$5 Friday: fancy pants frugal cheese board biscuits

You know what it’s like – people are coming over for drinks, or you need to go to a happy hour, and you feel compelled to bring something. Once upon a time jatz biscuits and some chunks of cheddar cheese would suffice (maybe some pickled onions or gerkins if you were lucky). But these days most people run to the supermarket and buy several expensive chunks of super special cheese, smoked meat, dips and expensive cheese crackers. The last time I went to one of these get togethers we were so full from cheese and meat and pate and everything else I could hardly fit in the rest of the meal.

I’ve just come back from a holiday to visit my family on the Gold Coast, and while there my mum shared with me her secret for making these cool cheese board biscuits. Her apartment building has regular happy hour get togethers, and whenever she goes down she takes these. Warm from being cooked in the oven directly before, they fly out of the basket. She always get asked the recipe, and really it is very simple. And frugal.

By the way, my mum hates the word frugal. “Oh no, it sounds terrible!” she said. “I don’t do frugal.” A former fashion designer, she is impossibly stylish. But yes, she is frugal even though she says she is not. Maybe its better just to term frugal as being ‘good with money’ or ‘good at saving money’. Anyway, she doesn’t waste much and still lives a stylish life. Isn’t that what being a frugalista strives for?

Ingredients

Around three pieces of pita bread
1 to 2 tablespoons of extra virgin coconut oil (I love niulife)
1 teaspoon Zaatar
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
2 teaspoons sunflower seeds (optional)
Salt and pepper

Method

Spread a baking tray with coconut oil.
Using a pair of scissors, cut each piece of pita bread into triangles.
Use scissors to cut the pita bread into triangles
Place the pita bread onto the oiled tray. Cover with more oil. Sprinkle with the spices and salt and pepper.
Pita breads topped and ready to be baked
Cook in a hot oven until crispy brown, and serve at once.