Microwave Breakfast

This weekend my dad showed me something that is of extreme value to all who live in dorms and only have a Microfridge to serve their hungry stomachs. I've gotten some requests for dorm-ready recipes, but in my two years in a dorm I fell back on the dining commons because I was under the impression that there's nothing of substance that can be made in a microwave.

Maybe I'm just naive. But I had no idea you could cook eggs in a microwave.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you can build yourself a breakfast sandwich better than from the drive-thru with merely a microwave.

1 english muffin, croissant or bagel
1 egg
1 slice of cheese (preferably American)
1 slice of deli ham
1 dab of butter

Microwave the butter in a bowl until it has melted completely. Coat the entire inside of the bowl with the butter (this keeps the eggs from sticking and makes them taste better). Crack the egg in the bowl (making sure not to leave any shell pieces behind) and scramble with a fork. Microwave the eggs for about 1 minute, until they appear cooked. Then assemble your sandwich and you have a tasty breakfast!

When my dad told me he'd be making this for me, I was a little hesitant. Eggs in the microwave? It sounded disgusting. But really, they don't taste much different than eggs cooked on the stove. The butter that he heated the eggs in made them even more yummy than eggs cooked on the stove with Pam. If you still don't believe me, I dare you to try it. You will be surprised at how non-microwaved this meal tastes.

Cinnamon Sugar Popcorn

There never seems to be food in Tom's house that isn't frozen or expired. This is the time when you have to get creative. The only problem is, sometimes I'm not in the mood to be creative. I just want food now. Well, I took a little time to scrounge up edible snack food in his cabinet and found popcorn. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't like popcorn unless it's made at the movie theaters. I just don't eat it in my day to day life. I did a little research on the nutrition of popcorn, and discovered that it's actually a relatively healthy snack!

Of course, in this recipe I make it more unhealthy. But who cares. I'm in college. My body hasn't yet reached the point of slow metabolic rates and wrinkles. But even if you do want to watch what you eat, it seems that 1/3 of a bag of typical buttered microwave popcorn is only about 30 calories. I'm not going to say that I'm a genius when it comes to nutrition, so maybe the fat/calorie content is not optimal or whatever. Anyway, I think its a pretty damn good snack.

1 bag of microwaveable popcorn

2 tbsp white sugar

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 cup butter

Pop the popcorn. In a small bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Melt the butter in the microwave. You can vary the amount of butter you use, depending on whether or not you have white popcorn, lightly buttered, etc. Pour the butter over the popcorn and mix together. While the popcorn is still wet from the butter, sprinkle on the dry mixture and mix together as best you can. I have a little trouble with this part because all of my yummy stuff seems to sink to the bottom of the bowl. I usually just end up scraping the bowl with my pieces of popcorn. If you try this and find a way of successfully mixing it all together evenly, please let me know.

Ants on a Banana

Here is a snack from my childhood. I totally invented it myself. Now looking back on my life I have come to realize that this must have been my calling. I must have been in middle school when I came up with this one. Either I've always been a foodie genius, or my taste buds are in regression due to the stresses of being in college and working 20+ hours a week. (Yes, I realize that this is my second time mentioning regression. I just really like my Abnormal Psych class this year, gimmie a break. For once I actually want to learn.)

This recipe is great because it can be made in a dorm and is super quick for when it's midnight and you are hungry but not hungry enough to flip on the oven. And depending on what you actually put in this banana, it can be quite healthy. Good source of potassium (banana) and protein (peanut butter).

1 whole banana
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp marshmallow fluff (optional)
drizzle of honey
handful of raisins
handful of chocolate chips (I didn't have any on hand so I used chocolate sprinkles)

Slice the banana in half, lengthwise. Cover one side with the peanut butter, fluff, honey, raisins and chocolate, then place the other side on top like you are making a sandwich. Eat whole with fingers or cut into slices and use a fork.

I feel like this could just as easily but turned into something gourmet and served in a restaurant. Instead they'd drizzle the honey on top instead of inside and maybe put little spurts of whipped cream on top drizzled with homemade chocolate sauce. Oh good lord, my stomach is growling enough as it is.

A Riddle

What's quick and easy and is made with things a college student would have in their fridge?

...Give up? It's the recipe you are going to send me.

This week has been ridiculous, and it's only Wednesday. I'm juggling the most commitments I've ever had, between classes, lots of work, writing for the paper and ballet classes I don't have a lot of extra time on my hands. I hate that I can only blog about once a week now. It's hard to be motivated when you get home from being out for class/work for 12 hours and all you want to do is sleep. It's also tough when I find great recipes but have none of the ingredients to make it. I'm not made of money. My roommate and I grocery shop about once every other week, and we usually just end up buying Gushers and Lunchables. Our Stop N' Shop receipts are proof that our stress has caused severe regression.

This is where you come in. I'm sure you have those days too. What do you make on those lazy days that is still relatively nutritious and doesn't come from your freezer or a drive-thru window??

In case you were under a misconception, this blog is in no way all my own recipes. I'd say probably 90% are not mine. I get them from other blogs, the Food Network, friends and family. So please, I KNOW there's some recipe floating around in that brain of yours. I'm in need of inspiration!

Indian Fusion Hot Dogs

What is better than waking up late on Sunday afternoons, cuddling and watching the Food Network? Not much that I can think of at the moment. That is what I did a couple weeks ago. I was over my boyfriend's house, so it was a treat to get to watch cable! I was watching Aarti's Party, and she made this dish which looked really interesting to me. 

I'm not a big Indian food person. I had pretty much zero Indian spices in my cabinet, which prevented me from making this taste like anything Aarti made. But I still thought it was bangin'. Below is my abbreviated version, but if you happen to have tons of Indian spices on hand, here is the original recipe. 

1 tbsp oil 

1/2 large onion, diced

1 med tomato, diced

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/4 cup shredded carrots

1/2 tsp paprika

2 tbsp ketchup

1/2 tsp mustard (I used spicy mustard)

4 hot dogs, sliced

1 pita

(makes enough for 2)

Heat the oil in a medium-large pan over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, carrots and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 5 minutes. Then stir in the ketchup, mustard, tomatoes, and hot dogs. Add water if mixture is too dry. Cover and let simmer on med-low heat for 15 minutes. Slice pita in half and serve mixture in pitas. 

No Crisp Apple Crisp

Blog posts have been sparse for a couple of reasons. One, I don't have as much time to make meals at home because I'm either at class or work all day, and I hate posting recipes without any photos. Two, my internet is currently down. My roommate was on the phone with Comcast for 2 whole hours and she's pretty sure we're worse off than when we started. You can't do this to college students that don't know anything about internet and have homework to do! The phone call ended somewhere around the point when the person in India asked her, "ma'am, I cannot help you if you are using profanity." They deserved it, they really did.

Anyway, enough of my ranting. This recipe comes from the catacombs of my mind. I honestly don't remember what made me think of it, and I can only recall a piece of a memory of making it in my friend's kitchen when we were young. Maybe it was my kitchen; I don't know. My memory of this snack is pretty vague. I don't know if I came up with it, or who did. All I remember is being a preteen and this was about the only thing I would cook for myself. Well, I recreated it just in time for apple season and just in time for my desire for a late night snack.

2 small-medium apples
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp butter

(makes enough for 1)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Carve out the core of the apple, so you have what looks like an apple bowl. Combine cinnamon and sugar in a separate bowl .Drop half of butter into each hole, then add the cinnamon and sugar. These measurements aren't strict at all; basically just use however much you want. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the apples give way easily if you squeeze them.

This isn't the most intricate or exciting dessert. But you get the sweetness of the cinnamon and sugar and the healthiness of the apple. It's like a sloppy version of apple crisp minus the crispy part, hence my title. I wish I could somehow get the mixture to seep into the apple itself a little more. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. Also, experiment with other ingredients too!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Did you know? Everything I cook does not come out blog-worthy. Amazing, I know. Even though this one came out as somewhat as a dud, I still want to blog about it.

Today I was thinking, I really need a new recipe to blog about. I had been wanting to try tuna noodle casserole because it looked so good; I imagined the taste of my favorite Dining Common meal, Hungarian Noodle Bake.

This was literally the most disgusting experience I've ever had making food. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to mix the scents of mushrooms, tuna and canned peas. I smelled like something died in my kitchen. Know what else I learned? Cream of mushroom soup is NOT soup. It comes out of the can like a solid. Imagine canned cranberry sauce but a little softer and smells like mushrooms. I hate mushrooms. I don't know why I thought this casserole was a good idea to try.

So it didn't come out as horrible as I thought it would. It was definitely edible. Maybe even good. No, it wasn't good. All I could think of while eating it was the word BLAND. It wasn't too fishy, it wasn't too mushroom-y. I can't figure out what else it needs. I learned what it definitely does not need: red pepper flakes. I thought, oh red pepper flakes are good on just about everything. Boy was I wrong. Imagine the taste of spicy tuna. Nasty. Garlic powder didn't do it either.

I've been thinking about it for a while now. I want to try Worcestershire sauce. Sounds disgusting also, I am aware. But Hungarian Noodle bake is quite similar to this except it doesn't have tuna instead it has cottage cheese and Worcestershire sauce. I'll have to see. Or maybe as the blogger commented, it just needs more cheese.

I think my biggest problem with this dish is that I got all excited about it when I read comments on recipes for it and everyone was saying things like, "ah just like my mom made it" and "best comfort food everrrrr". My problem is that my mom has never ever made this dish before, so it doesn't bring back memories of playing Candy Land or Sunday dinners with the family. It just tastes like a shitty version of fettuccine alfredo. But actually nothing like fettuccine alfredo, which is another thing I was comparing it to in my mind.

But maybe your mom did make this all the time and maybe it will make you so nostalgic that you call her up and tell her how much you miss her and wish you had her at your disposal to cook for you all the time. Then by all means, make tuna noodle casserole. It's another freakin' cheap meal. I'm not going to post the recipe though, because I didn't really make any changes to it at all, except I didn't have potato chips and I used more cheese. I also don't really know if posting my photo is necessary, since it looked exactly like every other tuna noodle casserole on the planet. This is the great website I found this not so great dish on.

EDIT: Nicole loved my tuna noodle casserole. Maybe there's nothing wrong with it. Maybe I just don't like tuna noodle casserole. I don't ever recall actually eating it before now.