College Student Cooking {Salads}

Dear Kate,

Your new salad spinner will soon be your best friend.  It is not just for crisping, washing, drying and storing lettuce.  Wash berries, grapes, green beans, snap peas and other produce by filling the bowl with water, letting the dirt settle and lifting the food easily out of the bowl.  My spinner get’s daily use. 

You can store your produce already washed right in the container, but I know that fridge space can be hard to come by.  To save greens in a more compact way, lay out a couple clean paper towels.  Place the clean and mostly dry lettuce in the center and roll like a sleeping bag.  Place the roll in a zip top bag and place it in the front area or door of the fridge.  You don’t want it to get too cold.  It will keep nicely for a week this way.

I know you love salad and need no convincing about it being a good thing to eat, but there is a little bit I would like to share in regards to dressing.  First off, vegetables need a good dose of fat with them in order for your body to be able to absorb many of the nutrients, so stay clear of the ever common “low fat” varieties.  Secondly, the fat needs to be a good fat, which is really hard to come by in anything not homemade.  Stay away from vegetables oils like corn, soy, safflower, cottonseed and canola.  These are cheap oils that wreck havoc on the system. Sorry to say that restaurants use them almost exclusively, like I said, they are cheap.

Vegetable oils are extracted through chemical solvents, bleaching, deodorizing and high heat resulting in rancid oils that can promotes inflammation. The problem with these oils is that they are unstable and quickly oxidize.  Oxidize fats damage tissue and cells in the body.

I suggest extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper for a really easy dressing.  If you want a little variety, add some mustard, garlic, herbs or spices.  You might even pick up some apple cider vinegar to have on hand.  A little sweetener is great for dressing bitter greens.  An egg yolk can make the dressing creamy and red pepper flakes for some heat.  It really doesn’t have to be complicated and most dressings will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks if you want to make up a small batch to have on hand.

Eating in for salads not only saves money, but is also enormously better for your health.
links; Simple Lives Thursday, Things I Love Thursday, Cooking Thursday, Pennywise Platter, Fightback Friday, Finer Things Friday, Frugal Friday, Foodie Friday, Fresh Bites Friday

College Student Cooking {Potatoes}

Dear Kate,

Like Mom, you may think potatoes will make you fat and have no redeeming value.  Potatoes have gotten a bad rap from the low carb enthusiasts to the common junk foods;  French fries and potato chips.  I will make a case for these veggies ANY day of the week.  They are a real food with all that real nutrition to go with them.  Easy to find, easy to afford, filling and tasty.  We just need to use them for good instead of evil.

It is worth buying organic, conventional is sure to have soaked up lots of bug poisons.  Leave the skins on, as with most produce the greatest concentration of vitamin lies in the layer just beneath the peel.  Scrub them well and imagine the possibilities.

You could start out with a regular baked potato by rubbing the skin with oil and baking for an hour in a 350 degree oven.  You could grate them on your cheese grater, make patties and fry then in butter.  You might cut them into cubes, coat with oil and seasoning and steam/fry them until tender.  Or slices would be nice too.  You could even quarter and boil them for fork mashing later.

Potatoes make a nice bed for a great many traditional and untraditional. Bacon , chives, chili, cheese.  Pour spaghetti sauce on top and s sprinkle of cheese and you have a “potato pizza”.  Sautee onions and peppers for a “potato fajita”.  Steamed broccoli (or spinach) over a potato with cheese and you have ”cheesy potato broccoli un-soup.”

And my favorite…

Potato Bruschetta

4 medium baked potatoes

¼ cup finely chopped red onion
1 large ripe tomato, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped (grab some from the garden next time you are here)
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Combine onion, tomato, garlic, basil, cheese and olive oil in a small bowl.  Split open potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper and spoon tomato mixture evenly over all four of them.

Obviously, you would just make one at a time unless you were feeding your friends J

Another variation of this that is super easy is to find/make a nice chunky salsa, strain off the juices and put the chunky part over your potato.

Go here for more tips for eating on a dime.
links; Simple Lives Thursday, Ultimate Recipe Swap, Cooking Thursday, Things I Love Thursday, Foodie Friday

College Student Cooking {Thai}

Dear Kate,

While I was out shopping this week, I browsed the aisles for some healthy, college friendly products.  I am thrilled that you are broadening your horizons with international foods and taking a liking to them.  There is a brand that is found mostly in health food stores like Sprouts called Tasty Bites.  Their products are mainly Indian and Thai flavors and they use real ingredients, no salt, MSG, preservatives, colors, ect.  Take a look sometime and try some of the products out.

The line I recommend is the simmer sauce.  With these, you use your own brown rice and fresh vegetables for incredibly frugal and nourishing meals.  A 7 oz pouch of simmer sauce is $1.69, the package says it serves 2, but I can easily stretch it to 3 or even 4 servings with vegetables.  There were 5 different sauce recipes available including; Pad Thai, Satay Partay, Good Korma, Tikka Masala and Rogan Josh.

Here is a recipe I have come up with, using what I have on hand.  You might just use 2 or 3 vegetables, or throw in a scrambled egg or chicken even. Broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, asparagus, green beans, celery would all work good here.  You would most likely leave out the cilantro and look forward to having a refrigerator bigger than a nightstand one day.

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 small red bell pepper, diced
2 carrots, sliced
1 cup snow peas, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 pouch Satay Partay
1/2 cup water
3 green onions, finely sliced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 cups cooked rice noodles

Heat oil in pot, add pepper, carrots and snow peas.  Cook 7 minutes, until carrots are just tender.  Add salt, sauce, 1/2 cup water and noodles.  Simmer for 2 minutes. If the sauce has gotten too thick, add more water.  Mix in onions and cilantro, chopped peanuts would be nice too.  If you want to replace the noodles with rice, cook rice separately and serve up vegetables with sauce over the rice.

Links; Monday Mania, Happy Homemaker Monday, Menu Plan Monday

College Student Cooking {Noodles}

Dear Kate,

I made this yummy pasta dish the other day and thought of you.  With a few bags of Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Pasta Fusilli, vegetables and a few seasonings, you have a great lunch every day of the week.  All pasta recipes can be simplified and modified, you just need to do is visualize and experiment. I usually go with a cultural theme and try to keep my vegetables and seasonings from the same ethnic cuisine. 

This means I pair snow peas with soy sauce and green onions, zucchini with basil and tomatoes, peppers with chili powder and lime.  It is good to note that garlic goes with ANYTHING. If it is too tedious to deal with fresh garlic, try the paste that you can get in a jar, the frozen cubes, or even garlic powder if you must.  You can go at these noodle dishes two ways.

First, find a recipe that already has all the right combinations, then simplify it.  Take a look at my recipe for fideo.  There are tons of ingredients that add good flavor, but it is unrealistic to cook up something like this regularly in a dorm room.

Here is a simplified option that is still highly nourishing and tasty.

College Fideo

2 cups cooked brown rice noodles
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

8 oz can diced tomatoes

¼ cups cheese, shredded

After cooking and straining the pasta, heat hot pot to medium, cook peppers for 5 minutes. Add salt, garlic, oregano and tomatoes. Mix in noodles and cover with cheese. Place lid on pot until cheese melts.

Most of these ingredients are staples, that you should have a shelf for and keep stocked up on; noodles, olive oil, salt, garlic, oregano and canned tomatoes.  That leaves bell pepper, and cheese for your perishable shopping list. 

Another great addition to this that would up the protein, stretch the dish and stay in character would be to mix in a small can of pinto beans.  These would also be a staple to keep on your shelf.  A yummy brand that is good right out of the can is S&W’s Chili Beans.  Always make 2-3 servings when you are cooking so that you can enjoy your effort the following day.

 The second option would be to make up your own combinations and plug then into this simple formula:

1 cup noodles

1 cup vegetables (green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, onions, broccoli, ect)

2 teaspoons fat (butter, olive oil, cheese ¼ cup, ect.)

¼ teaspoon seasoning (garlic, basil, oregano, dill, hot sauce, soy sauce, ect.)

¼ teaspoon salt

Once in a while you might want to splurge on a can of salmon, tuna or even chicken to throw in.  Here is a recipe for you to take a look at and decide for yourself how it could be simplified for dorm room cooking.

Love,
Kara

Equipment {The Christmas List}

Dear Kate,

I know most college students have microwaves in their dorm rooms.  I get that they are allowed and quick and easy to use.  Yet, I have a problem with what they do to food.  Putting “making it taste bad” to the side for the moment, I want you to actually think about how the machine works.  “Micro” waves (radiation) are thrown around inside a box, penetrate the food, vibrates the moisture to heat it from the inside out.

There have been studies that have shown that it deteriorates the nutrients in breast milk (a food of nature) to the point that infants cannot thrive.  If it does this to one natural food, why wouldn’t it affect others.  Try an experiment with two small plants on your window sill (that one with a killer view).  Water one with plain tap water (even with all the yucky chlorine) and the other with tap water that was heated in the microwave, then cooled to room temp.  Guess what happens.

I know hot plates are not allowed, but what about an electric hot pot that is all one entity, much like an electric kettle? Besides, what college student isn’t a total rebel and has a toaster in their dorm? These electric hot pots are very cheap (under $20) and if bought at the right place, like Bed Bath and Beyond, you can return it if it peters out in the first semester.  Because they are plastic, I have a few reservations about how long they will last.  My version of these electric hot pots is my $80 electric pressure cooker that has warming and sautéing setting as well. This has a metal insert, so it will hold up much longer.

This simple appliance opens up a wide range of healthy options; Boil pasta, eggs, reheat left overs, simmer soup, hot breakfast cereal, steam vegetables.

Other items of importance;

A decent knife, because you will be cutting up a lot of vegetables for healthy meals

A cutting board, never use your “decent knife” on glass or it will soon be a “worthless knife.”

A cheese grater (as mentioned here)

A large spoon

A few containers for leftovers

An all in one bowl with lid and strainer, often called berry bowl

Once you are equipt with these few simple items, there will be a wide variety of recipes that can be adapted.

With Love,
Kara

A Series for the College Student {Introduction}

Dear Kate,

           

I am right proud that my own baby sister is looking for some better food than cafeteria slop.  I know, being in a dorm room, you are very limited on space and have rules on cooking appliances.  Not to mention the broke, tiresome lifestyle of a college student.  I gotta say that eating well is going to require big effort.  Why do you think everyone eats at the campus cafeteria? It’s not because the food is outstanding, or that they love the extra pounds they gain each semester.

Wasn’t life grand back when you came home hungry, peeked into the fridge and pulled out a container of Mom’s chili for dinner?  The reality of being an adult is that you are going to be responsible for fixing your own chili from here on out.  Sad?  Kind of, but it puts you in the position to make healthier, tastier chili too.

 Your first assignment is cheese.  Good quality would mean you are looking for ingredients like whole milk, cultures, salt and rennet not skim milk, emulsifiers such as sodium phosphate, potassium phosphate, anti caking agents such as cellulose powder (which means you’ll need to grate your own) and calcium sulfate and coloring (cheese is not orange).  The best quality would be raw and made with pastured milk.  Try the farmers market near you or a bus trip to Trader’s Joes will have you covered.

The right cheese adds great nutrition and substance to a meal or snack. The texture gives interest to keep things tasty and the fat is important for vitamin absorption.  Eat with fruit, melt on vegetables, a slice of bread, rice or noodles. 

With Love,

Kara