*urban 75 student cook book.

[vipper]

Baked Bean Lasagne

200g grated cheese
large onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - crushed
800g baked beans
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
8-12 sheets of pre-cooked lasagne
1 packet of cheese sauce made up OR 1/2 pt of cheese sauce

Preheat the oven to 190c/375f/gas5.
Reserve 50g of the cheese
Cook the onion and garlic in a little oil until soft, mix with the beans and tomato sauce
Put a layer of beans mixture in a large greased casserole dish
follow with a layer of cheese and then a layer of lasagne
Continue layering until all the ingredients are used up (in my dish this is just 3 layers so i only used 6 sheets of pasta)
Top with a layer of lasagne and then finish with the cheese sauce and the reserved grated cheese.
Bake for 35 mins
Serve with salad.

 

[frogwoman]

If you have any asian/caribbean shops round your area, you could try this:

1 plantain
1 clove of garlic
some flour

grate the plantain and then roll it into small balls with the garlic and however much flour you need ...

then, add curry powder, salt, whatever you want and then roll them in oil and put them in the oven on some tinfoil for 20 mins or so

making this right now!!

 

[Hocus Eye.]

How to get corned beef out of a can without cutting or losing fingers

Corned beef comes in a tapered tin. It fills that tin completely. When you open the tin the meat is hard to remove from the tin despite the taper. This is because of air pressure.

The solution is to make a small hole in the bottom of the tin with a tin opener before you remove the top. Now when you turn the can over, the meat should be able to be pulled out fairly easily with a fork because air can get into the space behind the meat.

I sorted out this method after giving myself such a serious cut on my finger that I considered going to A&E.

 

[mrs quoad]

Righ I'm starting uni next month and reckon I could do with some. quick easy and CHEAP!!! recipes to get me by student life.

so what was your favorite student grub, whats your favorite 15minute wonders.

I will get all the recipes and print em out and use that as my cook book when i get to uni save me nicking my mums!



dave

NB: I note that - in the time since this thread was created - you've presumably now started AND finished your degree

 

[cliche guevara]

There is an excellent thread here on the money saving expert forums at the minute, chock full of three course recipes for under a fiver.

 

[Treehugger76]

if you want to live cheap then give up meat, you dont need it and there's loads of cheaper alternatives that'll fill you up just as much and provide just as much proteins ect.

the supermarkets do dried soya mince for under £1 a bag and depending on how sparingly you use it, a bag can last near 2 months if you're being very frugal or just cooking for one.

also, go to the grocers in stead of supermarkets who should be able to get you veg cheaper (and less packaging!!) and once you get really friendly with them, some might even cut you deals so you can get your veg even cheaper

my local greengrocer used to give me all my soup veg for £2 if I went in with a bowl for him and stuff like that so make use of who's there in your local community.

Spanish Omlette was a particular favourite of mine, good, cheap food that can be eaten hot/cold and at any time of the day!

1 small onion, sliced and a few cloves of garlic, crushed/pureed
a couple of potatoes sliced
2-3 eggs depending on how many potatoes and how big your pan is
add any other veg you have to bulk it out if you like

heat pan and add oil (olive preferably)
add onions and garlic and fry gently until see-through
add potatoes and a bit more oil until everything is coated
turn heat down and cover with lid - you want the potatoes to steam in the oil

cook gently til potatoes are soft
(i usually like to put in a big handful of spinach or some sliced peppers at this point)
pepper, taste then salt

beat eggs, season and pour over everthing

give it a shoggle so the egg gets into all the cracks and sticks everything together
keep the heat low and let the egg set

if you're clever, flip the whole thing over with a plate so you can cook the top
or cheat like me and throw some cheese over the top and grill til melted

serve sliced with salad or cold in sandwiches


its always going to be cheaper making things from scratch than buying packets of stuff so when you go shoppping, look for ingredients that you can turn into stuff

trust me, its a lot more interesting to see what you can make out of a potato, a can of beans, 3 spring onions and some spices in stead of just opening another packet

 

[Ceej]

I've just made the nicest soup ever! 10 mins from starting it to eating it so it may be my staple diet. Costs nothing, fills you up and it's healthy!

For one-

200g frozen peas (64 cals per 100g)
200 ml hot water
One stock cube (38 cals)
Teaspoon of mint sauce
80ml milk (or cream, if you're not on a diet!)

Boil water, crumble the stock cube in and cook peas for 5 mins. Stir in mint sauce and milk, blend till smooth and SCOFF!
Chop some ham in if you like, or use the bacon water if you've been cooking bacon.

 

[Boycey]

i have just invented these with things left in my cupboard and the recipe seems to have people drooling over my facebook page so i thought i'd share:

1 small can of tuna steak
1 small can of sardines in tomato sauce
1-2 breadslices worth of crumbs
splash of encona hot sauce
enough ketchup to bond the above all mixed up

shape into patties, fry, you got fishburgers! and they are almost as fucking awesome as me

you probably get enough for 3 normal people or one of me

 

[liquidlunch]

1 cup of rice
1 1/2 cups of water
bring to boil then cover and simmer for 15 minutes,stir in some chicken stock powder
cut up some onion,celery and any other veg you have into small pieces
heat wok to very hot,add oil(tblsn) and onion,stir fry for a minute then add rest of veg,stir fry for 2 more minutes,add some soy sauce and the rice,stir fry for another 2 minutes.Done

 

[seven samurai]

If you have any asian/caribbean shops round your area, you could try this:

1 plantain
1 clove of garlic
some flour

grate the plantain and then roll it into small balls with the garlic and however much flour you need ...

then, add curry powder, salt, whatever you want and then roll them in oil and put them in the oven on some tinfoil for 20 mins or so

making this right now!!

Sweet lord jesus that sounds yummy, I'm definitely going to give this a go! Thank you

 

[Cheesypoof]

I've just made the nicest soup ever! 10 mins from starting it to eating it so it may be my staple diet. Costs nothing, fills you up and it's healthy!

For one-

200g frozen peas (64 cals per 100g)
200 ml hot water
One stock cube (38 cals)
Teaspoon of mint sauce
80ml milk (or cream, if you're not on a diet!)

Boil water, crumble the stock cube in and cook peas for 5 mins. Stir in mint sauce and milk, blend till smooth and SCOFF!
Chop some ham in if you like, or use the bacon water if you've been cooking bacon.

that soup sounds amazing - thanks!

 

[Johnny Vodka]

My favourite quick meal at the moment is mushrooms with pasta.

Get pasta on the boil. Chop mushrooms. (I like chestnut mushrooms.) Fry in as much garlic as you like. Season. Add as much double cream as you like - I like just enough to moisten (as I like it more garlicky than creamy) - and let it bubble a bit. Throw in some chopped parsley. Mix cooked & drained pasta into mushrooms. Sprinkle with lots of parmesan cheese. Serve with whatever veg/salad you like.

 

[robotmiss]

Pasta twirls
1 tin of tuna
2 big spoons mayonaise
2 teaspoons pesto

add some sweetcorn!

 

[newme]

the supermarkets do dried soya mince for under £1 a bag and depending on how sparingly you use it, a bag can last near 2 months if you're being very frugal or just cooking for one.

How big is this bag? Brief look online seemed to indicate a 250g ish size for a quid. Which is more than Im paying currently for quorn or meat atm. I also cant for the life of me see how that would last anyone two months unless they forget about it for most of that time. So Im assuming Im looking at the wrong stuff somehow?