spiced chickpeas with almonds macaroni

I’m a little surprised how much I’ve been loving the challenge of feeding myself for $2 a day. It’s been refreshing to look at the world in a different way. It’s also been great hearing from people, especially their tips for saving money on food.

And after a wonderful long weekend eating and drinking my way around Melbourne, my bank balance was screaming out for a little moderation. So I’m back with one last $2 a day menu and a list of tips for minimising your food costs. Some that I use myself, other that I’ve picked up from readers both here on stonesoup and over at Casual Kitchen where my mate Dan put a call out to his readers for their own frugal food tips.

For those that missed the original post, you can read about how and why I’ve been taking the challenge to eat for $2 a day HERE.

18 tips to minimise your food costs

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Hot avocado isn’t something that I’m usually into. Guacamole, I love. Avocado on toast is a favourite breakfast treat. And who could forget the beauty of a classic BLT, turned into something really special with a little avocado and an unfortunate acronym (BLAT).

But when it comes to actually cooking avocado, I tend to steer clear. It could possibly have something to do with the disaster that was an avocado soup I made for a dinner party in the 90s when I was young and naive. Or it could just be that you don’t see recipes for warm avocado very often.

Either way, when I was reading Jamie’s America I couldn’t help but be intrigued by his ‘Mad Dog Salad’ that contained tortilla chips, melted cheese and roast avocado. Putting aside my hot avocado prejudice, I gave it a go. And while the avocado was surprisingly delicious. Still rich, but more interesting with its crispy edges. The texture meaty and substantial, not the greasy softness I was imagining. [continue reading this entry…]

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$2 lentil stew $2 lentil stew

It’s a good thing that blogs have comments. I mean it’s a great way for me to learn from you guys as well. But it also keeps me on the straight and narrow – which is a good thing. You see if blogs didn’t have comments, I’d be getting away with outrageous things.

Like writing posts on how to survive on $2 a day by eating potato omelettes. Which might seem innocent enough, but when it comes down to it, you can only achieve the $2 limit if you use the cheapest eggs available – eggs from poor battery hens. [continue reading this entry…]

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salt crusted burgers salt crusted burgers

After last week agreeing with Michael Pollan that junk food is OK as long as you make it yourself, it seems like the perfect time to share my new favourite technique for cooking burgers.

Normally if I were on a burger-flipping spree, I’d fire up my barbeque to get a nice crusty patty. But recently I’ve been spending a lot of time at my Irishman’s new residence in the Snowy Mountains which is between barbeques at the moment (not that I’m complaining, the kitchen is new and a dream to cook in – electric oven with a gas cooktop, say no more.).

So when I read about a technique for cooking burgers in a frying pan that give juicy burgers with a lovely meaty crust, I was very keen to give it a go. I picked the idea up from Robert Wolke in his great food-nerd, I mean kitchen science, book ‘What Einstein Told His Cook’.

The theory goes, that if you cook your burgers on a thin layer of salt, the salt initially draws out juices from the meat. It then quickly congeals the juices to form a crust that prevents further moisture loss. It also prevents the burgers from sticking to the pan and encourages all the delicious brown crunchy bits to stay attached to the burger rather than the pan.

The result? [continue reading this entry…]

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mayonnaise mayonnaise

Michael Pollan is one of those food writers that I’ve been meaning to read for years. But there’s something that’s always held me back. I think it’s the whole food-intelligentsia vibe with his titles. Does anyone else feel a bit intimidated by the thought of ‘In Defense of Food’ or ‘The Omnivore’s dilemma’?

Recently, however, I stumbled upon a copy of his latest publication, a cute little book called ‘Food Rules – An Eater’s Manual’. At last. Something approachable.

I did feel a little disturbingly smug as I read through Pollan’s 64 food eating guidelines. I like to think that my diet is relatively healthy. But I would never have been able to capture it so succinctly. You have to admire his overarching answer to the eternal question of what to eat. Simple really:

Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.

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double cream 3 ingredient cake with raspberries & cream

Here at stonesoup I love getting feedback from readers. Whether it’s a comment, a tweet, or even a direct email. It’s always nice to know that people are reading – even if it’s not all sweetness and light.

Since the release of my FREE e-cookbook, I’ve been getting more emails than usual which is great. The most common question has been from the sweet treats chapter. In particular, I’ve had a heap of people wanting to know about the different types of cream I use.

At first I was a little surprised, but thinking about it even on my recent trip to Ireland it took me a while to figure out which cream to buy when I was out shopping. So creams ain’t creams, and given the global nature of the stonesoup audience, I wanted to pull together a list of cream terms from around the world.

And as a bonus, I have a recipe for an amazing 3 ingredient cake. One that would be happy served with any type of cream. Yay. [continue reading this entry…]

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$2 day no-knead bread $2 day potato omelette

When an email popped into my inbox the other day with the title ‘What would you cook for $2 a day?’, my curiosity was immediately piqued. I mean $2 can’t even buy you a coffee these days, how could it be enough for food for the whole day. And why $2, anyway? [continue reading this entry…]

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bowl of peanuts chocolate peanut butter tartlets

Now I’ve always liked good old peanut butter, but my Irishman is a hard-core aficionado. To say he loves the stuff is a massive understatement. So it’s not really surprising that over the last month or so, our place has seen a lot of experimenting with homemade PNB.

My peanut-perfectionist still has plans for further research, but I suspect it could last a life time. So I thought I’d share with you the findings thus far. So much tastier than commercial peanut butters, and without the additives.

And while we’re talking PNB, I have treat for you as well in the form of super-simple little chocolate tartlets taken to a new level with a thin layer of homemade peanut butter. Sweet yet salty, smooth yet crunchy – serious adult fun. [continue reading this entry…]

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a simple sausage supper, in 3 easy steps [5 ingredients]

While I love speedy cooking as much as the next girl, and am in the process of writing a new book focusing on [5 ingredients | 10 minutes] recipes. Sometimes I like to take my time in the kitchen.
I love having an excuse to turn the oven on in [...]

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9 things you should know about ginger with self-saucing ginger puddings [5 ingredients | simple baking]

Self-saucing puddings. I’d be hard pressed to come up with a more comforting, warming winter dessert.
Ever since I first encountered the magic of a pudding that is crisp and cakey on the top and then moist and saucey on the bottom, I’ve been hooked. At boarding school, one of [...]

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the absolute beginners guide to the art of seasoning [5 ingredients | 10 minutes]

Taste. Season.
As I was attempting to proof-read my new e-cookbook recently, I realised that they are probably the two most repeated words, well maybe after tablespoon and cup. But arguably the most important instructions in any recipe method.

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a FREE e-cookbook [5 ingredients | 10 minutes] + how minimalist home cooking can help you

Something a bit different for you today. I’m super excited to announce the launch of my first ever eCOOKBOOK that I’m releasing out into the wide world for FREE. Yes, a 97 page cookbook packed with 65 simple [5 ingredients | 10 minutes] recipes all ready to download NOW.
Why the FREE e-cookbook?
Over the [...]

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how to master the gentle art of braising – even for vegetarians

Back during my month of being a vegetarian, I remember feeling a little antsy. And it wasn’t that I was missing eating meat. You see the leaves were well and truly past turning brown and I was hanging out in the snowy mountains. And while it hadn’t actually snowed yet, [...]

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the simple secret to perfect pies

I’m not afraid to admit it. You see I’ve been a pastry snob pretty much all my life. Not only that, I’ve been a pie snob as well.
I grew up in a house with my mum making her pastry from scratch. I’m sure the thought of using frozen pastry never [...]

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how to overcome the fear of frying, with cold oil potato chips

When I was in Ireland earlier in the year, I met some wonderful characters. Such warm, generous people who know how to have a good time.
Someone who really captured my imagination was a guy called Socaí (prounounced socky). A guy who loves his food so much that he gives every [...]

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12 things you should know about quinoa

I’m always a little suspicious of anything that gets touted as a ’superfood’. Which is why it took me a while to get around to trying quinoa.
My first encounter was with puffed quinoa as part of an exploration of new breakfast cereals. Not very inspiring unless you come from the [...]

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how to avoid cereal boredom – 9 tips for adding excitement to your breakfast

When I was recording what I ate to document my month of being a vegetarian, I got a little sick of writing down what I had for breakfast each day. I kept thinking that anyone reading would think that I have the most boring, repetitive start to the day. Muesli [...]

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the number 1 mistake of new vegetarians & how to avoid it

I can’t believe it’s the last day of May and my last day of being vegetarian for a month already. It’s been a really interesting month for me on the food front. I certainly achieved my objective of gaining some new menu planning habits and had some great discoveries on [...]

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toe-food: the beginner’s guide to tofu

Tofu – or ‘toe-food’ as my friend’s 4 year old daughter calls it, isn’t exactly something I eat on a regular basis. Sure I love the little silken cubes that come in my miso soup, and agadashi tofu is one of the standards I order when I go out for [...]

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how to stock a minimalist pantry

A few months ago I wrote a pair of posts about setting up a minimalist kitchen: things to avoid and the essentials ( and the nice-to-haves). Following on from this, I thought I’d have a crack at pulling together a list of the essentials and [...]

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