Spaghetti Bolognaise

300 grams of minced beef

Salt,  pepper,  onion flakes,  oregano,  basil and garlic granules

1 x 420g tin of chopped or crushed tomatoes

1 heaped tablespoon of tomato paste

350 grams of pasta

Grated cheese

Place the pasta in salted boiling water and cook as per instructions.

Brown the mince in a medium fry pan.  Drain any fat. 

Add all the seasonings to taste and toast for one minute with the meat.  

Add the tinned tomatoes and stir until combined.  

Simmer for 5 minutes then add the tomato paste and stir well.

Drain the pasta and serve in bowls.  

Spoon the meat sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Serves 4 people.

NOTES -

*  Grated carrot,  zucchini or shredded silverbeet can be added to boost the family's vegetable intake.

*  I like to make this in bulk by quadrupling the recipe and freezing the sauce in take away food containers.  This makes a handy and very quick meal for those busy nights.  If planning ahead,  defrost the sauce in the fridge for 1 - 2 days to save on microwave time. 

Ready to eat

Cooking the pasta sauce.

You can never have too much grated cheese

This Week's Frugal Tasks 5th September 2015

This week has been a busy one.  I've worked four days this week with lots of time in the car.  Darren  had a very early starts each day as he's taken over the cooking in the church's cafe while the chef is on a well deserved holiday.
Not as much has been done around the house with frugal tasks,  but we are grateful for the life we lead.  When life gets busy we go outside to spend a few minutes watching the chickens pecking away or to have a little potter in the veggie garden.  We are truly blessed.

Here's what I managed to do -

*  Picked lots of lemons off our tree and juiced them for the freezer.

*  Picked some silverbeet to hide in my honey mustard chicken recipe.

*  Made another batch of soap.  I can't wait to try it.

*  Bought a large gift bag from the $2 shop.  It has images of vintage bikes and motorbikes.  I should be able to make up to 18 cards from the bag.

*  Sold some of our chickens eggs to friends.

*  We ate out of the freezer for two nights.  I'm still trying to make room for when legs of lamb come on sale.

*  Made some floral cards for the Cheapskates card swap using supplies I had on hand.

*  Filled up my car when petrol was $1.08

*  Gratefully received a cake from a friend for our wedding anniversary.

*  Turned the heater off for three days in a row ( during the day ).

*  I built up my stockpile by buying grocery specials of Pineocleen,  disposable gloves, and paper towel all at half price.

*  Bought boxes of chocolates for $6 ( half price ) to be given as presents.  My girls have been going to a few birthday parties lately.  These are parties where 60 - 140 people are invited.  When that many people are invited,  the present doesn't need to be expensive

*  Saved the washing machine water.  Dried a few loads of washing on the line and the rest on clothes horses.

*  Picked two big handfuls of snow peas from the garden and used some in a chop suey with our broccoli and silverbeet.  YUM  !!!

*  Gratefully received a bunch of parsley and some bok choy from a friend's garden.

*  Cooked from scratch every night except for our wedding anniversary ( 20 years ).  Darren and I went out to dinner in the city and the girls had a $3 pizza from the supermarket.  Everyone was happy.

Some cards for the Cheapskates card swap.

$2 gift bag to make cards from.

Flowers I learnt to make this week.

Cards for the cards swap.

I learnt to make a dress card this week.

Snow peas from our garden.

What did you do this week to save time,  money and energy ?

This Week's Frugal Tasks 29th August 2015

This week's frugal tasks are varied.  I just love filling my days with tasks around my home.  It saves us so much money and I feel a great sense of achievement knowing I'm doing the very best I can for my family.  Here's this week's list -

*  Made soap for the very first time.  I was a little nervous of the unknown but all went very well.  Now I'm waiting for the soap to harden ( cure ) which takes six weeks.  Only five more to go until I can try it.  I'm hoping to sell the odd bar or use as gifts to recoup the costs.  A blog post on soap making will come soon.

*  Turned the heater off for a few days as the weather was mild.  I can feel Spring in the air.

*  Went to the shops for milk fruit and veg on Tuesday.  A few things on my list were a little dear so I bough other fruit that was cheaper like pears for 99 cent a kilo instead of apples ranging from $1.99 ( old apples ) - $5.99.

*  Tipped the crumbs from the bottom of the Wheat Bix packet into the  Seasoned Bread Crumbs container.

*  Made another batch of Miracle Spray. This 2 litre bottle is kept in the kitchen under the sink and the one I made last week is for the laundry.

*  Made a batch of Easiyo yoghurt.  I then saved two tablespoons of that yoghurt to make a batch of sweetened yoghurt.

*  Made some pumpkin scones using cooked pureed pumpkin from the freezer.

*  Gifted a jar of relish from my stockpile and a jar of Cranberry Hootycreek biscuits for a 50th birthday party on Saturday.  The gift tags were home made.

*  Made six loaves of bread.  Two loaves were white bread with chia seeds and four were Wholemeal Bread with extra Goodness.

*  Recycled lots of bread bags from a charity bbq.

*  Saved all the washing machine water for each next load.  Dried the sheets on the line and the rest on clothes horses.

*  Picked our first head of broccoli for the year.

*  Picked more lemons from our tree.

*  Picked some silverbeet to go with a meal.

A homemade gift

Biscuits and relish for a 50th birthday gift.

Soap making

Getting the bread dough ready for the tins.

Buckling under the weight of all the rain.

Peach tree flowers.  Spring is almost here.

Our broccoli

What 's on your frugal list for this week ?