29 August 2017

Save money, fewer preservatives

One of the easy ways to cut back a bit on your grocery bill is to make some of the things you usually buy.  We all know about laundry liquid, bread, biscuits and meals from scratch but there are a few others you might like to try.  The added bonus in most of these things is that you cut out the preservatives that usually come as part of the food products we buy. Yesterday I spent 30 minutes making pure lemon juice ice blocks, gravy mix and flavoured vinegar. They'll be small savings but I'll never buy lemon juice, gravy mix or salad dressing again so these small savings are permanent. And we'll eat fewer preservatives.

If you have your own tree or a friend with a lemon tree, making lemon juice ice blocks in ice block trays makes up a convenient, long term juice.  I just looked up the Woolworths site and their lemon juice 500ml is $1.65, but according to the label, it contains Reconstituted Lemon Juice (99.9%), Food Acid (Ascorbic Acid), Natural Flavour, Preservative (223). Preservative 223 is in the sulphite group, it's Sodium metabisulphite, which can cause allergic reactions.  Ugh.


I just juice lemons and freeze the pure juice in trays, then store them in bags in the freezer. If I organise myself properly, I'll have enough small portions of pure juice to see me through the year. It's easy enough to take out a small or large juice block for salad dressing, cordials or cooking. And it's just pure juice! Fancy that. 

My next task was to make gravy mix.  I make a very simple mix of plain flour, salt, pepper and paprika. I also make one for roast lamb to which I add dried rosemary and one for roast chicken with dried sage.  When added to pan juices, it makes an excellent gravy or sauce. I make up about a cup of the simple mix at a time and that lasts a month or so. I use one or two tablespoons stirred into pan juices with enough water to make up the sauce. It's easier than getting all the ingredients from the cupboard every time I make gravy and it's healthier and cheaper than Gravox or one of those packet mixes.  This is stored in the pantry cupboard.

Simple Gravy Mix - customise this to your own taste but start off with:
1 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

To make the herb mixes, add 1 teaspoon of dried herbs of your choice to the above mix.




According to the Woolworths listing of Gravox it contains: Maltodextrin (From Maize), Maize Starch, Salt, Shortening Powder, Vegetable Gum (Guar), Colour (Caramel Iii), Flavours, Dextrose, Anticaking Agent (450), Canola Oil, Yeast Extracts.  ðŸ˜®

My final product was flavoured vinegar. I don't like oil in my salad dressing so this is what I use. I make up about 300 ml at a time and store it in the fridge. I use it on salad and add it to mayonnaise when I make potato salad. It cuts back the creaminess a bit.




To make my flavoured vinegar I use Cornwells white vinegar (not cleaning vinegar) 😵 and to a small saucepan I add a teaspoon of celery seeds, a teaspoon of mixed black and yellow mustard seeds, ¼ teaspoon turmeric, 2 fresh bay leaves from the garden and salt and sugar to taste. You can add water as well if you want to mellow it out a bit.  Place the saucepan on the stove and bring to the boil. When it comes to the boil, turn off the heat, leave the lid on and allow the pan to sit on the stove overnight to steep.  Heating and steeping the brew will get the best flavour from the seeds and seasoning you use.

In another version of this, you could add any dried herb, spice, garlic, chilli, wasabi or ginger. Test taste as you go and make sure it's to your taste before you bottle it. Adding olive oil and mustard when the vinegar cools down could replace conventional salad dressing. Most supermarket salad dressing cost $4 for 250ml. This is cheaper and healthier. This is the ingredient list from the conventional Paul Newmans salad dressing: Water, Vegetable Oil (Soybean and or Canola Oil), Red Wine Vinegar, Olive Oil, Dijon Mustard (Vinegar, Water, Mustard Seed, Salt, White Wine, Acidity Regulators: {Citric Acid, Tartaric Acid}, Spices), Onion Puree, Sugars, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Salt, Mustard Flour, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Distilled Vinegar, Natural Flavour, Emulsifier (435).

So, for very little effort and around 30 minutes of my time, I've made up healthy versions of three commonly used kitchen products. I'd say that's time well spent because I've spent less than I would have had I bought these products and I know what is in the food we eat.  Win-win!  ðŸŒ¶


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23 comments

  1. Goodmorning Rhonda, I have been meaning to make a batch of your gravy mix for ages now, I think I will add it to my weekend list of things to do. Thanks and have a lovely day.
    Fi

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  2. awesome! Thanks, what are the measurements for the gravy mix?

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    1. Thanks for your comment, Barbara. I thought I'd added the recipe. It's up there now. xx

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  3. You are so organized. I just made a vinaigrette, too. It makes such a difference on sliced raw vegetables. I use olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, fresh garlic, and salt and pepper. Your recipe sounds delicious. I'll have to try it. I had been getting lazy, and was just eating my veggies plain. It was so boring. The little extras make such a difference.

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  4. I make gravy from scratch each time which I find easy and delicious, and hadn't thought of having the flour mix already prepared. I'll give that a try Rhonda. Best wishes, Pauline.

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  5. Excellent ideas, thank you for sharing them as well as the ingredients. :-)

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  6. Thank you. What great Down to Earth recipes.

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  7. Such simple things, Rhonda, but so much healthier! I freeze excess lemon juice, just like you do, and it always comes in very handy. Meg:)

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  8. How long do you keep the flavoured vinegar in the fridge? You said that you roughly keep the gravy mix for a month, so I was wondering

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    1. Mine usually goes fairly fast but you could easily keep it for 9 - 12 months.

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  9. So so true Rhonda. I read those labels from the store bought items and I think- Ugghh! I also make mine own taco seasoning mix. It is so delicious. It is a job I get my 10 year old daughter to do. I set her up with all the spices and she measures them out and mixes them up. Then pours it into a glass jar. It is a bit like a science experiment and it teaches her so much. Plus she really enjoys it! I think I'll get her to do the gravy one next.

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    1. That sounds delicious. Can you share that tacoseasoning recipe please?
      Thank you!
      Wilma Heger

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  10. Hi Rhonda
    I have started making my own ice cream and it beats shop bought hands down for flavour and price. I know exactly what goes into it - the list of ingredients on a shop bought tub is as long as your arm and includes lots of preservative, ' softener' etc. I know ice cream isn't super healthy but we save it for a treat and mine is made with natural ingredients so I'm fine with it.

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    1. Isn't it fun? And what a treat! I think anything you make yourself, for special occasions or for any reason; when you know what goes into it you are ahead of the game. I make my own, too.

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  11. For me it is also the deep satisfaction of simply being creative too. Satisfaction brings me back every time.

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  12. As usual Rhonda just great inspiring ideas. I'm retiring soon and with your inspiration I know I'll manage very well

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  13. Last someone told me that if you take the cream of the fresh milk,you can put it in a canning jar and 10-15 min in boiling water and you can keep it for half a year. When open mix it for whipping cream.

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  14. Such great ideas - thanks for all you do here on your blog.

    My favorite mix is homemade cocoa mix. I love knowing what's in it.
    Cheers, SJ in Vancouver BC Canada

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  15. The kindness of this blog community's never ceases to amaze me. Thank you Rhonda yet again for sharing your recipes.
    Blessings Gail.

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  16. Hi Rhonda, I have been pondering what to do when I run out of store gravy mix (comes in plastic bag and cardboard box, trying to eliminate waste) so your post is very timely, will add it to my growing list of things to make myself.

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  17. Hello Rhonda, thank you for the gravy recipe, just what I needed as I too am trying to get away from packaged gravy. I'll be making some today as I have a lamb shoulder heading for the slow cooker and may try the vinegar in the near future too.

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  18. Dear Rhonda and Readers:

    My husband has celiac disease. He does not eat gluten-free because of a fad: he is really allergic to all things containing gluten. He reacts badly to maltodextrin. Now maltodextrin is derived mostly from wheat in Europe and from corn in the USA. You would think, therefore, that since we leave in the States it would not pose a problem. HOWEVER I read in a website that MALTRODEXTRIN HAS INFLAMMATORY PROPERTIES PER SE, which seems to explain why my husband reacts to it with horrible GI symptoms even when the label says MALTODEXTRIN FROM CORN (as you quoted as an ingredient in the commercial gravy mix). Thought it might help some of your readers...

    Thanks for the information and the inspiration.

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  19. I still have gravy from a packet, because I didn't succeed in making a tasty mix before. I'm gonna give it a try!

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