Grace's Adventures in the Kitchen

Welcome back!

Last week was terribly busy for the two of us. With churning out essays after essays, (trying to) stay on top of readings, work and Claire's rehearsals until 10:30 each night, cooking dinner was my only break from studying. I don't know what it is about the cooler weather, but it always makes me want to cook and get more creative in the kitchen. I'm not usually fancy when it comes to cooking, but I felt like mixing it up a bit, as I was heading into dangerous territory of cooking the same meals each week. Pinterest and my copy of Charlotte Pike's Hungry Student's Cookbook (Vegetarian edition) have become my new best friends! All of the meals that I cooked this week came from these two sources. I am desperately on the look out for the other two Hungry Student Cookbooks, especially the baking one! I am in love with my copy of the vegetarian one, and I'm not even a vegetarian! Just because you are a student does not mean that you must live off mi goreng and baked beans on toast! So, without further ado, I present to you the first installment of Grace's Adventures in the Kitchen!

(Sorry that there are not photos for all of the meals. I'm kind of a terrible food photographer.)

MONDAY: Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Recipe found here

Lately, Claire and I have been opting to make our own schnitzel (especially because veal schnitzel is so expensive!). Our first attempt was kind of a failure. Remember: flour, then egg! Crumbed chicken products our one of our weaknesses, so making our own nuggets seemed like the logical decision. By making your own, you know that it is 100% chicken breast! One chicken breast should be enough to feed two people. We used two and ended up with too many.

TUESDAY: Butternut Squash and Tomato Gratin

Recipe from The Hungry Student Vegetarian  Cookbook by Charlotte Pike.

My oh my, did I enjoy this too much! Basically, a gratin is just a fancy way of saying potato bake. All this recipe is, is butternut pumpkin, a can of diced tomatoes, cream and cheese. A can of diced tomatoes is one of my pantry must haves. I feel that you should always have one in stock at all times, because they can be used in so many things! Also, pumpkin is in season, so it is cheap at the moment (Around $1 per kg.). Once I figured out how to chop and peek a pumpkin, this was super easy to make. I served it on its own, but you could easily use this as a side dish, or even serve it with pasta, and have plenty of leftovers. 10/10, would recommend. I want to make it again already!

WEDNESDAY: Jacket Potatoes with Creamy Mushrooms

Jacket potatoes are so easy and filling (when you have the time to wait 60-75 minutes for it to cook in the oven), and potatoes are inexpensive. To dress it up a little, I chose the creamy mushroom filling that was also in the Hungry Student Cookbook. Claire was craving bacon, so I added some chopped bacon pieces in there too. Add some cheese on top, and voila! An easy meal.

THURSDAY: Beany Nachos

Recipe from Hungry Student Vegetarian Cookbook.

I felt super proud of myself for deciding to cook this one, because I got to use up a few things I already had in my pantry/fridge. The only ingredient I had to buy for this was the corn chips (just plain Coles brand worked fine) and another can of tomatoes, as I already had kidney beans, sour cream, a little bit of salsa I really needed to use, and avocado on hand. Plus, this was also inexpensive as I didn't need to buy mince (which the price for just went up $1). I added a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste just to help thicken the sauce a little bit, which made it extra tomato-ey, but that's okay. Once again, 10/10 impressed with this cookbook!

FRIDAY: Leftover Nacho Sauce with Pasta

This meal is basically what it is. I had some leftover kidney bean and tomato sauce from the night before, so I heated some up, cooked some pasta, and boom. Dinner made easy. To add more veggies, I had some broccoli on the side.

So there is the first installment of this series. With mid-year break coming up, I will have time to perhaps spend time on more complicated dishes! Plus, there are a few baking recipes I want to try. 

Let me know if you decide to try any of these recipes, or what you have been enjoying cooking lately. I am always looking for more cooking inspiration!

Stay Gold,

Grace.