Little Students Cookbook

Just a little food blog ran by Chloe and Roxy. Technically Roxy isn't a student, but she knows the drill. Chloe is however a student. Chloe's Twitter and Roxy's Twitter

[studentnomnoms]

If I told you all what my weekend consisted of consumption wise you'd all be very disappointed in me (pear cidre, salt & vinegar twirls and pizza) :S So, unfortunately I have no marvelous recipes in which I rustled up whilst living the student life. I did however, panic buy some Whittards instant tea, it's stupidly expensive but stupidly tasty, so if you ever get a spare £5.50 (or fifteen quid if you fancy three...) Then I highly suggest buying one. The Damson Plum or Turkish Apple flavours are my personal favourites. Anyway, enough of expensive tea, that is NOT what students want to hear. I'm sorry I fail so badly at coming up with healthy, budget friendly meals. I swear I'll buck up my ideas and post more often! :P Roxy x x

[studentnomnoms]

Tomorrow I'm back in my student accommodation until Sunday so let's see what recipes I can counjer up and how much food I can steal off other people as I have none of my own! And the kitchen better be clean!

[studentnomnoms]

I also tend to carry little sweets/chocolates around with me. Cause I am CONSTANTLY eating. My Mum says I'm like a gremlin and need to be fed often. So little sugar boosts are good. Don't go OTT with the chocolate though, don't wanna spoil your dinner! ;D Roxy x x

[studentnomnoms]

If I can give any food related advice as a current non student it would be;to make sure you have food/drink to supply if you have a guest over. I stopped at a friends over the weekend and as much as I love her to bits, I wasn't fed. Now I understand that she is on a student budget, but its no excuse to have no food at all. I mean, she has to eat as well right? So not only did I practically starve all weekend, I'm also now worrying that my mate doesn't eat at all. And buying some milk to make a cuppa never hurt anyone right? So yeah, maybe after all of this I'm actually saying, you may have to sacrifice one night out, but getting a decent food shop in so you can survive is a lot more mature and sensible. Think about your health and well being. P.s bought myself pizza eventually, was heavenly! Over and out :P Roxy

[studentnomnoms]

Easy Peasy Pasta

Sorry, I said I'd post this ages ago but I completely forgot (Doh!)  But here we go, quite possibly one of the easiest pasta dishes ever yet its mega tasty and people just don't seem to think of making something so easy! 

I don't even know if I should put a ingredients list! Okay, well I'll put something. 

Ingredients; 1 mug full of pasta per person (whatever type you like/have) 3 rashers of bacon per person, but we all know you can never have too much bacon! A few mushrooms per person, honestly I've never paid attention to how many, judge yourself based on preference 1 or 2 peppers, this all depends on how many you're feeding! Half on one is fine for one person, and any colour will do, I personally dislike green ones. Yuk! 2 table spoons of pesto OR 1 teaspoon of very lazy garlic & Chilli Some oil for frying.  Salt. 

The Recipe;

So this is mega mega easy and doesn't take long. Start by prepping everything, peel the mushrooms (if you're picky like me) and slice them up. The easiest way to prep a pepper is to cut around the stalk at the top, you can then simply pull it out and bring out the majority of the core and seeds as well, just scrape anymore of them out as you go. Slice them or dice them how you wish. Chop the bacon up into thin slices, much easier to cook and eat!  Then, get some water in a saucepan (about two thirds full) and pop it on the hob. Add a pinch of salt to the water (it enhances the flavour of the pasta, some may argue against this but I agree with it) When the water is boiling add the pasta to it, it should take roughly 15 mins, stir every now and again. The rest of the recipe doesn't take very long so put the kettle on, make yourself a cuppa ;D When the pasta has about five minutes left then get a tiny amount of oil in a frying pan and place on the hob to heat up.  When the oil starts sizzling add the bacon strips, give them a bit of a stir and then add the mushrooms and peppers, give them a good stir until the bacon is cooked through and you're happy. Now here is the bit where you can make a choice; If PESTO is your choice, simply turn the heat off the frying pan, strain the water from the pasta, add the pasta to the ingredients in the frying pan and then add the pesto, give it all a good stir then into a bowl and tadaaa!  If GARLIC & CHILLI is your choice then turn the heat down on the frying pan a little, then add a bit more oil. Add the chilli first, give this a good mix into everything but be careful not to burn it.  Then add the garlic, this must be done last minute as there is nothing worse than burnt garlic. Give it all a good quick stir then take off the heat, strain the water off the pasta. Add the pasta to the ingredients in the frying pan and stir up well. Put into a bowl and you're all done :D 

TIP: A tip I've learnt from watching far too many cooking programs is to add the pasta to the sauce, this way none of the good yummy bits are left in the frying pan and the pasta gets coated well.  You don't need an excessive amount of sauce, just enough to cover the pasta nicely.  Also, if the sauce is looking a bit stodgey and you'd like a bit more liquid to it, take some of the pasta water and add this, it adds flavour as well. 

 I've made myself hungry now! So I'm off to see what I can rustle up in the kitchen. TTFN Roxy. X

[studentnomnoms]

Today I plan on spending the majority of my day watching the Food Network channel. A famous quote in my house; 'If in doubt, put the food channel on!' Also, I may post a recipe famous amongst my friends from my Mother. Roxy. X

[studentnomnoms]

Top Tip number 1

It is a well known fact that food always tastes better from somebody else's plate, but can the same thing be said with food from a flatmates cupboard?

The simple answer is yes. 

Yes it does.

I am sure that all University students know what I mean when I say you walk into the kitchen and look through your cupboard searching for something nommy to munch on, only to come up empty. So you turn to search through the other cupboards and come up trumps, the one thing that you know will fill that gap you have is right in front of you.

But do you take it?

Of course you do. You are hungry and they should have hidden it better.

But here my Chef's in training is where I begin my top tip for you.  As nice as that food item looks, whatever you do, do not eat it unless you know for a fact they wont mind. Ask at the start of the year, establish the food rules, because if you don't not only will the food taste of guilt there is also the large possibility that it will start an argument and tension in the house is the last thing any student wants.

If you really can't resist at least leave a note apologising and maybe leave a small amount of money, a pound or so taped to the fridge will not only stop arguments but will also allow you to eat their food item guilt free.

Or just follow our recipes and buy yourself a treat with the money you have saved! ;)

Until next time!

Chloe x 

[studentnomnoms]

Cheats :P

Now we all know that fresh ingredients are best. But let’s face it, you don’t have the time or money to be buying fresh ingredients all the time. So, let me introduce the ‘Very lazy’ range. These great little jars are sold in pretty much every well known supermarket in the UK. I always have the garlic and chilli jars. It is basically a lovely little jar full of chopped garlic/chilli in an oil. You only need half a teaspoon full to be equal to a whole chilli or about two cloves of garlic. They are wonderful to flavour pasta, sauces, stir frys. Just anything that requires those ingredients really. And did I mention a jar only costs about £1.50 so it is such good value for money! Get yourself down to Tesco right now and stock up on these beauties! They also do ginger as well, personally a taste I dislike but each to their own. I also recommend making sure you don’t get any of the liquid into your recipe though, the garlic one especially can taste a bit vinegary which nobody wants in a pasta sauce. Happy cooking guys :D Roxy. X

[studentnomnoms]

I'm stuffed! Jacket potatoes.

As the name suggests, these cheese and bacon stuffed potatoes are guaranteed to leave you stuffed! Perfect as part of a main meal or just as a tasty snack all on their own, these beauties are cheap, quick and a real winner with any hungry male flatmates you may have.

Cheese and Bacon stuffed potatoes: Potatoes - for this recipe I was use 4 large baking potatoes which will give you 8 halves, more than enough to feed the starving masses and have leftovers to feast on later.

125g of cheese - or extra if you want to give it that little extra cheesy kick. 1 slice of bacon per half potato - for this recipe use 8 slices. Butter Milk Salt and Pepper - seasoning is key! The Recipe: 

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/Gas mark 6 you need the oven hot to make sure the skins crisp up.  Take the potatoes and pierce them all over with a knife before placing them in the microwave. On a high heat cook the potatoes until you can place the knife into them without them being solid in the middle. I wish I could tell you how long this would take but we have a nuclear powered microwave (it boils water faster than the kettle), But I digress

Place the potatoes into the oven and leave them to crisp up. This usually takes around 10-15 minutes as the potatoes are already cooked.

While your potatoes are getting crisp, get on with prepping everything else. Grate the cheese before cutting up the bacon into lardons - basically a fancy term for strips. Fry them off until crisp and leave in a bowl to cool slightly.

By now the potato skins should be crisp. Remove them from the oven and turn the oven off before cutting the potatoes in half and setting them to one side to cool. 

This is now your chance to clean up, trust me. Do it while you can and you will thank yourself for it later. 

Now the potatoes are slightly cooled (not cold, we need the butter to melt) turn the oven back onto its previous setting before scooping the potato insides out into a clean bowl, making sure not to pierce the skins and add the butter and milk - just like making mashed potato. If you find the butter isn't melting in or the mixture has got too cold, place it in the microwave to warm it through. 

Taking 3/4 of the cheese and all of the bacon bites and gently mix it through the mashed potato, season well and taste! 

Using a spoon fill the skins with the mixture. It doesn't matter if it makes a large pile, there is a reason they are stuffed! 

Place in the oven for 10 minutes before removing and sprinkling the remaining cheese on the top. Put back into the oven until the cheese is melted and turning crisp. 

Remove, serve and enjoy! 

For a tasty extra why not try adding different ingredients to the mixture? Broccoli goes extremely well with this mixture and so does spring onions as another level of flavour and texture. Spinach, mushroom and feta are also very good, but there is no end to what you can come up with.

I hope you all enjoy making and trying these, Until next time!

Chloe x 

[studentnomnoms]

Chocolate Cake

So I made this really nommy chocolate cake a couple of weeks ago so I'm going to remember the recipe the best I can.

Cake:

 3 Medium Eggs (they should weigh around 2oz each if you want to be picky)

4oz of Self Raising Flour

2oz Coco powder

6oz Caster Sugar

6oz Butter (I just use Clover which is an Olive Spread but works really well)

Jam:

About ten strawberries (However many you want really, just no less than 5 or you wont have anything)

Water at hand

Caster Sugar (amount may change depending on preference)

Topping:

100g bar of Milk Chocolate (this can also change on preference)

The Recipe:

Preheat an over to gas mark 6/around 200C So start off by mixing the sugar and butter together until it's a light yellow colour and you can't feel the sugar grinding against the bowl.  Place the eggs into another bowl and whisk them together. Slowly add eggs to the butter and sugar mixture bit by bit, mixing together each time.  It will look a bit funny but don't worry about it, just make sure it's all mixed together. Add the flour and coco powder to the mixture and fold it in with a wooden spoon, don't be too erratic but make sure it is all mixed in properly.  You should end up with a light brown coloured mixture that easily drops off the spoon. Get a cake tin and line it, you can do this by rubbing butter inside it and then sprinkling flour around the tin. Place the cake tin into the oven, I placed mine on the bottom shelf and it didn't burn. I left mine in for around 30 minutes, but the easiest way to tell when it is cooked is by gently pressing a finger on the top and if it bounces back up it is ready.

In the mean time, make the jam!  I must say here, it's not a jam jam, more of a compote or sauce.  So, quarter the strawberries and place them in a small saucepan.  Pour an extremely small amount of water into the bottom of the sauce pan, literally just covering the bottom. Then cover the strawberries in caster sugar an turn the hob on a medium heat.  Leave the strawberries on a low heat to simmer down, if you sense them starting to burn then add more water, otherwise just give em a stir every now and again.

And whilst I was waiting for the strawberries to simmer down and the cake to cook, I washed up! Yep, that's right, I washed up. 

Anyway, once the cake is cooked, as I said, mine took roughly 30 minutes I then left it to cool on the side.  When it is completely cool, cut the cake in half, take the strawberry jam and spread it on the bottom half. Then place the top half on top, the fruit sauce is quite runny and will soak into the cake, but it adds to it I think.

Then melt some chocolate in a bowl over a sauce pan of boiling water, don't let any water get into the bowl or it'll ruin the chocolate.  When this is completely melted, simply pour it over top of the cake. 

Then, you have a wonderful cake! Enjoy! :D 

Roxy .x