This recipe is part of Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge series on this blog, and I made this in Week 3 of the challenge.

This is a recipe I often make. It is fairly inexpensive if made plain but with additional variations (see below) it can cost you a bit more. We like the Millie meal and Polenta bread plain. We usually have it instead of regular bread with just about any serving of meat or vegetables. During the Pantry and Freezer Challenge we had it with Beef stew, for example. The Millie meal and Polenta Bread can also be enjoyed on its own, with a knob of butter spread on a warm slice of this delicious bread with a hot cuppa!

My husband’s favourite is to enjoy a slice of Millie meal and Polenta bread instead of plain toast with fried eggs and tomatoes for a hearty, absolutely delicious breakfast.

Ingredients:

3 eggs

½ mug Oil

½ mug Milk

500 ml. Buttermilk (or Maas or Plain Yoghurt)

4 small cups* Cake flour

3 small cups* Polenta

1 small cup* Millie Meal

2 Tsp. Baking powder

Spray ‘n’ Cook

*I use small espresso cups.

To make this recipe even cheaper, you can choose to use 4 small cups of Millie meal instead of a combination of 1 cup Millie meal and 3 cups of Polenta. We just prefer the soft, moist slice when made with a combination of the two so I’m willing to spend a tiny bit more when making this recipe.

I also find that using Buttermilk gives the Millie meal and Polenta bread a much creamier texture. Using Maas is the cheapest option though but to be honest, I use whichever one – Buttermilk, Maas or Plain Yoghurt – I actually have in the fridge at the time (there are no extra trips to the shops for just the Buttermilk!).

Method:

Place all ingredients in a large bowl. If you are using any variation ingredients (see below) add those at this time as well. Use an electric mixer to mix all ingredients well, about a minute or two.

Spray a 20x30cm pan with Spray ‘n’ Cook, pour the batter and bake at 180 C° for 40 minutes, or until the bread comes away from the sides. Remove the pan from the oven, cover with a cloth and allow to cool completely. The Millie Meal and Polenta bread can keep for a few days but leave it covered with a cloth which will help retain some of its moisture. It can be enjoyed cold or heated up for 30 seconds in the microwave if you like.

Variations:

You may choose to add any of the following to your batter before baking:

• 100gr. crumbled Feta cheese.
• A handful of chopped Olives and 1 Chouriço sausage.
• A cup of finely chopped, steamed Spinach.
• A cup of finely chopped Chives.

Enjoy!

The post Millie Meal & Polenta Bread appeared first on Frugal in SA.

This recipe is part of Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge series on this blog, and I made this in Week 3 of the challenge.

There are many reasons why I love Semolina Cake:

• A slice of this simple, yet moist and fluffy Semolina Cake is very refreshing on a hot summer’s day.
• The ingredients cost about R35.00 (can you buy a whole tray of dessert anywhere for so little these days?!).
• It is sweet but not that sweet.
• Preparation is minimal and there is no mess!

Ingredients:

7 eggs

12 Tbsp. Semolina

6 Tbsp. Cake Flour

5 Tbsp. Sugar

2 Tsp. Baking Powder

1 litre Milk

1 cup Sugar (or a bit more, if you prefer)

2 Tsp. Vanilla Essence

Spray ‘n’ Cook

Method:

Bring the milk and 1 cup of sugar to boil, remove from the stove, stir in the vanilla essence and set aside to cool completely.
Separate egg yolk and egg whites. Whisk egg whites until the mixture is firm, and if you turn the bowl upside down the egg whites won’t fall out. Continue to whisk the mixture adding the sugar, egg yolk, semolina, cake flour and baking powder. Your mixture should have a creamy yet fluffy consistency.

Lightly oil a 20x30cm pan with Spray ‘n’ cook then pour the batter. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 190 C° for 45 minutes, or until the cake comes away from the sides and the cake springs back when you touch it lightly. Remove the cake from the oven. Use a ladle to immediately start pouring the cooled milk mixture evenly and watch the cake absorb all the liquid.

Refrigerate the Semolina cake for at least 2-3 hours before serving. Even when cooled there will be a tiny bit of milk left over here and there at the bottom of the pan and you will see this as you slice the cake. Slurp it up – it tastes good. Enjoy!

The post Semolina Cake appeared first on Frugal in SA.

This recipe is part of Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge series on this blog, and I made this in Week 3 of the challenge.

As with most recipes I’ve featured during the Pantry and Freezer Challenge, I often use this Beef stew recipe. I do have several types of recipes that I like to use for this dish, but this one is by far the simplest and takes the least amount of effort. It is a very economical dish too and for about 2kg of stewing beef I can make at least 10 servings each for 2 adults. A meat dish doesn’t really get any cheaper than that!

How to choose the right cuts of meat

There are always plenty of specials on stewing meat at both supermarkets and butcheries. When choosing where to buy, or what cut of meat to buy, I find that the usually cheaper cut of beef Shin has the most flavour and tends to be the juiciest and softest when cooked. I also prefer to choose packets of meat that I can see have recently been cut and packaged (as opposed to thawed) and those that have the richest, reddest colour to it (never pale red or with a greyish tinge to it).

The meat should have some fat on it as this is what helps give the beef stew its flavour, but you don’t want it to have too much fat, so choose as best as you can according to what you can afford. I’ve never in my life bought beef fillet and tried to make stew with it precisely because it has no fat on it, and even if I could afford it I’d still think it would be a waste of money trying to cook beef stew with it, to be quite honest! Cheaper cuts of meat stewed for several hours are soft, tender and juicy and never chewy.

Ingredients:

2 kg Stewing Beef, cut into 3-4 cm cubes

4 Onions, finely chopped

2 Carrots, grated or thinly sliced

2 tins Tomato & Onion mix

2 tins Whole Tomatoes

(You can substitute both tomato & onion mix and whole tomato tins with the same amount of homemade Tomato Sauce).

2 Sachets Tomato Puree

2 Sachets Spicy Beef Goulash spices

(You can substitute this with 3 Tsp. Paprika, 2 Tbsp. Aromat, 2 Tsp. Crushed Chillies or Cayenne Pepper, 2 Beef stock cubes, 2 Tbsp. Meat Spice)  

½ mug Sunflower Oil

Royco Beef Stew mix to thicken, and for extra flavour

(You can use Maizena or Cake Flour to thicken instead)

Salt and Pepper to taste

For this amount of stewing beef you will need to use a large pot or you can split all the ingredients above and cook the beef stew in 2 smaller pots at the same time.

Method:

Place the stewing beef on a large oven tray and brown the meat in a pre-heated oven at 180 C°. The meat should be done in about 20-25 minutes. You might need to turn the meat over once or twice during this time. The meat will release its own rich gravy which will add to the flavour of the beef stew.

Heat the oil in a large cooking pot and sauté the onions. Add the grated carrots and sauté for a few more minutes. Add the meat with all the gravy to the pot, mix well and continue to fry on high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Then add the tomato & onion mix, whole tomatoes, tomato puree and all the spices. Continue to fry on high heat for another 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add as much hot water as you’d like to have and don’t worry that the whole mixture seems very diluted at this stage – it will thicken as it continues to cook. Bring the stew to the boil then reduce heat to moderate and allow the stew to simmer for about 3 hours. You will probably need to top up with water every now and then but be sure to use hot water to do that.

Use the Royco Beef Stew mix to thicken, following the instructions on the packaging. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve the beef stew with your choice of staples and vegetables. This recipe will freeze well. Enjoy!

The post Beef Stew appeared first on Frugal in SA.

This recipe is part of Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge series on this blog, and I made this in Week 2 of the challenge.

As with most recipes that I’ve posted as part of this challenge, I make this meal quite often too. I know that there are probably thousands of Bolognaise sauce recipes out there but I decided to share mine anyway. It’s simple. It’s affordable. It doesn’t take a whole lot of ingredients and it tastes delicious. We enjoy it and we don’t get tired of it!

I sometimes substitute a portion of the minced meat with soya mince. Because of the spices and the amount of time it takes to cook you can hardly taste the difference between ground beef and the soya mince. I also often don’t cook using the Bolognaise cook-in sauces (powder sachets) – I simply used them this time as I was trying to use up items in the pantry this month. I usually add carrots to the Bolognaise sauce but again, as I was trying to use up items from the freezer, I used the butternut and baby marrow strips instead.

Ingredients:

1.5 kg Mince Meat

(You can substitute some of this amount with Soya mince)

3 Onions, finely chopped

6 Carrots, peeled and grated

4-5 cloves Garlic, minced

½ cup Parsley, finely chopped

1 tin Tomato & Onion mix

2 tins Whole Tomatoes

(You can substitute with 3 mugs homemade Tomato Sauce)

2 Tsp. Paprika

1 Tsp. Peppadew spice

1 Tsp. Steak & Chops spice

½ Tsp. Cayenne pepper

1 sachet Tomato Puree

5 Tbsp. Oil

Salt, Pepper and Aromat to taste

2 packets Bolognaise Cook-in Sauce

Or

3 Tbsp. Maizena or Cake Flour to thicken

Method:

For this quantity of meat I use a large 6-litre stock pot.

Fry the onions and garlic in oil until golden brown. Add the carrots and fry for a few more minutes, stirring frequently. Add the minced meat and brown for about 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently and adding a bit of water if necessary. Then add salt, pepper, Aromat, paprika, peppadew, steak & chops spice, cayenne pepper and parsley. Now add the whole tomatoes, tomato and onion mix and tomato puree. Mix well and top with hot water. You should add as much water as you would like at this stage, taking into consideration that some of it will evaporate as the sauce cooks and you might need to add a bit more as needed.

Cook on moderately high heat for about an hour and a half. When the Bolognaise sauce is just about done, stir in the Bolognaise cook-in sauce packets and cook for a few minutes. If you are using Maizena or cake flour to thicken, dilute the Maizena/flour in a bit of water to form a pourable, lump-free paste, add to the sauce and cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens. Enjoy!

The post Bolognaise Sauce for Pasta appeared first on Frugal in SA.

This recipe is part of Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge series on this blog, and I made this in Week 2 of the challenge over the weekend.

The quantities in this recipe will serve two people. We often have this for breakfast as it’s fairly cheap to make and it tastes good. I made it on both Saturday and Sunday last week. We normally have the baked beans and eggs on buttered toast. However, as I’m trying to use up the items in my pantry this month, on Sunday I decided to be a bit more adventurous and creative and so I served the baked beans and eggs on polenta “toast”.

Ingredients:

1 tin Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce

1 or 2 Chilli Peppers, finely chopped, or a dash of Chilli Sauce

4 Eggs

1 cup cooked Polenta or 4 slices of toast, buttered

Spray ‘n’ Cook

Salt, Pepper and Mixed Herbs to taste

Method:

Spray the Spray ‘n’ Cook in a pan and allow to heat up. Empty the tin of baked beans, including the sauce, add the chopped chillies or a dash of chilli sauce, and allow to simmer on moderate heat for about 10-12 minutes. This will allow the chillies to infuse and give the meal a bit of extra flavour and zing so that it doesn’t feel like you’re eating baked beans straight out of the tin, promise! When done, set aside.

Fry the eggs as you normally would. Butter the toast. Spoon a generous amount of chilli beans over the toast, place a fried egg on top and season with salt, pepper and mixed herbs to taste.

If you’d like to give the polenta toast a go, cook about ¾ cup of polenta as per instructions on the packaging which should give you about a cup of cooked polenta for the toast.

Spray ‘n’ cook a frying pan, spoon the polenta into the pan flattening it as you go along. You can make this as thin or as thick as you like. Fry on both sides until crispy. You might want to use a smaller frying pan for this as a smaller piece of polenta will be easier to flip over so that it can cook on both sides. When done, spoon a generous amount of chilli beans over the toast, place a fried egg on top and season with salt, pepper and mixed herbs to taste. Enjoy!

The post Baked Beans & Eggs on Polenta Toast appeared first on Frugal in SA.

This recipe is part of Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge series on this blog, and I made this in Week 2 of the challenge.

This really is one of our favourite soup recipes. It is my grandmother’s recipe and my mom has been making this soup for us for as long as I can remember (she still does). I cook it for us at home now too and both my hubby and I enjoy this soup so much that I always have a container or two, or more, ready in the freezer. It’s for this reason that I always cook this soup in large batches and freeze for use as needed (it freezes very well).

As you can see by the ingredients below there are lots of veggies in this soup and it’s very nutritious. It’s also very filling. We enjoy a nice, hot bowl of this hearty vegetable soup in both summer and winter. It is nicest when it’s a bit chilli but if you’re not a fan you can leave out the chillies. The good thing about this recipe is that you can mix and match the veggies that you have at home so you don’t always have to include for example cauliflower and broccoli if you only have cauliflower in the fridge. The taste will change a bit depending on the combination of veggies that you use, and the quantities, but it’s still yummy!

As I am doing the pantry and freezer challenge this month I used a packet of lentil and barley soup mix with veggies instead of adding lentils and barley individually. I also added a whole tin of corn kernels to this soup and instead of a fresh tomato I added a whole tin of chopped tomatoes. It still tasted good! Here’s how to prepare this hearty vegetable soup.

Ingredients:

Vegetables: 2 Onions, 2 Potatoes, 2 Green peppers, 3 Carrots, 1 Tomato, ½ head Cauliflower, ½ head Broccoli, 4 Baby Marrows, 1 mug Peas.

½ mug of Rice

½ mug Lentils

½ mug Barley

5 Tbsp. Sunflower Oil

2 Tsp. Sunflower Oil

Salt, Pepper, Aromat to taste

Chopped Parsley to taste

3 Tsp. Paprika

1 Chicken stock cube

Chilli Peppers (optional)

Preparation:

Finely chop onions and set aside. Peel and chop the potatoes. Chop the green peppers, tomato, and chillies if using, and break up the cauliflower and broccoli into small florets. Cut off the bottom and top bits off carrots (peeled) and baby marrows and slice them. Rinse the rice, lentils and barley.

Method:

For this quantity of vegetables I use a large 8-litre stock pot.

Fry the onions in 5 tbsp. oil for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Then add all the veggies, rice, lentils, barley and stock cube and allow to sweat for another 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, and if necessary, add a bit of water to prevent the veggies from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Then add enough water to cover, and a bit more, depending on how much soup you would like to have. Bring to the boil then cook on moderate heat until veggies, rice, lentils and barley are done which is about an hour and a half.

Then, heat up 2 teaspoons sunflower oil in a small jug, add the paprika spice and stir until dissolved. Add this to the soup and bring to the boil. Season with salt, pepper, Aromat and chopped parsley to taste. Enjoy! This soup is delicious on a cold winter night with a slice of warm, buttered bread.

The post Hearty Vegetable Soup appeared first on Frugal in SA.

This recipe is part of Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge series on this blog, and I made this in Week 1 of the challenge.

I’d never cooked Soya beans before and I remember buying this particular packet of Soya beans because I wanted to try using the Soya beans. While I’ve used the Soya mince packets before and added that to minced meat in Bolognaise sauces as well as meatballs, this was my first time cooking with the Soya beans. I must say that the taste is quite different from the Soya mince. So if you’ve never tried the Soya beans I would heartily recommend them. We really enjoyed the Soya beans and Mince meatballs and they were very filling.

Ingredients:

500 gr. Soya Beans

500 gr. Mince Meat

2 Onions, finely chopped

3 Tsp. Spur Meat Spice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Oil for frying

Method:

Put the Soya beans in a large bowl and cover with water to about 4 centimetres above the beans. Leave the Soya beans to soak in water overnight for 12 hours. Drain in the morning. You will see that the beans have absorbed most of the water. Then place the Soya beans in a large pot with salted water and boil on medium heat until soft. Drain the beans and puree in a food processor or mash with a potato masher (it really works just as well).

Add the mashed Soya beans to the minced meat and finely chopped onions, add the meat spice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Form small meat balls and fry in oil on medium heat or without any oil in the air fryer as per appliance instructions.

This recipe will yield a whole lot of scrumptious, nutritious and very much filling Soya beans and mince meatballs. Enjoy! Ours kept in the fridge for a couple of days and the rest were frozen for a ready meal another time.

The post Soya Beans & Mince Meatballs appeared first on Frugal in SA.

This recipe is part of Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge series on this blog, and I made this in Week 1 of the challenge.

The Peach Cobbler recipe is very easy to make and yields a whole tray of dessert which can be enjoyed hot or cold with ice cream, whipped cream, custard or just plain. Tinned peaches go on special very often and so can be bought quite cheaply. While I don’t normally buy tinned peaches as we have a beautiful peach tree in our garden, I actually bought this large tin of peaches by mistake a while back – I thought I was picking up a large tin of apricot jam, which I use in baking, from the shelf! I only realised my mistake when I unpacked the groceries at home.

Normally I would just use peaches in this recipe but this time round I added a tin of mixed fruit (Fruit Cocktail) as I wanted it used up in this week’s Pantry and Freezer Challenge. This oh-so-easy to make Peach Cobbler still tasted great though and we enjoyed this dessert for a whole week. It can keep in the fridge for at least a few days.

Ingredients:

1 large tin (800 gr.) Peaches, including syrup

1 tin (410 gr.) Fruit Cocktail, including syrup

1 ¾ cup Cake Flour

1 ½ cup Sugar

1 cup Milk

½ cup Margarine

2 Tsp. Baking Powder

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

½ Tsp. Cloves

¼ Tsp. Nutmeg

Method:

Chop all the fruit into small pieces, as you like. Add all the ingredients (including the syrup from the tins) to a bowl and mix well for about 2 minutes. Oil a 20x30cm tray with Spray ‘n’ Cook. Pour the batter into the tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 C° for approximately 30 minutes (you will probably need to check, depending on the strength of your oven). Allow to cool and set a little before serving. Enjoy!

The post Peach Cobbler appeared first on Frugal in SA.

This recipe is part of Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge series on this blog, and I made this in Week 1 of the challenge.

This is a recipe that I make quite often as my husband really likes these Twisters and really who can resist the warm, fluffy pastry straight out of the oven? I normally make the Twisters with bacon but also occasionally with ham and cheese, although those are a bit more difficult to “twist” than the ones with bacon, which is more of a pliable ingredient. Personally, I like both options and this week I used up both puff pastry rolls that I had in the freezer, and made one with bacon and the other one with ham and cheese.

Although this is really more of a lunchbox snack, we’ve had them for breakfast as well as a light supper or lunch. The Puff Pastry Twisters would also do well as an appetizer. Ever since one of my friends, Hristina, shared this recipe with me it really has been an absolute favourite in our household. A puff pastry roll sells for about R 9.00 and with just a few slices of bacon, which would cost approximately another R10.00 if you buy bacon on special, then this is really a very inexpensive snack or light meal to make.

Ingredients:

1 Puff Pastry Roll, thawed

A few slices of bacon or

A few slices of ham and Gouda cheese

Salt to taste

Method:

Thaw the puff pastry roll you would like to use and roll it out very gently with a rolling pin. Cut 2-3 cm thick strips across the pastry.

Layer a 2-3 cm strip of bacon or a strip of ham and a thin strip of Gouda cheese on top.

Gently pick up each strip and twist it with both hands in opposite direction and place on baking tray lined with baking paper. If you don’t have any baking paper you can just oil the tray with some Spray ‘n’ Cook. Leave about a centimetre or two between each Twister as the puff pastry will rise a bit while baking. Sprinkle salt on top (ground salt tastes the best) and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 C° for about 20 minutes.

The Twisters should be golden when done. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Puff Pastry Twisters can keep in the fridge and can then be reheated in the microwave for about 15 seconds.

The post Puff Pastry Twisters appeared first on Frugal in SA.

This recipe is part of Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge series on this blog, and I made this in Week 1 of the challenge.

This is a very simple yet delicious recipe and I often make it. Mushroom sauce can be used on a nice piece of grilled steak, mashed potatoes, meat pies and a variety of vegetables. This is normally how we like to have our mushroom sauce but I’m sure there are many other combinations and uses for this rich, creamy sauce.

I usually buy mushrooms when they are in season and greatly reduced in price i.e. almost half the price. I normally buy at least 10-12 packets then, wash the mushrooms, slice them thinly and freeze them in small plastic bags of 500 gr. each. Frozen mushrooms will keep in the freezer for about 3 months, after which they will start to discolour and lose their taste.

You can use fresh mushrooms to make this sauce but if you are using frozen ones there is no need to defrost – simply pop the mushrooms into the pot and let the heat do the rest. The good thing about this mushroom sauce is that it can keep in the freezer although in our household it never lasts very long, no matter how much I make. The trick to reheating the frozen mushroom sauce is in a pan over low heat on the stove rather than in the microwave. As you reheat, you can adjust the consistency by adding a bit of water to dilute if needed.

Ingredients:

500 gr. mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 ½ cup milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 Tsp. of Cornflour or plain Flour to thicken

Spray ‘n’ Cook

Method:

Spray some Spray ‘n’ Cook into a pot and heat it moderately then add the mushrooms and allow them to sweat. Add a bit more water if you’d like to have more sauce. Simmer mushrooms on moderate heat for about 15-20 minutes. Then add the milk and simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. In a cup dissolve the cornflour or plain flour with a bit of water, stirring to form a lump-free paste. Pour the paste into the mushroom sauce and cook until thickened, probably for another minute or two, stirring vigorously. Enjoy!

The post Mushroom Sauce appeared first on Frugal in SA.