So I eat something other than chips and apples

Side blog for recipe and cooking reference

[no-more-ramen]

Easy Alfredo pasta

I saw the recipe online and made a few changes, and holy moly did this come out delicious. Definitely not healthy or light, but delicious.

What you’ll need:

Butter or margerine - 4 tbsp

Olive oil - 3 tbsp

Minced garlic - 2 tbsp (I bought the stuff that already comes pre-minced, it’s cheap and keeps in the fridge for a really long time)

Heavy cream - 2 cups

Grated parmesan cheese - ½ cup

Mozzarella, also grated or chopped - 1 cup

OPTIONAL: Mushrooms - 2 cups (I used the Paris ones, dunno how good this would be with other kinds. IF you’re not using the mushrooms, you can reduce the butter and the oil to 3 tbsp and 2 tbsp respectively)

The pasta of your choice - 12 ounces (about 300g or a regular box)

Milk to thin it out if it gets too thick

How to make the thing:

Boil some water and add in the pasta once it’s consistently boiling. Leave it in for about five minutes, then drain and set aside. Yes, you absolutely can do this while you’re preparing the sauce.

Cut up the mushrooms.

On a separate pan, melt the butter and the olive oil. Add mushrooms. Stir it all together for about a minute, then take out the mushrooms and set them aside.

Add the garlic and the cream. Stir and let it simmer until everything is well incorporated.

Add the parmesan and simmer until it’s thick. For me that took seven minutes.

Add mozzarella. Stir until it’s all combined.

If the sauce is thick and gloopy, you can add milk little by little until it’s thinner, stirring thoroughly each time you add a bit of milk. I added about a cup.

Put the mushrooms back in, then the pasta. Stir it all together.

Enjoy!

[heyluchie]

Ramen are one of the best confort foods.

Food Baby, my 42 pages, full color zine, is available for individual sale ! 

Inside you’ll find recipe comics, food related journal comics, eggs adventures and a exclusive introduction comic.

I hope you’ll consider it ! 

[no-more-ramen]

Yummy Microwave Chickpeas!

I love roasted chickpeas when I’m home and really miss them when I’m at school but this really hits the spot. There are tons of variations I’m sure that you could make depending on the spices you have on hand! This is my go to…

You’ll need:

a tin of chickpeas

some honey (could omit, but need this or oil)

some olive oil (also could omit or use a different oil–would be good with coconut oil)

spices! I use curry powder and chili powder

Drain your chickpeas and throw them in a bowl or on a rimmed plate, then squirt in some honey and a little of whatever oil you’re using, then sprinkle on a generous serving of spices. Mix that shit together and microwave for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Viola! A delicious meal or snack. 

[no-more-ramen]

Warm Pasta Toss

Here’s a super easy way to use some leftover pasta if you don’t feel like cooking things to go with it! It’s kinda like a warm pasta salad sort of deal?

- Pasta (I usually do this w/ small pasta like rotini/campanlle/penne)

- Butter/Margarine (or a vegan or dairy-free substitute)

- Seasonings (My favorite combo is garlic powder/dill/oregano, but you could do lots of stuff! Basil! Thyme! Rosemary! Whatever you want!)

- Spinach (or other leafy greens. We often get one of those mixes w/ kale & chard)

- Tomato

- Optional: Cheese! Olives are good in this if you like ‘em! Already cooked meatstuffs! (Chicken or maybe ham would be good I think?)

Heat up your pasta.

Put your butter in a little bowl w/ your seasonings. Microwave for a few seconds to melt.

Toss your pasta w/ the butter.

Chop some greens & dice your tomato & toss them w/ your pasta.

Salt & pepper & done!

[no-more-ramen]

I know there have been other watermelon salad recipes submitted, but here’s mine!

Salted watermelon salad

Ingredients

Chopped watermelon

Goat cheese or feta

Fresh basil

Balsamic vinegar

Sea salt

A couple tips: make this a no chop recipe by buying pre-chopped watermelon. It’s a little more expensive but it makes it really easy and you don’t need as much prep space or time. (Therefore you could totally make it in a dorm.) Also, I originally planned on making this with feta, but when I went to the grocery store this amazing seasoned goat cheese was on sale, so I went with that and just crumbled it with my fingers.

Okay, put your melon in a bowl, add your cheese, basil (I used about 10 leaves for the salad in the picture and just tore it up with my fingers), salt (a couple pinches), and balsamic (I started with about 2 tablespoons). Mix it all around, then taste. Add more of an ingredient if it needs it.

Serve!

The salad pictured was the perfect amount for a side for two people, or as a main dish for one. 

[no-more-ramen]

Easy Better Ramen

So being a college kid, ramen is kind of the major cheap meal I can make, but let’s be real, you can only have plain ramen so often. So this is kind of the “better ramen” recipe I make!

Keep in mind pretty much all of the extra things are optional, so go ahead and pick and choose whatever you wanna add to it.

Ingredients:

Ramen (brand really doesn’t matter, but make sure it’s one where the noodles and flavoring are separate)

1 Egg

OPTIONAL: butter or nonstick spray for the egg

Peanut butter (I do crunchy, but it doesn’t really matter)

Hoisin sauce or soy sauce (both, either, or neither, it’s up to you!)

Canned or frozen veggies– I usually use corn and carrots carrots

Onion (either onion powder or fresh or frozen)

Garlic (again, fresh or powdered)

Tools/Things you need:

Bowls (1-2+, depending)

Fork/spoon

What to do:

Heat up your veggies in a bowl in the microwave, make sure not to use too much so you can add your noodles

In a separate bowl, crack your egg and scramble it with the butter or nonstick spray– add a little bit of water into the egg scramble. Microwave for about 45 seconds to a minute and a half: watch the egg while it microwaves, because if you let it overcook it might pop or splatter.

Heat up your ramen noodles the way you normally would in the microwave, but don’t add the packet

Drain the cooked noodles to about half

Add ¼ to ½ of the seasoning packet to the water

Add 1 spoonful of peanut butter and mix it in with the ramen broth until smooth

Add a few drops of soy sauce and/or a very small amount of hoisin sauce (careful! Hoisin is very strong and a very little bit goes a long way!)

Add your garlic and onion and mix in

Take the cooked egg and break it up with 2 forks, to get lots of little egg bits, and add it to the ramen too

Add your veggies and stir that in and enjoy! A lot of this is personal preference, so your measurements might be different than mine

You can add more or less of anything here too, so don’t feel constrained to my recipe– this is just what I usually do because of what I have on hand. All of this can be done in the microwave or on the stove, I’ve done it both ways!

[lowspoonsfood]

Chipotle Lime Edamame

This was about 50% of my diet all winter. It’s gluten free, nut free, vegan, easy to make, high in protein, and keeps in the fridge for forever. It’s best served cold, so no need to heat it up!

Ingredients:

One bag frozen, microwavable, shelled edamame

1-2 limes, depending on how limey you like things

Shelled pumpkin or sunflower seeds

Chipotle powder

Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Cook edamame according to instructions on bag

Cut lime(s) into quarters and squeeze onto edamame

Add chipotle powder, salt, and pepper to taste

Sprinkle seeds on top

Protip: always add seeds immediately before serving, otherwise they will get soggy in the fridge. 

Congratulations, you just ate a green thing! 

[no-more-ramen]

Microwave Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

A pretty simple, quick and healthy breakfast. I use cow’s milk, but it tastes good with soy milk as well.

Ingredients: > 2/3 cup of old fashioned oats > 2/3 cup of milk (or more, if you like oatmeal with more liquid) > 4 tsp brown sugar > 1 tsp cinnamon > 1 apple > dash of salt (optional)

Combine oats and milk in a large bowl. Microwave for 2.5 minutes. (I recommend putting a paper towel underneath in case it bubbles over!) While it’s cooking, chop up your apple into bite size bits. Mix with 2 tsp of brown sugar in a small bowl. Once the oatmeal is done, go ahead and microwave the apples. While that’s cooking, add the remaining brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt to the oatmeal. Add apples on top.

[lowspoonsfood]

Oatmeal with berries

This is a really easy and filling snack/small meal; the main effort involved is boiling some water, so it’s especially convenient if you have a tea kettle. 

For the frozen berries, I suggest getting a bulk bag once a week, and splitting it into around ten smaller food containers (I use small Ziploc bags) when you have an extra spoon.  Then, at cook time, you can dump the entire container into the oatmeal.  If you need it gluten-free, make sure to use gluten-free oats. 

Ingredients: frozen berries, oatmeal, hot water

At cooking time:

Boil some water.  Put ½ cup instant oats in a bowl and pour boiling water on them until all oats are wet.  Pour some frozen berries onto the hot oatmeal.  Wait a minute or so for the oatmeal to cool and the berries to thaw, and enjoy! 

[lowspoonsfood]

Porkchops and veggies

You can repeat this recipe if you’d like to make a few for later, they reheat in the microwave pretty well.

You’ll need:

Foil, cooking spray, porkchops, BBQ sauce, salt and pepper to taste, finger potatoes (1 bag, they’re the little ones you don’t have to chop), cherry tomatoes, green beans, and mixed peppers, about a handful each.

You can usually find these prechopped at most grocery stores, but if you can’t then frozen ones work too.

Oven @ 375, tear off a rectangle of foil. Spray it with cooking spray.

Place pork chop in middle of foil rectangle. Add veggies (stay away from the edges). Add BBQ sauce, salt, and pepper to taste. Fold long sides up til they touch, roll together to seal. Follow seam, twist ends. Bake for 1 ½ - 2 hours.

Devour

[dollhousecookbook]

Salt & Vinegar Chickpeas

Ingredients:

- Can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans

- Salt

- Vinegar

Steps: 

1. Open chickpea can and drain

2. Put chickpeas, vinegar, and salt into pot, bring to a boil

3. Once boiling, take off heat and rest for an hour

4. Put on baking pan, cook with some oil and salt and roast at 400° for 40-45 min, check at 30 min

[dollhousecookbook]

Baked Chicken

Ingredients:

- Chicken Breasts

- Seasoning of choice

- Oil/Pam

Steps:

- Preheat oven to 400 and oil pan

- Trim and cut up chicken (3 pieces, down middle and larger part in half)

- Put chicken in pan

- Spray lightly with oil, cover with seasoning to taste, repeat for other side

- Cook for 35 minutes at 400

[no-more-ramen]

Fried rice noodles

This is a really quick, easy and cheap recipe for fried noodles. It’s actually cheaper and slightly healthier than ramen (not as much sodium)

Ingredients:

rice noodles

1 tablespoon oil (any kind)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon chili sauce, watered down a little

any spices you like, I use adobo seasoning

1 stalk green onion

Method:

Boil noodles in a pot for 1-2 minutes. Drain.

Chop green onion.

Add all ingredients to a pan and fry for 1 minute.

The recipe can be adjusted to include leftover meat, tofu, or other vegetables.