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 😅

What did we eat past week

Couscous- 2x. One with vegetable stew, and the other one made by my sister in law with lamb, chickpeas and raisins (which is another traditional way to eat couscous here)

Makarouna, Tunisian pasta made with spaghetti, 2x. One was meatless and served with a side of with a salad. And my sister in law actually made this same dish for us as well, but made with chicken

Steamed vermicelli with sticken and a tomato/onion/raisin stew (kind of Moroccan flavoured) 

Ojja - Tunisian style shakshuka, with bread (this was actually lunch, I don't really cook for lunch usually though). 

Slata mechouia - a Tunisian hot condiment/dip of onion, garlic, tomatoes and peppers, served with homemade bread and olive oil and a side of fries 

Rice with dhaal and leafy greens (I think it was chard) 

See, it's nice to have family visiting but it does kind of mess up with our meal planning. This is a reminder why it's very hard to meal plan here because of the people that are so spontaneous. I really do appreciate that they show their love by cooking us foods. But the lack of planning can made me a little bit frustrated at times, I must admit. 

Recent frugal activities

I've been quite busy lately, which is obvious when you look at the blog. There's just so much to do that blogging is put on the back burner! I think August is one of the busiest times of the year in terms of cooking/ food preparation. And we don't even have a garden (we do grow a few things here and there, but just don't consider it as a "real" garden- as in, a garden which is sufficient to sustain us with most of our homegrown vegetables for the rest of the year). But, even if you buy your produce at the store or at the market, there's a lot of things to be busy with, I guess. 

Here's some things I did lately: 

Since we were almost drowning in tomatoes (no exaggerating- since they're so cheap right now, we bought a lot and also got a lot from neighbours), I made tomato sauce which I canned. And also made slata mechouia (a Tunisian dip/sauce similar to salsa), which I also canned. 

Made broth with chicken scraps, and since there was still some more broth in the freezer, I thawed that broth and let that evaporated until about half of the original quantity was left over, I then poured this into smaller containers (3/4 cup in each container), and froze it for later use. 

Froze aquafaba (chickpea cooking brine) for later use 

Had a lot of leftovers from the freezer, both because I needed that freezer space but also because I didn't want those foods to get too old and getting wasted 

Tried to use up as much nearly-spoiled produce as possible- especially sad looking hot peppers. They were a bit wrinkly, but perfectly edible. 

Did a lot from scratch cooking including baking bread. Not sure if that counts because that's just a usual practice for me. 

Thrifted some clothes for me and my oldest daughter. 

My husband mended some of our clothes. 

Repaired a few things in and around the house. 

Didn't run the AC for many days as the weather is changing a bit. It's still warm, but bearable. On some days we didn't even need a fan. 

And tthe most cost saving thing: we postponed our holiday plans, due to a few unforeseen circumstances. Possibly we'll skip going on vacation altogether this year. Despite it not being because of wanting to be frugal, it sure is a frugal thing not to go on vacation (fortunately, we never book anything beforehand so that wasn't an issue). 

Probably did a few more things that I can't recall because frugality is just daily life for me. But these are the things I could immediately think of. All in all, considering I'm so busy lately I'm pleased with these accomplishments.

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. 

What did we eat past week

I've been really busy lately, and I was planning on posting a few blogs, but I really need some extra time! Still wanted to share my weekly menu in retrospect. 

Couscous 

Vegetable, potato and chicken stew with homemade bread 

Creamy tomato soup with homemade dinner rolls and egg salad 

Pasta made with leftovers (some of my huge batch of tomato sauce I made earlier, leftover stew, and some leftover stir fried courgette) -2x

Sandwiches with canned sardines and harissa

Homemade slata mechouia (a spicy Tunisian dip) with boiled eggs and homemade bread 

Lots of tomatoes! + recipes

It's all about tomatoes lately at our house! Theyre in season now, and very cheap. We bought a lot at the souk, and then we were gifted even more by our neighbour, whose aunt lives on a farm and apparently had a very good harvest this year. So I've been making lots of tomato/marinara sauce. I'm also planning to make slata mechouia, which is a Tunisian condiment quite similar to salsa. 

I've used the tomato sauce as is in a pasta dish, and also made a scrumptious tomato soup. My husband and children aren't the biggest fans of soup (tell me you're north African without telling youre north African 😆), but they all gobbledit up, it was that good! Best thing is, the soup was beyond easy to make - that is, if you don't include making the huge pot of sauce. There was still a lot of sauce left, so I used that sauce to can. It's a bit work, but it's so convenient to have some jars of canned food at home. I love that it doesn't take up precious freezer space - while we do have a relatively freezer, there seems to be never enough space somehow. So if I can save space by canning instead of freezing, I'm happy to do so. 

I want to share the recipes, but as always, just take the amounts as a guide- just add less or more seasoning, oil, onions etc. 

For the sauce, I used about 2/3 bucket full of tomatoes, diced into pieces. This was all chopped before starting. Then I chopped 4 large onions. I sautéed the onions in a generous amount of olive oil, then added two heaped teaspoons of garlic paste and the seasonings: black pepper, paprika, parsley, basil, oregano, sage, and rosemary. I also added salt. Then I added about half of the chopped tomatoes, stirred well so the tomatoes would be mixed with the seasonings, and then added the remaining tomatoes, and stirred again. I then added some bay leaves. Then just let it simmer until enough water has evaporated (this depends on your personal preference, some people prefer thick sauce whereas others prefer the sauce to be runnier). Towards the end, I blended it shortly (on the lowest setting, my immersion blender has 5 settings), then let it cook a bit more. Keep an eye on it and stirr regularly! I made two of these pots of sauce. Perhaps I will even make more if we find/get more cheap or free tomatoes. As I mentioned, you can use whatever seasonings you like, even keeping it as basic as possible with just salt and pepper, so it's more versatile without a distinct flavour profile. 

As for the soup, I used about 2 cups of sauce, diluted with water and blended (in a regular blender which you use for making smoothies) until very smooth. I then made a simple white sauce, and added the tomato "juice" to that. The remaining sauce in the blender was diluted with more water - to make cleaning up more easy. I poured this in a small saucepan, added two vegetable bullion cubes (could have use real brothbut I guess I was lazy!) and about 2/3 cup of vermicelli. I let this boil until soft and then added it to the soup. Easy but delicious! I served the soup with homemade dinner rolls and egg salad. These kind of meals are among our favourite; simple yet delicious. 

Tightwad tip: line drying laundry

I must admit, we never ever owned a dryer. Growing up my parents did have one, but line dried whenever it was possible, or even used an indoor drying rack. But then when I was around 12 and my parents divorced, I lived with my mum in smaller houses where there wasn't room for a dryer. 

When my husband and me moved into our own small rental apartment, there obviously wasn't enough space for a dryer, as only a washer just fitted in the tiny kitchen. Fortunately, the garden was quite big so we did have enough space for line drying - if the weather was good enough. On other occasions, we used indoor drying racks, which was and still is quite common in most parts of Europe. 

In northern Africa, dryers are kind of unheard of - usually appliance stores sell just one kind of dryer in between hundreds of fridges, hobs and washing machines. So line drying here is even more the norm than it is in Europe. Which is logical given the fact that for the majority of the year, the weather is good. But even during the winter, people will line dry. And so do we. At first I was a bit reluctant of line drying during the winter - despite the mild winters here, it's still a bit damp and chilly. And honestly it does take longer to dry than it does during the summer, but when I hang our laundry to dry in the morning, it's usually dry in the evening. Since rain is quite rare where we live, that's not something we have to worry about. Even if it does rain, we have a place in the backyard where there's a roof over the drying line, for emergencies. It does dry a little less fast but it does dry anyway. Last winter we did have a bit more rain than usual, and I was tempted to buy an indoor drying rack- something I hadn't used since we emigrated. But, I challenged myself not to buy one at least that winter and just see how we could manage with line drying on the main line on dry days and on the backyard pine for rainy days. In the end, I didn't really miss the rack. And I must admit that it would only just clutter up our living space even more. Rainy winters are exceptional here anyway so if I would have bought the rack it would probably just be sitting here in the winters to come. 

Line drying isn't necessarily a very "thrifty" thing to do in my mind; I just find it logical. However, I do realize that for some people that are used to dryers, it's quite a frugal thing to do, hence my tightwad tip of today. For me it's logical because I haven't really experienced something different, I don't think it's a lot of work and it has a lot of benefits over using dryers. The main benefit, obviously, is the lower electricity bill. Appliances that cool and dry are usually the most expensive to run, so that definitely includes dryers. There's also the cost of purchasing one; dryers can be quite expensive, especially a qualitative one, so you'll save lots of money by simply not buying one. Your clothes will also last much longer which is saving you money too. There's also the additional saving on not having to buy dryer sheets and balls.And lastly, hanging clothes to dry is quite a good exercise for your arm/back muscles. And of course, nothing beats the smell of fresh line dried laundry, I think we can all agree on that! 

So, whether line drying is a really thrifty thing to you or just a normal thing, it really does save a lot of money, it saves space, and a gym membership. Ok, that last one is slightly exaggerated, but still it adds up to your daily exercise! 

What did we eat past week

Couscous - 2x (the first was our 2nd batch of a double cooked batch, the other one made by our neighbour)

Pasta with lamb and vegetables

Leftovers from the pasta sauce with bread (hubby's idea, and that turned out to be quite nice) 

Ojja - Tunisian version of shakshuka, with bread - 2x 

Couscous with courgette, chickpeas and chicken fillet (not really a traditional dish, but quite nice anyhow) 

Nearly all meals were served with a tomato/cucumber/red onion salad again. We're trying to take as much advantage as possible to have cheap and delicious in season produce! 4 of the 7 meals were meatless. 

Previous week, it was a bit too much bread. This past week, it was a bit too much couscous! It seems like I never learn to balance and vary a bit more! Oh well. Fortunately, I did not get any complaints. If there were any leftovers, they were eaten for lunch. 

Easy and delicious pasta recipe

The other day I made a scrumptious pasta dish with boneless lamb and vegetables. It was quite an easy "recipe" (I find it hard to call a bunch ingredients thrown together a recipe though), but it was delicious! Since we had a lot of tomatoes that I wanted to use, I thought pasta would hit the spot. 

Lamb meat, cut into small pieces, about one kg 

Around 8 large tomatoes and 3 large onions

Some carrots and bell peppers, depending on how vegetable-y you want the meal. You can use other veges but this is what I had on hand and what I thought would suit this meal best

Seasonings used: sage, parsley, basil, oregano (all dried), black pepper, cumin, paprika, garlic, salt, olive oil 

2 heaped spoons of tomato paste 

About half a cup of water 

Chop the onions in whatever size you wish, I diced them. Then saute and in the meantime chop your tomatoes. Now add the seasonings to your onions, saute for some minute or so and then add the meat, keep sauteeing for a few minutes. Now add the tomato past tomatoes and water, stirr well, then let it simmer on a low flame. Now peel and dice your carrots and slice the bell peppers. Stirr every so often. When the sauce is simmering for about half an hour, add the carrots. Then after half an hour or so, add the bell peppers. My sauce simmered for almost an hour and a half. It depends on how young the lamb is, so it might need more or less cooking time. By the end my sauce had the perfect consistency, not too thick but not runny either. If you like olive oil as much ad I do, you can add some more olive oil a few minutes before turning off the heat. 

Now cook your pasta - I used fussili/rotini. I used 1.5 package (750 grams) because I was cooking for our neighbours too. It was exactly the right amount, with some leftover sauce, so I could have used one kg exactly to use up all that sauce (but that didn't fit in the pan I was using... 😆🫣) When the pasta is done, drain and mix with the sauce and serve. 

I have no idea what this is called because it's really some ingredients that I had on hand and that I threw together. But apparently it comes close to what some people would call goulash. My husband liked it that much that he was happy to have some leftover sauce and he's already planning how to have the leftovers, and my children asked if I could make this again! I love it when I try something new and everyone loved the dish. 

Rescuing foods - produce edition

Here's a few tips to save your produce from spoilage. Of course it's better to plan everything perfectly in advance and try not even to come near that stage, but sometimes life comes in the way. Fortunately, there are still ways to rescue produce, even when that doesn't seem to be a possibility. 

Carrots 🥕: softened carrots can be firmed up again by soaking them in water for as long as needed. The softer they are, the longer they need to soak. As we're speaking, I put some carrots to soak that had become way too flexible. They soaked overnight and are firm again! 

Tomatoes 🍅: spots need to be removed obviously. Our cat loves tomatoes and gobbles it up as if it were meat. So spotted tomatoes become cat food in our house! Tomatoes that aren't ripe enough (think green tomatoes) can be used in a variety of ways, I read some about a green tomato chutney, but never tried that myself (I have never come across unripe tomatoes here honestly, but I know it's a common problem for gardeners at the end of the season). 

Cucumbers 🥒: Like carrots, they can become flexible too. Especially the breed of cucumbers they sell here, which is a bit different from what I was used to in the Netherlands. If the soaking trick doesn't work, I usually just cook them. They resemble cooked courgette in taste and texture. This is also an idea to use up accidentally frozen cucumbers. Even if you don't have to "rescue" them but you've become bored of eating raw cucumber day after day, it's still nice to get some variety and cook up yourself some cucumber. 

Lettuce 🥬: The most common problem with leafy greens and especially lettuce is probably wilting. Rconsidering the way of consuming it isn't restricted to cucumbers, and I have added lettuce to soups and stews. Of course, you won't end up with a lot, so unless you have a massive amount of lettuce, don't use it as your main ingredient. It really does give some extra flavour to many dishes - you can use it in place of using spinach, kale, chard or whatever leafy greens you're used to. If you insist on eating your wilted lettuce raw, you can firm it up a bit with ice cubes. 

Potatoes 🥔: Just like carrots, softened potatoes can be soaked in water to make them more firm. 

Apples 🍎: I must admit that I'm not the biggest fruit lover in the world. And while I eat apples, if there's something I especially hate, it's softened apples. It's like biting into a sponge or something 😬 A few days ago we had some soft apples again. While I will absolutely not eat them as is, I don't mind cooked apples. So, I cut off the bad spots, cored them and cut the apples into small chunks. It was a great addition to my oatmeal porridge, and a dash of cinnamon made it extra nice. If you have more apples, making applesauce is a great idea too. But I had just three small ones, with quite a few spots, so cooked chunks of apple it was. There are many other ways to use up soft apples. You can add them to cakes, muffins, make apple crisp, apple bread, even stews...  There's so much to choose from really, there is just not an excuse for tossing that soft apple. (OK sometimes there is... But I'm talking about normal situations lol)

Watermelon 🍉: Sometimes they sell watermelons here that are not that tasty. What to do with a bland watermelon? I have used them for making cold soup, smoothies (sometimes it was just "juice" of watermelon, some sugar and water), even for making jam/syrups. I also tried to dehydrate watermelon, which was quite a fun project, which the kids loved because it was basically just turned into candy! And you can even fry watermelon- it's a bit like a fish/meat replacement for sushi (of course, it can be served in any way but apparently some vegans use it for their sushi). Yes, watermelon is very versatile. And remember not to toss the rinds as they can be cooked (and used as a vegetable), as well as fermented or pickled. 

Bananas 🍌: especially during the summer, Bananas ripen fast. But fortunately, baking with bananas is really good- some people buy bananas on purpose for certain baked goods. They make a great egg replacement and give a very nice flavour overall. In some cuisines, bananas are being used in savory dishes too. My Somali friend from the Netherlands always had a banana as a side with her dinner. If you're having banana with your dinner, a few spots aren't as annoying as they are when eating them as is. 

Melon 🍈: we once bought a melon that appeared to be bland and also not soft enough. I cooked it up and made "pumpkin" soup with it. No one noticed it was melon and not pumpkin. 

These were just a few types of fruit, but all fruit in general can be frozen and used for smoothies. 

Courgettes/zucchini: if it's a bit too bland (usually when it's a massive one from the garden), you can make "mock pineapple", make courgette muffins, or add it to dishes in which it isn't the main ingredient. 

Lemons 🍋: if it's starting to become a bit dry, why not dehydrate the lemon altogether? Dehydrated lemons (also known as black limes) make a perfect addition to many middle eastern/central Asian dishes. 

This was all I could think of right now... Possibly this post will be edited when I come up with more ideas. 

Tightwad tip: avoiding plastic wrap/aluminum foil

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

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

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

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