Open Faced Spinach Breakfast Sandwich

I almost feel silly posting this as a recipe, because it requires no technique or measurements, just a bit of creativeness and a skillet.

This is a great substitution for the egg-themed breakfast that seems to occur a little too often when there isn't much else in the house. I used chopped frozen spinach and it was pretty good, but of course I'm sure that fresh spinach would be much better. I just sauteed the spinach with some oil and garlic, then fried an egg over easy and placed it on top of a piece of toast. Just sprinkle with ground pepper and your meal is complete. This isn't too filling, but it makes a good mini breakfast or post-workout snack.

Deals and Steals

No, I am not going to give you a lesson on couponing. (Though if you want to learn, I suggest http://www.couponing101.com/) Deals and Steals is actually the name of a grocery store. I just returned from my first visit there, and I had to blog about it as soon as I got home. If you are anywhere near the Northampton, MA area, you need to take a trip to this place.

My internship boss recommended this place to me, but I didn't realize how incredibly cheap this plethora of organic food could be. I am interested in eating healthy and organically, but thought that stuff was for people with money. I live off of frozen meals and endless amounts of pasta dishes. Rice cakes and organic stuff are for the rich. I now realize my misconstrued assumptions.

Here is a link to their website for location information. I guess they have a clothing store as well, but I didn't end up checking that out today.

Literally, this grocery trip was cheaper than Stop and Shop and I got much better food; I was able to get things I wanted rather than the basics that I needed.

My total? $11.92.

I couldn't believe it when I got to the register. If you aren't convinced yet, just take a look at what I made off with.

• Annie's Cheeseburger Macaroni - $0.99
• 20 mini tortillas - $0.99
• Power Bar Harvest Energy - $0.50
• Caramel rice cakes - $0.99
• 365 brand Peach Snack Bowls (pk of 4) - $1.99
• "Darn Good" Chili Mix - $1.99
• Mr. & Mrs. T brand strawberry daiqueri mix - $0.99
• Alfredo risotto - $0.99
• 2 cans chicken broth - $1.99

This place has a large selection of teas, you can even mix and match your own. They have a hair care/cosmetics section as well as a lot of gluten-free products. If you like bizarre foods there is plenty of that as well. And they carry Jones soda and other popular organic drinks at a reduced price.

It is definitely worth the trip even if you don't live too close to Northampton. I suggested that my mom stop by  the next time she is out this direction. She used to shop at Whole Foods a lot but I think it just became too expensive. 

I'm so excited to be eating better and for a lower price! I still can't get over the fact that shopping for organic food has become cheaper than eating crap. Like even cheaper than the JBC I bought on the way there.  

Alfredo Like You've Never Seen It Before

Nothing beats a good alfredo sauce. When you are cooking at home, however; it can often be difficult to get it to the perfect creamy-ness. And if you are being spontaneous and don't just have heavy cream on hand, a real alfredo sauce can seem a little out of reach.

Fortunately, there is a little known solution to all these problems.

An egg. Who would have thought of so simple an ingredient to make a perfectly creamy dish? You won't believe it until you try it for yourself.

I am giving my boyfriend total credit for this recipe. I went over his house one day after he had been watching the Food Network and he came up this dish. He said he had seen a segment on a restaurant that finished making your plate in front of you--in this case it was this alfredo dinner and they cracked the egg at your table. There was no recipe he followed, I just helped him do a makeshift alfredo and he added the egg. It was better than any other alfredo sauces I had tried before.


1/2 lb angel hair pasta
1/4 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup shredded cheese (Tom prefers mozzarella, while I prefer Parmesan for a more classic flavor)
1 tbsp garlic
1 egg
salt pepper

makes 2 servings

Boil the pasta until cooked. Meanwhile, in a pan over med-low heat, melt the butter (or oil if you wish) and add the garlic. Once the garlic has begun to cook, add the milk, flour, salt and pepper and stir. When your pasta is just about ready, add the cheese and stir constantly. Drain the pasta and then add it to the pan, still stirring. Finally, once the pasta and sauce are mixed well, crack an egg over the dish. Stir until the egg is completely combined and then your dish is ready to serve.

Sweet and Sour Stir Fry

The other day I just decided that I wanted to make stir fry. I wanted to really tough it out and make my own sauce too (aka save money). One of my favorite dishes when I order Chinese food is the sweet and sour chicken. I found a list of different stir fry sauces at AllRecipes and adapted the sweet and sour sauce. My favorite part of this dish was that it tastes a whole lot like good Chinese takeout without the stomachache afterwards and guess what? It's actually good for you!

16 oz package frozen vegetables (oriental style)
2 chicken breasts
2 cups white rice
1 tsp garlic

Sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp soy sauce (I actually just used two of those little packets they give with takeout)
1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp corn starch

Cut the chicken into 1 inch squares and cook with dashes of ground pepper (I cooked mine on the stove top), along with the garlic. Meanwhile, cook the white rice according to directions on the package. When the chicken is mostly cooked, add the frozen vegetables and cook covered for 5-8 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together all ingredients of the sauce. Stir the rice and the sauce into the pan with the cooked chicken and vegetables and cook for a few more minutes.

This is such a cheap meal! Rice and frozen veggies are ridiculously cheap. And plus, it tastes great.

Green Pasta Salad

Itching for the summer?

So am I, which is why I came up with this recipe for pasta salad. Although it always tastes better by a pool/at a BBQ/in the sun/with a cold beer/while wearing shorts, it will bring a little bit of sunshine to these cold winter days.

The recipe mostly came from my own head, aside from scanning through some different pasta salad recipes that I could find to see which parts I'd like to use for mine. I call this green pasta salad because those were the only colored veggies I used.

1/2 lb pasta
8oz frozen peas
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
1/2 avocado, sliced
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp parsley
1/8 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Makes about 4 servings

Boil the pasta according to directions on package. This pasta salad would work best with a shaped pasta rather than a vermicelli or fettuccine type. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables by defrosting, cutting, etc. Add the sugar and spices to the veggies and mix. Once the pasta is drained and cooled, add the vegetables to the pasta. Then add the mayonnaise and the vinegar and mix well. Refrigerate until serving.

This recipe is very versatile. Next time I make this, I might just omit the spinach because it didn't do a whole lot that I could taste, it was just something in my freezer to give it more bulk. You could also use a bit less mayo and I think it would still taste relatively the same. My roommate said she really likes it! I hope you enjoy your taste of summer as much as I did. 

Not Quite Nutter Butters

So honestly, I forgot I made these cookies a couple of weekends ago. I was getting over being sick and still in that weird fog. I remembered that I made some Ramen recipe that failed, but figured that was it and didn't have any new recipes to upload. Silly me.

Well, I made these knock off Nutter Butters. My throat was all sore so they went down pretty rough, and with all the struggles I had I concluded they weren't very good. But I think my problem was that I was eating them warm, hence expecting them to be soft and gooey. Generally I like my cookies that way, but once you've refrigerated these cookies they are excellent all crunchy-like.

Tom liked them despite his sore throat as well, and his mom even went back for seconds even though she barely eats sweets. So, hopefully you kept reading my rambling and realized I've concluded that this is a great recipe, because otherwise it would just seem silly for me to put up a bad recipe. (Don't worry, I delete those off my hard drive.)

I had to modify this recipe a bit, but I originally found it here.

Cookies:
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup instant oats
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Filling:
1/2 stick butter
4 tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt a half stick of butter in a medium skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the oats to the pan. Stir in the vanilla extract. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly so the oats do not burn. Your oats should be slightly toasted. In a medium sized bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt together. Set aside. In a mixer, cream the other half stick of butter. Slowly mix in the sugars, and then the peanut butter. Add the flour mixture and set the mixer on slow until the batter becomes the consistency of dough. Add more flour if necessary. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie with the back of a fork. Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes. While the cookies are in the oven, prepare the filling. In a mixer combine   the butter and salt until the butter is creamy. Add the peanut butter and sugar and combine. Once the cookies have cooled, assemble two cookies with the filling in between. (Or if you in your sick haze make the cookies way too thick, you can just spread the filling on top of each cookie.)

5 Layer Dip

Better late than never, here is the dip I made for the Superbowl. I gave whatever sickness I had to Tom so I spent the whole weekend at his house being his nurse. 

This recipe comes from a friend's cousin who I met once but specifically remembered what she put in her dip because it was that good. I would give her credit but I don't even remember her name. I brought this to a Superbowl party and my friends seemed to enjoy it. (Well, the ones without food allergies. My friends are somewhat a mess when it comes to that department.) We ended up getting bored with the game since none of us really like football and the Patriots weren't playing so we didn't have a team to even root for. Our Superbowl party ended up becoming a You're Cut Off party. (Boy, do I love that show. There is something mesmerizing about the dumbest, most spoiled women on the planet.)

I don't really have measurements for this recipe. I just sort of used however much looked good. 

2 chicken breasts

1/2 onion

salsa

guacamole (Homemade; we used 2 avocados, lemon juice and garlic. But if you want to get fancy you can try my real guac recipe here.)

sour cream

colby-jack cheese, shredded 

cilantro or scallions (optional)

First, caramelize the onions in a small saucepan. In a separate pan, cook the chicken breasts thoroughly, sprinkling it with ground pepper as it cooks. This will be your bottom layer. I used a pie plate to put the dip in.

Next, add a layer of salsa. I used medium salsa; my guacamole was a little garlic-y so I thought the hotness wasn't too overbearing.

On top of the salsa goes the guacamole. You can use a pre-made guacamole or quickly whip up your own. Usually guacamole is basically avocado, garlic and lime juice. 

The next layer is sour cream. If you are watching your waist, use a low-fat sour cream. 

The final layer is the colby-jack cheese. Be generous. Everyone loves cheese. 

I topped my dip with cilantro. I meant to use scallions, or green onions, but I forgot the name. I said something about small green things that are on top of Taco Bell's Mexican pizzas to my dad and the first spice that came to mind was cilantro, so that's what we picked up. It wasn't bad, but I think scallions would have been a nice touch.

Finally, when you are ready to eat your dip, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cook for about 5 minutes until the cheese is melty. Serve with tortilla chips.