Tag: easy recipes

Easiest White Bread Ever

by Keelan LaForge, posted in Budgeting, Food, Recipes

My daughter loves this bread and she doesn’t eat anything unless it’s coated in chocolate or filled with no nutrients, just sugar. It is so easy to make and is really good toasted too. I find most homemade breads crumble when you cut them. I always revert to plastic bread from the shop due to this, but I haven’t had that problem with this one 🙂 It is also still soft on the second day and toast-able after that 🙂

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp white sugar

1 packet of yeast

1 cup of warm (not hot) water

2 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Combine all dry ingredients with a spoon. Add the cup of warm water – I heat it beyond tepid but not so hot it kills the yeast. Add the oil and mix with a spoon until combined. Knead in the bowl (to make life and the clean up easier for yourself.) You don’t have to knead this bread for long – I find 5 minutes is usually enough. Set in a warm spot covered with a towel until doubled in size. Knock air out of it and put in a loaf tin – cover with towel and leave it to prove. When it has risen again, put in a preheated oven (180c.) Check it after 20 minutes and knock the top – if it sounds hollow it’s ready.

This bread has a brioche-type consistency so it is good with savoury toppings and also with anything you’d put on a croissant 🙂

Cheap Veggie Chilli

by Keelan LaForge, posted in budget recipes, Budgeting, Recipes

This is one of those recipes where I threw random ingredients together, it worked out well and I’ll probably never manage to recreate it again 🙂

I am a happy meat eater, but I enjoyed this dish as much as one loaded with mince. This recipe stemmed from a surprise in defrosting: I defrosted mince and found out once thawed that it was actually beef sausages, so I made the chilli vegetarian 😀

Serves 2 large portions/4 sensible portions (which I don’t eat)

Ingredients

1/2 onion

2 cloves garlic

a handful of mushrooms

half a chilli/1/4 if using chilli sauce in beans

1 tin of kidney beans (in chilli sauce if you like)

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp sugar

pinch of black pepper

1 square of milk chocolate (I used Galaxy :))

handful of fresh coriander

Method:

Chop onion, garlic, chilli and mushrooms finely. Fry in some olive oil. Once cooked, add the tin of tomatoes and the tin of kidney beans. This is important and sounds gross, but trust me – if you aren’t using kidney beans in chilli sauce, pour in the tin of beans with 1/2 the brine. It will thicken the sauce and give it better flavour.

Add cumin, salt, sugar, black pepper and garlic powder and turn down the heat. Add the square of chocolate and half the coriander and cook on a low simmer for up to an hour. Add water if the sauce is drying out. The longer you cook it for, the more the flavours will develop.

Serve with rice/tortilla chips and lots of cheese. Garnish with the rest of the coriander.

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Easy Budget Taco Soup Recipe

Tight Budget Taco Soup

by Keelan LaForge, posted in Cheap Easy Lunch Recipes, Mexican Recipes on a Budget

I should probably preface this post by saying that my cooking usually tastes better than it looks. This recipe is so simple and uses very few ingredients, so it’s very cheap to make.

Makes 4 servings at 20p a serving using value range ingredients.

Ingredients

  • 1 onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 tsp oil
  • Taco seasoning (see below)
  • 1 cup of sweet corn (frozen)
  • 1 cup of kidney beans
  • 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 500ml beef stock
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • Sprinkle of grated cheese
  • Dollop of sour cream/Greek yogurt

Taco Seasoning Ingredients

  • 1tsp hot chilli powder (makes medium heat)
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper

I usually make my own taco seasoning because I already have all of the spices and it is so easy. If you don’t you can just buy a packet of taco seasoning.

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Mix the herbs and spices well in a bowl.

Fry onion and garlic in the oil until softened. Add the seasoning and fry for a further minute. Add the corn (you can add it frozen) and fry until defrosted. Add kidney beans and the tin of tomatoes. Then add the beef stock and sugar to sweeten the tomatoes and simmer until it has thickened.

Serve topped with grated cheddar and sour cream.

Before the taco seasoning even touched the pot my daughter announced “I don’t like spicy.” I guess she’s going to have to like it.

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