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Revamping Recipes: Baked Cheeseburgers

What’s better than a casserole (or hotdish as we say in Minnesota) and better than a cheeseburger – you probably guessed it: a cheeseburger casserole, or this recipe called Baked Cheseburgers.  This recipe is perfect for a family but also perfect for a girl like me who likes to make one delicious meal a week and eat it everyday to save money and time.

DSC_0258 Ingredients:

8 slices bread
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 lb lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped (I skipped this)
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded sharp processed American cheese (I used mild cheddar)

This was almost a perfect ingredients list because I had just about everything on hand.  It was a lot of bread to get rid of at once, but bread is cheap, so I didn’t worry too much about it. 

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Revamping Recipes: Creamy Mexican Pasta

I wanted to start my semester off with a bang, so I chose a very simple and affordable (but incredibly delicious) recipe found at Recipe Zaar.

DSC_0216I revamped the recipe slightly, which you’ll see how below.

Ingredients:

1 lb uncooked bow tie pasta  (I used Ziti)
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (I only used 3/4 a pound)
2 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed (I used garlic powder I had on hand)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth (I used chicken bouillon and made my own broth)
1 cup salsa
8 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

This recipe was very simple and affordable for me to make because I had almost everything on hand already.

Let’s see just how easy it was.

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DSC_0223 I started the dish by boiling a big pot of water.  Before I poured the pasta in, I took a cup of the boiling water and poured it into

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The Ultimate Restaurant-Style Sandwich

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As an American, I think it’s safe to assume that most of us love sandwiches, especially fancy ones that you usually can order in a restaurant.  My mom, the best cook I know, loves sandwiches also (mostly hot ones, of course) because they are easy, fun, and versatile.  This summer she created the ultimate restaurant-style sandwich adapted from tradition Chicken Cordon Bleu recipes, but this sandwich can be easily changed to fit whatever you have on hand.

What makes this sandwich better than your average homemade sandwich is the bread.  For this sandwich,you use a long loaf, about 22 inches, or Ciabatta bread.  This makes the sandwich crunchy yet durable enough to hold everything together against some of the strongest chewers.  To prep the bread, you cut it in half lengthwise and brush the inner sides with olive oil and grill or broil until lightly browned.

For the Chicken Cordon Bleu version you then add chicken breasts which have been pounded to about 1/2 inch thickness, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and then grilled or broiled about seven minutes on each side until they are lightly browned and

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Revamping Recipes: Faking It In Style

You know what you do when you have no money, no time, no food in the fridge but you want to appear like all your marbles are carefully aligned in your head and that you may actually be a good cook?  You fake it.  That’s right, you fake it till you make it.  That’s what I did this week.  I’ve convinced my roommates I am a good cook. It must be that they’ve been away from home for so long they’ve forgotten what really good cooking actually is.  I can assure you I am not there yet.  This week, though, I made something that was super easy, budget friendly, and made me look like a pro, while I secretly laughed at my roommates for thinking such an absurd thing.

Here’s what I started with (minus the olive oil not pictured): Some egg noodles, a bunch of spices that can be used in any kind of Italian dish, some olive oil or butter (not pictured) and then the star of the show.  At most major supermarkets they sell these individual servings of fish, ranging from salmon

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Revamping Recipes: Let Your Guard Down

This week, I didn’t feel like searching for a recipe and shopping for more groceries when I had lots of canned foods that I wanted to use up.  I decided to just throw some ingredients together for my weekly meal instead of planning something strategically.  I didn’t go too crazy (mainly because the mix of things I had would be far beyond crazy and moving into disgusting) so I just took some basic foods, combined them, and ate up.

Here is what I began with:

DSCN4520 I used the rest of my egg noodles with a can of Italian style diced tomatoes (with basil, garlic, and oregano) and then mixed it with a can of tuna, some olive oil, and a bit of salt and pepper.  It was really easy and very delicious without requiring too much thought or planning.  This is how I like to cook.  With a more extensive stock of foods, I could make some pretty interesting concoctions, but what I keep on hand are mostly the basics because I have such a limited budget and am only cooking for one.  I can’t wait for

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