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. 

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!

Tightwad tip- eat more cabbage

We're big on eating mainly seasonal produce. It just makes sense: it's healthier, cheaper and has less of an environmental impact. However, when I tell people about this, the main response is that they don't really have an issue with eating summer produce, but don't really like eating cabbage all the time. Now we don't eat cabbage all the time during the winter (other local in season produce includes turnips, fennel, parsnips, chard, carrots, etc), but it is something we do eat a lot. Cabbage is very nutritious- it belongs to the cruciferous vegetables, and is often referred to as a superfood. The word 'superfoods' might turn some people off, because of its price and the fad around them, but the great thing is- this particular superfood is super affordable! I know that fresh produce is expensive and makes up the bulk of the grocery costs of many people these days, so it's actually nice to know there are options that are a bit more affordable and just as healthy. 

When it comes to taste, it really is a matter of preference obviously.  We do like cabbage, but to each their own. I can't say that cabbage is my absolute favourite vegetable of all though, but it does rank quite high on my list. I like that it's just so so versatile so there's probably always a way in which people that don't prefer cabbage still like it. You can: ferment, fry, steam, stuff, bake, boil (and probably a lot of other things...) this lovely vegetable. And it's even nice for making winter salads. I find it hard to think of a dish to which you can't add some sort of cabbage. It can bulk up meals very nicely. That's how I use it a lot: as a "filler" for meals that lack enough vegetables. 

Even though most in season produce here is quite affordable, the thing is that most vegetables are sold by the weight (per kg). Some other vegetables, such as carrots and turnips are being sold in bunches. At times, you can get big bunches, and there are times the bunches are as tiny as three not very big turnips, which obviously make them more expensive. The thing with cabbage is that they usually aren't sold by the weight, but per piece, which typically make them even more affordable than other in season produce. Also, unlike most vegetables, cabbage is kind of 'what you see is what you get': there's no need to peel anything, nor does it shrink. And cutting cabbage is done in a few minutes, unlike some other vegetables, which comes in handy for those days when you're short on time. 

So, all in all, I believe that eating cabbage is a really is a good strategy when wanting or needing to cut back on groceries. 

Making something out of nothing

As we're reaching the end of the month, it seems like most people's budgets are getting tighter. Perhaps it's coincidence, but when I'm on YouTube, I always get a lot more "extreme/emergency grocery haul" content, so I thought about doing the same. 

We ourselves have been in the situation where we had to stretch every €, and even then we're not certain about making it through the month. We used every tin of food to the last drop, had very simple meals (porridge for dinner was quite the norm towards the end of the month!), our sandwiches were certainly "creative" (i'm looking for the right word I guess... and the generic brand of simple cookies or chocolate were such a treat. We were blessed to never go hungry, even though finances were so tight, but it took a lot of work and creativity. It truly could feel like a sport to make something out of nothing. 

And that was pre inflation! I can imagine the stress so many people go through right now. A grocery haul that used to cost €100, has now doubled in price. So naturally, almost everyone is trying to stretch their budget as fat as possible. And that usually means that as the month lasts, the money is getting tighter, and the food is certainly getting more "creative". And for a lot of people it's not just to cut down on takeout coffee, or to wait for next month to buy that treat you were craving. For a lot of people, tough decisions must be made: to buy the kids some fruit or to have an occasional meat this week. To buy new sport shoes for your child because they're beyond repair or to skip breakfast yourself. And you're too embarrassed to borrow money from your neighbours yet again... As I said, I'm fortunate enough to not be in that situation anymore, although finances are getting tighter with the increasing prices which does stress me out honestly. It's just that I do know what it's like to have to make tough decisions, so hopefully I can give some tips here for those that are struggling. 

Using up odds and ends- this can mean everything from using up that last bit of ketchup on a slice of bread (which tastes surprisingly good, my children still love ketchup sandwiches!), to combining various leftovers and turning them into a meal - some of our favourite dishes were invented this way. Don't be afraid of "weird" combinations. Search your kitchen cupboards, you might find some half empty packages that need to be rescued from being wasted. Have breakfast for dinner more often! Especially if you have kids, it will probably be a big hit. I remember how excited I got about eating pancakes for dinner. Little did I know that my mum made this when she was struggling towards the end of the month! Reconsider the items you think you need- are they really an essential, or just a nice extra? And if you're like me, and you're saving way too many one person's sized meal portions in the freezer, this is the right time to thaw them. 

Try to find cheaper substitutes- a bit of your own creativity and a lot of Mr. Google go a long way. You might know of some substitutes already, such as lentils or beans instead of meat. But I bet not everyone knows how to substitute butter for oil, like I do in many baking recipes (it's 3/4 cup of oil for every cup of butter, to be precisely). Or that you can easily make your own oat milk for pennies if you've ran out of milk or if you find oat milk expensive. I know, I might know a bit more tips and tricks than the "average" frugal person, but that's exactly why I'm suggesting to just Google anything. It really does help a lot. This is why internet is essential to me and it was even more so during our poor period. Even when it did cost a bit, that was totally worth it, since I've saved hundreds if not thousands by just paying monthly for my pretty basic (and cheapest) internet connection. It definitely paid off with all the frugality tips I found over the years. 

Struggle meals - this is probably an unofficial word but I've seen it for some time now in the frugal bloggers/vloggers atmosphere. A struggle meal is just that: meals to eat when you're struggling. It doesn't sound fun but some struggle meals are surprisingly good. One of my favourite meals are "rice and beans" with its numerous varieties (couscous and lentils, pasta and chickpeas, or even lentil soup and bread). Nourishing, comforting and cheap at the same time! What's not to like? Other struggle meals may include various pasta dishes, mostly vegetarian obviously because meat is expensive, or porridge. I think every family has their own "struggle meal". We have quite a few dirt cheap dishes that we repeat often, but since we eat them just because we enjoy them, it doesn't quite feel as a struggle meal. I honestly think that's the trick: you can serve insanely cheap meals but as long as they don't feel cheap it makes the struggle somewhat less. You can achieve that by serving it in a nice way, adding as much as fancy seasonings you have on hand, and variety (if possible). You may have some other tips on making struggle meals feel a but less "struggle-ish". If you're looking for other's people's struggle meals, you might be interested to look up great depression recipes, when people made nice meals with very few and with beyond frugal ingredients. It's basically just struggle meals buy from an certain era. For people that aren't really familiar with struggle meals, it's probably an eye opener that you van still make relatively healthy meals on a tight budget. Sure, Mac 'n cheese is nice every so often, but even on a very tight budget you can cook foods that are as affordable and healthier. 

Don't be afraid to ask- OK, I know this is a tough one. Especially for people that rather give than take. Been there, done that. But you can't always be the giver, we sometimes are just on the receiving end too. And remember, the people that are willing to help you have as much as a giving heart too, so don't deprive them from giving too. Keep in mind that giving doesn't always have to be money wise; even if you're broke you can help out others babysitting their children, help paint a wall or deep clean/declutter their homes, etc. Or just to keep company, perhaps there are others that are feeling lonely and are craving human contact. Being broke doesn't mean you can't help people. 

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. 

On repeat: some cheap ingredient replacements

With food prices going through the roof, everyone is experiencing major or minor food budget changes. I think we all can agree on cutting corners when it comes to replacing more expensive ingredients. Since it's been quite a while since I blogged about this, I thought it would be a good idea to share some ingredient replacements that can make your meal just a bit more frugal. These swaps aren't necessarily even always because of money, at times you just might not have an exact ingredient on hand, which saves you from that grocery run for one single item. 

Proteins: you can replace the more expensive cuts of meat for the cheaper ones, or even replace red meat by white meat. For example, use turkey mince instead of beef mince. Most legumes can also be used interchangeably- brown lentils and green lentils, for example. Split peas instead of red and yellow lentils. Cheaper white fish instead of the more expensive ones. I've found that tinned sardines can be a decent replacement of tinned tuna, depending on the recipe. 

Dairy: use milk instead of cream, or make a bechamel sauce using flour, milk and butter of oil. Greek yogurt- if you need it but only have plain yogurt on hand, just strain the yogurt and don't throw out the whey (I once did a post on what to do with whey: https://aglimpseofmykitchen.blogspot.com/2022/01/uses-for-whey.html?m=1). If you do have Greek yogurt you could use this like crème fraîche. They have the same consistency but just differ in the fat percentage. When it comes to milk, I've found that it's replaceable with water in some baked goods. I usually make biscuits with water instead of milk, and when a cake calls for milk I might use water instead if we don't have milk on hand. Making your own oat milk or rice is also an option. I would not suggest to drink it as is, although it's good as an ingredient or even if you want to make hot chocolate. 

Eggs: depending on the recipe, I use different kinds of egg replacements: cornstarch (for making French toast), ground flax seeds (in cakes and cookies), chickpea flour in certain savoury dishes. Applesauce and banana can be used as egg substitutes as well. Sometimes you can just leave out the eggs, like when you're making pancakes. I haven't really noticed a big difference. We try to substitute eggs whenever possible since they've gotten so expensive. That being said, we still enjoy eating eggs as is, either fried or boiled. Since we don't eat meat that much, it's one of our meat substitutes and that way we're still saving money, because eating eggs is cheaper than eating meat (unless you eat four eggs per person or so... But that's not the case) 

Flour: corn meal and semolina have more or less the same texture, even if they differ in taste. Therefore these can be used interchangeably in a lot of recipes. Self rising flour is one of the most pointless ingredients to buy (in my humble opinion); you can easily replace it by flour + baking powder, whereas you can't the other way around- imagine needing flour and having just self rising flour on hand. So I would suggest to always buy flour and baking powder as separate ingredients. Also, whole wheat flour can be substituted by many other whole flours; rye, barley, spelt etc. They all have a different taste and texture, but if that's all you have on hand it's doable. Also gluten free flours such as oat flour, buckwheat flour and sorghum flour can be used when making cookies (not recommendable for breads, as bread needs gluten to rise). 

Fruits: most dried fruits can be used interchangeably in baked goods. Fresh fruits, too, depending on the kind can be used interchangeably. Think of pears instead of apples, different kinds of berries, peaches instead of apricots. 

Vegetables: the same goes for vegetables. I personally just like to use whatever I have on hand, so let's say, whenever I want to make stir fry, I'll just use what's in the fridge. The same goes for many other recipes. There are of course certain vegetables that go good together or can be substitute each other; such as turnips and potatoes, sweet potato and pumpkin, courgette and aubergine (they certainly are different but especially in casseroles or stews, both taste just as good in my opinion). Speaking of courgette, even cooked cucumbers are a decent replacement for them, whether you believe me or not! Of course, various leafy greens can be used interchangeably- yes, this includes lettuce. I've also found that equal amounts of carrots and potatoes can substitute pumpkin puree. Green bell peppers instead of yellow, different kinds of cabbage, etc. Vegetables are so versatile and you really don't need to stick to one certain one if the recipe book says so. Even if you're eating a vegetable as is, when you're eating it as a side. Why not replace that awfully expensive asparagus by roasted pumpkin or broccoli? Yes, the taste may be different but you've reached your goal- to have a vegetable with your meal. 

Starches: use barley, buckwheat or bulgur instead of rice- or the other way around. Orzo can be used instead of rice too. Different pasta shapes (ditali instead of elbow macaroni etc, linguine instead of spaghetti). Yes, I am aware of the fact that pasta shapes do matter, but if that one shape is all you have, and you can only stretch your budget so much- you just make do. I sometimes find myself having many small remants of various pasta shapes and if I have enough of them, I combine them all in one dish, which I call 'mixed pastas' (sometimes you just have to come up with fancy names for stingy things, right?) and the children absolutely love it! Italian and Asian pasta/noodles can be used interchangeably. In fact, sometimes linguine and Asian style noodles are the very same product, made in the same factory, just with a different package. Same with bread - just use what you have. A sandwich can be made in about every shape of bread- baguette, flatbread, pita, etc. You don't necessarily have to use "sandwich bread". 

Fats: butter can be substituted by other animal fats such as tallow or even rendered chicken fat, or even coconut oil. When baking cookies/cakes, each cup (226 grams) of butter can be substituted for 3/4 cup (180 mililiters) of whichever oil you prefer. Most neutral tasting oils can be used interchangeably (sunflower, soy, canola, corn, and peanut oil, etc). Butter can be substituted by margarine, especially when making not-so-healthy baked goods and you're clearly not using the butter for its health benefits. 

Nuts: I was a bit hesitant to include these, as they're already expensive in and of itself, and it's not necessarily something everyone on a tight budget could afford. I'm including it anyway. You can use most nuts interchangeably, even if the taste might differ. Or you can peanuts instead of nuts, which again will affect the taste, but not in a bothersome way. The same goes for nut butters. You can replace nuts by seeds as well, such ad sunflower seeds. 

I think that was enough for now. 

You don't always have to exactly use what you want. This makes cooking so much more fun (AND frugal, obviously!). I think that knowing how to substitute ingredients is an important part of knowing how to cook, it truly is such an underrated skill. I can't recall how often people asked me about certain ingredient substitutes, assuming that I could help them. And yes, in most instances I was able to help them. This isn't rocket science- it's just reading and especially trying out a lot. Just put that fear aside and try. Some of these tips may be money saving, but even without being on a budget, you'll likely find yourself in a situation in which you'll need this. 

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 😉

Saving on meat expenses

Most of my readers must have noticed that we're not big on eating a lot of meat. I was pretty much raised as a vegetarian, so I'm familiar with vegetarian/vegan eating. My husband, on the other hand, was raised with a more meat heavy diet and not eating meat for a day was out of the question in my MIL's home! So you can image that was a bit of a shock for both of us when we first got married. It took a while, but after some time we did find a good balance of meat, fish, vegetarian and vegan meals. Now, my husband says he couldn't eat meat everyday anymore - regardless of the price. And this goes the same for me; I couldn't go back to completely vegetarian. 

The thing is, meat can be very expensive so for most people, it's typically the biggest expense of all their groceries. We're certainly no exception to that! (Although olive oil is getting more expensive every year and will eventually become an even bigger expense... But that's another topic.) I remember when we went through hard financial times, meat was the first thing to cut back on. There are so many people in the world for whom meat is a rare treat. And for me as a former vegetarian, it was a logical thing to do anyway, as meat is so expensive and you technically don't even need it. Not that much, anyhow. We still had it every so often though, and really enjoyed it when we did. But it was a good way to cut back on our spending. As time went by, I've just stuck with my "less meat policy", as it just hurts to pay that much for foods. There are other ways to spend the money I would have spent otherwise on all that extra meat - but that's just me, I do realise that others value meat more than we do, and that's ok. Throughout the years, I've come up with many tricks to save on meat expenses. 

First of all, the quantity: try to have meat as an ingredient, instead of the main meal. We usually have meat as a side, with carbs (grains/legumes) and vegetables being the fillers. You really don't need that much even to satisfy yourself taste wise, in my experience. There are also many examples of dishes where  meat is stretched a lot. For example, mince (ground beef) in pastas- just use a bit less. A baked chicken/rotisserie chicken can be used for at least a few meals worth of meat - you can use shredded chicken in about everything; soups, salads, rice and pasta dishes, on sandwiches, etc. And then just try to stretch the meat as much as possible. When I make pulled chicken, I stretch it by adding low cost vegetables, such as onions and shredded carrots. That way you don't even notice there isn't as much chicken in it.

The kind of meat: red meat is most expensive, so that's obviously a thing to keep in mind. In a lot of dishes, red and white meat can be used interchangeably- it will affect the taste somewhat obviously, but it's still as good. You can even use fish instead - I like using sardines instead of beef/lamb mince for making kofta, and even fish haters don't notice it's fish. I've heard that turkey is the best replacement with mince. I've never tried that, as my husband doesn't like turkey, but I'm keen to try it. Texture changes the taste so I guess turkey mince should taste different from, say, a part of the leg. You can still splurge on red meat once in a while if you want to obviously, but it's good to realize that there are cheaper options and can splurge just every so often on the more expensive favourite meat. 

Vegetarian options: I obviously had to mention this one, but I really makes so much difference in your budget! Even when I compare our local legume prices with the cheaper meats or fish, legumes are much cheaper. One kg of lentils is about €2, whereas chicken is around €5 per kg. But, a kg of dried legumes will stretch a lot better than a kg of chicken, as the lentils will expand whereas the chicken not only just doesn't expand- it actually will shrink when being baked. So you'll even save more if you take that into consideration. You obviously don't have to eat only vegetarian meals, but a few times a week will make so much difference already. What I like to do is when I batch cook, we'll have one meal with meat and the other batch without. That way it still has the flavour- meat can be such a flavour enhancer. I do this too with legumes; when I make lentil stew in advance, for example, I cook some chicken in it for extra flavour. And then I take out the chicken to have with the meal we're eating that day. You can obviously cook lentils without chicken, but it does give the dish more flavour. I also like making my own tofu and seitan, which I hadn't done in a long time but recently started doing again. I know not everyone likes tofu, but I think seitan is definitely adaptable for meat eaters compared to other plant based alternatives, as it has a bit of a meaty texture. 

Nose to tail: I've talked before about how we love nose to tail eating, which essentially means to eat ALL the parts of the animal, not just the more popular parts. Not only is it healthier but it's usually cheaper too. You don't necessarily have to buy organ meats (although I would highly recommend it!), but there are many alternatives for the more expensive cuts of meat. And that's not just the case with red meat. When I want to use chicken breast, I never ever buy a chicken breast, but instead I buy a whole chicken of which I cut the breast off, then use the remaining parts for other dishes. I usually use the legs/tighs/wings together a dish and then what remains are the frames and the necks, which makes a very good base for any soup. My husband also likes to eat the necks as is, so if I have a lot of them I might cook them up separately and only use the frames for soup. 

Using everything: we're very big on not wasting anything, and this applies even more so for meat. As it's so expensive and does have quite a big environmental impact, I just can't not be frugal with meat. I really use everything - the bones (for making bone broth), chicken skins to render, sheep fat to render, etc. Scraps also make good cat food. When I make broth with chicken necks/frames, I take off the meat after cooking which our cat obviously loves! 

Living with food shortages

This post is probably going to be a bit long, and perhaps triggering to some people. Just saying. 

Lately, food shortages, food insecurity and subjects connected to that are on my mind a lot. I don't know if it's just me, but it's almost like I keep reading about yet another food crisis: then it's rice, or wheat, or coffee, then it's sugar and then suddenly bananas are threatened with extinction. I honestly don't know what to think of it, as I know that there are so many people somehow benefiting from crises like these. But I'm not necessarily a conspiracy theorists so I'll just leave it with this. All I do know is that how the world is right now is giving me much anxiety. 

For all (or most, anyhow) of my adult life, I was very frugal, and as a result of that, very waste conscious. My husband and I married young and started off very humbly with not a lot of money. We really tried to work up ourselves. There were good times (in terms of finances) and bad times. And there were also very bad times (for reasons beyond our control, but I won't elaborate too much on that now). I'd say it was definitely relative poverty, as we were living way below the poverty line. But I must admit, I don't like to use that word a lot, because there are millions of people who are way worse off than we were. And when I say "very bad", I think mainly of how food was a major stress point. I didn't really care about our furniture being from garbage bins or thrift shops, or cheap outings, thrifted clothes etc. But food insecurity was much more of an issue. There were weeks that we had 20 € or less to feed the four of us - still we were very "lucky" that our youngest daughter, as a newborn back then had allergies so her formula was covered by insurance. But still, it was very tight. There was always this anxiety of not having enough for the whole week, or having unexpected guests and not being able to serve them something slightly decent. Even though our friends probably wouldn't have minded, but the anxiety was still there. With lots of hard work we tried to get out of poverty which we did and were proud of that accomplishments. Probably we would still have classified as "(very) low income", but to me, it wasn't really poverty because I didn't really stress about food anymore. Still, you can get out of poverty but it's more difficult for poverty to get out of you - the anxiety stays. Not with everyone, probably, but this is what I've heard a lot from "formerly poor people". I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing in and of itself- it's human nature to be aware for dangers and to be prepared for that. It does become a problem when it's causing anxiety though. 

Fast forward to now and I'm kind of in the same boat. Kind of, because it's not due to a lack of money. But the anxiety is the same. Ever since we emigrated we were used to having some food shortages, from time to time. A few years ago, it wasn't such a big deal because it was usually very temporary, and limited to one product at a time. It wasn't really an issue. And then came covid, which made it a bit more difficult - there were more shortages, with a few items at a time. And for longer periods of time. Then came the Russian/Ukraine war and with that, energy and multiple food crises, causing more inflation (and I mean, it's not that the economy was going good here before that). And dare I say, a crisis of greedy multinationals who can't stand governments subsidizing certain food items. 

So anyway, that's a brief summary of how things got how they are currently. We have been dealing with shortages of many staples: rice, flour, semolina, milk, sugar, tea, certain pastas, couscous, coffee, eggs, oil, chicken. As of lately, it's actually better than it has been for a long time; there's milk, semolina, and white flour at the same time! Yeast is yet again a new item that seems to be not available... sigh. But fortunately, we found a box of small sachets and bought that despite the higher price. Some products had been unavailable for a year or longer until they came back to the store shelfs- white flour, for example, has recently come back but hadn't been available for a year and a half. Rice is another staple that has been gone for around a year and a half. Subsidized oil even around two years. It's quite frustrating and as one item comes back, people can't help but wonder for how long the said products will stay- it has happened many times that they came back and then went unavailable again. Some products are completely unavailable, whereas other products are slightly available, or at a very high price. Oil, for example, is available but at least 5 times more expensive than the exactly same but subsidized oil (the only difference being the packaging). This is especially difficult because the price of olive oil has skyrocketed as well, so more people use vegetable oil now. Same with sugar, which is now mainly important from a neighbouring country, for double the price. Even if some items are slightly available, or available yet suddenly very expensive, I think this still talks under the umbrella of shortages, because the supply is still limited. And since we're dependent on importing that's another uncertainty- the border of Libya has been closed for a few months now. For a good reason, but it still affects the shortages even more. 

This whole situation does affect us more than one would expect. I think it's the uncertainty that is particularly difficult for me. And it brings back memories from our toughest financial situation.We could live without these products obviously, but since they are staples they're just used a lot by many people, including us. It's just having to be creative all the time and look for solutions, which can be quite tiring. And having to cut back even more for a lot of people since so many foods are a lot more expensive. It's always on your mind. It's being afraid you can't buy that flour anymore next week, and not knowing how long it'll be gone. 

There was a time that most pasta, couscous, and every kind of rice weren't available all at the same time. Now we were fortunate that we build a stockpile, but for those that didn't, it was quite a challenge. And for some reason, stockpiling isn't something most people here do, even after these years of shortages. What do you eat if all your go to staples aren't being sold anymore? At that time, even bread at the bakery was very limited. You could buy oatmeal or ground sorghum and make porridge of course. But at least for us, that's not really considered dinner foods- I know, it's food and very filling, and if that's all you have it's certainly better than nothing but it is an adjustment to switch to other types of foods. Also, sorghum and oatmeal are quite expensive here, much more expensive than pasta and couscous, so some people (especially with large families) can't afford to eat that three times a day. Fortunately, the couscous and pasta shortages didn't last long, which was a big relief for many people.

This is an important lesson. Despite the difficult situation, and it being a trigger because of our previous poverty situation, I think you truly learn to be appreciative, be even more frugal and resourceful and to come up with creative solutions. When there were milk shortages, I made oatmilk to use in pancakes, French toast etc or to just make some hot chocolate (I don't lile drinking oat milk as is). Despite milk shortages, there was always yogurt so we had that regularly, as well as sesame seeds and sardines for our calcium. I came up with rice substitutes, such as wheat/barley burgul and orzo pasta. I drink more herbal tea to stretch the bags of loose leaf tea that we still have at home as much as possible, herbal tea is better for you anyway I guess. In many recipes, I halved the sugar.  And I'm still planning on trying to make date pit coffee. Apparently it's quite good and almost similar to the real thing. My husband will need to test that, as I'm not a coffee drinker. I must acknowledge that we're privileged not to be poor anymore (and our poverty being very different from the poverty where we live now anyway), so if we do want to splurge on an expensive product, like rice imported from the neighbouring country, we can do that. The sad reality is that for many people, this simply isn't possible. It's either buying the regular, cheaper products and if they're short of those, poor people just have to go without. I sometimes feel sorry for people whose only "splurge" was coffee with homemade cake or something, can't even buy that anymore because sugar has become too expensive. Or they have to cut back on other essentials even more. That's the sad reality for many people. But if you're living in absolute poverty, things like a nice drink once in a while isn't a luxury but an essential to feel human (in my opinion), as being poor really takes a toll mentally and physically and you really need such a "splurge" sometimes.  

I truly learned to appreciate that we do have. Although we might not always have exactly what we want, it's always much more than we actually need. I also learned that as much as I like planning, sometimes it's best to just take things as they come- by just buying what's available instead of having everything planned ahead. We obviously went never without anything we needed, even if it meant that the type of food wasn't our first choice necessarily. It makes one very creative. As aforementioned, I found a lot of substitutes for everyday items. Even though my anxiety is still there, I've tried to be a bit more relaxed about it- trying to relativize, because we're not going hungry. It's just that we're going without some food items. Yes, that can be hard, but there are many people in much more difficult situations. 

What's interesting is to see how people in general deal with this situation. People tend to gift each other bags of sugar as if it's the most valuable thing they possess, or coffee, etc. It's both funny and heartwarming at the same time. But unfortunately, as always, there are people trying to take advantage of the situation- I've heard of people trying to sell one kg of sugar four times higher than the original price. It's just ridiculous. But as long as people are willing to pay that price there are others that continue to do these things I guess. Witnessing less foods being wasted is something that really excites me. In the past, many people would buy their bread fresh everyday, usually more than actually needed. Leftover bread would be put near the trashcans on the streets "for the cats".  Only, stray cats (and dogs) couldn't finish all the foods being put on the streets- because it wasn't just bread, but also lots of leftover cooked pasta etc. It was just so much. Because of the way that hospitality is ingrained in the culture, people are used to cooking more than necessary for unexpected guests. But guests showing up unexpectedly isn't a daily occurrence, which is why sadly that extra food is thrown away. This is at least one thing in which a difficult situation still had some positive impact! It makes me happy to see that people are becoming a bit more conscious about food waste, even if the reason isn't necessarily the most fun. I do hope that once this shortages situation is over, people will remain this waste conscious. 

So, all in all, it's a tough situation but it had taught me gratitude at the same time, as well as ways to deal with my trauma based anxiety when it comes to food insecurity, food shortages etc. All we can do is pray that the situation will improve and in the meantime we'll just have to find ways to be creative and come up with substitutes and alternatives. There is however so much to be grateful for. 

Thrifting is fun!

As mentioned, I recently thrifted some clothes. Thrifting clothes is something we're big on. We try to only buy clothes when needed but if we do need them, we nearly always thrift. Most people here buy their clothes at the 2nd hand store or at the market where there are 2nd hand selling vendors. So it's quite the norm to thrift clothes. Brand new clothes aren't of good quality and for shops like H&M or Zara, you'd have to drive well over three hours- not to mention it's out of budget for many people. Buying and wearing pre loved clothes being socially accepted really does make it more fun in my opinion. Everyone is doing it, so it's not a big deal- I say that because in the past, we were judged because of buying second hand clothes, even though they were still in perfect shape. I don't mind people having opinions, but I just wish people wouldn't be so judgmental at times. 

Anyway, back to the topic. My daughter needed some shirts and pajamas. So she got some of those, and we ended up buying two shirts for me too. Didn't really need them, oh well... My rule for buying clothes that I don't strictly need is that at least it's something I will definitely wear. One shirt I already wore and the other is still in my closet. The funny thing is that the yet--unworn-shirt had the tag still on. I'm not really an expert when it comes to fashion and brands, so I looked up the brand. Apparently, it's quite an expensive one and one brand new shirt of them costs $90 on sale. Brand new and without being on sale, it's probably close to $150. So I'd say it's not bad to find such an item for the equivalent of just $1. Thrift store finds like these definitely make thrifting even more fun to me. 

Just to clarify: I'm not specifically on the lookout for expensive brand clothes when shopping at thrift stores/markets. I just look what fits my size and style. Looking for expensive brands only would be a bit difficult anyway, as I don't really know/remember brand names. I do know a few, but my knowledge is certainly limited. And I'm not really looking to expand that knowledge either as it doesn't really seem interesting to me. But, I must admit that I find it really cool to pay that tiny of an amount for something that expensive! Lol. I think other frugal people can relate to this. If not, I must be just a weird lady 😅

Cleaning on a (tight) budget

Whenever people are mentioning their low weekly budgets, they usually tell "...and that's even without cleaning supplies". I get that getting by on a low budget can be stressful, having had personal experience with that myself. But, the cleaning stuff have never really been an issue. In fact, it's where we'd spend the least out of all groceries. I'm convinced that with almost no money, it's possible to buy all your cleaning necessities. 

As time went by, and our finances improved, I've noticed that our spending on cleaning stuff hadn't increased so much. Not spending a lot in this area isn't just a choice out of frugality, it's also for the environment- not wanting too much harsh chemicals in the home. I'm not completely using only good stuff and rigorously shunning all the chemicals, but I'm still glad our detergent cupboard doesn't equal some sort of chemical factory either. 

What do I all use? First of all, I probably have mentioned this a lot by now, but we try to use as little disposable products as possible, so that includes wipes. I really don't see the need to pay for disposable wipes that are usually much more pricey than the good old reusable ones. So, no disposable wipes it is. I only use a piece of kitchen roll when I clean the shower drain (we live here with three girls which means quite a lot of hair...). But, only if it's a lot and I always cut one piece of paper unto four squares. So one roll still lasts a long time. Another disposable product I use are sponges - I like referring to them as semi disposable as they don't get tossed right away, but still get tossed in the end. I'm still looking for a solution to that though, I do have a cleaning brush but sponges are just more convenient in my opinion. 

Now we'll move on to the detergents. I try to keep this as minimalistic as possible, and especially not using single purpose cleaners. Those are really a waste of money in my opinion. The main products I use are washing up liquid (which I buy in large 5L jugs), a block of household soap, which is insanely cheap here, powdered laundry detergent -not just for the laundry-, and vinegar. I also have a jug of "all purpose cleaner", which is a bit of a misleading name because there is no cleaner in that jug; it's just scented water which you can add to your mopping water or even throw some of it to the toilet bowl etc. And yes, I use bleach too. Bleach water to be exactly, not the concentrated stuff because bleach water is much cheaper here. But I try not to use that a lot honestly. I'll elaborate some on how I use each of the aforementioned cleaning products: 

Washing up liquid: for the dishes (duh!), as we don't have a dishwasher. And to me that includes the counter, sink and hob. I pretty much use this washing up liquid as an all purpose cleaner, adding some drops to a bucket of water for mopping the floors, or when dusting surfaces, cleaning the fridge etc. It's basically my all purpose cleaner, just a very concentrated one. 

Block of soap: I like this for cleaning the bathroom - rubbing it on a sponge and then cleaning the sink with it. And then for the wall tiles, toilet, shower surface, floor etc. I use it diluted in a bucket of water. I also make my toilet cleaner by diluting a bar of this kind of soap and boiling it, then adding some of the scented water that I mentioned. I also use this soap to remove stains out of clothes, which works great. Sometimes I rub some of this soap on stains before the clothes get washed in the machine too. Washing clothes by hand is something which is still done by a lot of people where we live, and because this soap is so powerful at removing stains, most will use this plain soap - also because it's insanely cheap (the ones that wash by hand are doing so usually because they're very poor). One bar of soap costs onder €0.30, which is very very affordable. 

Powdered laundry detergent: We buy big bulk sacks of detergent, of 5 or even 10 KG. The main purpose is laundry, obviously, but there are other uses. When I'm short of washing up liquid, I use this detergent, as do many people here (which they then mix with bleach... But that's something I would never do!). And I use it in the toilet bowl- whenever I'm not using my other toilet cleaner. Note that this detergent isn't exactly the same as every other powdered laundry detergent, it's a multi purpose product- at least that's what the package says. 

Vinegar: I used to use it a lot more than I do now, which is because quite a few surfaces in our home aren't suitable to be cleaned with vinegar. But I still use it as a fabric softener replacement, to descale taps, etc. Last winter, I made a cleaner with a lot of leftover lemon peels soaked in vinegar - then diluted with water because the peels make the vinegar even more strong. Not only is this a great way to use your leftover citrus peels (I used lemon, but orange peels are a great option too), it's also smelling less vinegary, for those who are put off by using vinegar because of the smell. I regularly use this in the toilet bowl and for other things that I would use regular vinegar. 

Oh, and this one is probably a bit unusual but I also keep some cheap shampoo for certain cleaning jobs such as heavy duty descaling, or when I need a "real" all purpose cleaner instead of washing up liquid. I already have shampoo ar home anyway, and thus way I'm avoiding buying expensive and big bottles of cleaners that I'd use a few times before it's just sitting endlessly in the cupboard. So I guess I'd need to add shampoo to my list too. You might not consider it as a real cleaner but I guess I do. 

Bleach: I try it to use it as minimal as possible, so one bottle lasts quite a while. I clean my bathroom with it every so often and the main use is when I've been cutting chicken. Sometimes I even dare to just use washing up liquid for that. 

So these are the main cleaners we use, which allow us to spend as little as possible on cleaning while at the same time staying organized because we don't have a thousand of different kind of detergents, cleaners and whatnot. Cleaning doesn't need expensive, ultra scented stuff (although that's fine too if that's important to you, but I guess for me it isn't...). Soap is usually enough, you might have to use some extra elbow grease at times. 

Seasoning food on a tight budget

I've been watching some "emergency grocery budget" videos lately (you've gotta do something when you're feeling sick and can't do anything but being in bed, right?). One thing that I noticed was that most of these vloggers - no matter how good their intentions are - somehow assume that people have all these "pantry staples" on hand. I'm talking about basic items, or even less basic items, like rice, oil, flour, tinned tomatoes, but also the seasonings. And while that's true in some cases, there are also people that are truly broke, having nothing but empty cupboards and with a budget of maybe 20 euros/dollars for the next week or two weeks for ALL their groceries (been there, done that...). If that's the case, it's hard to expect your meals to be flavoured with dozens of different seasonings and all kinds of additional ingredients. With 20 euros, you want to stretch your meals as much as possible so seasonings just won't be as important as your main staples. In such a situation, it's more about filling your stomachs with whatever is the cheapest. 

Yet, at the same time, you still need to have a tiny bit of flavour in order not to feel very deprived when you're going through such a situation. Not having a lot to choose from for a few weeks isn't that difficult. But sometimes, these situations can go on for years. So I get that people want to "indulge" on at least some extra flavour, especially when you have to make do with so little already. Having been there, done that I definitely know that it can be a challenge, but still possible when you precisely budget and shop smartly. 

Bread: while bread toppings aren't strictly necessary, I find it kind of hard to eat bread as is, especially if it's not day fresh. I've found that toasting bread enhances the flavour (which is the very reason toast was "invented"- to make stale bread a bit more palatable). During rough times, I didn't mind to have just a bare toast with a cup of tea. We also had times when we just had margarine (because it's much cheaper than butter), which felt quite luxurious when compared to bare bread. Or even margarine sprinkled with some sugar (and cinnamon, if possible). That wouldn't even feel like "cheap food" to me honestly. It's not that healthy obviously, but with an extremely tight budget, that's not always the #1 priority. Bread can also be part of the main meal, such as a slice or two of bread along with a cup of soup. Which is good, because then the soup becomes the topping/easoning of the bread without needing anything else. I would advise using butter (or at least margarine, if butter is too expensive) over oil, because butter is more versatile/multi purpose. You can use it both for bread as well as cooking, whereas cooking oil isn't that suitable for bread obviously (unless you have olive oil... Which isn't quite what I'd expect for someone on a very low budget). Alternatively, you can buy peanut butter, and then use it for bread as well as for main dishes (you can make sauced and salad dressings based on peanut butter). 

Main meals:

Salt : the bare minimum, in my opinion, is salt. Black pepper would be nice too, but as long as you have salt, that's the most important. Salt can make such a difference to foods, even foods that initially would seem to be bland. 

Herbs/spices: if you don't have any on hand and your budget allows to buy a few spices, the ones I'd suggest would be black pepper, cumin, oregano, parsley (dried or fresh), ginger (ground is cheaper), and paprika. And cinnamon, especially to flavour up sweet dishes/breakfast foods. If you don't have money for all of these, just pick a few. Pepper, oregano and cumin would be good to start with. Usually, herbs and spices are more affordable at Asian/Middle eastern stores. Spices bought in supermarkets are just so much more expensive. And in my opinion, spices bought from those stores usually taste stronger too, which means you'll end up using less. That makes it even more cheaper. 

Onion/garlic: in my humble opinion, each meal must include either onion or garlic, preferably both! It doesn't just add a bit of nutrition - they're both great flavour enhancers. You don't have to use a whole onion or cloves of garlic, just a bit is usually enough to flavour your food so it doesn't taste bland. If you just have a tiny bit of garlic, the best thing you can do is to add it towards the end of the cooking time, so it tastes as garlicky as possible. As for onions: when I make a stew or soup of some sort, I sometimes add onion peels instead of whole chopped onions. I keep a container in the fridge with some onion peels; that way I don't have to peel and chop another onion (and possibly washing up another chopping board...), for as much flavour. If you're truly broke, that's an affordable way to add more flavour to your food. Even a small amount of chopped and sautéed onion does wonders to about any dish. 

Tomato paste: it's a key ingredient in most Tunisian foods, so needless to say, we go through a lot of it! Even for many non-Tunisian dishes, we use tomato paste. However, tomato paste has become ridiculoudly expensive lately. We're paying now exactly double for the same tin compared to three years ago! And it's not that it was that cheap back then. We definitely try to be more frugal now with the tomato paste, often resulting in a bit more runny sauce, but still with a nice tomato-ey flavour. When you're in that bad of a financial situation that you barely can afford seasonings, if you can afford some tomato paste, I'd highly suggest buying it. You can use a tiny amount just for some flavour. When I'm being lazy I sometimes make a "soup" of some tomato paste, salt, and garlic paste- and then add vermicelli. My children absolutely love this. If tomato paste is more expensive than pasta sauce/marinara sauce, that's absolutely an option as well. It's basically just tomato paste with added seasonings, so you can just forego adding extra seasonings. In an emergency, even ketchup would be an option. I must admit that we never ever have ketchup at home but on the rare occasion when we crave it, I make it myself. But if you do have ketchup on hand, just use that as a seasoning. It won't be as good as real tomato sauce, but most people will prefer ketchup over blandness. 

Stock cubes/bullion cubes: not as good and certainly not as healthy as real brother made out of fresh ingredients, but does a decent job to flavour up your food. Just one cube will do wonders to your rice. It's not limited to rice of course. You can flavour up soups, sauces etc. One cube will probably be enough for one 4 persons meal. Maybe one of package of stock cubes is not the cheapest item out there, but it will last a long time. The good thing here is that you can buy them per cube (for the same price you'd pay in a complete package), but that's probably not possible everywhere. Still, a complete package will not break the bank even on a very tight budget. 

These were the bare basic seasonings that I'd recommend when on a very restricted budget. If you have some more breathing room, I would also advise to have mustard, sesame seeds, marmite, soy sauce (and/or fish sauce), and any hot condiment of your choice on hand. BBQ sauce is also a versatile condiment to flavour up your food. I posted a mock soy sauce recipe, just in case soy sauce us hard to find, too expensive, or in case you're allergic to soy.                        And remember- the best seasonings are the main ingredients. If you use good, fresh ingredients, you'll likely use less seasonings. Although that can be challenging on an extreme budget, I must admit. 

As I mentioned, there were periods in our life when we had to go through similar situations; having to ration everything and calculate precisely so we wouldn't go hungry. Even though it was tough at the time, it really taught us to be resourceful and creative. Hopefully this can help people in similar situations. There are many people struggling these days, so I'm convinced tips like these are needed more than ever.