Another rice cassarole

One thing that has really helped me to survive these rough years (kitchenwise) is to not let yourself be limited to cultural or ethnic norms in cooking. I love a lot of conventional dishes, don't get me wrong. When you are poor though, even though you love American Cheeseburgers, you cant make them that way because the food bank was not handing out ground beef. Even though you love spagetti and meatballs, sometimes you don't have the meatballs so you have to re-calculate what to eat with the spagetti. Just because you can afford rice does not mean you can afford the stir fry ingredients or the sushi or the tex-mex materials. So be creative. Concentrate on what flavors you love, what materials you have right now in your pantry and fridge, and what flavors might go nicely together, regardless of what might have been tried before.

One thing I am never without is rice. Rice is cheap and versatile.
Two items I get whenever I can are onions and greek yogurt.
One item I recieved unexpectedly was some sausage (a great surprise and special treat!)

I have eaten all of these a number of ways. Today, I combined them. It was very good indeed.

First break sausage into small chunks and fry on stovetop. Then leaving the fat and grease in the pan, scoop out cooked sausage and set aside. Quickly add leftover cooked rice and chopped onion in the pan of fat. Fry the rice and onions then add it to the bowl of sausage and stir in non- fat Greek yogurt for a warm and creamy sauce that won't add any more fat to an already fatty delight!

My cheating Chicken in Cream of Chicken sauce

This is a quick and easy trick to try that your friends won't know the difference between that and the real stuff. All you need is boneless, skinless chicken breasts and a can of cream of chicken soup, milk and plenty of fresh parsley. You cut the chicken into large chunks and sautee it. When it is nearly done, which will be very quickly, throw in the cream of chicken soup with a can of milk and heat it up. Add parsley for flavor and garnish. It took me less than ten minutes to prepare and my friend asked me for my recipe and asked how I had possibly made something so tasty in such a short amount of time. Hehehehe!

My famous dip/whitesauce

Are you tired of buying veggie dips that are full of artificial flavors, colors, fatty acids and MSG? Making your own dips for chips or veggies is so easy! All that you need is sour cream, green onions and minced garlic. That is it! Mix minced garlic in the sour cream and chop some green onions in it. This also makes a nice dressing or sauce. Right now I am eating white beans with this sauce. Enjoy!

Pasta Salad

My menus frequently deal with potatoes, rice and pasta because they economic, filling choices. There are many ways to prepare pasta. There my hardly-homemade spagetti and meatballs which involves my heating up some Mama Rosa's meatballs with sauteed onions, garlic, basil and Ragu. There is my genuinely homemade macaroni and cheese, which I have posted previously. Today I am posting on a popular picnic dish which I think also makes a great lunch or side dish at dinner; pasta salad.

Ingredients:

Cooked, strained, cooled-off pasta noodles (Ziti, rottelle, farfalle...you pick.)

(I do not like to rinse them in cold water after cooking them.)

Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh tomatoes (both chopped to bite sizes and in slices)
Fresh basil leaves
(If you have chopped basil, than that is great too)
Chopped celery
Chopped fresh carrots
Sliced cucumbers
Plenty of Pepperjack cheese, cut into cubes
Chopped green peppers (because they are cheaper than red and orange and yellow, but if you can manage it, get those too. You can't go wrong with more color, flavor and crunch.)

Stir in the spices and vegetables before you add the olive oil. That way you won't use more than you need to because the moisture from the vegetables will already make the noodles "salady". Add the cubes of cheese only once the pasta is cool, so they don't melt. Cover the top of the pasta salad with slices of tomato, cucumber and basil leaves for presentation. This is also a good option for Advent, Lent, Fridays and other vegetarian occasions.

My new favorite way to eat rice

As always, this story begins with a new batch of cooked rice. Grate some cheddar cheese on top, then spoon in some sour cream and guacamole. Stir in chopped red onion, fresh cilantro, and tomato.

To make guacamole:

Three ripe avacados
Lime juice
Fresh cilantro
Fresh chopped red onion
Fresh chopped tomato
a little minced garlic
a little smidge of salt


Halve the avacadoes, remove the put and spoon the gooey, green goodness into a bowl.
Squirt just enough lemon juice to keep it green and compliment the flavor. Don't drown it. Add the cilatro and veggies. Mix in a little salt and garlic. Do not overseason. Enjoy!

A variation on the cucumber sandwhich

I do not usually buy bread. This is partially to push myself to bake my first loaf myself, and partly because I live with four lovely ladies who already know how to bake bread, and partly because when I cut down my grocery list to economy size, the empty carbs of a cheap loaf of bread usually is the first to go. Today, however, I was craving a sandwhich and I did not want to bake. I wanted a cucumber sandwhich! Fortunately what I did have were some flour "tortilla" wraps (those are not authentic tortillas!). So, I got one of those, and spread some reduced fat cream cheese on it. Then I peeled and sliced some cucumbers and put it in the wrap. The textures and flavors went perfectly together. This is definitely going to become a staple lunch item for me!

Don't waste Potato Peelings!

Previously to today, when I peeled a potato, I let the skins fall right into the trash. Today, my friend Nicole reminded me of the source of potassium in potato skins. Then she cooked a side dish that was so good, that I have sworn off every throwing potato skin away ever again. When she peeled her spuds, she put the skin in a bowl of water to soak overnight. This was to ensure all the dirt was cleaned off. Then the next day she fried the shavings of potato skins with onions and oil. Once it was finished, she topped them with ketchup for her, and left some just as they were for me! Marvellous! Waste not, want not.

On the Sublimity of Breakfast Food

I love Breakfast food! I eat it any time of the day or night. It is always so simple and so comforting. Whether it is one of my cheese omelettes with bacon bits, green onions, green peppers, and tomatoes; or just a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese and brown sugar on top...I am in food heaven! Some of my good childhood memories involve me getting up when Mama was away at early morning mass and making oatmeal for twelve people, with plenty of brown sugar and cinnamon, nice and chunky-thick (My mom's style and mine). The American phenomenon of cold, sweet, cruncy cereal has effectively saved the students of this age from bad cafeteria food. Even today, after I have graduated from high-school and college and safe from bad cafeteria food forever, I still love slurping down some cereal when I am too tired or lazy to cook.

My best friend Nicole makes spectacular crepes; my future father-in-law made the most marvellous breakfast furtata; my future mother-in-law made an amazing breakfast enchilada, and my friend Sylvia makes a mean quiche!

I grew up in southern california, where a quick breakfast means eggo waffles, pop-tarts and toaster strudel. Living where I do now on the opposite coast, I have recently been converted to the idea of grits as a quick breakfast solution. My fiance is still telling me that I am crazy to think of mixing cheese or brown sugar with grits; because apparently the only orthodox way to eat grits is with butter, salt and pepper.

I think the most versatile breakfast food has to be eggs, though. They are so easy and you can top them off with practically anything. I love eggs with pico de gallo and guacamole and sour cream in a flour tortilla. Now that is a breakfast burrito!

There are some breakfast foods that you wonder how anybody who eats them ever gets out of bed, like pancakes, real belgian waffles, and donuts. I LOVE donuts! They are practically my favorite dessert, after ice cream. But I never eat them more than twice a year. I could image them as a treat or dessert, but not for regular breakfast. Christmas or Easter Brunch is fine though.

Don't get me wrong though, I am not mortally afraid of fat. I use real butter and I do not take out one of the yolks from my eggs in the morning, and I do not buy those fake eggs junk! My idea of a healthy breakfast is one that is not too too carb heavy, not too saturated in grease, not-pre-frozen, not overly processed,not high in MSG and artificial flavors...preferably with fruits and vegetables.

I love my morning juice too! Tomatoe juice, Orange juice, apple juice, grape juice, grapefruit juice, pineapple juice, carrot juice-I love them all.

People at college used to gape when I would come to breakfast with a cup of hot coffee, a cup of hot tea, a tall glass of water, a small glass of milk, and two glasses of two different kinds of fruit juice!

Kale and Ham and Cheese Salad

Somebody gave me some Kale a while ago. Kale always tastes better fried. So I fried it, and threw some leftover ham in the to heat with it and get it saturated with hammy goodness. Then I shredded some cheddar cheese on top of it, so it was nice and partially melted. It was so good, you would neve have guessed it only took about 10 minutes to prepare.

Macaroni and Cheese and Beef and Broccoli

When I was five, my favorite food was Kraft macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. Tonight I felt the familiar craving for something cheesy with delectable little curly noodles. Given I no longer have the worhipful awe of fake cheese powder, I decided to use real cheddar cheese. I dug in my freezer and found some Steak-ums and a bag of broccoli.

I set some water in a pot to boil.
I took out a large pan and put about five "steak-ums" on the heat.
Then I emptied the bag of broccoli into the pan too.
I grated the cheddar, while stirring the beefy broccoli.
The water boiled and I threw in a box of Elbow Macaroni Noodles.
I stirred the pasta, beef and broccoli and grated the rest of the cheese.
When the veggies and meat were cooked I let them stand.
Once the pasta was cooked and strained, I added about two tablespoons of butter and stirred it into the pasta. Then I added the grated cheddar with a splash of milk. Once the mac and cheese was evenly distributed, I stirred in the Broccoli and Beef.
I had enough to feed Nicole, Nadine and Myself. The vote was unanimous. It was simple, sumptuous and satisfying.

Greek Yogurt and Rice Salad

I often dream about what the inside of my refridgerator and pantry will look like once I can afford to buy food without worry.
This recipe has a lot of items I would never be missing in my ideally stocked pantry and refridgerator.

Rice
Lettuce
Carrotts
Tomatoes
Scallions
Garlic
Greek Yogurt (Fage)

Yesterday I did not want to spend much time preparing something tasty and nurtritious, so I thought a salad would be in order. I also had leftover extra sticky rice already prepared, so I plopped them together on a plate; lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and rice. For flavor, I added garlic and chopped scallions. For creamy dressing and protein, I stirred it all up in fat-free greek yogurt. It was filiing and colorful and I loved the textures and flavors.

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