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,
Lots of love,
(broke) Masterchef Mel.
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