Tag: cheap

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Throw it Together in Three Minutes Lunch

Throw it together quick 3 minute lunch
Throw it together quick 3 minute lunch
Throw it together quick 3 minute lunch

Throw it Together in Three Minutes Lunch

This was a quick tuna salad thrown together a day I needed healthy food in a hurry and it worked so well I copied it again the next day again.
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Prep Time 3 minutes
Total Time 3 minutes
Course Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Mediterranean
Servings 1

Ingredients
  

  • ½ tin Chickpeas Drained – the other half tin with the drained juice put in a mug in the fridge for tomorrow
  • 6 whole Cherry tomatoes Quartered
  • 1 tin Tuna Drained
  • 1 tsp Balsamic vinegar
  • 10 whole Black olives From jar in brine
  • 1 tsp Capers From jar in brine

Optional½

  • 6 leaves Basil Ripped into pieces

Instructions
 

  • Chuck it all together in a bowl with salt and pepper to taste, stir then enjoy!

Notes

This is about 3.5 of the 5-a-day target, here’s the working:
6 cherry tomatoes 168 g
10 olives 40 g
Basil 6 g
Total weight of veg 214 g
5-a-day per serving (80g = 1 portion of 5-a-day) of veg 2.5  
Chickpeas 117.5 g
Plus portion of beans/pulses (no matter how much always 1 portion) 1  
Number of servings 1 Servings
5-a-day per serving (veg plus beans/pulses) 3.5 5-a-day per serving
Keyword 5-a-day, cheap, easy, quick
  • Throw it together quick 3 minute lunch
    Throw it together quick 3 minute lunch
  • Throw it together quick 3 minute lunch
    Throw it together quick 3 minute lunch
  • Throw it together quick 3 minute lunch
    Throw it together quick 3 minute lunch
Categories
Recipes

Wibble Wobble Fruity Jelly

Fruity jelly in big bowl close up
Fruity jelly in big bowl close up
Fruity jelly in big bowl close up

Wibble Wobble Fruity Jelly

This uses frozen fruit to quickly set the jelly, and easily adds one of your 5-a-day to pudding.
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Prep Time 3 minutes
Cooling time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 3 minutes
Course Dessert, Pudding
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 1 packet Jelly mix
  • 320 g Mixed berries Frozen

Instructions
 

  • Put the frozen mixed berries into a dish.
  • Make up the jelly mix in a jug according to the instructions and pour it over the frozen berries. Leave to chill for about an hour until it's set.

Notes

If you want it to set faster, then make up the mix with slightly less boiling water to dissolve the jelly mix, then add a couple of ice cubes, and mix until they’re melted, and top up with cold water to the level indicated on the packet. It’s easiest to make up the jelly mix in a glass or pyrex jug as you can see from the bottom if all the mix has been dissolved.
The kids can make this apart from the pouring of boiling water, as long as they stir carefully; they enjoy mixing in the ice cubes and hearing the cracking of the ice and watching it dissolve, then they’re more likely to eat the fruit.
Keyword 5-a-day, cheap, family friendly, kids cooking
  • Fruity jelly in big bowl close up
    Fruity jelly in big bowl close up
  • Fruity jelly in big bowl
    Fruity jelly in big bowl
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Recipes

Banana Scrummies

Bananas, sultanas, oats and spices baked into scrummies
Bananas, sultanas, oats and spices baked into scrummies
Bananas, sultanas, oats and spices baked into scrummies

Banana Scrummies

These are a really healthy and filling treat for kids, which they can make themselves (though will need help for the oven bit).
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Pudding, Snack
Cuisine Scottish
Servings 16

Ingredients
  

  • 4 whole Bananas Spotty ones are best for taste and easiest for kids to mash
  • 125 g Porridge oats
  • 60 g Sultanas
  • ½ tsp Mixed spice

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat the oven to 160C (fan) and either grease some baking paper or use silicon mats on 2 baking trays.
  • Mash the bananas, then mix in the oats, raisins and spices to get a thick texture.
  • Use 2 spoons to drop dollops of the mix onto the prepared baking trays to make about 16 scrummies.
  • Bake for about 15 minutes or until cooked through and golden. Cool on a wire rack, then serve.

Notes

They can also be individually wrapped and frozen, and then added to a snack box for a tasty, healthy treat at school. It’s best to use greaseproof paper or tin foil to wrap individually as they tend to stick to the paper cases [Note to self: don’t use paper cases again!]
Keyword 5-a-day, cheap, dairy free, healthy, kids cooking, spotty bananas, treat
  • Bananas, sultanas, oats and spices baked into scrummies
    Bananas, sultanas, oats and spices baked into scrummies
  • Banana scrummies cooling on wire rack
    Banana scrummies cooling on wire rack
  • Spotty bananas for scrummies
    Spotty bananas for scrummies
Categories
Recipes

Yellow Split Pea Dahl (Yellow Roald Dahl)

Yellow split pea dahl with mini naan and glass of wine

Slow Cooker Yellow Split Pea Dahl (Yellow Roald Dahl)

ScranMa
This is a really easy, cheap and tasty dish, and can be made from store cupboard and freezer ingredients. If you're using the spices for the first time you can use a mild curry powder instead of the individual spices listed here to cut costs. It can be a main dish, or served as a side dish.
My kids eat this because they like the Roald Dahl stories (hence the name Yellow Roald Dahl) and because it's not very spicy. Add 1tsp hot chilli powder to the slow cooker mix for some extra zing!
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian

Equipment

  • Slow cooker (crockpot)

Ingredients
  

  • 8 spray Spray oil
  • 260 g Yellow split peas Rinsed (or not if you're feeling lazy)
  • 3 cloves Garlic Chopped (or straight from freezer)
  • 1 whole Onion Chopped (or straight from freezer)
  • 2 tsp Turmeric
  • 3 tsp Cumin Seeds
  • 2 tsp Root Ginger Chopped (or straight from freezer)
  • 2 whole Stock Cubes Best with 1 Kallo Vegetable and 1 Kallo Garlic & Herb
  • 750 ml Water
  • 1 stick Lovage Optional! Included once as a friend gave us one stick and it was great, you could use 2-3 sticks of celery chopped instead, it's an entirely optional extra .
  • 400 g Carrots Diced

Instructions
 

  • Put the slow cooker on a medium heat.
  • Mist the slow cooker ceramic bowl with cooking spray. Put the split peas, onion, turmeric, ground cumin, crushed garlic, ginger and stock in slow cooker and stir. Optionally add 400g of carrots (or cauliflower florets are also a good tweak), submerging in the liquid. Cover and leave on medium for 6h (or low for 11h).
  • For an optional side, which tastes so good the kids were fighting over the last sprout (I still can't quite believe it): just before end of slow cooking time, heat 1/2 tbsp sesame oil in a frying pan and gently fry 1 clove of sliced garlic and the other 1 teaspoon cumin seeds for 1 minute, stirring until fragrant. Add 350g of shredded brussels sprouts and stir fry for 2-3 minutes until bright green (don't leave them on while you try to persuade a child to wash hands before food or they burn…see photo…oops!).
  • Serve with optional naan or rice – the photo has this dahl on a bed of steamed savoy cabbage to increase veg intake and a garlic and coriander mini naan.

Notes

I first tried this for 6h on low following a different guide, but the split peas were still a bit hard, so it worked after putting on high for another 1.5 hours, by which time everyone was too hungry.
Keyword cheap, easy, indian, kids, scranitfortheplanet, slow cooker, student friendly, vegan, vegetarian
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Recipes

Sprouts Worth Fighting Over

Sprouts quick fried in sesame oil with garlic and cumin seeds

Sprouts worth fighting over

ScranMa
I know this sounds ridiculous, but my kids actually wanted more of these and fought over who got the last one…they are so simple, fast, healthy and tasty if you can get the prepped small button sprouts in season.
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Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 5 minutes
Course Side Dish
Servings 3

Ingredients
  

  • 0.5 tbsp Sesame oil
  • 1 clove Garlic Chopped (straight from the freezer)
  • 0.5 tsp Cumin seeds
  • 240 g Brussels Sprouts Small, whole, prepped in-season sprouts are the best

Instructions
 

  • Add the sesame oil, frozen garlic and cumin seeds to the frying pan and gently heat so that the oil takes on the flavour of the additions for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the sprouts, and fry on a high heat for 2-3 minutes until they are bright green and only just slightly soft.

Notes

Don’t use big sprouts for this, or they’ll still be hard and not cooked, if you only have these give them a quick steam for 2-3 minutes before putting into the frying pan of tasty oil.
Also don’t spend 3 minutes trying to persuade a child to wash hands before dinner or they do burn (although somehow they didn’t taste burnt, just caramelised and yummy, thank goodness, and still the kids fought over them).
Keyword cheap, easy, scranitfortheplanet, student friendly, vegan, vegetarian
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Recipes

Lorna’s Banana Pancakes

Lorna’s Banana Pancakes

ScranMa
My friend Lorna gave me this recipe for a pancakes that doesn't need any time for the batter to rest. While they don't rise like normal pancakes, they taste delicious and are ready really quickly. Another tasty way to use up older bananas is this tasty Banana Muffin recipe.
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Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine British
Servings 1

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large Egg
  • 1 medium Banana Ripe – brown or spotty ones are best
  • 1/8 whole Nutmeg Freshly grated
  • 0.25 tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 12 spray Spray oil

Instructions
 

  • Mash the banana in a bowl or jug with a lip for easier pouring later. Add in the ground cinnamon, nutmeg and eggs and beat together to form the batter.
  • Spray oil into a non-stick frying pan, warm up the pan then pour in the batter into pancake shapes and cook on one side until solid enough to flip. Flip and cook on the other side until cooked through and golden.

Notes

When the kids mash the bananas they seem to eat more pancakes, they can make the whole recipe themselves (crack the egg into a separate cup so any shell pieces can be more easily removed). This can do one big pancake like an omelette or about 4-5 smaller ones for the kids. Swap cinnamon and nutmeg for mixed space when supplies are running low. You can optionally add some self-raising flour for a thicker batter, and leave it to rest for 15 minutes so they rise to be light and fluffy like normal pancakes and still taste of bananas.
Keyword cheap, vegetarian
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Recipes

Healthy Porridge that tastes like Pudding for Breakfast

Healthy breakfast porridge with cherries in a bowl

My Favourite Healthy Breakfast Porridge

ScranMa
This is my fave healthy breakfast, I've had it almost every day for the last few years and somehow still think it's delicious, amazing and brilliant every day and don't get tired of it. It might be because it tastes like pudding for breakfast, has one of my 5-a-day and has energy from slow release oats that keeps me fuller for longer, whatever it is I don't care, it's yummy!
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Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 2 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine British, Scottish
Servings 1

Equipment

  • Microwave

Ingredients
  

  • 30 g Porridge oats I love the oats with oatbran and wheatbran best as they taste slightly nutty (from Sainsbury's in the UK), but any porridge oats are good
  • 0.25 tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 80 g Cherries Frozen, whole cherries
  • 100 ml Skimmed milk Or oat milk is even more delicious, though more expensive

Instructions
 

  • The night before: add the oats, then ground cinnamon, then still-frozen cherries into a large microwave-safe bowl. Cover with a plate and leave overnight.
  • Add 100ml milk to the bowl and microwave for 2 minutes on high (at 850W, adjust for your own microwave). Stir and enjoy.

Notes

I honestly have eaten this for breakfast over 70% of the time for the last 3 years: it’s that good, plus of course it’s one of my 5-a-day in breakfast.
To make it vegan take the oat milk option instead of cow’s milk, it’s even more tasty (though more expensive).
Keyword 5-a-day, cheap, scranitfortheplanet, tweak-for-vegan-version, vegetarian

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Recipes

Easiest Boiled Rice Ever

Easiest Boiled Rice Ever

I know, it's rice – how hard can it be? It was still a revelation when I learned this method of boiled rice, as it's the least effort and most taste. It's also fine if you get timings a bit wrong as the pan can be switched off and left warm for a few minutes without it going to mush.
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Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 12 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Chinese, Indian
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • Measuring jug, or see-through container like a high-ball glass
  • Pan with a lid

Ingredients
  

  • 200 g Basmati rice Any quick cook rice will work, basmati flavour is our favourite
  • 360 g Water

Instructions
 

  • Weigh out the rice into a see-through measuring jug (or glass). Note the level that the rice comes up to in the jug and pour it into the pan.
  • Measure twice the amount of water as there was rice in the jug, e.g. if the rice came up to 200ml, then measure out 400ml water. Add the water into the pan and season to taste.
  • Put the lid on the pan, bring to the boil then turn down the heat to low and leave for 10-12 minutes. Don't take of the lid, don't stir, just leave it be. The rice absorbs the water perfectly so there's no need to drain or rinse, just spoon onto plates when you're ready to serve.

Notes

Obviously tweak the amount of rice you want per person. Remember it’s not double the weight of the rice, it’s double the volume of the rice, leave it in the pan with the lid on and no stirring!
Keyword cheap, easy, student friendly, vegan, vegetarian
Categories
Recipes

Cheesy Beanos

Cheesy Beanos

This is a Scottish twist on the classic student dish of Beans on Toast. Not only does it give you a balance of carbs and protein provided by the bread and the beans, it also buffers your insulin response to the carbs and protein by adding fat from the cheese. This is a super cheap meal that can be used as a snack, lunch or even dinner. It'll keep you going when you're low on cash, and for some, it'll even be a favourite due to the combination of the moreish cheddar, sweetness from the beans and crunchiness from the toast.
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Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 3 minutes
Total Time 4 minutes
Course Main Course, Snack
Cuisine British
Servings 2

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Slices Bread
  • 1 Tin Baked Beans
  • 50 g Cheddar Cheese

Instructions
 

  • Empty tin of baked beans into a pan
  • Heat the beans gently on the hob and heat through
  • Toast the bread under a grill or in a toaster until toasted to desired level
  • Slice or grate the cheese
  • Place one slice of toast per plate
  • Spoon beans onto toast
  • Place cheese over the beans
  • Place plate in grill and grill on low heat until cheese has melted
  • Serve quickly and be careful of the hot plate
Keyword cheap, kids, student friendly