Marsala Chicken

This is one of those (many) Italian dishes that is so much better to make yourself.  And more affordable too!

Ingredients:
1c         white mushrooms, washed and sliced
1c         Marsala wine
4           chicken breasts, or equivalent tenders in weight
1 tsp     oregano
1tbs      basil
1/2 tsp  salt
4 tbs     olive oil
7oz       pasta
1/4c      all purpose flour

Time: 
10 min prep
20 min cooking
30 min total

Serves: 4 people +

There is a lot of flexibility in this dish. Any pasta works-- So just pick your favorite!  I chose "star" pasta for this dish because it's an easy way to give the dish a "thick, hardy taste," which my husband prefers.  Were I making this for just me, I would use whole wheat spiral pasta, as that is my personal favorite. Along those lines, feel free to add more or less seasonings depending on taste. Pepper is very commonly in this dish.  Most of all-- Have fun!!

Direction:

1) Wash and slice the mushrooms-- Never trust that they are "pre-washed" unless you like the idea of literally eating shit.

2) Start the water boiling for the pasta.

3) In a high lipped plate, mix together the flower, salt, oregano, and basil.

4) Coat the thawed chicken in the flour mixture.

5) Place the chicken into a large skillet with the hot olive oil. (Aka, the stove is already on.)

5) Brown the chicken on both sides. This will take a few minutes for each side.

6) Add the mushrooms and cover the skillet.  This will help the mushrooms 'sweat.' This is only to get them started, so don't exceed 5 minutes.

7) Add the pasta to the now boiling water.

8) Add the sherry and cover again. This time cover for 10 minutes.  Interrupt the 10 minutes to turn the chicken over.

9) Uncover the chicken for the final few minutes to thicken the sauce. Add a sprinkling of flour if necessary.

10) Drain the pasta and mix in well with the Chicken Marsala.  Serve warm!

Cost:
white mushrooms     $1.50
Marsala wine            $2.00
chicken                     $2.00
oregano                    $0.10
basil                         $0.35
salt                            $0.02
olive oil                    $0.50
flour                          $0.20
pasta                         $0.25
Total                         $6.92
Per person                $1.73

Alternative "Gateway Sushi"!!!

To convert even the most resistant meat eaters to the way of bait!!

Warning: This post is for the adventurous!! 

 So making sushi itself is a lot easier than any recipe I've seen has made it look. This is assuming you are not interested in single handedly perfecting the true art of sushi.

1)Make a pot or rice, (doesn't really matter what kind).
2) Cut up veggies of choice into long slivers. Carrots, cucumber, even lemon peels work great!
3) Mix the rice with some salt, sugar, and rice vinegar so that is is malleable.  If you add to much-- just smush it in your hand to drain off extra liquid.  It really is that simple!
4) Keep a small bowl of rice vinegar and sugar to the side to "rinse" your ands with in-between rolls.
5) Lay out a small strip of rice onto sushi sea weed sheets. Lay on top of the desired ingredients.  Salmon (Sake) or meatloaf-- I'm a believer in happy customers of all kinds!
6) Roll up the rolls nice and tight.  Notice I have not given any proportions-- it really REALLY doesn't matter as long as you like it.
7) "Seal" your roll with just a touch of the vinegar mixture you have to the side.  Think of it like an envelope.
8) With a very sharp knife, cut the roll in to sushi size pieces.  Make presentable to serve!

 Green tea or Sake (the booze) will bring the experience together no matter what you've made.

 For homemade pickled ginger-- plan ahead-- that does take a good 24 hours to make right, and 4 hours at the minimum. Basically chop the ginger as thinly as possible and then soak it in a bowled (and now cooling) mixture of rice vinegar, a lot of sugar, a pinch of salt, and water.  Chill overnight in the fridge if you can.

This is the happiest first time sushi eater I have ever seen-- Otherwise known as my father.  After years of trying futilely to convince him to eat sushi-- Brown rice, low salt, and meatloaf sushi is the success story!

Hence I really truly believe in doing whatever works for you :)
I also really truly believe in buying the Wasabi...

Rice about         $1
Sushi sheets      $1-7 (depending on where you live)
filling                $1-20 (depending on your tastes)
Rice vinegar     $1.50-7.00 (depending on where you live)
sugar and salt    $1 or less                                                      
                         $5 to $$$... it's all up to you....

Adventures in Quinoa: Mushroom Caps!!

~~The vegetarian addition~~

Ingredients:
3 cups chopped mushrooms
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped bell peppers
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
1/4 vegetable oil
1 cup quinoa
Seasonings to taste... For those truly on the "student budget" I recommend half a package of Raman flavoring ;)

Directions:
Add celery, bell peppers and the carrots to a pan with the hot vegetable oil.  Let these veggies cook most of the way with the lid on to steam them.  Once these veggies are mostly done, add the sliced mushrooms and leave the lid off, (as mushrooms release a lot of water). Meanwhile, boil 2 cups of water.  to the boiling water add the 1 cup a quinoa.  As more water if needed.  Combine all cooked ingredients, plus the sweet chili sauce and seasonings, together.  Back mushroom caps for 30 min at 350 degrees. Garnish with parsley or Sriracha if available.  Serve hot!

You already know this is going to be a healthy dish!

Cook the veggies most of the way before stirring in the fully cooked Quinoa.

Assemble on a backing sheet--This can be done ahead of time if getting ready for a party!!

Serves an easy 6 as a full meal, or it makes great party appetizers :D

Cost:
mushrooms     $5.99
celery              $1.00
onion              $0.50
bell peppers    $1.50
Quinoa           $0.50
oil/etc.             $0.25     
Total cost:      $9.75

So about $1.60 a person for this meal.. and it's actually really filling AND healthy!

Time to prepare is a good hour, but as mentioned above, assembly can be done ahead of time :)

Got guests? Got budget? $2.00 per person for dinner

So the only thing I seem to have less of than money is time.
The challenge:  Cook dinner for four people,  for three days, under $25 TOTAL, and in less than 2 hours TOTAL. Oh, and the food has to be pretty.

Challenge accepted!

Saturday:
Turkey stuffed bell peppers with a side of roasted asparagus

Serves: Easily 4 people. 

Prep time: 
20 min to pan fry all 'inner' ingredients
40 min to bake                                       
1hr TOTAL

Shopping list:
1 package ground turkey
1 package mushrooms, whatever one's are you favorite/on sale
1 1/2 cup frozen broccoli
1 cup frozen corn
3-4 bell peppers, pick your favorite colors
1 small bundle asparagus
Monterey cheese, or a somewhat hard white cheese of your choice
1 egg
1 slice of toast

In case you can't tell, I believe in opportunistic cooking!

Things I'm assuming you have on hand:
olive oil
pepper
basil, oregano, or really whatever you like here
red pepper
salt, always to taste
a bottle of chilled white wine, always to taste

Instructions:
1) Open the bottle of wine and pour a glass
2) Pan fry the ground turkey, pulling apart in to mouth-size-bits. in other words, you want a chunk on the end of the fork.  Butter would also work here, but I tend to use olive oil, (or bacon grease).
3) Season to taste, preferably heavy on the pepper, and just a dash of red pepper for kick!
4) Add the slivered mushroom and 1/4 cup of white wine if desired. Allow to steam for 5 minutes with the lid on.
5) Then add the broccoli and corn and cook another 5 minutes to evaporate some of the liquid off.
6) Meanwhile, prepare the washed bell peppers.  I put them long ways so to be able to uses both halves without having to include the steam of the bell pepper--although this does make them more difficult to stuff.
**) Put half of the pan ingredients into a left-over container-- It's for Monday night!
7) Turn off the the stove and let sit (3 min) so as not to cook the egg.
8) Add one egg and one slice of toast, chopped up, directly to the pan.  No extra dishes!
9) Stir everything together.  You now have you 'inner' ingredients.
10) Stuff the bell peppers.  The mushrooms may not be cooked all the way-- that's fine.
11) Top with cheese and place on a baking sheet.
12) Lay the washed and snapped asparagus on the other half of the same baking sheet and drizzle olive oil and salt/pepper to taste.  It's okay for everything to get cozy.
13) Bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 325. Serve hot.
14) Get back to that wine-- It's a Saturday night!

Cost:

$2.50          ground turkey

$2.00          mushrooms

$0.75          broccoli 

$0.75          corn

$3.00          bell peppers

$1.50          asparagus 

$0.75          cheese

$0.20          egg

$0.60          slice of toast

$12.05

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Sunday:

Lemon-Mustard Steel Head

Serves: Easily 4 people. 

Prep time: 

7 min to prep

20 min to bake                                       

27 min TOTAL

Shopping list:

1 package of steel head fish (or salmon but steel head is cheaper.)

white rice

1/2 package of peas

1 lemon

Things I'm assuming you have on hand:

butter

pepper

basil, oregano, or really whatever you like here

red pepper

salt, always to taste

mustard

Instructions:

1) Start the rice. As you will only be using half of it tonight, I'm recommending three cups or rice with double that in water. 

2) On a sheet of aluminum foil, lay out slices of lemon.

3) Lay the fish on top of the lemon and season to taste.  Rosemary is amazing on this one!

4) Drible mustard on top of the fish and baste the fish with a back of the spoon.  A sweet mustard works best, such as apple honey mustard or champagne mustard.

5) Fold foil over the fish and roll to seal. Bake for 20 minutes at 350.

6) Meanwhile, melt 1/8 cup of butter in sauce pan.

7) Add peas and seasonings to taste.  Cook until just warm, with constant stirring.  You want the peas to maintain their firmness to counter the softer textures of the rest of the dish.

8) When the rice is done, you are done-- Serve hot!

Cost:

$8.00          fish

$1.00          rice

$0.50          lemon

$1.00          peas            

$10.50        TOTAL

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Monday:

Turkey Stir-Fry!

Serves: 4 people.  (Adjust rice proportion if necessary.)

Prep time: 

20 min stir fry time

20 min TOTAL

Shopping list:

NOTHING-- It's a Monday, who want's to go to the store ;P

Things I'm assuming you have on hand:

oil

pepper

soy sauce

sesame seed oil (optional but amazing!)

red pepper

Sriracha or other hot sauce 

salt, always to taste

Instructions:

1) Add yesterday's rice to a hot pan with about 1/4 cup of oil in it.  Canola oil is recommend.

2) Go heavy handed on the seasons, but light on the soy sauce-- it's salt heavy.  

3) Drizzle the sesame seed oil on top of the rice and turn over the rice continuously.

4) Add in the 'inner' ingredients of turkey and continue to season to taste.

5) Serve up and dash of Sriracha on top, to complete the look.  Serve with chop sticks.

Cost:

At this point you have spent a couple dollars in seasonings and oil over three days.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Total time: 1 hour and 47min

Total cost: $22.55, plus seasonings