.hungry&poor. student food

Cheap, easy, healthy dinners. Breakfasts you thought could only be made in trendy Richmond cafes. Hang over cures. Essentials for your pantry. Lunchbox ideas (don’t scoff, the lunch box is back). Dinner party menus. Cocktails on a budget....

[hungryandpoor]

What they do to food

There once was a time when peaches were peaches. Pietro Porcu remembers this time. In Sardinia, where he was born, a man with a microphone and a ute would sell peaches you could sniff from 100 metres.

Completely scary article on what happens to our fruit and veg at the supermarket! Time to go to the farmers market instead.

[hungryandpoor]

On Living Below the Line..

This week Paula, Nicole and I participated in Live Below the Line, eating on only $2 each per day to raise money for education in Cambodia, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea. 

It was an amazing experience that gave us a small insight into the lives of those living in extreme poverty and so far we’ve raised $1900! We are so grateful to everyone who donated, it really made it worth it. We’d love to make it to $2000, so please consider donating here if you haven’t already. 

Here’s what we learnt:

Being in a team in everything in a challenge like this. We spent most of the week on placement in a motel in Healesville, which meant being together a lot of the time. While there were some draw backs to the motel lyf (we only had a microwave to cook with and tupperware to eat from!) being together was a huge help. Nicole kept reminding us how many teachers and students we were helping, Paula kept up the social media posts, which kept the donations rolling in and I stopped us eating all the carrots on day 1! Having $30 between us meant we could invest in more variety too. Comparing our meals to those of others, we realised how much worse it could’ve been!

You cannot be both full and healthy on $2/day. As dietetics students we prioritized having some fruit and veg. But the amount of bread and pasta we had to have to stay full (and butter and salt we needed to add flavour) was truly sickening! I’m not about to go paleo on you, but supermarket bread is yuck. On day two we ate 5 (!) pieces of crappy bread and wow I felt awful. By day 4 and 5 I had chosen hunger over bread and pasta!!

It takes a lot of planning to eat as well as we did. Yes, I’ll admit it, we did well. We had enough food and got in some fruit, veg and taste occasionally. But we went to Coles, Woolworth and Aldi at least three times each! Nicole and I spent hours on day 1 shopping, wondering back and forth from store to store in our hungry, caffeine deprived haze. We made lists and tables, planned every cent and meal and even saved up a few dollars for the last day to buy what we wanted most (fruit!) We know that most people living below the poverty line wouldn’t have the luxury of having quite so much time to plan and shop. 

Caffeine withdrawal sucks.  As cappuccino addicts, we got some serious headaches over the first couple of days.  We had planned to buy green tea to get us through but couldn’t afford it in the end. Our LBL coffee (cups of hot water) just didn’t quite cut it. 

We are so lucky. More than anything else, we are full of gratitude. We know we lead privileged lives, but there is no reminder quite like a week of living below the line. 

Not only can we afford excellent food, but luxuries like coffee and brunch and wine. Not only did we get to go to school, but we have the privileged of being able to go to uni as well. ‘Lucky’ doesn’t quite seem to cut it.

So it is with gratitude that we finish Live Below the Line, gratitude for everything we have in our lives and gratitude for all those who donated to provide education for those who are less fortunate than we are. 

This mornings coffee was quite possibly the best ever. From now on, each morning, I’ll try to take a moment to remember how lucky I am to have the small luxury of being able to buy myself a coffee. 

Here’s what we bought:

6 bananas, 1 bag odd bunch carrots, 2 broccoli florets, 3 apples, 1 pumpkin

Pasta, wholegrain bread, white bread, baked beans

Pasata, butter, salt, peanut butter, cookies, noodle soup mix

And here’s what we ate:

Breakfasts: None/ toast with pb and banana/banana with pb

Lunches: Baked beans on toast/ soup and bread

Dinners: Pasta w passata/ pasta with broccoli/ steamed carrot and broccoli

[hungryandpoor]

Life lessons and pumpkin with crispy sage burnt butter

Things I have learnt this year #521: I wasn't being as healthy as I thought

I'm trying not to go on yet another rant about how my vegie box has changed my life  (you can see the first one here), but once I attempted to get through a modest box of vegetables in a week and could barley manage it, I wondered why. What was I eating so much of that there was no room for vegetables?

Quite simply it was bread and pasta. And multigrain/wholemeal/rye bread and pasta with stacks of healthiness on top, but my breakfasts and lunches was based on bread and too often my dinners of pasta. I know lots of people are the same. Some people go for noodles, rice or potatoes instead but it's the same idea. Pick a carb, add a meat, then season with vegetables. It's easy to shop for and to plan. But it's a trap.

Don't worry I'm not about to go all carb-police on you, I still eat bread and couldn't live without pasta. But I have reformed. While bread and pasta are not inherently unhealthy (phew!) they shouldn't be taking the place of delicious, nutritious veggies. 

So now instead of starting to plan my meals based on a carb then a meat, I start with a vegetable and build from there. It means I'm eating more veggies and less meat, wheat and processed foods. And completely unexpectedly, I am also spending less money on food. 

Try it. Here’s a lovely lunch based on pumpkin to get you started. 

Need:

Pumpkin, cut into cubes (No idea how much, a big hunk?!)

2 tbs Butter

Sage

Spinach/other leaves

Do:

You can choose to roast the pumpkin but I was too hungry so I steamed it-  put the cut pumpkin in a microwave safe bowl with 2 tbs of water and cover, leaving a small gap for the steam to escape. Cook on high 2 minutes then stir and cook a further 2 minutes. (Times might vary based on type of pumpkin- I had 2 different pumpkins and one took longer?!)

Put butter in small pan on medium heat, once hot add the sage leaves and cook until slightly crispy, this will only take a few minutes. Remove from the pan and pour over pumpkin and leaves. 

Stats:

Health: Butter scares a lot of people! And there is still strong evidence that shows that high saturated fat intake is linked to high blood cholesterol + cardiovascular disease. A butter is essentially just sat fat! However, the link with saturated fat from dairy however has been disproved as full fat dairy is actually protective against heart disease! But butter is a slightly different category than milk, cheese and yoghurt! So while covering your pumpkin in butter occasionally will be fine for many people, I would still recommend trying the margarine variation if you have high cholesterol or other risk factors for heart disease. I promise it still tastes good!

Cost: Pumpkin $2, Sage $3, Butter or Nuttelex Pulse $7 = $12

Goodness: Pumpkins from my organic veggie box (in season at the moment), sage from the garden and organic butter. 

Variations: Somewhat surprisingly, this actually works with margarine as well! I like Nutlex Pulse, it’s a local brand and this one contain plant sterols, although it is a bit more expensive than the other brands. 

[hungryandpoor]

Green Pasta

Full disclosure: this is a variation of a Donna Hay Recipe from her amazing app, which you should absolutely download. Our version has somehow progressively become more and more veggies and less pasta! We’ve started make a big batch of this during the week to take for lunch (and for the occasional last minute dinners.) 

It is one of those recipes that’s both delicious enough + healthy enough to have every single week. 

Need:

1 cup (uncooked) pasta

1 tbs butter

1 tbs olive oil

2 clove garlic, finely diced

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 bunch broccolini/ floret of broccoli

1 bunch asparagus

2 cups baby spinach

1/4 avo

50g parmesan cheese, shaved

Juice and rind of one lemon

1/4 cup roast almonds, crushed

Do:

Put the pasta on to cook. Meanwhile:

Heat the butter and olive oil in a fry pan, add garlic and cook until begins to brown. Add broccoli/lini and turn up heat. Sautee for about 3 minutes then add stock and cook off. Add asparagus and cook both until desired texture- i like to keep them quite crunchy. Take of heat and add spinach while hot.

Combine pasta, broc + asparagus, avo, cheese, lemon and almonds. 

Serve hot or cold and top with balsamic vinegar and a dash of extra virgin olive oil.  

Serves 2.

Stats:

Health: A great way to get a range of green stuff on your plate! Full of vitamins and fibre. You could try a wholemeal pasta for extra points but it tastes like cardboard and there’s so little of it in here anyway! I think it’s a 10/10 choice. 

Cost: That is a long list of ingredients isn’t it?! It works out to be much more cost effective if you make it for a weeks worth of lunches!! Promise.

Goodness: A vegetarian meal is like a little favour you do for the planet!

Variations: Leave out some green stuff or add in some other green stuff as you like. Brussel sprouts or zucchini would be great in this, you might just need to adjust the cooking times. 

[hungryandpoor]

Lunch Box Frittatas

[hungryandpoor]

Lunch box frittatas

Revelation: It's amazing how much you can achieve on a Sunday when you're not hungover. 

Today I have bought groceries, made a weeks worth of frittata lunch packs and breakfast bircher plus a pasta sauce, written a blog post AND managed to go out for breaky without ordering something covered in melted cheese. Winning all round really. I should try this more often. 

But just in case you are suffering in an alcohol induced world-of-pain, there's still time to do something productive and start the week feeling like you have your shit together. You can even whip these up in half an hour while you wait for your take away pizza. Deal? 

Need:

12 free-range eggs 

1 small sweet potato 

2 small mushrooms, diced 

Bunch asparagus, diced 

100g fetta, diced 

12 or so cherry tomatoes, halved 

Basil 

Makes approximately 9 small frittatas that will keep up to 1 week in the fridge. 

Do:

Cut the sweet potato in cubes, leaving the skin on. Place into a microwave safe container and add a splash of water. Microwave for 2 minutes with the lid placed on top but not sealed. 

Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk with a fork until well combined. Divide mixture into well greased muffin tins, leaving at least 1 cm at the top of each tin. 

Evenly divine veggies and feta between tins. 

Cook for approximately 15 mins on medium heat or until egg is firm. 

Allow to cook at room temperature before refrigerating. 

Serve hot or cold with a side salad as an easy lunch on the go!

Stats:

Health: These are a great option for a healthy lunch as they're packed with a mix of veggies! My boyfriend was a bit worried about having so many eggs as he has high cholesterol, and knows that eggs have a bit of dietary cholesterol. However, blood cholesterol levels are more affected by saturated and trans fats that dietary cholesterol itself. Evidence shows that eating up to 7 eggs per week has no increase in risk of heart disease. Which is great news as eggs are also a excellent source of a range of other vitamins and minerals.

Cost:  $11 for the frittatas plus i spent another $3 on salad mix to go with them. So altogether $14 for 5 lunches, less than $3 each day for a pretty delicious lunch, I'm impressed!

Goodness: Try to choose in season veg and buy local free-range eggs. 

Variations: My favourite thing about these is that you could use any veggies, and it's a great way to use up leftovers too. Next time I'm trying roast capsicum, spinach and ricotta!

[hungryandpoor]

"Which means that a beef-and-leaf paleo diet is the worst choice going, environmentally speaking"

[hungryandpoor]

MUSHROOMS ON TOAST- MY NEW FAVOURITE DINNER

[hungryandpoor]

Mushrooms on toast- my new favourite dinner

When I first started getting my veggie box from Ceres fair food earlier this year, I quickly developed a love-hate relationship with it. I loved getting a massive box of organic, seasonal produce every week, I loved how affordable it was and I loved the excitement of seeing what fresh, organic surprises were packed in that recycled cardboard box of goodness every Thursday afternoon. But I hated the weekly bunch of silverbeet that would inevitably droop before I could use it - I mean how much spanikopita can you really have?! And I hated the bags of mushrooms, masses of broccoli and the excess of cabbage. How would I ever get through them before the next lot appeared?

I started to realise that before I got my veggie box, I ate the same boring fruit and vegetables every week. Mostly bananas, rocket, avo and tomatoes, punctuated by a few carrots and beetroots occasionally. Of course these are all delicious and healthy but the lack of variety was uninspiring and actually quite unhealthy too. 

So the veggie box became a weekly mystery box challenge. It forced me to be creative, to cook and eat the vegetables I normal didn't bother with. I got inspired. I learnt to freeze the silverbeet and add it to soups, I learnt that a box of steamed broccoli is an easy and yummy lunch and I learnt that mushrooms on toast is my new favourite dinner. The only thing I'm still struggling with is the cabbage but now I look forward to the challenge, you never know, it might just become my new favourite vegetable. 

It's safe to say my love-hate relationship has disappeared, I'm completely head over heels. If you're not yet convinced, perhaps try this simple Italian inspired mushroom dish, the love child of my veggie romance.

Need:

1 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced

Juice of one lemon

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Handful of basil, finely sliced

1 small clove of garlic, finely diced *optional/for single people !!

Crusty delicious bread, toasted

Salt to taste

Do:

Combine the mushies, lemon juice, basil, olive oil and garlic and let marinate for 5-10 minutes. Serve on any fancy toasted bread. I like a good olive and rosemary loaf. Salt to taste. 

Note the leftovers go a bit slimy if you leave them in the liquid, but if you drain them you can use the mushroom infused oil as a delicious salad dressing and the mushrooms on pizzas

* I've been known to wait till the bf is out of town to make this so I can go crazy with the garlic

[hungryandpoor]

R29 Cooking School: Back To The Basics

[hungryandpoor]

Graham Hill: Why I'm a weekday vegetarian TED

[hungryandpoor]

Kangaroo Sausage Rolls

[hungryandpoor]

Kangaroo and Carrot Sausage Rolls

I won't blame you if the thought of eating skippy doesn't make you salivate. I was the same. As a ten year old I stole the kangaroo meat from the freezer and hid it in the laundry in protest. A few days later an awful smell begun to permeate the house, it didn't take long for meat to go bad in hot, outback Australia. Eventually the meat was recovered and I remembered I'd hidden it behind the beer in a moment of morality. My mother likes to remind me this when I go into full marketing mode for my now favourite red meat. Kangaroo is lean, packed with iron and zinc, one of the cheapest meats around. Its also juicy and delicious if cooked right what's more they're free range and sustainable. Surely you can't beat that? I'm clearly a convert. 

Ps. these are sausage rolls, i make them and freeze them for emergency meals and of course to take to the footy. 

Need:

500g kangaroo mince

2 cloves garlic, finely diced

2 small onions, diced

3 carrrots diced

3 mushrooms diced

2 sticks celery, diced

2 chilis (optional, i used fresh red jalepenos)

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (I used 1 grain bread roll, blended)

3 sheets reduced fat puff pastry

Flaxseeds (or sesame or poppy-seeds, optional)

Do:

Combine filling and roll into long sausages. Cut pastry in half and add one roll to each half. Roll up and sprinkle with seeds. 

Bake in a hot oven until golden on top and serve sliced. 

These can be frozen prior to cooking and cooked from frozen as an easy meal on the go. In fact I find they cook better if frozen first!

Makes 6 long rolls (note these are much smaller than the picture shows i found the bigger size a bit dry)

For those of you overseas:

I'm not sure of the availability of kangaroo internationally and I'd imagine it is quite a bit more expensive post-export as well. Feel free to substitute with other local mince meat. I hear the impala here in Zim is good, but i've yet to try it. 

[hungryandpoor]

Meg Jay: Why 30 is not the new 20 | Video on TED.com

[hungryandpoor]

Stop, cook and listen

[hungryandpoor]

Quick and easy zucchini soup

My first two veggie boxes had two zucchinis each and while I have nothing against zuccs, they just sat in the bottom of my fridge for a few weeks looking sad. Four was too many to grill or bake or do anything with. Until I remembered that O's mum makes a delish zucchini and cream side dish.  So I based this soup on that, only I added garlic and put it in the blender. It was too easy and I used all the zucchinis. Bam. 

Need:

4 zucchinis, top and tailed then roughly sliced

3 cloves garlic, seperated but in there skins still

2 tbs low fat cream or greek yoghurt

Do:

Put the oven on high and throw in your garlics. Put the zucchini in a microwave proof container with a good splash of water, cook on high for 10 minutes with the lid on. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing the lid as the steam is hot! 

Check the garlic is soft and squeeze them out in to the blender with zucchini (along with any water left in the bowl) and cream. Blend until you're happy with the consistency and add salt and pepper to taste.  

Serve hot with crust bread

-Note: this isn't enough soup for 2 main meals, you'll need bread and maybe a salad or something on the side. Works well as a lunch with some bread. - 

Stats:

Health: I never buy cream, it's one of those things I think of as forbidden, like soft drinks and chips, I just never buy them. But mostly that's because I don't especially want them or need them to make a nutritious, delicious meal. Where am I going with all this? Cream is allowed. Don't feel guilty- there are four whole zucchini's there!! And it is low fat and there is only the smallest bit! 

Cost: As I said the zuccs (and garlic too actually) are in the box so I don't know the exact prices but if store bought the whole thing would cost around $5- yep crazy bargain!

Goodness: organic, local veggies

Variations: Feel free to skip the garlic if you cbf but it might be a little bland, the garlic adds a nice warmth and full flavour- don't worry it's not overpowering - my garlic hating boyfriend even likes it.

Swap the cream/greek yoghurt for natural yoghurt, milk, cream cheese, low fat sour cream, vegan cream cheese or leave it out all together if you have to!  

[hungryandpoor]

Quick and easy zucchini soup