Recipe - Whatever cookies

I like to bake. But often I don't have the right ingredients, which can be a bit of a problem. A few months ago, I stumbled onto a really great cookie recipe, which was the first cookie recipe which worked for me (I have issues with cookies not rising properly...)

So yesterday I was in the mood for cookies. I dug out the recipe, and then realized that I didn't have enough chocolate chips. Uh oh! So I adapted the recipe ever so slightly, and here it is: whatever cookies.

I have also added North American measurements... I could have used these last night as I roughly guessed grammes to cup conversions, got them badly wrong, and had to save my dough.

Ingredients:

• 250g (2 cups) plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 170g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted
• 200g (3/4 cup + a bit extra) dark brown soft sugar
• 100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 325g (about 2 1/2 cups) of whatever (chocolate chips/chunks, dried fruit, dessicated coconut, chopped nuts, bacon bits, whatever you have or whatever's cheap)

 Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 170*C (340*F/Gas Mark 4). Don't preheat to 170*F, that won't work. I tried.
2. Stir or sift together dry ingredients. 
3. Combine butter and sugars and 'cream' together (I did this with a wooden spoon. No need for a fancy mixer!)
4. Add vanilla, egg and egg yolk to sugar mix (save the extra white for pastry wash or similar).
5. Add the dry to the wet and mix until combined (again, wooden spoon).
6. Add in whatever, and mix to combine.
7. Place balls of dough onto a well-greased baking tray. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the edges are starting to brown. Let cool slightly on the trays, before transferring to a cooling rack. 
8. Eat. Enjoy. Share. Yum! 


FYI: My whatever cookies were dark chocolate, raisins and dried cranberries, and they're rediculously good. 

Recipe: Gigantor pot of pasta sauce

Mmmm pasta. Food of the gods and the budget-conscious.

But what to put on those wiggly or fun-shaped noodles? Store-bought pasta sauces can be really expensive, and the cheap-o alternatives can be questionably tasteless or full of salt. Blegh.

And you definitely don't want to make fresh sauce each time you want pasta. Even for a big family, that can be a huge headache.

So here's the solution, which is also a family recipe. I'm naming it the Gigantor pot of pasta sauce. It's pretty darn big.

Ingredients

olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced (or more if you like extra garlicky sauce!)
2-ish pounds of lean ground beef (or other meat; get whatever's on sale, special, or reduced for quick sale)
2 large jars of plane jane spaghetti sauce (I used ones that are 700mL)
1 tin (540mL) of Lentils
1tsp Marmite*
1 sachet or cube Beef bouillon
3 bay leaves
Ground pepper/sea salt to taste

Instructions

1. Sauté the onions and garlic in a large dollop of oil until soft and translucent
2. Add beef. Attack the beef with a wooden spoon while it cooks, continuously breaking it up and turning it over until there's no pink left.
3. Add the spaghetti sauce, lentils, Marmite, bouillon, and bay leaves. Swirl a little water inside the sauce jars to make sure all the delicious saucy goodness is in your pot.
4. Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir every so often to make sure everything's combining.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste - you may want to add a bit of sugar as well if the tomato taste is too strong. Remove bay leaves.
6. Enjoy!
7. Realize you have REDICULOUS amounts of leftovers, excavate all your freezer containers. Portion out and freeze.


Let's put it this way. When I cooked this two weeks go, I ended up with 6 Tupperware sack pots, and 2 soup containers, in addition to what I was eating. That's roughly 10 individaul servings. For less than $10, since I bought the beef when it was reduced for quick sale. I still have two pots left.

That's a whole lot of pasta sauce!

Side note: if you don't feel up to boiling water and making some pasta, this sauce also tastes great on a microwaved baked potato. Cover it with cheddar cheese for some added inexpensive deliciousness.

Side note 2 (18/2/13): I made more sauce today, and added in some bacon and a spare red pepper I had leftover in the fridge. Thrown in whatever you have on hand to bulk it out - don't waste good food!

*Marmite is, in my opinion, disgusting on it's own. It's like salted tar. But it's like magic beef sauce when used with mince.

Tip #16 - Make your Christmas presents

This is clearly a little late, but I couldn't post what I made for people until after Christmas... otherwise they would know!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've made Christmas presents for the past few years. I simply don't believe that it's necessary to spend loads of money on Christmas presents. Especially when making presents for a medium to large number of people, it's possible to save a lot of money in financial terms, while still giving thought-felt gifts. Certainly, if I added up all the time I spent this year and paid myself minimum wage, I would have spent a lot more than I could afford!

I had 10 people + my boyfriend to give gifts for this year. For the 10, I made gift bags (see here for how I made the gift bags) with three sweet Christmas treats: peppermint bark, gingerbread cookies, and chocolate-covered candied orange peel. In total, including the gift bag supplies, I spent (in cash terms) approximately ₤25, but probably spent about 3 full days between the treats and bags. 

Chocolate peppermint bark, courtesy of a recipe by canida on the instructables site (http://www.instructables.com/id/Chocolate-Peppermint-Bark/#step1). Really tasty, and would be great melted into hot chocolate.

 

These chocolate covered candied orange peels are simply to-die for. Absolutely incredible. I used a recipe from the food network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/candied-orange-recipe/index.html), then dipped the resulting concoction into melted dark chocolate, let it cool in the freezer, and yum-tastic!

I have no reference for this gingerbread recipe because my friend sent it to me several years ago. It's got a big kick to it thanks to the cloves and pepper, but do not be deceived! It's delicious.

Spicy Gingerbread Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup dark-brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 cup unsulfured molasses

6 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

4 teaspoons ground ginger

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

Raisins, dragées, and/or red hot candies for decoration (optional)

Royal Icing for decoration (optional)

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and molasses. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. Divide dough into thirds and wrap each third in plastic wrap. Chill for about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll dough 1/8 inch thick between two pieces of waxed paper. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Transfer shapes to ungreased cookie sheets. If desired, decorate with raisins, dragées, and/or red hot candies. Refrigerate about 15 minutes. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crisp but not dark. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute, then remove to wire racks to cool completely. If desired, decorate with Royal Icing.

And finally, ready for Christmas! :)

 

 

Recipe: Squash soup

I've got a quick, easy, and inexpensive autumn recipe for you today.  It's adapted from the amazing cookbook Simply in Season, which I was given as a (very) early Christmas present this year.  I've put what I paid beside each ingredient to show just how inexpensive this soup is!  (Though of course prices will vary by region or country, and I did luck out with getting some of the items for free).

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash (99cents - can be substituted for any form of squash)
2 onions (20cents)
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger (about 20cents - I bought a bigger one than needed)
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (FREE! - rescued from a friend who wouldn't be able to finish them; whatever's cheapest/whatever you have lying around)
1L Chicken or Vegetable broth (FREE! - my Dad "didn't know what to do with it"; Can be boxed, home-made, bouillon, whatever)
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Cooking instructions:
1. Cut out the flesh of your chosen squash, and microwave for about 5 minutes, or until soft and squidgey.
2. Add a smidge of olive oil to a large pot, and add the ginger and onions.  Fry until onions are soft and just a wee bit brown.
3. Add microwaved squash, apples and broth
4. Bring to the boil, then simmer until the apples are squidgey.
5. Blend until smooth. Season to taste.

That's it! Delicious, nutricious, quick, and inexpensive.

As a bonus and way to cut down on food waste, you can also save the squash seeds to roast with some olive oil and salt (or other seasoning - get creative!) as a tasty snack!