Beef Mince Pasta Bake

 Here is a very tasty,  simple and most importantly CHEAP main meal recipe that is a family favourite.   Any veggies you have on hand can be used.  We always use what's in season or what needs using up in the fridge. 

This pasta bake also transports well.  Assemble in the casserole dish and bake at your destination or cook before travelling and just reheat.

250 g of beef mince
300g of cooked spiral pasta ( any shape will do, we like spiral )
1 tin of condensed tomato soup 
1/2 tin of water
2 – 3 cups of vegetables -  broccoli, cauliflower, corn, beans, mushrooms, carrots,  celery  etc
seasonings - salt, pepper, garlic, onion, chives or parsley. I use dried herbs
grated cheese

While pasta and beef mince is cooking, cut up vegies into small pieces and cook in microwave for 6 mins.
In a very large bowl, mix soup, water and seasonings.
Add the cooked  pasta, beef mince and vegies to the soup and stir well
Pour into a large oblong casserole dish and top with grated cheese.
Cook in oven at 180c for 40 mins until cheese is starting to brown

Serve with mash or toast. Serves 4 - 6 people

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 27th April 2019

We hope you had a blessed Easter with your family and friends this week.  Here's what we got up to at the Gower Abundant Cottage -

*  Made up two bottles of diluted Dynamo laundry liquid.  The ratio is one part Dynamo to four or five parts water.

*  Cleaned the kettle with citric acid.

*  Ate freezer meals for dinner on two nights

*  Gratefully received lots of card making papers from a friend.

*  For Easter I gave Lindt bunnies and small Easter eggs I bought on clearance after Easter last year.  For Luka I bought a baby book from Savers for $1.99.  It looks new too.

*  Diluted a bottle of dishwashing liquid to clean the shower.  Combined with a microfibre cloth,  it's quite easy to clean the shower if I do it every 4 or 5 days.

*  Fed the compost bins with kitchen scraps.  We've been making chicken and vegetable soup so there's been lots of peeling going into the bin.

*  Cooked all meals from scratch using what we already had on hand.

*  Opened and closed the curtains during the day to make the most of the milder weather.  The heater only came on at night for a very short period of time.

*  Took a plate of chocolate brownies ( from the freezer ) to a card making day last Saturday.  I also gratefully received some fancy patterned scissors from the swap table.

*  Bought a big bag of sausage mince from Australian Butchers for $1.99 kg.  This is a fantastic price and Darren's eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw the big bag.  He can't wait for the first batch of sausage rolls to be made.

Happy Easter

Diluted Dynamo liquid

Cleaning the kettle

What frugal tasks did you complete this week ?
Did you grab any Easter bargains during the week ?

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 15th September 2018

Darren and I have enjoyed the lovely Spring weather this week.  We've just started to get back into the garden to tidy up after a long cold Winter.  The raspberry plants are sprouting,  the plum tree ( small plant ) is in full bloom and the rest of the fruit trees are showing signs of new growth.

Here's what we got up to this week -

*  Made 7 jars of plum jam using fruit I froze from last Summer.  Some of these jars will be given as Christmas presents.

*  Saved tissue paper from a pair of new shoes ( in the shoe box ).  This tissue paper is great for adding to a gift bag.

*  Bought a pair of boots for next winter in Kmart for $7.  Bought Darren two pairs of Winter pjs reduced to $6 a pair.

*  Replanted our strawberry plants and weeded the area.    I also feed them with Seasol.  Hopefully they'll do better this coming season and give us enough fruit to make jam as well as eating fresh fruit.

*  Let the chickens free range while Darren and I sorted out the strawberry patch.  The chickens had a great feed of weeds and snails.

*  Baked four loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.

*  Made up two bottles of double strength Miracle Spray.

*  Watered the veggie seeds I planted last week with saved warm up shower water.

*  Froze 7 single serves of leftovers.  We are starting to get a big stockpile so it's time to write ' freezer meals ' into the menu plan.

*  Dried all the washing on the line.  I'm so happy Spring is here.  It's the money saving season with less heating being used,  no air con needed,  washing on the line and more daylight ( not needing to turn lights on as often ).

*  Gratefully received lots of bread bags from a charity bbq.  They will be used to line bins,  wrap meat and to cover bowls in the fridge.

*  Picked silverbeet from the garden for two meals.

*  Juiced and froze the last of the lemons.

*  Portioned the remaining amount of tomato paste into ice cube trays and froze.

My new $7 boots

Jam making

Strawberry patch replanted

In the garden.

How frugal was your week ?

Are you getting back into the garden ?

 

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 4th August 2018

Making our own,  diluting,  reusing and recycling has become a way of life for us.  It's a great life and gives us a feeling of doing the very best we can with what we have.  We are not tree huggers by any stretch of the imagination but God gave us a beautiful planet and we'd like it to stay that way.

Here's our frugal list for the week -

*  Made up two bottles of diluted Dynamo laundry liquid.  The ration is 1 part liquid to 5 or 6 parts water.

*  Made up a triple batch of laundry powder.

*  Dried the washing on the line and on clothes horses.

*  Cut up an old jersey knit top to use as cleaning cloths and rags.

*  Cut up and used the food processor to blitz 8 bars of laundry soap to make laundry powder.  I always like to have a small bucket of the soap blitzed up ready to make the laundry powder when it's getting low.

*  Donated 31 items to Savers and received two discount stamps.

*  Refilled the hair conditioner bottle and added a little water to the bottom to get the last bit out.  I also had the bottle upside down for an hour of two to get every last drop out.

*  Made up two big bottles of foaming hand wash solution using diluted shower gel.  The ration is 1 part gel to 4 parts water.

*  Saved the shower warm up water for the washing machine.

*  Gratefully received a box of lemons,  oranges and mandarins from a friend.

*  Jessica mended a skirt,  coat and a top.

*  Gratefully received a Savers discount card ( with stamps on it ) from a friend who had too many cards.

A fruit blessing

In the garden at the moment

Cutting the soap before blitzing.

 

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 12th May 2018

Life as a thrifty mum is never dull.  My weeks are filled with various tasks that help us stretch our hard earned dollars.  Here's my frugal list for the week -

*  Made two batches of double strength Miracle Spray.  I double all the ingredients into a two litre bottle then top up with water.  When it's decanted into a spray bottle I dilute it down to normal strength.

*  Made lots of sausage rolls and mini quiches for a catering order.  While I was at it I made enough for Jessica's 21st birthday party and froze them.

*  Had the heater off for half the week when the weather was mild.  When the cold weather hit,  we kept the curtains closed and closed the doors to unused bedrooms.

*  Redeemed the voucher for a cooked chicken from Coles.

*  Fed the compost bin with lots of kitchen scraps and used tea leaves.

*  Fed lettuce leaves and bread crusts to the chickens.

*  Made a big pot of vegetable soup.  I included broccoli and cauliflower stalks to help thicken it up.  Both Jessica and Megan were given two single serves to freeze.  Darren and I ate some then we froze another six single serves.

*  Picked a handful of feijoas.  Unfortunately we won't be getting a good crop this year.  Still,  I'm very grateful for the few mouthfuls I'll get.

*  Picked white roses from our garden to brighten up the kitchen.

*  Ate freezer meals ( leftovers ) one night.

*  Converted $10 worth of Flybuys points into money.

*  Used $20 worth of vouchers from surveys to buy some groceries.

*  Found lots of great bargains in the op shop to help both girls set up their kitchens.  It's amazing how many new or near new items are donated to op shops.
  .

My small Feijoa haul.

Op shop finds

From the garden

In the kitchen.

How frugal was your week ?

Did you try a new frugal task ?

Spaghetti Bolognaise

300 grams of minced beef

Salt,  pepper,  onion flakes,  oregano,  basil and garlic granules

1 x 420g tin of chopped or crushed tomatoes

1 heaped tablespoon of tomato paste

350 grams of pasta

Grated cheese

Place the pasta in salted boiling water and cook as per instructions.

Brown the mince in a medium fry pan.  Drain any fat. 

Add all the seasonings to taste and toast for one minute with the meat.  

Add the tinned tomatoes and stir until combined.  

Simmer for 5 minutes then add the tomato paste and stir well.

Drain the pasta and serve in bowls.  

Spoon the meat sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Serves 4 people.

NOTES -

*  Grated carrot,  zucchini or shredded silverbeet can be added to boost the family's vegetable intake.

*  I like to make this in bulk by quadrupling the recipe and freezing the sauce in take away food containers.  This makes a handy and very quick meal for those busy nights.  If planning ahead,  defrost the sauce in the fridge for 1 - 2 days to save on microwave time. 

Ready to eat

Cooking the pasta sauce.

You can never have too much grated cheese

This Week's Frugal Tasks 5th September 2015

This week has been a busy one.  I've worked four days this week with lots of time in the car.  Darren  had a very early starts each day as he's taken over the cooking in the church's cafe while the chef is on a well deserved holiday.
Not as much has been done around the house with frugal tasks,  but we are grateful for the life we lead.  When life gets busy we go outside to spend a few minutes watching the chickens pecking away or to have a little potter in the veggie garden.  We are truly blessed.

Here's what I managed to do -

*  Picked lots of lemons off our tree and juiced them for the freezer.

*  Picked some silverbeet to hide in my honey mustard chicken recipe.

*  Made another batch of soap.  I can't wait to try it.

*  Bought a large gift bag from the $2 shop.  It has images of vintage bikes and motorbikes.  I should be able to make up to 18 cards from the bag.

*  Sold some of our chickens eggs to friends.

*  We ate out of the freezer for two nights.  I'm still trying to make room for when legs of lamb come on sale.

*  Made some floral cards for the Cheapskates card swap using supplies I had on hand.

*  Filled up my car when petrol was $1.08

*  Gratefully received a cake from a friend for our wedding anniversary.

*  Turned the heater off for three days in a row ( during the day ).

*  I built up my stockpile by buying grocery specials of Pineocleen,  disposable gloves, and paper towel all at half price.

*  Bought boxes of chocolates for $6 ( half price ) to be given as presents.  My girls have been going to a few birthday parties lately.  These are parties where 60 - 140 people are invited.  When that many people are invited,  the present doesn't need to be expensive

*  Saved the washing machine water.  Dried a few loads of washing on the line and the rest on clothes horses.

*  Picked two big handfuls of snow peas from the garden and used some in a chop suey with our broccoli and silverbeet.  YUM  !!!

*  Gratefully received a bunch of parsley and some bok choy from a friend's garden.

*  Cooked from scratch every night except for our wedding anniversary ( 20 years ).  Darren and I went out to dinner in the city and the girls had a $3 pizza from the supermarket.  Everyone was happy.

Some cards for the Cheapskates card swap.

$2 gift bag to make cards from.

Flowers I learnt to make this week.

Cards for the cards swap.

I learnt to make a dress card this week.

Snow peas from our garden.

What did you do this week to save time,  money and energy ?

This Week's Frugal Tasks 29th August 2015

This week's frugal tasks are varied.  I just love filling my days with tasks around my home.  It saves us so much money and I feel a great sense of achievement knowing I'm doing the very best I can for my family.  Here's this week's list -

*  Made soap for the very first time.  I was a little nervous of the unknown but all went very well.  Now I'm waiting for the soap to harden ( cure ) which takes six weeks.  Only five more to go until I can try it.  I'm hoping to sell the odd bar or use as gifts to recoup the costs.  A blog post on soap making will come soon.

*  Turned the heater off for a few days as the weather was mild.  I can feel Spring in the air.

*  Went to the shops for milk fruit and veg on Tuesday.  A few things on my list were a little dear so I bough other fruit that was cheaper like pears for 99 cent a kilo instead of apples ranging from $1.99 ( old apples ) - $5.99.

*  Tipped the crumbs from the bottom of the Wheat Bix packet into the  Seasoned Bread Crumbs container.

*  Made another batch of Miracle Spray. This 2 litre bottle is kept in the kitchen under the sink and the one I made last week is for the laundry.

*  Made a batch of Easiyo yoghurt.  I then saved two tablespoons of that yoghurt to make a batch of sweetened yoghurt.

*  Made some pumpkin scones using cooked pureed pumpkin from the freezer.

*  Gifted a jar of relish from my stockpile and a jar of Cranberry Hootycreek biscuits for a 50th birthday party on Saturday.  The gift tags were home made.

*  Made six loaves of bread.  Two loaves were white bread with chia seeds and four were Wholemeal Bread with extra Goodness.

*  Recycled lots of bread bags from a charity bbq.

*  Saved all the washing machine water for each next load.  Dried the sheets on the line and the rest on clothes horses.

*  Picked our first head of broccoli for the year.

*  Picked more lemons from our tree.

*  Picked some silverbeet to go with a meal.

A homemade gift

Biscuits and relish for a 50th birthday gift.

Soap making

Getting the bread dough ready for the tins.

Buckling under the weight of all the rain.

Peach tree flowers.  Spring is almost here.

Our broccoli

What 's on your frugal list for this week ?