Easy Chicken Parmesan by Ang

Here's another recipe from my sister, chef to the tired and hungry.

Easy Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients
1 box of tyson breaded chicken patties (or any other breaded chicken patty/breast)
1/2 box whole wheat thin spaghetti
1 can/jar of italian sauce
1 can diced italian seasoned tomatoes

Directions
At the same time:

Bake chicken according to instructions on box; begin boiling water for spaghetti; combine sauce and tomatoes in a pan and heat on med-low.

Add any italian spices to sauce - red pepper flakes, oregano, basil, sea salt, black pepper, garlic, cinnamon, chili powder - season according to taste preferences.

When spaghetti is finished cooking, drain and dish onto plates. Add one chicken patty to each serving and top with sauce and parmesan cheese. You are now ready to serve!

Variations
Make sure that you buy a quality sauce. A cheap sauce can really screw up a meal. Contadina and Prego are both really good brands. But never trust a packaged sauce at face value. Always add fresh ingredients if you can. Add some fresh mushrooms or cut up green pepper, fresh garlic and basil. Also, if you'd like a vegetarian version of this, use a vegetarian chik patty rather than a real chicken patty. You can also use other spaghetti. It doesn't have to be wheat!

Lemonade!, by Em

Sometimes, when I need a change from my normal water, coffee, or milk, I make myself a glass of lemonade, just to change it up.  I worked at a lemonade stand (seriously, a professional one!) for two summers in a row, so this is, more or less, the same proportions, only I don't usually have ice on hand, while we do keep a pitcher of water in the fridge.  Feel free to use either ice and water, or just cold water.

Ingredients:

Sugar

Water (or ice water)

Lemon juice

Ginger, minced (optional)

Directions:

This is going to be by proportions, so the actual amounts will vary, depending on whether you are making a single serving or a larger amount.

First, fill the glass (or pitcher) about 1/8-1/6 full of sugar.  Next, fill the remaining volume about 1/3 full with lemon juice.  Fill the rest of the way with water.  With larger containers, such as pitchers, you would want to leave about 1-1 1/2 inches empty at the top.

Stir contents and enjoy.  I just added the ginger for the first time yesterday and I added about a teaspoon to an 8 oz glass.  It was good, but because I like my food to have a kick, I'd probably add more next time.

No-bake Goodies by Ang

My father is quite an extraordinary man. Not only does he care for us and help us when we need it, but he actually cleans, repairs, irons AND cooks. I have a lot of wonderful memories of coming home from school and smelling a sweet chocolatey scent coming from the kitchen. I'd run up there thinking that it was my mom, but it was Dad! And he was making his famous no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies.

These cookies are melt-in-your-mouth perfection, and they're not all that bad for you! Chocolate, oatmeal, tasty crumbs... it was the perfect afterschool snack!

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

1 stick of butter
2 cups of sugar
a pinch of salt
2/3 cup cocoa powder (dark chocolate preferred)
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup peanut butter
3 cups of rolled oats uncooked

Directions

Melt butter in sauce pan and add sugar, milk, cocoa powder, and salt. Boil for 1 minute. Add everything but oats and stir. Take off burner and add oats, stirring until completely mixed. Spoon out into cookie sized amounts onto waxpaper covered cookie sheets. Let cool (in the refrigerator) and enjoy!

Save time with Flatbread

This is not my recipe, I found it online last week.  It is so easy and quick.  When I'm thinking of ways to save money, I always think about making my own bread.  However, making bread is so time consuming!  Even if the actual ingredient mixing doesn't take that long, you have to wait for it to rise which takes hours!  This is the beauty of flatbread, as the name suggests it is flat, or unleavened.  This griddle flatbread took no time at all.

If you follow the recipe you end up with four "loaves" of flatbread which are definitely large enough that half a "loaf" could make a sandwich.  Take twenty minutes out of your week and you've got quite a cache of sandwich-making paraphernalia.

Variations:

I used whole wheat flour and it was de-frickin-licious.  This bread would make good sandwich bread, but we ended up eating it with hummus!

Asparaguuuuuus! by Ang

One of the most prevalent vegetables at farmers markets around this time of year is asparagus! I love asparagus! It has its own unique taste that compliments many vegetables in wonderful ways that only asparagus can. And it doesn't take much to enhance the depth of its flavor.

Here's a little recipe that I made for my dinner tonight using the fresh asparagus I bought at the Farmers Market two weeks ago!

Parmesan Crusted Asparagus

Ingredients
1 lb green asparagus
3/4 - 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 dash sea salt
1 dash ground pepper
non-stick cooking spray or spray on oil

Directions
Snap off root ends of asparagus (if you snap instead of cut, it will break at the perfect spot so that you're not left with more fiber than actual vegetable). Rinse. Set oven to 350. Mix together cheese, salt and pepper and spread out on a plate (or put in a big ziploc bag). Spray each asparagus with oil. Roll around in cheese until fully coated. Put on a non-stick oven pan. Put in oven for 10 minutes, take out and flip them over, put back in for 10 minutes. Remove and enjoy!

This dish would be good with a variety of meats, especially chicken and beef, or even beside a lemon-pepper fish fillet. It's so quick to prepare, very good for you and oh so tasty!

R's Monkey Bread, by Em

Ingredients:

2 loaves frozen white bread dough

2 sm. non-instant vanilla pudding mixes

1 cup brown sugar

1 Tb cinnamon

4 Tb milk

1 stick (1/4 Lb) butter

Directions:

• Thaw bread dough.  Break one loaf into pieces and place in greased 9x13 pan.
• Melt butter.  Add brown sugar and pudding.  Then add milk and cinnamon.  Pour over bread pieces.
• Break second loaf into pieces and place on top of mixture.  Let raise for 2/3 hours or overnight.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Homefries, by Em

Once again, this is really, really easy.  So easy I'm not sure if it counts as a recipe.  I'm going to do it anyways, though, because a) potatoes are on sale now and b) I'm still convincing myself that we will be having perfect grilling weather for the rest of the week.  Mmm-hmm.  Yep.

Ingredients:

4 lg potatoes

1/4 cup of mayonnaise

salt and pepper

Directions:

• Cut the potatoes into reasonable-sized wedges.  The ones I got today were ginormous, so I first cut them in half lengthwise, then cut each half into eighths.  Even after having cut the length in half, they were still about the length of the average french fry.  On smaller potatoes you might only end up cutting the whole potato into four wedges.
• Baste the wedges in the mayonnaise.  Place them in one layer on a baking sheet and add salt and pepper to taste.  I greased the baking sheet just to be sure, but with the mayonnaise you probably don't have to.
• Bake at 350-375 degrees (depending on the size of the pieces) for approximately thirty minutes.

Variations:

Try using sweet potatoes instead.  They cook at a slightly higher temperature, about 500 degrees, and you would have to peel them first.

You can also add other spices based on your own preferences.  I always say that I put cayenne pepper on everything.  I'm pretty sure it would be good on these.  Garlic salt would also be good as a substitute for regular salt.

Baba Wawa Fruit Salad, by Em

This fruit salad is total inspired by your and my favorite newscaster, Barbara Walters.  I would never have thought to add the ginger otherwise and since she announced how much she liked watermelon and ginger on a national news show, I don't feel at all bad about crediting her here.

Ingredients:

1/4 medium sized watermelon, chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 or 3 bananas (depending on their size), chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 pint strawberries, chopped

1/2 cantaloup, chopped

approx. 1/2 cup lemon juice

2-3 Tb minced ginger

1 cup sugar

Directions:

So in case you can't tell, most of this "recipe" is just chopping.  Once you're done with all the prep work, throw everything in together and enjoy!!  The lemon juice is to stop the fruit from browning.  These are the fruits I used, but feel free to use whatever floats your boat.  A lot of fruit is on sale right now, so this is the perfect time to make this dish.

Variations:

When changing up the fruit, don't forget avocados, which are berries but are easy to forget about when making a traditional fruit salad.

Pasta Salad, by Em

So, just to warn you, I'll probably be including a lot of picnic-y recipes, because I'm starting to get antsy for some outdoor grillin'.  This is a simple, easy recipe.  Why not try it with whole wheat pasta for a more healthy and flavorful alternative?

Ingredients:

1 lb spiral pasta

1 cup Ranch dressing

2 med. cucumbers

parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Boil some water and begin cooking the pasta.
  
• While the pasta is cooking, slice the cucumber into bite-sized pieces.  Remove cooked pasta, drain, and run under cold water to prevent the pasta from getting too mushy.
• Add the cucumbers and Ranch dressing.  Add parmesan to taste.

Variations:

Add some olives.  I'll be the first to admit that I don't like olives, but when my friend K originally made this that was part of the recipe.  Also try with cherry tomatoes.  Use feta instead of parmesan.

The amount of Ranch dressing you will need is a guess.  The pasta tends to sort of absorb the dressing, so just keep adding more until it looks right.

Potato Fry-Up, by Em

This meal is easy, cheep, and based off of one of my favorite types of pasta, perogies. Perogies are half circle-shaped pasta of Slavic origin. The kind that I've bought in the past are stuffed with potatoes, garlic, and cheese. They taste good boiled with pasta sauce, but my favorite way to eat them is sautéed with mushrooms and onions. You can buy decent perogies at the supermarket in the freezer section, but any time you buy pre-made food you're paying more for having less work to do. So, in order to save time and money, today I decided to make the insides of a perogie, skipping the difficult part of mashing the potatoes and stuffing the dumpling.  This recipe serves six.

Ingredients:

6 medium potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces

6 cloves of garlic, diced

1/2 large onion, chopped

8 oz mushrooms, chopped

6 Tb olive oil

4 Tb parmesan cheese

salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

Directions:

• Cover the bottom of a large sauce pan in olive oil (approximately 6 Tb).  Sauté potatoes until they begin to cook through, about 3 minutes.
• Add garlic and cook for another couple minutes.
• Add mushrooms, onions, and parmesan, then salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste.
• Sauté until all ingredients are cooked through.

This would be good with some sour cream or probably with some pasta sauce.

Warm Weather = Cool Concoctions by Ang

One of the most significant initiations of Spring in towns all across America is the opening of the local ice cream shop. In Loveland, OH it's the Whippy Dip and the Hawaiian Ice Stand. I always liked the Hawaiian ice stand - mounds of sugary sweet ice with a thousand and one possibilities to choose from. What could be better than that? In Champaign, IL it's Jarlings Custard Cup. I haven't actually been there yet, but I hear it's pretty amazing! And I can guarantee you I'll be over there soon enough (especially since I work right down the street from it!)

All these sweet treat shops are great during the summer, but what about when it's just too hot to leave your place? Or you just don't feel like dropping another 4 bucks on a momentary sugar rush? The solution is easy.

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ingredients
1 package of square chocolate covered graham crackers (or some kind of cookie)
1/2 gallon of any ice cream you desire, boxed packaging is easier to use
Cut up sheets of wax paper big enough to wrap your treat

Directions
Set out two cookies or cc grahams, insides up, on each piece of wax paper. Get out a cutting board and open up your box of ice cream. You'll probably want to just unwrap the ice cream completely from the cardboard box so that you have a block of ice cream sitting on the cutting board. take a big knife and cut block of ice cream to desired size and thickness (size depends on cookie). Sandwich ice cream between both cookies. Wrap in wax paper. Put in freezer. Enjoy at leisure!

Variations
The wonderful thing about this recipe is that the possibilities are endless! Some of my favorite combinations are chocolate covered grahams with peppermint stick ice cream inside, chocolate chip cookies with neapolitan ice cream, sugar cookies with butter pecan ice cream. You can also do mini versions with vanilla wafers or any other cookie. You can also try mixing it up a little with banana slices or other toppings that your sweet tooth desires. Or even try cutting a hole out of the middle of the ice cream and filling it with something fun like fudge or caramel or pie filling. Whatever you want! Make as many as you want and pull them out when you don't feel like dropping another 4 bucks. It will be one of your best summers ever :)

Tomato Gravy, by Em

This recipe is another one that my mother makes.

Tomato Gravy (serves 4)

Ingredients:
4 medium to large tomatoes, sliced cross-wise in 1/2 inch slices
Flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, to dredge the tomatoes
1/4 Cup butter or olive oil to cook the tomato slices
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
3 cups milk

Directions:

• Dredge tomato slices in flour and fry in butter/olive oil, turning once (dredging=coating the tomato slices on both sides w/ the flour mixture).
• Remove tomatoes from the pan and add 2 Tablespoons each of butter and flour. It's OK if there is some of the flour mixture left in the pan from cooking the tomatoes. Cook until bubbly, stirring constantly. Add milk and stir until thickened.
• Put the tomatoes back in and serve on toast. You could also melt cheese into the sauce.
  

This is especially good with a crusty french loaf or similar bread.

Easy Pasta Recipe, by Em

This recipe was one that my mother got from one of my friend's mothers.  It's easy, quick, and inexpensive!  It is also delicious...

N's Baked Tomato Sauce with Pasta (Makes 4 generous servings)

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1 1/2 Lbs. fresh tomatoes, unpeeled (about 4 medium)
1/4 Cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/4 Cup dry Italian seasoned bread crumbs
4 cloves garlic minced or put through a garlic press
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper

1/2 pound pasta (rotelle's are good as they hold the sauce)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Choose a shallow baking dish that will just hold the tomatoes in a single layer. Cover the bottom of the dish with oil. If using Roma tomatoes, cut in half, if round tomatoes, quarter. Dip cut surfaces in oil, then place in pan cut side up.
• Combine all else except pasta and sprinkle over tomatoes.
• Bake 40 minutes in the middle of the oven. Tomatoes should be very soft.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta and drain. Put in a bowl and put the tomato mixture over it. Toss to coat. Serve with extra cheese, if desired.

DIY Salad Dressings by Ang

Since Em wrote an awesome post about Salads(!!!), I thought it would make a ton of sense for me to write about salad dressings(!!!).

If you walk into the aisle of the grocery store with all the dressings, you'll see hundreds of variations on the same theme. There are as many different kinds of salad dressings as there are salads. Many of them have the same basic concept - creamy or vinegary - and the rest of it is personal taste, just like a salad. Some people enjoy salad whole heartedly; some people have to decorate their veggies in order to force it down, hence the hundreds of dressings. But no more! It's time to learn about the world of DIY (do it yourself) dressings, where all leafy greens have the equal merit and possibility.

Last night, my lovely friend Avi made chicken fettuccine alfredo for dinner. I was in charge of the salad. So I put together some romaine, cucumber and cherry tomatoes. It was a basic salad, so pretty much any dressing would have sufficed. Avi only eats ranch on her salads, but I wanted a vinaigrette, and all I had in my fridge was a raspberry vinaigrette that had been fermenting since 1999 (that might be an exaggeration). I pulled out some balsamic vinegar, olive oil and italian spices and created my own.

Ang's Beautifully Simple Balsamic Vinaigrette
2 parts balsamic vinegar
1 part olive oil
1-2 teaspoons italian spices

Directions
Put into jar with lid. Shake well. Voila! Simple and tasty, eh? And after I made Avi try a bite she said "Now, I would put that on a salad!"


One of the hardest types of salads to dress is salads that include fruit. Oranges, apples, pears, grapes, pomegranate... all of these are AWESOME on salads, but the wrong dressing can completely ruin a fruity salad forever. My sister, Monica, is a pro at dressing fruity salads. And she never uses the bottled stuff! So here's my favorite DIY salad dressing recipe of hers.

Happy Dressing
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/8-1/4 cup apple cider vinegar or some other fruit-flavored vinegar
1/8-1/4 cup honey (depending on your sweet-tooth)
1 tsp of cinnamon

Directions
Put all ingredients in a bottle or jar with sealable lid. Close tightly and shake until well mixed, then pour over salad. Adjust measurements to taste and how much salad you make. Goes well with butter lettuces topped with fruits and nuts.


Just remember, you don't have to live with dressings from a bottle. You can make your own! Or spiff up your bottled ones! Add some chipotle spice or Cajun seasoning to a bottle of ranch. Add in some Frank's Red Hot Sauce. Or grab some sour cream and mix in some taco seasoning for a tasty taco salad dressing. Invest in some balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Or even regular vinegar! I have a friend who had a salad every day topped with some regular vinegar and oil, a tiny bit of water and a pinch of salt and pepper. And the salad was just lettuce, carrot and black olive. She loved it! Once you have opened your eyes to the world of homemade dressings, your salad experiences will reach a whole new level. Those leafy greens will become more enticing than you could have ever imagined.

Using Community Resources, by Em

I've tried to be general enough with my information that anyone could use it, but this entry, by it's nature is going to get more location-specific. There are a lot of resources in your community that can be used to cut the cost of food.  Ask around to find opportunities close to you.  Try talking to your local food pantry.  Chances are, if anybody is going to know about other local cost-cutting food opportunities, it's going to be someone who is already involved in that scene.

Buying Locally

Farmer's Markets:

Farmer's markets aren't always going to be cheaper, but if you buy in-season food directly from the source, chances are that you will be saving some money on overhead.

Food Coops:

Food cooperatives tend to focus on locally grown, high-quality items.  Once again, locally-grown items bought in season can be a great bargain.  Coops also provide access to fair-trade and organic products, among other things.

Coops don't have to be organized into a formal, grocery store-like set up.  My mother started a coop with some people in my home town and they ordered food together once a month in bulk.  Buying in bulk also costs less when compared to purchasing individual units in a store.  Consider going together with some friends and acquaintances to order grocery items.

Pay attention to sales and coupons

This is something I'm am not good at doing, but it is definitely worth while.  Check a local newspaper for weekly coupons.  Some stores also have coupons that you can print out on their website.

Coupons are good, but you can also find other, hidden bargains.  Products that have been discontinued or produce that is near it's expiration date are often greatly discounted.  This is why it's always good to go shopping when you have some time to browse.  A couple weeks ago, I got some chopped mushrooms for less that it would have cost me to buy bulk, which was awesome because it also saved me having to chop everything myself!

Buying generic or store brands

A lot of times store brands are cheaper even if the other brand is on sale.  Even if a mainstream brand is more flavorful, you'll save money by purchasing a generic brand and adding your own spices.  This is especially true of discount grocery chains such as Aldi, Save-A-Lot, or Food 4 Less.

Other resources in the Chambana area

• Common Ground Food Coop has started a "feed 4 for under $10" program.  The ingredients for each recipe can all be purchased at the coop (thanks to R for that info!).
• Share Food is "a non profit food buying club that offers good nutritious products at a reduced cost through a volunteer-run, community-based distribution system."  Basically what it amounts to is that anybody who wants to can volunteer for a few hours and then order food from SHARE at a 30-50% discount.  The deals change from time to time and they deliver food a couple times a month.  For more information on this, please use the contact info on the website.
  
• Here's another useful blog about coupons useful to people in Champaign County, Champaign County Couponing.
  

Salad!!! by Em

What's that you say?  Salad doesn't deserve one exclamation point, let alone three?  Oh ye of little faith.

I have always liked vegetables, including salad, but the turning point for me came one time when I visited my dad's cousin, W.  They had made a salad for dinner that had everything on it!  It had the traditional lettuce, tomatoes, carrots.  It had the "second string" salad items -- broccoli, cauliflower, onions, cucumbers, and cheese.  It also had peas, green beans, kidney beans, chick peas, grapes, and pasta salad.  There may have been more, I'm not sure.  Too many people think of salad as a side dish, but it can easily become a healthy, filling, refreshing alternative to your usual entrées.

The most common green leafy vegetable [GLV] found in restaurant salads and bagged salads is iceberg lettuce.  However, the best option is to either use a different GLV or use a mixture of different kinds of GLVs, because iceberg has the lowest nutrient value of any GLV, the most nutritious being spinach.

It's better to buy a head of lettuce than bagged salad.  The closer any vegetable is to being straight from the ground, the more nutrients they have.  All I can say about chopping vegetables is, the more you do it, the better/quicker you get.  I don't even like knives and I've gotten pretty good, but another way to cut time is to use a food processor to slice things like carrots, cucumbers, and onions, then chop the GLV and other items like tomatoes by hand.

The average, no frills salad generally does not contain much protein, so if you're making it your main course, it's important to include a good source of protein, such as meat or legumes.  There are a variety of foods that can "beef" up your salad.  Here's a link to a website that lists some of the top protein providers.

Ingredients for Em's "Kitchen Sink" Salad:

Please don't limit yourself on my account, feel free to add or remove ingredients as suits you.

• Green, leafy vegetables.  My favorite is Romaine lettuce, but I tend to mix in some spinach for its nutritional value.
• tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, onions, broccoli, cauliflower
• four bean salad, pasta salad, peas, sugar snap peas
• dried sweetened cranberries, grapes, apple slices, crushed walnuts
• feta cheese -- I like to include feta any time I use the cranberries or apples, but sometimes I use shredded cheddar instead.
• hard boiled egg either chopped or crumbled
• croutons
• salad dressing of your choice

Variations:

• Add cubed ham or chicken pieces.  Chicken is especially good with the apple, cranberry, feta combo.
• Make a Tex-Mex salad.  Leave out the cranberries, grapes, apples, walnuts, croutons, four bean and pasta salads, and egg (or anything else that doesn't go with salsa).  Instead of feta, use the shredded cheddar cheese with kidney beans (especially for vegetarian protein), and for you omnivores either chicken pieces or beef strips.  Mix equal parts sour cream and salsa for a great salad dressing (or my mom uses Italian dressing) and instead of croutons, use either Fritos or tortilla chips.  Try with hot peppers if you're feeling daring!

Time saver:

If I'm really in a hurry, I buy a bag salad and a head of Romaine, then going to the grocery store's salad bar and get all my toppings there, pre-chopped!

Money savers:

• Chop all your own vegetables.
• Make your own three/four bean salad.
• Make your own salad dressings.  My salsa-sour cream dressing is super easy, but there are loads of salad dressing recipes online.
  

Peanut Brittle... in a Microwave! by Ang

I have a bit of a sweet tooth. I can admit that. Seriously, who doesn't? Everyone has their favorite sweet thing whether it's sugar sweet, fruit sweet, or bittersweet. And we all know that sometimes, you just have to appease that sweet tooth craving.

About a year and a half ago, I satisfied one specific craving on an entirely different level - peanut brittle, and lots of it. I was living in a dinky apartment in Indiana and didn't have much in the ways of pots and pans. But I had a microwave, microwaveable dishes and a Christmas cookie exchange deadline to meet.

So, I went online and searched for something that I could make in my microwave without failing miserably. For those of you that don't know about AllRecipes, you should become familiar. It is an awesome recipe site! I searched for microwaveable sweets and found the perfect recipe of sweet, salty and ridiculously easy to make... and I made about 20 batches.

Microwave Peanut Brittle

INGREDIENTS
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup salted peanuts
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda

Makes 35 servings (but I guess that really depends on how big or small you make the pieces)

DIRECTIONS
1. Butter a cookie sheet (or pizza pan). Combine sugar and corn syrup in a 2 quart glass bowl and microwave on high 4 minutes. Stir in peanuts and microwave on high 3 1/2 minutes more, then stir in butter and vanilla and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes.

2. Stir in baking soda until light and foamy. Pour onto cookie sheet and spread thin. Cool completely and break into pieces and serve.

VARIATIONS
You can certainly change up your nut preference. I made some AWESOME pecan brittle. You could also try almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, etc. Seriously, this was some incredible brittle. And I didn't botch a single batch. It was also quite enjoyed by my fellow Christmas cookie exchangers. Sometimes, you just don't want another cookie.

Another wonderful thing about the AllRecipes site is that you can put in different serving sizes and it will modify the ingredient amounts. Woot! No more guessing... and failing.

Stuffed pizza, by Em

It’s Friday and the word of the day is “comfort food” (AHHHHHH!!!). Life can be stressful and there are many ways to relieve stress, not the least of which is settling down at the end of the day with a yummy, filling dinner. I’m choosing to make my pizza crusts out of a box mix because it saves time, but there are tons of recipes, both in books and online, for pizza crust online.

If you plan to make your own crust just know that it take about half an hour prep time for the dough to rise. Here’s a website that has quite a variety of pizza dough recipes. To make a stuffed crust pizza you would need to triple everything.

Store bought crust mixes will cost more, but aren’t too expensive, especially if you buy in bulk. A case of 24 pizza crust mixes costs approximately 85 cents per crust (this is an average, you can get cheaper). Each mix is supposedly five servings, but because a stuffed pizza is more filling and I have trouble cutting a circle into five equal parts, I usually cut it into eight pieces and have a salad on the side. If you divide the pizza into eighths, this recipe will cost approximately $1 per piece.

Stuffed Crust Pizza

Ingredients:

3 twelve-inch pizza doughs (2 for the bottom, one for the top)
1 med. Zucchini, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 bag frozen spinach
8 oz shredded mozzarella
3 lg garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup tomato sauce

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 450-degrees.

Make sure you give the spinach time to thaw. Moving it from the freezer to the refrigerator at the beginning of the day should do it. The first thing is to do is to get the moisture out of the spinach. Put it in a colander and use a paper towel (or clean cloth towel that you don’t mind dirtying) to press out all the moisture. This is important to prevent the crust from getting soggy. Mix 1/2 cup of the mozzarella (this would be about a fourth of the shredded cheese) with the spinach and set aside.  Chop up your fillings. Sauté the zucchini, onion, mushrooms, and garlic in a pan for about 5-6 minutes on med-high heat.

Combine two of the pizza doughs and press them into a 10-inch cast iron skillet. There should be enough dough to completely cover the bottom of the skillet and come up the sides with dough to spare. This extra dough is fine because you will have to pinch the crusts together.

Put the spinach mixture into the bottom of the pizza crust. Top with other fillings. Press out the remaining pizza dough on a flat surface then lay across the bottom crust and fillings, pinching the edges of the top and bottom crusts together. Cut several 1-inch slits in top crust to vent. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the top then sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Cook on bottom rack of 450-degree oven for ten minutes to prevent a soggy bottom crust. Then reduce the heat to 400-degrees, move pizza to top rack, and cook for an additional 30 minutes. This recipe should take approximately 1 hr.

Variations:

I’ve made suggestions, but you can also choose other pizza toppings that you like. If you don’t like mushrooms, leave them out. You could include a cup of sausage inside the pizza or top the upper crust with pepperoni. I have no idea how authentic any of this is, but it’s comfort food so I really don’t care.

Money savers:

• Buy canned tomato sauce instead of pre-seasoned sauce.  Add things like garlic salt and oregano to make it more flavorful. Make sure to cook in a sauce pan while chopping vegetables.  This lets the flavors mix.
• Make your own crust.  This take about 30 minutes, but at least some of that time could be spent chopping and cooking vegetables.
• Shred your own cheese.  This actually makes measuring the cheese easier.  Take an 8 oz block of cheese and cut off 1/4.  This will be mixed with the spinach.  Personally, I find it easier to mentally divide a block of cheese than a pile of shredded cheese.
• If you don't own a cast iron skillet you can purchase a disposable pizza pan for under a dollar.  Make sure to grease it before you place the crust on.  Though this may be less expensive now, in the long run cast iron pans are just too useful.  You can cook anything in them and I highly recommend getting one (you could always ask for one as a present!).

Cup-o-Joe, by Em

I told a friend that I was thinking of writing about coffee and she said that coffee was one place where she was not willing to economize. I understand and fully empathize with this. I am the kind of coffee addict who can have a couple cups in the morning (before work), seven shots of espresso in the early afternoon (at work), a cup in the afternoon (snack), and one after dinner (dessert) and still get to bed at a reasonable hour. I am a coffee addict’s coffee addict. With this in mind, I am going at least acknowledge the whole java spectrum.

Obviously, the “best” option, monetarily speaking, is not to drink coffee at all. It has no nutritional value to speak of and actually prevents calcium from being absorbed by your body. If you do drink coffee on a regular basis, it’s important that you make sure to compliment that with a calcium-rich diet. To be fair, it also contains practically no carbs and fats and it is a wonderful source of sweet, sweet caffeine. There are other benefits to coffee. Filling up on java means you aren’t filling up on other things, plus, drinking a hot beverage more slowly gives your stomach more time to realize that it’s getting full and coffee, at approximately 50 cents per serving (homebrewed), is not a huge drain on your wallet. Now, if I have convinced you to come over to the dark side we will proceed. How do you get the most out of your homebrewed java?

Learn from coffee’s evil twin, espresso:

Brew time
Though espresso has a much stronger taste than coffee, it actually contains less caffeine because the water comes in contact with the ground for a much shorter amount of time, which means that coffee made in a French press is going to have the most caffeine. Even if you don’t have a French press, drip brew coffee is a much slower brew than an espresso machine, so no worries!

Not counting Turkish coffee, which is an entirely different beast, there is one other brewing method that I am aware of, cold brew. Cold brewing coffee results in a coffee concentrate that you can then dilute with hot water, milk, etc. This brewing method results in a coffee that is less acidic and therefore much smother tasting. For more information here is an article about cold brew. Cold brew coffee makers cost about $30, but I also found an article that shows how to make your own cold brew setup for much, much less.

Roast
Somewhat counter-intuitively (at least in my mind) darker roasts contain less caffeine, so espresso beans (traditionally a much darker roast) have actually had quite a bit of the caffeine roasted out of them. When purchasing coffee at a store, decide exactly how powerfully you would like to be gripping the steering wheel on your way to work, and purchase accordingly.

There is another way to perfect your roast and that is to roast your own beans. You can purchase green coffee beans online from a number of companies online. This article from Wikipedia lists several different methods for roasting at home, including the simplest method of roasting them in a flat pan over high heat. Home roasting will allow you to buy in bulk and use a little at a time for maximum freshness. If you are roasting at home, you will need to purchase a coffee grinder. A cheap grinder costs around $15 and the more freshly ground the coffee, the fresher the taste, which brings me to the last topic…

Grind
The grind is meant to achieve the ideal flavor for each roast. Basically, the longer the roast time the coarser the grind. French press or cold brew would be the coarser grinds and espresso and Turkish-press are the finest grinds with drip brew landing solidly in the middle. Now here’s where I show my true colors. All of the experts say that it’s important to basically stick to the aforementioned formula, but my coffee-addled mind would just like for me to add this little tidbit – finer grind equals more caffeine. In order to get more caffeine out of my coffee, I often set the store grinder to Turkish grind. I have been told repeatedly that my coffee is ridiculously strong. Perhaps this is why.

Thai Curry, by Ang

You know the question that you’re always asked in those ridiculously addictive facebook and myspace surveys – “What food could you eat for two weeks straight and not get sick of?” My answer, without a second thought, is THAI FOOD.

The flavors of coconut and spice and tamarind and chili are like a symphony of sweet and spicy exhilaration in my mouth! I never really did any cooking of Thai food until I moved to Champaign, but that changed very quickly after wandering into AM-KO (where you can find almost all of these ingredients, I think sweet potato is the only one not there), an oriental food store on the corner of Springfield and First Street. I found these tubs of curry paste towards the back right of the store and bought one of each! There was a simple recipe on the back, so I took it and ran with it.

I love all of the curries, but I would have to say that massaman is my ultimate. So here is my improvised massaman curry recipe for your (hopefully) exhilarating pleasure.

Basic Ingredients:
2 cans of coconut milk
1 cup water
18 teaspoons massaman curry paste (more or less depending on your level of spice preference)
1 cup of meat (pan cooked in sesame or red chili oil if raw meat) or lightly fried tofu (or you can just toss in some shrimp or seafood mixture)
1 cup cubed sweet potato (skin on)
1 cup cubed zucchini
1 cup green beans or snow peas snapped into halves
1 small can sliced bamboo shoots
1 small can sliced water chestnuts
1 handful lightly salted or unsalted peanuts

This should feed anywhere from 4 to 6 people, depending on how hungry they are!

Basic Recipe:
Pull out a big pot (because it won’t fit in a small one!) and set your burner to medium or medium high. Pour in the two cans of coconut milk and the curry paste. Stir until all the paste is dissolved. If you are using meat or seafood, put it in at this time (make sure you’ve lightly cooked the raw meat first!). This way the meat soaks up more of the coconut flavor. Let simmer for about 15 minutes while you chop up your veggies. Once 15 minutes has passed, put in the cup of water, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, sweet potato and peanuts. These take a little extra time to soften (so I’ve learned) so it’s a good idea to put these in first and then add the beans/peas and zucchini about 10 minutes later. Stir occasionally throughout. After about 10 minutes of all the ingredients cooking together, start taste testing. Some people like softer sweet potatoes, some people like them a bit more firm. It’s all personal preference. So stir occasionally and taste it until it’s just right for you. Serve in soup bowls and enjoy!

Variations:
Sometimes I add black fungus mushrooms to the pot. I like mushrooms and I’m one of those people that LOVE weird textures, so this is a fun addition for me. You can add to and take away from the vegetable list. It’s all based on what you like. Some people add carrots, onions, white potato, or even a bit of peanut butter. That’s the beauty of making this dish at home! You really get what you want.

Curries are most commonly served over a bed of rice. When I use rice, I usually cook up some jasmine rice in my rice cooker. I’ve also used brown rice. But if you are trying to cut down on your carbs, just forget the rice. My recipe turns out almost like a curry stew because of the amount of veggies I put in. And believe me when I say, “make enough for leftovers!” because it is THE BEST leftovers you’ll ever have! All the flavors become even more infused and well, it’s just as exhilarating as the first time.

Baked Oatmeal and Breakfast Casserole, by Em

Today's menu: Baked Oatmeal and Breakfast Casserole

I love breakfast foods I could pretty much eat them all day, every day.  I'm cooking dinner today; I skipped breakfast today; we're having breakfast for dinner today.  Yum!

Baked Oatmeal

When looking up baked oatmeal recipes I found a few variations, I've tried to distill these into their oat-y essence.  If you've never had baked oatmeal, it is a delicious, slightly chewy alternative to oatmeal in a bowl.  Baked oatmeal tastes kind of like an oatmeal cookie and is wonderful with a little milk poured over it.

Basic ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats/oatmeal/instant oatmeal

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

1 cup milk

Basic recipe:

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 375° in a 9x13 inch pan for 25 minutes.  Serves eight.

Simplest thing ever, right?

Variations:

• You can also add vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and other similar flavors.  I would probably start with no more than a teaspoon of each, then you can change it up as you see fit.
• Top the oatmeal with fruit and milk.  Try raisins or bananas.

Money savers:

• Use powdered milk.  Now I'm not a huge fan of drinking powdered milk, so my personal rule is this: I never use powdered milk when it will greatly influence the texture of a dish.  This means it's fine for baking, because it will get baked into the final dish, but I don't use it in soups or sauces.  Powdered milk should be stored in an airtight container as soon as it is opened and used ASAP.  Reconstituted powdered milk costs less than $2 a gallon.
• If you don't have a set of measuring cups and spoons, don't rush out and buy some.  You can measure ingredients using the silverware you have around the house.  One standard-sized coffee mug is approximately 1 1/2 cups.  In any full set of silverware, the smaller sized spoon (this would be the same size as a plastic spoon) is a teaspoon.  The larger sized spoon is a tablespoon.

Time savers:

• Mix ingredients in the baking dish.  This not only saves transferring from one dish to another, it saves time cleaning up afterwards.  I made this recipe using a coffee mug, a teaspoon, and a baking pan.

Breakfast Casserole:

I got this recipe from my friend, K.  I used TVP sausage, because I am a vegetarian, but she had originally made it with regular sausage.

Ingredients:

6 eggs

2 cups milk

1 squirt (Tbs) mustard

4 servings of sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces

6 thick slices bread, crumbled/torn

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar

4 oz chopped mushrooms

1 tsp salt

pepper to taste

Recipe:

Beat eggs, milk, mustard, and salt.  Stir in other ingredients.  Bake at 350° in 9x13 inch pan for 45 minutes.  Serves eight.

Money savers:

• This recipe could also use powder milk as it ends up being a part of the scrambled eggs anyways.
• Make your own bread.  I used a loaf of frozen bread dough I happened to have lying around.  This won't take too much time if you start thawing the dough the night before.  It bakes for about 20 minutes and I had half a loaf left over which we used for toast.  Making your own bread from scratch saves even more money, but takes more time.
• Use TVP (textured vegetable protein) for sausage.  TVP costs approx. 45 cents per pound, rehydrated  as compared to $1.50 for a pound of sausage.  You can find recipes to make your own TVP sausage, then freeze it and save it for later.
• Shred your own cheese.  I bought an 8 oz. (half a pound) block for almost half the price of a bag of pre-shredded cheese.
• Chop your own mushrooms.

Time savers:

• Once again, I mixed the ingredients in the baking dish.
• Using frozen bread dough was a quick, cheap alternative to buying bread at the store.
• 8 oz. cheese equals approximately 2 cups shredded cheese.  This recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups, so you would use 3/4 an 8 oz. block of cheese.  No measuring necessary!

Statement of Purpose

Cooking Without a Clue is my attempt to economize on time and money when I have less than I would like of both.  I am not a professional chef; I am not even a good cook.  I am an OK cook who now lives in a co-op and is therefore required to cook once a week.  The recipes used on this page may or may not be original.  If the recipe was obtained from another source, we will either provide a link to the original recipe or cite the source.

Cooking Without a Clue will also include other, cooking-related, time or money saving information.  We are attempting to give equal consideration to saving time and money.  It is up to you, the reader, to decide how important either one is to you and adjust the preparation accordingly.  In all instances, the more effort you put into a dish, the more money you save.

Cooking Without a Clue is a family-friendly blog.  Please keep comments clean!