How to Freeze Onions

Sometimes you come across amazing bargains, like the 10kg bags of onions for $1.97 at our local fruit & veg shop, but have no idea how you would make good use of such a bargain?  Well the good news as I have discovered is that chopped onions can be frozen for 6 months, just like the ones you can buy from the freezer section of your supermarket.  Here is how:

Use a food processor to chop your onions, you probably wouldn't want to cut onions by hand in bulk amounts, I know I wouldn't!  Just peel, chop into quarters and process.  Then package 1/2 cup amounts of the chopped onions into freezer bags, and place these freezer bags inside a zip lock bag.

When you are ready to use your onions just take them out of the freezer half an hour before you need them and the are ready to go (you can also cook them without defrosting, you will just need to break them up a bit).  Saves time and money (not to mention all those tears)!  If you are wondering what to do with all the onion ends you end up with, freeze those too and use them in homemade stock.

Making your own vinegar

Who knew it was so simple to make your own vinegar!  You can make endless combinations of flavoured vinegar by using different fruit and vegetables in the recipe.  It's the sugar in the fruit and vegetables that ferments, so anything with sugars in it will turn the water into vinegar.  It also makes a fantastic gift, make a flavour combination the gift recipient would love and pop the vinegar into a pretty bottle.

First of all you will need a large glass jar or bottle.  This will need to be sterilized, which you can do by pouring boiling water straight out of the kettle into jar or bottle, and let it sit for 5 minutes, then empty you jar.

Next, place the peelings or flesh from fruit or vegetables (both work well) into your jar, and cover with distilled water.  Place any type of porous cloth on top of the jar, and secure in place with a rubber band.

Place the jar in a cool dark place, and be sure to stir it every day to ensure the vinegar ferments evenly.  Leave the vinegar to ferment depending on how string you like it, the longer you leave it (and the more sugar in the fruit/vegetables used), the stronger the vinegar will be.  Once it has reached your desired strength, strain into a glass bottle and store in a cool dry place.

                                                    Image: Herbal Gardens

The latest supermarket marketing attempts

I was a little annoyed this week when I received my mid-week catalogue delivery, my Woolworths catalogue was wrapped in plastic!  I have never been a fan of catalogues wrapped in plastic, especially when there is no obvious reason for it, no inserts, freebies etc.  However, on closer inspection I realised there was a sticker sheet attached to my catalogue, so that was the reason for the plastic wrap, although it's still a terrible waste of resources in my opinion (but that's another story).

The idea is that you receive a sheet of stickers, to be used on specific products only, that will give you a discount on that particular product once you attach the sticker to the item.  For example, there was a $1 off sticker for Cadbury chocolate blocks. This while exercise seemed pointless to me, often Woolworths will offer these discounts in their catalogues anyway, so I'm guessing it's a bit of a marketing gimmick.  Judging by your comments on our Facebook pages this week, not many of you are impressed.

Another question raised on Facebook this week, and one I have always wondered myself, is why are such a great portion of discounts on unhealthy, heavily processed products, such as chips, chocolates and soft drinks?  This applies to both the new sticker promotion and the weekly supermarket catalogues (all supermarkets are guilty of this one).  I'm not sure about you, but I have absolutely no interest in the products, so if any of the higher powers in the supermarket world are listening, can we please have some healthier specials?  I seriously skip over the first 75% of supermarket catalogues (except Drake and Foodland/IGA, who do seem to offer a greater portion of healthy food discounts).

Back to the sticker discounts, this seems to be the latest in the big supermarkets attempts in gaining our loyalty, with the Coles My 5 promotion and the Flybuys re-launch, and Woolworths Everyday rewards member discounts with the orange tags.  Are the massive amounts of money they must be spending worth it?  This latest attempt has me wondering if we are heading the way of the USA with their coupon culture, where to gain a discount you need to cut a coupon out of the catalogue and take it to the store.  As a mum of a toddler, who has time, for stickers and coupons (which would no doubt end up lost thanks to the toddler on the way to the supermarket anyway)? I say let's just stick to the catalogues!

The Show on a budget, is it possible?

The Royal Adelaide Show and a budget don't often go hand in hand, however it can be done!  Here are our top tips for saving money at the show, and even if you are not in Adelaide read on, it's much the same for any annual show around the country.  We visited the Royal Adelaide Show earlier this week and spent $12 other than entry costs, and that was for parking (It helps that our daughter is too young to understand showbags and rides)!

• Take food with you, or eat just before you head to the show - You can take food into the show, and there are plenty of grassed shady areas to sit an eat, usually with some form of entertainment nearby.  If you are heading to the Adelaide Show, check out the IGA stand for bargain priced fruit.

• Decide on a budget before you go, and stick to it! - Work out how much you have to spend on showbags, rides, food etc before you go, it's better to have a plan than blindly spend money and regret it at the end of the day.

• Find the free activities - There are so many free things to do, the favourite with my daughter was the farmyard walk.  There are plenty of animals to see, entertainment in the arena and on stage, demonstrations etc all included in the entry price.

• Pre-Purchase entry tickets - You can save money by pre-purchasing your entry tickets, for the Adelaide show you can do this from IGA supermarkets.

• Plan to visit on bargain days - The Adelaide Show has bargain days on Wednesday and Thursday where adults can enter at kids prices before 1pm.

• Plan your transport to the show - depending on where you live, determine if it works out cheaper to catch public transport or pay for parking, which can often be expensive.

• Determine which showbags are the best value for money - In Adelaide my pick would be the Yellow Brick Road bag, it's only $10 and kids love following the trail and collecting all of the goodies. 

 So with a bit of planning you can have a great family day out without the budget regrets later on.  Feel free to share how you keep costs down when visiting the show.

2012 AusMumpreneur Awards

What a mind-blowing weekend I have just had.  I am very excited to announce that Bargain Mums have just won the Connect2mums AusMumpreneur Best Blog award for 2012, a massive achievement!

I have also spent the last two days attending the Connect2mums conference at the Parkroyal Darling Harbour, Sydney.  I have met so many amazing mums,  just like myself who juggle kids and their successful businesses on a daily basis.  It was the most inspirational and motivating weekend I have ever experienced, and I can't wait to get back to work on Wednesday and start putting all of my new ideas into practice.

This is only my second visit to Sydney, and I have to say this visit has completely changed my perception of the city.  After my first visit was back in 2008 I was less than impressed, and I have no idea what has changed (it could be the beautiful weather we are having), but I am having the most fantastic time.  If you have children, you must visit Darling Quarter, the playground is the best I have ever come across, and the whole area is just buzzing on a spring Sunday.  I'm so excited to be coming back in 2 months, now to enjoy our last 24 hours here before we head home Monday night.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies, they are such an easy and budget friendly treat.  You don't even need to use chocolate chips, you can get creative and try making your own combinations.  We have listed our favourite combinations under the recipe.

150g softened butter
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 3/4 cups plain flour
125g chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 160C.  Beat the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar and vanilla essence for 1-2 minutes.  Beat in egg.  Stir in the plain flour in 2 batches.  Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

Spoon the mixture into balls and place on lined baking trays, pressing down slightly.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Other flavours you could try:

- m&m's
- White chocolate & macadamia
- White chocolate & cranberry
- Caramel choc bits by nestle ( a big hit in our house)
- Dried fruit (Sultanas, dried apricots etc)

Kath & Kimderella

I have to admit, I have been a Kath & Kim fan right from the start, when Kath & Kim were still on the ABC, and I haven't missed an episode yet!  Naturally, I am very excited about the release of Kath & Kimderella, the Movie!  The movie follows the storyline of Fountain Lakes' foxy ladies who turn more than just heads when they go on an overseas trip and end up being the centre of their very own fairytale.  I am even more excited to be giving 10 of my fans a chance to see the movie with a friend for FREE.

To celebrate the very exciting release in cinemas on Thursday September 6th, Bargain Mums, thanks to Foster Hill PR & Marketing are giving away 10 double passes to Kath & Kimderella, valid for use at participating cinemas nationwide.  Entry is easy, email your name and postal address to jasmine@bargainmums.com.au, that's it!  Entries close 9PM Wednesday the 5th of September.  Winners will be drawn at random, and the passes will be posted to the winners on Thursday the 6th September.