Meatless Monday!

I had been reading about Meatless Mondays for awhile, and recently started following them on Twitter. Though I don’t necessarily do it every Monday, I do go meatless a few times a week. Yesterday I stuck true to the name, though, and had a meatless Monday by making a Tex-Mex summer squash casserole. It sounds kind of weird, but it was really good.

I actually found the recipe on CalorieCount.About.com, which I had joined right after graduation to ensure I didn’t blow up, post-college 15 style. The site is actually pretty decent to track calorie intake and what you burn, but it’s a lot of upkeep so I abandoned it. Before I did, though, I grabbed some user-posted recipes including what I made last night.

I’ve been leaning more and more towards vegetarian dishes, for a bunch of reasons. They’re healthy, flavorful, and really versatile. Plus, since I’m almost always just cooking for two, they last longer. It’s much easier to ensure that the veggies haven’t gone bad instead of meat. And I feel better about myself and my choices when I eat an all veggie meal. However, I still can’t pass up the occasional burger, salmon, and things like that. But like my fiancé says, when given the choice, I’ll choose veggies and tofu over meat. So I’ll stick to my claim of being a halfetarian!

The recipe is for 10 servings, but I cut everything in half, which required some serious math. Since it was our main dish, we each had two servings and had enough left over for lunch the next day. The jalapeño added really nice spice, and the chunky salsa added some more veggies which are always welcome. I would definitely make this again, as a main dish or even a side dish. After cutting all the veggies I just had to put it in the oven and wait… Nice and easy!

Tex-Mex Summer Squash Casserole
 – Makes 10 Servings –

Ingredients:
10 cups of summer squash, sliced
4 1/2 oz. green chilies, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup flour
4 scallions, sliced
2/3 cup yellow onion, chopped
4 1/2 oz jalapeños, chopped (about 2)
2 1/4 cups shredded Mexican/taco blend cheese
3/4 cup chunky salsa
1/4 cup red onion, chopped

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Coat 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray
3. Combine squash, yellow onion, chilies, jalapenos, salt and 3/4 cup of cheese in a large bowl. Sprinkle with flour, and toss to coat. Spread mixture into dish and cover with foil.
4.. Bake the casserole until bubbling and squash is tender, 35-45 minutes. Spoon salsa onto the casserole and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 cups of cheese.
5. Bake, uncovered, until golden and heated through about 20-30 minutes.
6. When ready to serve, sprinkle with scallions and red onion

Happy veggie nomzing!

I’ll take you to the Candy Shop

Yes, those are in fact lyrics from a 50 Cent song, that I listened to many a times in a crowded Scranton basement in college. Candy Shop also happens to be the sub-brand of the Duncan Hines brownies I made tonight. I know, you’re thinking I’m a total cop-out for using a brownie mix instead of making my own while having a food blog. Well while wandering down the baking aisle at Target today, I stumbled upon a peanut butter brownie box and had to have it. Sometimes making mix out of the box is just as fun as making them from scratch? And by fun, I really just mean easy.

My fiancé has a seriously delicious salmon recipe that he got from his dad. It’s super easy, and I beg him every now and again to make it. So, after some coaxing this past week, he gave in and made it for me tonight, after letting it marinate overnight. We paired it with rice, and boy did it hit the spot! While I’m forbidden for sharing the recipe (so unfair, I know) I can at least show you how delicious it looked!

Back to the reasoning behind the post, the peanut butter brownies! I always find it interesting that brownie mixes provide you two options; one for fudgey brownies, and one for cake-like brownies. I always think to myself, “who wants cake-like brownies?! Fudge is where it’s at!” I suppose there are some people that would disagree, but I always go for the ultimate fudge-factor. That’s why I’m a huge fan of Ghiradelli’s mixes. For something that only required me to combine the brownie mix, a little bit of oil, water, and an egg and throw it in the oven for about 30 minutes, I’m impressed. Sure, I probably could have made better brownies myself, but it also would have taken me a lot longer. Sometimes a little sacrifice in authenticity is allowed for a quick treat on a weeknight. These badboys will be an excellent afternoon snack tomorrow during my 2:30pm “I really still have 3 more hours of work?” wallowing.

So I thought I’d end the post with a question: what’s your favorite straight-from-the-box dessert mix?

Happy nomzing!

A Mexican Fiesta: Ole!

Late Saturday night after coming home from a delicious BBQ and relaxing for a bit while watching She’s the Man (hello Channing Tatum boy-crush and Amanda Bynes girl-crush!), my fiancé and I sat down to try and organize the coming week’s meals. Since I’m a big planner, I always have the next week’s meals decided about mid-week but decided to wait till the last minute this time.

While scouring the millions of e-mails I’ve forwarded my fiancé with recipes attached, our recipe books, and folder collection, after about an hour of being frantic we settled on this week’s menu. After our weekly Sunday trip to the grocery store, (which we’ve decided needs to be done on Saturdays because all the crazies go shopping on Sunday) I got to work on tonight’s recipe.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Mexican and Spanish food (as you’re well aware) so tonight’s dinner was right up my alley. I found a recipe for chicken empanadas on the Food Network’s site, courtesy of Ms. Paula Dean. Knowing that her recipes are usually full of fat and grease, I was pleasantly surprised that aside from the copious amounts of cheese involved, it wasn’t that bad. I’ve never made empanadas before since I don’t have a deep fryer, but these bad boys were baked so I was up for the challenge. I actually got a lot of help from my fiancé which I really appreciated!

I didn’t realize until this recipe, but I don’t own a rolling pin! So, in order to get the 12 to 15 3-inch circles of dough required for the recipe, we spread out the pie crust on two floured cutting boards, and rolled it with a shot glass. Innovative, I know. Since we also don’t have any cookie cutters, we just used the rim of a plastic cup, which we gaged to be about 3-inches.  It’s amazing how difficult a recipe can be when you don’t have the proper tools.

But, the filling for the empanadas was super easy. The chicken didn’t call for any seasoning, so I added some chili powder and taco seasoning just to add some pizazz. Other than that I stuck to the book, and am pleased with the results! It definitely made more filling than what went into the 15 circles I was able to cut from the one sheet of pie crust. So, I saved the leftovers and will be bringing it for lunch tomorrow. It’d probably also be great in  wrap.

Continuing the Mexican fiesta theme, I decided to pair the empanadas with a corn and black bean salad. This recipe is from The World’s Healthiest Foods, and I’ve made it a few times. It’s super simple and the longer it sits, the better it tastes. It makes about 4 servings, so I’m looking forward to and even more flavorful salad later this week!

I think the empanadas would be a great party style dish, maybe as an appetizer or something like that. It was definitely interesting to have them as our main dish, but I’m always up for new things. It was super cheesey which I always love, and the heat from the jalapeños was much appreciated, though my fingers are currently cursing me since they feel like they’re on fire. The corn and black bean salad has always been a favorite of mine, so now that I have the recipe back in my hands, I plan on making it over and over again!

Paula Dean’s Chicken Empanadas
– Makes 12 to 15 –

Ingredients:
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1 (8-ounce) package shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese blend
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie crusts
Water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Lightly grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the chicken and next 7 ingredients.
3. Unroll 1 piecrust onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 15-inch circle. Cut out rounds, using a 3-inch cookie cutter. Re-roll dough as needed. Repeat procedure with remaining piecrusts, making 12 to 15 circles total.
4. Arrange 1 round on a clean, flat surface. Lightly brush the edges of crust with water. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken mixture in the center of the round. Fold the dough over the filling, pressing the edges with a fork to seal. Repeat with the remaining rounds and chicken mixture. (Up to this point, the recipe can be made ahead and frozen for up to 1 month).
5. Arrange empanadas on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

15 Minute Black Bean Salad
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
½ cup minced onion
2 medium cloves garlic, pressed
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
½ cup diced red bell pepper
2 TBS pumpkin seeds, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
3 TBS fresh lemon juice
salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Mince onions, press garlic, cut tomatoes, chop red peppers
2. Mix all ingredients together and serve.
*This salad will keep for a couple of days and gets more flavorful if you let it marinate in the refrigerator for awhile.

¡Coma bien!

Summertime Nomz

Man, I have been seriously lacking in the blogosphere lately, haven’t I? My sincerest apologies! This whole going back to school while still working full time and simultaneously trying to plan a wedding and somehow still have a life is quite time consuming.

I have to admit, I haven’t done much exciting cooking recently. My time has been spent at a LOT of BBQ’s, and it isn’t even officially summer yet! So, I figured this post could be about two of my favorite things: summer and eating. These are two very broad topics, but I’m referring to their relationship to one another. I mean BBQ’s, ice cream, iced coffee, eating outside and all that other goodness.

In the past two weeks I’ve devoured enough BBQ-style food to last me a lifetime. Hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, grilled chicken, grilled veggies, ribs, and more. There’s just something so wonderful about the smell of a grill, no matter what’s on it cooking. I relish the days where you’re driving with the windows down, and you can smell someone’s grill off in the distance. I think I’ve been craving BBQ food more and more simply because my fiancé and I don’t have a grill. We’re in the process of procuring one from my parents (they’re getting a new one), but we haven’t gotten it yet and are chomping at the bit to use it. I suppose we better pick something phenomenal to grill first!

In addition to summertime food, there’s also summertime drinks. This means lots of iced coffees, teas, lemonades, frozen concoctions, and everyone’s favorite, booze! I myself am a big fan of mojito’s, Patron and pineapple, and margaritas! Other than that, you can probably find me sucking down iced coffee throughout the day. Now, I’m going to have to agree with Shelby from eat, drink, run that iced coffees are a waste of money; how can some frozen water jack up the price nearly a dollar?! Because of that I find myself making iced coffee on most occasions, which is actually pretty easy. I just double brew (so if I need three scoops for hot coffee, I’ll do six instead), and if I have the time, I throw it in the refrigerator for a bit. That way, I don’t need to use as much ice. Delicious!

While I haven’t explored the veggie BBQing world too much, I think I’m going to try it a little more this summer. I’m a big fan of Morningstar Farm’s spicy black bean burgers, and Dr. Praeger’s california burgers, but I think I want to branch out some more. I know Morningstar makes a mean “grillers” version that is apparently pretty close to an actual burger. I’m a little “meh” about veggie hot dogs, mainly because I’m not a huge fan of regular hot dogs either. I’m also looking forward to just grilling a ton of veggies; eggplant, zucchini, squash, corn… yum! Oh, and I’m totally grilling a pizza and getting my salad on. I’m not talking about boring lettuce thrown together. I mean bean salads, pasta salads, and crispy veggie salads. I’ve been lucky enough to stumble upon some really good side and main dish salad recipes that are pretty easy and straight forward, so I’m definitely looking forward to those, too.

As you can tell, I have big plans for myself in terms of cooking this summer. There’s just something so wonderful about sitting outside (sans bugs, of course) enjoying some good food and drink. Sure, living in New Jersey means probably a lot of bugs, and serious humidity. But every once in awhile we get ourselves the perfect day, and I can’t wait to make good use of it. So feel free to send any good grilling recipes my way, I’m going to be a grill master by the end of the summer – you just wait and see!

Cupcake Bracelet!

My obsession with cupcakes continues!

As the cupcake trend is still very much en vogue, I’ve recently been able to stock up on cupcake related jewelry. Aside from food, I’m pretty obsessed with fashion.  I tend to split my time between perusing food related websites, and fashion/clothing sites. If I could find myself a job combining food and fashion, you’d never hear a complaint from me again! Well, maybe…

A few months ago, I snagged myself a pair of cupcake earrings from Forever21. Last week I was on the hunt for a birthday present for my sister, who turns 18 on Sunday! I belong to quite a few sample sale websites, including RueLaLa (if you want an invite let me know!). While I didn’t find anything for my sister there, I did find something for myself (typical). One of their sales last week was for Juicy Couture jewelry. I’m a big fan of their jewelry because it’s usually big, shiny, and outrageous.

So, when I saw this bright lime green bracelet with an adorable cupcake charm hanging from it, I just had to get it. Yes, it was a get-or-die situation. So I ordered it, and got it today! I can’t wait to wear it!

Now that I’m outfitted with cupcake earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet, I suppose a ring is next!

Breakfast for Dinner: Monte Cristo style!

I had my first Monte Cristo sandwich my freshman year of college. We were on a training trip to Mission Veijo, California and in between practices one day a few teammates and I ventured to a restaurant near the hotel called Sugar Shack. After we discovered that place I think at least 5 members of the team were there for lunch every day.

University of Scranton Swim Team '04-'05 in California

*Sorry guys, I just had to post this. Just a little nostalgia!

I was never a big breakfast person, but it’s slowly been growing on me. The Monte Cristo is a good middle ground dish; it’s a little breakfast with the French toast style bread, and also lunch/dinner-like with the ham and cheese.

I found this particular recipe on Serious Eats‘s “Dinner Tonight” section and took out the strawberry preserves and mustard. I’d never heard of either on that particular sandwich, and I’m not big on jelly and my fiancé won’t eat mustard (or mayo). I also couldn’t find gruyere cheese at ShopRite – their cheese display is confusing. I did, however, find chipotle Gouda so I snagged that. I know Gouda isn’t the best for melting, but since it’s my all time favorite cheese, I didn’t care.

After a solid 3.1 miles regretfully on the treadmill (thanks a lot mother nature!) I set to work on the sandwiches. The recipe didn’t specify what type of bread to use, so at the store on Monday I grabbed a big crusty loaf of Italian bread. I cut the slices on the thicker side, to make it a little gourmet looking. I cut a few slices of the chipotle gouda, and added about a slice and a half of smoked ham. In terms of the French toast part, I followed the instructions for the mixture and ran with it. Since I know gouda isn’t the best melty cheese (thank you Bobby Flay’s Throw Down episode on grilled cheese), after I cooked them on each side to a golden crisp, I threw them in the oven for 5 minutes to assist in the melting.

We paired the sandwiches with some tater tots and a salad, and we were stuffed. We had plans to tackle another cupcake from Monday, but we were just too full.

Even though I’m not a huge breakfast fan (gasp!) I would absolutely make this again. It’s definitely the type of recipe you can play with in terms of different ham and cheese types, and I like that flexibility! Now if only I could transfer that flexibility to my legs. Boy they’re tight!

Monte Cristo
 – Serves 2 –

Ingredients:
4 slices bread
Mustard
6 slices ham
2 slices gruyere cheese
2 eggs
2 tablespoon milk
Pinch of cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons strawberry jam

Directions:
1. Smear some mustard on two slices of bread. Top each with three slices of ham, one slice of cheese, and a slice of bread.
2. Whisk together the egg, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla in a shallow pan.
3. Dip each sandwich into the egg mixture, making sure to evenly coat both sides.
4. Add the butter to a large skillet set over medium heat. When melted, add the sandwiches and cook on both sides until browned.
5. Sprinkle with the sugar, and serve with the strawberry jam.

Happy breakfast, lunch, and dinner nomzing!

Chocolate Espresso Hazelnut Cupcakes

I decided to get adventerous with the making of these cupcakes. I took a base recipe from Recipe Girl and kind of ran with it. I think the hardest part was coming up with a name for my creation that wasn’t miles long!

I’d been holding off making baked goods for a few reasons. One, being in super-saver mode I didn’t want to buy ingredients I didn’t have and all of the cupcakes on my to-do list had extra ingedients. I also hate baking when I don’t have somewhere to bring the goodies because some always go to waste.

So, since we saved a ton of money in groceries last week and were heading to a BBQ on Monday, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to make some cupcakes! While I made the cupcakes, my fiancé got started on his second batch of beer from the kit I had gotten him for Christmas. We had quite a nice little domestic Sunday afternoon.

The chocolate cupcake recipe I found actually mixed all of the ingredients together in a blender. As someone that still doesn’t have a stand mixer (hello wedding registry!), the idea of not having to do it by hand was amazing. I literally poured all of the ingredients into the mixer, turned it on, and waited. I did assist with the mixing a bit, but that’s really just because I’m impatient.

I decided to snazz up the regular chocolate recipe by adding espresso and hazelnuts. I was a little unsure at first if I should have just used hazelnut coffee, but I’m glad I went with the espresso and mashed hazelnuts. I didn’t brew the espresso, I just threw it in as a dry ingredient.

For the frosting, I decided to tackle a buttercream again. This time the hand mixer was a little nicer, and only spewed a bit of butter. All was well until I got to the actual icing of the cupcakes. I must have misplaced a piece of the pastry bag I just bought, so it’s basically unusable. We picked a tip and used a rubberband to hold it in place, but the tip was definitely too small to ice the whole cake. So I wound up just using a spoon and doing my ugly version. I really need to take a class or some lessons to get better at that!

I found the frosting recipe from a blog called Ming Makes Cupcakes, that has a ton of numbered cupcake recipes, and I seriously want to make them all. But I figured I’d do just one at a time.

They are definitely decadent cupcakes. I made them normal size and the batter only produced 10 cupcakes, so I made two batches and the icing was able to cover all 20 cupcakes. I definitely think they’re a one and done type cake, which I’m more than okay with!

Everyone at the BBQ that tried them was really impressed. It’s always nice to hear “oh man, these are awesome! Who made them?!?” when you’re at a gathering. My fiancé made a point to say he really enjoys when I deviate from the recipes and make them my own. I’m definitely becoming more comfortable with the idea of my own(ish) recipes, and I love it!

The base cupcake recipe is great if you’re pressed for time. You can pretty much add anything to snazz them up from regular chocolate. As for the icing, we all know buttercream can be made into pretty much any flavor, so get creative!

Go-To Chocolate Cupcakes
 – makes 10 cupcakes –

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup hot water
½ cup canola oil
1 large egg
1½ tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup of espresso*
1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts*

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 12 regular-sized muffin tin with paper or foil liners.
2. Combine flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a blender. Cover with the lid and blend on medium-speed until blended. Pour in the water, oil, egg and vanilla. Cover with the lid and blend on medium-high speed until smooth and well-blended, stopping to scrape down the sides once or twice.
3. Pour into prepared pan/cups, dividing evenly. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of one cupcake comes out clean, 15-17 minutes.
4. Transfer to rack to cool for about 10 minutes, and then carefully remove cupcakes from the pan and set them on the rack to cool completely before frosting

* are my additions to the base recipe!

Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
4 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup Bailey’s Irish cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp milk
2 tbsp coffee (I used espresso)

Directions:
Blend all ingredients together
Frost cupcakes!

So happy nomzing!!

A Perfect Foodie Gift for Dad!

Late last week, I was contacted by Snubbr.com who offered to write up a guest post on some sweet cookbooks available to get for your dad for Father’s Day. My dad is a seriously awesome cook – you name it, he can make it, and it’s always delicious! So, since I’m still totally clueless as to what I should get my dad, I figured what the heck. Maybe I’ll purchase one of their suggestions!

You can expect a give-away some time in June from them, so stay tuned for that, too!

 

Baking Cookbook Gift Ideas For Father’s Day
by Shannon Clark, a Snubbr expert

Would you easily describe your dad (or husband) as a world class baker? If so, consider getting him a brand new baking cookbook this coming Father’s day. There’s always new techniques or recipes that he can try out as he indulges in this passion of his and best of all, if you’re lucky he may just share the end result.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the top rated baking cookbook options available so you can find the perfect pick for your father this coming father’s day.

—
The Complete Baking Cookbook: 350 Recipes From Cookies And Cakes To Muffins And Pies

If your dad likes baking a variety, this cookbook is sure to please him. With many different varieties of baked goods that he can prepare when he uses this cookbook, you can ensure he never gets bored. This book really outdoes itself when it comes to cookies especially with so many different varieties to choose from that span across all sorts of ingredients.

If he’s a pie fan as well, rest assured there will be plenty of different ideas to keep him occupied. The book even comes with troubleshooting tips and techniques so there’s a good chance he’ll improve his cooking skills while he bakes up the various recipes that are found in it.

—
The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets

If you have a father who’s a vegan, one of the most difficult types of dishes for him to prepare will be dessert since he’s not to eat any eggs or dairy. That’s where this cookbook comes in handy.

With 150 different recipes that span across cakes, pudding, cookies, crepes, and pies, there will be something that’s sure to please him. Since all are prepared without any animal products at all, you can also be confident that they’re going to be far healthier varieties to be adding to his diet helping him maintain his ideal weight range.

Whether he is rather new to the process of baking or is a seasoned pro with the oven, this cookbook will provide more than enough recipes to keep him busy for the coming months.

—
The Smart Baking Cookbook: Muffins, Cookies, Biscuits, and Breads

Has your father recently undergone a total health make-over? If so, this is the cookbook you should get for him. It contains 180 different dishes that are all low in fat, high in fiber, and contain no added sugar. All are made up of natural ingredients such as fruit, nuts, honey, cinnamon, or other herbs and flavorings so he gets a healthy dessert that’s still high on taste.

Written by the editor of Prevention magazine, which is a magazine filled with top-notch health information, you can be sure there’s nothing but high quality here.

—
Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

Perhaps no other name is as famous in the household of a baking enthusiast than Martha Stewart. Known for her delicious desserts and world-class presentation, you know your father will appreciate every single one of the recipes that comes in this book.

She begins the book by providing you with a wide variety of general baking tips, which your dad can then use to improve his own techniques in the kitchen. The book includes a complete illustrated guide to the various types of baking equipment from that New Restaurant Equipment Wholesaler that will be utilized in the recipes so he’ll never feel lost in the dark about what’s going on.

Also included in the book are plenty of recipe substitutions that can be used so if something happens and your dad doesn’t happen to have the stated ingredient at home, he’ll quickly be able to find a swap for it that won’t wreck his afternoon of baking.

Various recipes include din this guide are cakes, pies, tarts, coffee cakes, scones, biscuits, muffins, crackers, breads, as well as fine pastries. You know he’ll never get bored when using this cookbook.

—
The Low-Carb Baking and Dessert Cookbook

Has your dad recently adopted a low carb diet? If so, this is the book for him. It’s filled with a variety of different recipes from breads, pastries, to confections, all of which will be low carb in nature. Do take note that the ingredients called for in this book will be slightly atypical as they do have to be lower in carbs, so he’ll have to shop around when preparing these recipes.

—

If he has a serious sweet tooth however and is very committed to sticking to his diet, you know that this cookbook will definitely make achieving his goals easier.

So keep all of these cookbooks in mind as you shop for a gift for your father this coming Father’s Day. Any one of these will definitely make his holiday.

If you need more unique gift ideas, check out snubbr.com. They’re a Q&A site for shopping advice, backed by thousands of experts. You simply ask a question, and they search for experts to answer it for you.

Poor Man’s Makeshift Guacamole

As you know, I’m in the process of planning a wedding. And in case you’ve been living under a rock, you’re well aware that they are money suckers. So, my fiancé and I have been trying to save as much money as possible before our wedding next September. What does this mean? This means trying to be as cheap as humanly possible without making ourselves miserable.

One of our biggest expenses each month is food. So, we’ve been trying to cut back on the more extravagant and expensive ingredients required for some dishes, and sticking to the easier stuff. That’s why I’ve been making things like these $2 Chinese Noodles (which were amazing!).

Yesterday we acquired a avacado from one of our co-workers. He wasn’t going to eat it, so he figured we could somehow make use of it over the weekend. Well, it was gone by about 10:30am Saturday morning. I wasn’t really sure what I could do with the avocado, since we didn’t have much at home to work with. So, this is where I got creative.

Typically to make guacamole you need some diced veggies. Since I didn’t have any, I cheated and grabbed some hot salsa. I mixed this into the mashed up guacamole, added some green chilies I had left over from the other night, and added a few squirts of lime juice. The result? A really good make-shift guacamole! Both my fiancé and I were seriously impressed. We paired it with some Triscuts and enjoyed that along with our uber classy Friday night meal of Elio’s pizza and mozzarella sticks. Don’t worry, we had a salad too!

There was quite a bit left-over this morning, so we had it as our pre-run snack. I can’t say it necessarily helped, but it didn’t hurt! Nothing like some good for you fat to kick start your day!

If you’re ever stuck with an avocado and unsure what to do with it, I say anything goes. Whatever you’ve got can probably work. And it’s a pretty decent and good for you snack! A nice way to be a healthy cheapo!

Poor Man’s Makeshift Guacamole

Ingredients:
1/2 a ripe avocado
3 tbsp chunky salsa
1 tbsp lime juice
1 green chili

Directions:
1. Remove avocado skin, and in a medium bowl smash with a fork
2. Chop and dice green chile
3. Add salsa and lime juice, mix together
4. ENJOY!

Snazzy Ramen Noodles

I found this particular recipe on one of the most visually appealing food blogs I follow in my quest for deliciousness. Not only are there yummy recipes, but just the presentation of each post is beautiful. So what is this site you may ask? Cheeky Kitchen!

The recipe itself is called $2 Chinese Noodles, and basically plays on the concept of a take-out type meal made on the cheap at home. As a former college student, I have come to love and embrace Ramen Noodles. I have no shame in declaring my love for them, so when a recipe uses them, I’m all about it! It’s a plentiful recipe, offering to easily feed 8! Since it’s just me and my fiancé, I cut the recipe down so that we could have our fill, but also bring some leftovers for lunch.

Per the usual, I had some modifications to the recipe. For starters, I couldn’t find plain old sesame oil at the store. Totally ridiculous, I know! But, I did find hot chili sesame oil. Since as you know I’m a spicy food fanatic, I thought this would be a perfect substitution. Oh, and it was! I have a bunch of ginger left over from the Crisp Noodle Cakes I made back in April. The store also didn’t have beef flavored Ramen, so I stuck to four packets of chicken. As for the veggies, I went with the Bird’s Eye green bean stir-fry mix. It had green beans, water chestnuts, red pepper, broccoli and carrot. Other than that, I stuck to the recipe.

The whole meal took about 15 minutes to make and of course only about 10 minutes to devour. I would absolutely make this again! It was a great way to snazz up the A-typical, super cheap Ramen Noodles I grew accustomed to in college. One might say they were the grown-up version, and I think that’s a type of growing up I’m more than okay with.

$2 Chinese Noodles
– Serves 8 –

Ingredients:
3 packs Top Ramen, chicken flavor
3 packs Top Ramen, beef flavor
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 package frozen stir-fry veggies or chow mein medley
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, finely grated

Directions:
1. Fill a very large pot with water and bring to a boil.
2. Remove flavor packets and add ramen noodles. Boil 2-3 minutes, or just until softened. Drain.
3. Return pot to hot stove, add sesame and olive oils. Add the garlic and ginger to the oils, allow cook for about 1 minute, then add veggies and flavor packs.
4. Once veggies have fully thawed, add hot noodles back into the pot. Stir carefully until noodles are well coated with oil mixture.
5. Serve immediately.

Happy (cheap) nomzing!