Having a professional manicure can be very pricey these days. You would probably pay anything from R150.00 upwards for a manicure, and at least R300.00 and more for a set of Gel or Acrylic nails. While I enjoy having my nails done, it’s definitely not something I do that often at all. It is a bit of a luxury.

But, if you’re looking for a bit of a treat or you would like to have your nails professionally manicured for a special occasion, have you thought of having your nails done by a nail technician in training? That’s what I did this month, and it was such a lovely birthday treat! Here is how it all came about.

A few months ago I joined a Facebook group specific to my area. It is through this group that I’ve come to know about so many up-and-coming and established businesses in our area that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise, and I’ve also seen some interesting posts about second hand items for sale and swap. One of the posts I came across was by someone in our area who is training as a nail technician. She advertised a full set of Gel or Acrylic nails for R100.00.

So I decided I would give myself a little treat. As it turns out, nail technicians in training need clients to practice all the different types of manicures but they cannot charge full price while they are still studying. This arrangement benefits the learners as they get to practice their skills, and expand their potential client base, and it also benefits you, the client, if you are looking for a professional manicure on a budget.

My Gel French manicure was beautifully, and professionally, done, as you can see in the photo. The nail technician took great care of my nails for well over two hours! I was very impressed and certainly pleased that I could afford to have professionally manicured nails on a budget. I also didn’t have to travel very far at all, which was a bonus.

So the next time you’re thinking of treating yourself to a professional manicure on a budget, see if you can find a nail technician in training. Perhaps joining a Facebook group specific to your area could help you find someone suitable, like I have.

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Thank you to Vanessa from Olivia’s New Life for nominating Frugal in SA for the Blogger Recognition Award! I am absolutely thrilled!

The Blogger Recognition Award is an award given to bloggers by fellow bloggers. It’s an excellent way of showcasing the blogs we follow and enjoy reading, and acknowledging the hard work and dedication of the people who create such blogs.

Why I started blogging

I started my blog so that I can share with, and learn from, others on my own journey to spending more wisely, living debt-free and being less wasteful and more resourceful with what I have. While there are many overseas blogs in similar niches to mine, I wanted to create a space online where we could share our thoughts on products, shops and means and ways of saving on household expenses in South Africa.

Advice for new bloggers

Advice #1: Be patient with yourself and your blog. It takes time for your blog, your audience and social media following, to grow. Focus on creating content so that when the right audience does find you, they will have plenty of posts to read!

Advice #2: Join a Facebook bloggers’ support group. The support and advice are absolutely invaluable, and you will learn from and grow with each other.

And the nominees are (in no particular order):

• Fire, Water, Food & Travel
• Anthea’s Project Life
• Spicegoddess
• Meletso
• Take charge of your money
• Hayley’s Joys
• Stealthy Wealth
• Life Lived Simply
• Glass of Mylk
• Just a Girl from Aamchi Mumbai
• My Gifts from Above
• The Frugal Cottage

I really enjoy reading all of these blogs and I hope you’ll go and check out each and every one. They’re doing an awesome job!

Some Rules for the Nominees to pay it forward

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
• Write a post to show your award.
• Give a brief story of how/why you started blogging.
• Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
• Select 10 – 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.
• Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them, providing the link to the post you created.

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After the Pantry and Freezer Challenge last year, one of my goals was to be a bit more efficient when it comes to stocking up on foods in my pantry, as well as the freezer. A year later, I reflect on how successful my resolution has been for me.

When I started the pantry and freezer cleanout last week, there was just 1 packet of frozen, mixed vegetables in my freezer which I’d bought a while back as an ‘emergency’ packet of veggies to have on hand (I avoid buying frozen vegetables altogether) and, I’m happy to say, that packet has since been used! I steamed the whole packet of veggies in the microwave and made a quick and easy butter sauce to go with. Those veggies were gone in 3 days, as a side serving to 3 dinner meals that we had last week.

Other than that 1 packet of veggies, there were no packets of meat that needed to be used up immediately, or that I haven’t included in my meal plan for next month. Yay! I’m super glad about that. I do have a few tubs of ready-made meals but those are all going to be used soon, as I have planned for that.

As for my pantry, the situation was much better this time round as well! After a thorough cleanout, the items in the photo below were the only items that needed to be used up. I think I can be pleased with my progress since last year as I’d had a whole lot more in my pantry when I started the Pantry & Freezer Challenge.

The small tin of granadilla pulp you can see in the photo was left over from baking and, unfortunately, there wasn’t enough for me to make another granadilla cake, which is what I’d initially used those tins for. So I made us some mango flavoured jelly and after it had set, I poured the pulp over the jelly and served it for dessert a couple of times. It was delicious and, at least for us, something a bit different.

The Lipton fruit tea packets in the photo were free to begin with. I was stocking up on Joko tea (hubby’s favourite), which was on a really good special at the time, and for each packet of Joko tea that I bought, I received a whole packet of Lipton tea for free. I ended up with several packets of the different flavours which we’ve thoroughly enjoyed this winter. Now that the days are getting warmer, I decided to start use some of those leftover tea bags to make us ice tea. The Mandarin orange flavour, in particular, was very nice as I’d added a couple of slices of oranges and naartjies to the bottle of tea.

The items which I very rarely buy – the Cup-a-Soup sachets, Melba toast and prawn crackers – were also put to good use. We had the slices of Melba toast for breakfast during the week instead of actually making toast. The Cup-a-Soup sachets hubby and I took to work and had a cup with a sandwich on two days. We fried the whole packet of prawn crackers over the weekend and enjoyed the snack while watching TV.

Finally, the little bit of castor sugar that was left in the packet I used for this lovely Lemon Loaf Cake. I also made us some Taco mince filling for the Taco shells which was our supper on 2 nights this week.

All in all, my pantry and freezer cleanout this year was an absolute breeze. I’m so happy that there was no waste from either the pantry or the freezer, and that I’ve managed to use up all the items that needed to be used up, quite quickly. I’ve tried some new ideas (the granadilla pulp poured over jelly and taking the time to make us ice tea instead of plain cups of tea) as well as some new recipes which we’ve so enjoyed (the Lemon Loaf Cake and Tacos).

Have you done a pantry and freezer cleanout lately? How did it go?

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August this year was definitely an ‘easy’ month for us in that I didn’t have to do a whole lot of grocery shopping! I am glad that I’m under the budget for the month and we should be more than alright for the month ahead as far as groceries are concerned.

One of the biggest reasons I am under budget this time is that I didn’t have to buy any cleaning or toiletry items – no shampoo, no washing powder, no Handy Andy, no dishwasher tablets, nothing. My stockpile of these items, although small, is stocked well enough as I’ve been taking advantage of some really good sales over the past couple of months. I probably only needed to stock up on some soap but that’s about it. And the groceries I bought were from Pick ‘n’ Pay, Checkers, Meat World and Apple Tree Alberton. It was, altogether, a really quick trip.

The biggest grocery find for the month was Pedigree dog chunks (7kg bag) for only R100.00 at Makro. This brand of dog food normally retails about R250.00 per bag so that was quite a big saving. I bought 3 bags which should last a while, or let me rephrase that – I stopped myself at 3 bags. This was a really good buy, and in fact it is even cheaper than what I normally pay for other types of dog food on ‘special’ each month i.e. it was R14.00 per kg as opposed to R19.00 or R21.00! This was a ‘Manager’s special’ though and only valid for the one weekend. I heard about it on Facebook – someone had seen the special at one of the stores, took a photo and was simply spreading the word to friends. So, moral of that story to self is: watch out for specials on my friends’ newsfeed!

Some of the specials at the Apple Tree Alberton included 4 pineapples for R20.00 and I bought 2 of those specials. So pineapple, with quite a few naartjies which we had at home already, will be our go-to fruits for the month ahead. A 2kg bag of sweet potatoes was still on special for R9.99 so instead of plain old potatoes as one of our starches for the month ahead, we’re going to be having some sweet potatoes while they’re still available at that price. Lettuce was also on special as well as carrots, beetroot, green beans, tomatoes, spinach and bell peppers. I’ve spent just over R200.00 and we have more than enough vegetables and fruit for the entire month ahead.

I bought some of our staples at Pick ‘n’ Pay. They had, for example, 5 Maggi noodles packets for R18.50 and Fattis & Monis pasta 3 packets of 500 gr. for R30.00. There was another brand of pasta for less than that, I think about R8.00 each, but we’ll try that some other time. I needed to stock up on pasta as we were all out, so it just made more sense not to stock up on a product that we’d never tried before. Sasko cake flour was still at R19.99 and so was the 2 litre bottle of oil for R29.00 which was on my shopping list. I noticed that the Husky tinned dog food was on special for R19.99 which is slightly more than the specials we used to get on that brand just a couple of months ago. And up until a few weeks ago we could get a tray of eggs for just over R35.00 at Pick ‘n’ Pay but the same tray now costs R47.90. That was quite an increase, but it’s still cheaper than paying well over R65.00 for a tray of eggs at other stores!

I also chose not to stock up on long life milk this month because even on special it was still more expensive than the Douglasdale 2-litre bottle of milk which was on special at Checkers for R19.99. I’m going to keep an eye out for specials on long life milk and see if it comes up for less than R11.50 or R12.00 per litre. Sugar has also increased in price quite a bit over the last couple of months and now it’s quite rare to find a packet of 2,5 kg for less than R35.00 but I must remember to stock up when it does come up on special for less than that.

And finally, as a bonus, quite a few of the groceries that were on my shopping list for the month were not only on special in-store, but they were listed on the Snap n Save app at the same time, so I have saved ‘double’ so to speak. I have since loaded my till slips, and have received the cashback in my e-wallet already. I am actually looking forward to spending my Snap n Save savings at the end of the year. I am also looking forward to using the app a bit more as the very basic grocery items which I usually buy such as oil, milk, eggs, etc. seem to be getting listed more and more often.

What were some of your grocery finds and savings in August?

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If you’re anything like me, you’re most probably always on the lookout for healthy and inexpensive snacks to pack in your lunchbox for work. No one really wants to nibble on the same foods day in, day out so I’m always exploring new options. I’m sure you are as well!

While I like chips and chocolate bars (who doesn’t?) I don’t really want to be snacking on that kind of a snack every day. If you’re not prepared when that mid-afternoon craving sets in though, you’re more than likely going to be popping in at your nearest convenience shop, and walking out the door with just such snacks! Not only is that an unhealthy alternative, as we all know, but it’s also the most expensive option which could easily set you back at least R300.00 to R350.00 each month, and who wants that? It’s an absolute waste of your hard-earned money.

There are so many other tastier options, and today I’m going to be sharing with you my top 6 favourite, healthy and inexpensive lunchbox snacks.

Carrots

I often find carrots in bulk at the Apple Tree Food Market. Sometimes you can get a whole 5kg bag of carrots for as little as R10.00 and who can resist that price? The good thing about buying carrots in bulk is that they will last for quite some time in the fridge if they are peeled, washed, allowed to thoroughly dry and then kept dry in the fridge so don’t tie those packets but allow the carrots to ‘breathe’, so to speak. And instead of crunching on whole, or half carrots, you might want to use your julienne slicer. Fresh carrots are deliciously satisfying when that craving for something sweet does its rounds in the afternoons!

Turnips

Who would have thought you could eat turnips raw? We always used to have them steamed or oven baked but, once we discovered that, preferably young, turnips can be eaten raw, there’s no going back for us! Nowadays I simply scrub the turnips, dry them thoroughly then slice them very thinly and store them in a container in the fridge for an easy, healthy snack on the go. Raw turnips are very similar to radishes, and they have a bit of a snap to them too but they mostly taste fresh, sweet and juicy though. And while you would probably end up paying up to R15.00 for only a few turnips, once sliced they will yield a rather large amount which should last you a while. Raw turnips are rich in iron, calcium and vitamin C and contain very few calories, but individuals with a thyroid condition should limit their intake of this vegetable.

Dates

You can buy a packet of 500 gr. of dates for R29.00 at Westpack Lifestyle, and that’s cheaper than what our supermarkets have to offer these days. For that price, dates have to be my top choice of packaged fruit for snacks. Not only that, dates are a good source of various minerals and vitamins and boast quite a few health benefits for the human body. Sure, dates do contain sugar, but they are on the low glycaemic list and therefore, will not cause a spike in blood sugar levels.

Apple slices & Peanut butter 

In season, apples are some of the cheapest fruit you can buy. Peanut butter is probably one of the cheapest spreads too. Put the two together and voila, you have a delicious, late afternoon snack! Simply slice an apple or two, and spread the peanut butter on your apple slices. If you’ve never tried this combination before, give it a try and I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised. This must be one of my all-time favourite snacks because it’s so filling and easy to grab as you rush out the door in the mornings. Having peanut butter with apples is also a nice change from just munching on an apple.

Roasted Chickpeas

I recently came across this lovely recipe for crispy roasted chickpeas! I usually keep a few tins of chickpeas in our pantry and I’ve also cooked them from scratch although the tinned variety is definitely a time-saver. Chickpeas are a good source of protein and fibre, they are very filling and they add a bit of variety to the legumes in your diet so you don’t always end up reaching for that tin of beans! Chickpeas are also a healthy, protein alternative if you are planning on a meatless meal. As a snack though, roasted chickpeas taste great!

Jelly

A delicious snack for your sweet tooth, and quite affordable. There is very little difference in price between a Moir’s jelly packet and the no name, or store, brands. The good thing about Moir’s jelly is that it sets fairly quickly i.e. in a couple of hours, whereas if you are using a no name brand, or a store brand, they tend to take a bit longer to set fully, usually about 24 hours. Nonetheless, you have a whole lot of flavours to choose from. Jelly, surprisingly, has very few calories although it does contain some carbohydrates. The gelatine, the main ingredient in Jelly, is a good boost to your immune system, among other things, and this, for me, is a good enough reason to indulge in this childhood favourite!

What are some of your favourite, healthy yet inexpensive lunchbox snacks?

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I only occasionally shop at Westpack Lifestyle though I know most of us, who are fans, could probably spend a good couple of hours looking around! This month I needed to stock up on some of the items that I regularly buy, and use, so I thought I would share my top 3 household items which help me save a bit of money each month.

Pine Gel

I must admit it took me a while to get round to trying this product! I’d come across quite a few people who were using it, and just had the best to say about it, but I guess I was never a fan until I actually tried it for myself. Now I absolutely love this product and use it regularly. The best thing is you can use Pine Gel to clean tiles, baths, showers, sinks, basins, windows, and even carpets if they need a bit of refreshing, and because you need to buy fewer cleaning items for your home e.g. for bathrooms, carpets, tiles, etc. you do end up saving quite a bit. As I’m sure you know, cleaning products are generally expensive.

I usually buy the very large, 5 litre bucket of Pine Gel and share it with someone, which is the most economical option. Today I bought a 1-litre bucket of Pine Gel, as well as a 1-litre bucket of the Lavender Gel, which is the more expensive route to go, but I actually wanted to try the Lavender Gel, which I’d seen on the shelves for the first time, as well as stock up on a bit of the regular Pine gel. No matter what quantity of Pine Gel you buy, it goes a long way as you usually need to dilute only 1 tablespoon of pine gel in 4 litres of water. And I just love the Pine scent – it makes everything feel, look and smell so clean!

Blue Bin Liners

These must be my favourite bin liners ever. They also fit perfectly in our kitchen bin, unlike many others I’ve tried. Although the bags might seem thin, don’t be alarmed – they can actually hold a lot without tearing at all! In fact, I think they are as strong as the usual refuse bags that you can get at other stores, but they are cheaper! For a packet of 20 bin liners 600×600 mm you pay R12.90 and for a packet of 20 bin liners 590x750mm you pay R14.90. Now that’s much cheaper than any other packet of bin liners I’ve seen anywhere in the shops.

Freezer Bags

The size of these clear, plastic bags makes them suitable for freezing vegetables and meat as needed. The freezer bags are 200x300mm and there are 200 bags in the packet which now costs R27.90. While I wash and reuse the bread bags (when we do buy sliced bread, which is very rare as we make our own bread) as well as the fruit and vegetable bags, it’s always good to have these extra freezer bags on hand. Plus, they are the cheapest.

The packet goes a long way too, probably because the bags are just the right size for our freezer needs, so we tend to only buy one packet every 6-8 months or so, and the price hasn’t really gone up that much in the two years since I’ve been using these bags.

Apart from these top 3 items that I regularly use, I also sometimes find other good specials at Westpack Lifestyle, for example on boxed tissues (for less than R15.00) or Shield car fresheners (at R12.90) or Dettol disinfectant wipes (4 large packets for R50.00).

Do you have any favourite money saver items that you regularly buy at Westpack Lifestyle?

Disclaimer: Financial compensation was not received for this post. Opinions expressed here are my own.

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One of the items on my shopping list this month was a variety of spice refills. As I hadn’t bought spices in a while I was quite surprised, to put it mildly, at how much the prices have gone up since the last time I bought!

I’ve always bought and used a variety of spice brands, including the store brands. I tend to buy the refill packets and then reuse the spice bottles I already have. If I don’t have a specific spice bottle these days I will still buy the refill packet and simply repurpose a small, glass jar.

The increase in the price of spices seemed to be across the board, and in all the shops I’d visited. Some spices cost well over R30.00, in fact, almost R40.00! A lot of the refill packets I’d looked at were almost R20.00 and some even more than that. I realised that I was going to be shelling out at least R150.00 to refill all my empty spice bottles at home, and that really seemed a tad bit much for just spices.

But, I’ve found an absolute winner – QualiFresh spice refill packets. I’ve used that brand before, and was quite happy, so I didn’t hesitate to buy the QualiFresh refill packets again. Their prices are very affordable, and I’ve found our local Meat World Market shop to be beautifully stocked with quite a range of QualiFresh refill spices.

For example, a QualiFresh Cinnamon refill packet cost R8.99 whereas in other shops, other brands were selling, the same quantity I must add, for R16.99 or R17.99, which is pretty much double the price. The QualiFresh Steak & Chops refill packet cost R11.99 and other brands were selling for about, or just over, R20.00 in other shops. In fact, the entire QualiFresh refill packets range, from what I could see, was selling for a lot less than other brands in stores.

I was quite happy that I managed to find all the refills that I needed in the QualiFresh range. I’m happy with the quality and the range of the spices they have to offer so I will definitely be stocking up on the QualiFresh refills again. They also have, which other brands don’t, the Allspice (Pimento) which I have previously bought and often used in baking, especially Pumpkin spice bread and Christmas cookies.

As an added bonus, QualiFresh spices contain no MSG and no artificial colouring.

Disclaimer: Financial compensation was not received for this post. Opinions expressed here are my own.

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Last week I had quite an embarrassing moment at work! Just as I’d arrived, and sat down in my chair, a little something on my leggings caught the corner of my eye: it was a hole in my garment, about the size of a green pea, and very, very visible! I had no idea how or when it appeared there: did I catch on something as I was getting out of the car, or as I was sitting down at my desk? Or did I simply not notice that there was a hole there to begin with? Perhaps it got caught on something as it was spinning in the machine or while I was ironing it, and I just didn’t notice? I honestly had no idea. I was just very conscious of the hole being there!

Needless to say, I didn’t have a travel sewing kit on me. In the next ten minutes or so I went round asking each and every one of my colleagues if they had a mini sewing kit on them which I could use to patch up the hole but no, not one single person had a sewing kit or even just the one needle and some thread which I could use to patch up the hole in my garment before facing the rest of my day. I did get quite a few ingenious, though funny, suggestions on how to disguise the hole in the garment e.g. just colour it in with a board marker, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do that!

As I went about my day, very, very conscious of what I was wearing, I realised that I really should have a travel sewing kit on me, precisely for such emergencies. At first I thought perhaps I should just make one as I certainly have enough needles and thread at home. I was thinking along the lines of either using an old sweetie tin and filling it up, or even sewing a travel sewing kit to carry with me. As I was searching online for some ideas, I noticed a Traveller’s Sewing Kit advertised at the Crazy Store. I clicked on it, as the R9.99 price intrigued me. The contents of the kit looked just fine, and sufficient to the task.

So on my way home that day, I stopped at a Crazy Store and picked up a Traveller’s Sewing Kit for just R9.99! I was certainly pleased about the price and couldn’t wait to get home to unbox the mini sewing kit. The little box is functional and strong enough. The contents of the sewing kit is more than adequate with several colour threads, 3 needles, a couple of pins, sewing studs and small, white buttons, a needle threader as well as a tiny pair of scissors (they seem a bit bigger in the photo)! If I had gone the route of putting the sewing kit together myself, I probably wouldn’t have managed it for less than R9.99 so all in all, I was quite chuffed with this most affordable little find.

Disclaimer: Financial compensation was not received for this post. Opinions expressed here are my own.

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Quite a few of my readers have been searching for a Basic Grocery List on a Budget in South Africa over the past few months. I have been meaning to write a post about this but have been delaying somewhat because I seem to be writing far too many posts about food these days! While saving on your grocery budget isn’t the only way to tighten up on your finances each month, it definitely is one of those aspects that needs to be kept in check.

This Basic Grocery List on a Budget is just that – a very basic list of items that will cost you the least. Each one of our individualised budgets, and tastes, can add to this list to improve or make it as interesting as you wish.

Staples

Pap

Pasta

Rice

Noodles

Tinned food

Beans (in brine or tomato sauce)

Chickpeas

Fish (Pilchards, Tuna or Sardines)

Vegetables

Potatoes

Onions

Tomatoes

Carrots

These are the 4 vegetables that I always have at hand. They can be cooked in so many different ways and are also a great addition to many of the meat-based meals that I cook so often.

Additionally, these veggies are also very affordable, especially when purchased fresh in season:

Cauliflower

Cabbage

Mushrooms

Lettuce

Bell peppers

Spinach

Cucumber

Green beans

Sweet potato

Butternut

Gem squash

Baby marrows

Mealies

Avoid buying packets of frozen vegetables or ready washed/peeled/chopped packets of vegetables and fruit. Those are the most expensive. Buy your fruits and veggies fresh, and whole, preferably at a greengrocer’s, and wash/peel/chop everything yourself.

Herbs such as parsley, basil and mint you can grow on your own in pots so it shouldn’t cost you anything other than the initial purchase of a seedling or packets of seeds. Chillies are very easy to sprout and grow from the seeds of a chilli pepper you’ve just sliced, and had in your meal, so there is hardly a need to buy seedlings or seeds for those, ever.

Fruits

Bananas

Bananas are the cheapest ‘staple’ fruit and that’s pretty much what we have in our household all year round. All other fruits, as you know, are very much seasonal and so are their prices.

Some of the ‘cheaper’ seasonal fruits you can buy includes apples, pears, oranges, naartjies, grapefruit, pineapples in autumn/winter and grapes, mangoes, papayas, watermelons, plums and strawberries in spring/summer. These fruits will be at their cheapest when in season, or towards the end of the season.

There are, of course, those other types of fruit which usually cost quite a bit, even when in season, and this includes figs, sweet melons, peaches, apricots, guava, kiwi, lychee, cherries, raspberries, blueberries, coconut and pomegranate. As you may have guessed, those types of fruits we rarely buy and when we do, it’s most probably because they’re on a really good special!

Meat

Mixed Chicken portions

Fish fingers

Pork bangers

Fish fillets

Pork chops

Minced meat

Bacon

I’ve listed the meats from cheapest to more expensive. If you want to keep your meat budget as low as possible, avoid buying beef (steaks, fillets, sausages) and more exotic seafood (prawns, lobster, salmon, etc.). Plus, reducing the amount of beef you consume can drastically reduce your carbon footprint. In fact, experts say giving up beef will reduce our carbon footprint more than cars.

Cold meats can be pricey overall but I’ve found that cooked ham at times sells for as low as R6.99 or R7.99 per 100 gr. which makes it a bit more affordable then. I know that varieties of Polony cold meats are the cheapest but not everyone is a fan.

Condiments

Salt and Pepper

Tomato Sauce

Mustard

Mayonnaise

Chutney/Atchar

Vinegar

Dairy

Long life milk

Cheese

Maas/Yoghurt

The good thing about buying long life milk as opposed to milk in bottles or even sachets is that they tend to be the cheapest per litre when they are on special, and they so often are. Long life milk lasts longer than fresh milk, so that’s the next best thing for me, because I don’t have to buy milk every 2-3 days, more so as we mostly use it for just our teas and coffees. Powdered milk can be a more affordable option at times, especially if you only use it in your cup of tea and coffee but then again, not everyone is a fan.

Spreads

Margarine

Bovril/Marmite

Jam

Peanut butter

Cooking & Baking

Cooking Oil

Flour

Baking powder/yeast

Tomato paste

Stock cubes

Spices

Drinks

Tea

Coffee

Sugar

Pastry

Puff Pastry

Sweets

Jelly

Biscuits

Is there anything else that you feel should be added to this basic grocery list? Please let me know in the comments below. I would love to make this list as comprehensive as possible.

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‘Tis the season of apples! Or rather, it has been for a while! We are still having to buy apples from the greengrocer while our apple tree grows taller and taller each year but has yet to produce more than 2 or 3 apples annually!

Apples have been quite affordable over the past couple of months though and I have been able to buy 3 x 1kg bags (different varieties too – Starking, Granny Smith, etc.) for either R20.00 or R25.00, depending on the special running at the Apple Tree Food Market in Alberton. We’ve enjoyed our fair share of fresh apples and I’ve also baked lots of apple pies, and made quite a bit of apple butter this winter (my husband absolutely loves this!) but with all that baking, comes lots and lots of peeling of lots and lots of apples!

It seemed like such a waste to just chuck the apple peels into our compost bin so instead, I’ve been baking, and drying, lots and lots of sugar & cinnamon apple peels. Yum! We’ve been snacking on the baked apple peels both at work and at home. They are only lightly sugared, with a bit of cinnamon to taste, so I haven’t been feeling that guilty about snacking on those! In fact, I just love the sweet crunchiness of these baked apple peels.

Apple peels are very healthy though, which is all the more reason not to throw them away. Most of the nutrients we get from apples are stored in the skin, rather than the flesh of an apple. Apple peels are also rich in fibre, which is a huge plus.

Ingredients:

Apple peels

Sugar, to taste

Cinnamon, to taste

Spray ‘n’ Cook

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 C°. Rinse the apple peels and do not dry. Sprinkle and coat apple peels in sugar and cinnamon, to taste. Lightly spray ‘n’ cook a flat oven tray. Lay the apple peels on the oven tray and bake at 180 C° for about 35 – 45 minutes, turning the apple peels over once or twice. Even though this might seem like a long and slow process, it’s best not to turn the heat up as this will just burn the apple peels and all the goodness will be lost.

When done, the apple peels will generally appear moderately browned on both sides, but some may end up a bit more on the crisp side as some of mine did. Take the tray out of the oven and allow the apple peels to cool down, and turn brittle and crunchy in the process, before storing in an airtight container. Enjoy!

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The post Frugal Snack: Baked Apple Peels appeared first on Frugal in SA.