Crock Pot Meals-Jambalaya

So no I'm not starting a foodie blog...yet. But here's the most recent crock pot recipe that I've tried. This one is for Jambalaya which is something I really like whenever I buy it in a restaurant but I've never made it myself.

The recipe I used was from Women's Health from way back and its a healthy version so do what you want. You can switch up the brown rice from white, turkey sausage for pork, you know the deal.





Makes 6 Servings. Cook time approximately 8-9 hours (on low)

1 large onion, peeled and diced (yes, these will make you cry)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 medium size sweet red peppers
1 can (15 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 C long grain brown rice
1 package of spicy italian turkey or chicken sausage
1 tsp hot sauce
2 tbsp fresh thyme, minced (or 2 tsp dried)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 C water
3 tbsp fresh parsley, minced (I didn't use any)
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (aka skinless and the tails are off)

Directions

1. Place onion, garlic, celery, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, rice, and sausage in the crockpot in that order.
2. Add hot sauce, thyme, salt, pepper, and water.
3. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours.
4. One hour before it's finished cooking, toss in parsley and shrimp. Stir until well combined, adding more water if needed.

Check out the full recipe here

Overall it was not too bad. I was at work for the whole day and may have left it on too long. I'm not a chef here. The taste was good anyways and I ended up with a bunch of leftovers.
I would definitely suggest trying this one out, it's got a nice kick to it (you can add more hot sauce or red pepper flakes if you want).

Also if you didn't see my previous crock pot post check out Crock Pot Meals-Mac and Cheese

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Greek Yogurt: Cheap Students style

So I'm sure a lot of people that read this blog are aware of Greek yogurt, but like me may buy it as more of a treat since it costs almost double or triple the price of regular yogurt. It's definitely a product that doesn't fit within the Cheap Student lifestyle.

When you aren't able to snag a container on sale or with a coupon try to make some yourself for a lot less.

Here's a recipe I have used before, and if strained enough can also be used as a yogurt cheese type spread. A tip. Warn your roommates what your contraption in the fridge is, one of my roommates may have gotten a really nasty yogurt drippings surprise one time, it didn't end well..

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What you need;

• A small strainer
• A container of plain yogurt, for healthier options choose organic or fat free versions
• Cheesecloth, or for broke students a few sheets length of paper towel. (you may be able to find cheesecloths from Dollarama though)
• A decent size bowl (to catch the drippings, yeah I know its nasty, but its just moisture so don't be scared)

What to do.

1. Line your strainer with the doubled or tripled paper towel sheet. 
2. Place the strainer so it can drain into the bowl (you don't want your straining yogurt sitting inside the liquid that dripped out of it).
3. Once the strainer is set up and ready to go in the bowl, scoop a large amount of plain yogurt so it sits in the middle of the paper towel within the strainer.
4. Cover the strainer with some paper towel

Now put the contraption into the fridge and let the magic happen. The longer you wait the more moisture drains from the yogurt and the thicker it gets. About every 8 hours or so squeeze the "ball" of yogurt to remove moisture and replace the paper towel, and empty the bowl filled with moisture.

For some added flavour you can add spices (maybe some cinnamon?), or garlic powder and herbs (if you want to make it into a spread). I'm going to try a few combinations and will definitely post photo's and reviews when I do.

Once its at your desired thickness. Add honey, berries or anything else you normally eat greek yogurt with.

It will literally cost you the container of plain yogurt and maybe the paper towel and a new small strainer from Dollarama if you don't have one already.

Plain yogurt is usually on sale and about 2 dollars for a large tub (or less). The amount of "Greek" yogurt you can get out of it is worth your money and even if it takes a little bit of time and effort.

Hope this helps!

If you have any other great cheap recipes feel free to send them to cheapstudentcanada@gmail.com and they could be featured on the blog.

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Cheap Eats: Part 2

This is the second post of 2 covering the topic of how to find cheap places to eat through non-mobile means, but instead through tips from this blog post or printable coupons. This post will focus on the following options that includes;

• Coupons
• Daily Deals
• Places you never thought of

Coupons
I know most people associate coupons with crazy ladies that are addicted to cutting coupons and show up on reality tv shows. But it's important to note that it's not a bad thing to whip out a coupon here and there especially when its going to save you some money. A great website to check out is BeFrugal.com where you can sign up and then print off coupons for restaurants. Another great tip is to sign up for the newsletters of your favourite chain restaurants where they often send you emails with deals and promotions that you can use at their restaurants.

Daily Deals
Websites like Groupon.com are great websites where you can get coupons and savings for chain restaurants as well as local restaurants. Check out these sites often and you can even sign up for their newsletters to make sure you get the most up to date deals.

Places you never thought of

This section was one of the main reasons why I wanted write a post covering this topic. Going to the University of Guelph myself I realized that there was a great restaurant on campus as part of our Hotel and Tourism program. This restaurant is run by students and is part of their curriculum which leads to fairly good meals and really inexpensive prices. 

A list of a few great university/college campus restaurants

Niagara College-Benchmark

University of Guelph-P.J's

Humber College- The Humber Room

Algonquin College-Restaurant International

Fanshawe College- Saffron's Restaurant

How do you save while eating out?

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