Frugal Food: Jam Drop Biscuits

These little Jam Drop biccies are from the Reader's Digest's Grandma's Quick and Thrifty Cookbook, which I borrowed from the library.  

They were listed as being 'super quick' and 'extra thrifty'.  Quick they were but I'm not so sure about the thrifty bit.  I put them in the oven after I'd used it for a different dish which might qualify them as thrifty I suppose!  

They are made from three different flours so the thick texture makes them seem something between a biscuit and a cake.  They keep fairly well in the cake tin, although the jam sinks in quite quickly so they don't look quite as appetising as fresh from the oven.

Best eaten in threes I found..... 

Jam Drop Biscuits

125g butter, at room temperature

80g caster sugar

1 egg

150g self-raising flour

75g plain flour

30g cornflour

3 tablespoons raspberry jam, as needed

Makes 28

Preheat oven to 180ºC / gas 4.  Line two baking trays with baking parchment or greaseproof paper.

Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and creamy.  Add the egg and beat until well combined.  Sift the three flours over the mixture, then stir in until well combined.

Roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls and place on the baking trays.  Using your thumb, make small indentations in the centre of each biscuit, then spoon a blob of jam into each dent.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until light golden brown.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool, then store in airtight containers interleaved with layers of greaseproof paper. 

More squeezing

Following on from the last post, some more examples of getting the most from things by squeezing out the very last drops, in an attempt at delaying buying a replacement.

Metal tubes like this tomato puree one are easy to roll up to force the paste the top but need a bit of jiggling at the very end I find! 

Opening up tetra pak-type packaging means the last teaspoon of juice can be poured out. 

The easiest method is one bottle on top of another so that gravity does all the work. 

It feels like manufacturers make packaging as awkward as possible.  This has to be one of the most annoying ones.  No amount of balancing or trying to hook little fingers in will get the last gorgeous drops clinging to those rigid shoulders.  The days of buying that particular brand (heavy sigh) are gone now so that's one less problem I suppose .........

Squeezing out every last drop

I try to squeeze out every last drop from bottles, tubes and cartons but they seem designed to make it difficult.  

Take toothpaste tubes for example.  I squeeze and roll, trying to coax the paste on to the brush.  None comes out but I will not be beaten - I just know it's not finished yet!

Just look how much is still in there! This one lasted for six more cleaning sessions.

The plastic tubes are easy to cut in two and then seal up again by poking one inside the other. 

Maybe it works out that I save the equivalent of one tube a year perhaps but that's most definitely worth the effort. 

Heattech - Not Your Nana's Thermals!

The temptation to turn the central heating knob to 'constant' is a strong one as the days get damper, darker and more miserable.  

I try to stay warm at home by wearing more layers but don't like feeling bulky or constricted.  What's needed is ..... thermal underwear.  Now wipe away the image those two words have conjured up and think again!

Last winter I got myself a couple of long sleeved Heattech tops from Uniqlo and lived in them through the cold months.  The fabric is nothing like the itchy woolly ones your gran worn. 

The tops are thin so don't make you feel bulky, cling without feeling too tight and are long so don't ride up.  They are also pretty enough to have on view.  These thermals are nothing to be ashamed of!

I bought two more of the scoop neck style a couple of weeks ago as there was a 25% offer on but that seems to have finished now.  I chose two colourful ones to cheer me up during the long, grey winter.  The cost of heating the home is going up yet again as the gas companies have hiked their prices once more so these will get plenty of wear.  

There are loads of styles to choose from, for men and women, and even at full price are well worth the money in my humble opinion! 

An Autumn walk

Going for a walk is a great frugal pastime - providing you don't stop off for a pint or a coffee, of course!

Luckily the weather this Autumn hasn't been too bad, just grey and a bit wet.  

I've been the one doing the walking while my little girl pedals alongside me,  stopping frequently for some leaf collecting.  

Didn't cost a penny!

To the Tower

Whilst it's great to be spontaneous, a little forward planning or forethought is what's required if we are to save ourselves some money (and perhaps time too in the long run).  A day trip to London this half term put this to the test.  My planning helped - but it could have been better!

Our inspiration came from reading Paddington at the Tower by Michael Bond (purchased for 60p from a charity shop, naturally!).  My little girl was very keen to see the "Queen's jewellery" and the ravens and I was keen to see how little I could spend.

Rather than pay £30.35 admission fees on the day, I bought the tickets online the night before for £27.  If my research had been a little more thorough, I could have found out about offers such as South West Trains' 2 for 1 which would have got us both in for just £20.90.  Unfortunately, I only found out about this one when I got to the railway station.  I paid £10.50 for travel cards to cover our journeys by train, tube and bus as these work out much cheaper than paying for each journey individually and allow for spontaneity.

Well Hello!  King Henry VIII's armour

Food and drink costs also sap the budget so I packed a snack, soft drink and sandwich (not marmalade!) lunch for us both, using things we already had in the cupboards.  It was a cold day but luckily it didn't rain so we were able to sit on a bench to eat.  An improvement would have been to also take a flask of coffee for me.

The exit from the Crown Jewels takes you, surprise, surprise, straight into the gift shop.  I held my nerve, letting my little girl look at the wide range of barbie-pink souvenirs but did not bow to pressure to buy! Not even a postcard was bought.  This is a new me!

So next time the backpack will be prepped with all refreshments and all ticket options will be explored.  I'd give myself a "B-, could do better" I think!

Got any tips for keeping down the costs of sightseeing day trips?

Frugal Food: Look after the pennies ......

..... and the £s will look after themselves, so they say.

Well, I suspect this blog will have lots to say about those little things, those small changes, as tiny actions can build to big results.  By being aware of the details, hopefully I can be less frivolous.

Here's the first of those small things.

We always have bananas in the fruit bowl and often, particularly in the warmer weather, they get over-ripe before we've had a chance to eat them.  I usually then make a banana loaf to use them up but recently I've been popping them in the freezer and vaguely thinking I'll use them in milkshake or something.  The supply was starting to get a bit out of hand so I had a go at using the frozen version in a banana loaf.

They look very unappetising once defrosted, don't they! 

As well as bananas tucked away in the freezer, I also have a small supply of frozen cubes of milk.  I had some milk left in a bottle just before we were going away so thought I'd freeze it rather than tipping it down the drain.  

One cube equals two tablespoons, which was just what I needed for this recipe.  

Well, the loaf tasted just fine (if a little overcooked - ooops!) so I shall definitely be using frozen bananas again.  That means I can bake the loaf at my convenience rather than when guilted into it by the sight of the fruit bowl!

There are more bananas in my freezer.  Any recipe suggestions for using them up gratefully received!

Here's the Mary Berry recipe I used:

100g butter, softened

175g caster sugar

2 eggs

225g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp milk

Lightly grease 900g / 2lb loaf tin and line with non-stick parchment paper.

Oven to 180ºC / 350ºF / gas mark 4.

Measure all ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat for two minutes until well blended. 

Spoon mixture into preapred tin and level the surface.

Bake for about one hour, until well risen and golden brown.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then loosen with a small palette knife and turn the cake out.  

Remove lining paper and leave on a wire rack to cool completely,

Eat!

The Beginning

For some October was been renamed Stoptober but for me it was Startober!

No, I've not taken up smoking! Instead, for me it is the start of a more frugal, thrifty period of life.  We're taking on a new mortgage and so our fixed outgoings will be bigger.  That means other expenditure will just have to get smaller to compensate.

I know that we will need to be far cleverer with our money, more mindful and cautious in our actions.  I'd like this blog to be the story of that challenge.

At this point, I don't envisage the changes being too hardcore frugal - but you never know!  This is about the small changes, tweaking routine, tweaking expectations, tweaking how we use our time so that we don't get in debt (further than the mortgage!).

We will not be made miserable by the change in lifestyle but will instead be empowered.  

That's the theory so let's go!