Jody Allen - The $50 Weekly Shop Weekday Dinners

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Softening ice cream: Ever taken out ice cream and found it is just way too hard to scoop? Well, keep your ice cream container sealed in an extra large zip-lock bag in the freezer. It will always be easily scoop-able.

Cutting onions: Always place your onion in the freezer for 15 minutes before chopping. This will stop your eyes from watering. Swimming goggles are also great for this who cares if you look a bit silly for the two minutes it takes!

Peeling egg shells: Place the boiled egg in a small glass jar. Put the lid on and give it a good shake. The shell will crack and loosen so you can peel it off easily without damaging the egg. Adding a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to the boiling water will also help the skin peel off easily.

Making crystal clear ice cubes: For clear beautiful ice cubes, freeze boiled water. Room temperature water always ends up making cloudy ice cubes.

Testing if eggs are rotten: To see if an egg is still good or not, place it in a tall glass of water. If it floats, throw it out. If it sinks to the bottom it is fresh and still good to use.

Removing bits of egg shell: If youve cracked eggs into a bowl and a tiny piece of shell has fallen in, the best way to remove it is to use a bigger piece of the shell. The shell pieces are attracted to each other (like magnets), which makes it easy to pick up the little one.

Separating egg yolks from egg whites: Crack the egg into a small bowl. Hold a clean, empty plastic drink bottle (top removed) over the cracked egg. Squeeze the bottle to create a small vacuum, gently place the bottle neck on the yolk and suck it up.

Opening a jar: Turn the jar upside down and bang the lid (not too hard) on the counter top it should now open easily. If that doesnt work, grab a large knife (not a good one) and bang the side of the lid with the knife, blade side down. This breaks the seal and allows you to open it easily, although it will ruin the lid (and your knife if you do it all the time).

Softening butter: Grate hard butter with a cheese grater it makes it more pliable in minutes.

Preventing pots from boiling over: Place a wooden spoon across the top of a pot it will never boil over it!

Slicing meat very finely: If you want extra-fine slices of meat for your stir-fry, use a very sharp knife and slice the meat while it is partly frozen.

Keeping your kitchen sponges germ-free: Every night when you put the dishwasher on, pop your sponge or cloth in the top drawer of your dishwasher. The heat and soap will sterilise and make your kitchen cloths as good as new and ready for the next day. If you dont have a dishwasher, you can also try popping your sponge in the washing machine with the tea towels, then hang it out in the sun to dry and pop back in your drawer ready to use.

A good quality sponge or cloth can be used 1215 times before you need to chuck it out.

Very basic beef casserole

Every casserole really has the same components: meat, a thickener (such as flour) and flavour (sauces). This is a very basic casserole recipe that is still very tasty. It can be adapted for pork or chicken, too just reduce the cooking time.

Serves 4

500 g gravy beef, cut into cubes

2 tablespoons plain flour

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons tomato sauce

Preheat the oven to 180C.

In a bowl, coat the gravy beef with the flour. Place the beef into a casserole dish. Mix the remaining ingredients together with 3 cups of water and pour over the beef.

Cover and bake for 1 hours.

Beef and potato curry

On a cold winters night, a delicious hearty curry is the perfect comfort food. Serve with some crusty bread rolls and dont be scared to add a little extra heat to the grown-ups servings.

Serves 4

500 g potatoes, halved

1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil

1 large onion, roughly diced

500 g beef stir-fry strips or thinly sliced rump

cup Massaman curry paste

400 ml coconut milk

1 cup frozen peas or beans

Put potatoes in a large microwave-proof bowl along with 12 tablespoons of water, and cover. Microwave for 5 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over mediumhigh heat. Cook the onion and the beef until browned. Watch that you dont overcook your beef strips. Add the curry paste and coconut milk, cover the pan, and cook for around 20 minutes or until beef is nice and tender.

Add in the potatoes and the peas and cook for a further 5 minutes to heat through.

Serve with bread rolls, or basmati rice, mashed potato or garlic bread.

Beef goulash

Beef goulash is another fairly basic casserole that uses the tenderising effects of tomato and capsicum to break down the meat and add loads of flavour. This recipe is always best served the next day, or the day after that!

Serves 4

750 g rump steak

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 brown onion, finely chopped

2 teaspoons crushed garlic

1 red capsicum, finely chopped

1 cup evaporated milk

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon cornflour

2 tablespoons tomato paste salt and pepper

Chop the steak into 1.5 cm pieces. Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan and brown the meat well. Remove the meat from the pan and put to one side. Add the onion, garlic and capsicum to the pan and cook until tender.

Pour in the evaporated milk and add the paprika. Dissolve the cornflour in splash of warm water and add to the mix. Bring the mixture to the boil, and then reduce the heat. Return the beef to the pan, add the tomato paste, and season. Simmer for 1015 minutes over low heat or until the meat is tender.