Weekend Meal: Four Cheese Baked Macaroni

This recipe is quick, simple, and best of all, low-fat without tasting like it:

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 2/3 cups 1% low-fat milk
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 ounces light processed cheese
  
• 6 cups cooked elbow macaroni (about 3 cups uncooked)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup crushed onion melba toasts (or any flavored toasts)
  
• 1 tablespoon reduced-calorie margarine, softened

Pre-heat the oven to 375.

To make the sauce, put the flour in a pan and gradually add the milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Stir constantly until thick, then add the cheese. Stir until melted:

Remove the mixture from the heat and add the cooked macaroni. Spray a casserole or rectangular pyrex dish with cooking spray and spread the pasta mixture. Combine crushed toasts and butter/margarine and spread over the mixture. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.
All told, the ingredient total about $25, depending on the type/brand of cheese you buy. Yum!

Renters: How to Improve Your Kitchen!

So, aside from a handful of people I know who own their homes, most people rent. With renting comes home improvement limitations. Apartment Therapy has a great list of 10 thrifty improvements that won't go against your lease. Read it here: 10 kitchen improvements for renters

The Weekend Meal: Picadillo

Possibly the easiest, thriftiest meal with the most satisfying result. I've thought about making this with ground turkey instead of ground beef, but have yet to pull the trigger.

Serves 4

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 pound ground beef
  
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup low-salt beef broth
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pimiento-stuffed olives
• 3 tablespoons capers
• 2 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• White rice
  

Heat the oil for about 5 minutes then saute the onions. Add the beef and garlic, cooking until the beef is browned. Add the broth, raisins, olives, capers, tomato paste and pepper. Stir, cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve over white rice.



The cost of this meal is pretty low, coming in under $25, depending on what brand of olives, raisins etc you choose.

Sandwich Night: Turkey Sausage with Peppers and Onions

For me, there's nothing better than a sandwich. Also, it's one of the easiest things you can make. This sausage and peppers/onions sandwich leaves a lot of room for improvisation. You can use turkey or any other kind of sausage that strikes your fancy.

Makes 12 sandwiches

1 package of sweet or spicy Italian sausage, halved length wise
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
1 medium Vidalia onion, sliced
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
Sandwich rolls or hero rolls

Brown the sliced sausage and do not drain the fat. Cook the sliced peppers and onions in the sausage fat and add the Worcestershire sauce. Cook until the peppers are soft and the onions are translucent.

Toast your bread and make yourself a sandwich!


This is a pretty cheap meal, with the total coming in under $20. If you get tired of making sandwiches, I love making pasta with the left over sausage and peppers.

The Weekend Meal: Chicken Taco Salad

This has to be one of the easiest meals to make, and I'd like to think it's pretty healthy. I like making my own version of pico de gallo, but you can also use store bought stuff too.

Serves 4-6

1.5 lbs of chicken breast, cut into bit sized pieces
1 package of taco seasoning (anything from Ortega or Old El Paso)
1 head of romaine lettuce
1 8 oz package of mixed cheese
1 package of sour cream, big or small depending on your love of the stuff

Pico de Gallo
5 medium sized plum tomatoes
2-3 jalapeno peppers
1 medium white onion
1 clove of garlic
kosher salt to taste

Brown the chicken in a pan and prepare the taco seasoning according to directions. Once the chicken is browned, add the sauce to the pan and let simmer while you prepare the pico.


Bring out your trust food processor and pulse the salt, garlic, onion and jalapenos until roughly chopped.

Add the tomatoes last, so they don't get mushy. Pulse all ingredients 4 or 5 times and you're done.
Combine all the ingredients for your salad. Yum-cheap and easy.

The Weekend Meal: BBQ Ribs

I will be the first to say that this meal is not the healthiest or the cheapest option, but it is one of the tastiest. It's pretty time consuming as it needs some time in the slow cooker as well as the oven. The two cooking methods ensure tender yet crispy ribs. However, it's a pretty serious meal and it shows that you don't need some fancy kitchen with "counters" to make a meal.

serves 4-6

• 4-5 lbs of pork spare ribs
• 1 18 oz bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce
• 1/2 cup of dry rub
  

Cut, separate and wash the ribs. Use the rub evenly on all pieces and place them in the slow cooker on high for 6 hours.

About half way through the cooking time, drain a bit of the fat and liquid from the cooker. Preheat the oven to 375. Cook for the remaining time.

When time's up, take the ribs out and spread about 1/2 the bottle over the ribs. For ease, I placed the ribs in a container and shook to cover them, as I don't have a meat brush. Lay the ribs out on a broiler pan covered in lightly greased foil. You can also use any other any flat baking pan.
You can keep the ribs in the oven for 30-45 minutes, depending on how crispy you like them.

You can serve this with the extra sauce, some corn bread, plain white rice, or your favorite starch.

The Weekend Meal: Quick Quiche

This isn't one of the healthiest recipes, but who doesn't love a little cheese and mayo baked into a quiche? While this recipe only calls for one deep dish pie shell, I like to use two regular shells as I don't like my quiche to be too filled. It's up to you.

Serves 4-6

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup half-and-half 1/2 cup real mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/3 cup minced onions
• Salt and garlic powder
• 8 ounces shredded Swiss or sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 package frozen chopped spinach
• 1 deep unbaked pie shell

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Hand whip eggs, half-and-half, mayonnaise, and flour in a medium mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients.

Pour into an unbaked 9-inch, deep pie crust. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the top is golden brown.

If you're feeling guilty about this dish, serve it with a simple side salad with some honey vinaigrette.

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

I was a little tired of store bought dressing and I had some leftover vinegar from the Chinese Cole Slaw
so I thought it was time to try making my own dressing. I found this recipe in the Joy Of Cooking.

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Makes 1/2 cup

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon coarse grain mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 tablespoons olive oil

Whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, honey, mustard, salt and pepper. Add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly.

Cool Gadget: Demy Recipe Reader

So apparently cook books are passe. Meet the Demy recipe reader, courtesy of Engadget:

This device apparently does it all, "Crafted by Key Ingredient, this here device packs a sealed 7-inch display, storage for up to 2,500 recipes and USB connectivity for syncing with your PC. Furthermore, it provides three kitchen timers, a measurement conversion calculator and an ingredient substitution dictionary to get cooks out of a pinch if they are one special ingredient short."

Apparently this is shipping from Amazon "soon," which is good because the price listed is $299.99. Better start saving.

Banana Muffin Bread

I use this banana bread recipe to make giant banana muffins because I don't have a loaf pan. Yes, those pans are only $7, but whatever giant muffins are much more fun. To make the muffins I use ceramic bakeware. this is also a great use for ripe bananas.

Banana Muffin Bread
Makes 2 muffins or 1 8.5 x 4.5 loaf of bread

1.5 cups flour
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 stick of butter at room temperature
1 large egg
2 medium sized, ripe banans

Heat oven to 350. Grease the bakeware. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients slowly, mixing until well combined. If you are using muffin type bakeware, fill it up only half way.


Bake for about 45 minutes.

Macaroni Salad

So the title of this post is a bit of a misnomer, as I made this salad with rotini instead of macaroni. Other than the pasta change, the rest of the ingredients are from your standard macaroni salad. This is a great sandwich companion or it can be eaten as alone as a light lunch.

Macaroni Salad
Serves a lot

1 box of macaroni or rotini
1 diced red pepper
1 diced green pepper
1 diced small red onion
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1.5 tablespoons of sugar

Mix the mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar until well blended. Toss the mayonnaise with the pasta and vegetables until coated.


This is one of the thriftiest meals, coming in under $10. If you're not making this for a crowd, this will feed you for a week.

The Weekend Meal: Chickpea Patties & Chinese Cole Slaw

I'm a recent convert to the cult of the chickpea. Cheap, full of protein-what else can you ask for in a food? The cole slaw part of this meal is also full of goodness, with almonds and sunflower seeds. I'm not quite sure what makes it Chinese, but it's delicious.

Cole Slaw
Serves: a ton

16 oz. package of cole slaw (I found them by the ready to eat salads)
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 packages chicken Ramen
1 cup sliced, toasted almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds

Combine oil, vinegar, sugar, and seasoning packets from the Ramen noodles. Crush Ramen noodles. Toss all the ingredients.

I find that this taste better when made a day before you plan on eating it.
Chickpea Patties
Makes about 8-10 patties

1 19 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 clove of garlic
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons olive oil

In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas, garlic, salt and pepper until coarsely chopped.

Form into patties, using a tablespoon. Coat the patties in flour, shaking off the excess.

Heat the oil and cook the patties until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes a side.

Yum.

Total cost: less than $20, granted that you have olive oil, flour and garlic in stock

NYT: Eating Food That's Better for You, Organic or Not

Eating cheaply doesn't necessarily mean eating unhealthily. I came across a great article in the New York Times that emphasizes that eating organically is not synonymous with eating healthy. Click here for the article.

Just a thought!

Pasta with Mozzarella, Peppers, and Arugula

I'm on a pasta kick (read: feeling a little poor). But, with spring coming up, it's a good time to explore some lighter pastas with seasonal vegetables. This particular recipe uses a couple of my favorite vegetables, red peppers and arugula.

Pasta with Mozzarella, Peppers, and Arugula
Serves 4-6

1 box short pasta (ziti, penne etc)
8 oz. mozzarella cut into bite sized pieces
2 bunches of arugula, washed (you can also just buy an arugula salad)
1-2 red peppers
1/4 cup olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Cook the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large pan. Cook the peppers until tender. Add the arugula and cook until wilted. Add the pasta, cheese, salt & pepper. Ta da! Dinner.

All told, the meal costs between $12-$15, depending on how much you spend on the cheese.

How To Cook Pasta

So pasta is the fall back meal. Always good in a pinch and pretty cheap. But I discovered (late, as usual) that it really does matter how much water you use and that adding oil isn't really necessary.

I came across a pretty handy article in the March 2008 issue of Cooking Light that outlines the simple steps in making pasta.

For Dry Pasta:

1. Cook the pasta in plenty of water. Use one quart of water per two ounces of uncooked pasta, and choose a pot that larget enough to prevent crowding (keep this in mind when buying your one pot)
2. You can add salt to water if you think you'll need it for the taste, because ultimately, your sauce determines how much salt you'll need. You can also try adding a little bit of lemon juice to give the pasta a little flavor
   
3. Before you start boiling the water, make sure to have ready your colander ready so you can whisk the pasta off the stove when it's time
4. You should add the pasta when the water is at a rolling boil and cover the pot. Uncover the pot once the water returns to a boil. To make sure you make the pasta al dente, look at it closely and taste it; it will still have a white core and not be tender when you bite it
5. When draining the pasta, you can save some of the starchy water and can add it to the sauce later
6. Lastly, don't follow the time listed on the box too well, check the pasta about 3 minutes before the time listed
   

For Fresh/Frozen Pasta:

1. The above steps for fresh pasta, but keep in mind that fresh pasta will cook in as little as 3 minutes, and frozen pasta will take around 5-8 minutes
   

The Weekend Meal: Ravioli With Sauteed Zucchini

Being a vegetarian for a weekend isn't terrible, this meal, using cheese ravioli, should help ease the one day transition. Save the animals (for a day or two at least):

Serves 4

• 1 20 oz package of fresh cheese ravioli (you can also use frozen ravioli)
• 3 small zucchinis, thinly sliced into half circles
  
• 1 large sweet onion, sliced
  
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
  
• Some Parmesan
  
• Olive oil
  
• Salt

Cook the pasta according to the package. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil and add the zucchini, onion, and garlic. Cook until the zucchini is tender (about 8 minutes)


When the pasta is done, toss the pasta with the vegetable mixture:

And you're done! Serve with a little Parmesan sprinkled on top. Very yummy, very easy, very quick.

If you have leftovers, I suggest storing the ravioli and the vegetable mixture in different containers. To heat up, toss them quickly in a pan.

Ta da! You just saved a cow or chicken.

Just Desserts: Sugar Cookies

There's nothing like a sugar cookie. It can be really plain, or you can jazz it up with sprinkles or icing. Instead of butter, these cookies use vegetable oil.

Sugar Cookies (makes 30-40 2.5 inch cookies)

• 2.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Extra sugar for sprinkling

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and pre-heat the oven to 375.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.

Combine and blend the sugar and vegetable oil. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Add the vanilla.

Mix in the flour mixture with the sugar mixture, making sure they are well combined.

Form the dough into .5 inch drops with tablespoons and place them on the cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle the drops with sugar. You have the option here to make cinnamon sugar and use that instead of plain sugar. The brown cookies below are sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.



Bake the cookies for about 11 minutes, until they are brown around the edges.

Once I ran out of vegetable oil and made these cookies with olive oil. They were like grown up sugar cookies and tasted great with coffee or tea. Give it a try.

The Weekend Meal: Slow Cooker Meatloaf

Disclaimer: Before this meal, I never had meatloaf. That said, this experience made me heart meatloaf. This recipe uses a slow cooker and a food processor, two of your essential kitchen appliances.

Slow Cooker Meatloaf (serves 4-6)

• 1.5 lbs. ground round beef (you can also use ground chuck or sirloin, depending on your budget and fat content)
• 1 8 oz can mushrooms (or 1.5 cups of fresh button mushrooms)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella (whole milk or part-skim, chef's choice)
  
• 2 slices of white bread
• 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/3 cup chopped pepperoni
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 teaspoon salt

Tear the white bread in large chunks and pulse in the food processor until they look like bread crumbs. Place it in a different bowl. Pulse the mushrooms, and pepperoni in the same manner until they are finely chopped. Put these in the same bowl as the bread crumbs.

Combine bread crumbs, mushrooms, and pepperoni with the cheese, beef, eggs, salt, and garlic powder. Mix gently with your hands. (I know, looks gross, but just wait for it).


Place in the slow cooker, form into a loaf and brush the top with ketchup.

Set the slow cooker on HIGH for one hour, then low for about 4, until the meat is cooked through.

I served it with potatoes and sweet peas, but you can also make meatloaf sandwiches.

Necessary?: The Orange Peeler

I'm on the fence about the orange peeler. On the one hand, it makes it so easy to start peeling an orange and you can avoid all the orange gunk under your nails. Also, it is a very small utensil.

On the other hand, once you start peeling the orange, your hands still get all sticky. Does something this small warrant so much internal turmoil??

The Weekend Meal: Tonkatsu

Who doesn't love fried things? Tonkatsu is fried pork cutlet usually served over cabbage, but I prefer some kind of starch or carb with some veggies. I find the veggies make me feel better about eating fried pork.

Tonkatsu:

• 4 thin sliced pork loin chops (seriously, thin. if you are using chicken and want to save some money, you can buy regular chicken breast and flatten it yourself by wrapping the piece in cling wrap and rolling over it with a rolling pin or something comparable)
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup panko (Japanese style bread crumbs. They're coarser than regular bread crumbs)
• Enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan (about 1 inch)
  

Heat the oil and set up the dredging station: flour, egg, panko.

Coat the pork/chicken in that order. Cook until brown, crispy, and delicious.

Snacking 101: Hummus

Time to use that ever handy food processor. I have one that's slightly large, with a whole bunch of extra parts that I don't know how to use, but any food processor will do. The easiest thing you can make with your food processor is hummus:

Makes 6-8 cups of hummus
2 15.5 oz cans of chick peas (drained)
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of lemon juice (the squeeze bottle kind or fresh, whatever)
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil (enough to cover 1/3 of the peas with oil)
Salt to taste

Note that I did not add tahini. The taste isn't for me, AND it's expensive. Anyway:
Throw the garlic in the food processor, followed by the chick peas:



Add the oil, lemon juice, and salt. Turn on said food processor until it looks like this:

That's it. You have hummus. I served mine with the homemade tortilla chips and olives, and made a monster:

Guest Galley Kitchen

I make tasty meals, but some galley kitchen meals deserve special recognition. Meet the very first guest galley kitchen meal:



Some stipulations: she has a full sized fridge, and most of those things are pre-made, but a really impressive spread. The salad is arugula, fennel, with pommegranate seeds, with the option of topping it with proscuitto. All the cheese and quiche is from Murray's Cheese Shop. However, she did make overnight French toast, for which I will post the recipe shortly.

Imagine putting that together on very little counter space. That deserves some recognition.

Kitchen Gadget of the Week: Lillian Vernon Seam Cover

Food falling between your tiny stove and your tiny counter? Afraid of critters? These seem like weird problems, but living in Manhattan, I will try anything to keep furry and/or multi-legged creepies out of the apartment. Enter, the Lillian Vernon seam cover. It's exactly what it sounds like (and don't mind the dirty stove, cleaning day is Sunday):


Long live silicon! Miss Vernon states that the cover is "heat/warp/melt resistant." I've had it for a few months, and there's no sign of melting yet, which is commendable considering it is a gas stove.

Available at Lillian Vernon.

Homemade Tortilla Chips

Yes, tortilla chips. I found myself with about 1.5 pounds of little flour tortillas and a full jar of salsa. Logical conclusion? Homemade tortilla chips.

I cut them into quarters, and first tried to fry them. That took too long, as I only have one pan (see: The Essentials post). So I ended up baking them on a cookie sheet. Really simple: oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Repeat until you no longer have left overs. They look pretty cool too:



I think the benefit to this is being able to put less salt on the chips, and, maybe experimenting with those flavored tortillas. Think about having sun dried tomato tortilla chips. Yum.

Faking Pricey Ingredients

With a small kitchen comes a small budget. I recently came across a pretty handy list from the February 20 issue of All You (I read it because it was around, don't judge), listing replacements for expensive ingredients.
Below for your thrifty pleasure, the complete list:

• Red wine: pure cranberry juice
• White wine: white grape juice or apple juice
• Mascarpone: cream cheese mixed with some heavy cream
• Buttermilk (1 cup): 1 cup milk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar-let stand for 10 minutes (This sounds weird to me, and I would be curious to see if it actually works)
• Creme fraiche (1 cup): 1/2 cup sour cream mixed with 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Edamame: green peas or black-eyed peas
• Maple syrup: brown sugar with a little water
• Molasses: honey
• Cake flour (1 cup): 1 cup all purpose flour, minus 2 tablespoons
• Macadamia nuts: Walnuts, almonds or cashews (I would use more of the substitute nuts, as they are not as rich tasting as macadamia nuts)
• Fresh herbs (1 tablespoon): 1 teaspoon dried herbs
• Allspice (1 tablespoon): 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp ground cloves
• Unsweetened chocolate: 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 Tbsp unsalted butter per oz.

I wonder if these actually work?

The Essentials

So, I'm no cooking expert, I just know that I've managed not to kill anyone and make edible meals in a kitchen the size of most hall closets. Observe:

That's my kitchen. That's it. Mini fridge, mini stove. I feel like a giant in there. Where's the microwave? Why it's on a cart "beside" the kitchen:


With space at a premium, I've found I cannot live without the following kitchen essentials (yes it's basic, but again, look at the size of the kitchen!):

• 1 Non-stick frying pan-I highly recommend T-Fal. I've had mine since college and it is still rocking and rolling
• 1 non-stick pot (lid is optional, really)-Again, I'm hanging out with T-Fal. I don't have a lid, but I've boiled water successfully
• Crock pot/slow cooker-Fantastic for easy, cheap meals
• Rice cooker-Because, who doesn't love rice?
• Food processor-Good for homemade salsa and other dip like things

Did I miss anything?