Something for Vegetarians

Last Friday, I explored the wonders of $3 mince and how to stretch it over 4 delicious meals. This week, I'm going totally vegetarian to show you the yummy alternatives to meat dishes.

Vegetarian meals are often given a bad reputation for being bland and/or complicated. To be sure, I stayed well away from veggie recipes early in my student days because they all looked awfully boring or involved quinoa (which I still don't know how to pronounce properly). So here's some proper tasty veggie meals that will make you wonder why you still need meat. 

The following recipe is delicious hot or cold, capable of feeding a family but perfect for leftover-lunches.

Roast Vegetable Frittata

Feeds: Myself and Hungry Boyfriend with leftovers for lunch.

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Total Cost: $4.35

Ingredients:
- 1 large potato (40c)
- 1/2 sweet potato (70c)
- 1/2 red capsicum (25c)
- 1 zucchini (70c)
- 4 eggs ($1.20)
- 1 cup milk (25c - $1/L)
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese (75c - $3/500g tub)*
- Handful of chopped sage and mint (free)
- Salt and pepper, to taste (less than 5c)
- Splash of oil (less than 5c)


Method:
1. Chop vegetable into small, bite-sized chunks.
2. Toss chunks in a mixing bowl with a splash of oil and sprinkle in salt and pepper. Lay veggies out on a baking tray and bake at 200 degrees C for 20 minutes or until just cooked.
3. Beat the eggs, milk, herbs and cheese together and pour into a greased baking tin (preferably a loaf tin or smallish cake tin) with the cooked veggies.
4. Bake at 180 degrees C for 30 - 40 minutes or until set.

*Note: Ricotta or cream cheese is nicer, but cottage cheese works well for less. 

The next one is a dish I stole modified from 'My Kitchen Rules'. The original was made by Jenna and Joanna with white wine and fancy Parmesan crisps. Unfortunately, I drank all my wine whilst cooking and couldn't manage cheesy crisps from my powdered Parmesan, so here's the result!

Pumpkin, Pea and Corn Risotto

Feeds: Myself and Hungry Boyfriend lunch for about 3 days. 

Cooking Time: 30 - 40 minutes

Total Cost: $4.65

Ingredients:
- 400g pumpkin ($1.70)
- 1/2 brown onion (35c)
- 2 cloves garlic (15c)
- 1 cup aborio (risotto) rice (75c - $3/kg)
- 4 cups (1L) chicken or vegetable stock ($1.20)
- 6 sage leaves (free from my pot plant)
- 1 cup frozen peas and corn (30c)
- 2 tablespoons butter (less than 10c)
- A few shakes of powdered Parmesan (less than 10c)

Method:
1. Chop pumpkin into small, bite-sized chunks. Finely chop onion, garlic and sage leaves.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan and gently cook onion, garlic and pumpkin until onion is soft.

3. Add chicken stock, rice and sage leaves. Simmer for 10 - 15 minutes.
4. When rice has almost absorbed all the stock, stir in the frozen peas and corn. Simmer for 5 - 10 more minutes.
5. When rice has completed absorbed all the stock (you should be feeling the rice catch on the bottom of the saucepan when it's completely done), stir in Parmesan and serve.

And finally, a meal that's not only vegetarian, but vegan too! It's also the cheapest recipe here, earning extra brownie points. Unfortunately, this amazing concoction is not my own, but taken from 'A Girl Called Jack' cooking blog. It's pure genius and I highly recommend everyone check it out on  http://agirlcalledjack.com/. In my own version, I've substituted apricots for sultanas (my all-time favourite study snack) and coriander for mint. As I mentioned in my earlier post, the reason for this is that coriander is extremely difficult to grow whereas mint is stupidly easy. Enjoy!

Vegan Chickpea Curry

Feeds: Myself and Hungry Boyfriend two helpings each (it's pretty darn tasty!)

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Total Cost: $2.30

Ingredients:
- 400g tin chickpeas (80c)
- 1/2 brown onion (35c)
- 2 cloves garlic (15c)
- 2 chillies (free from my pot plant)
- 400g tin diced tomatoes (80c)
- Small handful sultanas (less than 5c - $3.80/kg)
- Sprinkle cumin (less than 5c)
- Sprinkle vegetable stock powder or a dash liquid stock (less than 5c)
- Handful chopped mint leaves (free from my pot plant)

- 1 cup rice, cooked with 2 cups boiling water in the microwave for 10 minutes ($2.60/kg - you can figure it out!)

Method:
1. Chop onion, garlic and chillies. Heat oil in a saucepan and fry gently until onion is soft.
2. Add cumin and sultanas.
3. Add tomatoes and chickpeas to the pan.
4. Stir in mint leaves and vegetable stock.
5. Bring to the boil and simmer until the sauce is a desirable consistency (not too watery, you want to be able to see the chickpeas poking out of the top).
6. Serve over cooked rice.

Stay tuned for more yummy recipes, I'm trying out all my winter warmers this week so they should be up sometime next week!

Lots of Love,
(broke) Masterchef Mel

4 Meals With Mince

Ah mince! Isn't mince great? Unless you're a vegetarian (and I promise I've got something for you guys next week!), mince is a pretty solid staple for meals on a budget. But what does one cook with mince, besides plain old Spag Bol?

When asked, my (creative) boyfriend managed to produce a single recipe, as follows;

Raw Mince- Feeds 1

Ingredients:
-500g mince ($3)

1. Take mince from packet.
2 .Devour like the hungry animal you are.
3. (Optional) Dispose of wrapping in a safe, eco-friendly manner. Eating it can also work.

 
...maybe not?

So instead, I've created 4 interesting-yet-easy mince recipes for under $5.

This is a perfect winter-warmer (after all, winter is coming) because not only does it literally warm you up, the garlic/chilli combo helps fight colds :)

Chilli Con Carne

Feeds: Myself and Hungry Boyfriend.

Cooking Time: 20 - 30 minutes

Total Cost: $3.10 

Ingredients:
- 250g mince ($1.50 - $3/500g)
- 1/2 brown onion (35c)
- 2 cloves garlic (15c)
- 1/2 capsicum (25c - 50c per capsicum)
- 2 chillies (free from my pot plant)
- 3 tablespoons tomato sauce (less than 10c)
- 1/2 cup beef stock or 1 stock cube dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water (roughly 30c - price will vary depending on whether you have liquid stock or stock cubes, what brand you buy, etc)
- Sprinkle chilli powder (less than 5c - optional but tasty)
- Sprinkle pepper (less than 5c - optional but tasty)
- 1/2 cup rice, cooked with 1 cup boiling water in the microwave for 10 minutes ($2.60/kg - you do the math!)
- Few tablespoons refried beans, warmed up to serve (35c)

Method:
1. Chop onion, garlic, capsicum and chillies finely. Add onion and garlic to a saucepan with a little oil and fry for a few minutes until you've got a lovely smell coming from the pan.
2. Add capsicum and chillies, frying for a few more minutes until the onion is nice and soft.
3. Add mince and fry until mince has browned all over, breaking up chunks with your wooden spoon/spatula/stirring utensil.
4. Add tomato sauce, pepper, chilli powder and stock.
5. Simmer on high for 10 minutes or until stock has reduced to make a desirable sauce.
6. Serve over cooked rice with warmed refried beans.


The next recipe is a perfect example of a proper Sunday-night fallback. It's scarily easy to cook (I would even leave the hungry boyfriend in charge of it) and possibly one of the cheapest meals I know of. Hungry Boyfriend likes to sprinkle a handful of cheese over the top of his, but I think it's yummy just the way it is.

Shepard's Pie 

Feeds: Myself and Hungry Boyfriend

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Total Cost: $3.60

Ingredients:
- 1 sweet potato (around 80c)
- 250g mince ($1.50)
- 1/2 brown onion (35c)
- 2 cloves garlic (15c)
- Squirt tomato sauce (less than 5c)
- Squirt Worcestershire sauce (less than 5c)
- 1/2 cup stock (30c)
- 2 tablespoons butter (less than 10c)
- 1/2 cup frozen peas and corn (30c)

Method:
1. Chop onion and garlic finely. Add to a frypan with a little oil and cook until smelling lovely.
2. Add mince to the pan and cook until just brown.
3. Add tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, stock, peas and corn. Leave to simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, dice the sweet potato (leave the skin on, all the best nutrients are found right under the skin plus you don't have to fiddle around with it).
5. Throw the diced sweet potato in a saucepan of boiling water and boil until soft. When your fork goes easily through the chunks, drain and mash. Stir in the butter for a lovely creamy taste.
6. Spoon the mince mixture into a circular baking dish and top with the mashed potato. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes and serve hot.

Sadly, there's no picture for this one as we ate it almost as soon as it was out of the oven. Here's another cute picture of my dog instead.

Meatballs are a pretty fail-safe mince recipe. You can dress them up to be almost anything you want - sprinkle some lemongrass powder into the mixture and serve them with a chicken stock-broth over coconut rice for a Thai flavour; some curry powder with rice and poppadums if you want an Indian-style meal; classic Italian with tomato sauce, pasta and loads of fresh basil. Here, I've taken a Moroccan approach with great success.

Moroccan Meatballs 

Feeds: Myself and Hungry Boyfriend.

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Total Cost: $4.10

Ingredients:
- 250g mince ($1.50)
- 1 egg (30c)
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (roughly 20c)
- Sprinkle paprika (less than 5c)
- Sprinkle cumin (less than 5c)
- Sprinkle pepper (less than 5c)
- Handful of mint (free from my pot plant)*
- 1/2 brown onion (35c)
- 2 cloves garlic (15c)
- 1 tin diced tomatoes (80c)
- Squirt tomato sauce (less than 5c)
- 1 cup beef stock (30c)
- 1 cup couscous, cooked with 1 cup boiling water and left to stand (30c - $1.75/500g packet)

Method:
1. Mix mince, egg, breadcrumbs, spices and mint together in a bowl.
2. Form small balls from the mixture. Add more breadcrumbs if needed.
3. Heat a little oil in a large saucepan. . Gently fry onion and garlic (you should know the drill by now), then add tomatoes, stock and tomato sauce.
4. Gently place the meatballs in the pan, being careful that they don't fall apart or splash hot sauce everywhere.
5. Simmer for 5 - 10 minutes, stirring gently until meatballs are cooked through.
6. Serve over couscous.

*Note: Coriander would probably work with this recipe better, but coriander happens to be exceedingly difficult to grow. Mint, on the other hand, is insanely easy to grow and still tasty.


And finally, Moussaka. This is the dish you make to show off because it sounds exotic and complicated but is
actually super-simples. 

Moussaka 

Feeds: Myself and Hungry Boyfriend for dinner, lunch and dinner the next day.

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Total Cost: $5.50 with pasta sauce/$5 with diced tomato-herb concoction

Ingredients:

Base:
- 1 eggplant (60c - $2 for 3)
- 3 large potatoes (roughly 30c each)

Tomato Sauce:
- 250g mince ($1.50)
- 1/2 brown onion (35c)
- 2 cloves garlic (15c)
- 1 bottle tomato pasta sauce ($1.50)
OR make your own tomato sauce with
- 1 can diced tomatoes (80c)
- Pinch mixed herbs (less than 5c)
- Pinch sugar (less than 5c)
- Pinch salt (less than 5c)

- Cheese, to top (50c - be generous!)

Method:
1. Slice the eggplant and potatoes into roughly 1cm thick slices. Layer the slices (eggplant first, then potatoes on top) on the bottom of a large casserole-type dish.
2. For the tomato sauce; Chop the onion and garlic finely, then add to a pan with a little oil and fry gently. Add mince and fry until brown.
3. Add the pasta sauce/tomato-herb-sugar-salt concoction to the pan and simmer for a few minutes. Pour over the potato layer.
4. Top with a handful of tasty cheese, cover with foil and bake in an 180 degree C oven for 45 minutes or until potato and eggplant is soft.

Again, I must apologise for being too lazy to take a photo of this recipe. Since you're probably sick of pictures of my dog, I'll throw in a picture of the delicious bread I baked this morning and get you excited for my 'Procrastibaking' post coming up in the next week or so :)

Delicious garlic, lemon and herb bread. Mmmmmmm...

Also, I must apologise for my mistake last week. I said I calculate all prices off Coles SmartBuys, but failed to mention that I calculate my fruit and veggie prices from West End Market. There's a fair amount of difference in the prices, so if you can, definitely get to your local market! 

Best of luck in the kitchen!
Lots of love,

(broke) Masterchef Mel.

"Spice" up Taco Tuesdays

Before I moved out of home, I despised Taco Tuesdays.

Don't get me wrong, I love tacos. They're the perfect student meal; quick, easy and very cheap. It wasn't the tacos themselves that I found so offensive, it was simply that my family and I had eaten tacos every Tuesday for as long as I could remember. And it drove me insane.

So before you drive yourself insane with the same old tacos EVERY FLIPPING TUESDAY, try some of these Mexican twists.

The following recipe is my Mum's creation, and my boyfriend's favourite. It might be a bright idea to hide the leftovers in the back of the fridge because it's seriously yummy! 

Mexican Lasagne 

Feeds: Myself and Hungry Boyfriend for dinner, lunch and then dinner the next day

Cooking Time: 20 - 30 minutes

Total Cost: $12.85

Ingredients:
- 1/2 packet tortillas (roughly $1.50 - $3.15 for 1 packet)
- 500g mince, beef or chicken ($3/500g)
- 1 packet Mexican seasoning ($1.55)
- 2 chillies (free - pot plant)
- 1 bottle salsa sauce ($1.70)
- 1 large tub ricotta cheese ($4.20 - you can use cottage cheese, which is cheaper, or sour cream, which is tastier, instead if you like)
- 1 onion (70c)
- Handful of grated cheese (roughly 20c)

Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Chop onion and chillies finely.
2. Add a little oil to a frypan and gently fry the onions, chillies and mince until the mince is brown and the onions are soft. Add the packet of seasoning with water according to the instructions on the back.
3. Soak tortillas in water for a a few minutes.
4. Layer tortillas, mince, salsa sauce and ricotta until you run out.
5. Top with grated cheese.
6. Bake in the oven until the cheese has melted and browned.


Unfortunately, I don't have a picture for this one since my boyfriend ate it all before I had a chance. I'll throw in a cute picture of my dog instead:

This next one is a variation on a recipe I found floating around Facebook. You may already have the Facebook version, however, I've made a few adjustments to make it more student-friendly and less American (no offense guys!). It looks complicated from the amount of ingredients, but it's actually super-easy!

Taco Pie 

Feeds: Myself and Hungry Boyfriend for dinner with leftovers

Cooking time: 30 - 45 minutes

Total Cost: $7.90

Ingredients:

Base
- 2 tablespoons butter (roughly 10c)
- 1/4 cup plain flour (5c)
- 1/4 self raising flour (5c)
- 1/4 cup boiling water (free, unless you count the electricity used to boil the kettle...)
- 1/2 packet Mexican seasoning ($1.55 per packet)

Filling
- 250g mince ($1.50 - $3/500g packet)
- 1/2 tin refried beans ($1.35 - use the other half for the Frijoles below)
- 1/2 packet Mexican seasoning (as mentioned above)
- 1/2 brown onion (35c)
- 2 cloves garlic (15c)
- 2 chillies (free - pot plant)
- 1 bottle salsa sauce ($1.70)
- Handful of grated cheese (20c)

- Corn, to serve (85c ea.)
- Sprinkle of pepper (5c)


Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees Celsius.
2. Melt butter with the boiling water and mix with the flours and 1/2 packet of Mexican seasoning, reserving the other half. Knead on a lightly floured surface, rolling the dough out thinly (if you don't own a rolling pin, dust a wine or vodka bottle in flour and use that) and press into the bottom of a circular pan. Bake until golden-brown and firm.
3. (Interlude) If you like, butter 2 corn cobs and season with pepper. Place in oven with dough, turning regularly and you'll have a tasty side :)
4. Meanwhile; chop onion, garlic and chillies finely. Fry with mince in an oiled frypan until mince is brown and onion is soft. Add the remaining Mexican seasoning and water as per instructions.
5. By this time, the crust should be finished. Pour the mince mixture into the crust, top with beans, salsa and cheese and bake in oven until cheese has melted.
6. Serve with corn and refried beans on the side.


Finally, I reach my least-creative Taco Tuesday alternative. This one can easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the chicken, or vegan by eliminating the cheese. Again, this one looks complex but in actuality, is quite easy - although you may make a mess!

Fajitas and Frijoles 

Feeds: Myself and Hungry Boyfriend comfortably

Cooking time: 20 - 30 minutes

Total Cost: $8.80

Ingredients:

Fajitas
- 1 large chicken breast, sliced into strips ($2.75 - $11.10/4 breasts)
- 1/2 large capsicum, sliced into strips (25c - 50c ea.)
- 1 packet Mexican seasoning ($1.55)
- 1/2 brown onion, chopped finely (35c)
- 1/2 packet tortillas (roughly $.150 - $3.17 for 1 packet)

Frijoles
- 1/2 tin refried beans ($1.35)
- 1/2 tin diced tomatoes (80 per tin - use the other half for salsa)
- 2 chillies, chopped finely (free - pot plant)
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely (15c)

Salsa (optional)
- 1/2 tin diced tomatoes (see above)
- 10 leaves basil/coriander/whatever herbs you have OR pinch of mixed herbs (free OR $2/250g)
- Squirt tomato sauce (5c)
- Squirt lemon juice (5c)

Method:
1. For Frijoles; With a little oil, gently fry garlic and chillies together until fragrant. If you're doing the vegetarian version, you'll want to add you Mexican seasoning here. If not, add the refried beans and tomatoes.
2. Stir well and leave to simmer gently.
3. For Fajitas; With a little oil, gently fry onion and chicken together until the chicken is white all over, but not yet cooked. Add the capsicum and Mexican seasoning with water as per instructions.
4. Continue to stir and fry until chicken is cooked through.
5. For Salsa; Mix all ingredients together.
6. Serve on warmed tortillas.

 Sorry for the crappy photo, it's hard to make look good but it tastes amazing!

As you may have noticed, the secret to great Mexican is chillies. Guys, I cannot stress enough how beneficial it is growing your own herbs and chillies. Stuff like basil, mint, sage and chillies are expensive at the supermarkets and don't last long in your fridge. Yet, they're easy to grow (I should know, I've managed to kill a cactus once) and an inexpensive way to add flavour to your dinners. I'm sure all local markets have their share of seedlings, but West End Markets in Brisbane have stalls upon stalls of baby plants for $2 - $5. You've (almost) literally got nothing to lose!

Seedling - $2.50, Pot - $3 ea, Potting Mix - $4/25L

Having the freedom to add your own herbs to anything - Priceless

All the prices I've listed in this entry are based off Coles Smart Buys where available and the cheapest available option where Coles Smart Buys were not available :)

Best of luck with the recipes!
Lots of love,
(broke) Masterchef Mel

Spoil Mummy!

As I'm sure you all know *cough cough*, Mother's Day is this Sunday. I've heard (predominantly from mothers) that looking after your children is an exhausting job, and that they deserve to be rewarded with loads of flowers, chocolates, pressies, etc on Mothers Day.

While you may think that, like me, you were the perfect child and your mum should be thanking YOU for the privilege of raising you, you'll still be in trouble if you don't manage to produce a Mother's Day present. So what does one do when a Mother's Day present would mean spending all your weekly beer money? One whips up one (or more!) of these super-easy, super-cheap treats for Mum and pretend you put a lot of thought into it.

This following recipe is a My Kitchen Rules creation that I've student-ified. It tastes amazing and is a helluva lot easier than the MKR version! And although herbs like mint and coriander don't come cheap from the supermarket, growing your own in a little pot on the windowsill/balcony/bathtub costs around $2 for the initial seedling and about $3 for a half-decent pot from Kmart.


Breakfast Fritters (serves 2)

Ingredients:

- 1 cup frozen peas & corn
- 2 shallots
- 1 garlic clove
- A few leaves of coriander
- A few leaves of mint
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- Milk, to thicken

Yoghurt:

-  1/2 small carton plain yoghurt (use up the remaining yoghurt from making Tandoori Chicken Skewers from the first post!)

- A few leaves of mint

- A few leaves of coriander

Method:

1. Chop shallots, coriander leaves, mint leaves and garlic finely.

2. Place chopped in a bowl with peas & corn, flour and eggs. Mix well.

3. Add a little milk at a time, until a thick batter has formed. You want it to look similar to pancake batter. Thick, lumpy pancake batter with green bits in it. 

4. Cook on a non-stick frypan or bbq hotplate until golden brown.

5. For the yoghurt, mix chopped coriander and mint into the yoghurt.

6. Serve fritters hot with yoghurt.

Note: If you are like me and don’t actually own a non-stick frypan, cook your fritters on a toasted sandwich machine. This way, you won’t have to use tons of oil on your regular frypan and the mess is minimal! 

This next one is equally delicious as a whole cake or as muffins, but if you don't like coffee you may want to skip out that ingredient or add less.

Mocha Marble Muffins

Ingredients:

- 1 cup butter, softened

- 1/4 cup cooking chocolate (broken into pieces)

- 2 tablespoons strong, black coffee

- 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

- 1 cup caster sugar

- 4 eggs, beaten

- 2 tablespoons milk

- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 

Icing:

- 1 cup cooking chocolate (broken into pieces)

- 1 tablespoon butter

- 1 tablespoon coffee
- 2 heaped tablespoons of icing sugar

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease muffin tray.

2. Place chocolate and coffee in a bowl and melt over a saucepan of water. Alternatively, melt in the microwave (make sure you use a microwave-safe bowl), stirring every 15 seconds or so. Leave aside to cool slightly. 

3. Mix flour, eggs, butter and milk in a separate bowl. Beat until smooth.

4. Separate this mixture evenly into two bowls. Stir the chocolate/coffee mixture into one, and the vanilla essence into the other.

5. Drop spoonfuls of each mixture into the tin or cases and drag a skewer gently through the mixture to create a marbled effect. 

6. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool.

7. For the icing; melt the butter, chocolate and coffee together (over a saucepan or in the microwave) and stir in icing sugar.

8. Pour over the cooled muffins and leave to set before serving.

And finally, my favourite recipe ever! This one I stole from a friend, who continues to amaze me with her flawless cooking. Thanks Claire!

Claire's Garden-Variety Brownies

Ingredients:

- 1 cup butter

- 1 cup cocoa powder

- 4 eggs

- 2 cups caster sugar

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 3/4 cup self-raising flour

- 1 packet white chocolate chips (or you can use 1/2 cup of broken-up white cooking chocolate for chunkier chips)

Method:

1. Melt butter over a saucepan or in the microwave.

2. Mix in cocoa powder.

3. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

4. Beat in sugar and vanilla.

5. Mix in flour and choc chips.

6. Pour into a pan and bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 30 - 40 minutes. 

7. Cut into bite-sized pieces and serve with a sprinkle of icing sugar over the top.

Hopefully these babies will get you off the hook with Mum this weekend AND allow you a well-earned night at the pub. If all else fails, french toast is pretty foolproof.*

Lots of love (and a Happy Mother's Day)

(broke) Masterchef Mel

*Mel will not take responsibility if you actually mess up french toast. That's your own stupid fault, you idiot.