Spaghetti Carbonara!

This is a really easy sauce and you can make it in the same time that it takes to cook the pasta! It won't take you any longer than 15 minutes, this recipe will serve two and cost you about £1.50 if you have it with some garlic bread.

Ingredients

175g spaghetti
75g diced smoky bacon lardons or smoked streaky bacon cut up
1 tsp olive oil
1 garlic glove
1 egg plus two yolks
25g Parmesan cheese - grated

How to make

Cook the pasta following the instructions on the packet.

Whilst the pasta is cooking fry the bacon in the oil for a few minutes until golden and crisp.

Add the garlic to the pan, fry for 1 minute and then turn off the heat.

Whisk the egg and the yolks and most of the cheese together and season.

Drain the pasta and save a bit of the cooking water - then add the egg mixture and a tbsp of the cooking water to the pasta and mix until it is coated and creamy - the heat from the pasta will cook the egg!

Stir in the bacon and garlic and serve topped with the Parmesan that's left.

Chicken Tikka Kebabs!

I'm using skinless chicken breasts, low fat yogurt and not too much curry paste to make sure this dinner is low in fat.

It's very easy to put together and only takes about 20 minutes, but you'll need to add some extra time if you allow time for the spices to get into the chicken - you don't have to do this if you're in a hurry but if you have the time then you should!

This recipe will serve two people and costs less than £2.00 per head including the rice and salad.

Ingredients

75g low-fat natural yogurt

1 tbsp tikka marsala curry paste

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast - cut into chunks

200g rice

Cucumber - about a quarter, chopped

Large tomato - chopped

Small onion - finely chopped

Small green chilli - if you have one it adds a bit of a kick, seeded and finely chopped

Fresh coriander - again if you have any, adds a nice flavour to the salad

How to cook

Mix the yogurt with the curry paste in a bowl.

Add the chicken, season and stir really well.

Cover and leave for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Mix the cucumber, tomato, onion, chilli and coriander together to make the salad and season lightly.

Preheat the grill to high and push the chicken on to the wooden skewers. You can buy a pack of 80 in the supermarket, they only cost a £1 and will last you for ages!

Grill the kebabs for about 10 minutes - make sure you turn them so they cook evenly and don't burn.

Meanwhile cook the rice and serve with two kebabs each and the salad.

Live Below the Line!

Live Below the Line is a campaign that's challenging the way people in the UK think about poverty - and hopefully making a huge difference.

On Student Dinners I try to make cheap and easy meals that cost less than £2.00 each so living on less than £1 a day for food and drink seems almost impossible but across the globe over a billion people do it everyday for everything- food, drink, healthcare, education, travel, everything!

Here's how the challenge works -

From the 29th April – 3rd May I can spend no more than £1 a day on food and drink.

This means I have a total of £5 with which to buy all ingredients for my meals.

The full cost of all the items I consume must be included in my budget. This means budgeting for whole packets of food items such as rice, pasta, noodles and eggs etc.

For items such as salt, pepper, herbs and spices, i have to work out the cost of each item per gram and budget my shopping proportionally.

I can’t grab a cheeky snack from the cupboard unless I include the cost of buying the item new in my budget.

No combination of meals on any given day can exceed the £1 spending limit. 

I cannot accept ‘donated’ food from family or friends, but monetary donations towards my fundraising goals are ok so please don't tempt me!

I am allowed to drink tap water.

By living off just £1 per day for food for 5 days, I hope to bring to life the direct experiences of the 1.4 billion people currently living in extreme poverty and helping to make real change.

I'm going to be raising money for UNICEF, the world’s leading organisation for children, working in over 190 countries and territories to help every child realise their full potential. They provide health care, water, nutrition, education and protection for the world’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

So I am asking you to PLEASE sponsor me to show your support - any amount will be really appreciated, just £5 can help UNICEF feed a malnourished child for a week.

The link to my 'Live Below the Line' sponsorship page is here -

https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/studentdinners

Thanks very much

Max

BBQ Chicken Melts!

This is based on a recipe I've already done called 'Chicken Pizza Melts' and was suggested to me by Simon. Simon is a Freelance Chef and he is helping me out by giving me feedback including tips and comments on my recipes - you can find them in the comments box.

It's just as quick and easy and is really tasty - this took me 15 minutes to make, it serves two and costs about £2.00 if you include some salad and curly fries!

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts
1 tbsp olive oil
50g cheddar cheese - grated
100g bacon lardons or three rashers of bacon cut into pieces
BBQ sauce - small jar

How to cook
Turn the grill on to high.

Slice the chicken breasts into about 3 pieces and put it between two pieces of cling film, then beat it flat with a rolling pin!

Heat the oil in a pan, add the chicken and the bacon and cook for 2 minutes on each side until the chicken is golden and the bacon is brown and crispy.

When the bacon is cooked mix it with the cheese.

Take the chicken out of the pan and place on a rack on a baking tray and spread each piece with some BBQ sauce and then pile the bacon and cheese on top.

Put under the hot grill until the cheese has melted.


If you have any BBQ sauce left you can use it to make sticky sausages or in a wrap.

Sunday Brunch to share!

Banana Cake

This is really quick to put together, about 10 minutes but you need to allow the cooking time on top - you get about 8 good sized slices and it costs about £1.00 to make.

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas - mashed

125g self raising flour

1 level tsp baking powder

50g butter - needs to be a bit soft

100g caster sugar

1 egg

How to cook

Heat the oven to 180 oC / Gas Mark 4 / 160 oC Fan.

Grease and line a 450g (alb) loaf tin with greased proof paper.

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and beat until its smooth.

Bake for about 45 minutes - if it gets too brown then just cover it with foil.

Scrambled Omelette Toast Topper

This is a quick and tasty twist on eggs on toast, it takes about 10 minutes to make and makes a really healthy and filling brunch for one, you can easily increase the quantities for more people and it costs around £1.00 each.

Ingredients

2 eggs

1 tbsp creme fraiche

25g cheddar cheese - grated

Chives - fresh - cut in to small pieces

1 tsp oil

1 spring onion - sliced

3-4 cherry tomatoes - cut in half

2 slices crusty bread, toasted

How to cook

Beat the eggs, creme fraiche, cheese and chives together and season.

Heat the oil in a pan and cook the spring onion until its soft, add in the tomatoes and cook until they are warm.

Pour in the egg mixture, stirring,until the eggs are just set.

Pile over the toasted bread and serve.

Here's some photos of me cooking this brunch, these were taken for an article in our local newspaper.

Join us on Facebook & follow us on Twitter!

Hi,

To make sure that you don't miss out on any of my quick and easy dinners why not follow me on Facebook?

Here's the link -  http://www.facebook.com/StudentDinners 

Please 'Like' my page!

If you like to tweet I'm on twitter too @Studentdinners

Thanks for all your support!

Max

Two for Tuesday Pizza!

If you use ready made bases this is really quick to make, actually about the same time it takes to order a take-away but a lot cheaper at less than £2.00 each depending on your toppings - it's good for using up bits and pieces in the fridge as well!

Ingredients

2 pizza bases or a packet of pizza dough
Small jar of tomato 'pizza topping' sauce
Ball of mozzarella cheese
Toppings - choose from pepperoni, bacon, sliced chicken, ham, grated cheddar, sweetcorn, mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, pineapple, onion, peppers.

How to cook

Pre-heat the oven to 222oC, Gas 7 200oC Fan

Open pizza bases or make up dough according to the instructions on the packet.

Spread the tomato sauce over the bases.

Tear up the mozzarella cheese and put evenly over both pizzas and then add your favourite toppings.

Put into the oven directly on to the shelf and cook for between 15 and 20 minutes.