Lean, bean and pretty mean our readers get real canny

We recently asked oily rag readers for ideas on what you can do with a can of baked beans.
A. Hume from Wairoa: "I love putting mashed leftover veges with cheese on top with a can of baked beans underneath and heated well. It's a vegetarian version of a cottage pie."
Carol from New Plymouth: "A tasty, easy meal consists of a tin of baked beans and a tin of pineapple pieces. Heat both together gently in a pot and serve on toast. Delicious!"
SJ from Dunedin: "When we have a surplus of baked beans I make tacos. Ingredients: Two tins of baked beans, 500g mince, two onions, tomato sauce, chilli powder, fresh tomatoes, grated cheese, lettuce, spring onions, bean sprouts and taco shells or tortillas. Brown the mince in a little oil. Add chopped onions and cook until onions are transparent. Add about one teaspoon chilli powder, or less if you don't like hot tacos. Wash most of the sauce off the baked beans and add to mince mix. Now use enough tomato sauce to make mix moist. This is usually about one cup. Add fresh chopped tomatoes and cook through. Serve in taco shells with bean sprouts, spring onions and lettuce, topped with grated cheese. Reinvent recipe to suit your own tastes."
John from Whangarei says he simply has baked beans on toast with a garden-fresh sliced tomato.
LO from Rangiora even has an idea for the empty baked bean can: "An empty used tin of beans can be used as packaging to post things in. It's quite strong and keeps whatever you are sending safe inside." What a great tip, especially with Christmas on the way.
Here are some other tips we have received from readers.
Craig from Hamilton: "Don't buy expensive skim milk products, just buy full-fat [milk] and water it down - equates to a 50 per cent saving on a basic item ... easy!"
A Hume from Wairoa: "My husband is growing all our garden veges from seed. He has found a useful way of using two-litre milk bottles as seedling pots. He cuts it halfway up, fills the bottom with soil, then cuts the top into four divider slots and slots them in. We use every container, yoghurt pottle, plastic bottle, polystyrene container we have coming out of our house. And best of all, they are reusable."
JC from Masterton: "Join a local theatre group and get involved. You'll not only meet a great bunch of people and improve your social life cheaply, you'll also save power by spending less time at home where you might otherwise be watching TV, playing video games or "socialising" on your computer."
With Christmas just around the corner, how about helping us help those who want a Merry Christmas, without the not-so-merry cost? Go to www.oilyrag.co.nz and add your no-cost or next-to-no-cost Christmas ideas.

Frank and Muriel Newman are the authors of Living Off the Smell of an Oily Rag in NZ. Readers can submit their oily rag tips online at www.oilyrag.co.nz