy, it's probably best not to have eggs daily but to alternate between eggs and other, cheaper,options. 

Seitan 

This is something a bit sentimental to me, as I was raised on a vegetarian diet. In the 1990s and early 2000s, there were very few meat alternatives like the ones common today. What we did eat a lot, was tofu, tempeh and seitan. Tofu and tempeh are both soy products, but seitan is a bit different; it's made out of wheat gluten. Personally, I liked seitan most. The only thing is that seitan, when store bought, can be really expensive. Which is a bit weird in my opinion as it's just one ingredient (or two, if water is counted as an ingredient...) and very easy to make! Later I found out that seitan can be easily made at home; not even with the more expensive vital wheat gluten, but just with all purpose flour. All in all, seitan is the least expensive meat alternative out there, even beating beans. Assuming that one KG flour costs half a dollar/half an euro, and one KG of flour made into seitan yields 3 to 4 portions. So that's just over 12 cents, for one person's portion of protein. Not bad at all, especially on a very tight budget. This does involve some work obviously, but it's doable, especially when you're making a double batch. I'm planning on doing a post on how to make seitan, for those interested in doing so. 

Anyway, back to meal suggestions. Seitan is as versatile as chicken or even more I'd say. It doesn't have a strong flavour in and of itself, so it really absorbs a lot of the flavours that you cook the seitan with. For this reason, it can be used in anything from pasta dishes, to hearty soups and stews, to rice dishes and sandwiches- the options are limitless really. Some suggestions: pasta with seitan, marinara sauce and vegetables, rice with seitan and sautéed vegetables, mashed potatoes with vegetables and a side of fried seitan, seitan sandwiches, loaded soups (a nice broth, some pasta or potatoes or any other starch, small chunks of seitan and beans, and of course nicely seasoned). As I said, the options are limitless. I usually just throw in some seitan to whatever leftovers there are in the fridge. 

Other pulses

While rice and beans may be the most famous pulses-and-starch meal, it's obviously not the only one. There are many other legumes/pulses to perfectly match a starch. Lentils, for example, are very versatile and as an added bonus, much easier to prepare ad they don't require soaking time, plus their cooking time is less. Some well known lentil dishes I can think of: koshary (Egyptian dish with rice, pasta and lentils), dhaal (south Asian lentils served with rice or flatbread), mujaddara (Levantine rice and lentil dish), lentil soup (in its many, many varieties), l3ades (north African lentil stew, served with bread) mercimek köfte (Turkish lentil "meatballs"). These are just a few of the many lentils dishes out there. Sometimes, just a bit of online searching is enough to find yet more dishes you've never heard of: 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpHGeH3bWu8&pp=ygUaYmVyeWwgc2hlcmVzaGV3c2t5IGxlbnRpbHPSBwkJxwkBhyohjO8%3D

And then there's also the humble chickpea- probably my favourite of all! I use chickpeas a lot. I mostly cook Tunisian meals and there's a lot of chickpea based meals in Tunisian cuisine, such as couscous with lamb, chickpeas and raisins (the lamb is obviously expensive but can be left out), lablebi (a winter breakfast dish made with chickpeas, broth and stale bread), barley and chickpeas soup, and even Tunisian pasta usually contains chickpeas. They can be added to pretty much any dish. And homemade hummus is also one of our favourites; I usually make a big batch and then freeze smaller portions. Chickpea flour is a pantry staple for us and can be used in many ways. Believe it or not, but Tunisians even make cookies with chickpea flour. 

Pasta 

Pasta must be on this list! I think there's no starch more versatile than pasta, not even rice. Due to the many varieties and shapes, you can make about any meal with pasta, even "rice-y dishes" by simply using orzo instead of rice. The options are limitless, and you can choose from so many shapes, combining different vegetables, protein, and sauces. And make sure to not just stick to Italian foods. Who said one cuisine could have patent on a certain kind of starch? Italian cuisine is lovely, not trying to put it down- it's just that there are many other countries using pasta too in their own unique way. Or just make up your own recipe- even better! 

I was intending to do a recipe post but this turned out to be more a list of suggestions, so stay tuned as I'll try to do a "struggle meal" series with very cheap recipes. 

Fried rice with egg, onion and pepper - easy and cheap!

Recent frugal happenings

Let's do one of these posts again 🙂

It's been quite a productive month, frugality-wise. It's not even always intentional, but I'm just taking advantage of the summer, with the hot temperature and produce in abundance. 

Free things: 

We got a bag of prickly pears twice- once from my father in law and the other was from my brother in law. My family loves prickly pears (and so do I, but unfortunately I'm allergic to them... )

We also got a few melons, very tasty ones. It's been hard to find very nice (soft and sweet) melons lately so I definitely enjoyed those melons. 

A relative from Europe brought us some goodies such as Gouda cheese and chocolate bars. It's been so long since I had Dutch cheese! After such a long time, it seems like it even tastes better than it did ever before. 

Reusing/repurposing: 

Our cat found a cardboard box that wasn't used in which she's sleeping everyday now. It's become her favourite spot in the house! I put a small blanket in the box to make it a bit copier for her. 

After organizing my wardrobe and putting quite a lot clothes in a 'donate bag', I cut some clothes that were worn out into rags, to use instead of disposable paper towels. This saves us a lot of money as well as it being way more environmentally friendly. 

I saved up some food package materials, such as pasta and rice bags, to use to freeze foods later, as well as small yogurt containers. The yogurt containers here are very small, containing just 100 grams of yogurt, but I like using them for my homemade garlic paste, among other things.

Saving energy: 

Due to the hot weather, we're taking only cold showers. "Cold" is relative, as the pipes are outside and so the water still heats up enough to have a comfortable shower. 

Used only cold water for the washing machine as well. And obviously cold tap water for the dishes.  

There have been some cooler nights, so didn't use the fan during those nights. The air conditioning is never switched on during the night. 

Cooking, preventing food waste:  

As always, I cooked a lot of homemade meals, of which some were double batches so the only thing I had to do was to reheat the food. 

We also had mostly homemade bread. And homemade treats. 

I made citronnade a few times with lemons from our tree. 

I cooked up watermelon rinds, used up a lot of leftovers, used some leftover cookie dough to use it up and make something new out of that, saved some not very good tasting buttermilk so I can make biscuits with them (hopefully tomorrow). Saved goat and chicken bones in the freezer (they're still not enough for bone broth, but I'm being patient!)

I also dehydrated a lot parsley and mint. Hopefully it will last about a year. I'll probably dehydrate some more mint, as we use that for tea during the winter when there is no fresh mint available. 

Bargains: 

Found peaches for a very good price and now I miraculously ended up with a big pot of peach jam 😂

Chickpeas were also for a very good price- much cheaper than a few weeks ago. At the refill store they don't really do sales on purpose, but sometimes it's just that the price suddenly drops- or increases. So we now have 4 kg of dried chickpeas, which hopefully will last us a long time. 

I thrifted a very nice skirt in my size. 

The prickly pears are still a bit green 

Dehydrated parsley 

Our cat in her cardboard box ❤️

Always be prepared

As I'm writing this, we're recovering from quite a long blackout. It started quite early- when we woke up for fajr (morning) prayer today at 04:00 AM, we found that our bedroom fan wasn't working so we figured it must be a blackout. That happens quite regularly, as in a few times a week, especially during the summer. But we didn't anticipate that it would be the longest blackout yet to experience. Assuming the blackout didn't start at 04:00 but, say, half an hour before that, and the electricity came back at 11:45, we were roughly 8 hours without electricity- possibly even a bit more. Since we experience blackouts every so often, I honestly don't really panick. Yes, it's annoying especially if you can't use a fan, or air conditioner when it's warm. 

I'm actually more concerned with the fridge. Even though the fridge is quite full and the two top shelves are nearly a freezer temperature during the summer, still, 8 hours is a long time for a fridge to be without electricity, especially in this heat. The same goes for the freezer. I've learned to be prepared for a blackout by storing a lot of bottles in the freezer. Usually it's broth, but if there's room left the gaps are just filled with bottles of water. Those bottles can go straight into the fridge in case there's a blackout. I put a few bottles in the fridge, just in case, and it probably did help, as those 8 hours powerless didn't seem to affect the temperature a lot. We did try not to open the fridge unless strictly necessary, so that helped too. Fortunately, I wasn't planning on using the washer or oven today, so that wasn't an issue. Another way we prepare ourselves for these kind of small calamities is to have an alternative source of light. Even during daytime, our house doesn't have that much sunlight, as our house was built to be insulated against the heat- not so much against the cold or to let sunlight come in, just like pretty much all houses here. We usually need to use lamps, especially in the kitchen.  Today it happened to be a cloudy day so that definitely meant we needed more light. Apart from our phones, we bought a lamp that can be charged either by electricity or by solar power (there's a tiny solar "panel" on the lamp). It's a very strong light so that comes in very handy. Much easier than candles. So even during daytime blackouts, we need to think about light, but obviously during nighttime blackouts that's even more of an issue. 

Water being cut off is more rare than electricity blackouts here, but still it does happen, especially since there is water scarcity. In our city it doesn't happen as much as in oather areas, but we've still found ourselves in situations with the water being cut off. Usually that happens a bit gradually, with the tap stream becoming weaker and weaker until no single drop of water comes out of the tap. There have been instances when neighbours had to ask us for water since they didn't have any. Honestly I don't really like asking others unnecessarily, even though I know my neighbours wouldn't mind at all. 

This is why I think it's important to be prepared. And I've noticed that a lot of people, even more so frugal minded people, talk about preparedness. But this preparedness is usually about greater calamities such as possible war or terrorism, wildfires, floods or earthquakes. To be honest, even if there is a chance that would happen, I think it's also good to look at the smaller calamities and it's much more likely we'll have to deal with them at some point. Now I understand that where we live blackouts are more common, but not so long ago, there was a blackout in a huge area in Spain, Portugal and even some areas in Morocco. I bet those people weren't really anticipating that either. It's not a major crisis (in most circumstances, anyway), but it's always good to be prepared. And yes, we should be prepared for bigger calamities, in my opinion, but also for the smaller ones. I would be quite annoyed if there's a blackout and my phone's battery is almost empty. Or our spare lamp wasn't charged. Or we didn't have enough cold water in the fridge. Not insurmountable problems, but still problems I'd rather be prepared for. 

                     Our nifty rechargeable lamp, in the kitchen

Leftover cookie dough breakfast cake

Yesterday I was in for some baking. I made chocolate chip cookies, our favourite kind of cookies at the moment. We usually have one temporarily kind of favourite cookie and then move on to the next 😂

Anyway, I made quite a big batch, but not all the cookies fit on the two cookie sheets that I used. I didn't want to use yet another cookie sheet just for about half the space they would take on the cookie sheet, not to mention leaving the oven on for just a few cookies. But I certainly didn't want to waste the dough either. I read you can freeze cookie dough but I was in the mood for baking anyway so I thought I'd bake something different with the cookie dough as a base. This kind of baking is what I do a lot and the result is usually a surprise. But what's most surprising is that those spontaneous bakes never disappoint. I always need to be quick to write them down or I just forget all I've used, and I end up never imitating them as good as the first time! 

                                       The cookie dough

  

So here is my breakfast cake recipe, using leftover cookie dough. I was hesitant to call it a cake because it's more like baked oatmeal and not very sweet, but there we go: 

Around 2 cups of chocolate chip cookie dough (I used chocolate chunks instead, as chocolate chips are nearly impossible to find here) 

2 eggs 

Half a cup of peanut butter 

A few tablespoons of milk (optional)

A teaspoon of baking powder 

1.5 cups of oats 

1/3 cup of desiccated coconut 

A pinch of cinnamon 

Crack the eggs over the dough, add in peanut butter and stirr well. Add all the other ingredients. It should have the consistency of a thick batter. I added a bit of milk because my batter was too thick, but if yours isn't there is no milk needed. I didn't use a lot of add-ins because there were chocolate chunks already, but if you like you could add raisins, fresh fruit, dates, or even more chocolate. 

I poured the mixture in a round cake pan and baked it for 45 minutes, 180°c (360° f). I let it cool off completely before I devided the baked oatmeal into 10 pieces. Had one for breakfast and the rest of my family want to try one tomorrow for breakfast, the rest I'll be freezing for a quick and convenient breakfast. 

Try at your own risk 😉

The baked oatmeal ready to go into the oven 

Straight out of the oven. Unfortunately I can't posts smells

        

                                                 Plated up

Who hates cooking?

I recently read something quite interesting. It was about people always "bragging" (as that person put it) they love to cook, and how in reality it really sucks having to cook every single day, again and again. I found it interesting as I'm quite the opposite- I love cooking. I actually can relate to people not wanting to cook everyday, as my health issues sometimes make it difficult to have the same energy level everyday. I might have a few "good days" in a row, in which I do a lot of cooking, which is usually followed by lower energy days in which I'm happy when I have enough energy to reheat the previously batch cooked food, plus the few dishes needed for that. So yes, I get that people don't want to be cooking every single day. 

What I can't relate to, however, is not liking to cook. When my lower energy days are over and I feel better I can't wait to do some cooking, meal prep, or start a new "project" in my kitchen. Or bake some fresh bread- as long as it's kitchen related, I'm thriving! Even on some of the lower energy days- because I like cooking and making things from scratch, it does give me energy (well, not always, obviously). I think it would feel terrible to have to do something everyday that I really dislike. Especially in a country where there aren't a lot of convenience foods, as is the case where we live. And by convenience foods, I don't necessarily mean TV dinners and other unhealthy stuff but even frozen foods, most tinned foods, pre-made sauces etc. It made me think what I would do in such an instance. Would I just accept that cooking is part of life even if I'd hate it? Or live off of instant ramen and sandwiches? Or get daily takeaways, hiring a private chef even? Those last option is probably out of budget to most people and it would certainly make a big dent in our monthly expenses. And solely relying on sandwiches and ramen is just too unhealthy. What's left is accepting that not every part of life is always fun. 

Probably not a popular opinion, but even the dishes I don't mind, on most days anyway. And I say that as someone who doesn't even own a dishwasher. Some people might see it as bragging but that's really not my intention. I think it would be a good thing if we'd all be a bit less hedonistic. There's nothing wrong with having fun, but not every single thing has to be fun. Sometimes you just do what you have to do, today's society makes it so complicated. 

What I also don't get is people don't want to think in solutions but rather see difficulties. As I mentioned, I find it hard to cook every single day due to health issues (despite actually enjoying it). But that doesn't mean we can't make things easier for ourselves... Why not do meal prep, so you have one day of work and the other days it's simply re-heating or at least be ready faster? Why not just have simple meals? As long as we get our nutrients, meals don't always have to be complicated. Apparently, some people do meal prep for weeks or even a whole month. While that wouldn't work for us (I'd need an extra freezer, lol) it's definitely food for thought and a good idea for those that despise cooking. One day of work, 29 days being free of cooking, sort of of.  It's easy to just nag and see things negatively.  And although disliking certain tasks might be natural, a bit of an attitude change, as well as some practical preparation, go a long way. 

Homemade vegetarian "deli meat"

The other day I baked dinner rolls to have as a simple supper with Gouda cheese that we got from a relative abroad. After being deprived from Dutch cheese for so long, there's nothing better than just a bun or sandwich with cheese! 

And then I thought of something else we regularly had on a bun/sandwich, especially in our leaner periods. That was deli meat. Only, I usually made it myself. "Real" deli meat was quite expensive, especially the ones that weren't heavily processed. And we wouldn't eat just any meat anyway for religious reasons, the ones suitable for us were either ultra processed or expensive. There were also the vegetarian substitutes, which were ok but still quite processed. So after some trial and error I came up with my own homemade version. While we can afford more now, and having moved to Tunisia, there are no issues with supermarket meat anymore, I still like to control what's in our food I guess 😀 So I decided to make us some deli meat to have alongside the cheese. 

It was a long time ago (as in, years...) that I made these and I don't think I've written down this recipe, I tried to do my best to come close to my own original recipe and it really worked out well. 

Here's the recipe: 

Half a cup of water

2 eggs

3 heaped spoons of chickpea flour 

3 heaped spoons of all purpose flour (or whole wheat) 

2 bullion cubes for a somewhat meaty taste (for a stick vegetarian version, use vegetable or mushroom bullion)

1/3 cup of oil of your choice, I used olive oil to make it healthier

A spoonful of tomato paste 

More seasonings: onion powder, ground cumin, dried parsley, black pepper, garlic paste 

Dissolve the bullion cubes in very hot or boiling water. Then add to that the chickpea flour and stirr well (using a whisk) until there are no lumps. Then add the eggs, the oil, seasonings and tomato paste. Mix well. Then add the flour. The mixture should still be a bit liquid but not too runny, probably similar to a pancake batter. Then take some plastic wrap (about 50 cm/19 inch long) and pour it onto the wrap, then wrap it tightly, make a knot on the sides so that no batter can come out. Cover the plastic wrap with aluminum foil, and let it steam for around 45 minutes. Let it cool off completely before taking the "sausage" out of the wrap. 

Then use however you like- it's not limited to sandwiches: I used it a lot in pasta salad, for example. There you have your meat alternative without all the weird ingredients. 

Doesn't it look delicious? 

After slicing

Being poor is expensive

Lately I read something on Reddit which, I must be honest, was a bit triggering to me. I sometimes get triggered when it comes to people discussing poverty, wether that's in real life or online. I must say, I've really improved in the past few years and have managed to deal with it better, but sometimes suddenly there's this small thing that can really be triggering. So someone said that being poor is expensive. And of course there were many people disagreeing with that person, claiming that poor people actually are expensive themselves 🙄 (for society). Even though they're just random people online and I should really care about what such people have to say, it did make me angry. Because this is what I've been hearing for years now and it's so wrong. 

Whenever someone becomes poor it's almost like they've become society's property- you're poor so everyone must have an opinion about you. And you bet they're going to mention every single thing you're doing wrong. Even if you're being a "good poor person", you'll get criticized anyway because why being poor in the first place? (As if that's our own fault...) Fortunately, we've been able to work ourselves out of poverty, living very different lives now- not just our financial situation but also having emigrated to another country. It's still nice and valuable to reminisce every so often. 

And I fully agree with the statement of it being expensive to be poor. Having been there and done that, there's so many things that cost a lot more money to us than it did to rich/middle class people. 

- You can't afford to get a driver's license, so you rely on public transportation. Not only is public transportation not very reliable, it's also much more expensive than it is to drive a car. Fortunately, we were able to cycle, even though we only could afford a crappy bike instead of a nice one, which also cost us more money as it needed repair more often. 

- You're living in social housing (similar to council estate in the UK), which usually aren't of great quality- it's usually old houses, not insulated that good, etc. So you end up having a higher gas/electricity bill than those people that can afford to live in nicer, better houses. 

- Because you don't have a car, you can't always just go to the cheapest grocery store (such as Aldi or Lidl). We were fortunate to live in a smaller town so we could get everywhere with our bicycle, but for people living in bigger cities with only the more expensive grocery store nearby, there are less options. Fortunately, at least there isn't really such a thing like food deserts in the Netherlands. However, where we lived there was no such thing as food delivery at the time, we lived in a kind of remote area and supermarkets back then only delivered in bigger cities. Doing groceries by bicycle wasn't necessarily easy but we did figure out the best way to do it. We bought a bicycle carrier (which officially is meant to transport small children) so we could carry a bit more at a time, and at least take advantage if there were items being sold at a good price. Fortunately, we were able to buy ours second hand, which saved a lot of money. 

- When you're poor/low income, you can only afford to pay the basic, mandatory health insurance. There's no room financially to pay for additional health insurance that covers things like dental care, glasses, physical therapy, dietitians etc. We ended up paying for them ourselves- I did have to quit going to the dietitian as it became more expensive. I never really told her the real reason because I was a bit ashamed. 

- Which brings me to another point: social stigma. This doesn't necessarily always cost money, but ultimately, you're paying the price when it comes to mental health. For me personally, I didn't find it very difficult to discuss our situation with people I knew (and trusted); most of my relatives and friends knew we didn't have a lot of money. But I did find it more difficult when it came to other people that I didn't really know that well. What if they'd think I was a bad mum and call CPS? I think those thought are on almost every poor parents minds in a lot of countries. Fortunately, here in Tunisia, being poor isn't considered a failure or a crime, and poor people aren't treated like they've done something wrong or that they're bad parents, but in most of Europe, that really is the attitude towards poor people.                        In some cases, though, being poor and especially being ashamed of it can actually cost money. People are ashamed and because they don't want their poverty to be apparent, they'll end up buying things with money they don't have, adding more debts and ending up in even more problems. Being poor is mostly perceived as being dumb, lazy and just taking advantage of more well to do people. And that's really hard for low income people that try to do the best they can. Eventually that really backfires on ones health, both mentally and physically. Stress can cause a lot of health issues. 

- Speaking of debts: a relatively "small" debt (unpaid phone bill for example) can end up in outrageously high amounts of money. While poor people definitely aren't always in debt, there are a lot of poor people that are. And all those debts add up. Until you're just drowning in debts... It's really scary, but unfortunately the reality for many people. 

- Poor people usually can't afford to eat as well as richer people. Unfortunately, in many countries at least, ultra processed foods are more expensive than produce, healthy fats and whole grain products. While it might seem a cheaper option to buy cheap processed foods, it usually comes at a price for one's health. Yes, I know there are ways to still eat healthy on a very restricted budget, but generally speaking, not everyone has the time/energy/ability to stick to such a diet, think outside the box (due to bring chronically stressed out in long term poverty, etc). Buying in bulk is another thing not every poor/low income family can afford. Buying in bulk can save money, but initially, you'll need a larger amount of money than your weekly budget allows. 

All in all, those are some reasons why being poor costs a lot of money. Which is actually very wrong from many sides- it's as if poor people are being punished (by society) for being in the situation they are in. It's hard to wrap my head around that. Having been in most of those situations myself, I really can't imagine someone disagreeing with it- let's just think those people come from a very privileged pplace. The situation we were in wasn't exactly fun, but least it's something I've learned a lot from. I've learned not to judge, not to think thar just because someone doesn't look poor they aren't (we certainly didn't look poor). And that low income families certainly aren't lazy or dumb. I think that's the most stupid prejudice about poor people out there, to be honest. 

Cucumbers

My father in law regularly gives us leftover produce that he receives from relatives and other people when he visits his village. Because you can not let a guest leave empty handed, no matter the circumstances! So all you have is abundance of produce, that's a perfect gift for your guest. The thing is though, my father in law could never finish all that produce he gets. I mentioned the tomatoes he received the other day, that was around 10 kg and enough for around 6 L of tomato sauce. 

This time he was gifted a big amount of cucumbers. Which, to most people, is a bit more of a challenge than tomatoes, because after all- you're not just eating mounds of salad, are you? It's a challenge for me as well, but not in a negative way. Cucumbers have so much potention! It's been years already since discovering that cucumbers are not merely a salad food; you can prepare them in so many ways. Just because a cucumber is only known as a raw food, doesn't mean that's the only way to eat it. Most people might be unaware of this but you can boil and fry cucumbers; not to mention pickling and fermenting to extend their shelf life even more. There's so much to choose from. This is yet again an instance of having to think outside the box if you want to be resourceful. 

Today, I decided to simmer the majority of the cucumbers in a light broth. Boiling plainly without any seasonings is possible too, but that bit of seasonings make a big difference. I chopped the cucumbers in half circles, washed them, then combined them in a pot with some water and my seasonings: vegetable bullion cubes, ground parsley, ground onion, some red pepper flakes, a spoonful of tomato paste, and garlic paste. I let it simmer for about 20 minutes and let it cool down. 

There are still some more cucumbers left, which, after making more salad, I'll probably pickle. It's been very long since I had a properly pickled vegetable so that might be worth a try. 

Tunisian cucumbers look quite wonky 🙃

I had some of the cucumbers for dinner, with rice and seitan (it was leftovers night today...), and I really enjoyed it. I'll probably have some for lunch tomorrow, but with chickpeas instead of seitan. It does a taste a bit like cooked courgette/zucchini, although not exactly the same, but it comes close. 

Anyway, if any of my readers finds cucumbers at a good price... Make sure to at least try cooking it, especially if you like squash. 

Tunisian kesra bread

I believe that everyone should be able to make homemade bread. Not necessarily difficult artisan bakery style bread; just a simple recipe will do. Baking bread, in my opinion, is an essential life skill or at least something that can come in very handy.

Today I'm sharing my kesra recipe. Kesra is a Tunisian bread that's made on the hob and very delicious. It's also known by other names in some countries, such as tachnift or batbout in Morocco. 

I learned how to make it many years ago from my mother in law and my sister in law, and tweaked it a little bit to suit our taste, but other than that it's the same as theirs. And my mother in law, on her turn, also learned it from her mother- so I'm proudly sharing a real family recipe here! 

For 6 medium sized round breads, you'll need: 

9 cups of fine semolina flour 

2 heaped spoons of instant yeast 

2 teaspoons of salt, or more depending on your quality of salt 

5 cups of warm water (could be more depending on the quality of the flour) 

Oil to grease your bowl 

Some seeds, such as sesame or nigella seeds (optional) 

Start by mixing the dry ingredients in a big bowl. Add the water until you're able to make a dough that isn't sticky. 

Knead for 10 minutes. Ideally more, but I've found 10 minutes of kneading to be sufficient. 

It should look like this: 

Then devide it into 6 equal pieces. I don't have a dough scraper or other special equipment, so I just use a good old knife. 

Then I formed nice round balls from the dough, rubbed it with a bit of oil and devided it in two bowls: 

I covered both bowls with big round trays, as I try to avoid disposable plastic as much as possible, but you could also use plastic wrap. Or don't grease it and cover with a clean dish towel. Now let it sit and rise until it's at least doubled in size. The bigger the better, so don't do this when you're in a rush! Since my kitchen is very warm during the summer, it didn't take long. 

It's good when it looks like this: 

(Now compare it to the picture with the two small balls of dough in it...) 

Get the dough out, punch the air out and make two balls again. Now heat your pan on the hob. I have two cast iron pans that are purposely used for baking breads, but you can use a "regular" cast iron pan or just a regular frying pan. Just whatever you have will probably work, although I would recommend cast iron (some people here even bake their kesra in clay pans, especially in the villages)

Make sure there's enough room on your counter and that it's clean. 

I always thoroughly clean my counter after making dough 🙂

If your pan is ready (it shouldn't be really really hot!), you can start to form your bread. Just gently push it down in a rotating way so you end up with a nice round bread. Prick a few times in the dough with a fork.

Now you can transfer it into the pan. I usually fold my bread and then when it's the pan immediately turn back the piece of dough that was folded over, to make picking up the dough a bit easier. 

When it's starting to bubble, it's probably time to turn around the bread. I used a spatula for this.

Then bake the other side as well. 

Then, and this is optional, when the other side has browned enough, it's time to bake the sides. Some people prefer the sides to be more on the dough side but we like them a bit more cooked. 

It's a bit of a blurry picture lol. This was the best picture I could take with using just one hand. Just turn the bread little by little until the whole side has a nice golden brown colour too. 

Now bake all your breads like this. I use two pans at the same time so it's a bit faster, but one pan definitely works fine too. Pile them up on a tray/plate with some towels (I use old t-shirts) and try to let them cool off completely...which is probably the most difficult part! 

Tightwad tip: the broom

It might surprise a lot of people, but I rarely ever vacuum the floors. And it's not that my house is dirty- quite the contrary. You see, I suffer from tinnitus and hyperacusis, which means I'm very sensitive to a lot of sounds. The vacuum cleaner happens to be one of those sounds that I really can't stand. I used to use it for my floors but then just decided to do what everyone else is doing around these parts, which is to use a broom. 

Honestly, using a broom is just so much easier! Our vacuum is quite big. It's a Numatic, the "old fashioned" type of vacuum, so no robotic quality involved, nor is it a stick vacuum cleaner type of model that's rechargeable (which, in my opinion, must be quite annoying). In fact, it's that big that it was hard to find a place where it could sit without bothering us and out of sight. We eventually found a place behind our sofa, and the handle is laying under one of our wardrobes. Every so often it's being used to clean the sofa and that's all. Usually my husband does that when I'm not there as to not get overstimulated by the sound. Like all houses here, we have tile floors, which are easy to maintain and easy to sweep. Owning a vacuum cleaner isn't something very common here- most people just do it the old fashioned way by using a broom and mop. And perhaps in addition to that, a manual carpet cleaner. Some people even borrow their neighbours/relatives' vacuum for those few times year you need one. Most car washes offer services to clean/vacuum cars, so that's not really a reason to own one. 

Using a broom regularly instead of a vacuum cleaner saves me money, by paying less for utilities, plus not having to replace the vacuum itself in just a few years. It also keeps me fit, as vacuuming isn't as labour intensive as using the broom is; I'm using more muscles when sweeping. I know, I know, I'll probably get the "what about allergies"- kind of question. The interesting thing is- I used to have dust mite allergy, but it seems like dust doesn't affect me like it used to when I always vacuumed. Also interesting: my mopping water isn't more dirty compared to when I still used the vacuum. 

Our very handy carpet cleaner

A broom definitely takes up less space! 

Zero waste-y kitchen activities

Time for an update on what I did to save some food from being wasted. I know i could always do better, but I'm still pleased with these accomplishments. With photos this time- I decided to get out of my comfort zone a bit 😂 

Fermenting watermelon rinds: this is what I do each summer. It works best with watermelons that have a thicker skin, thinner ones work too, but it's just a bit annoying to peel. This year I'd like to try to pickle some too. 

Two jars, one large and one small, of fermented watermelon rinds 

Melon ice cream: we bought a few very bland tasting melons, and upon some googling I found recipes to make melon ice, without an ice cream maker. Since I don't have an ice cream maker, nor am I planning on buying one, I decided to give it a try. It was so worth it, the ice cream was delicious and I didn't have to waste a melon. I think i should add that i'm not the biggest fan of ice cream so that must have been really good. 

Doesn't really look like it contains melon though, nor does it taste very melon-y, but it's still good!

Onion powder: as I was decluttering my kitchen cupboards I found a big bag of dehydrated onion peels. Probably a project I once started but then forgot about it, lol. So I figured it was best to finish it or it would never happen. So I ground the onion peels in my coffee grinder. That's all you have to do for homemade onion powder! It adds a nice, somewhat sweet onion-y flavour to many dishes. 

My homemade onion peels. It has quite a dark colour as the majority of the onions I use are red onions. 

Rendered chicken fat: 

I usually collect chicken fat/skins in the freezer until there's enough for a nice batch. So a few weeks ago it was finally time to render some skins.

I don't have a picture of the final result - it's still liquid here. But once it solidifies, it becomes a bit more light yellow. I love using rendered chicken fat for frying eggs, potatoes etc. Gives the food a nice almost buttery flavour. Or sometimes I just add it to random foods as a flavour enhancer. 

Banana peels mock pulled chicken: 

Isn't it nice to see all this food that would otherwise have gone to waste? Most of these are made with by-products such as peels, skins etc. I think it's good to realize that in most cases, everything of that particular food can be used- not just what's commonly known. Just think a bit outside the box and of course, internet helps a lot too. I really don't think I would have learned all these things without the internet, I'm definitely grateful for this modern convenience. 

That's it for now. I hope I can give an update soon with other nearly-wasted food tips. 

What if electricity was free?

The temperature is increasing almost per day now, yesterday was the first day above 40° (104° f), 42 degrees to be precisely. Today was around 45°. Yes, that's very hot! Fortunately, we live in a dry semi desert climate, which makes it a lot more bearable. Humidity makes the windchill a lot hotter. 

Despite the hot temperature, we still try to be moderate with the use of air conditioning. It's set on 26° c, and it's not on for the majority of the day. It's not that we cannot afford running the airconditioner all day long, we can, but I really don't see the need to pay that much for utilities.  And not just because of finances, although that certainly plays a role too. My first and foremost reason is the environment, then our health. Yes, I don't think airconditioners are good for our health - especially if there's a huge gap between outdoor and indoor temperature. The other day I read an article written by an pulmonologist about that, and how it can trigger issues for asthma patients. Both my oldest daughter and me happen to have asthma... We're not with a lot of issues during the summer drought, fortunately, but anything we can do for our lung health is a win. 

But something got me thinking: what if electricity was completely free? What would I do in such an instance? I need to be honest with myself (and my readers 😉). I'd probably use it a tad more than I do now. Not necessarily all day long, and I wouldn't mess up with the temperature setting, I still want summer to feel like summer. And I still value protecting the environment, within my limited means anyhow. It doesn't really feel hypocritical to be honest, because I just don't want to spend fortunes just on getting our house cold enough so I can wear sweaters at home (lol). So I would still use it moderately even if electricity were free. 

There's a reason why that came to my mind. Somebody I know is married to a man who works for the electricity and gas company. There's just one such a company here, owned by the government. Their employees get the privilege of having free electricity- and also for one extra house of their choice, for example their parents home or whatever other home they wish. I think that's pretty cool. Without wanting to sound too socialist, it seems like things like these usually stop when those companies are being privatized, sadly. As soon as it's being privatized, company greed changes a lot. My grandfather also worked for the electricity company in the Netherlands, before it was being privatized, and he had exactly the same privilege. I remember my grandmother using only an electric hob, which was a bit rare, and I only ever saw it at her house, not anywhere else. Apparently, now it's getting more common to use an electric hob but at the time it wasn't- she even got hers from Germany as they were better available there. Interestingly enough, my grandmother was one of the most frugal people I've ever known, despite her electricity bill being zero regardless of her use. She didn't have a lot of electric guzzling appliances, such as a dryer or even an electrical lawn mower (despite having a big garden). So basically, electricity being free didn't affect her use at all - she could have taken advantage of that privilege but didn't.

And to get back to my acquaintance I was referring to, it happens to be the same with her. I was visiting her recently and noticed that she still hadn't installed her airconditioner. She owns one, but having moved to her current house around a year ago, the airconditioner being installed apparently wasn't a big priority. She said they didn't really miss one and that her fan was enough. I must add that she lives in a house that stays relatively cool during the summer, but still, most people in her situation probably have taken advantage of free electricity. Also, like most people here, she's frugal by nature. She doesn't necessarily call herself frugal but she definitely is. 

And of course, then there's people who have plenty of solar panels to have enough electricity during the summer for all their appliances. That's a bit of a different story. I wish we had solar panels, but unfortunately they're so expensive! That might be a disadvantage of the grid not being privatized... it's still a future goal of ours to have enough renewable/sustainable electricity. Not necessarily going offgrid, but to have our "own" power for the majority of the time and to still be connected to the grid as a backup. I think probably when one has solar panels, that's also a way of being more mindful of your usage of electricity. Because you never know when you run out. 

I guess the moral of this story is that we should always be mindful of what we use, regardless of its abundance, it being free of charge, etc. In the end, even "free" stuff is never totally free- someone or something is paying a price. In this case, that something is the planet. 

Very easy pancakes recipe

I like pancakes for breakfast, all kinds. American style pancakes, poffertjes (tiny Dutch style pancakes), baghrir (north African style pancakes also known as a thousand hole pancakes), crêpes, etc. It's just that some are so nice, I tend to overeat them. I want to be able to portion and freeze pancakes to avoid over indulgence. Unfortunately, not all pancakes are freezable, especially crêpes. It's also nice to have a go to breakfast waiting to be thawed in case there isn't anything else to eat. So I prefer freezable pancakes. 

Also, since I'm trying to lose weight, I'm always looking to decrease my calories without making too much sacrifices (if that makes sense, lol). Typically pancakes contain milk, eggs and fat - in addition to be cooked in yet more fat. Substituting white flour for whole wheat (and/or oat flour) is something I've been doing for a long time already, but I was looking for a solution for the eggs and milk. Don't get me wrong, I'll still consume eggs and milk, but I just prefer them as is, not as an ingredient just adding more calories. So after some googling and trial and error myself, I came up with partially whole wheat pancakes that don't contain any milk or eggs- and STILL taste amazing. 

For a large batch (around 16-19 pancakes), you'll need: 

2 cups of whole wheat flour 

2 cups of fine semolina (can be substituted for white or whole wheat flour)

1.5 tablespoons of instant yeast 

Half a teaspoons of salt, or a bit less or more to taste 

A tablespoon of vanilla sugar/vanilla flavour/extract (I don't use extract because of the alcohol it contains, but apparently alcohol free extract does exist) 

As much warm water as needed to create a pancake batter- I used around 5 cups 

Oil or butter to cook your pancakes in 

Combine all the dry ingredients and mix well using a whisk. Then add the water, not adding all the water at once to avoid a batter that's on the runny side. If you find it too thick just add a bit more gradually and mix well using the whisk. Mix until there are no more lumps visible and it's a smooth batter. Then cover your bowl, I use a bowl with a lid to avoid using unnecessary disposable plastic. 

Let it sit for around 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on your room temperature. If you've got enough time it should even be possible to let it rise in the fridge. 

If the batter has doubled in volume and is bubbly it's done and ready to bake. Heat up your skillet, and use about one ladle or a bit less (depending on your preferred size of pancakes) of batter per pancake. Cook them as you would regular pancakes and let them cool. 

These pancakes might seem a bit flavourless, but trust me, they're so yummy! The semolina gives them that rich flavour and so does the yeast. There's absolutely no need for eggs or another ingredient for binding, which makes these pancakes not only easy, eggs allergy-friendly, vegan and lower in calories, but also WAY more affordable in this economy 😉 

Some notes: 

I made this the night before breakfast and kept the ones I was planning to eat in a container, the others went into the freezer right after cooling down.  

Keep in mind- both semolina and whole wheat flour absorb more water than white flour does, so keep in mind you'll need more liquid than when making regular pancakes. You can make this batter with whichever flour you like, making it 100% whole wheat or 100% white. 

Back at blogging and some updates

I can't believe it's been almost 5 months since I posted here! That wasn't quite planned but I guess there were other things to do besides blogging. I really want to keep up with my blog but sometimes it's just a bit difficult. 

Despite our summer break, we're in the thick of it! With abundance of summer produce, there's so much to do. 

Homemake-y updates: 

We home butchered a goat. 

My father in law gave us a box containing well over 10 kg (22 lb) tomatoes, which he in return also got from someone but didn't know what to do with it. I turned the majority of it into marinara sauce, which is now in the freezer.(and a bit stayed in the fridge to use within a few days)

Also made a big pot of fig jam, my husband's all time favourite jam. 

I finally found the courage to make my own sourdough starter. It's still intimidating to use it, I must admit, but at least now I have the starter... 

Made homemade onion powder with onion peels. 

Rendered a big bag of chicken skins and I now have a lovely jar full of rendered chicken fat! 

Cooked a lot from scratch, as usual. 

General life updates: 

My oldest daughter finished middle school. Youngest finished her second to last year of elementary school. 

We have a new cat to take care of, a beautiful Siamese girl. She's VERY talkative- I had to get used to that amount of meowing! She has a defect in her tail - it has a bend in it, which is probably the reason why she was roaming around in the streets. Unfortunately, some people want to get rid of "imperfect" pets, and it's not very common to see breed cats on the streets. 

A very sad one: just one week ago, our ginger cat died 😥 We all loved him dearly and are heartbroken. He lived here for three years and a half and I'm just so grateful we could give him the best home possible for him for that long, and save him from the streets. He was buried in our garden this past Friday. The other cat doesn't really understand that her bigger brother is gone, although she's coping quite well with it, but it's noticeable she's missing him a lot. 

Health updates: 

Just finished a two weekly high iron diet. My iron was super low, and i'm feeling much better now. I just don't want to see liver for the next couple of months, lol (I actually do like liver but after eating it every day for two weeks long... it certainly gets boring!). 

I'm steadily losing weight, so far lost 27 kg and I'm not there yet, but certainly proud of this accomplishment. 

I started walking again. I walked daily but then fot busy with other things. Which is now excuse, so I really try to make time for walking daily, even if it's just 20 minutes. My muscles were so stiff without walking (I have fybromyalgia) and I definitely feel better with walking daily, even if it's not a lot- I probably don't reach the 10.000 steps a day, but it's better than nothing. 

I think that's it for now! Trying to blog a bit more regularly from now on 👋

The last picture I took of our beloved ginger cat 😿