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So I recently became obsessed with crock pot recipes. I’m sure you’re wondering, what does this have to do with Cheap Students? And it’s one of those things that indirectly relates to the theme here, which is, making food in a crock pot is easy, and can be made in large quantities which will lead to you spending less at fast-food restaurants and the meals can be frozen and heated up another day. What could students not like about cheap and easy meals?

Pinterest has been the source of most of my inspiration when it comes to interesting food ideas. Some looked absolutely disgusting and I stayed far far away from those.

Here’s the first recipe I tried, crock pot mac and cheese. It was actually pretty good, I’m not usually a fan of homemade mac and cheese but this one was good.

Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
Makes 4-6 Servings
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
3 eggs (I omitted the eggs)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions:

1 Boil the macaroni in water for six minutes. Drain.
2 In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts.
3 In slow cooker, combine cheese mixture and add the eggs (I omitted the eggs), sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper. Add the drained macaroni and stir again.
4 Cook on low for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
So I mostly followed this recipe except for a few things

Cooked noodles (I used rice pasta instead) for 6minutes and then drained
Sprayed the pot lightly with spray oil
Turned my 3-qt Crock Pot on High & melted the butter &cheese
Was not completely melted when other ingredients were added
Turned the pot to Low.
Whisked all the other ingredients in a separate bowl first before adding them to the pot.
In this order: 1 beaten egg, sour cream, spices (mustard, salt, pepper), cheddar soup, 1% milk.
Added the noodles last.
Was definitely ready to eat in 1 1/2 hours.
Stirred it often.

Please excuse my really terrible iPhone photo’s (yes I’m still using a 3GS)

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 but there is a way to make greek yogurt cheap.

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..

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.

Line your strainer with the doubled or tripled paper towel sheet.
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).
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.
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[at]gmail[dot]com and they could be featured on the blog.

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