Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

I've been sick for several days, and craving really good....non-canned....chicken noodle soup. After discussing with Hil-girl (my mom) how she makes her soup (it takes roughly 2 hours) i decided to use inspiration from hers to create my own that takes 20 minutes, rather than 2 hours. It was cheap, it was easy, and it has lasted me a couple days and is really, really great.

INGREDIENTS

-2 cans of Swanson chicken broth

-2 or 3 celery stalks

-2 whole carrots

-1 large yellow onion

-4 Mushrooms of any kind

-Whole grain rotini noodles

-1 cup of water

-salt

-pepper

-fresh dill

-1 or 2 chicken breasts

You could make this soup if you've never made anything before in your life. Get a nice sized pot and fill it with 2 cans of broth, a 1/2 cup of soup, the chopped up celery, chopped up carrot, mushrooms sliced in 1.2, and your onion just sliced in 1/2.

Bring to a boil, and then let simmer.

In a pan, cook your chicken until it is browned and white on the inside. cut it into chunks, slices, or however you like it. Drop the chicken into the pot.

Meanwhile, have some whole wheat rotini cooking. Once it is softened throw it into the pot. Bring everything back to a boil, and then back to a simmer. Let it sit on a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy.

Butter Is Better...

Butter is better. It just is. No, stop....really.....there is no argument, no time for rebuttal, nada. Tonight I treated my gal pals to a nice pasta dish and a veggie salad. This is what I did for this pasta dish:

-Wide Noodle Amish Pasta (it looked good, it cost little, and I like a wider pasta when I am also using something heavy like a protein in the dish--good tip, helps balance it out I think)

-Cherry tomatoes (yum....and they add a nice acidity)

-Basil leaves

-Medium sized shrimp (I bought a big ole' bag of pre-cooked and de-shelled. They are certainly not as mouth watering as the real deal....but you get a lot of bang for ya buck....and lord knows any extra cash I have in college isn't going towards finer proteins....)

-A sprinkle of capers (not too many, they add a hint in this dish--by no means the star)

-A dash of chili powder, a lot of regular pepper, and some salt

-Extra Virgin Olive Oil

-As much squeezed lemon juice as desired

-BUTTER!!!!!!

Why is butter so great you may ask? Well, this anecdote should answer that burning question. All 5 of my lovely guests asked me what I did to make "such an amazing sauce". And, all it was was E.V.O.O. (Please don't judge me for the Rachel Ray allusion...........) and a heeeeaaaaavy hand of good ole' fashioned butter. Margarine would be downright disgusting, and an insult to dinner in general. Butter gives most dishes a richness and mouth-watering complexity that any healthier products can simply not mimic.

And no, I don't measure.....this is why I do not bake, and I likely inherited this inability and aversion from my mother....and my lack of math skills.

Any hoot--the reason this simple pasta dish tasted so fanastic was that I used a ton of butter. Is it good to consume a ton of butter all the time? Certainly not. But, in the name of taste and all things good in life--try using it as much as possible. Clearly, I am not a dietetics and nutrition major.......(they're probably all hungry anyway)

Empty Fridge?.....Whats Left Over

You were home, with your family and their stocked refrigerator, for Thanksgiving. You've returned back to campus--and all that is left in your dinky fridge is a crate of eggs, some ketchup, left over beer perhaps, and if you're lucky.....frozen veggies still sitting in your freezer. In your pantry, or lets be honest--shelf--is some cereal, a box of pasta, and some 5 minute cous cous you've stopped eating because it is tasteless and makes you hate your life.

Welcome to post-Thanksgiving college food syndrome. You're cranky, you're hungry, and you're too lazy to hitch a ride and go to the supermarket. I feel your pain.

Being creative with the odds and ends of things left over is challenging, but sort of fun. I did a little experiment before going to the grocery store yesterday. I decided to find 5 things I still had, and to make dinner out of them. This is what I was working with:

1/2 of a large, peeled red onion

1 lemon

1/2 box of whole wheat penne pasta

a handful of frozen broccoli

1 stick of butter (we were actually out of olive oil....sad day)

Granted, I was lacking a protein. But hey, you can go without protein for one night--right? Ehhh....anyway.......thats truly all I had left. So, I boiled some water and got that pasta and broccoli cooking. Threw the broccoli in the pasta with a hardy amount of butter, cut up some onion and threw that in as well, and drizzled some lemon juice/salt/pepper over that sucker. Was it amazing? No. Was it pretty good? Yes.

When doing a "whats left over" meal such as this, "pretty good" should be considered a great success.

Use what you've got, don't stress, and know that even with 3 ingredients--you can likely whip up something satisfying. Good luck, godspeed, and go to the supermarket already.

Holla Holla Stretch That Dolla'

College Kiddies....

Great financial-food tip of the week/month/whatever

frozen vegetables, while obviously not as fantastic, are a great way to save money. I've been working on a frozen bag of broccoli, green beans, and peas for almost 3 months now.......and I always have enough to eat. Each bag was something ridiculous--like under $1.50--probably because I bought the supermarket brand vs a brandname. Go generic--go frozen--eat for months.

DISCLAIMER: There is no doubt that unfrozen food is better, I'm just offering a financial-food tiperooski.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to all. :)

Ode to Cayenne Pepper

Why does it taste so good? I don't know....but I'm ok with it.

Things where cayenne pepper is always ok:

-Pasta

-Rice

-Cous Cous

-Meat

-Ice Cream (i kid...)

I just wanted to share this, ya know....take the time out of my day to remind everyone that a little pinch of cayenne will spice up their life.

Below is a recipe for my favorite thing to make and eat:

Spicy Cajun Chicken Pasta (seriously its amaze-balls)

-1 packet of whole wheat linguini

-2 peppers: red and green (feel free to opt yellow in place of green......it adds color). youll probably only need a chunk of each--definitely not the entire 2 peppers.

-As much onion as you like. In my opinion.....the more the better. This dish is knock-out with a LOT of onion in it. Don't plan on kissing anyone after......or do so at your own risk.

-2 handfuls of mushrooms. Any mushrooms you like....but not really huge guys.

-Boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Probably 2.

-fresh basil leaves

-lemon pepper

-pepper

-salt

-CAYENNE pepper

-chilli powder

-hot pepper flakes

-1 cup heavy cream

SO EASY:

-Cut up the chicken breasts into little square-ish pieces. season them with all of the above spices EXCEPT the basil and lemon pepper. Spice them really heavily so that they're that pretty red of the cayenne/chilli/pepper flakes

-Prepare 1 cup of heavy creme with a handful of chopped basil in it and a hearty dosage of lemon pepper seasoning.

-in a LARGE skillet, cook them along with a hearty dose of butter. This is NOT a butter-light meal. The more butter....the better. Thank you Dad for my fast metabolism...(but seriously, cook the chicken alone in the skillet until its almost cooked through all the way)

-Add all the DICED onion, pepper, and sliced mushrooms and let them cook with the chicken

-During this, boil some water and get that whole wheat linguini cookin'

-Once the linguini is done, dump it into the skillet and mix with the veggies and chicken. Add oil and butter as you see fit....also feel free to add more cayenne pepper

-turn the heat down extremely low, and pour a cup of heavy cream with basil/lemon pepper over the pasta.....mix in.

-Turn off heat.....and your pasta should be a brownish/reddish colour and be Creamy, Spicey, and really hearty and delicious.

Enjoy.

15 Minute Meal...Kiss My @ss Rachel Ray

Tonight I made a mouth-watering meal in 15 minutes. This is no lie...15 minutes.

4 lamb chops......1 George Forman Grill

5 minute cous cous

Fresh string beans

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

I was truly amazed at how quickly the Forman grill cooked my lamb chops. Honestly it took ten minutes....and they were just perfect and juicy and the salt/pepper/garlic powder I sprinkled on them pre-grilling really came out so nicely when they were done.

Once the string beans were done I poured too much olive oil in the pot and a ton of salt and pepper...shook it up.....and poured it on my plate.

Joining all of this was some pretty tasteless 5 minute cous cous that I spiced up with a quick sauce I made. This might sound disgusting....but it was really good: A1 steak sauce, a little butter, Soy Sauce, and Dijon Mustard. A dash of salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Weird combo--but it flavored up that cous cous and gave the dish some heat with the addition of cayenne. I just like my food spicy....a meal without some serious tissue use is a failed meal.

Voila. Simple.....Not at all inventive.....BUT really fast and REALLY delicious and relatively healthy as well.

Success.

What's The Point?

Why should I blog? Blogging is a little bit narcissistic, no? Well...I am going to be straight up--as this blog will be a very honest account. I want to write about food...and I want to get paid to do it (one day at least!).

I realized recently that I am among the few of my college peers who actually cooks lunch and dinner for themselves. I'm not really a Ramen fan (only when desperate...) and Spaghetti-o's just have never done it for me. I'm going to firstly blame my mother for my interest and willingness to spend thirty minutes every afternoon boiling pasta and sautéing onions--she's always made the art of cooking look and feel extremely effortless (and delicious). I have adopted this habit, much to the joy of my seven roommates.

This blog is going to be about what I'm cooking on my limited college budget...and how it goes. I will fill you in when I royally mess things up, and when I find great success. I hope that this gives you something to laugh at maybe...and also maybe gives you fellow college cooks (and even real-life working type people.....) some ideas and inspiration for future meals. My goal everytime I cook is to obviously make something yummy, but in general to experiment and try and make new things. I don't always make elaborate food--but I do what works on a college budget, with a really tiny kitchen and a lack of kitchen appliances. If anyone would like to get me a Cuisinart Food Processor, I will be your best friend...just sayin'........

Bon Appetit!