Unusual things to reuse

At our house, we refuse and reuse (and unfortunately we can't recycle... But that's for another post I guess). Reusing is a broad aspect and we reuse a lot of objects that would be a bit unusual to reuse for other people. I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with reusing glass jars, or other food containers, and toothbrushes, but there's a lot of items here that are a bit less usual when reusing comes to mind. 

So, here's some things we do: 

•Old tape rolls: these are a great organising tool. I use them to keep my silicone baking paper. 

•Detergent containers: we usually buy bulk containers, for example a 5 litre jug of washing up liquid. The brand we buy has a difficult cap- once it's opened, it won't close properly anymore. So I usually pour that 5 L in a more stable bottle, cut off the top part of the jug, and use the remaining part of the jug as storage containers. We use these "containers" to store various things, like other smaller bottles of cleaners and reusable wipes in the bathroom, freezer bags in the kitchen, etc. 

•Laundry basket: this is probably one of the most unusual things to reuse/upcycle. We used our laundry basket make a grocery stroller out of it! As a consequence, I now procrastinate a bit less with my laundry. Laundry baskets are contributors to procrastinating a lot of the time, because it just sits in that basket and no one notices it anyway. 

•T shirts: I use them as a "tea towel" when making bread or cut in two as a mop. I reuse a lot of clothes anyway to cut out squares of reusable cloths. 

•Lids of old cooking pans: I use them to cover plates of food, so I dont have to transfer them to a food container, and thus save myself a few extra dishes. 

•Food tins: these are used in so many ways, to keep cutlery and tools, to craft materials and even as a measuring cup. 

•Bottles: we dont buy a lot of bottles, mainly oil and vinegar. I have a few bottles of vinegar that I reuse to store ground nuts and sesame seeds. I also freeze homemade broth in bottles. 

•Milk cartons: these are reused to freeze leftover foods. 

•We even reuse components of an old coffee machine! The dipping tray happens to be an excellent way to store our bar of soap, in the kitchen. My husband (the only coffee drinker here) says he doesn't need a coffee machine now anymore, so now he's just brewing coffee the old fashioned way. 

Legumes

We eat a lot of legume based dishes. Not only are legumes quite nutritious, legumes -regardless of where one lives- are very affordable, too. Prices going up and up, and unfortunately, legumes are no exception. Still, in most cases, they're a more economical option than the average animal protein. Actually, the cheapest fish here is half the price of an kilo of lentils... Most fish, meat, and even eggs these days, are a lot more expensive. Also, one kilogram of dry lentils ends up being about double the weight cooked lentils. The fish, not so much, especially if you take into account that there's bones that won't be consumed. Anyway, long story short: no matter how expensive food is these days, legumes are relatively cheap. 

I hear a lot of people saying that they don't like the "bean taste". While there really is not one bean taste, I really, really can not relate to this! I passionately love all kinds of legumes. I don't think there is one kind I dislike. In fact, there's some legumes that aren't available where I live which I quite miss, like black beans and split peas. I always wonder how people can dislike an entire food group even if they haven't tasted all of them. But apparently, there are just people who dislike "beans". Then there's another thing I hear a lot: that they don't necessarily dislike legumes, they just don't know how to prepare them. Well, that's something I get. Because a lot of people (at least from the west) are brought up with a meat dense diet, if they're not completely raised on convenience foods, that is. In a lot of regions in the world, legumes are part of everyday diet, and they have countless of recipes using them. The variety of ways to prepare legumes is probably one of the reasons why people in those countries actually like, or at best aren't bothered with, legumes. 

So what are the dishes I regularly make when opting for a legume based dish? It's a bit hard to remember everything I ever made, because sometimes I really just throw various leftovers together, including chickpeas or lentils. Which, believe me or not, always turns out delicious! Anyway, there's some go to meals that we repeatedly have at our house. 

•Green/brown lentils: as mentioned, I add them to whatever leftover foods I have, to add more nutrition and taste. During summer, I also love making salads with whatever I have lying around in the fridge and make a lentil salad. Since it's very filling  I usually don't add any starchy ingredients. I also love all kinds of lentil-and-rice varieties, such as Egyptian Koshary or Levantine mudjadara. I kind of made our own north African mock version of mudjadara by using couscous and adding some leftover pepper/tomato stew. Green lentils make a decent replacement for mince meat in many dishes, like pastas, casseroles, etc. Or you can even make your own "meatballs" with brown lentils. And then there's of course the famous north African lentil stew using brown lentils that we absolutely love.

•Chickpeas: probably the most used legumes in north African cuisine, and it's used a lot in our cooking! Chickpeas are added to soups, stews, pasta dishes. And here chickpea flour is used a lot too, even in biscuits and other sweets. As far as non-north African cuisine (because I do love international cooking), we love hummus and falafel, and pakora/bhaji. Chickpea flour can even be made into a kind of tofu, albeit with a slightly chickpea-y flavour. But it's a good alternative if tofu isn't available where you live (which is the case for me), or if you're trying to avoid soy (which is also kind of the case for me). Sometimes I just make some "scrambled chickpea flour", which resembles eggs in texture, and is used as a quick addition of protein in many dishes. I also love making savoury chickpea flour muffins in my air fryer - recipe yet to be posted. Probably there's hundreds of other things one can make with chickpea flour, but these are just some of the things we do.  

•White beans: white beans make a scrumptious stew called loubia, which is like the north African equivalent of chilli! This we have quite regularly. Perfect comfort food, if you ask me. White beans can also be added to many other hearty soups and stews, as well as light summer salads. And since black, navy/pinto beans and kidney beans aren't available here I also use white beans for making refried beans. 

•Yellow/red lentils: while these would be considered a soup base for most of us, there's a lot more to use them for. Don't get me wrong, I love lentil soups, in all varieties, but it's just that they're quite versatile. I'm not that familiar with south Asian cuisine, knowing it a few different dishes, but I do make red lentil dhaal quite often. It's one of the children's favourite meals. I also quite regularly make Turkish lentil "meatballs", mercimek köfte. Which is a relatively unknown side dish I guess (if you don't live in Turkey or a Levantine country, that is), but we really love it. We love most or Turkish cuisine actually. 

•Split peas: I grew up on split pea soup, we had it quite regularly during the winter. Maybe it's just nostalgia but in my opinion there's no better winter comfort food than split pea soup! I also love bissara, a Moroccan dish. It's between a dip and a soup made out of split peas. Unfortunately, here they don't sell split peas so I can't make bissara. Although I've read that it can be substituted by broad beans (which is available here), so I might give it a try. Speaking of broad beans, that's something we usually have as a side, sprinkled with salt, cumin, and olive oil. And it's also added to couscous. 

Some kinds of legumes aren't available here, like navy beans, black and kidney beans, which is why I haven't listed them. And there's still a lot of legume based foods I'm yet to try, like porridges. Yes, orange split lentils could even be made into a porridge! And apparently, it's quite good. It may sound a bit strange, but, if like us you're familiar with 'bsisa', it's not that weird to eat a sweet legume based foods. Bsisa is a traditional sweet dish (either eaten for breakfast or as a snack) made of ground barley and/or wheat and ground legumes, mostly chickpeas but also lentils. It's then mixed with olive oil until it reaches the desired texture and a sweetener of some sort. Usually it's decorated with some seeds and nuts on top. Bsisa can also be made with water or milk instead of oil, o make it a bit lighter, because the olive oil based bsisa is quite rich. Apparently you can also make brownies with beans, so legumes and sweet dishes might not be that of a strange combo, after all. 

This is getting a bit long. I hope the point I'm trying to make is clear: that legumes are so versatile, and that you just should give it a try to experiment more with this food group! 

Making foods from scratch, vs eliminating food waste

Like most frugal cooks, I make a lot of things from scratch. Like a lot. I do this for a variety of reasons; first of all, because it's just something I really enjoy. Then there's also the financial/health aspect. And because I live in a country other than where I grew up and where I lived until my 30th age, and can't find certain foods I was familiar with and which I love, I make some of those foods from scratch. So there's defenitely a lot that I make at home. Which, I assume, most people would obviously label as a very frugal and green thing to do. After all, you're avoiding a lot of package materials, you're not buying the ready made stuff which can be a lot more expensive etc. 

The very reason why I do make a lot of foods from scratch, though, simultaneously is the very thing that can make this practice a bit less frugal. Because, to be honest, we ALL waste food. Even as a family that's very conscious about food waste, it still happens in our house. No, it doesn't happen that often but still, unfortunately it does happen. And I don't know of anyone who never ever throws away any food. And I assume that most of us know that non-extremely processed food (without preservatives and other chemicals), those foods tend to spoil a lot faster than the store bought equivalents. So that part of made from scratch cooking is a very tricky one, which CAN lead to wasting food, and thus money.                         Fortunately, I have figured out what works for us when it comes to keeping homemade items fresh for long enough until it spoils.  

•First of all: don't (always) make too large batches. I know, most of us have bigger eyes than stomachs and we tend to do batch cooking in order to make it easier for ourselves. While I'm not against batch cooking at all (we usually eat the same dish every other day, so I'm very familiar with cooking bigger batches), I don't think it's for every dish. Some things we don't feel like eating over and over again and even to eat something just to finish it sounds a bit wasteful to me. And while freezing leftovers is a great option for a lot of foods, it's not for every kind of food, in my opinion. Freezing can change the textures, and while most foods come out perfect once defrosted, that's not the case for all foods. Some examples of foods that we really don't like after being frozen are potatoes, pasta, rice, eggs, carrots, pancakes. Apparently a lot of tarches just don't freeze that well, though I don't have that problem with freezing bread. As for other foods that I don't cook in larger batches, those are mainly plainly boiled legumes such as lentils and chick peas. In the past, I found it useful to have some of those on hand but I found that no matter how well I rinsed them and how well I kept them in an container, they start to change in taste so quickly. So I now make single batches of legumes, unless I freeze them right away, especially chickpeas. Lentils, again, I don't really like frozen. 

•Also, know how to store your foods properly! I usually keep one fridge shelf solely for keeping leftovers and foods that need to be used up quicker than other foods lying around in the fridge. That way it's easier to be reminded of how everything needs to be eaten ASAP. Using transparent food containers or reused glass jars is also a great way to be reminded of what's actually in the fridge. When you see it, you tend to actually use it, instead of tossing it after it begins to smell funny. Make sure that your leftover shelf is not the highest or lowest shelf, the middle shelf is best for this. 

•When it comes to freezing foods, I love using silicone cups. It's just about the size I usually need for cooking for certain foods. Things like pesto, aquafaba, harissa, pasta sauce, bone broth, or soy sauce (which are all homemade- yes, I even make my own soy sauce substitute). After those things are frozen you can transfer them in whatever you find easiest, either a container or a bag, I even reuse milk cartons for this purpose. Some people use ice cubes, but I find those a bit too small. I also reuse small yogurt containers, which are really quite small here, as they contain only half a cup of yogurt. It's also important that if you're  not consuming your homemade food right away, or planning on doing so within a few days, to consider freezing it. That defenitely makes a huge difference when it comes to wasting food. I love reusing all kinds of small food containers really. Like my homemade soy sauce substitute, I keep in small 250 ML bottles in the freezer that once contained rose water and orange blossom water. The homemade "soy" sauce isn't as concentrated as store bought, so I usually use half a 250 ML bottle, or even an entire bottle. I even heard of people freezing milk, as some people only use milk for their coffee and a litre of milk wouldn't last before spoiling. I never tried this myself though since milk doesn't last that long in our house. So educate yourself on how to store your favourites and do research on that. It'll defenitely rescue a lot of foods. 

•While meal planning is great, it's not for everyone.  It certainly doesn't work well for our family, and that's fine. But for some people it's a great way to reduce food waste so it's still something I'd like to mention. 

•Be creative. Think outside the box. Maybe that bit of leftover pasta sauce would make a great toasted cheese sandwich, that half a cup of lentils could be mashed to thicken up your stew or added to a soup. That spoonful of soy sauce can be added to your salad dressing.  Leftovers can be eaten the next day as lunch too, which we really love, especially in colder seasons. We also like to share food with family members, neighbours etc. Which, fortunately, happens to be culturally acceptable where we live. In fact, a lot of people here actually cook bigger batches on purpose so they can share food with whomever needs it. I really love that.

The most versatile fruit

I must admit that I'm not a fruit lover. There's only a few fruits that I really like, and most other (but certainly not all!) fruits, I will tolerate. On top of that, I have some allergies with certain kinds of fruit. 

If we had a lot of veg sitting around in the fridge that would need to be used isn't really an issue for me, as I believe vegetables can be used in a variety of ways anyway, plus I prefer them over fruit. But with fruit, that's another issue. Especially fruits that you cannot buy a small quantity of, and if there's a risk that it's not a "good" one... Well, that's an additional thing. 

My husband and children LOVE watermelon.  I don't; I dont even really like them but I'll eat some if it's a good one. Only if its a good one! Unfortunately, that's not always the case. Some just thate terrible. And I was so fed up with throwing out watermelons (that even hubby and kids wouldn't eat), BUT fortunately I found quite a few solutions to that problem. Ironically, despite watermelon isn't really appealing to me to eat as is, the "alternative ways" to use them up are usually scrumptious. So, what do I do with watermelons? 

- Jam making. Jam making is something I do a lot, especially during the summer months, and I found that most fruits are suitable for jam making, even the fruits you wouldn't expect to be good jam bases! So last year I tried to make watermelon jam and it was absolutely scrumptious. Whenever we had a "bad" watermelon, this was one of the things I did with the fruit. I made jam a few weeks ago, using a very big watermelon. It was so big that it didnt fit in my 8L pot at once, and we gifted some of the jam to family members. Jam always makes such a nice gift, in my opinion! As for the taste, it doesn't really taste that watermelon-y anymore, it's a bit like a cross between strawberry and fig jam. 

- Dehydrating fruits. My kids love dried watermelon as a snack. Its very sweet, even if using a "bad" watermelon that isn't too sweet. Dehydrating especially comes in handy when you have a LOT of watermelon because it shrinks a lot. 

- Juice/smoothies. I don't have a juicer so I just use half watermelon, half water and some additional sugar. I don't really like this but my kids do. Since we only drink water and tea, juice or a smoothie every now and then is really a treat for them. You could also make syrup, just like the jam but thinner, and then dilute it with water. Syrup should stay good for a long time in the fridge. 

- Cold soup. Also known as gazpacho. Usually this is made with tomatoes, but mine is watermelon based. Adding a bit of onions and herbs, this is really a refreshing drink. I do add some tomato paste just for the colour but that isnt really necessary. 

- Fry them up! Yes, even that is possible... Apparently, it's a vegan alternative to fish that's used in sushi. I'm not a vegan but I do like these kind of tricks if that means I can save produce from going to waste. Again, this is something you can't really taste that it's watermelon. 

I'm not done yet! All of the above was only about the flesh. The rinds are totally edible too; although I wouldn't recommend to eat it plainly,  I've successfully used the rind in various ways. I love fermenting so that's what I'd regularly do with watermelon rinds. I also just boil them and use that as additional "vegetables" to any meal. Yes, technically it's fruit and not a vegetable, but since they resemble vegetables in taste, I treat those rinds as a vegetable. Not very different from how I'd treat a tomato, which, in the end, is fruit as well. 

I think I haven't heard of a fruit that is that versatile in terms of using them other than eating plainly, hence the title of this post! Now I certainly don't really mind if there's a sub par watermelon in our fridge. 

Cheaper French toast!

French toast is something a lot of people enjoy for breakfast, and growing up, my mum even made it for lunch! 

Originally, before freezers and Tupperware were invented, people would have stale bread often. Unlike these days, most people back then were very big on not wasting anything. And in some cultures, especially bread is almost regarded something sacred. Something you just.dont.throw.away! So naturally, they came up with ideas to revive stale bread. These days there isn't really an excuse to throw away bread, in my humble opinion- or even to actually have stale bread. But unfortunately, bread is still on top of the list of foods that are discarded most often.

So I guess making French toast more often will solve the problem partially. 

French toast isn't the only way to use up stale bread, but it's one of the yummiest ways to do so, in my opinion. Back to this post's title, because isn't french toast cheap already? Of course, that depends on one's resources, location and other circumstances. Where we live, fortunately, bread is insanely cheap, since it's subsidized by the government, so that everyone can afford bread. But milk and eggs? Not so much. Fortunately, I found a way to substitute the eggs so that it lowers the cost at least a bit. Instead of using eggs, I use cornstarch, which turns out much cheaper than using eggs. Not only is it cheaper, your carbon footprint will also be lower than when using eggs-- win win. From a nutritional perspective it is probably a bit less healthy. But hey, we're not eating this daily. And besides, as with most western people, our intake of protein is more than we need anyway. 

To make these French toast, we use about 1.5 big baguette, which is the bread that is eaten where we live, for our family of 4. I use about 2.5 cups of milk, and use a tablespoon of cornstarch for each half cup, so that makes 5 tablespoon. I also add either some vanilla sugar or ground cinnamon. Just slice the baguette, then dip each slice in the milk and starch mixture, then take it out (using a fork, preferably), and fry the slices on both sides.  We prefer these with either honey or powdered sugar, but I'm sure other topping will be delicious too. 

Other kinds of bread can be used interchangeably-- we just use baguette because it's easily available and most affordable. And of course, remnants of the milk can be used for other things, like porridges, pancakes/waffles etc. Make sure you don't throw the milk away because you wanted to avoid throwing out the bread. 😉

Chard based pesto recipe (vegan)

Probably most people think of basil when they hear the word pesto. I used to think that too- at least when it comes to the green variety of pesto. But a few years ago, I learned that pesto can be made from nearly every green (that fits the flavour profile). So that means that even if basil isn't available where you live, or outrageously expensive, it's still possible to make your own pesto from scratch! 

Where I live there isn't really much convenience foods, processed foods and ready made condiments. Most convenience foods that are available are quite expensive. That makes making your own a necessity; and not just cooking the meals you eat, but also condiments you'd use for flavouring up a dish. Even though I already made quite a lot of foods from scratch, before I moved here I never made pesto myself. I just bought the small jars of green pesto at a cheap grocery store or from a generic brand at the bigger grocery stores. They were good, but I'll admit-- homemade pesto really is next level, taste wise. That's another benefit of making your own things from scratch. Homemade foods really cannot be compared to the stuff being sold in the stores. To make the them last longer or taste better, the food industry usually adds ingredients that certainly don't belong there, such as sugar and hydrogenated oils etc. So moving here defenitely made me even more active in the kitchen, because we didn't want to miss out on certain foods that we were used to. 

Homemade pesto is kind of tricky though, because it uses a variety of ingredients that can be quite expensive, at least where I live. Pine nuts, for example, as well as cheese. And cashews are even more expensive than pine nuts. That brings me back to the beginning of this post, because I thought that pesto was a basil-based condiment. I'm yet to find basil here; only dried basil is sold in the supermarket. (If I'd ever go back to my home country to visit family, I'll defenitely bring some seeds to grow my own!) 

So basically, I made a LOT of substitutions. So much so that there's hardly any ingredients that could be found in the commonly known pesto- I was even a bit hesitant to call it pesto even. But then I remembered that an online friend of mine who is from Italy, makes pest with about every green. And I hope I'll be forgiven when I substitute the nuts AND cheese. Yes, no cheese so this pesto is 100% plant based. But we don't really miss a cheesy flavour, and this way it saves us loads of money. (I sometimes make my own grain-based cheese if I happen to have that on hand I'll use that but this time, I didn't have it and it takes about 2 weeks to make. There was a lot of chard in my fridge that really needed to be used up quickly, so no time for waiting two weeks for making cheese!) I read that during lean financial times, some Italians use bread crumbs instead of cheese. While I always have homemade bread crumbs on hand, I think that oat is an even better replacement because of the creamy flavour it naturally has. And oat will also absorb more liquids, which I like, because homemade pesto tends to be a bit more liquid than the store bought version. 

Chard based pesto 

4 bunches of chard (or just guesstimate; my two bunches filled up a big colander when washed and chopped) 

Two lemons (the zest and the juice), preferably organic

Two tablespoons of dried basil and oregano 

Four tablespoons of ground almonds 

Four tablespoons of sesame seeds, cress seeds or flax seeds 

2/3 cup of coarsely ground oatmeal 

1/2 cup of olive oil 

Salt to taste and white or black pepper (optional)

Two tablespoons of tomato paste 

Devide all the ingredients in half: I made two batches with these ingredients, only half of the ingredients fit in my food processor. To make the pesto, just fill your food processor (or a heavy duty blender) with the ingredients, blend until fine and you're done. Then repeat with the next batch (or just use half of the ingredients if you only want to make one batch). If you're not tight on money or you simply want to stick to a more traditional recipe, feel free to use cheese, cashews and/or pine nuts!

This pesto obviously doesn't last as long as the store bought pesto. So unless you're planning to use it right away, or within a few days, to avoid wasting food, I'd suggest you freeze it. I don't always use a lot of pesto at the same time so I freeze it in very small amounts, using silicone muffin moulds. After they're completely frozen I transfer them into a container. You could also use very small containers, which is what I sometimes do as well. Or even in ice cubes. 

Doing laundry frugally

Laundry... Another chore that most of us are not particularly bothered to do, myself included. But still, your clothes need to get clean. Fortunately, there a quite a few tricks you can put into practice to make doing laundry somewhat easier, more frugal and greener. Here's a few ways of how I try to conserve our precious resources while cleaning our wash. 

Make your clothes last longer

This is probably the #1 tip one could get. Especially when it comes to the environment- as clothes aren't necessarily that expensive, especially if you're like me and shop at thrift stores. Anyway, here's a few things to make our clothes last longer. 

First of all, what we do is we wear our clothes multiple days. I know that most people are grossed out by this but if you think about it: even if you'd wear freshly laundered clothes every day, even after 15 minutes they'd be "dirty" already. Your bacteria are there from the moment you put the fabric onto your skin. Of course, there are items that need to be changed every day, like underwear. But not every item needs to be changed that often. Especially during the winter when you're wearing multiple layers of clothing (to avoid heating up the house too much), the outer layers won't need a wash that often. Too much washing will do no good for your laundry. I do own some items for years already, which is most likely due to the fact that they won't get washed that quickly. 

If you're wearing synthetics, this is especially important because everytime synthetics are being washed they'll release microplastics. Less washing simply means less microplastics! Taking care of your clothes means washing your delicates by hand too. 

Using a dryer is detrimental for most fabrics, too. Line drying is the optimal way of drying laundry! While some people live in a climate that doesn't allow them to line dry year round, for a lot of people it is doable. Did you know that even if it's freezing outside, you can even "freeze dry" your laundry? Fortunately, I live in a country with a dry climate where it's warm for most part. We do have a short winter but usually it's not freezing. Since it's a dry climate we have little rain. During the winter we do have to hang the laundry somewhat earlier so that at the end of the day it's dry, making it less convenient than line drying during the summer... But still, doable. To make drying outside during the winter season easier, I sometimes use an extra spinning cycle. This really works well. 

Instead of line drying outside, using a clothes drying rack is an alternative to a dryer. This is somewhat tricky because you don't want your house to get humid. Providing you have the room and you don't have multiple loads of laundry every day, this is an option if the weather doesn't allow line drying outside. 

If this all isn't an option for you and the dryer needs to be used, be sure to put a dry towel with your wet laundry. Apparently, this makes drying much quicker! (Or so I've heard at least- don't hold me accountable ;))

To prevent your clothes from fading while drying in the sun is important too. This will keep your clothes in a good condition longer! So get them inside when they're dried- no reason to keep them in the sun longer than necessary. And dry the clothes inside out, if possible. 

Saving precious resources while doing laundry

With all the conveniences and luxuries these days, one can quickly forget that washing a load of clothes actually uses quite a lot water. If you own a "standard" washer, all this water will be washed away, into the sewage. Where I live, there are still many people who don't own a regular washer. Instead they have a semi automatic machine, which basically means that the washer and spinner are separated from each other. The rinsing needs to be done by hand, using a large bucket or a washing tub. The water also won't be washed away automatically, so most people will use that water for flushing the toilet, and the rinsing water for mopping the floor. That alone saves a lot of water! 

I do own a "regular" washer and not a semi automatic washer, because I have quite a few health issues and it seems to be more work to me. But I'll acknowledge that owning of a washer that does EVERYTHING for me is quite a luxury. I know that many people in the west take these things for granted, and it's totally fine to own these luxurious things. But at least I will acknowledge the fact that these still are luxuries. Anyway, back to the topic. You can actually do quite a lot of things to save water, even if you have a fully automatic washer. 

I've read that by using your towel after showering twice instead of once, you'll already save thousands of litres of water! Which brings me back to my nr. 1 tip of wearing clothes more often, because the same thing is true for clothes. So this is a way we're saving thousands of litres water: by using most items multiple times. Saving water doesn't seem to bother most people. After all, water is free or nearly free. But is it? Where we live, water is quite expensive. We live in a drought stricken country so the government tries hard to make people use less water- and by increasing the price, that surely works. But even if water is free where you live, it's still better to be frugal with your water use for environmental reasons. Water is a precious resource and only so much of the water we have on this earth is actually suitable for human consumption, so it's a shame that so much of that actually will be poured into the sewage! 

If you have an eco setting on your machine, this could save water too. I say *could*, because in some cases,  this will only save you somewhat on electricity. I personally don't use the eco setting. It lasts quite long and I don't feel like waiting for almost three hours just so I can go and hang my laundry, with the risk of having a blackout in between, which happens a lot where we live. Instead, I use the short 45 minutes cycle if it's just clothes. 

Another way we save water is that I quit doing an "extra rinse". It was something I was just used to do I guess, but why? I'm not sure. In most cases, that extra rinse is totally unnecessary. Most people use the extra rinse because they follow the "recommended" amount of laundry detergent, which is, in my opinion, overdosing big time. An easy way to avoid the extra rinse is by decreasing the amount of detergent you use! 

When it comes to electricity, there's also a lot you can save. If you follow my advice on laundering less often, you're already saving quite a lot electricity. 

What uses the most electric, though, is the temperature of the water. Be sure to wash your clothes as cold as possible. Not only is this better for your clothes, it saves a lot of money too! We still do wash on 60° c (a hot cycle), but only things like sheets, towels, cleaning rags and the likes. Washing on a hot cycle sometimes is necessary for your washer too, especially when you use liquid detergent. We use powdered detergent though, as it's much cheaper here, and has no heavy fragrance (I can't stand most of those smells). 

Other things you can do 

I think we've all heard about making your own detergent. Most of these recipes contain either borax or washing soda or both. Unfortunately, these are not available where I live. But when I still lived in Europe and money was very tight for us, I sometimes made my own detergent. It's quite easy and VERY cheap; about a few cents per use! So if you have a lot of laundry, making your own detergent is a wise thing to do. 

Swapping laundry softener for vinegar is another great way to save money and the environment. And no, your clothes won't smell vinegar-y, I promise! 

Last but not least is the maintenance of your machine. Be sure you do an empty load on a very hot cycle once every few months. It might sound like a huge waste for the ultimate frugal person. But this really can avoid a lot of damage being done to your washer, which would avoid a lot of extra money for a repairman, thus being something frugal in the end. I usually add one tablet of dishwasher detergent. I don't own a dishwasher, but I purchased a box of these tabs especially for my washing machine. 

Also, and this is for the front load folks: I never ever use the drawer, other than for the vinegar. My drawer looks like brand new! I always put my powdered detergent directly into the machine, which works great. With my old washer, I remember that it was such a hassle to get out that drawer, let alone cleaning it.

Uses for whey

I regularly make my own yogurt. Where I live, you can only buy individually packaged small containers of yogurt at the store. While I use this yogurt every now and then, especially when I'm short on time, I don't really like all the extra waste it creates. This yogurt, by far, doesn't taste like the yogurt I was used to when we lived in Europe. 

So that's some of the reasons I make my own yogurt. The "problem" is, though, that making my own yogurt leaves me with so many whey! I purposely put problem in quotations because as a frugal cook, this should never be a problem. :) I must admit, however, that in the past I've thrown away too many whey than I'm willing to admit. Despite feeling a bit shameful for that, I also realise that we can't change the past and that it's also part of a learning process. So I'll just stay positive and try to discover ways to use it instead of being sad for what I've thrown away in my more "ignorant" times. Making one batch of yogurt usually leaves me with 3/4 litres to one litre of whey. That's quite a lot! So, here are some ways I tend to use up this lovely liquid. 

•Instead of lemons, when making hummus. We do have a lemon tree in our garden, but when it's not lemon season I usually substitute lemon for whey. This is also a   terrific way for people that have citrus fruits allergies. 

•Adding whey to salads. No more explanation needed I guess. 

•When making soup, just substitute the water partially for whey. Since soup is already a very nutritious kind of food, adding whey will only increase the health benefits. 

•Drinking it as is, or  as my children like to call it "yogurt lemonade". We add some honey to taste. 

•Using instead of milk in my pancake or waffle batter. According to my husband, it even tastes better than milk based batter! 

Probably there are so many more uses for whey, which I'm yet to discover. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment! ♥️

What's in my stockpile

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Starches: 

Oatmeal- about 3 kg. 

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

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

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

Pearl barley- between 2 and 3 kg. 

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

White flour- 8 kg.

Sorghum flour- 2 kg.

Whole wheat flour- 3 kg. 

Corn starch- 1 kg.

Canned goods: 

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

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

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

Protein: 

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

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

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

We also have about 10 litres of shelf stable milk. 

Fats: 

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

Then about 3 litres of vegetable oil.

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

Baking supplies: 

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

Cocoa powder: about half a kg.

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

Vanilla sugar and baking powder- bought in bulk. 

Desiccated coconut- about half a kg. 

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

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

Spices, seasonings etc

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

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

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

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

Vinegar- about 3 bottles each of 1 litre. 

Miscellaneous 

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

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

Oat milk recipe

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

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

This is what you'll need: 

1 cup of oats (80 grams)

3 cups of water (750 milliliter) 

Some sweetener of your choice (optional) 

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

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

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

Frugal food substitutes

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

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

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

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

Fruit and veg 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Parsley and carrots tops have a similar flavour profile. 

Starches

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dairy products 

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

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

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

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

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

Egg replacements 

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

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

Applesauce is another great  egg replacer.

Flax seeds is another great eggs substitute. 

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

•Will be updated•