Cheesy Tuna Casserole

My lovely boyfriend introduced this recipe to me, and I can't help but devour half of it every time it's made!! It's super easy, and takes pretty much no cooking talent, so anyone can make it!

-1 large head of broccoli, cut into bite-size florets

-1.5 cups minute rice

-1 can tuna, drained

-1 can condensed creme of mushroom soup

-Milk

-White canadian cheddar, or any other sharp white cheddar, shredded. At least 1 cup.

1. Dump the rice, tuna, broccoli, and condensed soup into a large glass or ceramic bowl or casserole dish. Fill the empty soup can with milk, that's the amount you need, and pour it into the bowl/casserole dish. Mix it all up, obviously making sure the tuna isn't one can-shaped chunk and that all the rice is covered with milk and soup.
2. Layer about half the cheese on top of the mix. Don't mix it in yet.
3. Microwave for 10 minutes

4. Remove from microwave, mix it all up again, getting the cheese in there.
5. Layer the rest of the cheese on top
6. Microwave for 10 minutes

Serve and enjoy!! Careful, it's freakin' hot!!!

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

So it snowed (a worthwhile amount) for the first time today. Yay Canada!! It's so beautiful, I couldn't possibly deny myself a warm winter-friendly breakfast to get my day started. Thankfully, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. You can easily pack this up and run to class, too. Breakfast on the go!

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup oats
-2/3 cup milk - and a little extra for at the end
-1 sweet apple (mcintosh, gala,red delicious, empire, pink lady, whatever you'd like. I guess you could even do granny smith if that's what you like)
-2-3 tsp brown sugar
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-pinch of salt

1. Pour your milk and oats into a bowl. Let those sit while you cut up your apple into slices. Depending how much you like, I used two slices and cut them up to tiny bits, but you can use as much as you'd like I guess. I just ate the rest while it cooked, no use in wasting fruit.
2. Mix your small chunks of apple into the oats and milk
3. Microwave for 2 minutes, 15 seconds
4. Mix in a dash of milk, the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

Be careful not to burn yourself taking it out of the microwave, it can be pretty hot!

Grilled cheese with no stove

I'm not kidding, this is the easiest thing in the world. Turn on your broiler in your cute little toaster oven. Make up your sandwich like you would if you were about to use a frying pan... but instead just put it on a baking sheet and pop it into your oven. Wait until that side turns golden, then flip it. When that side's golden, you're good!!

Ingredients:
Butter
Bread
Cheese

Baked potato - no baking required!

Honestly, this is the easiest thing to cook in your microwave. Yes, a baked potato, in the microwave. It's filling, familiar, warm, and I'm pretty sure everyone gets tired of minute rice as carbs on their plate pretty damn fast. I actually have to give credit to my mom, she showed me this first.

Ingredients:
-1 russet potato (whatever size you want)
-1 tbsp (maybe a bit more if you got a big potato) of canola, sunflower or vegetable oil
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp black pepper - coarse ground is best

1. Oil up the potato. Sprinkle the salt and pepper on it, rub it all over.
2. Prick it 5-10 times with a fork
3. Microwave for 5 minutes. When it's done, poke it with a fork. If it goes through nicely, it's ready. If not,
4. Microwave for 3-5 minutes more until the fork goes through. Keep doing those 3-5 minutes if the first try didn't work, until it does.

Put this on a plate with some baked chicken, done in your toaster oven, and frozen peas defrosted and cooked with boiling water from your kettle, and you're good to go! Honestly, you don't even need butter or sour cream. It's flavoured enough from the salt and pepper!

Ramen noodle upgrade: Pad thai

Alright! I'm happily settled into residence, my roommate is cool, my whole kitchenette and bedroom is well stocked, and I've started to eat dorm-style. Today, I was starving my face off after orientation so I made myself a lunch.

-1 package mr.noodle or store brand ramen

-1 tbsp all natural peanut butter (of course, you can use kraft or skippy, but I really don't like the flavour of those)

-1 tbsp soy sauce (use a little less if you're not using the 100% natural PB)

-1/2 tbsp lime juice, if you have it

-1 egg if you're in need of a little extra protein, and a splash of milk, cream, or butter

1. Boil your kettle (take this time to stir your natural peanut butter if you're opening it for the first time or if the oils have resurfaced)

2. Pour boiling water over noodles and the flavour powder in a bowl, leave it to soften up.

3. Take this time, if you're adding an egg, to mix it (and the milk/cream/butter) up in a mug and microwave for thirty second intervals, stirring after each time.

4. Once the noodles are soft, strain the liquid (leaving about 1/2 a tbsp of the liquid), add the peanut butter, soy sauce, and lime juice.

5. Chop up the eggs in the mug with a fork, stir the chunks of egg into the noodles. Add green onions if you have them

Eat it by itself, or serve it on a plate with some kind of veggie to pretend you're being healthy!

Good luck, and enjoy!

Breakfast cups

Some days I wake up and I think I might die if I don't eat something. Eggs are definitely my favourite breakfast food, however I get pretty darn tired of frying them and eating them plain. I got creative, thinking of other recipes I've seen, and I made some breakfast cups! :)

Ingredients:
- 2 eggs

- 1/4 tomato
- 2 slices of cheddar cheese

- 2 leaves of spinach

- 2 slices of deli meat (ham, turkey, chicken, etc..)

1. Dice the quarter of the tomato, chop up the spinach, slice the cheese horizontally to make short + thin pieces
2. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl or cup
3. Try to line the ramekins or mug with the deli meat.
4. Add spinach and tomato to the bottom
5. Pour egg either half and half into the two ramekins or all into the one mug
6. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Add salt and pepper if you want.
7. Microwave for aprox. 2 minutes for the two ramekins, or 1:30 for the mug

If it seems wet, keep putting it back in for 10 seconds until it's fully cooked.

Enjoy!

Drumstick dinner in 20 minutes... or 7 hours.

So, first thing first, I love this recipe for the timing involved. The prep is super fast, but the cooking takes a while and that is so perfect, because some times I have long shifts and I don't want to cook when I come home. The issue with that, usually, is that many slow cooker recipes are anywhere fom 2-5 hours... what about my 7.5 hour shifts?! That's why I love this recipe. It works for any time between 6.5-8 hours, and I don't even have to make a side salad or quickly zap frozen peas. Also, it totally looks and tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen making it and putting loads of effort in. Yay for tricking that cutie down the hall that you invited over for dinner!

You'll need:
-Chicken drum sticks, anywhere between 4 and 10
-Onion
-Potatoes (I prefer the tiny "new potatoes")
-Veggie (I usually use carrots, but just about anything will do)
-Spices (I use nutmeg, paprika, salt, pepper, basil, garlic powder, and a little itty bitty bit of curry powder)
-Tin foil

1. Cut up your veggies (bottoms off brussel sprouts, floret you broccoli, tip and tail beans, etc..)
2. Cut your potatoes to about inch-wide pieces
3. Cut onions into thick slices
4. Peel skins off (optional) and rub spices on drum sticks.
5. Loosely crumple a loonngggg piece of tin foil and cover the bottom of your slow cooker. I coil mine, because I have a small cooker. It's ok to use multiple pieces. If you're using more leavy veggies (brussel sprouts, broccoli, bok choi, etc...) pour a half inch of water at the bottom, under the tinfoil.
6. Lay down the veggies, potatoes and onion on the tin foil
7. Layer chicken on top
8. Put the lid on, set it to low, and leave it for 6.5 to 8 hours!


Another idea - Fresh rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon slices!

Chocolate mug cake

The best one I've had so far - here's the recipe!

4 tbsp all purpose flour
4 tbsp white or raw sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder (you CAN leave this out, but it won't be quite as fluffy imo)
pinch of salt

3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
1 egg

optional: peanut butter, chocolate chips, chunks of berries, jam, or whatever else you want.




1. Mix the dry ingredients in a mug or bowl (has to be a big mug)
2. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl or cup
3. Add in whatever extras you want... or none at all.
4. Microwave at full power for 3 minutes.

Be careful, it will be very hot. If it's someone's birthday, maybe put some sprinkles on it and a candle in the middle!

No Stove French Toast

Sometimes I'm really lazy in the morning. Sometimes, I also want a really yummy breakfast that goes beyond "toast and peanut butter". I'm a huge fan of french toast. It's always been a favorite of mine, but I hate cleaning - and with french toast you have to clean the pan and the bowl and the fork you whisked the eggs with and the fork and knife and plate you used and ugh. It's just a mess. I saw this recipe a little while ago, but I forget where so don't ask me to tell you, and thought I'd give it a shot this morning. Happy to say, it was a success!


1 egg
1 tsp sugar
a shake or two of ground cinnamon
1 slice (depending on the size, maybe 1.5 if you're going with the classic wonderbread size) of a fluffy, thin crust bread.  (Basically, nothing dense like rye or pumpernickle, and try to avoid seeds - they're annoying)
optional - maple syrup and/or other toppings


- Combine the egg, sugar, and ground cinnamon with a fork in a medium-large mug
- Cut the bread into cubes. About 3/4" squares should work.
- Add the bread to the mug and slowly move it around, trying not to cut it up or squish it too much. Make sure every piece is covered.
- Microwave for 1m10s
- Top and eat!!

Strawberry Overnight Oats

1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt or greek yogurt
1/2 tbsp honey
1/3 cup steel cut or rolled oats
4-5 strawberries
6-7 almonds

-Combine milk, honey and yogurt
-Slice (and chop if you want smaller pieces) the strawberries
-Carefully cut the almonds so you end up with chunks and not shredded pieces of almond (yuck)
-Add oats to the milk mixture, stirring and eventually making sure there aren't any clumps of dry oats
-Add the strawberries, mix them in a little
-Press the oats down and make try your best to make sure they're covered by liquid.
-Sprinkle almond chunks on top, press them down lightly, don't mix them in
-Leave overnight in the fridge, preferably covered to avoid "fridge taste"


Microwave in the morning if you want to take the chill off :) Enjoy

Microwave Apple Crumble

This was an experiment.. a relatively successful experiment! Don't do what I did... I ate half the apple cubes raw because it was overflowing, totally forgetting that apples shrink when cooked! Whoops!

For the apple part:
-1 apple, diced
-1 tbsp margarine or butter, melted
-1 tbsp sugar (brown or white, your choice)
-dash of cinnamon

For the crumble part:
-2 tbsp granola
-1 1/2 tsp margarine
-dash of cinnamon
-1 1/2 tsp brown sugar

I'll put the directions to how it SHOULD have been done instead of how I did it.

Combine all the ingredients for the apple half. Stir them up, and try to get them ALL into a ramekin dish. Even if it's a massive pile on top. Microwave for 30 seconds.

Combine the ingredients for the crumble and spread over the apples. Microwave again for 2m30s.

Allow to cool for about a minute, and enjoy!

The Pasta Panini Wrap

I call this the "Pasta Panini" because it combines my two favorite pasta things, pesto and tomatoes. This can be eaten "raw", pressed with a panini press/grill, or the good ol' clothes iron method.

-White or whole wheat tortilla, though I prefer white
-Roast beef
-Tomato
-Bocconcini or mozzarella
-Pesto
-Cooking spray for grilling

Preheat your grill... or iron. Spray the grill, don't spray the iron.   Spread a generous helping of pesto on one half of the tortilla. Slice or shred your cheese and place it down as a strip in the middle of the tortilla. Leave about a 2 inch space on either side, so the ends can be folded in. Place your roast beef and your tomatoes over the cheese. Take the side covered in pesto and fold it over your fillings and curl the edge under them. Fold the ends into the wrap, and roll the rest of the way. If you're using a panini press, throw it and let it do it's thing. If you're using your iron, wrap it in sprayed tinfoil and place on your ironing board, and rest the iron on it for about two minutes, flip, repeat, unwrap and eat!

Be careful that the pesto doesn't leak out and stain the white sleeve of your boyfriend's hoodie....

Savory Rosemary Crepes

This recipe was adapted from poorgirleatswell.com. I served this for my friend and I one night as a celebration for her getting accepted to college for the first time, and I actually loved them so much. She, being a chicken lover, devoured hers in a second.

Crepes:
-1/2 cup all purpose flour
-2 eggs
-3/4 cup low or no fat milk
-1 tbsp melted butter
-butter or oil spray (eg.PAM) for cooking

Cream sauce:
-Half and Half cream
-1 tbsp margarine
-3/4 tbsp fresh rosemary coarsely chopped
-1/2 tbsp cream cheese
-Salt and pepper for taste

Filling:
-4 to 8 chicken thighs, depending on the size
-thyme
-rosemary (fresh or dry, doesn't matter)
-2 cloves of garlic
-salt and pepper to taste
-oil


1. Chop the garlic and cut the chicken into small cubes (1 inch by 1 inch) while the oil heats in the pan at a medium heat. Throw the garlic into the pan first, allowing it to turn a golden brown colour. Throw the chicken in after it and season. Stir and mix and flip liberally to evenly distribute the seasoning. Don't be afraid of "over seasoning", unless it really is a ridiculous amount. A heaping teaspoon of everything will do the trick. Let the chicken simmer, stirring occasionally, until it's a nice dark brown.

2. Whisk all the crepe ingredients while your skillet pre-heats to a medium low temperature. Spray or butter the pan. Take about a half cup ladle-full and pour slowly into the center of your pan. Pouring too quickly will give you a weird looking crepe. After a minute or two, when the edges look cooked, flip it and allow it to cook for about a minute more before moving it to a plate. Repeat until all the batter is used.

3. Heat the butter in a sauce pan and quickly saute the rosemary. Add the cream cheese, and once that's melted, the rest of the ingredients. Make sure it's well combined. Let it simmer down to be a bit thicker, and then you're ready to eat!

Salmon Dinner

I GOOFED! I DIDN'T GET A PHOTO!!! I'M SO SO SORRY!!!! Also, this one isn't particularly cheap, but it's really yummy so if you have the extra cash, don't be afraid to spend it. This would be a really nice dinner if you happen to have someone coming and you want to impress them. I'll only be instructing on how to feed one, but just double the portions if it makes it easier for you.

-Salmon portion, fresh from the fish department is the very best.
-A big handful of asparagus. About 10-15 pieces.
-1 medium russet potato
-1 tbsp Butter or margarine
-1/2 tbsp Brown sugar
-1 tsp Garlic salt
-2/3 tsp Pepper
-Canola oil

1. Set the oven to 450(f).

2. Cover the salmon with brown sugar, garlic salt, and pepper. All the brown sugar may not be used, but there should be a generous coating on it.

3. Coat a cookie sheet with a bit of oil so the salmon doesn't stick. Let the flavors of the seasoning sink in while you wait for the oven to finish heating up and while you do other things. Just put it in the oven when it is heated. Set the timer for 10-15 minutes (longer if the fillet/portion is unusually huge). If you can't figure out how long it should go in for, cook it until it's solid and flaky.

4. To bake the potato quickly, rub it with oil, rub it again with just a very little bit of salt and pepper. Prick it with a fork a few times. Place in the microwave on a plate for 5 minutes. If a fork doesn't go through smoothly, put it in for another 3-5 minutes.

5. Cut the wood-y bottoms of the asparagus and place it in your steamer. If you don't have a steamer, you can put them in a microwave safe bowl with enough water to cover them and microwave them until they're soft enough to enjoy. When they're done, coat lightly with butter or margarine, and sprinkle sparingly with salt.

Everything should be done roughly the same time. If not, just keep it all warm until it's all finished. Don't forget to peel the skin off the salmon.

Banana French Toast

Now, since I am not yet in my dorm and still living at home, I still have access to my stove and frying pan. If you don't have a stove, you can try to rig your clothing iron to stay upside down and use aluminum foil as your pan, you can wrap your pieces of bread in tin foil and have squished french toast, or you can venture out into the scary common kitchen. I'll be instructing you on the scary-venturing-to-the-kitchen method.

For the toast
-2 pieces of brown bread
-2 eggs (If you're using your clothes iron you may want to use only 1.5 eggs to avoid mess)
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 tbsp brown sugar

For the banana part
-1 banana
-1/2 tbsp brown sugar
-1 1/2 tbsp butter (I use becel olive oil margarine)
-1 tsp cinnamon

1. Set skillet to medium-low (3.5 out of 8) and place some butter in the pan to give it time to melt.
2. Combine eggs and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.
3. Quickly soak each side of the bread in eggs, letting each side soak for about 1-2 seconds.
4. Place pieces of toast in the pan. If there is extra egg mixture in the bowl, don't get rid of it.
-while the first side toasts-
4.5 - drop butter, cinnamon and brown sugar into a bowl and throw it in the microwave for about 40 seconds.
       - slice up a banana, throw the slices in the melted butter and mix it around (oh my god use a spoon, it'll be way too hot)
       - now you can choose to either place the banana in the microwave for 50 seconds OR you can wait til the skillet is free and fry them up for about a minute. I fried mine, but microwaving has worked in the past too.

5. About a minute before you flip your toast, slowly pour the remaining egg mixture on the raw side. Try not to let any of it spill over the edge. I find moving it around slowly with a fork helps it sink in.
6. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the raw side, let it rest for a few seconds to sink in and flip!

Once your toast is done, throw it on a plate, put the bananas over it, and cover it with maple syrup if you so choose! This is a very sweet breakfast, no doubt, but it was soooo delicious.