Re-fried Bean Quesadillas

A quick lunch: re-fried Bean Quesadillas

This super cheap recipe doubles as a lunch or dinner, and can easily be made for one or many people! The absence of meat makes it cheap and quicker to make. And the spices mean it packs that Mexican punch to excite your average mealtime.

Things you'll need:

Serves 3

• 6 x Wholemeal Tortilla Wraps* (two per person)
• 1 x Can kidney beans/mixed beans
• 1 x Small Onion
• 1 x Clove Garlic
• Tsp Cumin
• Tsp Paprika
• Grated Cheddar (Optional)

* If this is for lunch, one tortilla per person is fine. If you're hungry or this is a main meal then use two per person. Remember to go wholemeal!

Price overall: £1.44

Per Portion: 48p

Cooking Instructions:

1. Chop and gently fry the Onion and Garlic until soft
2. Add the Beans and heat through. Then crush them with a fork into a paste
3. Season with the Cumin and Paprika, and salt and pepper if you fancy. Stir altogether
4. Tip the mixture into the middle of a Wholemeal Tortilla Wrap and then either fold in half or, if using two, place the other one on top.
5. Then place the Quesadilla in the same frying pan and cooking either side for 2 minutes each until crispy and golden brown. Serve on its on or with a salad.

Fed up of the same old sandwiches? At a fraction of the price, you have to give this one a go! If you want to go all out, add jalapenos/chillis, sour cream and/or salsa as well. A super tasty casual meal for any lunch or dinner time.

This recipe was taken from BBC Good Food

Pepper and Red Onion Melt

Lunch Option: Pepper and Red Onion Melt

Another lunch option which is vegetarian as well as low on calories and saturated fat! Most things that are smothered with cheese are high in saturated fat, but lighter choices like Mozzarella thinly sliced is much better than melting cheddar. Plus you're adding some tasty vegetables and accompanying it with a side salad - who knew cheese toasties could be healthy! I took this recipe from a new app by the NHS called 'Be Food Smart' (more info here) - I'd really recommend it!

Things you'll need:
This amount will get you 3 lunches worth.

• 3 x Slices of wholemeal bread
• 1 x Mozzarella Ball
• 1 x Pepper
• 1/2 Red Onion
• 1 x Mixed Salad Bag

Price overall: £2.29 (Approx)

Per Lunch: 76p

Cooking Instructions:

1. Slice the Pepper and Red Onion and put in a baking tray with a splash of Olive Oil. Place under a hot grill for 3/4 minutes until it's just starting to brown.
2. Meanwhile, toast your slice of Wholemeal Bread in a toaster. Then thinly slice your Mozzarella and place on top of the toasted Bread.
3. Remove the grilled Pepper and Red Onion from the grill and spread on top of the Mozzarella, then place under the grill for a further 3 minutes until the cheese has melted over the Bread. Serve with side salad.

My cheapest meal option to date! If you're feeling particularly hungry then toast two piece of Bread instead of one and make it a proper sandwich! But if you want a light lunch, this is perfect!

New Potato, Green Bean, Tomato and Chorizo Salad with Grilled Halloumi

Lunch Salad

Another lunch option, which is perfect for taking to the library and cooked the night before/that morning and stored in tuppleware. Packing your own lunch obviously saves you money but also time - if you've got a deadline then you won't need to stand queueing for your lunch when you could be ploughing through that essay.

Things you'll need:

One Portion

*Warning - these measurements aren't exact because it really depends on how much you eat.

• Handful of New Potatoes
• 3 x Halloumi Slices
• 6 x Green Beans
• 5 x Cherry Tomatoes
• 1/5 Chorizo (Optional)

Price Overall: £1.65/£2.10

An average lunch bought on campus for me works out at around £4 - so immediately saving yourself cash!

Cooking Instructions:

1. Chop the New Potatoes in half and boil for 12 minutes until soft (but not dissolving!) Add the Green Beans for the final 3 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, Grill the sliced Halloumi, flipping over once so both sides are golden. (Keep you're eye on this - can burn easily!)
3. Drain the Green Beans and Potatoes and set aside. In the same pan quickly fry the Cherry Tomatoes and Chorizo (Optional) for 1 minute, then set aside also.
4. Slice the Grilled Halloumi and add everything together in a tuppleware container and cool before storing in the fridge, ready to take with you later on!

Asparagus, Courgette and Pesto Risotto

Asparagus, Courgette and Pesto Risotto

Another Vegetarian option with enough flavour for any carnivore to appreciate also. I ate a meal similar to this in the restaurant Cote and then recreated it for this blog, inspired by a Tesco recipe (here)
It was surprisingly easy, cheap and really tasty! Plus, it contains 3 of your 5 a day! Pack in the veg whilst enjoying the taste - not a combination most students (Veg-haters) can achieve.

Things you'll need:
Serves 2

• 175g Risotto Rice
• 50g Asparagus Trimmed (I sliced in half lengthways)
• 50g Courgette (Cut into chunks)
• 1 x Small Onion
• 1/2 Litre Vegetable Stock
• Tea Spoon Green Pesto
• Handful of Rocket (Optional)
• Grated Cheddar/Parmesan Cheese (Optional)

Approx Price Overall: £3.10/£3.90

Approx Per Serving: £1.55/£1.95

(Based on Tesco.com prices)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Melt oil or butter in a deep saucepan. Then fry the onions until transparent. Then add the Risotto Rice and a splash of stock. Once the rice has absorbed the added stock, add it more and more until you have used it all up. Remember, less is more: don't flood the rice and keep it on a low simmer.
2. Meanwhile, place the Courgette and Asparagus into boiling water and cook for 3 minutes, then drain.
3. Once the Risotto Rice has absorbed all the liquid and is soft and edible, add the vegetables, pesto and grated cheddar (optional) and stir together for one minute. Then serve with a handful of Rocket (Optional).

One of my cheapest blog recipes due to the absence of meat, and it wasn't a problem at all.  The only down side to this recipe is you have to be patient, as with any Risotto. Don't flood it with liquid, add it gradually and take it off the heat at just the right consistency: not too liquidy but not too dry. This was my first time cooking Risotto and it worked out fine!

Recipe dedicated to my dear friend Grace McCrum. A risotto lover, study-buddy and long term friend.

Warming Veggie Curry

This vegetarian dish is low calorie, low fat and delicious. So quick and easy to make and, best of all, CHEAP! A nice winter warmer and without the bloated meaty feeling afterwards, and packing in 3 of your 5-a-day!

Things you'll need:

Serves 2

• 1 x Small Butternut Squash. Peeled and cut into think slices
• 1 x Onion
• 1 x Low Fat Coconut Cream Can
• Half Pack French Beans
• 1 x Naan Bread
• 1 Tbsp Thai Red Curry Paste
• Olive Oil

Price Overall: £2.89 (Approx)

Per Serving: £1.45 (Approx)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Heat Oil in a pan and gently fry Butternut Squash and Onion for 5 minutes until golden. Add the Curry Paste and stir for 1 minute more
2. Mix the Coconut Cream with 300ml of Boiling Water. Pour into the pan and Simmer for 10 minutes
3. Add the Beans to the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes more until everything is tender. Serve with warm Naan Bread.

This meal is really delicious and you don't really miss the meat! And any Vegetarians reading, I urge you to try this one! 

Somerset Stew and Mash (Veggie Option too!)

I have literally just put my empty bowl in the dishwasher and immediately felt the need to blog this recipe. A recipe I found on BBC Good Food (here) with my own studenty spin on it. This recipe cooks for 3-4 people so it's great to save and freeze for a day when you're in a rush! This is actually a Vegetarian dish, but as I have a bit of a soft spot for meat, I did add Chorizo to this one - although it would still be delicious without.

Things you'll need:

(Serves 4)

• 1 Onion Chopped Finely
• 1 Garlic Clove (Optional)
• 1 Leek Chopped
• 1 Carrot Chopped
• 1 Can of Butter beans
• 1 Can of Cannelloni Beans
• 1 x Tinned Chopped Tomatoes
• 1 x Vegetable Stock Cube dissolved in 250ml Boiling Water
• Splash of Oil
• 30g Chorizo Chopped (Optional)

(1 x Potato per person for Mash, also Optional)

Price per serving: 64p

Including Chorizo and Mash: £1.05

Cooking Instructions:

1. Fry the Onion, Garlic, Leek and Carrot in Oil in a Frying Pan on a low heat until tender but not coloured. 
2. Add all the other ingredients and simmer for 20-25 minutes until sauce has thickened.
3. (Optional) Boil potato(es) under tender, then add butter and mash with a splash of milk.

A super quick, easy, winter warming and my cheapest recipe I've blogged to date!! Totally student friendly and delicious.

A New Breakfast Option

Fruity Smoothies

This combination of Strawberries, Kiwi Fruit, Passion Fruit and Mango all blended together produces a delicious fruit smoothie as an alternative Breakfast option for those health-conscious students. And don't be put off by the colour, as a wise person once told me a healthy meal is one which is as colourful as possible!

There are a lot of false presumptions about fruit smoothies. I did my research before putting together one myself, and it seems that yes, the manufactured Smoothie companies pack high amounts of additives and sugars into them to make them 'tastier', but it is far healthier to make your own from scratch as you know exactly what you're putting into them. So that's just what I did!

The second presumption about fruit smoothies is that they are horrendously expensive (and therefore way out of us students's reach!) This is true to a certain extent, but it was when I saw how a friend of mine made her morning smoothies that I changed my mind. If I were to blend whole apples, mangoes, passion fruit, etc, then Yes, this would eventually cost me an arm and a leg. And fruit doesn't exactly have the largest use-by date either. So, this is how I did it: Frozen Fresh Fruit. Nothing added and nothing taken away, they are used for lots of different things such as home made deserts and decoration on food. But they also make delicious smoothies without any worry of going out of date! 

Each Pack of Frozen Fruit costs £2 in Tesco (See Here). I normally buy two different ones and I get around 8 smoothies out of them - that's 50p a smoothie and a weeks breakfasts sorted! Not as bad as you thought?

I personally like to mix and match: I buy a 'Tropical Fruit' selection, for example, and also a 'Smoothie Selection' and have a small handful of each. Unfortunately, you do have to cheat slightly by adding some Juice (any flavour will do) to make it pourable and drinkable! Juice does tend to have added sugar and, unfortunately, I've found this is only really avoided in the more expensive brands. But no more than 90kcal per glass, and you're likely to have less than that in your smoothie. 

Gradually add the juice and blend with the frozen fruit and there you go! You have a delicious, ice cold, low calorie, 1 of your 5 a day fruit smoothie to start your day!

(Optional: I also add granola into mine to keep me going that bit longer! Don't blend it but stir in at the very end. Enjoy!)