A Rotorua mum's twist with leftover boil up wins her $5000.
A Rotorua woman's creativity with leftovers when there was nothing else to feed her family has paid dividends, with her recipe for boil up croquettes taking top honours in the Best Foods Best Kiwi Recipe Challenge.
Passionate about cooking nourishing meals for her family on a tight budget, Letitia Paulcame up with her winning recipe idea one evening when she had nothing but a bowl of boil up leftovers with which to make dinner.
Paul said she became quite upset, knowing the small bowl of food wouldn't be enough to feed everyone, but she decided to employ a little kitchen creativity.
"I've always tried to nourish my family properly regardless of the food budget, which often means using up every scrap of leftovers," Paul says.
So after combining the leftover meat and vegetables with a large dollop of mayonnaise to make crumbed croquettes, Paul found she had made a delicious meal from very little.
Letitia Paul's is passionate about cooking nourishing meals for her family on a tight budget. Photo / Ben Fraser
She was then inspired to share her croquette creation after learning of the Best Foods Best Kiwi Recipe Challenge.
"There was one more day left to enter the competition, so I stayed up all night thinking about the classic Kiwi recipes I'd made in the past using mayonnaise," she said.
"I really wanted to win in order to help get my family ahead, so I submitted four recipes, including the boil up croquettes – and it has really paid off."
With her recipe taking out the competition vote on Facebook, Paul won a prize of $5000.
She said the money will go towards her small coffee cart business and her crusade to help other families working within tight food budgets.
Letitia Paul's boil up croquettes. Photo / Supplied
Paul's own experience with food budgeting began two years ago when she and her husband left their jobs in Auckland to buy a home and their coffee cart in Rotorua, and found it difficult to make ends meet, especially during the winter months.
Paul began growing her own vegetables and started cooking and baking everything from scratch.
"I would surprise myself with what I came up with and thought that other people going through a similar situation could benefit from these recipes, too," she said.
So Paul began sharing her recipes and tips on her own Facebook page.
"I share how I shop and how I cook. I feel like careful meal planning and knowledge of how to feed your family on a low budget can take a bit of the financial burden off," she said.
Letitia Paul's inventive twist with leftovers snagged her a $5000 prize. Photo / Ben Fraser
Paul said the $5000 she won was a welcome boost for her own family – but she was also planning to use some of the money to buy food vouchers to give to others in need.
"I'm so grateful to everybody who voted for my recipe – and also to Best Foods NZ for a prize that is going to make a big difference for my family."
