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Deliciously cheap burgers
So, not that you have some canned beans, what are you going to make with them? How about bean burgers? Laughably cheap and really easy? Of course! Ingredients 1 1/2 cups cooked beans (any variety), drained and rinsed 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, pine nuts, or steel cut oats 1/2 cup minced onion 1/2 cup grated…
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Pressure canning – beans
Beans are a powerful ally in living frugally. They have the best “bang for the buck” in terms of nutritional return for money: insoluble and soluble fiber, high in protein, complex carbohydrates, folate, and iron. Once you get a stockpile of dried and canned beans in your pantry you are opening up new vistas of…
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Spices and seasonings – taco powder
Tacos appear fairly regularly on the menu at home – once a month or so. Packets of seasoning mix vary in price between “quote reasonable” and “are you kidding me?!!?”. As usual, my answer is to make it myself! 6 teaspoons chili powder 5 teaspoons paprika 4 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 1/2 teaspoons onion…
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Spices and seasonings – chili powder
Who doesn’t like a good chili? But take a moment to think before you answer – I am talking about a good chili, one that leaves you wanting more, not one that leaves you feeling like something really bad just happened in your mouth or your stomach! I tend to prefer foods on the spicier…
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Spices and seasonings
How can you eat the same thing for dinner for 5 consecutive days without getting bored with it? Spices and seasonings. They can transform the mundane to the magical, the dull into a fantastic feast, and make leftovers feel not-leftover-y. The advice on spice is simple: buy it whole from an ethnic store. Ethnic stores…
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Pancake syrup
This is what I think of as an “almost-recipe”. It is substantially right, but there is one thing it falls down on that makes the recipe fail: if you read the comments, people complain about it recrystallising. Recrystallisation comes as no surprise, because there is nothing in the recipe to prevent it. Table sugar is…
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Basic meat sauce – pressure canning
I like having modular components as well as finished items. What I mean by a “modular component” is something which is not complete in and of itself, but that can very quickly become a tasty meal. In the case of this basic meat cause it can become chilli, curry, spaghetti sauce, or even a pizza…
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Seasonal Eating – April
As we head out of the treacherous March weather, more crops are coming into season. This means that your free time is going to vanish at an alarming rate as you try to keep up with what produce starts appearing on the shelves! * New this month Asparagus * beets – roots and greens Green…
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Make your own yoghurt
It’s stupidly easy, laughably cheap, and takes next to no hands-on time. 1 quart (946ml) milk (any kind but not “ultra-high pasteurised”/UHP or “ultra heat treated”/UHT) 1/4 to 1/2 cup non-fat dry milk (optional) 2 tablespoons existing yoghurt with live cultures You can easily scale this up – I made a gallon batch, added 1…
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Cheese straws and obesity
You should make this recipe as soon as possible, because it is that awesome. But I will identify why I think this sheds some interesting light on the obesity problem: Cheese Straws 1 1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened and cut into…