Leftover pasta

It never fails that when you use boxed pasta, there will always be some left that is never enough for another meal. And you wonder, what should I do with it? The pasts usually ends up sitting on a shelf and you occasionally look at it, but never do anything with it. Chances are, you have several different types of pastas sitting on your shelf. Yet, what to make with it?

Well, with a few simple ingredients, you can have yourself baked pasta (casserole, pasta dish, whatever you want to call it).

Ingredients:
Leftover pasta, several types (I used penne, egg noodles, capellini, spaghetti and gemelli)
1 clove garlic, minced (I use clove garlic bc it was cheaper, tastes better and lasts forever)
olive oil (or whatever oil you prefer/have)
Mozzarella cheese
1 can tomatoes, drained
1.4 to 1/2 cup tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce
salt
seasonings, to taste ( I used Italian Seasoning)

Directions:
1. Fill medium saucepan 3/4 full of water. Add 1 tbls. oil and salt to water.
2. Bring water to a boil.
3. Put pastas into water and let cook.
4. When pasta is almost done (there will still be a hard center) add minced garlic and cook for about 1-2 minutes.
5. Turn off stove and strain pasta in a strainer to remove water.
6. Spray casserole dish or loaf pan with no-stick cooking spray.
7. Place pasta in dish.
8. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stir into pasta until evenly coated.
9. Add mozzarella cheese and stir into pasta. Can also stir in seasoning at this point.
10. Cover pasta with cheese.
11. Thinly drizzle oil over cheese to help pasta stay moist in oven.
12. Bake at 300 degrees F for 10 minutes.
13. Remove and enjoy!

*Careful, dish will be hot and delicious!

making a pizza from semi-scratch

So I love to make pizzas. They are cheap, easy to make and fairly quick. The most expensive part is the cheese and even that isn't too bad. I will show you how easy it can be.

Start with:
1 box (packet) of pizza crust (Jiffy and Great Value from Wal-mart works well) ($.47-$.66)
1/4 can of pizza sauce ($1)
1/2 bag of Mozzarella cheese (~$2 roughly)

Extras:
Olive oil if you have it
Italian seasoning herbs
garlic salt or powder
any topping you like on your pizza

1. preheat oven and follow instructions on box. basically, mix pizza crust with water and let rise in a warm spot with a towel covering. I usually mix italian seasoning and garlic powder or salt into the pizza crust mix for more taste.
2. after rising for about 5 mins, roll dough out on greased pizza pan or pizza stone. poke dough lightly with a fork all over. it should look like the pie edging  from Stone White and not a pizza you can see through. I find that it helps if you LIGHTLY sprinkle olive oil on crust after poking it so it doesn't dry out
2.5. Depending on box, it may call for you to cook crust like this for 1-2 before the next step. If so, follow box and then continue (after pulling pizza out of oven.)
3. spread the pizza sauce over dough.
4. Cover with half of cheese add toppings and top with cheese. I tend to sprinkle more italian seasoning on top of pizza and sprinkle garlic salt on crust after topping to give extra flavor.
5. Pop in oven and back for time alloted. Remember to rotate pizza in oven as there are hot spots in the oven and you want to allow the pizza to cook evenly.
6. when done, take out, allow to cool a little. Then cut, eat and enjoy!

Dollar sauce packets

While I have a seasoning drawer that would make a normal chef weep with envy, today when I was shopping, I was in the sauces aisle and decided to try some. Even with all the creations I could make with mine, somedays I am so tired by the time I get home, I just want to throw some food together and have it taste good without spending an hour on it.

Hence my new love affair with seasoning packets. True, they will eat up my budget so I only get it when they are on sale, but today when it was finally 50 degrees for once since October, I didn't want to cook. I had to work for 5 hours today, go shopping and get food before going back to homework (that will inevitably be the death of me) and meeting, I wanted something quick and good.

So I threw some chicken (tenderloins - many uses, easy to separate and freeze)  and veggies (can of tomatoes and a can of mushrooms) and a can of tomato sauce in the crock-pot with an Italian Herb Chicken slow cooker packet from McCormick. It was delicious. Threw it together, went to work, came home to food ready for me before I had to turn around for meetings and more homework.

Ah, I do not know what I would do without my slow cooker. That is my ultimate love affair (unless someone got me a stand mixer, I would die to have one)!

Delicious Starbucks drink I had

So I was at Starbucks a week ago wanting to get some iced coffee.

Since they were out, the barista recommended another drink that would be free for me since they did not have what I wanted.

It was called a caffe americano. I had it iced with Peppermint syrup ( I get free syrups because of the reward level I am at). It was phenomenal! I have had it a couple more times since then and love it!

What it is is espresso and hot (but in my case cold) water added to be like a coffee in that it has more to drink than a single espresso shot.

But it is very good. I highly recommend it!

The perfect cup of coffee

As a college student, we go through pot after pot after pot of coffee pulling all-nighters, cramming for finals and tests and the morning-after going out when we cannot sleep in.

That does not mean that we cannot enjoy a good cup (or cups) of coffee while cramming. The recipe is as simple and as complex as the wind though.

Fill your coffee pot as directed with water in the tank.

Place a coffee filter in the drip container and place (and this is the key) 1 tablespoon coffee beans (ground) per cup of water.

Let drip and serve when done.

Enjoy!

The delicious crescent rolls

One of the latest things I have created that I love for lunch that is fast and delicious!

Best part: it's fast to make and you can freeze the leftovers.

Ingredients:

1 can of crescent rolls

cream cheese, softened

Italian seasoning

Garlic Salt

Open can of crescent rolls and preheat oven according to the directions on can.

Unroll the crescent rolls on a cookie sheet.

Spread cream cheese over them (this may be hard, but if you let it sit for a minute, it may be easier).

Sprinkle Italian seasoning and Garlic Salt over cream cheese.

Roll the crescent rolls up with the ends underneath on a cookie sheet.

Put in oven and set timer according to the direction.

Take out when done.

Enjoy!

The leftovers can be refrigerated for up to a week. To reheat, pop in microwave for 10-30 seconds.

For the love of food

Hey there!

Many who know me know that cooking is my passion. While I may not be majoring in culinary, I love to cook.

I used to cook meals in the dorms that would even amaze my friends that I could make with a mini fridge and a microwave. Now I have my own apartment and get to cook on my own, I have more options, but have to stay on a budget that is almost non-existent.

It always amazes me that most people I meet do not know how to do more than read directions off the back of a box. They get slightly nervous when they hear me go "this may go good, let's throw this in the pot."

The result: meals that are made from staple food that amaze even those who have the same things in their pantry and a passion to teach others to cook on tiny budgets.