Hi, I'm Nikki. I'm a 21 year old college student residing in the capitol of the south who enjoys cooking, swimming and reading. I'm a writer, psych and bio double major, and a political activist. This is a blog about how to eat gourmet while on a college budget.
This blog is vegetarian, vegan, kosher and gluten-free friendly!
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
So, sorry about the lack of posts y’all
My computer was broken meaning no tumblr and no pictures. However, we’ll be picking up soon!
so I broke down and got chipotle today.
BUT IT WAS WORTH EVERY BITE.
Also: it counted as lunch and dinner!
What I ate for dinner tonight- 01/08/12
As I said before, I decided to make beans and rice my way tonight.
Reconstructed Beans and Rice:
This is something I go back to time and time again when i am super hungry and need something cheap and filling in my tummy.
Ingredients:
1 Cup Rice
1/2 Can Black Beans (or whatever beans you happen to like)
1/4 Yellow (or white) onion
1 Chicken Breast (optional if you would like to make this a vegetarian meal)
2 Garlic Cloves
1 Carrot, sliced
1/2 Can of Beer ‘
1 Roma Tomato, Sliced
So here’s essentially all the spices and other things I used for tonight’s meal. These are discretionary if you so please. Although the taco spice is what is essential here. (Cost of 4oz tub of taco seasoning= $2.20. It will last you a year)
Left from Right: Olive Oil, Oregano (use just a pinch), Mrs. Dash Italian Blend (The bread and butter of my spice cabinet), Mrs. Dash Extra Hot Blend, Taco Seasoning (one tbsp will suffice), Bay Leaves (use 1), Black Beans, Skunked beer from last night, two garlic cloves.
Instructions:
1. If you have a rice cooker, just put rice in cooker, add one cup of water and turn on. If you don’t have one; add rice to pan and 1 cup water. Bring rice to a boil and then turn to medium heat until soft and fluffy!
2. Put chicken breast, minced garlic, chopped onions and olive oil in pan. Turn to medium heat. After chicken slightly browns, add beer, water, taco seasoning and bay leaf. It should look like this:
3. Let mixture boil for 6-8 minutes or until chicken is brown. If there isn’t quite enough liquid left, feel free to add more beer or water.
4. Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces. Bring mixture down to a light simmer. Add beans and tomatoes.
5. Simmer moderately until beans are soft and chicken is cooked fully. It should look like this:
6. Take the chicken and bean concotion you just made and put it over rice. Add cheese if desired.
You will get something that looks like this:
Total Estimated Cost of Meal:
Chicken Breast: $1.50
Half Can of Beans: $.44
Cup of Rice: $.33
Half Onion: $.20
Half carrot: $ .10
All other seasonings combined: $.45
Grand Total: $3.02
[Food] goes into my body, and I break it down into little pieces, and then those pieces become my body! I don’t understand why everyone isn’t like “zomg food!!” all the time.
Bergit on why food is awesome
Kitty measuring cups - $5.00 at Macy’s
Someone pleaaaase buy me these!
So cute!
Let me tell you about my favorite cooking device ever:
The Rice Cooker.
Now these bad boys can run from anywhere from $20 to $150 a piece but if your parents ever offer you one, take it.
Cooking rice is sort of a giant pain in the ass. I f you are like me and do not have a dishwasher, it is a even a bigger pain to clean them. Rice is probably the best staple food if you want to eat cheap and it is worth the investment to get one of these things. They have saved me hours of time with cooking and I’m pretty sure you can cook other food in them as well. I know it’s past Christmas and Hannukah, but definitely put this on your wishlist!
Lake Baikal in Russia, Tumblrbot!
Tonight, I’m going to be making a cheap and delicious dinner
I’m going to do a fun variation on beans and rice tonight! Pics coming up!
Manicotti with Pesto, Portobello Mushrooms, and Spinach.
This is one of my more expensive recipes I’ve made lately but definitely one of my most delicious ($18 for 4 people = $4.50 a person.) My friend Bergit and I made this recipe over winter break when we were bored and hungry at her mom’s house. Most people generally use marinana sauce with manicotti but my friend had the sudden stroke of brilliance to use pesto sauce.
Ingredients:
3/4 of a cup Pesto (either traditional basil or whatever variation you enjoy)
1 box of Manicotti shells
1 1/2 Portobello Mushroom caps
3/4 of a bag Spinach or 1/2 bunch
1 small tub of ricotta cheese
2 Tbsp of Olive Oil
1. Medium to Large baking pan
Steps:
1. Place pasta in boiling water for 8-9 minutes
2. While cooking pasta, chop mushroom caps into small pieces (half or quarter of a bite size is ideal)
3. Wilt spinach in either in the microwave (1 minute) or on the stovetop. Be sure to use a little bit of water (half a cup) to wilt spinach.
4. After spinach is wilted; combine the spinach, chopped mushrooms and ricotti in a large bowl. Add olive oil and a tbsp of pesto to mix. Mix thoroughly with (clean!) hands.
5. After pasta is finished cooking, strain and allow pasta to cool for 3 minutes.
6. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
7. Stuff cooked pasta shells with mixture very gently.
8. Cover bottom of the baking pan with olive oil and place stuffed shells gently on the pan.
9. If space is limited, layer shells with pesto on top of each layer.
10. Cover top layer of shells with pesto and cheese (parmesean, mozzerella) if desired.
11. Place pan with pasta in oven for 25-35 minutes
12. Allow pan to cool for 10 minutes
Enjoy!
The bulk of the expensive of this meal was in the pesto. If you already know how to make pesto or like a cheaper brand than I used (Classico’s Traditional Basil), you can cut the costs down even further. The best part of this meal is that it allows for seconds, even thirds!
