Chocolate molten lava pudding

For this weeks recipe, I thought I would share the most indulgent recipe I know- Chocolate Motlton lava pudding!  Most of the recipes I have have posted have been healthy, I thought it was only fair to treat you to to a treat.

The chocolate molten lava pudding serves 2 and takes 30 minutes to prepare and bake. It’s an ideal dessert to share with someone else ( or enjoy both yourself).

As always, this recipe is purse friendly.The only two ingredient I had tobuy was the cooking chocolate and the vanilla essence. The rest of the ingredient’s, are items that most people will have in their cupboards.

I found the recipe on Spoon university. This is a great website made with young people in mind. The recipes are simple so perfect if like me, you are looking to build your confidence in the kitchen.

Ingredient. 

 

the ingredient’s  i used for this recipe

. 1 egg

 

. 80 grams of chocolate

.2 teaspoon of sugar

. 2 tablespoons of flour

. 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

.1 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter ( little more for greasing the pots)

method

1. grease the pots with a little bit of butter
2. preheat the oven to 170 degrees
3. melt the butter in a pan, start to add the chocolate in. Keep in on a low heat
4. whisk the egg, sugar and vanilla essence together. Add into chocolate mixture
5. add the flour in. Rather than mix it, you need to fold it in. The mixture should thick and looks tempting to eat
6. pour the mixture into the little pots and place in the oven for 8- 10 minutes.
7. take out of the oven and let them stand for 10 minutes
8.  place on a plate and turn it upside down for 5 minutes. Then take the puddings out and VOILA – the puddings are ready to enjoy.

Watch the my video below to follow the simple steps to make the chocolate molten lava dessert.

 

Cost and servings

I only had to buy the chocolate and vanilla essence as i had everything else in the house. This meant it only cost me £1.44 and the ingredients made 2 molten lava puddings.

let me know what you think of this recipe by leaving a comment!

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Sweet potato, red onion & chilli soup

 

this is the soup ready to eat after blending the mixture together

 

Nothing can beat a good pot of homemade soup! This recipe for sweet potato, red onion and chilli is perfect to warm you up on a cold winters night, only taking 30 minutes to make.

Soup was one of the first dishes I made when learning how to cook and it really helped my confidence as you can’t go wrong with soup.

The soup is so tasty that after making some for my mum to take for her lunch at work, i had requests off her colleagues to make some for them! The best thing about it is that it costs literally next to nothing to make and is super low in calories.

I found this recipe form  Goodtoknow. I would highly recommend having a look on the website as there so many other brilliant recipes to follow.

Ingredient

.2 mild red chilli’s

.2 tablespoon’s on butter

.2 red onions

. 3 gloves of garlic

.2 sweet potatoes

.2 chicken or veg stock cubes

 

the ingredient’s used for the soup

 

 

 

Method

1. Chop up the sweet potato, onion, chilli’s and garlic

   

   the veg chopped up

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in pan for 2 minutes
3. Add in the onion, letting it sweat for couple of minutes. Then add the rest of the veg. Mixing it together for a fen minutes.
4. Put the the two stock cubes in a measuring jug and add 1L of hot water.
5. Add the stock to pan. On a low heat, let it simmer for 10/15 minutes.

   

   All the ingredients added together, cooking away

Finally, put the contents of the pot into a blender. Blend for around 30/40 seconds.

Cost and servings

The cost of buying the veg and stock cubes was £4.10 and it easily made 6 bowls of soup. This recipe is mega purse friendly as it equates to 68p per portion!

Let me know what you think of this recipe by leaving a comment.

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Chinese chicken curry

 

the mixture starting to thicken up

 

 

This weeks curry  recipe is a bit of a cheat…

I have discovered when learning to cook, that it’s healthier and cheaper to make your own curry rather than to order one. It’s bit unhealthy but you can see for yourself what is being put into the curry.

I came across Mayflower powder in B&M. This is the powder you use to use as the sauce for your Chinese curry. It’s £1.00 per pack, A LOT cheaper than a takeaway!

This dish is perfect for a Friday night treat. I have added chicken and onions to mine but check out Pinterest for loads more ideas on what you can add. This could be beef, prawns or make it a vegetable curry.
Ingredients

. Mayflower ( one packet)

. A pint of water

this is the only ingredient’s i needed to make the sauce  

Method

 

1. . Break up the curry powder so there are no big lumps of power.

   

   breaking up the clumps of powder

2. .Add a pint of cold water into a pan and heat for a coupe of minutes.
3. .start to add in the power. Don’t put it all in at once, every so often add in a little more.
4. Once all the powder has been added, keep storing the sauce. You may need to add more water if the mixture is to runny.

   

   the sauce thickening up

   

   This is the point that my sauce was ready as it was thick enough now

The next step would be to simply add in your  chosen ingredient. For me, I fried the chicken before hand and cut up an onion then added that in when the squad was ready.

i added in chicken and onion to the sauce

 

Cost and servings

One packet of mayflower costs £1 and serves 6 people so it’s just under 17p per portion. I got 5 chicken breeats , prawn crackers an onion for £7.00.

Even by adding that on, this is still a cheaper alternative to ordering a takeaway curry.
Let me know what you think of this recipe by leaving a comment.

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Halloumi salad

 

the Halloumi salad i made

 

This weeks recipe is a salad with CHEESY twist – Halloumi.

 

Halloumi is great to add in to a Salad as it fills you up. This recipe is perfect when you need something to whip up quickly.  I have used basil & tomatoes but there is nothing to stop you getting creative, using left over veg you have.

Ingredient

. 3 slices of Halloumi

.packet of fresh basil

. 6 cherry tomatoes

. Chillie flakes ( opiontal)

.oil(opitonal)

the ingredient you will need

 

 

Method

1. Heat a 2 table spoonful’s of oil in a frying pan. Cut three slices of Halloumi and place in pan.
2. Fry for a couple of minutes, keep turning the slices over until they are a golden brown colour.

   

   this was taken as the Halloumi didn’t need to be fried anymore

3. Cut the  Tomatoes in half and fry with the Halloumi. Stir the pan to mix everything together until Tomatoes are slightly brown.
4. Put the Halloumi and Tomatoes to one side
5. Put three table spoons of oil in pan and let it heat for a few minutes.  Then add a   spoonful and a half of chilli flakes into the pan. Give the mixture a good stir. Let boil for a couple of minutes.

   

   the chilli oil i prepared

6. As the chilli oil simmers, spread the basil leaves equally out amongst the bowls. Then add the Halloumi and Tomatoes on top.
7. pour the chilli oil over the dishes but be careful not to drown the salad in oil.

 

cost and serving

For the Tomatoes, basil and Halloumi, it came to a grand total of £3.79 which made 4 portions. This is definitely a purse friendly meal as its 95p per dish!  The oil and chilli flakes were additional items i had in the kitchen but would have been an extra £4.10 ( bearing in mind you would get plenty more use out the items).

 

Let me know what you think of this recipe my leaving a comment!

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Easy enchiladas

 

the enchilada’s ready to be served  

 

It’s time for a fiesta as this weeks recipe is Mexican themed!

Enchiladas are a firm favourite in the smith house hold. It’s the perfect dish when every is sitting down and eating together. I got the recipe from The Hairy Dieters book again. The recipe book is something I highly recommend purchasing!

This is probably trickiest recipe I have tried as it’s a a while to make, there are a number ofsteps and ingredient to making the enchiladas. But fear not as I have included a picture of the recipe from the book so it’s simpler for you to follow.

Ingredients

ingredients needed

 

 

.a pack of soft corn tortillas

.mature cheddar cheese

.salt

.pepper

.chilli flakes ( optional)

.creme fresh

.an onion

.beef mince

.red kidney Beens

.Tomato puree

.beef stock

.salsa

.oil
Method

 

this is a photo of the recipe from the Hairy dieters book

 

Even though this recipe takes longer than the other, it is definelty worth it! If you ever just fancy  homemade chilli, then this recipe can be used for that!

Cost and servings

I made 4 portions each containing two wraps each. This came to a grand total of £14.17. This might seem expensive but most items like oil and cheese, you wi already have in the fridge so that will cut down in cost. For each portion, it only comes to £2.36 which is still very good.

 

the encheladas ready to be put in the oven

Additionally, to make it more of a meal, I added in spicy rice and salad. This went really Well with the enchiladas. This addd on £2 on to the total.

 

Let me know what you think of this recipe by leaving a comment!

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Homemade banoffe pie

Monicas’ homemade banoffee pie

January is the month for going to the gym and green smoothies but you need a little treat to get you through the long, dull month. The little pots of Banoffee pie, is the perfect treat. This is actually one of my best friends mum’s recipe. I was always so excited to go to Lili’s for dinner in the off chance her mum, Monica would make Banoffee pie.

Since becoming more confident in the kitchen, there was no need for anyone else to have to make it for me. Taking under 15 minutes to make, It’s so easy to prepare, you could do it blind folded.

Ingredients

.95g of digestive biscuits

. A banana

. 150ml of double cream

.butter

. tinned caramel

ingredients needed for Banoffe pie

Method

1. Crush digestive biscuit by putting the biscuits in a bag and smashing it up with a rolling pin.

   

   After crushing up the biscuit

2. melt around 2 table spoons of butter in  a pan then mix crushed biscuit into it until the mixture becomes a golden brown colour.
3. Put the biscuit mixture into little pots. Anything can be used like ramekins. Fill to half way then put in fridge for 20 minutes.
4. Take pots out of the fridge and with a knife, generously spread the caramel on top of it.
5. Chop up a banana and place a couple of slices of banana on top of the caramel.

 

The pie after i put the caramel sauce on and the chopped up banana.

 

6. Whip the cream either using a machine or a fork, until it becomes very thick.

the cream after i had whipped it with a whisk

 

 

7. Spoon the cream on top of the banana then smooth over with a knife.

I added chocolate sprinkles for decoration but it still tastes good without.

Cost & servings  

I made 5 pots from the idgediants I had.The total came to £4.08 so per portion, that’s only 96p!

 

 

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Healthy Carbonara

 

delicious healthy Carbonara

 

After Christmas and new year, i think it’s safe to say that most people feel its time for a detox. My first recipe, healthy Carbonara, is perfect for anyone looking to eat  healthier. Only 279 calories, you can have a tasty meal without feeling too guilty. This dish only takes 12 minutes to prepare and includes just a few simple ingredients!

I came across the recipe from The Hairy Dieters recipe book, which is great for low calorie but great tasting meals. It was one of the first recipes I tried as i started out in my adventure in the kitchen.

Ingredients 

. 75g of dried pasta- spagetti, tagliatelle, ligunine ( my favorite ) any can be used

.2 rashers of  lean smoked back bacon

. oil

.200g of small chestnut mushrooms

ingredients needed for healthy Carbonara

. 10 cherry tomatoes

. 4 tbsp half fat creme fraiche

. parmasan cheese

. black pepper

 

method

1. Fill a pan half way with water and once boiled, add the pasta. Leave for around 12 minutes. Keep stiring every so often.
2. While patsa  is cooking, cut the bacon into strips, taking off any fat around the sides.

   

   cut the bacon into strips, taking away any fat.

3. Add mushroom  and bacon into pan. Spray pan with oil so it doesn’t stick. let it fry for a couple of minutes until brown
4. chop tomatoes in half, add into pan and fry for 1 minute.
5. Drain the pasta then add to pan
6. lastly, add in the crème fresh, parmesan and black pepper to the pan. Give it a good stir.
7. serve and enjoy

cost and servings

Even though I made a portion made for two, there is definetly enough for another 5 serving. That would work out roughly around £1.15 per serving as in total it came to £8.02.

 

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Welcome to the kitchen

My parents kept on complaining that I wasn’t responsible enough for someone who had just started university and unfortunately  for them,  I wasn’t moving into halls so I could continue to live at home, completely stress free or so I thought…

The outcome of this – the glorious task of making dinner every Wednesday night,  for the family. This did not go down well with me! I turn to dominos when no one else is in to cook. The best thing I could make, was cheese on toast so it wasn’t exactly fine dining.

A few weeks into the semester,  all my  friends who were living in halls, kept mentioning about the challenges they had with cooking. This is what opened my eyes to making your own meals as  I was hearing from them about the balance of cooking on a budget as money is tight, making meals healthy as there is no adults anymore to make sure your eating fruit and veg  and to have good tasting food rather than eating cardboard.

For the first time, I was intrigued about what could be created in the kitchen. So  I decided to take on the challenge!  At the start, google was my best friend when looking for easy, cheap recipes but gradually as  I got more confident in the kitchen, I found my way into to reading cook books to gather more recipes.

After a couple of months of making the Wednesday night dinner, I will be sharing my favourite recipes every week. They  will be easy to follow as  its for all levels, from the Mary Berry’s of the world to someone like me, looking to build their confidence in the kitchen.

Strawberry heart cake

 

 

the recipes will include  healthy, long- lasting , tasty and cheap dishes which will vary from starters, mains and deserts.