Peanut Butter Choc Chip Biscuits

Once upon a time I loved to buy biscuits from a certain American biscuit ( cookie ) store.  Yes,  those were the days when I had money and no family to feed  From memory those bought biscuits came at a premium price of around $2.50 each. 

Times have changed and so have my tastes.  I just love homemade biscuits and along with Cranberry Hootycreek Biscuits,  these Peanut Butter Choc Chip Biscuits are my all time favourite.  Whether you make them big or small,  crunchy or soft,  they are divine.   Made into giant biscuits, they make a great present for a hungry teenage boy.

1 cup of butter or margarine ( 250 grams )

¾ cup of white sugar

¾ cup of brown sugar

½ cup of peanut butter – crunchy or smooth

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda ( bi carb )

2 ½ cups of plain flour

½ cup of chocolate choc chips

½ cup of crushed peanuts

Cream the butter / margarine and sugars together with electric beaters.

Add the peanut butter,  baking powders and baking soda and mix well.

Add the flour,  chocolate choc chips and crushed peanuts and mix well.

Drop teaspoonful’s of compacted dough onto greased baking trays and flatten with your hand.

Bake for 10 – 15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius until slightly golden around the edges.

Remove from the tray when cool.

HANDY HINTS –

*  Biscuit dough can be frozen.  Wrap the dough in log sizes with cling wrap.  To defrost allow 15 – 30 minutes and slice into biscuit size pieces.  Alternatively you can put the dough in the microwave for about 20 seconds to defrost..

*  Providing you have a big enough bowl,  this recipe can be easily doubled.  When I'm on a roll I make two double batches and freeze most of it for future baking.

*  Biscuits stay fresh for about 5 – 7 days in an airtight container.

These biscuits are great to give as presents.  

This Week's Frugal Tasks 13th June 2015

This week seemed to be the week to make things.  I found I was running out of  items most people would buy at the supermarket.  With supplies I had on hand I was able to make my own.  Ohhhh,  such a good feeling.  Here's what I got up to this week -

*  Made wholemeal bread rolls using this recipe  Wholemeal bread with extra goodness.

*  Made the french onion soup mix stretch by adding lots of ingredients to two packets of the no name variety.  By doing this we are limiting the " unknown " ingredients we consume.

*  Topped up the mint sauce bottle with malt vinegar and a little sugar dissolved in water.

*  Made gravy mix by using this recipe.  Gravy powder

*  Made lavender room spray by using this recipe  Making your own air freshener

*  Made peanut butter choc chip biscuits,  chocolate choc chip muffins and muesli bar slice for lunch boxes

*  Bought a bag of ribbons and lace for $2.80 from Savers at their 30% off sale.  These will be used to decorate cards.

*  Topped up the seasoned bread crumbs with some wheat bix crumbs from the bottom of the packet.

*  Made a big pot of chunky chicken and veg soup with homemade stock and about 150 grams of chicken.  The soup gave us eight serves.  A very cheap meal.

*  Cut up the wheat bix cereal bag to use as go between for freezing chops and hamburger patties etc etc,

*  Dried as much washing as possible on the clothes horses.  Darren was able to dry a load on the line.  Only a few things went in the dryer this week.

*  Gratefully received some chocolate cake,  parsley and glass jars from a few friends.

*  Picked up a a top at the Savers 30% off sale.

*  Jessica decided to go through her clothes and do a big clean out.  She filled up 4 bags to go to the op shop.  Before the clothes were donated I had a look to see if there was anything I could wear.  I was able to find three tops.

*  Used some bread bags to line the bathroom bins.

*  Diluted the girl's shampoo and conditioner.

Wholemeal bread rolls.

Lavender room spray

Chunky chicken and veg soup.

Peanut butter choc chip biscuits - one of my favourite

What frugal tasks did you complete this week ?

Grocery Specials Wednesday 10th June 2015

Here are this week's grocery specials.  Please feel free to add your own -

COLES -

*  Radox Shower Gel 1 Litre 1/2 PRICE Was $9.20, Save $4.60  Now $4.60 each

*  Tresemmé Perfectly Undone Shampoo or Conditioner 750mL 1/2 PRICE Was $10.50, Save $5.25
Now $5.25 each

*  Cadbury Cooking Chocolate 200g-225g 1/2 PRICE Was $4.19, Save $2.10 Now $2.09 each

*  SunRice Long Grain White Rice 5kg 1/2 PRICE Was $13.00, Save $6.50  Now $6.50 each

*  Sorbent Toilet Tissue 12 Pack 1/2 PRICE 38¢ per roll. Was $9.00, Save $4.50 Now $4.50 each

WOOLWORTHS -

*  Pantene Shampoo or Conditioner 500ml Now $5.49 each 1/2 Price, Save $5.50 

*  ’Oreal Elvive Shampoo or Conditioner 250ml Now $2.90 each 1/2 Price, Save $3.09  

*  1/2 Price on Dove products.  The catalogue didn't show a photo of the soap so I'm assuming it's not on sale.

*  Pine O Cleen Disinfectant 1.25 Litre Now $2.49 each 1/2 Price, Save $2.50

5 Easy Ways To Cut Your Heating Bill Part 1

With the ever increasing cost of electricity and gas, it's becoming harder to heat your home without blowing the family budget.  Here are five easy ways to cut your costs and still stay warm -

*  Put a door snake or draft stopper at the bottom of each external door.  This might seem so basic or simple but it's amazing how much cold air comes in that little gap. You can make your own door snake using scraps of material and filling it with rice,  rags or sawdust.

*  Open the curtains when the sun is shining on the windows.  By the same token,  as soon as the sun starts to go down,  close your curtains to keep the warmth in.

*  If you have a programable heating thermostat,  reduce your heating time gradually.  Shaving fifteen minutes off each heating time really does add up and make a difference to your bill.  If you take your kids to school at 8.45 am each morning,  you don't need the heating on until the minute you leave the house.  Chances are you and the kids are running around getting ready until the last minute getting hot and bothered.  Try turning the heater off at 8 - 8.15 am.

*  Put an extra jumper on for warmth.  Yes I know,  it's so obvious but I've been in homes when the heating is on and people are walking around in t shirts.  Really  !!!

*  Close off any rooms that don't have heating ducts.  In my home it's the toilet and laundry.  By keeping the doors closed you are not heating rooms that are rarely used.

Shave off your heating times

Our door snake

Closing doors

Close curtains and blinds

Savers 30% Off Sale

I've just received an email from Savers Australia.  They have 30% off for all club card members on clothing,  shoes,  accessories,  bed and bath.

The sale is for Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th June 2015.  Be quick to grab a bargain.

 

 

 

 

This Week's Frugal Tasks 6th June 2015

We've had a wonderful week.  Jessica turned 18 last Sunday and we celebrated as a family by seeing Strictly Ballroom the musical  Afterwards we went out for dinner at The Docklands.  It's been cold and wet in Melbourne this week but we've managed to keep warm,  dry and busy.  Here's what we got up to this week -

*  Made Jessica's birthday cake.  She decided to have  cupcakes which was easy to do.  I cut off the tops to make it easy to decorate.  I ate these tops for morning tea for a few days.

*  Jeesica went out to tea with a few friends for her 18th birthday. They came back to our place for dessert and a movie.  The cupcakes were for her friends as well as the apple pastry roses and choc coated strawberries I made for dessert.

*  Darren pruned the raspberry bushes in readiness for the next season.  He's taken 18 cuttings and planted them.  If they take,  we'll have more raspberries next season and maybe some plants to give as presents ( RRP $16  each ).

*  Saved the box,  ribbon and plastic from Jessica's birthday flowers.  These will be handy for giving bunches of flowers from our garden as presents.

*  Saved the shower water for the washing machine.

*  Cleaned the dishwasher with bi carb and vinegar.

*  Diluted the vinegar by 50% to make two bottles.

*  Saved a ribbon from a box of chocolates.  I'll use this to decorate a card.

*  Made dried bread crumbs with crusts I'd been saving in the freezer.  I'll season them when I finish using the last batch.

*  Gratefully received some flowers and homemade vegetable stock concentrate from a facebook and blog reader.  Thankyou Emily.  It was lovely to meet you.

*  Made muesli bar slice for school lunchboxes.

*  Fed the compost bin and worm farm with the kitchen scraps.

*  Made a batch of hot chocolate drink mix.  It's a recipe from the Cheapskates website that I've tweaked to suit our own tastes.

*  Saved lots of bread bags from a charity bbq.  They would have been thrown into the rubbish bin otherwise.

*  Made two loaves of white bread ( for my girls ) and two wholemeal loaves for Darren and I.

Jessica's birthday cake

Apple rose pastries for Jessica's party

Choc coated strawberries for Jessica's party

What we did as a family for Jessica's birthday

Muesli bar slice

Saved bread bags drying out.

Saving water from the washing machine.

Made from scratch.

Flowers from blog reader Emily.

Sorting my stockpile.

What frugal tasks have you completed this week ?

Grocery Specials Wednesday 3rd June 2015

Here are this week's grocery specials -

COLES -

*  Moccona Classic Freeze Dried Coffee 200g Was $18.36, Save $8.36  Now $10.00 each

*   Imperial Leather Body Wash 1 Litre 1/2 PRICE Was $9.00, Save $4.50  Now $4.50 each.  This is a fantastic price per litre and cheaper than the Aldi brand.

* Pantene Shampoo or Conditioner 350mL 1/2 PRICE Was $7.89, Save $3.95 Now $3.94 each.  Well worth stocking up and can be diluted by 50% making it very budget friendly.

*  Morning Fresh Dishwashing Liquid 900m 1/2 PRICE Was $6.95, Save $3.48  Now $3.47 each.  Can be diluted by up to 50%.  Pour it into a pump bottle to make it go further.

*  Norsca Anti-Perspirant Deodorant 150g 1/2 PRICE Was $5.99, Save $3.00  Now$2.99 each.

*  Sistema 1600 Klip It Container 1 Litre 1/2 PRICE  Was $5.00, Save $2.50 $2.50  1/2 price on all Sistema Klip It. . Excludes Clearance Items. On sale for 2 weeks.

*  Cadbury Family Block Chocolate 190g-200g 1/2 PRICE Was $4.99, Save $2.50  Now $2.49 each.

WOOLWORTHS -

*  Lindt Blocks 100g Now $2.00 each 1/2 Price, Save $2.00

*  20% off All iTunes cards.

*   Nescafe Coffee Blend 43 140-150g or Nescafe Gold Blend 95-100g  Now $7.00 each Save up to $2.49

*    Sunrice Medium Grain Brown Rice 5 kg Now $6.99 each 1/2 Price, Save $7.00

*  Campbell’s Condensed Soup 400-420g Now $0.97 each 1/2 Price, Save $0.98.  Well worth stocking up.  I buy a year's worth when the soup comes down to this price.  I use the cream of celery in the tuna casserole recipe and the cream of chicken in the chicken curry recipe.

*   Four’n Twenty Traditional Pies 700g Pk 4 Now $4.00 each 1/2 Price, Save $4.00.  Might be worth buying ahead for the footy grand finals.

*    Lynx Antiperspirant 96g Now $2.99 each 1/2 Price, Save $2.99

*  40% off all hair color.

*  NEW Herbal Essences Shampoo or Conditioner 300ml 1/2 Price All Herbal Essences Hair Care.
Now $3.29 each 1/2 Price, Save $3.30

*  1/2 price on AAA and AA Energizer batteries.

Please feel free to post any specials you find.