5 Easy Recipes to last you (almost) all week!

These five super easy, student-friendly recipes can be turned vegetarian if you choose or 100% meatie. That you can cook with your flat-mates or on your own. Make one lot up to and then refrigerate or freeze to reheat a little each day. If you refrigerate don’t save for longer than 3 days! The ingredients for all of them are similar making them easy to shop for too. I know you can buy sauces, but my mother taught me it was healthier to use real ingredients. 

DIY Pizza – This amount makes 2 x 12” pizza bases

Make up the dough and then put whatever toppings you fancy, dough can be saved in fridge for next day.

• 300ml Tepid Water
• 2Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 ½ tsp Salt
• 530g Plain Flour (NOT bread flour)
• 2 tsp Sugar
• 2 tsp Yeast (or one sachet if you get them)

Just mix all ingredients in a large bowl, when it comes together knead it and then let it rest for 10 mins before using. Roll out into a circle shape, place on flat tray, spread tomato paste (or BBQ sauce or similar) place toppings on. Then cover with grated cheese and a few Italian herbs and bake (190C gas mark 5) for 20 mins or until base is crisp.  

Chilli- This amount will easily feed you for 3 days or more.

Make up the Chilli, then each day you can have it with chips, or with rice, or jacket potato, in wraps or Tacos. Add a topping of Sour cream for authenticity. Or grated cheese. Can of baked beans or can of drained Kidney beans if you like them ½ litre of made up gravy granules, into which you pour the can of beans. Add a good squirt of HP type brown sauce and ketchup sauce, 1-1½ tsp chilli powder depending on taste and stir. Gently fry 500g mince, or use quorn, in a frying pan, when browned, add the gravy mix and gently simmer for 20 mins.    

Veg Cheese- This amount will feed you easily 3 days or more

This is a great way to get those 5 a day veg in. Cauliflower, carrots, mixed veg; Broccoli etc. are fab for this dish. Cooked veg and place in an ovenproof dish, (to check the size of dish put 1 pint of water in. it should not be more than halfway up dish sides, pour water out and use that dish) To make the cheese sauce:

• 50g butter (margarine doesn’t work as well)
• 50g flour
• ½ litre pint of milk ( or ½ milk and ½ water, this will not be as rich a sauce)
• Grated cheese
• Rescue if needed (1 tbsp. cornflour mixed in a little water)

Melt the knob of butter on a gentle heat in a saucepan, when melted take off the heat and sprinkle some plain flour over the butter then, using a whisk, mix the flour and butter until there is pale lumpy bits in the pan. Now add the milk (or ½ and ½) Put back on the heat and start stirring the mixture, increase the heat a bit, keep stirring until the milk starts to boil. Start adding in the grated cheese; don’t add all of it as you want some for your topping. By now your sauce should be thick if not the add rescue cornflour and keep stirring.   Your veg should be cooked and in an ovenproof dish, pour over your sauce. Mix left over grated cheese with breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes and sprinkle over your veg and sauce. Bake in over for 15 mins until sauce is bubbling and topping is golden brown.  

Cheese and Potato Pie

• Boil about 6 large peeled and sliced potatoes, when just boiled and not soft, drain and put to one side to cool.
• Make up the cheese sauce.
• Slice a couple of onions

Use your ovenproof dish again. Layer the potatoes on the bottom, then layer the sliced onion. We layer bacon bits next (but you could layer cooked carrot slices or other veg) then layer potatoes slices again and repeat until you nearly reach the top. Pour over your sauce and the layer with last of potato and sprinkle grated cheese and bread crumb mix. Bake in oven for 15 mins or until topping is golden brown  

Pasta Bake- This amount will feed you easily 3 days or more

• You can add tuna, or bacon, or ham or chicken to make this a good source of protein too.
• Pasta shapes
• Can of tomatoes

Makeup half the sauce but don’t add cheese! Add the rescue cornflour instead. This is a white sauce. Grated cheese and Bread crumbs or cornflakes mixed and Italian herbs   Cook the pasta shapes, put them in an ovenproof dish. Add whatever else you wanted and then pour over the tomatoes and then the white sauce, sprinkle the topping mix and bake until topping is golden brown.