If this already sounds out of your league, you're wrong. This is a dessert to make when you want to impress someone, or you just really want cheesecake and don't know how to make it!
1 container strawberries (bigger is better) 1 8oz package cream cheese (room temperature) 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 graham crackers 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips Gallon size ziplock bag Remove stems from strawberries and cut the center out. Sometimes there's already a hole, but if not make a small one without destroying the berry. Put cream cheese in a bowl and use a fork to break it up a little. Add sugar and vanilla and mix really well. Cream cheese is pretty stiff so you'll have to get your muscles into it but you want it to be a workable consistency. Put graham crackers in a small bag and squeeze out all of the air. This step is important or you'll hit the bag once and it'll burst open sending graham cracker shards all over your kitchen! Seal the bag and crush the graham crackers. I use my meat hammer, but anything will work. Pour crushed crackers into a bowl for garnishing. Pour chocolate chips into a second bowl, also for garnishing. Open the gallon ziplock bag and push one corner down into a tall drinking glass. Fold the rest of the bag over the sides. Using a rubber spatula(or a spoon), load the cream cheese into the bag. Once it's all in, pull the bag out of the glass and squeeze the cheese down into the corner. Twist the rest of the bag to make sort of cream cheese balloon. Now snip the very point off with scissors. You have a piping bag!!! Squeeze the cream cheese mixture into the holes in all of the strawberries. Make sure you keep a tight twist on the bag so the cream cheese doesn't seep out the other end. You want a nice icing looking crown of cream cheese on the top of each berry. Dip each frosted berry into the graham crackers and roll around. Then dip into chocolate chips and roll around. SEE how easy that was!!!!
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This recipe can be the base of many things. And you if you make meat loaf out of it, the leftovers can become spaghetti sauce or sandwiches or tacos. When you're low on funds this can be anything. I like to make my meatloaf in a muffin pan. It portions it out AND it cooks faster.
1 lb ground beef 1 egg 1/2 cup bread crumbs or oatmeal (if you don't have either sitting on your shelf, toast 2 slices of bread and crumble them) 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon coriander salt and pepper I like mine herby so 1 teaspoon oregano and thyme 1 tablespoon ketchup 1 teaspoon mustard dash worchestershire sauce (if you don't have that no worries) Preheat oven to 400. Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Now comes the fun part. Wash and dry your hands, and start squishing the meat mixture between your fingers until everything is equally distributed. Wash your hands again. Now either scoop into muffin pan, or form a loaf in a small loaf pan, or you can even put it in a pie dish and have a flat meat loaf. Cook until it's brown on top and the house smells good. Probably 30 minutes for smaller bits an hour for bigger ones. Or something in between depending on the thickness. Tacos are easy, cheap, and can include as little or as much as you'd like. You can make them with leftover chicken, fish, or just beans and cheese if it's a lean money week. Taco night at our house is usually more of a taco bar because we each like something different. Basic ground beef is hat we're doing today, but you can add these spices to any meat and get good flavor.
1 pound ground beef 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon coriander 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon oregano pinch of cayenne, more if you like spice, or leave it out and add hot sauce to your own taco. 1/4 cup water (ish) Brown your ground beef. Chop it up with the spoon and get all side brown. Mix all of your spices together. Once beef is brown pour off most of the grease. Add spices to the pan. add enough water to hydrate. turn heat down and stir. Simmer the meat until the water cooks down and you have a nice thick sauce. Now don't stick your nose up to the next part. Beans. They are cheap, healthy, easy, and filling. Always keep a couple of cans of your favorite beans on the shelf. They will keep you from starving at the end of a paycheck. Add them to your taco bar! Now you're ready. Everyone has their own way to build a taco. Easiest is to turn this into nachos. I like flour tortillas. Sometimes we just use white rice. Add to your tacos anything you like. We like: onion frozen (cooked) corn salsa (I make mine complicated, but a chopped tomato with some onion, garlic and lime juice and a bit of hot sauce does the trick. Fresh cilantro also helps and is not very expensive) cheese (buy the block and grate it yourself! It's way cheaper than pre-grated) beans of course avocado if you like guacamole (again, a little lime juice and chili powder on fresh avocado and you've got cheap guac) Now the important part. If you're saving leftovers, never package the ingredients together. They'll get soggy and you don't want to heat your salsa. For lunch the next day, take cold stuff in one container, meat in another, and vessel (shells, tortillas, chips) in another and build your lunch right before you eat. Let's talk hamburger meat. It can be cheap to buy, especially in larger quantities, it can be frozen for later, and it can become anything. I like 90/10. That means fat content, 10% fat. The more fat, the cheaper the meat, but the fat cooks off so you get less for your money too. Too little fat and you lose flavor. Experiment to see what you like. Depending on what you add to it, you can stretch it a long way to feed lots of people too. Tacos, burgers, spaghetti, ,meat loaf, meatballs, (heh heh I said balls) really anything you want it to be. So let's begin...
Eggs are perfect food. The only thing more perfect is probably potatoes, but we'll get to that later. Eggs can be anything AND they can be super cheap. Lidl sells a dozen large eggs for 79 cents. They are high in protein and filling also pretty easy to cook. You can scramble them, fry them poach them or boil them. Even make devilled eggs. Let's start with Quiche. This is a pretty simple recipe and can be ANYTHING you want it to be.
4 eggs 1 cup milk or cream whole milk is best, but anything will work 1 pie crust, but if you're broke you can substitute potatoes or rice or cauliflower or even go crustless Cheese of choice Salt and pepper Any leftovers in your fridge That's all basically. Then the fun begins. Preheat the oven to 400. Mix eggs and cream and season. prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork in several places and set in a preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove crust. Let cool for about 5 minutes. Now you get to decide what you have/want in your quiche. ALL leftovers can be quiche. Bacon is always good. Potatoes are good. If you had a burger and have some left, it can be crumbled into a quiche. Any fresh veggies. I love spinach in mine. Sausage and apples with cheddar cheese makes a real nice quiche. Anything fresh should be cooked first to make sure it's done. Then layer anything you're choosing in the bottom of the pie crust. Top with whatever cheeses you have. Line a baking sheet with foil (trust me this part is important for clean up.) Then slowly pour the egg mixture in. Pour a little at a time and let it sink in then add a bit more. Once the crust is filled place in the hot oven. Bake 45-50 minutes. Check doneness by gentle pushing the center. If it's still wet it's not done. If it springs back it is. Enjoy! So you've roasted a chicken AND made chili. While your chili is cooking return to the pot of bones. Add the liver heart and gizzard to the pot. NOTHING goes to waste. Turn the heat on the lowest setting and let it simmer. That can cook for a few hours. Let all the goodness of the bones and veg eek out. Plus it makes the apartment smell great!. When you're ready to save it, cool it all the way down. If you need to you can refrigerate, covered, over night. Then use a slotted spoon to remove all of the solids from the liquid. Once you're left with a fairly clear broth, measure 2 cups at a time into tupperwares. Now you have chicken stock for making rice etc. AND it's FREEEEE!!!!!!!!
So you roasted a chicken. Never throw anything away. It's time to use what's left. Even if you think you guys ate ALL of the meat, you didn't. Put the carcass in a pot of water with onion and garlic and carrot. It's already cooked so you won't need to go long. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes and then cool it down. NOW you pick through the bones for the leftover meat. Still don't throw away the bones. They go back in the water. Chop up another onion, some more garlic, and any other fresh vegetable you have, especially anything that might be loosing it's shape. Sauté those in a tablespoon of olive oil until the onion becomes translucent. Add the meat. Now add a beer. You have one of those. Pour in half the beer and drink the rest. stir and scrape up any yummy bits from the bottom of the pot, Now add 1 an of diced tomatoes, 1 small can tomato sauce and 1 tiny can of tomato paste. Fill the sauce can with water and add that too. Next comes the spices. Add 2 teaspoons of cumin, coriander, smoked paprika and chili powder. Add a teaspoon of oregano and as much cayenne or hot sauce as you like. Turn the heat all the way down to low and let simmer for 30 minutes. I like to add canned chipotle pepper and cocoa powder too. 1/2- 1 pepper depending on how spicy you like, and about 1 teaspoon of cocoa. Before you eat, add your beans of choice, I like cannellinis, also corn, canned or frozen. For the cans, open and use a colander to rinse before adding. Once all the veg is hot you're ready to serve.
This is the best thing you can learn. A roast chicken is great the first night, sandwiches the next day. Chili the last night and chicken stock in the freezer for when you need it. For 5-10 bucks it's the gift that keeps on giving. To roast the chicken, preheat your oven to 450. Yes! That's hot but you won't stay there. Just do it. Open up the chicken and pull out the organ meats, liver, heart, gizzard. Rinse and dry the chicken with paper towels. Line your roasting pan with foil. Now rub the skin with olive oil. Next are your spices. In a small bowl, mix your choice. Some of that depends on what you're in the mood for. Mexican? Use garlic, cumin, coriander, oregano and maybe some chili powder. Italian, garlic, oregano, lemon zest, basil, and maybe hot pepper flakes. What ever your choice, a heavy teaspoon to a tablespoon of each. Mix those together and rub them all over the chicken. Once the oven is heated, make a loose tent with foil over the chicken and place it in the hot oven. Now immediately turn the heat down to 350. Now comes the math. You want 23 minutes per pound. A 5 pound bird will cook for 115 minutes, or 1 hour 55 minutes. Set your timer for 30 minutes short of that and go play a video game. When the timer goes off just remove the foil and set the timer for 30 minutes. BOOM! You're done!
To get started you need a few things on hand. Spices, really anything you like. To save money, go to someone's house and smell their spices. See what makes your mouth water and buy those. My favorites are garlic powder, smoked paprika, coriander, oregano, basil and cumin.
Olive oil. Extra virgin preferably. And Canola or some sort of vegetable oil. You also want a good knife. Not an expensive one. Just a knife that feels good in your and and can be sharpened. I like a chef's knife or a Santoku. I like the shape, but you may feel differently. Chris likes using a boning knife. Reid uses more of a paring knife. Big knives scare them. Also some form of grater. I like a microplane, but anything works. You need a frying pan that heats evenly and a sauce pan. A Dutch oven is nice, but we'll get into that later. A decent size, maybe 9 x 13 roasting pan that can be used for everything. I'll add more as we move along. On to the cooking. |
AuthorThese are simple recipes, intended for my bachelor friends :) ArchivesCategories |