A Hearty Soup for a Depressing, Frigid January.

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It's that time of the year again-the dead of winter. Now That I live in Texas, January has become a bearable even pleasant month. This however, was not the case when I was living in Nottingham as a student. Winter jackets had to be worn at all times and it was weird not to see your own breath in the morning. As a response, I came up with a cheap and delicious Lentil and Bacon soup recipe to warm you up and kick those winter woes. It serves 5-6 and costs next to nothing per serving.

Go Get:

4-5 Rashers of bacon.

1/4 pack of Red Lentils.

2 Carrots.

3 Sticks Celery.

1 Large Onion.

1. Can of Dices tomatoes.

Half a Butternut squash.

3 Cloves of Garlic.

800ml of Chicken stock.

The Action:

1. Fry the bacon until cooked through and remove from the pan. Saute the rest of the chopped up vegetables on a high heat in the bacon juices until golden brown, or for around 15 minutes.

2. Add the lentils, can of tomatoes, half of the stock and the cumin to the pot. Simmer for 45 mins.

3. Throw the soup mixture into a blender and blend til smooth. Add more stock to get to the right consistency. Season with salt & pepper to taste and serve garnished with a celery leaf and olive oil. Pair the soup with some crusty bread and you've got yourself a meal.

Burger under 30: Tofu Burgers with Guacamole and Spinach

As meat prices keep rising, sometimes you're forced to use ingredients that you wouldn't normally use. Tofu isn't something I would associate with a delicious, moist burger. But as I had a block of tofu in the fridge $6 left in my bank account, I had to improvise.

This one takes less than 30 mins from the cutting board to mouth and contains a lot less fat than your typical beef burger.

Go get:

Packet of firm tofu.

A small onion.

2 Cloves of garlic.

Paprika

Worcestershire Sauce

Dried chili flakes

Soy Sauce.

Spinach.

Guacamole.

The Action:

1. Finely chop your onion and garlic and fry with a bit of oil. Season with a pich of salt and pepper as well as some generous splashes of Worcestershire sauce (that's wuss-ter-sheer to you Americans who can't pronounce all them 'fancy' words like).

2. Mash up the tofu and your cooked onions and garlic. Splash in some soy sauce as well as half a teaspoon or more of paprika and your chili flakes.

3. Combine into patties and fry until cooked through. Top burgers with a handful of spinach and and generously smear the inside of the burger bun with some guac.

Quick, easy, healthy and sophisticated- and for less than a dollar per burger.