Weetabix Results

Right i have finished my week of weetabix and to be honest it was not that bad. I have taken some pictures but i can't upload them yet so thy will be coming on shortly.

Most of the combinations that i tried were nice but the best one by far was weetabix and vanilla yogurt. Now that may sound odd and not very tasty but it soooooo is. The yogurt is nice and creamy and if your like me, and hate the milk making them too soggy then yogurt is for you.

I recommend that anyone try it. But, there was one combination of banana and weetabix i wasn't too keen on. The banana gets really soggy, but if you like that then you should be fine.

Overall it was good and I'm still eating weetabix as I've got about 20 left. Thanks for your comments on what you have been doing too.

Weetabix Challenge

We have all seen the Weetabix adverts were people are just eating Weetabix for breakfast with some type of fruit for a week. I wanted to know what all these different combinations tasted like. So for a week i am going to eat Weetabix for breakfast.

Sometimes on it's own, others with fruit and see if it me go for longer without having to have a snack and also what it taste like. Will it be a nice mix with strawberry's and kiwi fruits? Who knows i will see and put the advert to the test .

Click here to watch the advert.

Sunday Roast For One

There are some advantages of being away form home. You get to drink when you want, even at 12 in the afternoon, stay out until all hours, you do not have to tidy up and you are independent. But, if your like me and love your mums cooking then there is one thing that you will miss. My favorite meal of all is a Sunday Roast.

For this roast i have done chicken just because most people eat it and it is easy to buy for one. I have done carrots, roast potatoes and broccoli all good for you and if you cook them right and give them a bit of time you'll start to love them.

First you want to peal your potatoes and cut them into smaller pieces. The same with the carrots too, you can either cut the length ways or into circles the choice is yours. Though for roasting, cutting the carrots length ways is the bets option. For the broccoli you just need to cut it off the main stork, do this for how ever many pieces you want.

In total the chicken leg will cost around £1.50 at the most, the veg will be 55p for the potatoes, 40p for the carrots and that depends on how many you want. The broccoli was around 50p and thats not bad so overall your looking for a cheap, healthy, balanced meal.

Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes this is just to get them soft in the middle before you roast them. Then put the potatoes and chicken leg into a roastig tin that has been oiled and cook for 35 to 40 minutes.

Then after 15 minutes you will want to start your veg. Boil some water in a saucepan and add the carrots and the broccoli. That just has to boil and will take 15 minutes on a medium heat just make sure it is not hard before you drain them. Then serve them up on a plate.

Then get your roasts and chicken out of the oven, make sure the potatoes are cooked by sliding a knife into the biggest one and see if it slips out easily. Then serve the chicken checking it is cooked properly by poking a knife and making sure the meat is not read. The juices will also be a running clear.

If you want gravy, which i love, get some gravy granules around 4 heap teaspoons into a measuring jug and add half a litre of boiling water from the kettle. Then pour all over and you have your roast. Hopefully it will be as nice as your mum makes if not you'll have to wait until you go home.

Chicken Tika Masala

Here we have one of my favorite meals. It takes a bit longer than a quick meal but it is worth the wait. For the best curry dish always use fresh meat, i use chicken thighs for this as i they have the best flavor and you do not end up with dry chicken in your curry. The chicken cost around £1.96 for six pieces, three you will use for the curry and the rest you can freeze. The rice and the sauce are around 55p each. The sauce is ready made from ASDA and the rice is just your standard boiled rice.

Right, the first thing that you want to do is to get a frying pan nice and not with some oil in the bottom. While that is warming up you need to cut your chicken in pieces. To do this you have to take the thigh bone out and what you want to do is turn the chicken over, slit down either side of the bone and then cut it out. Make sure that you get all of the bone pieces out, you don't want that in there.

Once you have gutted all of your chicken thighs you have to cut them into pieces and you want to keep the skins on. If you cannot stand the skin of the chicken at all then it will pull of easy. Your hands will get messy when you do this so make sure after you wash them and do not touch your eyes or mouth while you do this bit.

Then when you have done that put the chicken into the frying pan and cook on a medium to high heat until the chicken has gone brown. It doesn't matter if some of it gets burned it all adds to the flavor. When it is brown all you want to do then is put the chicken into a saucepan and make sure some of the fat juice goes in too. Then you want to add your tikka masala. However, do not use the whole jar just for yourself there will be too much sauce, i use around half and that way it last longer too.You want to cook for 20 minutes and make sure the chicken it cooked.

Stir every now and then to make sure none of the chicken or the sauce gets burned to the bottom of the pan. To cook the rice all you need to do is add boiling water and stir. Make sure that you do not add too much and follow the instructions on the packet some are different from others. If your a cheat like me you'll get the microwave rice that take too minutes and never turns out bad. It cost a bit more around a pound a packet but i think that it is worth it.

Then serve it up! Put the rice on the plate first then pour the curry onto the rice and you should have something that looks like the picture above. It tastes great and is very filling. This can be done for yourselves or a group of you if you all wanted to chip in.

Takeaway

As students form time to time we seem the need to eat something greasy, something with a bit of fat on something that you know is not good for you but you eat it anyway.

Yes, i am talking about fast food, a kebab, a MacDonald's Big Mac (or whatever you may have) what ever it is we eat it and don't care and i am the same. So why do we? I think it is because we can, because our bodies have not yet stood the test of time. I am not trying to be disrespectful i am just being honest.

My personal preference has to be a MacDonald or a KFC if you want something a bit more filling. Yea i know what you thinking now you have read this much, it's not cooking but we are students after all and we are still part of the fast food generation.

So what is this fast food generation? We have never known life without it. We have always been able to get a sneaky bag of chips before tea or a hamburger after. Our parents have not had this, they have had introduced later in life.

Now with more option than ever i guess that is why kids and some of us are over weight. I say let us eat what we want when we want just along as it is sensible. Fighting it would only make you want it more but thats just my opinion.

What is your best fast food? Let me know and I'll tell you what the best liked fast food is.

Five Minutes And Your Done!

(Sorry about the steam)

This will probably be my most simple meal i ever post. All you need is 3 ingredients, 5 minutes of your time and you have a plate full that will keep you full all night.

The meal as you can see pasta with a tomato sauce and sausage balls. Now that may sound expensive but, the pasta, for a bag is 55p and the sausage are just your average ones at 86p. Then all you need is a tin of chopped tomatoes and they are usually no more than 50p a can. So all together your getting a meal for £1.91 and you will be able to use the pasta 3-4 or 5 times depending on your portion size.The sausages you will only use 3 and they come in pack of eight.

To start off you have to boil some water in a saucepan and this is for your pasta. While you wait for that to boil cut the sausages in tiny pieces and get a frying pan ready with oil heated.
Using any kitchen knife cut the sausage horizontally from one end to the other. Once you have done that you'll have tiny pieces. Roll them in between your hands and make them into balls. Now they might feel slightly weird but just wash your hands after and you'll be fine.

Then when the water is boiled and frying pan for your sausage balls is heated put the pasta into the saucepan and slide the balls into the pan. After 5 minutes of cooking when the sausages are brown and the pasta if soft your almost there.
Drain your pasta over the sink and then put it back into the saucepans on a really low heat. I mean low, u don't want your pasta sticking to the saucepan. Next add your sausages and if any of the fat goes in don't worry it all adds to the flavor. Now pour in your chopped tined tomatoes and stir for a minute or so. Then when it is piping hot, serve it up.

You have got a pasta dish that is quick, easy and cheap what more could you ask for.

Tasty, Balanced But Not Cheap

I just thought i would post a meal that was a little more adventurous, a bit more costly but extremely nice.

I got the food from my mum after the easter break, it needed eating and it was all extra special from either ASDA or Tesco, which one i forget. All i had were some Cumberland sausage, they are the really thick ones that go into a spiral. I had some Marris Piper potatoes and a large fresh tomato.

All i did was peal the potatoes and make them into roasts. I did this by boiling them for 15 minutes and then in the oven for an extra 20 minutes. Then i simple just fried the sausage in a frying pan for 15 minutes until they were a nice brown and fried the tomatoes in the same pan for 5 minutes.

It turned out great and was really nice to eat. I know frying the sausage wasn't the healthiest so if you want to try this then you can easily do it under the grill. You could do this with cheaper products and would get similar flavors. So give it ago you only need three ingredients.

What to do with Eggs?

Well i have always liked eggs, they are simple, quick and you can do loads with them.
I use eggs in the morning, afternoon and night. They are come in handy when your rushing to go out or if you really can't be bothered to do much. Here are just a few things that i do:

Omelette


All you have to do gets yourself some eggs, a box of 6 will do then you crack the eggs on the side of a bowl or glass dish whatever you have is fine.
You want about 3 eggs in total, four if you want a thicker omelette. Then whisk the eggs with a fork or whisk until they are really runny and the yoke and white are mixed. Then add a drop of milk and mix that in too.
Finally on a medium heated frying pan pour your mix into the pan and let it spread out. After the first few seconds make sure you get your spatula (fish slice) and slide it round the ages of your omelette so it does not stick to the pan. Once it has cooked for a few minutes flip one half like in the picture and let it cook off and theres you omelette. Takes about 5-10 minutes. Easy!
If you want to add stuff like cheese or as i have one in the picture bacon, then just cook the bacon first wait until it is just about fired to how you like it then pour in your mix. Its best to cut the bacon slices into smaller bits so you can fold it at the end.
If you want to add cheese just put in the mix then sprinkle some over while it cooks too.


Scrabbled Eggs

Scrabbled is near enough the same as the omelette above. The only difference is that once you have whisked all of your eggs and milk together you add a knob of butter and a pinch of salt. This just holds the scrabbled egg together and gives it a bit more flavor. Another difference is, personally i cook my scrabbled eggs in the microwave they come out much better than in a frying pan.
All you have got to do is set the microwave for 3 minutes and every 30 seconds or so stop it and whisk they mixture. At first it will look as though nothing is happening but eventually they will expand and get nice a fluffy.
Scrabbled eggs go great with toast, salmon or with some fried bacon, o yes! They are a good source of protein, the full recipe is on egg recipes and that will run you through step by step if you get stuck.


Fried

Frying an egg is not hard at all. It takes a minute all you have got to do is crack the egg into a pan and your done. No effort, just watch video below and see how easy it is, so if you have never fried and egg give it a go.

Sausage and Mash

This is one of my favorite dishes without a doubt! I love just sausage and mash with gravy, non of this mush peas even though they are nice, just nice and simple. All you need is sausage, potatoes, onion, butter and milk.

• Sausage pack of 8 Walls £1.00 at ASDA
• 4 potatoes 89p
  
• Onion 46p
• Gravy Granules 66p
  
• Butter and milk you should have!

So nice and cheap, your only spending £3.01 and your only going to be using two-three potatoes at the most and no more than three sausages so you can use them for something else. Maybe even a nice sausage salad. The gravy granules you get will last you ages so no worries.

• Basically, all you want to do is start off by boiling some water in a saucepan. Once it is bubbling drop in your potatoes that you have pealed and cut up in to small chunks. Remember the smaller they are the quicker they cook.
• Next just wait 25 minutes for your spuds to cook and then start frying your sausages. They will take around 15-20 minutes not too long. Towards the end chop and onion up and then add it with the sausages 5 minutes to the end.
  
• When your sausages are nearly done drain your spuds and start mashing them up in your saucepan. Once you have got all the lumps out. And not until then! Add some butter, just a few chunks, then mash that in once that has melted in add a few drops off milk. You don't want loads this just makes it nice and creamy. Nice!
• Finally the gravy. 4 heaped teaspoons in a jug add a half litre of boiled water and stir. Then slop up the mash on a plate, place the sausages on top, chuck the onions and any juices form the sausage in with the gravy and pour over. Done, sorted.

Pan Fried Pork Chops with Sugar Snap Peas

Here is my first recipe! This is pork chops, cooked with onions, peppers and sugar snap peas. This meal is very quick and very cheap! Ingredients Boneless Pork Chops £1.20 to £1.70 depending on size but you get 2 Sugar Snap Peas 89p Onion 55p Red Pepper 68p Yellow Pepper 68p Total: £4.00 Can serve one or two depending on who many chops you want. You will only need half and onion peppers and sugar snap peas so they can be used again.

Preparation

• You will need a frying pan, saucepan, knife and chopping board.
• First cut the onion in half and peal one half of it. Save the other by putting it back in the fridge. Then finely chop.
• Cut the peppers in half and save the others half in the fridge. Next cut out the inside out making sure you get all the seeds and white part. Then finely chop again.
• Put the onions and peppers to one side, then take the pork and slice cuts along the meat on both sides. Do not cut all the way through you only want little cuts so you can season the meat.
• Next season it with salt and pepper by rubbing it into the cuts this means getting your hands a little messy.

Cooking

• Fill the saucepan up with water and heat to the boil. This is for the sugar snap peas later.
  
• While the water heats up cook the meat this will take about 15 minutes. Heat the pan with a medium heat and add oil, any will do. Cooking the meat on a medium heat will stop the meat from burning and losing its flavor. Occasionally turn the meat and make sure it is cook properly. This can be done by slicing through and checking there is no blood in the middle. The juice from the meat should run clear not bloody too.
• After 8 minutes add the peppers and onion to the pan. Keep turning them over and make sure they get slightly burnt to add flavor.
  
• 5 minutes before the meat and peppers are done add the sugar snap peas to the boiling water. They will only take 3 to 5 minutes you do not want them to soft so keep checking them.
• Drain the peas and then place both the pork, onions and peppers in the center of the plate.
• Finally add the peas on top and your done.

20 minutes has gone by and you have your meal. All prices are from Asda but you would get roughly the same anywhere else.

My First Entry

Welcome to my blog.
Through out this week and hopefully from every week onwards i will be putting recipes that are cheap, healthy and relatively quick that you can try yourself. Not only myself but i hope that everyone will be doing the same giving me new ideas. I will be putting pictures of food i have cooked and videos from Youtube that will be about cooking and the different ways to use food. Hopefully, i aim to show that students do not just eat the traditionally beans on toast and that we can actually cook.
For those who have a limited use of cooking skills this is a great way to find out how to cook food that you were unsure of. Those who can cook can share ideas even post videos, the choice is yours. I will be including the price and where i bought the food from. Where the deals are on that certain week, that way you and i and everyone else can get good food at a good price. This site is for everyone not just students, so any ideas feel free to share.