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

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. 

No wasted milk - and turning muffin batter into pancake batter

The other day, my husband did an attempt to make buttermilk for my mother in law. The thing is, it just didn't settle. It was probably the chilly living room temperature (despite the jug with milk being covered in a thick blanket). Or he didn't use the right amount of yogurt. Whatever it was, we were left with one litre of milk- not tasting good enough to drink as is, nor suitable to use as buttermilk. So I figured it would be best to use for baking. Most baking recipes are very forging when it comes to the milk you're using- I've used spoiled milk, plant "milk" (such as rice/oats), very watered down milk, watered down yogurt or even whey. So I knew it was possible to use this failed buttermilk for baking. 

Baking pancakes was a no brainer, but I already made quite a large batch of pancakes that I froze to have a quick breakfast. And we had waffles two days ago. So I thought it would be better to make something different. Muffins it was- the children are always happy to have a nice after school snack anyway. I usually use white flour when baking muffins but I was in for something more adventurous today and decided to use a mix of white flour, whole wheat flour and oat flour. I used half of the milk but there was some batter left over, since I didn't have enough muffin molds. So I added more milk and flour mixture to bake another batch of "muffins", in a cake pan. Sometimes you just need to be creative, right?

And then, there was *still* some batter left- I was afraid the cake would rise too high and I'd end up with a messy oven if I'd add all of the batter into the cake pan. So, I used my trick to turn muffin batter into pancake batter, by adding around 1/2 cup of flour and as much liquid as needed. This is because muffin batter contains slightly more baking powder than pancake batter. And there I was left with some more pancakes anyway! Which is OK, I'll just have some pancakes for lunch today, and possibly some more for tomorrow's breakfast, and the rest can be frozen. 

See, this is how many low waste/frugal people live their lives: they're led by whatever needs to be rescued, rather than sticking to a certain plan. I'm sure it's more convenient to just toss that nearly-spoiled milk out and follow whatever meal plan you already made, but for me it's become such a habit, it doesn't even feel like a hassle. 

Tightwad tip: making your own laundry detergent

For as long as I can remember, the recipe of homemade laundry detergent is circulating around the blogosphere - the frugal blogospgere that is. Some people add a bit more ingredients, such as washing soda or borax, or both, while others prefer to keep it as plain as possible. No matter how you make it, it's going to save you LOTS of money. I did some math, and compared to the cheapest powdered detergent I can find here (bought in bulk which is cheaper than the smaller packages), using a frugal dose, my homemade detergent is still five times (!) as cheap, per load, compared to the cheapest powdered store bought detergent. That doesn't seem to be a lot, but small things add up - especially when you do several loads a week. If I'd compare it to the more expensive name brand detergents such as Ariel or Tide, it's an even bigger saving. 

I've been making this on and off for years - at times I switched back to store bought detergent, only to realise that those store bought detergents don't really work better than the homemade ones. The big companies have done their utmost best to make us customers believe that store bought detergent cleans much better. And not only that - they also make us believe that you really need to have something scented, otherwise it's "not clean". I've been making this detergent again for a while, and now that I'm back to making it, I don't get why I sometimes did switch to the store bought stuff. Probably because of the scent, despite the scent usually being gone when completely dried. Apparently the pro-scent marketing worked for me too, despite me being sensitive to most scents! But not anymore. Clean is clean, even if it's smells of "nothing" (and line dried laundry always smells fresh already!). I read that weaning yourself off of scented detergents to gradually make the shift to scentless ones, is like weaning yourself off of food with artificial flavours. It sometimes just takes some time. And I think that's a rather good comparison. In a few weeks, you're so used to it that the smell of store bought detergent is just overwhelming. If our grandmothers could just use soap for cleaning clothes, and didn't miss a scent, so can we. It takes some adjustment because we're so used to all the chemicals and scents- something our ancestors didn't have to worry about. 

I remember the hard financial times we went through, and making my own detergent was just a life saver, as we were already very penny pinching but still couldn't get by. At least our clothes could be washed for almost nothing! We had the assurance to have clean clothes and that we still could afford simple foods instead of having to borrow money for food because there wasn't any money left after having to buy detergent (I've heard that way too often!). Last year, I bought a 10 KG bulk sack of powdered detergent and was shocked that the price had more than doubled in a year. We don't go through an insane amount of detergent, but why paying a high price for something that isn't even food? Heck, it's even bad for our health - despite it not being that heavily scented, I still get respiratory issues of it, not to mention that most detergents (except the very expensive green ones) itch on our skins. The environmental impact of homemade detergent is obviously not as much compared to store bought, as it contains less harsh chemicals, doesn't come in much packaging and doesn't need a car to for transportation- as detergents usually come in heavy packages. So a in all these are all good reasons, in my opinion, for making detergent. 

No more talking, here's how I make it. You'll need: 

A bar of soap of approximately 80 gram (I've never really measured it, one gram more or less doesn't really matter), whatever brand or kind you prefer

5 liters of water 

Grate the bar of soap and dissolve in a litre of hot water- just stirr it until it's all melted, usually it reaches a boiling point by then. While I'm stirring I have another pot on the hob with 1.5 litre water that I want to reach a boiling point. If it boils, just combine the hot soapy water with the hot plain water in a bucket that's big enough and add another 2.5 litre water, just cold tap water. Make sure to rinse the pot in which you were stirring the soap with hot water as there are usually remnants there. Cover it with a lid and let it sit for a day - I usually make it in the morning and won't come back to it the next day's morning, which means I let it sit for around 24 hours. You could probably also wait a little bit less. If using soap that is palm oil or tallow based, the soap will likely thicken. It's a bit difficult to handle as it's quite lobed, so you need to stirr it with a whisk (or use an immersion blender). I usually kind of knead it with my hands. And then I transfer it to an old 5 L jug (a one that had washing up liquid in it). If using olive oil based soap your detergent probably won't thicken and stay liquid, but that won't make any difference in terms of cleaning. 

Just a few notes: some people add more ingredients such as washing soda of borax. I can't find either of them here, so I just only use soap, and although I did add washing soda when I made this when living in the Netherlands, I haven't noticed a difference with or without it anyway. But if you prefer using washing soda, you can totally use it. Just make sure to add the exact same weight of that. So when using 80 grams of soap for instance, you'll need 80 grams of washing soda as well, which you'll add after the grated soap has melted. With borax I don't have any experience. There's also powdered detergent recipes out there, which I'm yet to try, and they all use a bit of different ingredients (some use washing soda, some both washing soda and bicarbonate of soda, some even use plain salt, etc). My mother in law is an old fashioned woman who always used soap instead of harsh chemicals, and didn't even bother to make a "detergent" out of it. She always rubbed some fabric with soap, an old sock for example, and then put that in her semi automatic washing machine.  So if you're too lazy to grate, that is even an option too 😉

Tightwad tip: repurposing old towels

As of lately, we had quite a few towels that were thinning out and weren't really suitable for drying ourselves anymore. However, that doesn't mean to just toss them, there are still many uses for old towels. We did buy some new ones recently. Well, "new" as in thrifted, but in perfectly good shape! I really like how these thrifted towels seems to be of better quality than brand new ones. Unfortunately, bad quality is being used for most stuff nowadays!

Here's some ways I use old towels.  

Handkerchief: I use these a lot because I have a chronic cold. I prefer them over regular handkerchiefs, as they're usually a lot softer. They also tend to absorb more- even when they're thinned out. 

Washcloth: my daughter likes to sew and she made a few washcloths out of an old towel. We use washcloths a lot, since we use a bar of soap instead of gels when taking a shower. These washcloths may be a bit thinner than the usual washcloths, but still perfectly functional for this purpose. 

Reusable makeup pads: essentially the same idea as the handkerchiefs, but just cut in smaller squares. I do want to add that you have to make sure to always use a laundry bag to wash these when putting them into the washer! A friend of mine told me that a few of those pads almost ruined her washer, with even a lot of water damage on the floors. So beter be careful. 

Cleaning rags: I've used old towels as cleaning rags a lot too. I like their texture for cleaning, as it's somewhat similar to microfiber- minus the microplastics that come with many microfiber cloths! 

Cat: our cat always love to lay down on something, even during the summer, he doesn't like the bare floor. So I use old towels for him to lay on. I've read that some people even make cat toys out of old towels, but I'm yet to try that. I don't know if he'll like that anyway, as my boy is more of an outdoor cat, coming home just to catch up on sleep. 

Using an old towel as is: I like to keep at least one towel intact (there is one with a very retrospect design and a label with 'made in West Germany', so that's a very old one!). When I treat my hair with henna and I'm afraid it's going to be messy and my hair is leaking still some reddish water after rinsing, to protemy clothes, for example. Or when I rub my arm with oil/cream when my skin has dried out that much it starts to hurt, and I don't want to make a mess of my pillows and sheets. I also like to dry the bathroom floor with a towel. I do use a squeegee, but especially during the winter it dries a bit slowly, so I usually wipe it with a towel to make it as dry as possible (yes, I know some people use the very same towel for this that they use to dry off themselves. But we defenitely use our towel more than once, so that's not really an option in that case.

Those are just some examples, and I'm sure there are so many other reasons for keeping at least one old towel. Waste not want not! 

Tightwad tip: upcycling socks

As the weather is changing from unbearable hot summer weather to slightly autumn-ish (yes, it's a bit early this year), I've begun to wear socks again. It's not that cold yet but I just get cold feet very quickly. And I just really like wearing socks. Kind of silly maybe, but I don't really like the feeling of bare feet. It's probably a sensory thing. When I was younger, no matter how warm it was, I couldn't even sleep without socks on! While that has improved a bit and I do sleep without socks during the summer, I still wear socks a lot and start wearing them quite early on every year. The thing is, the socks that are being sold here aren't of that great quality. And even if they were - my opinion with good quality socks, too, is that they get worn out quickly and holes appear so fast. At least I'm glad that our socks don't get lost in the washing machine. 

We're a family of four and I have developed kind of a colour coordinated system, so each one of us has his/her own colour. Having socks from just one colour is a really good hack, in my opinion. If just one sock gets a hole beyond repair, I can still wear it - just combine it with another pair (preferably from another pair with of which one single sock that has a hole). There you have a "new" pair of socks, and with the other pair, there's still some options. 

Here's some things I do with old socks. 

First of all, try to repair. Small holes are usually repairable. 

I keep some pairs of socks in my bed side table to use as "gloves" at night when I rub my hands with cream/Vaseline (I get really dry hands during the winter usually). The socks are tight enough not to slide off my hands during sleep. My children need this every so often as well, so I need at least a few pairs of old socks. 

Cleaning: way back when we had blinds, I dusted/cleaned them with a sock on my hand. That was the easiest way to do it (although cleaning blinds can never be considered easy in my opinion...). Cleaning with a sock on your hand works the same for other areas with tiny openings. 

Crafting: if you like crafting, old socks are an inexpensive, environmentally friendly way to use materials you otherwise would buy. My children liked to make sock dolls and they were so cute!

Vacuuming: when looking for tiny lost items, or in case you're afraid those will be laying around somewhere, take off the floor brush and put a sock on the extention tube. Whatever will be vacuumed, won't be suck inside. Pretty clever, isn't it? 😃

Shoe protectors: put your shoes inside a sock while traveling. 

Hot water bottles: I like to wrap a sock over a cold water bottle for protection against the heat.

Or just use socks instead of rags as unpaper towels. 

So that was today's tightwad tip! It won't make you a millionaire, but little things definitely add up. I'm sure there are many many more uses... But these are the ones I can think of now, and that we implement ourselves. I'd love to read more ideas in the comments 🥰

Tightwad tip: avoiding plastic wrap/aluminum foil

People have become so accustomed to using disposable products. Even though they sometimes come in very handy, usually it's not difficult to find a more green and frugal replacement. I,too, must admit that I use them from time to time! Especially my homemade garlic paste- I keep them in small yogurt containers that I clean and reuse. I tightly wrap aluminum foil over them to reduce the risk of a smelling freezer. My experience with using reusable containers for this wasn't ideal because you're dealing with remnants of garlic smell for ages! But aside from the garlic paste,I noticed that I was using my aluminum foil a bit too much- usually quite unnecessary. 

Sometimes you don't have containers with a lid on hand, and you don't want to use lots of aluminum foil or plastic wrap, and you're torn between either using all that disposable stuff or freezer burnt food. But the other day I read that some people brush their frozen foods with some vegetable oil, which will create a layer that prevents from freezer burn. This way you don't have to use disposable materials or having to deal with freezer burn. I tried it on many foods already (soup, aquafaba, pasta sauce, lemon juice, homemade broth, pesto... among others), and it really does work!

So my tightwad tip for today is that just one drop of oil will save you dozens of disposed aluminum and plastic without the fear of weird tasting foods. 

If you don't like an oily layer on your food- even though it's just a very tiny amount, so in most cases you won't notice it at all- you can easily scoop off that layer of oil by wiping it with a paper/cloth (I use un-paper towels), ideally a few minutes after taking the foods out of the fridge, when the defrosting process starts. 

My best anti food waste tips

We really try our best to be as anti waste as possible, if you hadn't noticed that already. It's just something that really makes me cringe. My perfect world would be one with no wasted food and no hunger. 

However, it can be a bit hard to tell which of the things we do are considered an "anti waste measurement", because it's just how we've been living for so long. I'd have to think deep if someone would ask me what THE best anti waste tips would be, as there are so many factors weighing in when it comes to wasting food.

Since I believe a lot of foods are wasted because of poor shopping management, that's the first thing I would suggest a beginner to focus on. I talked before why meal planning doesn't really work for us. But, for many people it does, so I will definitely include that one. If you don't really meal plan, like us, it's best to estimate what you'll be using, keeping in mind that fresh produce doesn't last that long (although some does last long). Also, it's a good idea to read up on all the tricks that the supermarkets have to make people buy more impulsively. Once you're aware of that, it's easier not to spend money on unnecessary items. With shelf stable goods that isn't really a problem though (unless it's a product you're unfamiliar with and ends up in the bin), but buying too much fresh produce all at once isn't a good idea, even if it's for a good price. Checking out the reduced rack is a good idea if you want to save money, but it's not in that rack for no reason - be sure you're using it right away or freezing it or you're ending up with tossing it anyway. 

Speaking of how fast certain produce spoils, it's best to make dishes in order from how quickly a certain vegetable spoils and then the one right after that etc. For example, when we buy leafy greens, that's used on the grocery shopping day. Or at best the day after. Leafy greens tend to spoil quickly, no matter how well you store them, in my opinion. If there's too much to use right away, I immediately freeze them or spread them on a large tray to dehydrate (in summer time). I usually then use up the vegetables that keep longer but not that long, such as courgettes, aubergine, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers etc. Root vegetables are least perishable, such as carrots, turnips etc. 

When we buy our produce at the market, especially carrots are covered in sand. There were times that we bought a whole lot of carrots because of their low price and they almost lasted for two months (!). Sand is a great way to keep vegetables for much longer, however odd that may sound. I heard of people living fridgeless and this was their way to store vegetables. If your veges come clean from the store, I would suggest to rub some sand on certain produce. Yes, it probably doesn't look that neat (although there's nothing dirty about sand), but it's not always about aestatics. It's not very hard to clean your fridge drawer from a lot of sand, but it does prevent a lot of food waste. 

Storing food is a way people make a lot of mistakes with, ending up with spoiled foods. And this is especially true for leftovers. I try to keep one shelf in the fridge solely for leftovers. That's the easiest way I can see all in one go whatever needs to be used. I like to use reused glass jars for smaller amounts of leftovers. Glass jars allow you to immediately see what's in there; if you don't see what's in a certain container, you'll likely forget it and end up wasting it after it goes bad. When there are no glass jars, or the glass you have are too small for the quantity you want to refrigerate, the next best option is to use a transparent container. And I also have a certain way of arranging my "leftovers shelf", putting those jars that need to be used up first at the front row. 

Preventing food waste doesn't necessarily mean just preventing your cooked dishes going to waste. I learned a lot the past few years about what's edible of different vegetables and fruits. Most produce have parts that people mindlessly throw away, when in fact they're totally edible. Just to name a few: strawberry tops, fennel fronds, broad bean pods, banana peels, broccoli stems, among other things. If they're all totally edible, I don't see a reason why tossing those wouldn't considered food waste. Yet, in most households these go all to waste. This really comes down to people not being educated on what actually is edible and what isn't. The good thing is, it's never too late to learn. 

Sometimes it takes a bit creativity to avoid waste. Let's say you have some leftover pasta sauce in the fridge that you have to use up quickly. But you don't have any pasta, and can't go to the store/have no money until payday. What would you do? I know there are people who would just toss it. Or freeze it in the hopes it would get used another time, only to toss it eight months later when the freezer is being deep cleaned. If it were me I would just combine it with whatever starch we had on hand - possibly making a pizza with it, serve over rice/bulgur etc. This way,we have had the most amazing food combinations (and some less amazing combinations 🥲). 

Lastly: A giving spirit and being anti waste usually go hand in hand. If you've got a bit too much of whatever is about to turn bad, why not simply share with others? Last year, we bought apples - quite a large amount, 20 kg (45 Lbs, for my American readers). The thing was, we could only buy it in that large amount, as the vendor wanted to get rid of it all. So we bought it and shared about half with different neighbours and relatives and used the rest to make applesauce. Of that applesauce, I also gave some. And we get a lot of things in return. It's a matter of sometimes giving and sometimes receiving, and I'm grateful that in our community it's still like this. If you declutter your pantry and there are shelf stable goods you won't use, you can likely donate it to your local food pantry/food bank. We don't have food banks here, so I can't do that, but I thought I'd share this tip anyway. 

Since there are many poor people where we live, there are beggars. Now the thing is, sometimes they're faking it and aren't "real" poor people. While I do love helping others, I still prefer to help out those who need it and not people who just take advantage of other's goodness. So I'm a bit reluctant to hand over money to these people. Since they go door to door, our solution is that we just give food, be it shelf stable or fresh produce. If they aren't grateful for food, they're certainly not poor in my opinion.