Ok so a while ago a threw together mushroom pork chop amazingness. Here is what I did.

Sliced Mushrooms

Sliced or Chopped Garlic (1 clove)

Half a small Onion

1 Porkchop

Herb mix

Honey.

OK so I cut up the veggies and got them started cooking in a skillet. With just a little oil on the bottom so they wouldn't stick. While those were getting cooked a bit I sprinkled the herb mix on my pork chop and then drizzled some honey on it. After the mushrooms had started to get soft but were not completely cooked I added the pork chop to the pan and cooked that through with the mushrooms. 

Th result was this AMAZING looking dinner. It tasted just as good as it looks too! 

Shopping as a Poor Graduate Student Abroad.

This week I am a struggling with budgeting. I haven't gotten my disbursement of government loans to live off of and my £200 ish was quickly disappearing after 1 week and getting essentials to live.
I do most of my shopping at the corner Sainsbury's Local. This is a smaller version of the Sainsbury's store (although I've never been to a normal one). They are reasonably prices and have quite a few options for being a corner store. I can get veggies, meats, cheese, eggs, milk, snacks, almost anything I want out of their selection.

This week I had £15 to spend on groceries. Keep in mind I still have some stuff left over from last week when I had no idea what I was doing.
My first bit of advice is to NEVER shop hungry. You will just buy thing's you don't need. Second if you are going shopping without a list and set recipes for the week as you shop think in terms of "meals" and what can be used in more than one meal.

So with my mad skills, for my £15 I was able to get the following
Milk
2 bottles of Dr. Pepper (pop is much more expensive here and they were on sale 2 for £2)
2 pack of Pork Loin Steaks
a pack of cubed chicken breast
pack of brown rice (microwave kind)
broccoli
mushrooms
snow peas
stir-fry corn
hummus
6 pack of eggs

I see you over there looking at me with doubt going "that's all shes going to eat in a week?" No silly, remember I said I sill had stuff from last week? I've got cereal and PB&J fixings for breakfast and lunch. I realize this looks impossible but I promise I'm not going to starve myself (I like food too much). I need this food to last me until I get my bank account open. But ideally it would last until next week. I usually don't eat all of what I make and have left overs to eat for lunch of dinner another day. Remember this is all new for me and I'm on a budget. 

Next up will be a post on how my Loin Steaks work out with possibly a Kapparberg cider sauce? turn out.

Long time no See

I know I haven't posted in awhile but I haven't really been cooking or having cooking adventures. However that is ALL changing. I moved to York England 2 weeks ago and Let me tell you it's been an experience.
Cooking for one is hard enough. But cooking for one on a budget is harder. I think I'm going to try to start some posts about the concoctions I makeup. I am definitely starting to just make things off the top of my head instead of necessarily following recipes.
I'm going to try some posts about budget shopping as I learn my lessons and let you know what works and doesn't work in the kitchen. We will see how this goes!

Wish me luck!

Lemon Chicken with Olives

1 Tbs. olive oil
4 chicken breasts, about 2.5 lbs
Salt & Pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cups black olives (just use pitted halved caned black olives)
1 lemon
1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley

1. heat oil in frying  pan add chicken and brown on all sides (not cooking the whole thing just giving it color)
2. remove chicken
3. add garlic, cook 30 seconds and remove from heat. stir in 1/4 cup water 1/4 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper.
4. return chicken, cover and cook until done.
5. place chicken on serving plate.
6. add olives to pan. with 1/2 tsp lemon zest and 2 tsp lemon juice
7. boil remaining pan juices over high heat until slightly thickened
8. pour over chicken and sprinkle wit h parsley.

I thought this dish was ok. However, my dad and sister who don't like olives loved the way the chicken tasted. This is a quick an easy dish if you are looking for something fast and good.

Ground Meat Pork N' Beans

An old Kowicki family recipe. (we think). This sucker is "depression" food. Meaning my grandma made it up during the great depression. you get a lot of bang for your buck with this one.

1 lb ground meat (beef or turkey)
1 can pork n beans
1/4 cup katchup
1 tsp kitchen bouquet
1 tsp worstershire sauce
2 Tbs brown sugar
Potato


1. peel and boil potatoes (you are mak'n mashed potatoes.)
2. brown meat in large pan
3. add 1 can pork n beans
4. add ketchup, kitchen bouquet and worstershire sauce. stir.
5. add brown sugar and stir
6. heat until everything is warm all the way through.

serve this on top of the mashed potatoes and eat with saltine crackers. It doesn't look like much but it will fill you up fast and is super yummy.

Kielbasa with Cabbage and Potatoes

I did another recipe from The Chew web site. Below is the link to it.

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Classic-Kielbasa-Michael-Symon

This recipe took more beer than I thought it would and I had to send my mom to the gas station to get more because I only had one bottle. I again used Blue Moon and found that it's really good to cook with. I also used smoke Kielbasa because that is what I had. It make preparing this much easier and a bit faster because I didn't have to worry about cooking the kielbasa.

If you like it share it.

Just a little self shout out. If you like this blog share it. make it. enjoy it. It's for you guys.

Follow too. that way I know I'm not doing this for no one. :D