End of Term

So, term officially ended at Sheff Uni on the 13th of June, though my first year here really ended on the 8th, just after my last exam. I've now got to still sort out erasmus stuff. Then I'm sitting pretty :)

In other news, the majority of the flat moved out while I was in work, so I never got to say goodbye to 4 of the girls :(

Lexy, Kate and I found a park and messed about for about an hour - it was great fun :D I'm trying to take more pictures of Lexy and I, because I really am going to miss her

I should not be allowed to take selfies

Wow, I haven't written on here for a while. Mainly because Uni life has just gone stratospheric - in the past fortnight I have gone out more times than I did in the first and second semesters. It's also exam season, and as you can see by my writing this blogpost, I am vigorously revising.

Taco Bell is also consuming a lot of my paycheck, but it is very nice. I'm still working, though I'm having to hand in my notice soon, and my line boss is telling me that because I took holiday, I will owe the company money. I feel this is a little rich, as they knew I was leaving, and said it was ok for me to take holiday. Hey ho, I'll just have to work a shift for free.

In slightly more joyous news, I'm really digging this track :)

Sheff in the snow :3

It's been snowing for about 12 hours now, interspersed with rain and snow and just rain for variety. I went for a walk in Endcliffe Park, a large-ish park about 15 mins walk from my halls. To be honest I needed a break from the flat - all the girls have come back and while I'm very happy to see them, I'm feeling quite cramped and very tense. It was still snowing/raining ish as I left, and combined with the lumps of slush glopping from the trees I soon had a nice ice hat to protect me from more snow. *PHOTO SPAM INCOMING*

 

 

 

And.... DUCKS!!

 

This cheeky guy didn't like the seeds I was throwing out and stood about a foot from me just looking at me!

 

The Ready Meal Saga - Sainsbury's Chicken Lasagne

The Ready Meal Saga - Sainsbury's Chicken Lasagne

 

 

I was really excited to find this one, as I really like chicken and I really like lasagne. So I bought it after work, and at a 3 for £6 deal it is matching Morrison's. There were two microwave powers stated - 850W and 750W. This is a little annoying, but as all Sainsbury's ready meals have cooking instructions for 850W and 750W microwaves I'm starting to think I have the only 800W microwave in the world. I figured I could probably put the lasagne on for halfway between the times stated, so in it went for 7 and a half minutes.

 

It exploded.

 

Exploded. Why? The science was sound!

 

As you can see in the picture at the start, there is a red circle in the middle of the right-hand side. This is the top pasta sheet being bent out of shape and causing tomato sauce to leak like a budget geyser all over the top of the lasagne. And you see that brown 45-degree line across the centre of the lasagne? That was where the explosion caused the béchamel sauce and the wisp of cheese to slide off, leaving an inflexible shield over the solitary chicken lump.

That was the other thing about this ready meal. There were more tomato lumps than chicken, and the chicken lump that was there was massive. I had a panic that it wasn't cooked. It was, but I couldn't convince myself to finish after "/ 

 

If I was to make a chicken lasagne, I would get chicken breasts, hammer them flat (you can actually do that, I've seen it on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) then chargrill them. Do I mean chargrill? You know, cook it so the outside tastes burnt, but a nice burnt? I don't know. But then, what I'd do is I'd spread pesto over the slices, layer it up with some SMOOTH tomato sauce (the only thing worse than lumpy tomato sauce is peas) and lasagne sheets, and voilah.

 

Bask in my impeccable art skillz, mortals. Not to scale.

 

Understandably, Sainsbury's can't do that due to profit margins and a price war. But when my dad's in charge of his own restaurant and Guy Fieri comes to visit, this is what we'll serve him.

 

Dammit there doesn't appear to be a table function on this.

 



Cheese - non-existent. 2/10

Béchamel sauce - 7/10
Filling - 3/10

Tomato Sauce - 2/10

Taste - 7/10

 

Overall - 4/10. I will review this again though after I have got over my cold.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Life yo B)

I'm back in Uni now after an awfully short Christmas break - I went home on the 20th of December and came back for the 1st of January :(

But anyway, as my usual eating haunts are not open for another few weeks, thus begins THE READY MEAL SAGA.

 

There are three shops where I can get ready meals from - Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrison's, which is newly opened and actually sells Carling Cherry Cider. These stores are all on Broomhill, and I can stop in Sainsbury's on the way back from work. I may as well review them, I should be doing it for noodles but I keep forgetting, so I have made some criteria.

1. All ready meals must be microwaveable. I only have an 800W microwave and a square foot of work surface so if a meal requires more I am not allowed to eat it
2. I shall try and choose meals that are comparable across the three shops. For example, if Sainsbury's has a meal that is not available in the other shops, it will not be included in the league tables
3. LEAGUE TABLES. Each dish shall be tried three times from each shop, averaged and then ranked
4. I shall try to include links online to each dish, so you know I'm not making up a dish

I will generally be commentating on portion size, taste, price and individual components. Though not too harshly because I don't want to get sued.

 

I'm unlikely to get sued, as about 3 people read my blog and 66% of them are my family, so if a big company thinks I can change peoples opinion with my posts they should probably go out and get some fresh air

Home!

As it happens, I am now home :D It's great to be back, I'm really enjoying seeing my family and friends again. I have been busy buying things (presents, wool etc), my best purchase to date being;

 

 

Yeah! It's a Stegosaurus piggybank, and I shall be using it to hold my £2 for the £2 coin challenge.

 

This inspired me to crochet some dinosaurs - maybe I'll be able to sell them to get some extra cash.

 

Also, the crochet gloves I started off earlier in the year? Well I've finally started to make some headway into them and they're starting to come on nicely. They are a little tight, but that's what you get for considering the pattern to be a mere guideline

The Sock Calendar

So, I know I haven't really been keeping up with the Sock Calendar - I have been busy procrastinating and  preparing to go home.