The money saving baking day.

Having staples in your pantry means you always have on hand the means to whip up food and fast! Baking seems like a miracle to me. You go from basic and pretty boring ingredients to amazing things in such a short time. When the cupboard is bare it is time to bake.

The simplest things take minutes and yet a tray of scones or a pile of pancakes are always such a hit. People go crazy over such simple things. The cost is tiny and the fill up hungry bellies factor is huge!

I am going to give you Hilde's Scone Recipe. This is a really easy one and fast. If you know visitors are arriving get this going... or for the kids on the way home from school. Or arrive at someone's with these still warm and deliver them!

Hilde's Easy Scones. (In the US Biscuits)

Turn on the oven to a hot temp. setting.

300 ml carton of cream (10 ounces US)
Use same carton and fill it with milk. Swish to get the last cream as well!
Add to 3 1/2 cups SR Flour.
Mix to a dough. Cut into thick rounds, place close together, bake until lightly golden.
That's it!
Start to cooked in half an hour.

If you are a person like me who makes scones like rocks add a teaspoon of baking powder to your scones. This conquers whatever it is with people like us who turn things that are meant to be light and fluffy into lead. It is the antidote so to speak.

As I always have jam in the pantry if I make scones I have something nice for afternoon tea.

Nana always had baking day. Like she had washing day, shopping day... she had baking day! She was a wonderful cook and made rock cakes (which I loved), biscuits we called cockles which had pale pink icing in the middle.... sponges, sponge rolls, fairy cakes, cream kisses, cream puffs,  pies, pasties, sausage rolls... so many beautiful things!

I used to have whole baking days and make enormous supplies for school lunch boxes and things like that. Now I tend to make a lot of something at one time and then divide it up into many meals to use and freeze. Number one is using things that come my way or are a big special or maybe just something that needs using up like some tired carrots or apples.

Last week I was given nine bananas. So on the weekend I made banana muffins and banana cakes. These are good and easy and freeze really well. I also peeled and froze several for smoothies later.

This is a recipe I have used for years. I use it for cakes or muffins.

1 1/2 cups milk with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice added.
2 cups raw sugar.
1 teaspoon bi carb soda.
380 g butter (10 oz)
4 eggs.
sprinkle cinnamon.
4 ripe bananas.
5 cups SR flour.
Soften your butter and add in sugar, beat, add eggs, then milk, bananas and flour mix in.

Makes one very large tray cake. ie in your largest baking tray.
Or medium cake and 12 muffins.
Or loaves... or whatever suits.
Line your pan with non stick baking paper.
Bake in medium oven until risen and skewer comes out clean.
(muffins 15 minutes as a guide)

You can use ordinary icing or this cream cheese one...

2 packs cream cheese, 1 cup icing sugar, a tablespoon golden syrup. Blend until smooth.


This weekend I made 12 giant sized muffins and a medium cake from this.

Some were eaten, some frozen some given away. It make a lot!

I gave half the cake to Chloe to slice up and freeze for her work lunches.

Then I made a big lot of sausage rolls. Forty four to be exact! I find these really handy in the freezer.

Now I haven't costed my ingredients but I took notice in the local bakery and 44 sausage rolls would be about $150. Making them is a fraction of that. But I could also cost and compare my muffins and cake.
Stopping to grab lunch out, buying from the school canteen etc. all adds up very quickly.

Once I made a couple of dozen pretty cupcakes and compared the pice with the local shop. My two dozen cupcakes were so cheap to make but would have cost $105 at the local cup cake shop. I am pretty sure they cost under ten dollars to make.
The savings by baking are not small, they are crazy! If you do some comparisons it can be very motivating to start baking!

Yesterday the boys went fishing. They headed off out the door with hot sausage rolls wrapped in foil and in a hot pack to keep them warm, a pile of banana muffins and some drinks. (very happily) I don't know what this saved but compared to them stopping somewhere and buying food, no doubt a lot.

                                                       Mt. Sausage Roll. South Australia. :)

This morning I had a visitor and sausage rolls were in the oven. My visitor said "your house smells BEAUTIFUL" and again my supply was a hit!

Lunch boxes are full, the freezer is stocked up. That is the power of doing a bit of baking.
When yummy things are in the fridge and freezer no one looks to going out for food.  All those emergency times are avoided. A lot of money is saved. And you get asked questions like "are there any more of those sausage rolls left?"

There isn't always time to bake but when you have an hour or two if you whip up a big batch of something it is an investment that really saves money. It doesn't hurt your popularity either!  The thing is you don't have to do anything complicated for everyone to think it's wonderful. I stick to really easy things and make big batches.

To be able to pop things into lunch boxes for the next few days is so easy. To have things in the freezer ready for lunch boxes, after school snacks, emergency dinners... it is just such a help. Baking also has a transformative power over less than fresh things like fruit, many vegies, and use it up powers over dairy products etc. If I have apples that need using up I might make an apple pie or crumble. If there is milk or cream that needs using I might make a custard, creme caramel and big pile of pancakes. Cream that needs using might become quiche, scones or go into a baked rice custard.... baking gives many things a second chance at life!

Have a really good week!
Wednesday we have a post from Glenda and we will learn a whole series of ways to preserve foods for our pantry. This will mean options you may not have even thought of to keep excess produce (or inexpensive produce), reduce waste, save money and build up your food storage! xxx