Easy as Pie!

The other day I made my first pie and it was easy peasy so today I'm going to share my recipe with you. It's a really simple and delicious recipe that's easy for students and those who are looking for a cheap hot meal for supper!

Things you'll need: ceramic pie dish, chicken, 1 egg, pastry brush, puff pastry, mushrooms, onion, bacon, crème fresh, mixed herbs, and chicken stock.

Lakeland currently have an offer on their ceramic pie dishes at the moment so this is a link to one here: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/13249/Traditional-Enamel-16cm-Oblong-Pie-Dish

A ceramic pie dish is ideal because it saves you having to use lots of pots and pans. With a ceramic pie dish you can just bang all your ingredients in it and place it on the hob. It's ceramic so it acts like a pan essentially.

Method:

Once you have your ceramic pie dish, place it on the hob at the highest temperature with a tbsp. of oil. Then, chop up your mushrooms and onion and place them in the ceramic pie dish. Once they start to brown, chop up your chicken breasts and bacon into chunks and add them as well. Once the chicken is fully cooked, add your 200ml of chicken stock, 1tsp of mixed herbs and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Once you have done this, add 2 tbsps. of crème fresh, stir everything together and leave to simmer for 5 minutes or so. Then, crack open your egg into a bowl or a cup and use a fork to whisk it. Take you pastry brush, dip it into the egg and brush the edges of your pie dish. Once you have done this, take your pre rolled puff pastry, place it on the top, fold in the edges and use your pastry brush and egg to glaze your pie. Place your pie in the oven (180 degrees/gas mark 5) for around 15 to 20 minutes, checking it regularly.

Where to get the ingredients cheap: pre chopped chicken breast £2.50 at Lidl or 3 for £10 chicken breast at Morrisons. Puff pastry - 69p at Lidl. Crème Fresh- 90p 300ml at Morrisons. Mushrooms- 99p at Morrisons. 5kg onions - £1.39 at Lidl. Pre chopped bacon 81p at Morrisons. Mixed herbs 67p at Morrisons. Chicken stock 75p at Morrisons.

 

Gina xo

How to save on your food shopping bill

I have been a student for the past 4 years and when I moved out at 18 I had no idea how to cook and lived off Asda's savers meals 24/7. Not. Healthy. Ew. As I started to break out in spots, gain weight and feel pretty shitty I decided I was going to learn how to cook proper meals. So, I bought a recipe book of healthy meals and I soon realised I was spending £60 a week on meals just for myself! It sounds crazy but healthy food is expensive and in order to cook all of these "healthy" meals in my recipe book I needed so many ingredients. Eventually, I gave up and returned to microwave meals and takeaways. However, since moving to Edinburgh and living with my boyfriend who can't cook to save his life, I had to learn. So, my next few blog posts are going to be about saving money on food and how to make yummy healthy meals. This first blog post is going to tell you the smart way to do your food shopping so keep on reading!

First thing I did was I changed my supermarket to Lidl. Lidl is so much cheaper than Asda, Morrisons and Sainsburys.  You can get a lettuce for 20p! Crazy cheap. Now, don't be judgey. Just because it's cheap, does not mean it isn't good quality. I find that the fruit and vegetables especially is much better quality than fruit and veg you get from local stores. Seriously, buy an onion from Asda and one from the Lidl and taste the difference. Or..just trust me.

I then did a BIG shop. Now, what I mean by a big shop is stocking up on all cupboard foods. Things that you should definitely have in your food cupboard is: tins of chopped tomatoes, pasta, rice and noodles. I love a lot of Asian foods because they're really cheap and easy to make so if you're like me or want to try some Asian recipes then definitely stock up on your spices. Basic spices that you will need are: chilli, tumeric, garam masala, ground ginger, cumin and cinnamon. These ingredients come up all the time so it's really useful to have them in your cupboard at the ready. It's also important to stock up on herbs and basics such as: garlic granules, mixed herbs, coriander, baked beans, kidney beans, salt and pepper, gravy granules and coconut milk. The next part of your big shop is frozen foods. Things you should have in your freezer are: mixed veg, frozen berries, pastry, meat, potato wedges/chips and bread. Now, onto filling up the fridge: butter, cheese, ham, a smoked sausage, milk, eggs, yogurt, tomato puree, chilli puree, onion, potatoes pepper and mushrooms.

Once you've done your big shop, the next time you go food shopping it's most likely you will just need to buy your very basics: meat, milk and bread. My last BIG shop at the Lidl cost me £42.80 and that included sweet treats and other bits and bobs that I didn't mention above. Pretty amazing. If you want to discover how to make 7 easy meals that you can make with all of the above ingredients then follow my blog and keep an eye out for my next blog posts. Here's a little list of what I've been cooking this week! -->

1. Spaghetti Bolognese
2. Seasoned steaks with potato wedges, veg and gravy
3. Chicken curry with rice
4. Chicken pie
5. Chilli Con Carne
6. Smoked sausage pasta bake
    

Gina's on a Budget and She's Back!

Me oh my it's been a while! Well, I'm back. I've just recently graduated from Uni woo! Except. I'm now unemployed and living off savings. Not so good. But hey it's encouraged me to reboot this blog again and because now I really am skint, I really do know how to get by scraping the barrel. Yay!

After working in both Primark and Superdrug for the past 4 years, I've gained a lot of knowledge and experience in what the best cheap products are that are out there. So, the plan is to upload a few beauty tutorials using high street products and show you how to get the latest looks for school, work, uni, nights out etc ALL on the cheap WITHOUT making your own clothes or beauty products and stuff because.......AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FO DAT.

If you want me to review any particular products or give you information on beauty or fashion stuffs then send me a message or comment on my posts.

Thanks,

Much Love

 

Gina xo