universitybudgetfood-blog

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Red Peppers - Why so many seeds

If you have ever cut a red pepper, you probably know the annoyance of the seeds... however let me show you may cheats way of helping with this!

1) As shown, cut around the top of the pepper about an inch from the top of the pepper body. And cut circularly around the top, forming a lid and base.

2) Pull of lid and separate it from the base 

3) If the base is full of seeds now tap them into the nearest bin. Then Cut the flesh away from the top half (to reduce wastage) and then slice the base in half to remove the inner flesh.

4) Hey presto! Only minor wastage and plenty of yummy pepper left! 

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Parsniped Pasta, with Cheese Sauce 

Ingredients: Prep time: 10-15 minutes - Handful of dried Pasta (Penne) - to be boiled - 3 medium sized parsnips - peeled, and matchsticked then steamed - 1/3 red onion - diced fine - 2 slices of Salami - stripped (optional) - 1 Portion of Cheese sauce 

- 1 handful of diced lettuce  - 1/5 finely sliced cucumber 

Spices:  - 1 tsp of Cayenne Pepper (for Pasta) - 1 tsp of Chives (for Pasta) - Drizzle of Hot Sauce - Drizzle of Balsamic Glaze  For Cheese Sauce:  - As mentioned in yesterdays recipe: - 150ml of Cold Water, - 1-2 table spoons of Cornflour - Cheese, Cheese and a little more cheese - 1 tsp of Cayenne Pepper, - 1 tsp of BBQ powder - 1 tsp of Hot sauce - 1 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce  - 1 tsp of Garlic Powder 

Cooking: - 15-20 minutes - Firstly boil the pasta, steaming the parsnips also - do so for around 15 minutes (or until happily soft) - If not already prepared prepare the cheese sauce (see http://universitybudgetfood.tumblr.com/post/140581636402/surprising-simply-milk-less-white-sauce ) for more!  - Once boiled through, plate up by placing the salad and cucumber onto the plate and drizzling with the sauce, then by draining the pasta, and tossing the red onion with this boiled pasta. - Place tossed pasta onto the plate, before putting the parsnip, meat and cheese sauce over the top, 

Enjoy!! 

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Surprising Simply Milk-less White Sauce

If you are anything like me, and don’t have an easy supply of fresh milk to hand, yet also love anything and everything cheesy this will be perfect for you! 

This recipe is a little weird, but trust me, its totally worth it!!

This will make about enough for two portions! 

Ingredients:

- 150ml of cold water  - 1-2 table spoons of Cornflour  - Touch of butter/oil  - Cheese to your hearts content! 

Prep: 5-10 minutes 

- Firstly get around 150ml of Cold water (this is important as it stops the flour from clumping), and mix together around 1-2 table spoons of cornflour then add the oil/butter! - Microwave this mixture for 30 second blasts mixing thoroughly in between for 2 minutes or until the mixture becomes extremely thick (similar to a thick cloudy paste - as below) 

- Once this paste has been achieved, add your cheese! Best way to do this is through grating this, however crumbling or finely slicing it will also do!  - Microwave again for another 2 minutes - in 30 second blasts stirring well after each blast. This will melt the cheese and finalize the mixture! See the final mixture below! 

- This can be made different to any taste, personally I mix in spices such as Cayenne Pepper, Chives, hot sauce, and so forth! It is extremely diverse and can basically be made to any taste! 

- As you will see by tomorrows recipe, this can be made quite spicy, also you will be able to see the full glory of the sauce! 

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Still slightly Fancy Cheese on Toast

Ingredients: 5-10 mintues

- 2 slices of Brown Bread - Toasted - 2-3 spoons of soft boiled Sweet Potato - 1/5 red onion diced  - 1 Spring Onion - sliced - 1 celery stem - matchsticked then halves  - Cream cheese  - Cheese - sliced thin  - 3-4 Mushrooms - diced fine

Spices:

- 1tsp of BBQ powder  - 1tsp of Garlic Powder  - 1tsp of Paprika - 1tsp of Cayenne Pepper - 2tsp of Worcestershire sauce  - 100ml of water

Cooking: 10-15 minutes - Pan fry the red onion and spring onion in the butter/oil until slightly soft, - Add the diced mushrooms and soften again  - Whilst softening mix together all the spices in a jug before pouring into the pan and bring to the boil. - Add the sweet potato to the mix and allow to warm through before adding the celery.  - Allow the water to boil off to leave a paste - Once the bread has been toasted, put a fine layer of creamcheese on the bread, before plating the pan mix onto it.  - Put the thinly sliced cheese onto the loaded toast, before placing in the oven to melt the cheese! - This should only take about 3-5 minutes!

Enjoy! 

Personal Note:

- After my enjoyment of last nights dinner and the cheese on toast combo, I thought this experimentation would be good.  - To add a meaty taste to this mix, add finely sliced meat to stage 5.  - Although I enjoyed mine with a good helping of mayo, hummus or other sauces would no doubt make a fine addition! 

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Spicy Sweet Potato Mess!

Ingredients: 5 minutes 

- 5 spoons of boiled sweet potato (soft and thin)  - 1/3 red Pepper - matchsticked  - 1/4 leek - diced - 1/4 red onion - diced - 1 spring onion - sliced  - 2 salami slices - stripped (Optional) 

- Handful of diced lettuce    - 1/5 cucumber sliced  - 1 stem of celery - matchsticked 

Spices:

- 1tsp of hot sauce (optional) - 1 veg oxo cube - 2tsp of Worcestershire sauce  - 1 tsp of Reggae Reggae Sauce (optional) 

Cooking: 10-15 minutes

- Place the diced leek, onion and spring onion, drizzled lightly with oil and half of the oxo cube in a frying pan. - Cooking on a high heat for 3 minutes before adding the Worcestershire sauce - Cook for another 3 minutes (or until soft) - Add a water mix of the Reggae Reggae sauce, hot sauce and the other half of the oxo cube to the pan  - Bring to the boil and add the 5 spoons of Soft Sweet Potato - Allow to heat though, this will crumble into a lumpy paste, before adding the pepper and meat (Salami)  - Cook for another 5 minutes until hot and steaming - by this time the water should have boiled off leaving a slightly runny  - Gently spoon mixture onto the salad bed - Lettuce, Cucumber and Celery,

 Finally Enjoy!

Personal Note:

- The spice is purely optional as I like it spicy! I also added mayo to the salad to give a contrast! However cream-cheese or yogurt will also work! 

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Using up veg! Part 1

As a rule, I rarely waste veg, the only reason I throw away veg is due to mould!

Let me help explain how to get the most out of your veg!!

Broccoli Stems -  - When cooking with Broccoli it can be tempting to just throw out the stem when the florets have been used!

- Grab your stem, and this can be treated like any other root vegetable!  - So you can matchstick it, chunk it, or as I tend to slice it thinly in discs! 

- Although this can be simply pan-fried, this can also be steamed! 

This is a great way to use up any veg! 

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Veg with a touch of Spice! 

Ingredients: 10-15 minutes

- Handful of diced Iceberg Lettuce - Two small carrots - matchsticked - Broccoli Stem - sliced into rings - Two spring onions - sliced into rings - 1/4 of a Leek - diced  - Four medium sized closed cap mushrooms - sliced thinly (stem to top) - Two Salami Slices, diced strips then halved - Handful of Penne Pasta  - Two tsp of cream cheese

Spices: - Cayenne Pepper 1tsp (plus more for salad dusting) - Garlic Powder 1tsp  - Black Pepper  - BBQ seasoning (tesco)  - Chives 1tsp - Worcestershire Sauce 2tsp - Horseradish Sauce 1tsp 

Cooking: 20-25 minutes 

- Once all food prepared, boil pasta (adding black pepper corns to the water) whilst steaming the sliced Broccoli and Carrots - boil/steam until soft/how you like it! (Will take about 15-20 minutes) - After around 10 minutes, melt butter/oil in a pan, before putting the sliced mushrooms, leek and spring onion. Then add a tsp of Worcestershire sauce - Once browned through (or softened), add a spice mix of the Horseradish, Worcestershire, BBQ seasoning, Garlic Powder, Cayenne Pepper and a grind of black pepper, mixed will with water (1/3 cup) to the pan. - Once brought to the boil (the mix) sprinkle over the sliced chives and Salami! - Once the pasta is cooked, drain and rinse with boiling water (leaving the pan on a gentle heat. - Plate up, salad (dusted with Cayenne pepper), add on the cream cheese, before adding the pasta, steamed veg, then the pan mix!!

- Finally enjoy!    

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Match-Sticking? WTF?

So throughout my blog I will mention the term “Match-Stick” in relation to size or how to prepare food! 

Basically match-stick is to cut the food to roughly the dimensions of a match-stick, as shown with celery below! As a result they are thin, fairly long cuts of food, however are prime for stir-fires or basically what I cook!! 

The main food I tend to match-stick are: Celery, Carrots, Leeks, and Spring onions, however it varies on size, shape and quantity of veg! As it can take a fairly long time! 

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A little Fancy Cheese on Toast

Ingredients: Prep time (15 minutes (if you need to boil potatos) + 10 minutes) 

- Two slices of Bread (whatever you fancy - can be halved) - Half a red pepper - sliced into half-matchsticks - Three-five spoons of Boiled Sweet Potato  - Enough cheese for you to spare and be happy with - sliced thinnly!

Cooking: 20-40 minutes (depending on patience, and cooking power)

1) Spoon out three-five spoons of preboiled sweet potato (this should be thinly sliced and may be slightly mushy - if like me you sliced it way to thin!) onto baking tray, drizzle lightly with oil (to crisp) as well as cayenne pepper, garlic powder, black pepper and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. (as shown below)

2) Place in pre-heated oven (between 180-200C Fan), after 5 minutes add the red pepper (sliced to matchsticks) and continue to cook for another 25-30 minutes or until roasted or crispy.

3) Once nearly cooked put in your toast, once toasted place the potatoes and pepper on your toast, cover with cheese and return to the oven for around 5 minutes (or until cheese is suitable melted!) 

4) Serve with your side of condiments - personally I love some mayo and brown sauce... but that’s just me! Also I added a side of matchsticked celery!

Personal Note:

I am aware this is a double carb meal - and rarely does this happen (due to price and health) however it is amazing, as I eat this and write this commentary I am annoyed I cannot eat more!!  

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Who I am, My budget and Life

So my background - I am a first year University of Reading Student,

My weekly budget is around £20 a week on food (total), which I spend on 2.5 meals a day (average)! Of my budget I spend around £5-10 on veg which varies each week, but my basics are - Salad (head of Iceberg/Spinach), Broccoli, Carrots (500g), Parsnips (500g), 3 Peppers (R/Y/G), 3 red onions (twice monthly), bunch of spring onions, cucumber, celery, box of mushrooms (300g).... then loaf of bread, block of cheese, pot of creamcheese (usually brought in bulk from Aldi/Lidi), sandwich meat (such as Salami/Chorizo) lunchbox snacks (yes I make a lunch box - its dead cheap) and other bits and bobs! 

More rarely, I buy pasta - 500g usually lasts me a week, Butter, sauces and spices! 

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A Gentle Chicken Salad:

Starting from the base up: Ingredients Prep (10-15 minutes)

- Handful of Diced iceberg lecture  - Two stems of celery - sliced from top to bottom, then halved - size of matchsticks - Three small carrots - sliced to side of matchsticks  - Quarter of a red onion - Sliced into small cubes - Handful of Cucumber - sliced into matchsticks

- Half a chicken-breast - marinated overnight in 1tsp Cayenne Pepper, sprinkle of pepper and 1tsp thai seasoning (prepackaged) - cooked as discs (1cm deep) then sliced to reveal center.

Cooking! (5-10 minutes)

- Limited cooking with this one, simply marinate the chicken (overnight) then place in hot frying pan, warning, if using oil - be careful of spitting - cook through until dark brown (slightly charred) and white inside!

- Then plate up on Salad - dizzle in Balsamic Dressing (Tesco dead-cheap in long run) as well as my Mayo dressing (with a kick!) 

Then Enjoy! 

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Student beginnings

As a First year student currently at university, I had a pretty awful idea of what to expect in terms of food... but since day one, I have thrown myself in, and I hope to pass on some ideas to you! I live by the moto “Try everything at least once”. So I try new things, if you have an idea just say!