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