Lots more Sneaky Ways to save the pennies

Eenymeeny

gentlepurr wrote: »

Another vote for not peeling spuds here too, mash has more interest with a bit of fibre in it!!

Couple of other things i do, i had a new freezer last year and saved the drawers out of the old one, ive used them such a lot in the garden, for mixing compost, moving plants, moving gravel, the list is endless, but i also use one drawer upside down, as a foot rest when i'm sitting in the garden chair. When it rains, i turn the footrest draw back over and collect rainwater, much better for the houseplants. When i was little, mom always used to collect rainwater for the goldfish bowl, so i suppose that still applies too.

Those wonderful coffee tins, Millicano and Azera, i cant find anything new that you can do with the tins that hasnt already been done with a baked bean can, lol, but the lids make brilliant can covers for cat food tins (or baked bean tins, ha ha!)

gp xx

Thanks for those tips, I saved my old freezer drawers, which are baskets with a front if you know what I mean:o, I find them useful for carrying pots of seedlings around when they're in the 'hokey cokey' phase. (Warm days outside, cold nights in!) I like the footrest idea, I usually use an upturned plant pot! (Place a large one, right side up with a plant saucer inside and you've got a makeshift coffee table;)) We're an inventive lot aren't we?:)

moneyistooshorttomention

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Thanks for those tips, I saved my old freezer drawers, which are baskets with a front if you know what I mean:o, I find them useful for carrying pots of seedlings around when they're in the 'hokey cokey' phase. (Warm days outside, cold nights in!) I like the footrest idea, I usually use an upturned plant pot! (Place a large one, right side up with a plant saucer inside and you've got a makeshift coffee table;)) We're an inventive lot aren't we?:)

You've just reminded me - ie that phrase re makeshift coffee table. Off to try and work out more ways to personalise/update my pretty recently bought house. Picked up a couple of ways today in books to "individualise/make more contemporary" the bog-standard boring old persons house I recently bought and must hoick out the bits I already have that might help do the trick.

So - at more macro level - all suggestions welcome on that one...runs off to get out my "bits" that should help with that....

Frugalsod

I have discovered the savings from making your own peanut butter. It is simple get a big bag of salted peanuts as low a cost per 100g and then blend in a food processor until smooth. It can take a while but is without any additives or sugar and cheaper.

oystercatcher

Frugalsod wrote: »

I have discovered the savings from making your own peanut butter. It is simple get a big bag of salted peanuts as low a cost per 100g and then blend in a food processor until smooth. It can take a while but is without any additives or sugar and cheaper.

My mum used to do this back in the '70's but with unsalted peanuts and (I think) a dash of olive oil. Not quite the same as regular peanut butter but I liked it for my school packed lunch sandwiches , in home made bread of course !

Wombatchops

Don't you need butter to make peanut butter, or is simply blending salted peanuts enough? Sorry for sounding thick.

Frugalsod

Wombatchops wrote: »

Don't you need butter to make peanut butter, or is simply blending salted peanuts enough? Sorry for sounding thick.

Simply salted peanuts are all that you need.

Baileys_Babe

Frugalsod wrote: »

Simply salted peanuts are all that you need.

The version I buy is only peanuts, NO sugar, NO salt, NO oil.

moments_of_sanity

Baileys_Babe wrote: »

The version I buy is only peanuts, NO sugar, NO salt, NO oil.

My DD is vegetarian and tries to make as much as she can herself so I buy a 4kg bag of unsalted peanuts from a local Chinese Ingredients shop and DD blends just peanuts, nothing else. It takes about 8 minutes in the food processor but she loves the taste

Eenymeeny

Can I ask if home-made peanut butter keeps well? OH always puts 'bought' PB in fridge as per instructions. I keep it in the cupboard as it spreads more easily and I can't remember keeping it in the fridge years ago...?

Primrose

I have never kept opened peanut butter in the fridge and I'm still alive! I think the thing is that fridge temperatures should be kept below five degrees and any olive or vegetable oil added to the ground up nuts will thicken at those temperatures and go cloudy and white, looking rather like mould. It's perfectly safe to eat though.

I got fooled like this adding olive oil to a jar of oven dried herbed tomatoes we'd made which we stored in the fridge. A few days later we got them out to eat in a baguette and all of the tomatoes were coated in this white mush which I assumed to be mould. I was upset and put them aside to throw away only to find that some time later when the jar had reached room temperature the oil had returned to its normal consistency and colour.

So just be aware that adding oil and chilling may change the look of some products when refrigerated.