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Whangarei - cost of living

Whangarei - cost of living

Old May 16th 2007, 8:59 pm
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

I make an ordinary sandwich cake - so I use all the mixture. And I cover the icing (a wee bit of cream cheese and some icing sugar) with poppy seeds and other seeds & nuts - all healthy like

It's one of those cakes that lasts for quite a while - but it's all usually gone within a few days

So, i'd make it all if I were you - if any is left over I just usually stick it in a muffin tray and freeze them for the kid's lunch boxes. In fact sometimes I just make them in muffin trays and freeze a sack of them!

x
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Old May 16th 2007, 9:35 pm
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Originally Posted by soulflour
I make an ordinary sandwich cake - so I use all the mixture. And I cover the icing (a wee bit of cream cheese and some icing sugar) with poppy seeds and other seeds & nuts - all healthy like

It's one of those cakes that lasts for quite a while - but it's all usually gone within a few days

So, i'd make it all if I were you - if any is left over I just usually stick it in a muffin tray and freeze them for the kid's lunch boxes. In fact sometimes I just make them in muffin trays and freeze a sack of them!

x
Will do

p.s. we have a menu up in the kitchen for the first time this week. The purpose of which is for me, so I know what I'm cooking (after shopping to a menu - saved loads!!) AND what has surprised me is how excited the children are about it. They're 5 and 7. They are so into looking at what's to eat tonight and have even helped me tweaking it with a 'I'd really like mash with that instead of whatever it was'. Cool, eh?
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Old May 17th 2007, 5:09 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Something I do when baking a cake is to bake them in loaf tins instead of a cake pan. When they've cooled I cut them in half lengthways then put the icing on the bottom half. Then sandwich the halves together so the icing is in the middle, then I cut the "loaf" into slices wrap each slice in plastic wrap & stick them into a freezer bag. They don't take up much space that way & when I'm preparing lunches can grab a wrapped piece of cake to put in the lunch bag. I first did this because a cake never lasts long in our house & i really don't like baking too much, what wasn't there to tempt them they forgot about & always had a nice piece of cake to take to school or work.
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Old May 17th 2007, 5:25 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

hi all,

does anyone have a recipe for afghan biscuits and a slice recipe would be good,

i can cook but when it comes to baking my stuff turns out flat dry an tough.

my kiwi mate are fab bakers
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Old May 17th 2007, 8:02 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Originally Posted by dubstar
hi all,

does anyone have a recipe for afghan biscuits and a slice recipe would be good,

i can cook but when it comes to baking my stuff turns out flat dry an tough.

my kiwi mate are fab bakers
Hi,
What do you mean by slice, sponge cake cut into slices or something else. I love cakes so i'll see what i can do.
Carole
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Old May 17th 2007, 10:02 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

well i like almond slices with like a pastry bottom and then jam then almond stuff on top,

i sound like an idiot
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Old May 17th 2007, 10:07 pm
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

UK+Kiwi - that's totally brilliant! and DOESN'T is save loads? isn't it a shock when you figure out how much you were wasting before?

Cyndi - that's exactly what I do (the slicing up of loaf cakes and freezing) - I have untold bags of cakes like that in the freezer and my dp and I are masters at identifying cakes purely by their colour

The other brilliant thing is that if someone suggests an ad-hoc picnic, instead of having to go and buy $20 of stuff at the local 4-square, I just dive into the freezer and cupboards and come up with a big old feast for nothing! I wish I learnt all this years ago...

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Old May 17th 2007, 10:55 pm
  #83  
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Cyndi - That's a brilliant idea as i usually freeze the whole cake and then we have to eat all of it at once when it's defrosted, bummer!

Is it ok to freeze the cream cheese mixture though? I always been wary of stuff like that.
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Old May 18th 2007, 1:54 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Why wary Rustie? is it that i may be a different texture when it's defrosted? I HAVE frozen cream cheese (not as frosting though - i thinkk that would freeze fine) and it defrosted and tasted fine - the texture was a big 'grainy' though (though the kids didn't mind! ).

Cheddar etc. freeze fine - i always have a block in the freezer (along with butter etc.). I haven't had much success with freezing yogurt! But humus freezes well too.

My method is to try it and see!

And the cardinal rule is to only freeze in one state once - what I mean is you can freeze uncooked chicken (for example), unfreeze it and cook it and then freeze the cooked dish. (does that make any sense at all?! )

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Old May 18th 2007, 3:50 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

I guess it's one of those things i grew up with about freezing dairy? My mum never ever froze anything that wasn't already bought frozen, but that says very little cos my mum used to cook veggies until they were see-through and her gravy always had lumps (i think you see what i'm getting at! ).

I've never frozen humus before but i am so going to cos i always make too much of it and either overdose or it goes off (which happens more often than not!!

Well, the apple trees are dropping juicy fruit at the moment so i better get lots of carrots this weekend and make lots of carrot cake and freeze in slices in the freezer with icing (M is so going to love me!!)
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Old May 18th 2007, 11:11 pm
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Hi can I make a suggestion.

Start a new thread putting recipes on it...they are really really useful and helpful but I just stumbled on them, I am sure there would be others out there interested as I am and it would make it much easier to find...it's fab having people help you learn how to economise...our shopping bill this week was $337, I nearly had a panic attack! So I too am looking to get real about shopping and found this info really good.
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Old May 19th 2007, 5:08 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Did you go with a list Debbie? made from a weekly meal plan? i PROMISE you that if you do this you'll cut your costs significantly.

I had to pay for two tyres, some water ($180) and the last of the cat's vet bill this week... so i only had $70 to spend. I decided to shop locally and really think about what we were going to eat and I've got $4.50 left over! (mind you, my lovely neighbour left a big bag of fresh basil on my deck yesterday so last night we had obscene amounts of fresh pesto with roasted veg and pasta!!). I also used my trusty freezer stock

Here's an old thread from the MSE site to inspire you:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....html?t=152900

A recipe thread is a great idea - how would we do it? just start a new thread?

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Old May 19th 2007, 5:44 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Not sure...MODERATOR HELP NEEDED...please get these posters on a new thread that can be found for savings and recipes.

No I didn't go with a list but am definitely starting to think about planning meals and buying what I need...rather than ending up with salad for the bin at the end of the week.

Thanks again.
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Old May 19th 2007, 6:30 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Originally Posted by soulflour
A recipe thread is a great idea - how would we do it? just start a new thread?
I'd suggest asking (PM) a mod or admin if we can have a savings and recipe sticky thread (one that stays on first page of the forum) so others can add to it.
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Old May 19th 2007, 8:33 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

yup,

defo, savings and recipes needed, cos I need to save some cash, I had a quote of $9700.00 to go home for a hol, I can afford a night in hanmer at the mo. I am a student at present, a mature one
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