Toasting Peanuts

A delicious money-saving and pretty healthy treat that I learned from friends in Kenya.

Peanuts can make a delicious snack, but I often find that they are too salty when bought in packets. I also love the crunch from the peanut skins.

Many shops sell raw peanuts still in their skins. Some of the most delicious peanuts I have eaten were the simplest: toasted in a frying pan over a low heat in Nairobi (you don't even need oil as they are naturally oily themselves). Put in enough to cover the bottom of the pan and keep stirring.

Delicious when they are still warm from the pan, or when cooled, you could think of adding chili flakes for more of a bite. Personally, I don't think that they need salt, especially when they are hot, as they are so tasty already!

Monkey nuts (peanuts still in their hard shells) are another great treat. When I last looked you could get them for pennies in Tesco. Put them in the oven, on a tray or in a casserole dish, and cook for around 25 minutes, Gas Mark 3, 325 F, 165 C.

Cool them for a while as they will be hot when straight from the oven, but they are delicious when still warm, great fun for kids to try to open, hot or cold, and use no added fat.

3 kilos of monkey nuts would produce 3-4 cups of peanuts.

If you wrap monkey nuts tightly and keep dry they should keep for up to 6 months in their shells.

photo with thanks to Miss Mass

Onions and Old Tights: The Perfect Pairing?

If you are like me, and wear tights to work most days in the winter, it is highly likely that you have laddered a fair few pairs in your time.

I always feel a bit guilty throwing them away when there is only a small hole, but in a very visible place where painting the hole with nail varnish or sewing it up is impossible- so much of the tights are still good!

Imagine my joy when I learned that old tights can be used to keep onions fresh for up to 6 months- especially as the red onions and banana shallots that I love to cook with seem to go mouldy really quickly.


Here's the trick
Take a pair of tights (clean please!) and put an onion in each food. If the toe has a hole, you might want to sew it up first, of tie a knot in the bottom. Above each onion tie another knot, put in the next onion and repeat, until the legs are full or all the onions are used up.

Hang them somewhere dry and cool- cellars, larders or in a cupboard.
top photo with thanks to Flickr To Me
bottom photo with thanks to J.C. Rojas